The academy did not celebrate their return.
There were no cheers. No announcements. No public recognition.
Only silence that followed them through the gates.
Students looked up as Group Seventeen passed through the main hall, eyes lingering in a way that felt different from before. Not curiosity. Not envy.
Caution.
Whispers followed in their wake.
"They came back from the Blackstone Depths…"
"Did you hear what they fought?"
"They weren't supposed to survive that mission…"
Phael walked at the center of his team, his body still heavy from exhaustion, his mind still replaying the moment when his fire had collapsed inward, when his power had changed shape. He could feel both koi within him, no longer restless, but… deeper. Denser. As if something inside him had tightened and settled into place.
Ryn broke the silence first. "They sent us there to see if we'd die."
Soren nodded. "And we didn't."
Aeris's voice was soft. "But they didn't expect us to come back stronger."
Darian's gaze remained sharp. "Which means they won't ignore us anymore."
Rielle walked close beside Phael. "How do you feel?"
He considered the question.
"Tired," he said honestly. "But… different."
She studied him, then nodded, as if she understood something he could not yet put into words.
They were summoned that same evening.
Not to a classroom.
Not to a training hall.
To the Inner Council Chamber.
A circular room of dark stone and glowing runes, high above the academy grounds. The air itself felt heavier here, thick with the presence of power. At the center stood three elders and Instructor Vale.
The Blackstone core rested on a pedestal between them, its dark-gold light pulsing slowly.
"You completed the mission," one of the elders said, voice calm but cold. "And retrieved the core."
Ryn stepped forward. "We did."
The elder's gaze swept over them. "Against expectations."
Aeris swallowed.
The second elder turned his attention to Phael. "Your final strike… explain it."
Phael met his eyes. "I didn't grow stronger in that moment," he said. "I used what I already had… differently."
Silence followed.
Then Instructor Vale spoke. "Control over both body and mana at that level is rare. But rare does not mean impossible."
The third elder leaned forward slightly. "What matters is this: you did not collapse under pressure. You adapted."
His eyes flicked to the core.
"You will be rewarded."
With a small gesture, the Blackstone core split.
Six shards floated into the air, each one glowing with condensed energy.
"High-grade beast cores," the elder said. "One for each of you."
Aeris inhaled sharply.
Even Soren's calm expression shifted.
These were not training resources.
These were elite-level catalysts.
"You will refine your powers with them," the elder continued. "But understand this—this is not generosity."
His gaze returned to Phael.
"This is investment."
The words hung in the air.
They returned to their dorm in silence, each holding a shard of the Blackstone core.
Ryn broke it first. "They're trying to see what we'll become."
"Or who he'll become," Darian said quietly, glancing at Phael.
Aeris turned to Phael. "Are you… okay with this?"
He looked at the glowing shard in his hand.
"I don't like being tested like this," he said. "But I won't waste what we earned."
Rielle nodded. "Then we grow. Together."
They all sat in a circle.
No ceremony.
No grand speeches.
Just six people who had survived something they were never meant to.
And now had the chance to become stronger because of it.
Phael closed his eyes and focused inward.
The Crimson Koi stirred first, its scales glowing faintly, responding to the dense energy within the shard. The Azure Koi followed, its light deep and steady, drawing the power in not as raw fuel, but as something to be shaped.
He pressed the shard to his chest.
The energy surged.
Not violently.
Not chaotically.
It flowed into him like a river entering a deeper current.
Heat spread through his muscles.
Cool clarity followed through his mind.
His heartbeat slowed.
Then—
Something shifted.
Not in pain.
Not in explosion.
But in alignment.
He could feel it clearly now.
The Crimson Koi grew larger, its form sharper, its presence heavier within his body. His bones felt denser. His muscles tighter. His breathing steadier.
At the same time, the Azure Koi brightened, its aura smoothing the flow of mana through his veins. Fire no longer felt like something he summoned.
It felt like something he guided.
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
Level Increased.
From Level 15… to Level 17.
Not a leap.
Not dramatic.
But real.
Earned.
And something else followed.
Not a new element.
Not a new form.
But refinement.
The memory of the compressed strike in the Blackstone Depths replayed in his mind.
Fire no longer spread when he called it.
It obeyed shape.
Direction.
Intent.
Phael opened his eyes slowly.
His hands were steady.
Not burning.
But… ready.
Across the room, Rielle gasped softly.
Her shard dissolved into light, flowing into her core. Her evolved wolf let out a low, resonant sound, its markings glowing brighter, its form becoming more solid, more real.
"My… connection is stronger," she said. "They're not just summons anymore. They're… partners."
Aeris exhaled as healing light wrapped around her body, her exhaustion fading as her Life Font deepened.
Soren's weapons hummed faintly, their edges sharper, his presence more focused.
Darian's shadow stretched further, darker and more defined.
Myra's eyes flickered with strange light, time itself seeming to slow around her for a heartbeat before settling.
They all felt it.
They had not just survived.
They had advanced.
Later that night, Phael stood alone by the window.
The academy lay quiet below, but he knew better now.
Behind the walls, behind the rules, behind the lessons…
People were watching.
Measuring.
Calculating.
Behind him, Rielle stepped close.
"You leveled up," she said softly.
"So did you."
She smiled faintly. "But yours… it feels different."
He looked at his hands again.
"It's not just strength," he said. "It's… understanding."
She studied him. "You're not just becoming stronger. You're becoming… precise."
He met her gaze.
"And that makes me more dangerous."
She did not deny it.
For a moment, they stood in silence.
Not awkward.
Not distant.
Just two people standing at the edge of something that neither could fully see yet.
Far above them, in the highest chamber of the academy, the elders observed the energy readings.
"He absorbed the core cleanly," one said. "No rejection. No instability."
Another narrowed his eyes. "Two powers, evolving in harmony… that should not be possible."
The third spoke from the shadows. "Which means he is not ordinary."
A pause.
Then—
"Continue the tests."
"And if he surpasses our expectations?"
Silence.
"He will no longer be just a student."
Phael did not hear those words.
But he felt their meaning.
Power was no longer just something he sought.
It was something that would now shape the way the world responded to him.
He clenched his fist gently, feeling the controlled heat resting beneath his skin.
He had leveled up.
But more importantly—
He had learned how to grow.