Saltwind Tidal Academy did not believe in slow climbs.
It believed in pressure.
And pressure, Jeather had learned, either crushed you—
Or refined you.
He stood beneath the ranking obelisk in the central plaza, sea-wind whipping against the long blue banners that marked the Top 100 factions. His name glowed faintly on the board.
Rank 643.
Not bottom.
Not impressive.
Not safe.
Students moved around him in clusters, some with beasts perched on shoulders, some with aquatic familiars floating in suspended water spheres, others with scaled predators pacing beside them on mana-leashes.
Jeather's gaze flicked upward.
On the roof of a dormitory tower, a Windscale Drifter—a feathered, serpentine bird-beast—balanced effortlessly on one claw, eyes glowing faint cyan. It tracked movement like a bored sentinel.
"…Everyone's showing off," Jeather muttered.
Inside the Beast Realm, the Otter rolled onto its back in midair.
"They parade! They parade!"
Astrael hovered in dignified silence.
Velkaria leaned against a frost-veined pillar.
The Basilisk's golden eyes half-lidded.
The Chimera flicked its tail.
The Ice Abyss Weaver remained suspended, quiet but observant.
The Mutated Rifthound paced.
Saxum was upside down in Metal Form, hanging from a floating rock.
"Jett fight when?"
"Soon," Jeather replied internally.
And as if the sea itself had been waiting—
A voice called out across the plaza.
"Rank 643."
Jeather didn't turn immediately.
He already felt it.
Intent.
Two auras.
Strong.
Coordinated.
He exhaled.
"Here we go."
He turned.
Two students stepped forward.
Both wearing the silver-blue insignia of Tidefall Assembly—a Top 100 faction.
Rank 89 and Rank 92.
A double formation.
The taller one smiled thinly.
"You're climbing fast."
"I moved twelve ranks this morning," Jeather said casually.
"Exactly."
The second one folded her arms.
"You don't belong unaffiliated."
Ah.
There it was.
Recruitment.
Or suppression.
Jeather tilted his head.
"And if I decline?"
The taller one's smile sharpened.
"Then we test whether you deserve to keep climbing."
A murmur spread across the plaza.
A double-rank duel.
Rare.
Official.
Sanctioned.
Instructor Maelor stood watching from a balcony above.
Of course he did.
Jeather scratched the back of his neck.
"You know what?" he sighed. "Fine. Let's make it interesting."
The ranking obelisk pulsed.
Official Challenge: Rank 643 vs Rank 89 & 92 — Double Duel Authorized
The location shimmered into existence beneath the text.
Underground Arena – Saltwind Lower Ring
Students erupted into motion.
The Underground Arena.
Saltwind's unofficial official battleground.
Where politics pretended not to exist.
The entrance lay beneath the academy's eastern wing, carved into black coralstone.
Jeather walked down the spiral staircase, feeling the air grow cooler.
Mana heavier.
The arena was circular. Wide enough to host small war-beasts.
No water this time.
Dry stone.
Layered platforms.
Observation balconies.
This wasn't evaluation.
This was spectacle.
His opponents stepped into the opposite side of the ring.
The taller one summoned first.
A Silver-tier Stormback Ravager — a massive quadrupedal beast plated in crackling lightning armor.
The second summoned a Tideblade Seraph — winged, aquatic humanoid beast wielding dual water-forged blades.
The crowd reacted instantly.
Jeather rolled his shoulders.
"Double team already. No warm-up."
Inside the Beast Realm—
"SMASH BOTH!" Saxum screamed.
"Not yet," Jeather replied calmly.
He stepped forward.
"First official double-rank duel," he muttered.
"Don't embarrass us," Velkaria said dryly.
He raised his hand.
The Mutated Rifthound materialized.
The air fractured slightly.
A ripple of warped space expanded around it.
Students murmured.
"Is that—?"
"It's unstable."
"They're letting that thing fight?"
Jeather's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah," he muttered. "We're testing something."
He wasn't using Astrael.
Not Velkaria.
Not the Chimera.
Not the Basilisk.
Those were for life and death.
This?
This was growth.
The Ravager charged first.
Lightning slammed into the stone floor as it accelerated.
The Seraph lifted into the air, blades forming crescent arcs of compressed water.
Jeather moved.
Rifthound vanished.
Not speed.
Distortion.
It blinked sideways.
Appeared behind the Ravager.
Claws raked across its flank.
Lightning exploded outward.
The Rifthound flickered.
Its form destabilized for half a second.
