The academy did not wait long to respond to Phael's refusal.
Power never does.
The morning after his ranking rose to fourteen, the air across the grounds felt tight, like a storm pressing down before it broke. Students whispered more than usual. Instructors watched more closely. Even the guards at the gates carried themselves differently, their eyes sharper, their hands closer to their weapons.
Ryn felt it the moment they stepped outside. "Something's wrong today."
Soren nodded slightly. "Too quiet."
Aeris clutched her staff. "I don't like this."
Phael walked at the front, calm but alert. The Crimson Koi stirred faintly in his body, responding to the tension. The Azure Koi flowed through his senses, warning him of something unseen, something waiting.
Rielle walked close to him.
"Ever since yesterday…" she said softly, "people look at us like we're already in danger."
Phael did not answer.
He did not need to.
It happened during their afternoon training session.
The field was empty except for their group. No spectators. No instructors nearby. Just stone, wind, and silence.
Too much silence.
They had barely begun when the air shifted.
Not with sound.
With pressure.
Darian reacted first.
"Down!" he shouted.
The ground where Phael had been standing exploded.
Stone shattered upward in a violent burst of black energy.
Ryn grabbed Aeris and threw her aside as another strike tore through the air. Soren's blades flashed as he cut through something invisible. Myra raised her hand, time stuttering for a split second as a third blast slowed just enough to miss Rielle by inches.
Phael landed hard, rolling across the stone.
His heart hammered.
This was not training.
This was an attack.
From the shadows beyond the field, figures emerged.
Three of them.
Clad in dark cloaks, faces hidden, their bodies wrapped in distorted energy.
Not students.
Not beasts.
Assassins.
Rielle's voice trembled. "They're… here for you."
Phael rose slowly.
"So they finally decided."
The first assassin moved.
Fast.
Too fast for an ordinary student.
He appeared in front of Phael in a blur, a blade of condensed shadow aimed straight for his throat.
The Crimson Koi surged.
Phael twisted aside at the last instant, the blade grazing past his skin. Fire ignited around his fist, not exploding outward, but compressed tight as he drove it forward.
The punch landed.
Flames burst inward.
The assassin was thrown backward, crashing across the field.
The second attacker struck from behind.
Darian's shadow erupted upward, binding the assassin's legs mid-leap and slamming him into the ground.
"Don't let them surround you!" Darian shouted.
Ryn roared and charged the third assassin, his reinforced body colliding with the enemy in a thunderous impact. They crashed together, rolling across the stone in a blur of power.
Soren moved like a ghost, blades flashing as he cut at weak points, forcing one assassin back.
But these were not normal enemies.
They adapted.
The first assassin rose again, dark energy pulsing around his body.
"You should have accepted," he hissed.
Phael stepped forward.
"I don't belong to anyone."
The assassin lunged.
Phael met him head-on.
Fire surged through his arm.
But this time… he did not just strike.
He compressed.
The Azure Koi guided his focus.
The Crimson Koi powered the blow.
Fire did not spread.
It collapsed inward.
The punch landed.
The assassin's chest caved in.
Not burned.
Crushed.
He fell.
Did not rise again.
A chime echoed faintly in Phael's mind.
Level Increased.
From Level 17… to Level 18.
Not because of the kill.
Because of the mastery.
Because of the control.
The second assassin broke free of Darian's shadow, striking at Rielle.
"No!" Phael shouted.
Before he could reach her, Rielle raised both hands.
Her evolved wolf leapt forward, its glowing markings blazing. It did not simply attack—it coordinated, biting into the assassin's arm while the hawk struck from above, energy tearing through the darkness.
The assassin screamed.
And fell.
The third tried to flee.
Soren did not let him.
One clean strike.
Silence returned to the field.
They stood there, breathing hard.
Aeris rushed to Ryn's side, healing light wrapping around his injuries.
Darian scanned the area. "They weren't trying to scare you. They were trying to end you."
Rielle's hands were shaking.
