The Seven Demon's Tamer

'If I don't somehow figure out a way to blend in and adapt to this environment, then I won't be able to learn any technique.'

Mara's thoughts occupied her mind as she remained on the scorching training ground that was said to be their residence, her palms pressing against the sun-baked surface, reddened up to her elbows.

The oppressive atmosphere of the Tian district continued to press down on her with constant force, giving her another set of torture. The shocking wind Akira Tian spoke about was yet to come—one can only imagine how much worse it would make things.

'Master Sung already has low hopes for us. Proving to be worthy isn't something we should have to do every time—for once, let us prove our worth.'

Mara exhaled from her mouth so thick that it came out like a cloud of vapor. From the outside, she appeared as someone who is simply in a crawling position, but on the inside she was trying her best.

Her emerald eyes, usually bright and full of life, had dulled into grey.

Sweat had long since soaked through her clothes, creating dark patches all over. Her brown hair, normally kept neat and tidy, now cascaded roughly down her face.

'If we cannot prove our worth, we could end up losing this privilege to be an ally of the Red Eastern Guild. Whether we like it or not, we have to be strong, or else... even if Ryder intervenes when Master Sung suggests sending us off, we would still die from an enemy attack.'

Master Sung had made it abundantly clear how small he actually was, despite how incredibly strong they had perceived him to be. His guild, consisting of what seemed to them like abnormally strong members with unimaginable power, was merely number 97 in the hierarchy of world guilds.

Being allies of the Red Eastern Guild—or any other guild, as a matter of fact—would surely attract enemies. And if any guild member from either a higher or lower-ranked guild were to attack them, she was certain she wouldn't stand a chance. After all, she was just a brown-marked summoner, the lowest level in the hierarchy of summoners as a whole in the world.

No matter what, I have to be strong.

Mara muttered the words under her breath, her voice barely audible even to herself. But within those quiet words was hardcore determination.

I went against my father's wishes. I summoned up enough courage to confront him and told him right to his face that I wanted to pursue my dream.

I told him I wanted to be a recognized and valuable person, someone whose presence is craved.

The words echoed in her mind, but as she saw her position, her face reddened in embarrassment. Here she was, crawling on heated ground like a dog while her more capable companions—Ryder and Leo—were floating above her on comfortable clouds.

This wasn't exactly the kind of recognition she had dreamed about.

Raising her hands upward with trembling arms, she made a fist and slammed it back down against the ground with all the force she could muster.

**CRACK!**

The hard sun-baked surface fractured under the impact. Spider web patterns of cracks spread outward from where her fist had connected, and for a moment, the oppressive heat seemed to lessen as if her display of strength had stunned the surface itself.

Huh!

Leo and Ryder both turned to look down at Mara from their respective clouds. Their casual observation of the duo on the ground had led them to see the whole thing unfold firsthand. Even Brok, who had been focused on his own struggles just a few feet away, moved his head to glance at her with wide eyes.

I refuse to be useless! I refuse to be unworthy! No matter what, I must adapt!

She screamed the words with determination burning in her eyes and sweat streaming down her face. Her voice boomed across the vicinity with such intensity that it seemed to make the floating clouds above them move slightly—just slightly, but noticeable.

This cannot be the strength of a brown-marked summoner, Leo blurted. This is impossible.

I refuse to let his efforts to make me into a perfect person go to waste!

The thought of her father's face came to her, making her aura run wilder.

I have received a gift. I will not allow that gift to go to waste.

Mara closed her eyes and clenched her fist tightly.

I have seventy-seven techniques embedded in my brain, packed with both knowledge and experience like I have been practicing them my whole life, even though I have never tried them once... And I have the gift from my mother!

Somehow, she suddenly felt like her body was being drawn into another space entirely. The sensation was oddly familiar—it reminded her of the soul transportation she had experienced when traveling to the astral shadow plane during the period when she contracted her familiar.

The cosmic, multicolored lights that had filled her surroundings during that first journey began to appear again, swirling around her in patterns that seemed almost alive. Blues and purples and golds and countless other colors twisted together, creating a tunnel of pure energy that seemed to stretch infinitely as she traveled until she eventually found herself in a completely different space—an empty, endless dark void.

Where is this?

