Chapter 124
The group returned to Auserre’s quarters, her training hall still echoing with the remnants of battle. The air carried faint traces of every Force her students had unleashed—nature curling through the walls, sound humming in subtle vibrations, frost clinging in patches of ice, ember-ash flickering like smoldering coals, threads of Verdant Volt sparking faintly, Ebb & Flow Force tugging at the gravity of the room, Tideborne Eclipse water seeping across the floor, and the steady equilibrium of Balance Force anchoring it all.
The very first thing the kids did after the tournament wasn’t to rest, but to throw themselves back into training. Of course, that came after Mia sat through an intense counseling session to process everything that had unfolded with Kei M.
Kei Y had taken the role of counselor. And, surprisingly—or maybe not so surprisingly—he was good at it. If he weren’t already grinding his way through a PhD in business back home, he could have gone into psychology without missing a beat.
He had them sit down, made them talk, dragged emotions to the surface. He pulled buried resentment out of Mia, gave her the space to cry and rage and still be heard. He pressed Kei M until he stopped choking on guilt and finally accepted responsibility for his part in her parents’ deaths, instead of endlessly circling it in silence. By the end of it, both of them walked away raw, exhausted, but lighter.
Kei Y… sat in a chair.
Not just any chair, but one he kept reshaping mid-session with his fledgling Earth Force. First it was too stiff. Then too narrow. Then too wide. He leaned back, frowned, re-molded it, leaned forward, frowned again, adjusted the height.
“I wonder if these hours would count toward my unsupervised training hours back home?” he muttered under his breath. “Also… this chair could be way comfier.”
His mind split, one focused on nudging the pair toward catharsis and the other obsessing over the armrest curve. Somehow, absurdly, it worked.
When the session ended, Mia and Kei M walked away carrying new emotions, new truths, and matters to work through—both quietly changed. Meanwhile, Kei Y stayed behind with Olly, the two of them locked in serious debate over the aesthetics of the chair.
While Kei Y fidgeted endlessly with his chair, Inpu was grinding through training with Silvie, sweat clinging to his skin, the echoes of his most recent fight still sharp in his mind.
He and Kei Y had been paired up against participants from Japan—a Soldier Class and a Specialist.
The fight had been brutal. Troublesome. With the Specialist’s domain looming over the field, every exchange felt like struggling against an invisible weight.
At least… it had been brutal for Inpu.
Kei Y, no longer restricted to only his Healing Force, unveiled his fire rune strokes. The moment he carved those burning sigils into the air, the tide shifted. His opponents, who had dismissed him as nothing more than a healer, suddenly found themselves wading through the fury of his flames. A volley of fire arrows streaked forward, each one threatening to impale them cleanly through, leaving trails of vicious burns in their wake.
Naturally, Kei Y drew their focus. Healers were always priority targets, and one who could suddenly wield fire so freely was doubly dangerous. The Specialist barked orders without hesitation, sending the Soldier after Inpu while focusing his domain pressure squarely on Kei Y.
When Inpu realized the weaker of the two had been sent his way, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief. A Soldier Class he could handle.
But that relief soured quickly into guilt.
Because it meant Kei Y was standing alone against a Specialist—stronger, sharper, bolstered by their domain—and Inpu knew full well what that meant. Kei Y was shouldering the real danger without complaint, leaving Inpu to wrestle with the shame of being the one protected.
Facing an opponent a cultivation realm above his own, Inpu’s legs buckled as he struggled to keep his Scale Force under control.
The Soldier-class fighter moved fast—faster than Inpu could properly track—but instinct carried him forward. Sword in hand, he reacted, blade flashing against a sudden barrage of bamboo shoots that tore toward him. Each strike rattled his arms, the sheer weight of the attacks pushing him to his limits.
Gritting his teeth, Inpu shifted the fortune of the strikes. His Scale Force drained the bamboo of its strength, leeching their nutrients and making them brittle, easier to cut down. Even so, every swing felt heavier than the last. He was surviving, but only just.
The Specialist, watching from the other side, had expected his Soldier ally to crush Inpu quickly. Instead, what he received was Kei Y's foot to the face—wreathed in layered fire rune strokes—that sent him staggering back.
