The more he fought, the more Michael ca to understand his own strength.
He was powerful. He had known that in an abstract sense from the mont he checked his stats after waking up. But knowing numbers and feeling what those numbers ant in practice were different things entirely.
He was very powerful now.
If he had possessed this level of strength back in hell, he couldn't say with certainty that he would have won against the Rank 4 he faced there. But he was sure he would have given them a real fight, sothing far removed from the reality of that encounter where he had ultimately left everything to his undead and focused on surviving.
On that note, Michael also realized he had been wrong about his law receiving no boost from his title.
It had received one. He simply hadn't recognized it when he first woke up because everything felt simultaneously new and familiar after the Advancent, and the passive had already been active before he opened his eyes. With no prior state to compare against, a boost he had never experienced before would feel indistinguishable from his baseline.
But after activating his second state alongside his law, he could no longer deny it.
The Law of Echoed Existence allowed him to copy the traits of anything connected to him by soul, but it had always been a partial copy rather than the full thing. That was its fundantal limitation. Back in hell, when he had copied Beginning's law and attempted to grow into a giant, the result hadn't co close to the original. The gap had been obvious.
The reason Michael sotis exceeded what he copied ca down to foundation. With a stronger foundation than the original, certain copied traits would naturally express themselves more powerfully through him. But there were traits where he simply could not match the source.
Beginning's full body size when growing through the law. Fade's depth of concealnt. These things required the original to be fully realized, and Michael was only ever working with a partial impression.
His current results told him the ceiling on that partial copy had risen. Setting aside the natural improvent that ca with ascending, sothing passive was actively amplifying the output. The boost was real.
As these thoughts moved through his mind the fight continued to escalate, each exchange pushing further than the last.
Unfortunately as Michael tried to push himself further using Beginning's trait, Director Lin wasn't actually trying to cause him injuries. Even the strikes she threw weren't life threatening, which made Michael think that though he was stronger now, he was still far from matching a Rank 4.
There was no issue though. He still had more levels before Rank 4. He doubted he'd be stagnant.
At that ti he'd love to fight with Director Lin again and see if anything changed.
Suddenly Director Lin stepped back.
"Enough. There's no need for more exchanges."
Her voice cut cleanly through the space.
Michael froze mid-motion and turned to look at his surroundings.
The desert around them was no longer a desert. The ground had collapsed in overlapping layers, deep trenches cutting across the land like scars. Entire sections had been compressed into glass-like
surfaces from heat and pressure. The air itself still trembled faintly, unstable from everything they had just done.
For a mont neither of them spoke.
Michael's massive form slowly relaxed. The sixty-ter body began to shrink, the pressure receded, the wings folded, and within seconds he stood in human form again, breathing slightly heavier than before. He imdiately reached into his storage space and pulled out a fresh set of clothes.
Engraving was remarkable. What Michael genuinely disliked about it was how it left him without clothes after each use.
Once he was dressed, Director Lin brought them out of the alternate space without another word. They reappeared inside the training
centre.
Michael exhaled slowly. The tension in his body eased, and he could already feel his control over himself was considerably better than it had been at the start.
Director Lin stood in front of him. There was an odd expression on her face, the look of soone weighing sothing carefully.
"...Do you have a master?"
Michael stared at her in confusion. The question ca from nowhere.
"...No."
Director Lin's eyes sharpened slightly. "...I see."
A brief pause followed.
"... What do you think about having one?"
Her tone was casual.
Michael opened his mouth to respond when four figures appeared around them at once. Arven and the other three had descended the
mont they heard Director Lin's words.
Director Lin's expression stiffened. A click of her tongue followed.
"...Tch."
She already knew it was too late.
One of the elders spoke imdiately. "...Sneaky woman."
Another glanced at her with clear amusent. "Trying to take him for
yourself?"
Director Lin's gaze flickered with irritation.
Arven stepped forward slightly, smiling. "... You should have asked inside the alternate space."
She clicked her tongue again. She knew that now. But it no longer mattered. The four of them would never let her have a mont of peace about this.
As several thoughts flashed through her mind, she found herself
wondering whether she should ask Michael what he thought about having a mother figure in his life. She had read his files. His parents were no longer around, so there was no telling how he might feel about sothing like adoption.
If Michael had known what was going through Director Lin's mind at that mont, he would have felt a very deep chill settle into his
bones.
For a brief mont no one spoke.
The air inside the training center felt strangely crowded now. Five
Rank 4 powerhouses, each carrying enough presence to bend the atmosphere around them, all standing within the sa room while looking at one newly advanced Rank 3.
Michael, who had no idea what expression he was even supposed to wear in this situation, could only manage an awkward smile. One of the elders shook his head slowly. "You really gave us a great
surprise."
Another snorted. "A surprise? That is putting it mildly." His gaze ran over Michael from head to toe without hiding the scrutiny. "A boy
who just entered Rank 3, yet can already do so much."
The quiet elder from before finally spoke. "...Absurd." Michael opened his mouth, then closed it again. He genuinely didn't
know what to say to that. In the end all he could do was scratch his
cheek with an awkward smile.
"...Sorry?"
That earned him a strange look from all five of them.
Then Arven laughed. "Look at that. He really has no idea what kind of
thing he is."
Director Lin clicked her tongue.
Arven waved a hand lightly as if brushing the matter aside, then his
gaze settled fully on Michael. Though his smile remained, his tone shifted into sothing more serious.
"Now that you're stronger, you can leave the academy whenever you want. No one here would stop you."
Michael blinked. That statent ca from nowhere.
Before he could respond Arven continued. "But you should be very
careful."
The casualness in his expression faded. "Staying in the academy is
much safer."
Michael's brows drew together slightly. "Is it because of what happened during the tribulation? The Federation again?" Arven nodded once. "That is part of it." He took a step forward. "But
more than that, it is because you are stronger now." Michael paused. That sounded backward.
Arven seed to notice his confusion. "The weak attract little
attention," he said calmly. "The strong attract much more. Especially the unwanted kind."
The training center grew quiet. Even Director Lin did not interrupt.
Arven's eyes remained on Michael. "Before, even if soone took interest in you, most would still remain cautious. A talented student is valuable, yes, but still only a student. There are lines people are
reluctant to cross too openly." A faint smile touched his lips but it carried no humor. "Now that changes." Michael's expression slowly turned serious.
Arven continued. "You have already shown enough to make people greedy. More than greedy in so cases. Curious. Threatened. Ambitious. All of those are dangerous in their own way."
One of the elders folded his arms. "And if soone decides to move
against you, they won't send the sa level of people they might have sent before."
Michael's eyes narrowed slightly. "They'll send stronger ones." The quiet elder gave a slow nod. "Correct."
Another added, "That is the problem with standing out. Once weaker
thods are no longer enough, the next thods are rarely pleasant." Arven's smile returned faintly. "In other words, congratulations. You are now troubleso enough that troubleso people will start considering you seriously."
Michael let out a small breath. That was not comforting at all.
Arven seed amused by his expression. "So be careful. If you want to
leave the academy grounds, leave. You've earned that freedom." A pause followed.
"But understand that outside these walls, things are different. Be very
careful."
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