The Seven Demon's Tamer

Ryder fell onto the soft cushions of clouds that nearly consumed him whole, his body sinking into the comfort like he was in heavenly embrace.

"Ahhhhh," he moaned in pure pleasure, his voice echoing across the floating ground. "This is just right."

It was like lying on a mattress made of marshmallows that was abnormally soft and at the same time, supportive enough to prevent him from sinking completely through.

"I wonder why the Tian supreme leader's residence looks so mediocre," Ryder mused aloud, his voice slightly muffled by the cloud's softness. "Our assigned residence is even better than hers."

"Yeah, I agree with you," Leo responded as he crossed his legs, sitting up on his cloud with his eyes closed in all seriousness.

He was like someone who had just discovered the meaning of comfort; it was almost laughable. "Maybe she's one of those 'all business, no pleasure' class of people."

Below them on the scorching ground, Mara and Brok were still sprawled in dishonorable positions, but they were in far better condition than the previous day. Instead of being completely immobilized and dragging their bodies across the floor, they were actually crawling on all fours right now—like two human puppies, pathetic ones.

Mara's brown hair and clothes had become soaked in sweat from the constant effort of moving against the oppressive pressure. Brok was also in similar condition; however, there was progress.

Yesterday, they couldn't even lift their heads properly until they received the pendant. Today, they were mobile—capable of a little bit more than crawling and sitting.

"Seems like the gift Akira gave them actually played a good role in helping them adapt," Leo spoke, then turned towards Ryder with a knowing look. "Don't you think?"

Ryder raised an eyebrow and stared at Leo. "Why are you speaking like you're only just realizing this now? Akira said it yesterday when she gave them those pendants—'Temporary assistance to help with adaptation,' remember?"

Leo hopped from his golden cloud where he was sitting, launching himself into the air with enough force to create a small crater when he landed on the heated ground below. He certainly has improved.

"Who would have thought you still have room for improvement, Leo," Ryder commented while staring at him from the cloud, literally from the cloud.

"I'm not improving," Leo replied as he squatted down to Brok and Mara's level. "I am controlling the energy around me to not press on me.

I've already passed my prime; there's no room for any more improvement."

"Huh," Ryder exclaimed from the cloud. "That's cheating! Hey!"

"Mara, Brok, don't feel down. You'll get the hang of it pretty soon; I'm sure of it," Leo assured with a smile.

Tilting up her head with considerably less struggle that made the movement seem normal like there was no pressure at all, Mara glanced at Leo and managed a weak smile.

"Seems like you've already adapted perfectly," she commented, trying to appear nonchalant though Leo could easily read past her masked expression, understanding the pain she felt.

It had to be frustrating, watching someone else accomplish in a day what she was still struggling with. It wasn't right for her to compare herself with Ryder or him who were anomalies, but he didn't know how to break it to her.

Ryder as well hopped from his cloud, very similar to that of Leo's.

"Don't forget your, uhm... regimen," Leo said, pointing up at the clouds floating above them. "Those aren't just for resting—they're your objectives for this whole thing."

There were four clouds floating approximately ten feet above the surface—one for each of them.

Ryder wasn't doing much better than them in actual terms, but due to his familiar great strength and endurance, he could adapt easily. However, this didn't stop the oppressive energy from completely affecting him, so he still needs to evolve and adapt.

The residence where they had been assigned was just like every other building in the Tian, except for the fact that theirs didn't have a house on it. It was a leveled piece of giant floating rock, suspended in the sky with nothing on its surface other than hard, cracked ground.

The floor was not just hot—it was designed with magic to be as uncomfortable as possible without causing permanent damage. Every step felt like walking on a stovetop that had been left on high heat for hours.

Well, just in case of stubborn summoners that would rather endure the torment of the heat rather than force evolution from it, the wind current played its role.

Occasional bursts of wind swept across the surface, carrying currents that sent electrical-like shocks through anyone they touched. These weren't gentle breezes, but harsh gusts that made teeth rattle and bones ache.

Now here was the brilliant part of the landscape: the only safe spots on the entire vicinity were four clouds floating about ten feet away from the ground—not too high to be impossible to reach by summoners, but not too low to be easily accessible either.

This setup didn't just make practitioners adapt to the extent where they could simply stand up or walk normally on the surface. No, it forced them to develop the energy control necessary to allow them to jump as high as ten feet despite the crushing pressure constantly forcing them toward the ground.

Anyone who managed to reach this stage would definitely be qualified to learn the Tian techniques.

****

**Earlier that day before sunrise...**

Akira had remained standing exactly where Master Sung had left her, her arms crossed as she studied the four of them with the kind of scrutiny that made them all nervous.

The silence stretched for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. She walked around them in a slow circle, occasionally stopping and narrowing her gaze at them more closely.

"Well," she said finally, breaking the silence that had stretched for too long for anyone's comfort. "This is certainly an interesting situation Master Sung has left me with."

"A black-marked summoner," she began, counting off on her fingers, "a legendary summoner slayer that I had concluded was just a fairytale character from children's stories, and two..."

She paused, glancing at Brok and Mara who were still struggling to maintain their seated positions on the wooden benches, their faces pale. "...disappointments."

"The first thing we need to address," Akira continued, squatting down to Mara's eye level, "is your current inability to function properly in this environment. You can't learn anything if you're constantly fighting just to stay conscious."

She moved to a section of the hut that had appeared empty moments before, but as she approached, furniture seemed to materialize from thin air.

From what looked like a simple wooden cabinet that definitely hadn't been there seconds earlier, she pulled out two ancient-looking pendants. Each had crystalline objects embedded in them, glowing with purple energy.

"These are gamma stones," she explained, holding up the pendants so the gems could dangle at an angle where they all could see.

"They're among the rare gems that were scattered across Terra during the early age of summoning."

"They don't have much use in most situations," Akira said, raising up one pendant by the purple gem attached to it.

"These are pressure stabilizers," she explained, still holding up both pendants.

"They won't eliminate the oppressive force entirely, but they'll reduce it enough to allow you to function while your bodies adapt naturally."

Without warning, Akira tossed both pendants simultaneously through the air. Despite the casual nature of the throw, they somehow landed perfectly around Mara and Brok's necks respectively.

The moment it came in contact with them, it was like a heavy weight was lifted off their shoulders.

The immediate relief was visible on both Mara and Brok's faces as the gamma stone pendants settled against their chests.

The crushing weight that had been pressing down on them since their arrival didn't vanish entirely, but it became manageable—like switching from carrying a boulder to carrying a heavy backpack.

"Much better," Brok gasped, managing to sit upright for the first time since entering the Tian district. "I was starting to wonder how we'd ever be able to adapt even the slightest."

Mara nodded vigorously, her pale face finally regaining some of its natural color. Her emerald eyes, which had been dull with exhaustion, now sparkled once more.

"Thank you," she managed to say to Akira, her emerald eyes looking at the ground. "I thought I was going to pass out."

Akira waved dismissively. "Don't thank me yet. Those stones are just temporary assistance and they will lose their gleam and power in just twenty-four hours.

The implication was clear: they had one day to make enough progress that they could survive when the artificial assistance was removed. It was both a gift and a deadline.