The course was ridiculous.
Yamamoto stood at the starting platform and looked at what the test administrators had built. Floating islands that moved in patterns, bridges that appeared and disappeared, walls of Shinsu that would fry anyone who touched them wrong. The whole thing stretched for miles, getting more complex as it went.
"This is supposed to stop me?" he said.
"It's supposed to test you," Quant called from his observation platform. "There's a difference. Oh, and did I mention the hunters?"
"Hunters."
"Yeah. We hired some experienced Regulars and a few test Rankers. They're scattered through the course. Their job is to eliminate anyone who looks too dangerous." Quant's grin was back. "Guess who fits that description?"
Yamamoto didn't answer. He was already analyzing the course, tracking the pattern of movement, identifying choke points and ambush locations. Two thousand years of tactical experience made this simple.
"One more thing," Quant added. "You've got competition. See that Regular over there?"
He pointed to another starting platform. A woman stood there—tall, athletic build, short red hair. She held a sword that crackled with Shinsu and looked at Yamamoto with open hostility.
"That's Endorsi Jahad," Quant said. "Another Princess. Not as high-ranked as Yuri, but still dangerous. She heard about you and specifically asked to compete in the same test."
"Why?" Yamamoto asked.
"Because you beat Evankhell." The woman—Endorsi—called across the distance. Her voice carried easily. "And because I want to see if you're really as strong as everyone's saying, old man."
"Another Princess," Yuri said, stepping up beside Yamamoto. She didn't sound happy. "Endorsi's competitive. Ruthless. She'll try to sabotage you if she thinks it'll give her an edge."
"Can she?"
"No. But she'll try anyway."
A bell rang out.
"TEST STARTS NOW!" Quant shouted.
Yamamoto started walking.
Not running, not rushing. Just his normal steady pace across the first bridge. The structure swayed under his weight, and he could feel traps built into it—pressure plates, Shinsu triggers, sections designed to collapse.
He ignored all of them.
His spiritual pressure created a buffer around his feet. Every trap he stepped on either didn't trigger or triggered too late, activating after he'd already passed. The bridge behind him started collapsing, but he was already on the next platform.
Behind him, Endorsi was moving fast. She jumped from platform to platform like gravity was optional, using some kind of Shinsu technique to enhance her speed. She was closing the distance, clearly planning to interfere.
Yamamoto reached the second island and found his first hunter.
The guy stepped out from behind cover—big, muscular, covered in scars. He held a massive hammer that glowed with Shinsu enhancement.
"Nothing personal," the hunter said. "But the bounty on you is worth more than three years of climbing."
"Bounty," Yamamoto repeated.
"Yeah. Guess the Tower administration really wants you gone." The hunter charged, surprisingly fast for his size. The hammer came down like a meteor.
Yamamoto caught it.
One hand. The weapon stopped dead, all that force and Shinsu enhancement hitting his palm and going nowhere.
"Impossible—" the hunter started.
Yamamoto twisted his wrist. The hammer's handle snapped like a twig. While the hunter stared at his broken weapon, Yamamoto's other hand shot out—a simple palm strike to the chest, backed by spiritual pressure.
The hunter flew backward, crashed through two barriers, and landed in the water far below. Eliminated.
"Ten seconds," Yuri called out from where she was following on a parallel path. "New record?"
"I wasn't timing it."
Endorsi reached the island. She saw the broken hammer, saw Yamamoto standing there calm as ever, and her expression shifted. Less confident now.
"You really are a monster," she said.
"Yes," Yamamoto agreed. "Are you going to try to stop me?"
Endorsi looked at him for a long moment. Then she shook her head. "I'm competitive, not stupid. I'll race you to the end instead."
"Smart girl," Yuri said.
"Shut up, Yuri," Endorsi shot back, but without real heat. She took off running.
Yamamoto kept walking.
The next section of the course was the moving platforms—islands that shifted in a complex pattern, requiring climbers to time their jumps perfectly. Most people would spend minutes here, calculating trajectories, waiting for openings.
Yamamoto walked to the edge and stepped off.
For a second, he was in open air. Then his foot came down on a platform that had been twenty meters away an instant ago. He'd used Shunpo—or rather, his adaptation of it using Shinsu instead of spiritual energy. The Tower's substance was different, but the principle was the same: move faster than perception.
He crossed the entire moving platform section in five steps.
"THAT'S CHEATING!" Quant's voice echoed across the course.
"You said I couldn't fly," Yamamoto called back. "I'm not flying. I'm stepping."
"That's not—you're—" Quant sputtered. "That's the same thing!"
"Take it up with my lawyer."
Yuri was laughing so hard she almost fell off her platform. Even Endorsi, struggling with the moving islands, cracked a smile.
The third section was the Shinsu walls—barriers of concentrated energy that would burn anyone who touched them. The path through was a narrow maze, forcing climbers to navigate carefully or find another way.
Yamamoto didn't slow down. He walked straight at the first wall.