"They would have killed you…"
Phael looked at the fallen bodies.
"Someone sent them."
Before anyone could speak again, slow footsteps echoed from the edge of the field.
A familiar figure emerged.
Kael Draven.
His eyes moved over the battlefield, the shattered stone, the fallen assassins.
Then to Phael.
"So," he said quietly, "it's already begun."
Ryn snarled. "You know something."
Kael did not deny it.
"Some clans don't wait for permission," he said. "They erase what they can't control."
Rielle stared at him. "Then why are you here?"
Kael met Phael's gaze. "Because if they fail, they'll send something worse. And when they do… the academy will pretend it was an accident."
Silence followed.
Phael clenched his fists.
Not in fear.
In resolve.
"Then they'll have to try harder."
Kael studied him for a long moment.
Then—
"I challenge you."
The words hit like a blade.
Ryn turned sharply. "Now?!"
"Publicly," Kael said. "In the ranking arena."
He looked directly at Phael.
"If the world is coming for you… then prove you deserve to stand where you are."
Rielle grabbed Phael's sleeve. "You don't have to."
Phael looked at her.
Then back at Kael.
"I accept."
The duel took place that evening.
The entire academy gathered.
Students packed the stands.
Instructors lined the arena.
Elders watched from above.
The ranking pillar glowed behind them.
Phael stood on one side.
Kael on the other.
No announcements.
No ceremony.
Just two figures facing each other under the eyes of a world that had already chosen sides.
The signal sounded.
Kael moved first.
His spear formed instantly, energy spiraling along its length as he struck with terrifying speed. Phael barely avoided the first blow, stone shattering where he had stood. The second strike came faster. The third was meant to finish it.
Phael met it.
Fire ignited around his fists.
But not wild.
Not uncontrolled.
Compressed.
Focused.
Their powers collided.
Shockwaves ripped across the arena.
Kael pushed forward.
"You're being hunted," he said through gritted teeth. "And you still refuse to take shelter."
Phael answered with a strike.
Flames collapsed inward, tearing through Kael's defenses and sending him sliding backward.
"I don't need shelter," Phael said.
Kael roared and surged forward again, spear blazing.
They clashed.
Again.
And again.
Power against power.
Control against force.
The arena cracked beneath them.
Phael felt it.
The pressure.
The edge.
Something inside him tightening.
Not just strength.
Threshold.
The Crimson Koi surged.
The Azure Koi aligned.
Fire no longer burned.
It obeyed.
Phael stepped in and struck.
Not with rage.
With absolute precision.
The blow landed.
Kael's spear shattered.
He was thrown across the arena.
Silence followed.
Kael did not rise.
The duel was over.
A chime echoed through Phael's mind.
Level Increased.
From Level 18… to Level 19.
One step from the next evolution.
The ranking pillar flared.
Names shifted.
Gasps erupted.
Phael – Rank 14 → Rank 9
Top ten.
In less than two weeks.
The arena exploded into whispers.
Later that night, Phael stood alone at the edge of the training grounds.
His body ached.
His mind was clear.
Rielle approached quietly.
"You could have died today," she said.
"I know."
She hesitated. "Are you afraid?"
He looked at the sky.
"No," he said. "But I understand now."
"Understand what?"
"That power doesn't just bring enemies," he said softly. "It reveals them."
She stepped closer.
"And we're still with you."
He looked at her.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Not yet love.
But something deeper than simple trust.
Far above, in the highest chamber of the academy, the elders watched the final strike once more.
"He has reached Level Nineteen," one murmured.
"And his control… it's beyond his rank," another said.
The third voice spoke from the darkness.
"He is nearing his next evolution."
Silence followed.
Then—
"Prepare the next test."
"And if he survives that?"
The answer was cold.
"Then the world will have no choice but to acknowledge him."
Phael did not know what test awaited him.
But he knew this much:
The clans had tried to control him.
They had tried to erase him.
They had failed.
And now—
The world would have to face what he was becoming.