Martial Demons Ascension

The year bled out slowly but when it ended the difference was undeniable

Eto and Rinnte were no longer "students" in the shallow sense With Rhyka's constant dismantling of their forms the relentless sparring and the brutal insight he drilled into them day after day they had climbed to Stage 2 Early Their cores had deepened their spells sharpened their control refined into something unmistakably professional

When Eto invoked Golden Axis now the arcs weren't unstable or sputtering they sang across her body her circulation loops tight and efficient her absorption clean Her lightning strikes cracked harder faster with none of the wasted energy that once plagued her Against any Stage 1 mage she was overwhelming

Rinnte was no less impressive His body enhancement spells no longer burned through his stamina in clumsy bursts He could now channel mana into a single joint a single muscle even a single tendon hitting like a hammer with one limb while leaving the rest of his body fresh In sparring his precision was terrifying his movements clean no longer trailing hesitation

They weren't children playing at magic anymore They were magi

Wherever they went in the village now people stepped aside They were recognized Respected Seen

But still… when they faced Rhyka it didn't matter

They could cast faster They could throw sharper bursts of mana They could reinforce their bodies with spells Rhyka had no access to On paper they outstripped him in almost every metric

And yet they couldn't touch him

Because Rhyka stood at the quasi peak of martial arts

When Eto's lightning spears lanced at him his golden eyes closed and his body simply slid through the gaps his Martial Vision already having mapped every path of intent before she cast When Rinnte enhanced his legs and dashed in his fist cocked with mana behind it Rhyka's hand was already there waiting intercepting twisting collapsing his balance before the strike landed

To them it was a blur of impossible reactions To him it was inevitability

Every strike was a thread Every step a line He saw all the possibilities before they were born and chose the one that unraveled them

And then there was his body

The detoxification that had nearly broken him was long behind His muscles had thickened his bones hardened his skin tempered smooth as steel Without mana he carried the density and power of a Stage 2 mage's body enhancement When he struck the air itself seemed to quake

Eto and Rinnte knew this more than anyone

It didn't matter that they were real mages now their spells glowing and refined It didn't matter that the class whispered their names with awe Against Rhyka they still found themselves slammed to the dirt disarmed or forced to their knees gasping for breath as he stood over them calm and smirking

They were mages

He was something else entirely

And everyone in that classroom Eto Rinnte Loretta even Emmet knew it

The final year at the temple school loomed and for once the students weren't thinking only about lessons rankings or sparring

They were thinking about leaving

It wasn't a thought that had ever truly taken hold in previous generations Most students accepted that they would grow here then live here building lives in the shadow of the temple and the mountain paths The world outside was spoken of like a story told by passing travelers something distant almost abstract

But Rhyka had changed that

His departure speech his dojo the beatings he had handed out without mercy all of it hung over them He had planted the idea in their heads that there was something more beyond these mountains and that staying meant rotting

Loretta found herself lying awake at night staring at the ceiling wondering what awaited beyond the ridges She had talent yes but talent meant nothing if it rotted unused in a small cut off village She could already feel the plateau coming even as she advanced

Rinnte's thoughts were sharper colder He admired Rhyka's strength but admired more his refusal to bend If the world wanted him weak Rhyka carved another path That idea stuck deep in his chest He wanted to see that world test himself against it carve out his own path

Eto was different For her the humiliation still burned Every spar against Rhyka was a reminder of how wide the gap was not in mana but in resolve and skill But beneath the sting was a fire She would not remain small She would not be remembered as the girl Rhyka beat down in front of everyone She would rise And to do that she would eventually have to follow him into the wider world

The rest of the class felt it too even if they didn't say it aloud The whispers grew daily When I leave Where I'll go What I'll do

Rhyka's influence stretched like a shadow across every desk

But beyond their ambitions the world outside was stirring in ways none of them expected

The caravan that was supposed to arrive this year their one link to the outside was delayed At first the excuses were vague poor roads weather disorganization But the truth began to filter in through fragments of rumor

A devil beast

Not just any but a Rank 5 a creature whose very presence warped the land around it carving out a domain that lesser beasts were drawn to It had nested somewhere in the range that connected their mountain to the southern trade routes Travelers avoided the area entirely and the merchants had no intention of pushing their wagons through territory claimed by such a predator

Even without seeing it the mountain air seemed heavier The villagers whispered of strange sounds at night of animals disappearing of plants withering too quickly The balance of the wilderness was shifting bending under the pressure of a new apex predator

The caravan would not come this year Perhaps not next Maybe not until the beast was driven off or killed

Rhyka had no intention of letting it change his plans