Chapter 48 – Return to Null Spire
A week passed like a blur of dust, roars, and energy flares.
Venarae's scarlet canyons glowed beneath twin suns, painting the jagged land with molten light. The trio's map projection flickered across their wrists — once riddled with red danger zones, now it showed swathes of neutral green spreading outward like a tide of conquest.
Each red patch represented a memory — of claws, venom, blood, and teamwork slowly finding rhythm.
The Hunts(flashback):
The wind hissed through the ravines as a Steelhorn Viper lunged from a fissure.
Its metallic scales shimmered, a living blade cutting through air.
"Shin! Left!" Alicia shouted.
"Which left? My left or your—"
Thunk.
Her bolt pierced the viper's neck before he could finish. The serpent spasmed and fell limp.
"Your slow left," she said coolly.
Vaibhav knelt, touching the cooling scales. His hand pulsed faintly, drawing in faint strands of fading life energy.
A system ping echoed in his mind:
> +3 Exalted Power Points gained.
Alicia refined the shard in silence beside him — blue light coiling like breath through her palm.
> +5 Exalted Power Points gained.
Shin sheathed his blade and muttered, "Next time I'll bite it before it bites me."
Alicia sighed. "Maybe you'll evolve into a viper then."
"Yeah — with better reflexes."
Their journey tore through the days, marked by roars and laughter.
A Lurking Cragwolf ambushed from behind a sandstone ridge — fangs like daggers, eyes like lava.
Shin caught its lunge mid-air, twisted, and slammed it to the ground in a cloud of grit.
Alicia's voice came dry:
"Improving… barely."
"Barely's progress," he grinned, flexing his arm.
She rolled her eyes.
Vaibhav silently absorbed the fading life essence — warmth threading through his veins.
> +3 Ordinary Power Points gained.
Shin pressed his hand to the wolf's shard.
> +4 Ordinary Power Points gained.
"Guess I'm not just a pretty face anymore," Shin said.
"No," Vaibhav said quietly. "You're a bloody one now."
"…Thanks?"
Later, across the floating cliffs, a Glarevine Hawk screamed overhead — its feathers glistening with bioluminescent moss.
Vaibhav moved first. He flicked his fingers, forming a thin line of aura that shot upward — a shimmering tether wrapping the hawk's leg mid-flight.
Alicia followed instantly, her bolt striking through the heart in a flash of silver-blue.
The body plummeted, leaving trails of green light that scattered like pollen.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: Glarevine Hawk]
Vaibhav: +4 Ordinary Points.
Alicia: +5 Ordinary Points.
"Nice timing," Alicia said softly.
Vaibhav gave a half-smile. "Had to keep up with your kill count."
Shin landed beside them, brushing dust from his coat.
"Hey, you two ever gonna let me finish one solo?"
"Sure," Alicia said. "When pigs fly."
"Guess I'll hunt a flying pig next."
Their next target was far worse.
A Crystalback Ravager, a six-legged beast with a body of translucent armor and a temper forged in magma, burst from beneath shattered quartz ground.
Shin dashed forward — his boots cracked stone, his aura flared.
"Front's mine!" he yelled.
Alicia took the ridge, calculating trajectories.
Vaibhav slammed his palm into the earth — a burst of force shattered loose rocks into a hailstorm, blinding the Ravager.
Shin feinted, Alicia's bolt struck the gap in its neck crystal, and Vaibhav detonated a compressed pulse from below.
The Ravager screamed once before collapsing.
> +2 Mutated Ordinary Points (Vaibhav)
+4 Mutated Ordinary Points (Alicia)
They stood panting, surrounded by crystal shards and steam.
Shin kicked the corpse once. "Damn thing hits like a truck."
"You ran at it," Alicia replied.
"Yeah. That's my strategy."
Vaibhav smirked faintly. "We noticed."
The last battle came with thunder.
A Tremor Ape, an Exalted-class beast, towered three times their height — its fur glowed with golden fractures of energy.
It roared, and the canyon walls cracked.
Shin and Vaibhav charged together, a blur of fists and light.
Each strike from the Ape sent waves through the ground, each counter by Shin split the air.
Alicia's arrows shattered mid-flight against its aura.
Vaibhav appeared behind it in an instant, palm pressed to its spine — siphoning raw life-force as the beast roared in agony.
"Now, Shin!"
Shin leapt high, blade glinting like a silver comet — and slashed through its neck.
The beast fell.
Silence, broken only by heavy breaths and the sound of Vaibhav's aura flickering faintly gold.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: Tremor Ape]
Vaibhav: +4 Exalted Points
Shin: +3 Exalted Points
Seventeen beasts.
Nine Beast Spirits.
And a week that changed them.
When the dust settled, they stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking Venarae's horizon — sun dimming into amber haze.
"Hard to believe this place almost killed us," Shin said.
"Almost," Alicia corrected.
Vaibhav didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, where a faint ripple in space began to shimmer — the Nexus Gate awakening.
Status Update:
[Status: Vaibhav]
Age: 17
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 68 kg
Lifespan: 500 years
Ordinary: 30/100
Mutated Ordinary: 9/100
Exalted: 14/100
Mutated Exalted: 14/100
A faint hum vibrated behind his eyes — power, slow but steady, a silent bloom of growth.
[Status: Shin]
Age: 17
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Lifespan: 500 years
Ordinary: 16/100
Mutated Ordinary: 4/100
Exalted: 7/100
Mutated Exalted: 8/100
"Not bad," Shin muttered. "At this rate, I'll be handsome and strong."
"You wish," Alicia murmured.