His spiritual pressure flared, and the Shinsu wall parted in front of him. Not broke—just moved aside, like water around a boulder. He walked through, leaving a gap that closed behind him.
"He's reshaping the test," someone said over the comms. Probably another administrator. "The Shinsu is responding to his will more than our controls."
"That's what Irregulars do," Quant said, sounding resigned. "They break the rules."
Three more hunters appeared. These ones worked together—a team, coordinated, using formation tactics. They blocked the narrow path between Shinsu walls, weapons ready.
"Last chance," their leader said. "Stop here or we put you down."
Yamamoto stopped walking. "You're serious."
"Dead serious. We're Test Rankers. We might not be High Rankers, but three against one? We can take you."
"No," Yamamoto said simply. "You can't."
He drew his staff. Didn't release it, didn't even manifest flames. Just held it.
The temperature spiked anyway.
The three Rankers felt it—the heat pouring off him, the weight in the air that had nothing to do with Shinsu density. They were experienced fighters. They'd climbed the Tower, survived tests, earned their positions.
And every instinct they had was screaming at them to run.
"Last chance for you," Yamamoto said. "Walk away."
To their credit, they tried. The leader attacked first, using some kind of speed technique. The other two came from the sides, trying to flank.
Yamamoto moved.
The staff spun once. Just once, in a perfect arc. It tapped the leader mid-charge—a light touch on the shoulder. The man's speed technique shattered, his Shinsu enhancement broke, and he crashed into the ground face-first.
The staff spun again. Touched the second Ranker on the back as he tried to pass. The woman's attack dissolved, and she joined her leader on the ground.
The third Ranker—the smart one—stopped his attack halfway through and raised his hands.
"I'm out," he said quickly. "Not worth it."
"Smart," Yamamoto said. He continued walking, leaving the three Rankers behind.
Endorsi caught up again. "You're barely trying."
"Should I?"
"I don't know. It's just..." She struggled for words. "You're making the test look like a joke. The moving platforms that took me five minutes? You did in five seconds. The Shinsu walls that should be impossible? You just walked through them. The Test Rankers?" She pointed back at the three defeated fighters. "You beat them with a stick."
"And?"
"And it's terrifying!" Endorsi laughed, but it was the laugh of someone who didn't know whether to be excited or scared. "I'm a Princess. I'm supposed to be special. But watching you makes me feel like a kid playing dress-up."
Yamamoto glanced at her. "You're trying. You're fighting. That's worth something."
Endorsi blinked. "Was that a compliment?"
"Take it however you want."
They reached the final section together. The end platform was visible now—a large circular area where they'd complete the test. But between here and there was one last obstacle.
A person stood in the middle of the final bridge. And this one was different.
The man was older, maybe late forties, with gray hair and scars that looked earned. He wore formal robes and held a staff similar to Yamamoto's. When his eyes met Yamamoto's, there was recognition there—not of who Yamamoto was, but of what he was.
A fellow warrior.
"I'm Hansung Yu," the man said. "Actual Test Director, not Quant's circus act. I came down here personally because I wanted to see you with my own eyes."
"And?" Yamamoto asked.
"And you're everything they said." Hansung's expression was hard to read. "Evankhell sent a message. Said your power doesn't fit Tower scaling." He paused. "Said you could burn this entire floor to ash if you wanted to."
Yamamoto said nothing. Just met his gaze.
"That's what I needed to hear." Hansung stepped aside, clearing the path. "You pass. Both of you pass. This test was always just theater—a way to measure you without making it obvious. We got what we needed."
"Which is?"
"Confirmation that you're not hostile unless provoked. That you can control your power. That you're..." Hansung smiled slightly. "Reasonable, for a monster."
"Reasonable," Yamamoto repeated. He started walking past Hansung. "I'm not here to destroy the Tower. Just to climb it."
"Then I wish you luck," Hansung said. "You're going to need it. The higher you go, the more attention you'll attract. And not all of it will be friendly."
Yamamoto didn't respond. He crossed the final bridge and stepped onto the completion platform.
A light flashed—some kind of recording device—and Quant's voice came over the speakers.
"Congratulations! You've completed Floor 3's test in... seventeen minutes. New record by about three hours. Fantastic."
Yuri appeared next to him, having taken her own path through the course. She looked pleased. "You know you just made every future test they throw at you ten times harder, right?"
"Good," Yamamoto said. "Maybe they'll finally be worth my time."
Endorsi arrived last, looking exhausted but satisfied. "I'm telling everyone I beat you here."
"You didn't."
"I know. But I'm still telling them."
Despite himself, Yamamoto's mouth twitched. It wasn't quite a smile, but close.
A portal opened—the way to Floor 4.
"Ready?" Yuri asked.
Yamamoto looked at the portal, then at the Tower stretching up above them. One hundred thirty-five floors. He'd cleared three so far.
One hundred thirty-two to go.
"Let's keep moving," he said.
They stepped through together.