Three Months Later
I stood on the balcony of our newest showroom in the Flower Capital, watching the streets below fill with Model Ts.
Twenty-three vehicles visible from this vantage point alone. Black, polished, moving through traffic with that distinctive mechanical noise that had become Wano's new soundtrack.
Three months ago, automobiles didn't exist here.
Now? You couldn't walk five blocks without seeing one.
"Final numbers for Q1, Master Arlo."
Kenji appeared beside me with a thick ledger, looking exhausted but happy. The man had aged five years in three months—managing our explosive growth had been brutal I felt sorry for him but Game's game.
"Hit me."
"Showrooms operational: Seventeen across eight major cities. Total vehicle sales: 3,847 units. Revenue: 12,310,400 belly. Production capacity increased to 140 units per week. Current backlog: 6,200 advance orders with deposits paid."
I whistled. "We're printing money."
"Literally, at this point." Kenji flipped pages. "The oil division is performing even better than projected. Fifty-three refueling stations operational. Fuel sales revenue: 8,940,000 belly. Profit margin: 73% after extraction and transport costs."
<
"And the restaurants?" I asked.
Kenji's grin widened. "All fifteen locations are packed. Morning, noon, and night. We're turning customers away. The ramen chain alone is generating 1,340,000 belly monthly. The yakitori places, the sushi bars, the tempura shops—every concept is printing profit."
I leaned against the railing, processing the numbers.
Three months. Three goddamn months, and we'd transformed Wano's entire economy.
"Problems?"
"The usual. Competitors trying to reverse-engineer our vehicles—they keep failing because they don't understand the precision manufacturing. Some nobles complaining about 'common people' driving cars. A few traditional cart-makers went out of business and are bitter about it." He shrugged. "Nothing major."
"Good. Keep expanding. I want twenty-five showrooms by month six."
"Already working on it." He hesitated. "There is one thing. The Shogun's office sent an inquiry about meeting with you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of inquiry?"
"The polite kind that's actually a demand. He wants to 'discuss the economic transformations occurring in Wano' and 'ensure proper regulatory oversight.'"
Translation: He wanted a cut, or control, or both.
"Tell him I'm five years old and very busy. Sachiko handles political meetings."
"Already did. He insists on meeting the 'young genius' personally."
"Then he can insist harder. I don't give a fuck about his regulatory oversight."
Kenji laughed. "I'll phrase it more diplomatically."
"You do that."
He left, and I turned my attention back to the streets.
This was good. This was working.
But it wasn't enough.
I needed more knowledge. More skills. More refinement of what I already had.
Which meant it was time to stop playing around in Akashic Records.
The Oil Fields - Two Months Ago
Finding oil had been easier than I'd expected, mainly because I approached it scientifically rather than through trial and error.
Oil deposits form in sedimentary basins where organic material gets buried and compressed over millions of years. The resulting hydrocarbons create specific geological signatures—density variations, pressure differentials, chemical resonances.
I'd used a combination approach:
First, geological analysis. Raphael processed every terrain map, every soil sample, every historical record of Wano's formation. Cross-referenced with my knowledge of petroleum geology from Earth.
<
Second, direct sensing. I'd flown to each location and used magicule detection in a specific way—hydrocarbons have a unique resonance pattern when exposed to magicule fields. It's subtle, but measurable.
Third, Law Manipulation. I'd temporarily altered the local laws governing electromagnetic resistance, making the ground effectively transparent to certain wavelengths. Instant ground-penetrating radar without needing actual equipment.
All seven sites confirmed. Massive deposits, easily accessible, high-quality crude.
The extraction setup was straightforward. Drill down, pump up, refine, distribute. I'd built the refineries using Material Creation and construct labor, installed pipelines using Earth Magic to tunnel, and established transport routes.
Fifty-three fuel stations in three months. Each one strategically placed along major roads, in cities, near commercial centers.
The economics were beautiful. Low extraction cost, high demand, near-monopoly position. 73% profit margin was actually conservative—I could have pushed it higher, but that would've been gouging.
I wasn't here to exploit people. I was here to build an empire they wanted to be part of.
