The sun blazed high above the Ackerman estate, its golden rays cascading across the broken grandeur of what had once been one of the domain's most magnificent strongholds.
On the hill where the ancient sakura tree stood sentinel over the ruins, delicate pink petals drifted lazily through the warm air like nature's confetti. Beneath its sprawling canopy, a streak of brilliant crimson light cut sharply up and down the steep slope, again and again and again, like a living ember burning its path across the landscape.
It was Fenix, and he had become something extraordinary to witness.
His aura flared and shimmered around his entire form, the deep crimson energy clinging to him like liquid fire forged into armor. The ground trembled faintly under the explosive force of each step as he pushed his transformed body through yet another grueling circuit of the hill that had nearly killed him just days ago.
This was his first real lesson from the mysterious man who called himself Ghost, a trial so brutal it could barely be called physical conditioning. It was more like controlled torture designed to forge something unbreakable.
Fenix's boots carved deep gouges into the earth as he crested the summit once more, his chest rising and falling with the steady rhythm of a perfectly tuned machine. But unlike those first desperate attempts just two days earlier, his legs no longer trembled with exhaustion. His lungs burned with the familiar fire of exertion, but they did not betray him. He stood tall and steady, gasping for breath but radiating unshakeable strength.
The crimson light wrapping his body flickered once like a candle in the wind... then dissolved completely as he released his conscious control over it.
He exhaled long and deep, steam rising from his skin in the cool mountain air.
From somewhere behind him, Ghost materialized, silent as shadow, appearing without disturbing so much as a single falling petal, and offered a single, almost imperceptible nod of approval.
'Ridiculous stamina,' the older man thought, studying his student with eyes that missed nothing. 'No one his age should be capable of climbing this hill fifty consecutive times, let alone maintaining that pace for two solid days without collapse. And with those weighted training cuffs and leg restraints I gave him? Even seasoned warriors would be flat on their backs before reaching the halfway point.'
But it wasn't just the kid's inhuman endurance that impressed him.
'He's a natural with aura manipulation too,' Ghost admitted privately, his professional assessment tinged with genuine amazement. 'On that first day, his energy coating collapsed completely before the fifteenth circuit. Now he can complete all fifty runs without letting his aura flicker even once. If this rate of improvement continues, his core might actually evolve to the next tier within these six months…'
His eyes narrowed slightly as the full implications hit him. 'This kid isn't just talented. He's a complete monster in human skin.'
Ghost coughed lightly, as though physically shaking off the thought, when he noticed Fenix staring back at him with questioning eyes.
"Take a break," he instructed with studied casualness. "Meditation and recovery."
Fenix nodded without complaint and dropped smoothly into the seated posture that Ghost had drilled into him since their second training session. He closed his eyes, settling his hands naturally on his knees, and began the steady breathing rhythm that was becoming as automatic as his heartbeat, breath and will moving together in perfect harmony, like ocean waves folding endlessly into each other.
Though his aura wasn't actively manifested around him anymore, residual energy still threaded through every muscle and bone in his body. He guided this lingering power with growing precision, aligning it carefully with his breathing pattern, letting the accumulated fatigue bleed away with each controlled exhale. Within just a few minutes, the crushing heaviness in his limbs began to fade like morning mist.
The Fenix from three days ago would have been absolutely stunned by how quickly his body could recover from such brutal punishment. But now? This accelerated healing was simply his new normal.
Two hours passed in what felt like a single, focused breath. When he finally opened his eyes, he was completely ready for whatever came next.
Ghost appeared directly in front of him without making a sound, his massive presence sliding into place like a shadow gaining substance.
Two days earlier, Fenix had worked up the courage to ask for his mentor's real name. The man had offered nothing but a quiet, almost reluctant answer delivered in a tone that carried hints of old pain:
"Just call me Ghost. That's all you need to know."
There had been something in the way he spoke those words, a flicker of deep sadness behind those ancient crimson eyes, that told Fenix not to press the subject any further.
Now Ghost's voice carried its familiar sharp edge of authority. "Time for your next phase of training."
He snapped his fingers with casual precision.
A faint flicker of violet light sparked in the empty air between them, then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. A heartbeat later, the ground beside them split open with a deep, grinding roar that sounded like the earth's bones breaking. Soil and dust swirled in miniature tornadoes as something absolutely massive began rising from the depths below, a boulder nearly six feet in height, hewn from the raw stone of the hillside itself. It hit the surface with a thunderous impact that shook the entire hilltop beneath their feet.
"This," Ghost announced, placing one weathered hand against the rock with proprietary confidence, "is your new test. If you can land a clean hit on this boulder and make it crack, even the tiniest hairline fracture, you'll be ready to advance to the next phase of your development."
Fenix stepped forward with interest, his analytical mind already working as he examined the massive stone obstacle. He pressed his palm flat against its surface, feeling for weaknesses or structural flaws... and his eyes immediately narrowed in sharp recognition.
This wasn't just ordinary rock.
Beneath his exploring hand, he could sense it clearly, a subtle but oppressive energy signature humming through the stone like a living heartbeat. Ghost had completely cloaked the boulder in layers of his own aura, turning it from simple stone into something approaching indestructible.
A cold realization settled over him like winter fog. 'There's absolutely no way I can break through this. Not with my current level of strength.' Ghost's aura felt every bit as heavy and suffocating as Khan's had during that confrontation in the throne room, a stark reminder that his mysterious mentor's true rank existed in a realm far beyond anything Fenix could currently imagine reaching.
Still, he wasn't about to give up without trying.
He settled into his fighting stance, drew in a sharp, focusing breath, and drove his fist forward with everything he had. The impact sent jarring vibrations racing up his entire arm and into his shoulder socket. His teeth rattled from the shock. The massive boulder didn't even tremble.
He staggered backward, flexing his aching hand, and his eyes confirmed what his throbbing bones already knew, he hadn't managed to leave so much as a single scratch on the surface.
Ghost, watching from the sidelines with the air of a patient teacher, carefully hid an amused smirk behind his impassive mask. Inwardly, he congratulated himself for choosing exactly the right challenge. 'A week, minimum,' he thought with satisfaction. 'That's how long it should take him to figure out what he actually needs to do here. He's definitely a prodigy, but even prodigies aren't miracle workers.'
And then—
The thought died incomplete in his mind.
A subtle shift rippled through the air around them, like the moment before lightning strikes.
Ghost's ancient crimson eyes widened in genuine surprise as he felt something completely unexpected, Fenix's aura was changing, evolving, responding to the challenge in ways that defied normal progression patterns.
Then came the sound, a sharp, explosive 'crack' of displaced air followed by a visible shockwave of pressure that pushed dust and loose petals away from the boulder in expanding rings.
Ghost turned to face his student completely, staring at the boy who was now grinning faintly through the sweat and exhaustion coating his face.
The boulder itself remained unmarked... for now.
But Fenix had just discovered something that could change absolutely everything.
Something that shouldn't have been possible for someone at his level.
'What the hell just happened?' Ghost thought, his composed facade cracking for the first time in years.