After the draw with Zhao Jie, the institute did not treat Kali the same.
Not openly.
Not officially.
But in every glance, every silence, every shift in the air — the change was there.
Kali felt it when he stepped onto the training platforms that evening. The noise of the crowd softened as he passed. Conversations dipped. A few students moved aside without realizing they were doing it.
Rank 6 without a contract.
A nobody who forced a draw with an elite.
That combination unsettled the hierarchy.
Kali ignored them and entered the Energy Conditioning Zone. The chamber doors slid shut behind him, sealing him inside a low-humming field of concentrated cosmic radiation. Blue light flowed through the transparent walls like liquid lightning.
He sat cross-legged on the floor.
The moment he began circulating energy, his body responded.
The fracture inside his chest pulsed — not painfully, but insistently. Energy no longer fought him. It obeyed. Every breath pulled more power into his core than before, and every cycle refined it more cleanly.
But with that clarity came awareness.
His muscles were overworked.
His meridians were torn and only half-healed.
His heart still carried micro-fractures from the gravity sessions.
Kali opened his eyes, sweat sliding down his jaw.
If he kept pushing like this without resources, his body would collapse.
That was the truth.
The door hissed open.
Chen Rui slipped inside and sat next to him, exhaling shakily.
"You're not normal anymore," Chen Rui muttered.
Kali gave a tired smile. "I was never normal."
Chen Rui hesitated. "The elites are meeting tonight. Zhao Jie's name came up. So did yours."
Kali's expression hardened.
Chen Rui leaned closer. "They're pressuring the instructors. They don't want you in the next core evaluation."
Kali laughed softly. "That's not their decision."
"Nothing here is just one person's decision," Chen Rui said quietly.
The Offer
Later that night, Kali was summoned.
Not by the institute.
By the Federation.
A man in a dark coat waited inside the observation chamber overlooking the training grounds. His presence alone carried weight — calm, controlled, dangerous.
"Sit," the man said.
Kali did.
The man studied him for a long moment. "Planetary Rank 6. No contract. No sponsor. No resources. And yet you forced a draw with Zhao Jie."
Kali said nothing.
"You're burning your life to climb," the man continued. "That kind of growth has a limit."
"I know."
The man slid a small case across the table.
Inside:
three crystalline vials of silver liquid.
Grade-B Recovery Serum
Kali's breath caught.
"One vial could keep your body intact for a month," the man said. "Three will let you survive the next stage."
"What do you want?" Kali asked.
"Results," the man replied. "Stay in the core evaluations. Don't die. And don't embarrass the Federation."
Kali closed the case.
"Why me?"
The man's eyes narrowed slightly. "Because people who climb without backing either become legends… or warnings. I'd rather see which you become."
He stood.
"You have seventy-nine days left."
Then he was gone.
Pressure Returns
Kali returned to Ironreach Block just before dawn.
His mother was already awake, hands raw from work. His father slept in the chair, exhaustion carved into every line of his face. Tian stirred as Kali entered, her eyes lighting up.
"Brother… you're stronger again."
Kali knelt beside her. "So are you."
She smiled.
Later, alone in the dark, Kali stared at the three vials in his hand.
He knew what they meant.
They weren't gifts.
They were fuel.
And fuel always runs out.
He swallowed the first vial.
Warmth flooded his veins.
Outside, the city hummed.
Inside, the climb continued.