Jeather felt it.
The instability.
Too much mana compression.
"Hold it together," he muttered.
The Seraph descended.
Twin blades slashed in an X-pattern.
Jeather ducked under one arc and kicked off the arena wall.
The second blade grazed his sleeve.
The Ravager spun, tail whipping with crackling voltage.
The Rifthound reappeared mid-spin—
But something went wrong.
Its body warped unevenly.
One shoulder stretched unnaturally.
Its jaw elongated too far.
The crowd gasped.
Jeather cursed.
"Shit— stabilize!"
The Rifthound howled.
Space cracked around it like thin glass.
A partial evolution surge.
Uncontrolled.
The Ravager seized the opportunity and slammed into it.
Thunder detonated.
Jeather slid across stone.
The Seraph followed, blades aimed for his throat.
He pivoted at the last second, barely avoiding decapitation.
"You fight well for 643," Rank 89 called out.
Jeather spat.
"Thanks. You fight predictable for Top 100."
The Rifthound rose again.
This time its eyes glowed brighter.
Not silver.
Violet.
Its claws extended slightly longer.
Mana density increased.
Partial evolution.
But unstable.
Jeather made a decision.
"Short burst. No overdraw."
The Rifthound blinked again—
Appeared above the Ravager mid-leap—
Distorted its own mass—
And slammed down with amplified
gravitational compression.
The stone cratered.
The Ravager collapsed momentarily.
The Seraph shrieked and dove.
Jeather intercepted.
He channeled raw mana into his fist.
Empowered Strike.
Connected with the Seraph's blade-hand.
The impact cracked the water-formed weapon.
Pain shot through his knuckles.
He gritted his teeth.
"Stay down."
The Rifthound lunged again—
But its form flickered violently.
A tear opened across its flank.
Not a wound.
A spatial fracture.
Jeather felt the backlash hit his core.
He staggered.
The Ravager surged up and tackled him into the arena wall.
Stone shattered.
Breath left his lungs.
"JETT!" Saxum screamed inside.
"Finish it," Astrael said calmly.
"No," Jeather hissed.
Not yet.
He forced himself upright.
The Rifthound reappeared beside him.
Half its body stabilized.
Half distorted.
"Last push."
It growled.
The Seraph attacked again—
The Rifthound phased sideways—
Grabbed both opponents within a compressed distortion field—
And Jeather drove a point-blank mana pulse into the Ravager's chest while the spatial pressure folded inward.
Silence.
Then—
Both beasts collapsed.
The arena fell still.
The ranking obelisk above flickered.
Rank 643 → Rank 211
The crowd exploded.
Jeather blinked.
"…That's a jump."
He coughed.
Blood tasted metallic.
The Rifthound collapsed beside him, flickering erratically.
Jeather immediately withdrew it.
Inside the Beast Realm—
It lay trembling.
Unstable.
Velkaria approached.
"It forced growth too early."
Astrael's aura dimmed thoughtfully.
"It seeks evolution."
Saxum ran over in Earth Form.
"Riffy broken?!"
"Not broken," Jeather said quietly. "Just pushing too hard."
He exhaled slowly.
Rank 211.
From 643.
Double duel.
That was how you climb.
But it wasn't clean.
And the Top 100 had noticed.
By evening, three different faction representatives approached him.
One offering sponsorship.
One offering "training guidance."
One politely suggesting he stop climbing so aggressively.
Jeather smiled at all of them.
And accepted none.
"Independent," he said lightly.
Inside, he understood.
The higher you climb—
The more enemies you gain.
That night, while strolling outside the academy walls near the coastal cliffs, Jeather paused.
Something was wrong.
A fishing settlement below Saltwind flickered with unnatural mana signatures.
He saw it first—
A tethered Bronze-tier Coralhide Snapjaw, dragged by chains.
Three cloaked figures suppressing it with artifact collars.
Beast poachers.
Outside academy jurisdiction.
Saxum's voice echoed immediately.
"SMASH THEM."
The Rifthound stirred weakly.
The Otter hissed.
Velkaria's voice turned cold.
"They will sell it for parts."
Jeather's eyes darkened.
He stepped forward.
"Looks like we're not done tonight."
The sea breeze shifted.
The Coralhide Snapjaw struggled weakly.
And Jeather smiled faintly.
Rank 211.
Unofficial enforcer of nothing.
Collector of everything.
And someone just made the mistake of hunting beasts near him.
The tide did not welcome newcomers.
It tested them.
But tonight—
Jeather would be the test.