---
Rain drizzled across the rooftops of Shrek Academy.
It wasn't the soft kind that calms the soul—it was cold, rhythmic, metallic. Like the sky whispering that change had already begun.
Kiyanotoka stood at the edge of the dormitory roof, letting the water soak through his coat. The sigil on his chest pulsed faintly beneath his skin.
He could hear his heartbeat.
And beneath it… the sound of the world shifting.
---
⚔️ First Encounter
The underground quarter outside Shrek was known only by a few—a space of stone rings, cracked walls, and broken dreams. No tamers came here. No beasts were bound.
It was a domain for fists, not contracts.
And it was where Kiyanotoka finally met Kale Drayven.
Kiyanotoka entered the ring quietly. No one recognized him—he'd hidden his face under a low hood, his system threads dormant, spirit beasts sealed away.
But his presence still made the crowd pause.
Kale stood across from him, stretching his shoulders. Shirtless. Scarred. A faint orange glow emanated from his arms—the mark of a Core Initiate.
> "You don't look like the rest," Kale said. "Too quiet."
Kiyanotoka didn't respond.
> "Come to test your body?" Kale asked.
Still silence.
> "Or to spy?"
Kiyanotoka stepped into the ring.
The crowd cheered.
---
🥊 No Beast. No System.
Kale came in fast—punch low, kick sweeping. Clean. Efficient. The kind of strikes only someone who'd bled for every inch of power could throw.
Kiyanotoka dodged. Barely.
His muscles burned.
He hadn't used body cultivation in real combat yet.
Another strike—this time grazing his shoulder. The heat stung.
Kale narrowed his eyes. "You're hiding something. But you've trained. Good."
They clashed again—fist to fist.
Kiyanotoka blocked it, but his arm trembled.
> I can't use the system. Can't summon beasts. If I'm exposed, it's over.
He ducked the next blow and countered—short jab to the ribs.
It landed.
Kale staggered half a step back, grinning.
> "Finally."
The match lasted ten more minutes. A blur of fists, footwork, and sweat.
When it ended, both stood.
Neither had fallen.
But Kiyanotoka's hands were shaking—not from weakness. From awakening.
> [ SYSTEM – Body Level Experience Gained. ]
Progress to Level 2: 96%
Kale walked up to him afterward and offered a hand.
"You're not from here," he said. "But you're walking our path."
Kiyanotoka looked at the hand.
Then shook it.
> I need to know more. About what lies beyond the spirit world.
---
🐉 Shadows and Tension
Back at the Academy, things were boiling.
Fuyue stood before Master Kaelus, arms crossed. She dropped a report scroll on his desk.
> "Ash is hiding something. He trains late. Vanishes without his beasts. His breathing rhythm's altered—classic internal tempering signs."
Kaelus didn't react at first.
Then he opened a drawer and slid a sealed report across the table.
> "You're not the only one watching him."
Inside: a sketch. Kiyanotoka in the underground ring.
Kaelus leaned back.
> "We don't know what he is yet. Tamer. Cultivator. Or worse—both."
> "But the last person to try both paths burned themselves out in two years."
Fuyue frowned. "Then what do you want me to do?"
Kaelus smiled grimly. "Push him. And if he breaks... we'll know."
---
🌌 A Divided World
Elsewhere in the city, rumors had begun to spread:
Body cultivators forming clans in the lower districts.
Tamer factions calling for new restrictions on unbonded fighters.
And whispers of an ancient sect—called the Iron Pulse Doctrine—reemerging from the ruined mountain zones.
Kiyanotoka read a transcript that night from his system archive.
> [ SYSTEM ARCHIVE: Forbidden Paths ]
During the Old Flame War, the Iron Pulse Doctrine taught that spirit beasts were parasites—weakening the human soul's evolution. They were purged by the High Courts.
Status: Extinct.
Warning: This belief is punishable by spiritual execution in three nations.
> So body cultivators were once a threat to the world itself.
He closed the file slowly.
> Then what does that make me?
---
🔥 A Step Beyond
That night, he sat beneath the training arch, breathing deep.
The heat gathered again in his chest—brighter than ever.
The system buzzed.
> [ SYSTEM – Body Level UP ]
Level 2 Reached – Flame Core Initiate
New Trait Gained: Core Flame Pulse – Brief power surge on strike (cooldown: 30 sec)
Bonus: Internal Core Visualization Unlocked.
His breath burned.
His fists glowed faintly in the dark.
And inside his mind, for the first time, he saw it—
A tiny flame, deep within his soul. Beating like a second heart.
> Now I begin to forge myself. Not just command.
---
📘 End of Chapter 16
---