"Oh—oh wow—" Celestia gasped, doubling over.
Runar moved instantly. His hands blurred through complex gestures, and runic arrays erupted into existence around the room.
Space sealed—no one outside could teleport in or out.
Sound isolated—no noise would escape the room.
Energy fluctuations contained—the massive spiritual pressure about to erupt from Celestia wouldn't be detected by anyone in the hotel.
Visual obscurement—even if someone looked directly at the room, they'd see nothing unusual.
Five layers of sealing, all activated in under two seconds.
Just in time.
Celestia's body began glowing with purple-white light. Her Frost Phoenix Awakening physique, currently at Early Divine Grade, started evolving immediately.
Runar could see it with his runic eyes—every cell in her body being rewritten, her spiritual foundation being enhanced, her very existence being elevated to a higher tier.
Early Divine Grade → Mid Divine Grade
Frost patterns appeared on her skin, glowing with cold fire. Her ice-water affinity deepened, becoming purer, more refined. Her cultivation base expanded automatically—spiritual energy flooding into her dantian.
Stage 30 → Stage 35 → Stage 40.
But the transformation wasn't finished.
Mid Divine Grade → Advanced Divine Grade
New energies awakened within her. Space. Void. Runar watched as purple-black void energy merged with her ice-blue spiritual power, creating something new. Something unprecedented.
Her eyes snapped open, glowing with void-purple light. "I can... I can feel space. Not just see it—feel it. Like it's part of me."
"Your Spatial Sense is awakening," Runar confirmed. "Keep absorbing the pill's energy. It's not done yet."
Celestia closed her eyes again, focusing inward. Her cultivation surged upward—Stage 40 → Stage 45.
Advanced Divine Grade → Peak Divine Grade
The final transformation was the most dramatic. Her aura exploded outward—contained by Runar's seals, but powerful enough that it would have shattered windows if unrestrained.
Her hair, already silver-white, gained streaks of deep purple. Her skin became almost translucent, like ice given human form. Frost crystals formed and dissolved around her in complex patterns.
And her presence... changed. More substantial. More real. Like she'd become more herself than she'd been before.
Stage 45 → Stage 50.
Then, finally, the light faded.
Celestia collapsed backward onto the bed, gasping. "That was... intense."
"How do you feel?" Runar asked, already scanning her with his enhanced perception.
"Like I just drank lightning and ate a star." She sat up slowly, examining her hands. "Everything feels different. Sharper. Clearer. And I can sense..." She turned her head, tracking something invisible. "Space. I can feel the dimensional fabric around us. The walls, the floor, even the air—they're all woven into space, and I can feel how they connect."
"Major Spatial Sense," Runar confirmed. "That's extremely rare. Most people need to reach Satellite Orbit before they develop spatial perception that acute and they must have comprehended space intents."
"And my physique?" Celestia closed her eyes, examining herself internally. "It's... Peak Divine Grade. I can feel it. The difference is enormous."
She opened her eyes, which now had permanent void-purple depths beneath the crystal blue surface. "Runar, thank you. This is—"
"We're not done yet," Runar interrupted gently. "Your cultivation jumped twenty stages. Your physique advanced four sub-grades. Your spiritual pressure increased dramatically, you haven't learned to control it. If you walk out of this room right now, every cultivator in the hotel will sense it immediately."
Celestia's excitement dimmed. "Oh. Right. We need to hide it."
"Exactly." Runar stood. "I'm going to place seals throughout your body. They'll suppress your cultivation to appear as Stage 10, hide your physique grade, and conceal your new spatial abilities. You'll be able to release them consciously when needed, but to everyone else, you'll seem like a merely talented child."
"Will it hurt?"
"No. It'll feel strange at first, like wearing tight clothes. But you'll get used to it."
"Okay." Celestia stood, spreading her arms. "Do it."
Runar began creating the seals.
His fingers moved in complex patterns, tracing runes in the air that then sank into Celestia's body. Each one was a masterwork—not just suppression, but intelligent concealment that would adapt to her movements and automatically adjust.
Cultivation Suppression Seal: Collapsed her apparent cultivation from Stage 50 to Stage 10.
Physique Grade Concealment: Made her Peak Divine Grade physique appear as merely Early Divine.
Aura Stabilization: Prevented any fluctuations that might reveal her true power.
Presence Normalization: Made her feel "normal" to spiritual sense scans.
Twenty-seven different seals, all interconnected, all designed to work seamlessly together.
"There," Runar said finally, stepping back. "How does it feel?"
Celestia examined herself. Her aura had collapsed to almost nothing—she felt weak, limited, constrained. But she could also feel the seals themselves, like locks she could open at will.
She focused, and one seal loosened slightly. Her cultivation spiked—Stage 10 → Stage 20.
Another focus. Stage 20 → Stage 30.
Another. Stage 30 → Stage 50.
She could control it perfectly, releasing and re-engaging the seals at will.
"This is incredible," she said, bringing herself back down to Stage 10. "It's like having multiple cultivation levels I can switch between."
"Practice that control," Runar advised. "The seals are only as good as your ability to maintain them. If you get emotional or lose focus, they might slip."
"I'll practice." She looked at him seriously. "Thank you. For everything. The pill, the seals, trusting me with your secret..."
"You're my training partner," Runar said simply. "Partners help each other get stronger."
"Right." Celestia smiled. "So... what now?"
Before Runar could answer, a strange sensation washed over him.
His newly mastered Space-Time Law resonated with something—a technique he'd downloaded earlier from the cultivation net. Temporal Glimpse - Peak Heaven Grade. It allowed brief looks into highly probable futures by sensing space-time fluctuations.
He hadn't meant to activate it. But apparently, his Laws had decided to show him something important.
For a fraction of a second, Runar saw:
Celestia's parents arriving tomorrow. Suggesting she stay at the Cross household for intensive training before the academy. Two weeks of cultivation guidance. His parents agreeing enthusiastically. Celestia moving into the guest room.
The vision faded.
Runar blinked, processing what he'd just seen. A future event. Highly probable. Almost certain, given the circumstances.
So she's going to be staying with us for two weeks, he realized. That's... actually perfect. Gives us time to really train together. And with the Pocket Universe...
Plans began forming.
"Runar?" Celestia was looking at him strangely. "You zoned out for a second. What happened?"
"Nothing. Just... thinking ahead." He smiled. "I have a feeling you're going to be staying at my house for a while. We'll have plenty of time to train properly."
"Really? How do you—" Celestia started to ask, then shook her head. "You know what, I'm not even going to question it anymore. You know things. That's just how it is."
"Smart girl."
"Speaking of training..." Celestia looked at the door. "Should we go back to our rooms? Your parents might wake up."
"The seals will hide what happened. And it's late. You should sleep—your body needs to consolidate the physique upgrade."
"Fine." Celestia headed for the door, then paused. "Runar? When we train together... you'll actually try, right? Not hold back?"
"I'll push you as hard as you can handle."
"Good." She grinned. "Because I meant what I said. I'm going to surpass you someday."
"I'm looking forward to it."
She left, closing the door quietly behind her.