For the next entire week, Abhimanyu threw himself completely into the cultivation of fire and lightning magic.
Day or night—time lost all meaning for him.
Deep within the forest, in places where ordinary humans would never dare to step, Abhimanyu stood alone.
At times, flames surged from his palms; at others, it seemed as though lightning itself was tearing down from the heavens at his command.
In just seven days, he hunted twenty-four magical beasts—most of them low-tier creatures of Level Two.
Each battle sharpened his understanding.
Each victory refined his power.
By the end of that period, his magic had reached the fifth stage of the Primary Level.
He wanted to move forward…
Faster…
Higher…
But then—
That mysterious voice echoed once more within his mind, stopping him cold.
"If you strengthen only magic while abandoning martial arts, an imbalance will be born."
Abhimanyu's body stiffened.
The voice continued,
"Your martial foundation will remain weak. Remember this—
A true warrior is one who can fight opponents stronger than himself.
To achieve that, you must cultivate both magic and martial arts equally."
Abhimanyu closed his eyes.
Silence followed for a few moments.
Then, lowering his head, he spoke softly,
"I will follow your guidance."
From that day onward, he once again focused on strengthening his martial arts.
A few days later, Abhimanyu returned to the same merchant house.
This time, the Martial Stones he brought were of far better quality than before.
The middle-aged man carefully examined them—and a clear gleam appeared in his eyes.
"This batch is excellent,"
he said in a deep voice.
The transaction was completed.
Abhimanyu received fifty thousand coins in total. When he tried to return an extra thousand, the man immediately raised his hand to stop him.
"This is the reward for your hard work,"
his voice carried sincerity.
Abhimanyu said nothing.
He merely bowed his head lightly and left the merchant house.
This time, he did not return to the forest.
He went straight home.
He needed certain special materials for martial cultivation, but a message soon arrived from the merchant house—
the items would take two days to arrive.
Abhimanyu made his decision.
"I'll return to the forest after two days."
As soon as he reached home, he locked himself inside his room.
He cut off all contact with the outside world.
At present, he was at the fifth stage of the Primary Martial Level.
Because he had focused too much on magic over the past few days, his martial progress had slowed.
But now—
He was ready to restore balance.
Two days later, Abhimanyu once again arrived at the merchant house.
The moment he entered the chamber, he noticed something different.
The same middle-aged man was present—but this time, he was standing.
And seated on the main chair was a young woman.
She appeared to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
Her posture was calm.
Her eyes radiated confidence.
And her beauty was such that it could make anyone's heart falter in an instant.
The middle-aged man gestured for Abhimanyu to sit and said,
"She is the owner of our merchant house.
Her name is Kalyani."
Abhimanyu immediately stood and spoke respectfully,
"My greetings."
Kalyani looked at him with a faint smile.
For a brief moment—
Abhimanyu's heart truly wavered.
There was something about her beauty that went straight to the soul.
But he quickly regained his composure.
"My name is Abhimanyu Saini," he said calmly.
"I am the son of the Saini family's head."
Kalyani smiled.
"I know exactly who you are,"
she replied, her voice carrying both confidence and curiosity.
Then she continued,
"I heard that you would never be able to practice martial arts again…
Yet you keep bringing the soul stones of hunted magical beasts here."
Abhimanyu smiled faintly.
He offered no explanation.
His calm demeanor surprised Kalyani, leaving her deep in thought.
Her beauty was such that whether it was a fourteen-year-old boy or a seventy-year-old elder—
anyone would be captivated at first sight.
But Abhimanyu…
He merely smiled.
And that was precisely what intrigued her the most.
They spoke for a while longer.
Kalyani's words felt strange to Abhimanyu—
as if she already knew much about him, or was trying to understand him more deeply.
But Abhimanyu was naturally restrained.
He revealed little.
Most of her questions were gently deflected with nothing more than a quiet smile.
After a while, Abhimanyu prepared to leave.
Just then, Kalyani spoke up and told him about a Grand Auction that would be held two weeks later, formally inviting him to attend.
This was no ordinary auction—
it was not only the largest auction of Indore City, but also the most significant auction among the five major cities of the Art Side, all of which would be gathering in Indore this time. Normally, such auctions rotated between cities and were never held in the same place twice in a row.
Abhimanyu replied calmly,
"If I have the time… I will certainly come."
With that, he turned and left the merchant house.
The moment Abhimanyu disappeared from sight, the smile on Kalyani's face faded.
The person standing beside her spoke softly,
"Madam… what do you think? Does Abhimanyu practice martial arts?"
Hearing this, Kalyani fell into deep thought. After a few moments, she replied,
"I can't be certain… My intuition tells me that he does practice martial arts, yet I cannot sense even the slightest trace of martial aura from his body."
She paused, then continued her analysis,
"However, the items he purchased suggest that he is focusing on increasing Martial Availability. And as far as I know, such items are only useful for Primary-Level warriors. They are completely useless at the Martial Disciple level."
After a brief silence, she reached her conclusion,
"That's why I believe those Level-2 stones might be for someone else. Because judging by his appearance alone, it doesn't seem like he has reached the Martial Master level."
With that, Kalyani fell silent.
In truth—
her analysis was extremely deep and precise.
There was only one missing piece.
She knew nothing about Abhimanyu's magic.
And she was unable to perceive his true martial level, because Abhimanyu had concealed it perfectly.
This concealment technique came from the mysterious book he possessed.
Once again, Abhimanyu returned to the forest.
But this time, there was no joy on his face—
only a faint trace of sadness.
The reason was simple:
every coin he had earned had been spent on martial-related resources.
Thirty thousand coins alone were used to purchase a special liquid meant for body purification. He had bought it in large quantities so that he could continue using it from Level Five all the way to Level Nine.
At each level, certain impurities had to be expelled from the body.
Using normal methods, this process took an extremely long time.
But special liquids like this made the purification far more efficient.
Abhimanyu resumed his training.
For the next seven days, violent crashing sounds echoed continuously from one section of the forest. Sometimes a wild beast's roar shook the air; at other times, a human scream filled with pain rang out.
His martial arts were strengthening at an astonishing speed.
Within a single week—
he reached Level Six.
Where an ordinary warrior would need nearly one year to reach this stage, and even a talented warrior would require at least six months, Abhimanyu had crossed this distance in barely two months.
And that wasn't all.
He continued cultivating magic alongside martial arts.
He was satisfied with his progress—
yet the mysterious voice kept echoing in his ears, again and again:
"You are far too slow…"
Hearing it repeatedly made him feel that perhaps he truly wasn't fast enough.
If anyone in Indore City learned of his progress, they would call him a genius.
And if they learned of his mindset—
they might even call him insane.
At this very moment, Abhimanyu was locked in battle with a Level-Eight Black Panther.
The panther launched relentless attacks at him. It was a purely physical magical beast—possessing no elemental power, yet its strength and endurance were terrifying. Knocking it down through direct attacks was incredibly difficult.
Still, Abhimanyu stood his ground.
Finally—
He unleashed the newly learned Fire-Devouring Art.
The Fire-Devouring Art was a technique in which flames penetrated directly into the enemy's body, burning it from the inside in all directions.
The instant the technique activated—
The panther's roar exploded through the forest.