And when the Recruit pressed his advantage, the Specialist found no reprieve. Kei Y hurled blazing rods across the field, each one molten-hot, sizzling as they spun through the air. Upon impact, they didn’t just burn—they bloomed.
A crimson floral eruption unfurled across the battlefield, petals of fire spreading outward in a deadly rain.
For a moment, the Specialist was distracted. The burning blossoms were so beautiful, so vibrant, that they almost looked harmless. Only when the petals landed on his skin—sizzling, biting deep with searing pain—did he remember the truth.
They were beautiful because they were deadly.
Wanting to end it quickly, a lightning domain erupted across the field, causing Kei Y to stare in fascination, momentarily forgetting that he was still in the middle of a match as a Saber of lightning cleaved toward his head.
The Specialist thought it was a done deal, certain his strike would end the fight swiftly. Instead, he suddenly found himself pressed down onto the ground, the all-too-familiar feeling of burning feet imprinting against his back, searing through his equipment.
To further increase the temperature of the fire on his feet, Kei Y control Breeze Force to feed the fire more oxygen to make the heat spiral out of control.
Hissing from the heat as it slowly spread across him, the Specialist’s domain flared to life. Lightning gathered, condensing into the shape of a vigilant eagle.
Kei Y’s eyes lit up in awe. “That’s a cool bird,” he complimented sincerely.
The Specialist, determined to end it in one strike, prepared to unleash the eagle—only for Kei Y’s next words to cut him off.
“Here’s my viper,” Kei Y said proudly. Rune strokes of fire slithered into existence, weaving together until they formed a massive viper. The flaming serpent towered, making the eagle seem small in comparison.
The Specialist’s eyes widened. “You freak—”
“Hehe, I wonder what his reaction would be if I used ember-ash strokes,” Kei Y giggled to himself as his opponent was effortlessly suppressed.
Meanwhile, Inpu fought arduously, pouring every ounce of effort into the clash. In the end, the large viper slithered into his fight, its flames burning away his remaining struggle—much like the constant growth of bamboo had once worn him down. Without the bamboo hindering him this time, Inpu’s refined sword skills were enough to secure victory over the Soldier class.
The fight having ended, Kei Y walked toward the cut-down bamboo scattered across the field. He picked one up to examine it, then pulled out his own bamboo shoot from his inventory, orange aether lines still pulsing faintly along its surface.
Swinging both of them around, he spoke aloud thoughtfully. “Hmm, my own from the Fractured Zone is much better than what that guy produces,” he said before tossing the other bamboo aside.
The Soldier class, already aggrieved from his defeat, could only sulk deeper at Kei Y’s casual remark.
Although Inpu no longer compared himself to his friends, there were still other talented individuals within the Recruit class he wanted to rise up and challenge. These were not God Sparks, yet they could still contend with stages above their own—granted, not as easily as the four God Sparks, but an impressive feat nonetheless.
His mind flashed back to Mia’s most recent match. She had faced two Soldier class opponents, and her performance shocked everyone in attendance. Even Pharaoh himself couldn’t close his mouth. “Just how much is Auserre investing into these kids?” he muttered in disbelief.
Kishna of India, the opponent Mia had defeated and knocked down, felt shivers course through his body at the memory. In truth, he realized he had gotten off lucky.
When the match began, Mia hadn’t felt like exerting too much effort and simply wanted it over with. So she did the most reasonable thing a ten-year-old could do…
She started the match with an Exalted-grade Recruit skill—one of the very skills Auserre had “negotiated” for with other planets.
Without hesitation, Mia immediately activated it.
[Exalted Recruit Skill: Hand of Equilibrium]
A giant translucent palm manifested high above the battlefield, glowing scales etched into its center. It was a construct of Balance Force, embodying the concept of equal weight and judgment.
When the hand descended, it unleashed crushing pressure that equalized everything within its reach—regardless of strength or weakness. Her opponents were pressed flat as though the world itself had chosen to balance their existence, while Mia stood untouched at the palm’s center of control.
As the hand slammed down, the air rippled with violently.