The Restaurant Chain
The restaurant concept had come from a simple observation: Wano had amazing food culture, but terrible distribution.
Most good restaurants were in the Flower Capital. Everyone else made do with street vendors or home cooking.
So I'd created chains.
Standardized recipes. Consistent quality. Affordable prices. Clean environments. Good wages for workers.
I'd modeled them after Earth's successful Japanese chains:
Takeshi Ramen - Individual booth seating, rich tonkotsu broth, perfectly cooked noodles. Based on Ichiran's model but with Wano's local ingredients.
Tori King - Yakitori specialists. Every skewer grilled to perfection. Based on Torikizoku but upscale.
Sakana Fresh - Sushi and sashimi. Conveyor belt system for casual dining. Premium ingredients at reasonable prices.
Tempura Delight - Light, crispy tempura. Perfect batter ratios. Based on Tsunahachi's techniques.
Izakaya Nights - Casual drinking and dining. Small plates, social atmosphere. Modeled after traditional izakaya but with consistent quality control.
Fifteen locations total, all profitable from day one.
The secret wasn't just good food. It was reliability. People knew exactly what they'd get every time. That trust built loyalty.
Plus, I paid kitchen staff well and trained them properly. Happy workers made better food. Basic logic.
Akashic Records - Five Months Ago (Subjective Time)
The white void materialized around me, configured differently than usual.
No entertainment venues this time. Just an empty expanse and a summoning circle I'd spent six hours designing.
"Raphael, confirm the parameters."
<
"Summon."
The circle flared crimson, and reality bent.
The figure that materialized made me blink.
Guy Crimson. Primordial Rouge. One of the oldest and strongest beings in Tensura.
Also currently a woman.
Stunning, actually.
Long crimson hair, gold eyes with slit pupils, wearing an elegant black suit that somehow looked both masculine and feminine. The aura radiating off her was condensed power—millennia of experience compressed into one presence.
She looked at me, tilted her head, and smiled.
"Oh my. Aren't you adorable?"
I stared. "You're a woman."
"I'm whatever I feel like being, darling. And right now, I prefer this form." She walked closer, examining me. "Though I have to ask—why did a cute little girl summon me here?"
"I'm a boy."
"Are you sure? You're very pretty."
"Definitely a boy. And I summoned you for training. Combat, magic, skill refinement."
Guy's smile widened. "Training? You summoned a Primordial Demon for training?" She laughed. "How delightful! Most people summon me to beg for power or make terrible bargains. You just want to learn?"
"You're the best at what you do. Why would I settle for less?"
"Confident little thing." She circled me. "What's your name, cute one?"
"Arlo."
"Well then, Arlo-chan, if you want me to train you, you'll need to prove you're worth my time. Come at me with everything you have."
I moved.
Saint-level speed, closing distance instantly, fist aimed at her solar plexus with enough force to crater a building.
Guy caught my fist with one finger.
"Oh?" Her eyes lit up. "You're fast! And strong for such a small body. But sloppy. Try again."
She flicked my forehead, and I went flying.
I caught myself mid-air, wiped blood from my lip, and grinned.
"Again."
Two Weeks Later (Subjective Time)
I blocked Guy's palm strike, redirected the force, and countered with an elbow to her ribs.
She swayed back, avoiding it by millimeters, then swept my legs.
I jumped, planted my hand on her shoulder, vaulted over, and kicked at her back.
She spun, caught my ankle, and threw me.
I used the momentum to flip away and land in a ready stance.
"Better," Guy said, not even breathing hard. "You're actually thinking now instead of just throwing power around."
"Your teaching method is brutal."
"My teaching method is effective. Two weeks ago, you lasted five seconds. Now you're managing twelve minutes."
Twelve minutes against a Primordial Demon at 95% power. It should have been impossible.
But I was learning fast.
Guy had broken down my entire fighting style and rebuilt it. Footwork, weight distribution, energy flow, reading opponents, exploiting openings.
"You pick things up quick," she admitted, manifesting a chair and sitting. "Faster than most students I've had. It's almost like you already understand combat theory and just needed practical application."
