As Aston exited the Alder Hall, the sunlight hit differently—not as intense as before.

Students were already trickling towards the Obsidian Arena, one of the open-air training fields near the western side of the Spire campus. Built from reinforced blackstone and spirit-absorbing alloys, the arena was designed to endure high-impact practice without shattering like conventional materials. Unlike the moss-lined meditation halls or lush beast domes, there was nothing soft about this place.

No seats. No comfort. Just space—and impact.

Aston walked toward the wide gates. Around him were students from several divisions—likely present to learn tactical deployment or support formations.

His boots met the obsidian stone with a sharper echo than usual.

Mirage flew a lazy arc overhead before settling on the ledge of a raised platform. Gray, already aware of the change in the atmosphere, padded more slowly at Aston's side, ears twitching and tail low.

Inside the training field, a group of students had already begun stretching or inspecting their gear. Some adjusted spirit gear-locks or wiped down specialized weapons. Aston spotted Yosef in his light green robes near the back, arms crossed, chatting with a shorter woman who had a plated wolf-like spirit beast beside him.

Then came the professor.

A towering figure approached the front of the ring, his crimson robe sleeveless and battle worn, the edges of his uniform scorched and patched. His arms were bare and crisscrossed with faded scars. A long vertical tattoo of a claw mark ran from the side of his neck down to his right wrist.

His spirit beast—a massive bronze-scaled rhino—lurched beside him, its hooves sparking against the stone.

—

[Spirit Beast: Bronze Horned Rampager]

[Type: Bestial]

[Attribute: Earth/Metal]

[Genus: Rhinoceros]

[Rank: Sapphire Core]

[Potential: Sapphire Core]

[Description: A battle-hardened spirit beast with bronze-hued hide, a jagged obsidian-plated horn, and hooves that ignite sparks across stone. Revered for its raw physical force and impenetrable defences, it is used not for elegance but for dominance—its presence alone enough to scatter lower-ranked beasts. Known to charge like a living avalanche.]

[Skills:]

[Horn Rush: A full-body charge that amplifies its physical and spiritual pressure, delivering a concussive impact capable of cracking reinforced barriers and disabling enemies.]

[Ironhide Quake: Stomps the ground with tremendous force, sending a directional tremor that destabilizes terrain and knocks enemies off balance.]

[Shockhorn Blast: Channels spirit energy into its horn before unleashing a point-blank radial shockwave that disrupts surrounding spiritual flows and severs binding techniques.]

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[Graviton Press: Temporarily increases its weight and mass density using spiritual compression, making it immune to knockback, pull effects, and status-based movement impairments. Increases damage to weight-based attacks.]

[Dustclad Vortex: Swings its body in a rapid spin, generating a swirl of dust, metal shards, and disorienting force, resetting the space or breaking encirclements.]

[Passive Skills:]

[Unyielding Frame: Naturally resists momentum loss and fatigue in prolonged combat. Physical endurance is doubled under pressure or when defending allies.]

[Broken Terrain Dominance: The Bronze Horned Rampager flourish over destroyed territories. Gains improved movement and balance on rough, unstable, or fractured terrain. Environmental effects are reduced by 40% while active.]

[Innate Skills:]

[Adamant Core Pulse: Emits a resonant pulse from within its core that temporarily strengthens the defense and willpower of nearby allies, reducing spiritual dissonance and fear.]

[Aegis Rebound: When struck by a powerful attack, the Rampager can reflect a portion of the incoming kinetic energy as a cone of disruptive force in front of it.]

[Ferrospike Outgrowth: When the Rampager is wounded, it passively generates jagged metal spikes along its back, shoulders, and flanks. These spikes act as both a defensive armor and an anti-grapple deterrent.]

[Core Skills]

[Iron Reign Stampede: The beast enters a rampaging state, encasing its body in a layer of reinforced spiritual iron that quadruples its weight and turns its entire body into a living siege weapon. While active, every step sends out tremors and leaves behind shards of magnetized metal. Upon reaching its target, the armor detonates in a circular shockwave of flying iron fragments, dealing area damage and disrupting enemy spell formation and spirit beast command links.]

[Imperial Warden Rampart: The Rampager summons a hexagonal wall of spiritual metal, forged instantly from condensed earth and willpower. The wall can shield allies from mid- to high-level spiritual attacks and can explode in a shrapnel burst upon dismissal.]

—

Aston's eyes lingered on the data, a quiet weight settling in his chest.

That beast had already reached its peak.

He clenched his fist slightly, feeling the pressure of expectation tighten around his breath.

As the professor walked, he didn't smile. Didn't introduce himself with flair. He simply stopped, cracked his knuckles and growled.

"I am Gorran Tull. You may call me Instructor Tull. This is Applied Battle Tactics. This class is not about if you are strong. In my class, you are not students but unreliable recruits."

Some of the students wondered why he wanted to be called 'instructor' as opposed to his proper title, 'professor', but they instantly knew why when they heard the last statement.

He turned, eyes scanning the students like a general assessing green troops.

"It's about how you don't get yourself—or your beast—killed when your plans go to shit."

Silence.

Good.

Professor Gorran—-no, Instructor Tull gestured with his thumb toward the beast behind him.

"This is Cragjaw. He doesn't like showoffs, and neither do I. Your ranks, your colors, your fancy robes—they mean nothing in here. Strategy beats power. Composure beats chaos."

"With that, no sparring today. Today, I just want to see you move."

He pulled out a spirit-inscribed baton and flung it on to the center circle of the arena.

It glowed red.

"You'll take turns running tactical movement drills—with and without your beasts. Avoid traps. Use terrain. Don't fall into the obvious."

Another baton dropped, glowing blue.

"And if you see a baton of different color, treat it as a live hazard. If you step into one without compensating, your core will be slightly disoriented."

Gasps rippled through the group.

"You will feel what panic is like. Safely. For now," his voice dropped, then raised, and once again dropped heavily.

He clapped once, the sound like a cannon.

"First one—redhead in the back. You, scar-neck boy, you're next. In."

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