[Status: Alicia]
Age: 17
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Lifespan: 1000 years
Ordinary: 14/100
Mutated Ordinary: 4/100
Exalted: 7/100
Mutated Exalted: 6/100
Her reflection in the status window flickered like glass — calm eyes, steady breath, control refined.
[Additional Note By Xiao Mo(The author): Our trio didn't used their full power, their full power is equal to Exalted(when they entered venarae, It will be revealed later,why they are so strong)]
[Back to Story]
The Nexus Gate flared, swallowing Venarae's burning horizon.
When they stepped through, the world shifted — warmth turned to sterile chill, color to metallic sheen.
They stood once more in Null Spire.
Cold air hummed with electricity. The re-entry platform glowed beneath their boots, and surrounding them — dozens of cadets stared in awe.
Shin leaned toward Alicia, whispering, "They're staring. Is it my jawline?"
"It's your hair," she replied flatly. "It looks electrocuted."
He fixed it with a grin. "Perfect. The look of a warrior."
Vaibhav stayed silent, scanning the massive spire looming ahead — the academy's silver monolith where reality and training blurred.
Inside the Combat Arena, gravity plates shimmered faintly under polished obsidian floors.
Aria Nakamura stood waiting — her uniform pristine, her expression unreadable.
"I heard you three returned," she said coolly. "Let's see if Venarae taught you anything besides running."
Shin stepped forward instantly. "I'll go first."
Alicia sighed, "Of course you will."
Vaibhav just nodded once, arms crossed.
The air thickened as the arena's barrier flickered to life — translucent walls enclosing them in shimmering light.
Aria moved first.
No warning. No aura flare.
Her blade sliced through air so fast it whispered rather than hissed.
Shin barely ducked — sparks grazing his cheek.
He countered with a short burst of speed, only to feel a crushing wave of pressure behind him.
Her second strike hit his guard, sending him sliding backward, boots grinding against the floor.
"Fast," Shin muttered, panting. "Really fast."
Aria didn't respond. She was already moving.
The third blow struck from above, the fourth from the side, and the fifth — unseen — crashed into his ribs, flinging him into the barrier.
The impact echoed.
"Still breathing," he wheezed.
Aria lowered her sword slightly.
"Then breathe faster," she said. "You'll need it."
The audience chuckled nervously.
Alicia's eyes narrowed; Vaibhav's didn't move.
When the match ended, Aria simply turned away. "Not bad. For someone who fights with enthusiasm instead of thought."
Shin grinned through the pain. "Thanks… I think?"
Alicia and Vaibhav exchanged a glance — both realizing, without words, how wide the gap still was.
Two days later.
The Gravity Training Facility hummed — a steel dome alive with rotating holograms and pulsing rings of light.
The instructor was protesting loudly.
"Five times gravity is the limit! You'll snap every tendon if you—"
Shin's finger hovered over the console.
"Then we'll just heal faster," he said cheerfully.
Before the instructor could stop him, Shin slammed the switch.
The chamber's lights dimmed, and suddenly — weight hit them like a falling planet.
"Urgh—!" Shin grunted, body buckling.
The air felt like syrup, every breath a battle.
Muscles screamed, bones creaked, sweat burst instantly.
Alicia knelt, adjusting her breathing — smooth, calm, every motion measured. Her long hair floated slightly, suspended under tension, like ripples trapped in gravity.
Vaibhav remained upright, his posture steady.
He didn't fight the pressure — he absorbed it.
Each pulse of weight pressed against him, and he let it fold inward, condensing into stillness.
Shin crawled forward, laughing through the pain. "This is insane— I love it—"
"Idiot," Alicia muttered. "You'll pass out before you love anything."
"Already halfway there," he gasped.
The hologram flickered: 10x Gravity.
Veins bulged under Shin's skin as his body trembled; his knuckles cracked audibly.
Alicia's breathing stayed serene, yet her fingers trembled slightly, aura whispering against the invisible weight.
Vaibhav's boots dug into the floor — his aura didn't expand, it compressed, forming a quiet storm under his skin.
The pressure climbed again. 15x Gravity.
The air itself screamed.
Shin's legs finally gave in, knees hitting the steel floor.
Alicia's forehead glistened, though her expression stayed calm.
Vaibhav's jaw clenched; his eyes flickered gold for a heartbeat.
Each heartbeat echoed like thunder.
Then, slowly, he stood upright.
Gravity bowed — just slightly.
The lights stabilized, and the chamber's hum softened.
The system chimed faintly:
> [Physical Endurance Increased.]
[Body Adaptation Threshold: Advanced Tier Achieved.]
Shin collapsed backward, breathing heavily. "Okay… that was fun. In a near-death way."
Alicia exhaled softly. "You're insane."
"Insanely fit, maybe."
"Insanely stupid," she corrected.
Vaibhav looked down at his trembling hands.
The memory of Venarae, the roars, the battles — they all compressed into one thought: not enough yet.
They stepped out of the chamber — sweat-drenched, limping slightly, but smiling.
Aria and Tanjiro watched from the balcony.
"They'll break themselves before anyone else gets the chance," Aria said.
Tanjiro folded his arms. "Or they'll break the limit first."
Aria tilted her head. "If they do, their progress will accelerate beyond logic."
Down below, Shin was already bragging, "I think I gained two inches in muscle."
Alicia replied dryly, "And lost three brain cells."
"Worth the trade."
Vaibhav didn't join in. He stood a little apart, eyes fixed on the distant skyline — towers of light cutting through the fog.
The metallic city reflected on his pupils, silent and endless.
He whispered, almost to himself,
> "This was just the warm-up."
The wind hummed softly across the steel walkways, carrying the faint echoes of their laughter and exhaustion into the artificial night.