Because I did. Physics, force vectors, momentum conservation, energy transfer—all concepts I'd mastered as a nuclear scientist. Combat was just applied physics with a biological element.
"Let's move on to magic," Guy said. "Your hand-to-hand is acceptable now. Time to refine your other skills."
We relocated to a constructed dojo she'd created within the void.
"Tell me what you know about magic," Guy said.
"Magicule manipulation to create phenomena. Will shapes energy into desired effects."
"Surface level understanding. Deeper."
I thought about it, applying my scientific background. "Magic is imposing your desired reality onto the world. You assert a law—'this space is fire'—and reality complies because you have the authority and energy to enforce it."
Guy's eyebrows rose. "That's... actually correct. Most people take decades to grasp that concept. You got it immediately."
"It's just physics with extra steps. In my previous life, I worked with nuclear forces—binding energies, decay rates, quantum mechanics. Magic operates on similar principles, just with different fundamental particles."
"Previous life?" Guy looked intrigued. "You're reincarnated?"
"Yeah. Was a nuclear scientist. Died, got reincarnated here with some abilities."
"Fascinating. That explains your analytical approach." She manifested a sphere of dark energy. "Let's see how fast you learn. This is Dark Magic. Not just shadow manipulation. True entropy manipulation, decay acceleration, void creation. Watch."
The sphere expanded, and I felt the effect immediately. The space around it was dying—not just darkening, but actively decaying. Energy flowed inward and ceased to exist.
"That's the principle," Guy said. "Dark Magic asserts 'this space belongs to entropy.' Everything within decays. Energy dissipates. Matter breaks down."
I analyzed the structure with my scientific background. Thermodynamically, she was creating a localized entropy maximum. Heat death in a bottle.
"Can you reverse it?" I asked. "Create a localized entropy minimum?"
Guy blinked. "You just asked if I can violate thermodynamics."
"You're already violating thermodynamics. I'm asking if you can violate it in the opposite direction."
She laughed. "I like how you think. Yes, technically, but it's harder. Creating order requires more energy than creating chaos. Show me your attempt at Dark Magic."
I gathered magicules and tried to replicate what she'd shown. Imposed the law: entropy maximum here.
The sphere formed, dark and hungry.
"Not bad for a first attempt," Guy said. "But weak. You're being too polite. Stop asking reality to change. Demand it."
I tried again, this time asserting authority rather than requesting.
The sphere intensified, actually pulling light into itself.
"Much better! You're a fast learner."
Over the next weeks, Guy taught me the nuances.
Dark Magic: Entropy manipulation, void creation, existential decay.
Nuclear Magic: Atomic force manipulation. Not radiation—true binding and unbinding of nuclear forces. I grasped this instantly, given my background. I'd spent years working with nuclear physics. This was just applying that knowledge magically.
"You're scary good at this," Guy admitted, watching me split atoms through pure magical assertion. "Most people struggle with Nuclear Magic for months. You got it in three days."
"I have a PhD in nuclear science. This is literally my specialty."
"Right. I keep forgetting you're not actually five years old."
Aspectual Magic: Imbuing phenomena with conceptual weight. Making Fire with a capital F—not just combustion, but the platonic ideal of Fire.
This one took longer, but I understood the principle. It was like the difference between a specific electromagnetic wavelength and the concept of "light" itself.
One Month In (Subjective Time)
"Let's talk about Law Manipulation," Guy said.
We stood in the center of the dojo, reality around us waiting to be edited.
"You have it as a skill, but you're not using it efficiently. Watch."
She pointed at a stone. "Gravity says this falls." She released it. It fell.
She picked it up. "But I say gravity doesn't apply here." The stone froze mid-air.
She hadn't used force. Hadn't created a counter-effect. She'd edited the law.
"How?" I asked, though I was already forming theories.
"By understanding the law you're editing. You can't rewrite code you can't read." She manifested equations—not mathematical notation, but something deeper. Fundamental structures.
"You already know this," Guy said, surprised. "You're reading these equations like they're basic arithmetic."