It was such a sight that the sheer pressure alone made her opponents immediately surrender. Even the brief glimpse of its weight left them shuddering. Because they surrendered, they were transported out of the arena—just in time to watch from the sidelines as the massive hand slammed down, leaving behind a frightening crater.
Mia’s teammate, however, was not spared from the pressure. Forced to bear the brunt of the skill’s descent, he collapsed under the crushing force. Though he hadn’t been the target, the overwhelming aura alone was enough to make him pass out from fear.
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The entire crowd sat frozen, mouths agape, as Mia casually hopped back to rejoin her friends.
Rubbing his head gingerly, Kei M let out a laugh. He couldn’t help but wonder how everyone would react if they realized that an Exalted-grade skill was actually one of Mia’s weakest abilities.
Such usage of Balance Force always left Inpu inspired. He wasn’t jealous or resentful of Auserre gifting Mia such powerful skills—if anything, he understood that their master might actually be making her weaker by leaning on them too much, given how her force alignment worked.
For Inpu, this was an invaluable opportunity. Witnessing such a high-level display of Balance Force in real time gave him insights he could not have gained alone. Mia was advancing her force progression before everyone’s eyes, and because they were at the same cultivation level, he was able to draw from her growth as it unfolded. Every movement, every adjustment in her control, deepened his own understanding—especially as he felt the scales within himself begin to tilt further in his favor.
In the meantime, Auserre and Oceanna tended to Kei M and Mia after their therapy session, making sure the kids were okay. Oceanna suggested they have a friendly sparring match to physically work out their emotions.
As the match began, Mia sent Kei M flying to one side of the room, his Resonant Shield vibrating harshly from the sudden impact of her strike. Mia herself, was bolted in the opposite direction due to reflective nature of Resonant Shield.
“You really thought this was a good idea?” Auserre asked her master dryly.
Oceanna only shrugged. “They’re your students. Why are you letting me tell them what to do? This is your mess.”
The sound of the Resonant Shield reverberated through the room as Kei Y pulled himself back together, still grumbling about his inability to use Earth Force to craft a proper comfy chair.
Meanwhile, Olly had wandered off to the koi pond. Watching the fish swim lazily through the water, he decided he wanted to play alongside them. Treating the ground as if it were liquid, he tried to mimic their movements—only to find the task rather challenging. Still, he refused to quit, even as his little panda cub butt stuck up in the air, wiggling helplessly from his struggles.
The koi fish didn’t help matters. They taunted him, shooting little jets of water in his direction as if mocking his clumsy attempts.
Kei M, facing an endless barrage of common-rated Balance Force skills from Mia, thought to himself, She’s really upset—she’s going to kill me. Past me really was an asshole. Just wait until I’m strong enough, I’m going to make sure my dad suffers. That idiot and his stupid quests…
“Uh, Mia… are you really sure you want to be using your strongest skills on your dearest friend, the one you love so much?” Auserre asked, feeling bad for Kei M and genuinely worried for his student’s life at this point.
“He’s really super strong, he can handle it,” Mia replied sweetly.
The training room floor shook violently with every strike, the tremors even disrupting Inpu and Silvie’s practice on the other side.
It wasn’t until a giant viper made from frost and creation rune strokes slithered across the floor, swallowed Kei M whole, and then vanished into the distance that he finally got some breathing room. Even so, through echolocation, he could sense Mia barreling after the viper, intent on keeping the spar going.
“Move faster, you viper!” Kei M panicked inside its mouth.
It took Kei Y’s Shima bird—also crafted from frost and creation rune strokes—fluttering past to distract Mia with its overwhelming cuteness. Only then was the frost viper able to deliver Kei M safely to the forging area, where Kei Y was already at work.
“Thanks, you really saved me,” Kei M sighed in relief, genuinely thankful.
But when he looked around, his gratitude faltered. The ground was littered with countless high-grade pieces of equipment, their runes blazing with energy as Kei Y studied them intently.
“Where did you get all this stuff from?” Kei M asked, shocked. Yet when he looked at Kei Y, all he saw was an individual completely consumed by focus.
Something about it unsettled him. Kei Y didn’t just look focused—he looked crazed, almost obsessed.
“Do that thing you did with your shields—around your arms and legs,” Kei Y suddenly ordered.
“What?” Kei M blinked in surprise at the abrupt request.
