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The forest changed.
Yuki knew it the moment he crossed a shallow stream, its waters unnaturally clear—reflecting not just light, but fragmented echoes of the world around it. The trees beyond shimmered as if seen through a dream, and the very air thrummed faintly with magic.
He had entered a **spirit-infused region**.
The ambient mana here was heavier, more chaotic. It clung to his scales and resisted his movements, like wading through invisible currents. Every breath he took tingled with unseen energy, stirring the core of his being.
> **Alert: Aetherfield Distortion Detected. Internal mana flux: adjusting… Stable.**
His instincts prickled. The environment was not actively hostile—but *wild*, unpredictable. He could sense creatures watching, not with malice, but curiosity. A primal tension ran beneath every leaf and vine.
Yuki moved cautiously through the undergrowth, tail sweeping slow arcs behind him. His flame-based abilities felt… *muted*, slightly suppressed by the ethereal field.
Still, he was not powerless.
He activated **Mana Sense**, allowing his mind to tap into the vibrations of nearby magic. Streams of energy unfolded before his vision like glowing threads. Some pooled in dormant plants, others coiled around old trees or drifted like wisps through the air.
And then—he felt something shift.
A presence, unlike any beast he had encountered before. It shimmered faintly ahead, deeper into the woods. Not a spirit—yet—but something touched by them.
With caution, Yuki advanced.
A glade opened before him, unnaturally circular. At its center, suspended above the mossy ground, floated a creature unlike any he had seen: **a Phantasmal Elk**. Six-legged, translucent, with branching antlers that shimmered like crystalline flame. It fed on mana itself, pulling strands of spirit energy from the air like roots drinking water.
> **Target identified: Lesser Spirit Beast – Phantasmal Elk (Class B)**
> **Note: Not naturally aggressive. Will defend itself if provoked. Mana density source.**
A good opponent to test control rather than power.
Yuki spread his wings, crackling **Flame Clad** to life. Yet as he stepped forward, the flames wavered—warped by the glade's subtle currents. Interesting.
He let the heat dim slightly and activated **Wind Echo Slash**, a newly awakened skill honed from aerial slicing movements.
A thin arc of compressed air shot forward, silent and sharp.
The elk blinked out of visibility—
—then reappeared ten meters to the right, one of its antlers glowing faintly. It had evaded, not by speed, but by shifting between physical layers.
Yuki narrowed his eyes. This was a challenge of *precision*, not brute force.
He launched into the air, circling the glade, letting **Flight Mastery** guide his motion with minimal drag. As the elk turned to track him, he shifted mana into **Aether Drift**, a partial phasing maneuver he had barely begun to master.
Reality shimmered around him as he momentarily became untouchable—sliding through ambient resistance like oil through water.
He reappeared above the elk, dropped like a flaming comet, and twisted in mid-air to whip out **Scorching Tendril Lash** from both claws.
The tendrils lashed downward. One struck the glade and scorched a spiral into the moss.
The other—
**CRACK!**
—connected with the elk's left flank. The creature let out a soundless cry as fire licked through its ghostly form. It flickered, destabilized.
But before Yuki could press the advantage, the elk summoned a burst of radiant light from its antlers—**Spirit Flash**, an innate pulse that disrupted magic and mind.
Yuki's vision blurred. His Flame Clad sputtered. He staggered backward, instincts screaming.
> **Status: Mind-Disruption Detected. Resisting… Title Effect – \[Awakened Hatchling]: Status resistance active. Recovery in progress… Success.**
His vision returned just in time to dodge the antlers sweeping toward him.
He spun and brought both wings down in a violent gust, using **Wind Echo Slash** again, this time from both sides.
Two arcs of pressure collided at the elk's center. The creature buckled, its ghostly form fading briefly before it dropped to the ground, breathless but alive.
Yuki stood over it, panting softly, but victorious.
> **Lesser Spirit Beast Defeated. Spirit Energy Assimilated.**
> **Skill Evolution Unlocked: Wind Echo Slash → Echo Severance (locked, pending fusion compatibility)**
The elk's body faded into sparks, returning to the forest as ambient mana. It had not truly died—spirit beasts rarely did—but he had passed the test.
Yuki looked to the treetops. The spirit forest had begun to recognize him.
And deeper within, something *ancient* stirred.
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