"Because they are. I've worked with these forces my entire previous life." I pointed at the electromagnetic structure. "This is Maxwell's equations with magicule integration. This is the strong force coupling constant modified for magical assertion. This is—"
"Okay, okay, I get it. You're a genius." Guy looked impressed. "This makes things easier. Let me show you how to apply it."
She walked me through Law Manipulation from a physics perspective.
Gravity wasn't just mass attracting mass. It was spacetime curvature. To edit it, you edited the local geometry. Or if you had enough grasp over space time curve then it would be just a byproduct.
Electromagnetism wasn't just charge interaction. It was field topology. To edit it, you rewrote the field structure.
Nuclear forces were binding energies. To edit them, you changed the energy wells.
"This is beautiful," I muttered, rewriting local gravity to make a boulder float. "It's like having root access to reality's physics engine."
"That's exactly what it is," Guy confirmed. "And you're picking it up faster than anyone I've ever seen. Your scientific background is a massive advantage."
Over the following weeks, I practiced obsessively.
Inverting gravity. Redirecting electromagnetic fields. Temporarily weakening nuclear binding (which created interesting explosive effects). Editing fundamental constants within localized spaces.
Guy taught me to scale up—not just affecting objects, but affecting areas. Entire rooms where gravity worked differently. Zones where electromagnetism was amplified or nullified.
"You're getting scary good at this," she said, watching me create a space where three different gravity vectors operated simultaneously. "Most people take decades to reach this level of control."
"Most people don't have graduate-level physics education," I replied, adding a fourth gravity vector just to see if I could. "I'm just applying knowledge I already had."
Two Months In (Subjective Time)
"Tell me about Uriel," Guy said during a break.
We were sitting in the dojo, drinking tea she'd materialized.
"Ultimate Skill. Lord of Vows. Absolute defense through Universal Barrier, Law Domination subset, various other abilities."
"And you're barely using it."
I frowned. "I use Universal Barrier all the time."
"For defense. But Uriel isn't a defensive skill, its just wearing a defensive mask. It's reality editing that happens to be useful for defense." She set down her cup. "My rival, Rudrakshi, had Uriel. That woman can walk into an apocalypse and reality itself bends around her. Not because she blocks attacks. Because she tells reality that attacks aren't allowed near her."
"How?"
"Authority. Law manipulation is a subskill of Uriel, right? It alters world as a whole be it localized or large scaled. That's domination. It's not a request it's a order."
I thought about that. I'd been using Uriel defensively—creating barriers, blocking attacks. But if Law Domination was a core component...
"Show me your barrier," Guy said.
I raised my hand and activated Universal Barrier. Seven layers of compressed space formed an impenetrable wall.
"Competent defensive structure," Guy said. "Now watch this."
She raised one finger, and space folded.
The barrier she created wasn't a wall. It was an assertion. A law written into local reality: Nothing hostile exists within this space.
I threw a magicule blast at it—enough energy to level a mountain.
The attack hit the barrier and ceased to exist. Not blocked. Not absorbed. Erased from reality.
"That's Uriel's true potential," Guy said. "Not stopping attacks. Denying their existence entirely."
I stared at the space where my attack had been.
"Teach me."
Three Months In (Subjective Time)
Guy taught me to refine my Law Domination.
The key was authority. Not just imposing a law, but commanding reality to obey.
I practiced creating spaces where specific phenomena were simply impossible. Zones where fire couldn't exist. Areas where momentum transferred backwards. Volumes where the concept of "damage" had no meaning.
"Better," Guy said, watching me create a zone where kinetic energy inverted on entry. She threw a rock at it, and the rock bounced back with twice the force. "You're thinking in terms of absolute rules now, not just modifications."
"It's just logical," I said, expanding the zone. "If I have authority over laws, why settle for bending them? Just rewrite them completely."
"Most people are too cautious for that. Afraid of breaking reality."
"Reality is more robust than people give it credit for. Local rewrites don't cascade globally."
"Spoken like a scientist." Guy grinned. "Alright, let's push further. What if you combined Law Manipulation with your Nuclear Magic knowledge?"