Smack.
“You heard me, God Spark of Sound,” Kei Y said flatly after smacking Kei M on the head with his infamous brick.
“Tsss…” Kei M hissed, clutching his head in pain as multiple Resonant Shields bloomed around his arms and legs in response.
“He escaped one person who wanted to harm him, only to fall into the hands of another who smacked him with a brick. My poor boy has a tough life,” Oceanna sighed, shaking her head at grand student's misfortune.
Kei Y studied the Resonant Shields in detail, asking Auserre, the Vendor, and Oceanna to guide Kei M in mastering their use around his limbs so that he could learn to better control them. While the three worked with Kei M, Kei Y sifted through all the ores he had gathered from the Fractured Zones he cleared, along with pieces from Auserre’s personal stash.
Much of what Auserre had provided was beyond his current ability—he lacked both the technique and strength to handle those higher-grade ores—so he made do with what he could manage.
He activated the forge, carefully controlling the flames as he tested each ore to learn its characteristics and determine the best combinations for his plans.
As the others focused on their own tasks, Kei Y was left alone to melt, hammer, and refine various ores, experimenting with different blends.
The day passed, and while the others eventually rested, Kei Y did not. When they returned the next morning, they found him still at the forge, blistered and overheated, looking as though he hadn’t paused for even a moment.
It wasn’t until the Shima bird landed on his head, pecking at him gently, that he seemed to break from his trance. He blinked, noticing the faint sizzle of frost against his overheated head.
“Oh, you’re still active?” he murmured, patting the Shima as it nuzzled against his finger.
“That’s just blatantly cheating,” the Vendor grumbled jealously. “You can work overnight and keep your runes active without worrying about your aether supply.”
Oceanna, meanwhile, had sent The Vendor away to handle his own matters.
The Vendor observed all of Kei Y’s trials and experiments, watching closely as the boy tested countless combinations of ores. He couldn’t help but be both shocked and impressed by the results.
So many new ingots littered the floor, each one representing a different element and characteristic.
One in particular caught his attention—a turquoise ingot shimmering with emerald-green veins, embodying the duality of water and wind. From it, he could feel pulses of gale-like energy that released faint gusts of wind. When he channeled aether into it, the echo of crashing ocean waves resounded from the ingot, making him whistle in admiration.
The other ingots were no less remarkable—fire, lightning, light, darkness, nature, and more. With Auserre’s immense stash of ores at his disposal, Kei Y had mixed and tested repeatedly, yet hadn’t even made a dent in her reserves.
Seeing the sheer variety and purity of the ingots spread out before him, the Vendor realized that, in the right hands, these could easily be crafted into mythic-grade equipment.
He was so impressed he couldn't but to compliment Kei Y on his hard work. But then he noticed something odd. Kei Y had reached for one of the ingots—a piece that seemed almost ordinary, far less impressive than the treasures littering the ground.
The Vendor was surprised.
“Hey, kid,” he called, holding up a violet ingot that gleamed with flawless purity. “If you’re planning on making equipment for your friend, shouldn’t you be using the best quality from this batch? Look at this one—perfect for Sound Force. Pure, refined, everything you’d want. The one in your hand still has a lot of impurities left.”
"No, this one is perfect,” Kei Y said, his eyes shining with excitement.
“Huh?” the Vendor blinked in confusion.
“Leave him to it. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” Auserre interjected, her tone calm. She knew exactly why Kei Y had chosen the most flawed option among all the ingots scattered around.
In Kei Y’s status screen, the title [He Who Denies Fate] flickered faintly, as if agreeing with his decision.
And so, Kei Y began crafting a new set of equipment for Kei M, the effect of [Defiance of Destiny] stirring to life.
[Defiance of Destiny]
Rejecting opportunities considered optimal—such as high-tier weapons, powerful artifacts, or class-defining skills—triggers a hidden calibration effect.
The greater the opportunity denied, the more the world bends to reward the chosen path.
However, rewards are not immediate or guaranteed. They manifest over time as resonance-based boons, hidden synergies, or unique skill progression paths that align with the self-defined identity.