She muttered the words aloud, though her voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Turning around in the weightless environment, she tried to understand her surroundings, but there was literally nothing to see. No surface, no bottom, no top, no beginning, no end. She was suspended in nothingness, floating in a space she had no clue about.

Where am I?

She spoke again, this time allowing her voice to carry more volume, but just like before, no reply came.

Where am I?!

This time she barked the question, her voice booming and resonating throughout the infinite space with an echo that seemed to go on forever. But just like before, no response came from the void.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity in silence, with no guide or clue about where she was or how she had gotten there, she sighed deeply.

I'll have to figure this out by myself, she thought, biting her lips and forcing herself to be determined.

Raising her hand in the weightless environment, she slowly moved her fingers, watching them bend and flex, and at that moment, she realized that despite the darkness, she could see herself perfectly fine like she was under sunlight. How?

It was then that she made a discovery that changed everything—she couldn't feel her body, but she could see it and move it.

It was like... a dream. That odd feeling where you know you're doing things but somehow feel disconnected from the actions themselves. But this wasn't a dream, and she knew it with absolute certainty. She wouldn't suddenly start dreaming when she had been wide awake and in considerable discomfort just seconds ago.

The heat and pressure from the sun-baked surface she had been kneeling on wouldn't have given her the chance to fall asleep in the first place.

Pressing her hand against her chin, she pinched the skin gently, half-expecting to feel the familiar sensation of pain. Nothing. She pinched harder, applying what should have been painful force. Still nothing.

If I cannot feel my body, then why am I still in control of it?

She wondered aloud, looking around the darkness as if expecting some sort of instruction to suddenly come to her.

Am I getting some sort of clue here?

Suddenly, the realization flashed into her head. That's right! I can control what I cannot feel! This might be the clue to gamma energy control!

If she hadn't been able to see her body in this space, she probably wouldn't have been able to control it—or she might control it without even knowing.

This is just like gamma energy.

The realization was so obvious that she almost laughed at herself for not seeing it sooner. The gamma energy and life energy existing within a person's body are intangible and cannot be felt by the person possessing them, just like she couldn't feel her body in this strange dimensional space.

Most people went through their entire lives completely unaware of the energies flowing through their body because that is why they couldn't control it—that's why she couldn't control it.

However, certain individuals were able to control their gamma energy even though they couldn't feel it. They had learned to perceive and see it, which grants them the ability to manipulate it.

It somehow relates to how I am able to control my body in this space without feeling it. All I need to do is see it.

The answer was finally complete. She didn't need to feel her gamma energy—she needed to perceive it. Just as she could control her body in this void by seeing it rather than feeling it, she could control her gamma energy by developing a different kind of awareness.

All I need to do is to see my gamma energy.

Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open, and she was back in the real world where she was kneeling. However, everything was different now.

Her eyes crackled with gamma energy, violet lightning dancing across her irises. The world around her looked the same, but she could perceive it on an entirely new level.

She could see the energy.

Ryder and Leo, who had been sitting comfortably on their respective clouds and observing their struggling companions on the ground below, couldn't hide their surprise at the first drastic change in Mara.

The transformation was so complete and sudden that for a moment they wondered if she had somehow been replaced by someone else entirely.

One moment, she had been mumbling to herself and struggling under the oppressive pressure of the Tian district. The next moment, a burst of raw energy was resonating from her body with such intensity that it distorted the air around her.

Even Brok, who had been kneeling beside her and struggling with his own adaptation attempts, was blown several feet to the side by the sudden eruption of power emanating from her small frame.

I must not be a pushover! she screamed as she slowly rose up with one move after another, each movement distorting the air and cracking the ground.

The gamma stone pendant around her neck, which had been providing artificial assistance to help her cope with the oppressive aura, suddenly shattered into fragments like shards of glass across the ground. She no longer needed the artificial support—she had found her own source of strength.

Looking up at the two vacant clouds floating ten feet above the heated surface, she bent her knees and gathered herself into a crouch.

'I am going to become someone valuable and respected, no matter what it costs. I am going to prove to my father how true my dreams are.'

I will not let his efforts to make me into a perfect person go to waste!

**BWOOOOOM!**

The ground beneath her feet didn't just crack like the impact of her punch against the ground earlier—it completely shattered, drilling a hole in the floating surface deep enough for them to see the bare distant ground.