I thought about it. Nuclear forces were binding energies holding matter together. If I could edit those laws within a space...
I created a zone and asserted: Within this space, nuclear binding energy is zero.
The air molecules inside instantly disintegrated into free atoms. Then free protons and neutrons. Then free quarks.
The zone collapsed into a pinpoint of intense energy before I could cancel it.
"Holy shit," Guy said, looking impressed. "You just created matter dissolution at the fundamental level. That's some advanced stuff."
"Just applied physics," I said, though I was grinning. "Nuclear forces plus Law Manipulation equals targeted matter disassembly."
"You're going to be terrifying when you're older."
Four Months In (Subjective Time)
"Time to learn my techniques," Guy said.
We stood in an open arena she'd created.
"I've got several signature moves I've developed over the millennia. Let's start with the basics."
Gravity Collapse: She demonstrated, Creating a localized gravitational field disruption, resulting in a field of supergravity which quickly compresses all the energy in the area into a single point, effectively creating an artificial black hole. Then, the flow of energy reverses, exploding outwards in something resembling a supernova. The barrier used to contain the blast extends upwards instead of outwards, creating a massive pillar that goes all the way out into space.
I analyzed it. Localized gravity well, inverse-square law pushed to extremes, spatial compression through Law Manipulation.
"Let me try."
I replicated the structure, creating my own Gravity Collapse. Wide area affect generating massive blast that vaguely resembled a supernova.
"Show-off," Guy muttered. "Most people take weeks to copy that. You did it in one attempt."
"I understand the physics. The rest is just execution."
Death Streak: A projectile attack imbued with conceptual "death." When the abyss core generated by nuclear magic which is essentially a enclosed super compressed magicule sphere embued with the laws to maintain the nuclear cycles is crushed, it releases waves that agitate spiritrons which, in turn, produce radiation in the form of a dark light . The dark light bypasses all physical and magical obstacles and forcefully rewrites the genes of living beings, resulting in death. Even the souls of every being within its radius are destroyed by the dark light precisely piercing their infons. While dark light causes no direct physical damage to the target, the aggressive mutation normally causes the target's body to quickly decay and disintegrate, leaving nothing behind. The user can potentially take damage if handled incorrectly, with the dark light not discriminating between friend or foe.
A bit more complex the previous one but still easily manageable.
I practiced for three days before getting it up to my standards.
"Not bad," Guy said, watching my version streak across the arena.
Nuclear Strike: Weaponized atomic unbinding. Release the binding energy of matter as an explosive force.
This was easy. I'd worked with binding energy calculations for years.
My version actually came out stronger than Guy's because I understood the physics more intimately.
"Okay, now you're just showing off," Guy said, watching my Nuclear Strike crater the arena floor.
"Can't help it if nuclear science is my specialty."
Calamity Claw: Calamity Claw is an attack that carries an intense poison property. However, it's far more advanced than a standard venom. The attack creates and injects what are called Doom Particles (or a magical virus) into the target This virus can spread through point-of-contact. Crucially, it doesn't just work skin-to-skin—if Guy strikes an opponent's sword or shield with his claw, the virus can travel through the weapon and infect the wielder.
Guy demonstrated, her hand glowing with crimson energy as she struck the ground. The impact didn't just break rock—it edited the rock's structural integrity laws, Doom particles eroding it completely causing it to disintegrate.
I copied it after five attempts, combining my hand-to-hand training with Magicule manipulation with a tiny bit of Law Manipulation to tweak with the binding energy of the matter, it also left a lingering curse that would ensure that objects couldn't be restructured and people healed using regular healing magic.
Catastrophe Strike: Large-scale attack that created a zone of Highly accelerated entropy.
Guy gathers a massive amount of magicules—often combined with the "black light" from his Nuclear Magic or the energy generated by his Ultimate Skill Lucifer.
Fixation: He compresses this energy into a single point, usually his hand or the tip of his sword.
The Strike: When the strike connects, the compressed energy is released all at once. It doesn't just "hit" the target; it creates a localized collapse of space and energy, effectively deleting whatever it touches.
