Adyr's words turned the hush into a ripple of released breaths. Shoulders eased, and more than a few eyes softened with reluctant approval, weighing him as a principled Astra-path Practitioner who knew when to hold a blade and when to sheath it.

Watching the faces soften, their judgment amused Adyr.

It was like a flock of sheep entrusting their safety to a well-fed sheepdog, feeling safe at its side, yet not knowing what would happen if it ever went hungry.

With a thought, he recalled the White Shroud to his Sanctuary, felt the air close where it had hung, and turned back to the problem that mattered: finding a way out of this cage.

He let his attention settle on the bars, the floor, and the faint harmonics of vibration still lingering in the gold, then began constructing his next solution.

I can't take any support from Earth for this. I don't think there is a material strong enough to break these golden bars. The thought circled as he found himself drifting toward a no-way-out situation.

Then something caught his eye and pushed him toward a different approach.

Across from his cage, where Brakhtar Gorat stood, a long staring contest between the green ogre and the golden bars seemed at last to end; then, as if he had given up, Brakhtar folded his legs and sat cross-legged on the floor.

No one believed it was a surrender; they waited for the reveal of his plan as changes suddenly unfolded around him, defining themselves most clearly along his body.

"He is evolving to Rank 3." Recognizing the signs, many Practitioners cried out in shock.

Moments later, the same shift rippled through the Lunari side. Behind the startled murmurs, Thalira Luna also settled cross-legged inside her gilded cage, her body showing the first clear lines of change.

Everyone already knew these two were at the peak of Rank 2 and had been holding back their advancement. But still, few had expected them to choose this exact moment to step forward.

"Adyr." Seeing the move no one anticipated, Maruun turned to the only man who might do something about the change about to sweep the arena.

Adyr did not answer. His gaze held on the two figures, and a colder current slid through his thoughts. Should I kill them?

The thought came clean and desired. He wanted to see their blood spatter the gold-colored floor.

But the pull did not shake his logic; he dismissed it, suppressing his bloodlust.

Killing them now would be as easy as sending the White Shroud to finish the work. It would not be easy to live with the consequences, though.

First, he had no intention of killing without necessity, least of all the leading figures of the top 2 races. Doing so would turn his standing in the outer region openly hostile toward those people, a poor outcome for his plans right now.

Killing them all and leaving no witnesses, then claiming they had died inside on their own, was a workable path. But it would also erase the ground he had won. He had already crafted a trustworthy image in the eyes of everyone present, and he had no wish to discard it.

He had killed Kharom, yes, but that was different. The Umbraen were already unreasonable. There was no way he and they would ever move in step. Declaring open war on them or remaining neutral would change little, since by character and culture, they were a race that would never submit, never befriend.

By contrast, the Lunari, though war-inclined, were not driven by dominance. Offer them proper respect for their culture and room for the kind of battles they craved, and there was a strong chance of building a good alliance.

The Gorathim were similar, even easier to work with. Secluded and reserved by habit, they were smart and wise compared to most. They were not a people Adyr wished to lose. There was also the possibility of a blood link to one of the Elder Races, the Gemnarch, known as the two-headed ogres.

To Adyr, connections were a kind of power; you never knew when they would work, but you needed them.

Choosing to evolve here already shows they trust me, Adyr thought, a small smile touching his lips. He had sown those seeds of trust, and by letting them evolve without interference, he would deepen the debt, leaving them owing him later—leverage he could use when the time came.

"Maruun, Loudbark, Rhadak." Adyr turned to the 3 leaders and smiled. ''I trust you to watch my back."

Then he dropped cross-legged to the floor and began his own evolution under their steady gazes.

There was no need to doubt that Maruun and the others would protect him if anything happened. He knew their lives were tied to his.

Right now, Adyr was the only pillar of the mixed-race group. If they lost him, they would have no one to shield them in the later stages of the Tower or against the top races. Their only wish was for Adyr to complete his rank advancement as well.

And they did exactly as he expected.

"Be assured. As long as we Houndkin are here, no one will touch my friend," Loudbark barked, voice steady and self-assured. Only the image of his broken tail wagging side to side made it look a little comical.

"You heard him. Eyes open, stay sharp," Maruun called to the Aqualeth, raising their awareness of the surroundings.

Rhadak and the other Obsidren said nothing. The set of their dark, stone-like faces and the way they shifted their stances were enough of an answer. Anyone entertaining dangerous thoughts would be crushed under those heavy bodies.

Adyr didn't want to lose any more time focused on his evolution as he summoned his new Spark White Shroud in front of him with a thought.

"Let's see what kind of monster I become after this." With a casual smile, he set his hands on the cloud and pulled the earlier system message back into view.

[You have captured a Rank 3 Spark. Do you want to begin the evolution process?]

– Cost: 600 Energy

In his early evolutions, the system always stated what his race would become before the process even began. During his first evolution with the Dawn Raven, it told him he would become a Dawn Human; during his second, with the Mindrake, it named him a Twilight Human.

Seeing only the energy cost on the system panel, Adyr did not let it rattle him. To him, it simply meant the system could not predict what he would become or what to name the species until the transformation actually occurred.

He knew this from Liora. In their idle talks, she had explained that this uncertainty appears once a Practitioner reaches Rank 4 and beyond. As a person grows stronger, even the all-knowing, all-powerful system meets limits; the Practitioner becomes an enigma that the system can only label after the fact.

For Adyr, he reached that point early. By his third evolution, he was already registered in the system as an enigma.

Then he accepted the system message and felt a large amount of energy siphon out of him, run through his hands, and wrap around the White Shroud's cloud body.

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