What Kei Y ultimately forged would be common-grade equipment. Yet these pieces would be unlike any other. They were a growth-type set, designed to evolve alongside their wielder. Even when Kei M ascended to the level of a Supreme God, this equipment would still serve him faithfully.
Because these weren’t made to impress anyone else. They were made for one purpose alone: to resonate perfectly with Kei M’s spark—Resonant Shield.
And so Kei Y smelted and hammered to the best of his ability, his muscles aching and screaming as he barely gave them any time to rest.
The flames lashed against him as he struggled to contain and control them. The sparks that burst free looked strangely familiar—shimmering faintly in the shape of golden scales.
The Vendor, pleasantly surprised, immediately recognized it. Traces of Dione’s Force Alignment…
“Those eyes of his really are deserving to be ranked as they are,” the Vendor muttered, impressed. Oceanna gave a small nod in agreement, while Silvie and Auserre remained silent. They knew the true reason why Kei Y was so familiar with Force alignments—something the Vendor could only guess at.
Passing the equipment over to Kei M, Kei Y finally collapsed from pain and exhaustion. His fingers had cramped so badly they curled into claws, steam rising from his overheated body.
It had been a daunting effort, but as he glanced at his status screen, he couldn’t help but feel satisfied. His Strength stat had risen by 2 points, while both Dexterity and Constitution had each climbed by 3.
Ignoring his friend who had just collapsed, Kei M’s attention was locked onto the bracelets he received. Though they looked rather plain—little more than common-grade trinkets—he slipped them onto his wrists and ankles without hesitation, letting out a satisfied whistle.
Without delay, he activated Resonant Shield. The bracelets responded instantly, the carved runes flaring to life as they absorbed the skill’s resonance. Kei M then channeled it back, jabbing forward—the stored Resonant Shield detonated in a controlled burst. What should have been a simple jab instead unleashed a strike so devastating that everyone nearby was left slack-jawed.
Unlike before, when his Resonant Shields amplified his attacks but often launched him uncontrollably across the room, the bracelets stabilized the detonation. No more wild rebounds. No more throwing himself into his opponents like against Ares and Hercules —or into empty space when opponents dodged.
Auserre and the others had helped Kei M learn to temper the detonation of his Shields, but in such a short time only so much progress could be made. These bracelets, however, changed everything. They allowed him to channel his strength into concentrated bursts, regulating the output so that power and speed were maximized without losing control.
He tested them with punches and kicks, each strike sharper, faster, cleaner. And with every movement, Kei M couldn’t help but marvel that such results came from equipment rated common grade.
[Resonant Bracelets]
Equipment Rank: Common (Growth-Type)
Description: A set of bracelets forged by Khenu, designed to resonate with the unique spark of Resonant Shield.
- Effect: Stores and regulates the detonation of Resonant Shield, allowing the user to release controlled bursts of power without uncontrolled recoil.
- Additional Effect: Increases strike speed and force amplification when channeling Resonant Shield into punches and kicks.
- Growth-Type: These bracelets evolve alongside their wielder, scaling in both durability and resonance. Though they appear plain now, their potential is boundless.
Auserre, on the other hand, marveled for an entirely different reason. She understood the truth. Because of [Defiance of Destiny], she knew why Kei Y had chosen to forge with the most flawed material available. That choice allowed the effect to trigger, and as long as he managed to pull through, the end result would inevitably surpass expectations.
Mia, however, wasn’t thinking about theory or effects. She saw Kei M’s new equipment and immediately wanted some for herself.
“Khenuuuu, make me something too, please!” she begged, her little voice sweet but dangerously insistent.
Her words jolted Kei Y awake. He found himself staring into the girl’s wide, sparkling eyes.
And immediately, tears burst down his face. “Master, please help me!” he cried in raw fear.
“Mia, Khenu is really tired. Let him rest for a bit,” Auserre said gently, patting Mia’s head to calm her excited student.
Kei Y let out a shaky sigh of relief, feeling as though he had just been saved from certain death. If Mia could turn her force against someone she loved, he didn’t even want to imagine what she might do to him if he dared refuse her.
“When he’s better, he’ll make you the best equipment ever,” Auserre promised.
“…..”
“Master, how could you betray me?” Kei Y whimpered, on the verge of crying again.