"This is Dark light + Law Manipulation," Guy explained. "It's not just Entropy by Dark Light's inherent property of eroding/destroying substance. A very compressed attack. Fun fact when you learn Nihility magic or any other magic that operates of fundamentally any different energy you could incorporates them in this Art."
I grasped the principle quickly. Temporal/Spatial manipulation through Law Manipulation, entropy acceleration through Dark Light.
My version worked but was less refined than Guy's.
"You've got the concept," Guy said. "But it needs practice. This one requires finesse, not just power."
Material Creation: The ability to create permanent objects from magicules.
"This is one of the most common skills of Daemons" Guy said, manifesting a sword from nothing. "The difference between this and temporary constructs is permanence. It's not just borrowing reality's permission. You're asserting 'this object exists now' and making it true."
I'd been doing something similar with the Codex, but Guy's method was more refined.
"It's about intent and authority," she explained. "You're not making a copy. You're declaring a new truth."
Five Months In (Subjective Time)
The final phase focused on analytical skills.
"You already have good analytical capabilities," Guy said. "That scientific background makes you naturally observant. But I can refine it."
She taught me to perceive infons- Infons are the smallest particles and are contained within all matter in the world, including souls and even skills. Their mass is as close to zero as it gets. They are unaffected by space and time and are thus able to transfer information in any situation with zero time difference..
"Every skill, every spell, every ability has an information pattern. See the pattern, understand the skill."
I'd been doing this intuitively with my Creator skill, but Guy's method was more systematic.
She showed me how to read infon structures in real-time during combat. How to identify weaknesses in skill frameworks. How to replicate techniques by copying their information fingerprint.
"Your Creator skill is perfect for this," Guy said. "It analyzes phenomena and reverse-engineers them. Combined with proper analytical technique, you're basically a skill thief."[Arlo told guy about his skill]
We practiced with her techniques. She'd use a skill, I'd analyze its infon structure, then replicate it.
Gravity Collapse. Death Streak. Calamity Claw. Material Creation.
I could copy them all after seeing them once.
"That's genuinely impressive," Guy admitted. "I can analyze skills quickly too, but you're faster than I was at your level of development."
"Pattern recognition," I said. "Nuclear science requires analyzing complex systems and extracting fundamental principles. Skills are just another type of complex system."
"There's one more thing I need to ask you about," I said during a break. "Ultimate Skills."
Guy raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"
"I know they're stored in the heart core rather than the soul like normal skills. That makes them harder to analyze. But you copied Satanael from Milim, so it's possible."
"Technically possible, yes. Extremely difficult and dangerous." Guy summoned a weak manifestation of Satanael—her copied version. "I got the infon structure from Milim, but I can't use it at full power. The output would destroy me."
"But you have the structure. The pattern."
"I do. Why?"
"I want to learn how to analyze Ultimate Skills. I know it's harder because they're conceptually dense and stored differently, but I should be able to do partial analysis at least."
Guy studied me. "You're not asking to copy mine specifically. You want to learn the technique."
"Exactly. I have my own Ultimate Skills. If I can learn to analyze them properly, understand their full capabilities..."
"You could optimize them." Guy nodded slowly. "That's actually smart. Most people just use their Ultimate Skills without understanding them. But if you can analyze the infon structure..."
"I can see what they're capable of and optimize them and use them more efficiently."
"Alright. I'll teach you. But be careful. Ultimate Skills are dense. Trying to fully analyze one can overload your consciousness."
She activated Lucifer—her primary Ultimate Skill.
The pressure was immense. Not physical force, but conceptual weight.
"Try to perceive its infon structure," Guy said.
I reached out with my analytical abilities.
Information cascaded. Skill trees branching into skill trees, sub-abilities feeding into master functions, conceptual frameworks layering infinitely deep.
I focused, using my Creator skill to parse the structure.
Components emerged: Domination authority framework. Law superiority assertion. Conceptual override mechanisms.
But the full structure was too dense. Like trying to read an entire library in one glance.
I pulled back before the headache started.
"How much did you get?" Guy asked.
<
"Twenty-three percent," I reported.
Guy looked impressed. "That's... actually really good. Most people can't perceive Ultimate Skills at all. You decoded almost a quarter of Lucifer on your first attempt."
"It's not enough. I need the full structure."
"That'll come with time. As you grow stronger, your capacity increases." She activated her copied Satanael. "Try this one."
I analyzed, parsing the chaotic structure.
This one was different. Where Lucifer was organized dominance, Satanael was weaponized wrath and anger given form. Laws shattered and reformed, reality torn apart and rebuilt.
<
"Thirty-one percent," I said.
"Even better. You've got talent for this." Guy dismissed both skills. "Keep practicing with your own Ultimate Skills. You'll get faster at reading the patterns."
Final Day - Combat Evaluation
"Final test," Guy said, stretching. "You versus me. Survive ten minutes and land one clean hit."
We stood in the arena, facing each other.
"Ready?"
I activated my skills, settling into combat stance.
"Ready."
"BEGIN!"
She moved, and I barely tracked it—a blur of motion as her fist came at my face.
I activated Universal Barrier with Law Domination, creating a space where "impact force" was redirected.
Her fist hit the barrier and deflected sideways.
But she'd expected that. Her other hand was already coming at my ribs with Calamity Claw active.
I teleported using Law Manipulation—asserting "I am there instead of here"—and appeared behind her.
Nuclear Strike to her back.
She twisted, caught my wrist, and threw me.
I recovered mid-air, launched Death Streak from three angles.
She dispersed them with a wave of dark energy.
The fight continued. Five minutes. Seven. Nine.
I was using everything she'd taught me. Hand-to-hand techniques, Law Manipulation, analytical skills to predict her moves, my own abilities combined with her teachings.
At nine minutes thirty seconds, I saw my opening.
She launched a Catastrophe Strike, creating a zone of accelerated entropy.
The attack was complex, requiring significant focus to maintain.
Which meant a microsecond gap in her defense.
I used Law Manipulation to teleport inside her guard and struck with Calamity Claw—her own technique.
It connected. Palm strike to her sternum.
Guy slid back three inches.
The timer hit ten minutes.
She looked at the impact point, then at me.
Then laughed.
"You used my own technique against me while I was using a different technique, and you actually landed it!" She was grinning. "That's not just skill. That's audacity combined with tactical thinking."
I collapsed, breathing hard, magicule reserves at 23%. But My body was Adapting at accelerated rate.
Guy walked over and offered her hand. "You pass. Hell, you more than pass. That was genuinely impressive."
I took her hand. "Thanks for everything."
"Don't thank me yet. You've learned the basics, but you're still young. Give it time, though?" She smiled. "You'll be terrifying."
The arena started to dissolve.
"Guy?"
"Mm?"
"Why did you actually help me? You're an Echo, but you went beyond just training."
She smiled—genuine warmth on a Primordial Demon's face.
"Because you remind me of someone. Someone who was too clever for their own good, too ambitious to accept limitations, and too stubborn to quit." She waved as she faded. "Keep that fire, Arlo. The world needs people who refuse to stay small."
Then she was gone.
<
"Raphael?"
<
"We did good."
<
"Concerned I'll replace you?"
<
"Uh-huh. You're proud of me."
<>
"Sure you don't."
<
I smiled and ended the simulation.
Back in Reality
Seven hours had passed. The sun had set.
I examined my new skills:
From Guy Crimson:
Gravity Collapse Death Streak Nuclear Strike Calamity Claw Catastrophic Strike Material Creation (Mastered)
Enhanced Abilities:
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Master Level) Dark Magic (Advanced) Nuclear Magic (Expert - exceeded Guy's level due to scientific background) Aspectual Magic (Advanced) Law Manipulation (Expert Level) Law Domination through Uriel (Significantly Enhanced) Ultimate Skill Analysis (Partial - Lucifer 23%, Satanael 31%)
<
I stood and walked to the window, looking out at Wano.
It's time.
End of Chapter 16
Power Scaling:
True Demon Lord equivalent (Tensura)