Three days had passed since the expedition vessel had crossed the Domain Boundary, carrying them deeper into the alien expanse of the Curtain. While his teammates had chosen to rest, explore the ship's amenities, or engage in light training, Fenix had claimed the vessel's training room as his personal domain and had barely emerged since.
The training chamber was a marvel of Montclair engineering that adapted to user requirements through methods that defied easy explanation. The space felt larger than the vessel's exterior dimensions should have allowed, its surfaces shifting between various terrains and environments according to the operator's needs. At the room's heart stood a stasis pod identical to those he had encountered in the Ackerman family facility, though this one contained different possibilities.
Alfred had explained the system with characteristic diplomatic precision. "The Montclair family has gathered combat data from various sources over the centuries. The avatars available represent a comprehensive database of fighting styles, techniques, and capabilities drawn from across the Human Domain."
But there was a crucial limitation that distinguished this from his previous training experiences. "The available data consists entirely of mana-based fighters, as our family is a mana family."
The distinction was fundamental, representing two completely different approaches to supernatural combat that had evolved along separate paths.
Mana cultivation required specific genetic predisposition or awakened sensitivity to the energy that permeated all existence. Unlike aura, which was generated from within through will and vitality, mana existed as an external force that certain individuals could access, channel, and shape through their consciousness. It flowed through dedicated pathways within the practitioner's body, requiring meditation, circulation exercises, and gradual expansion techniques to develop capacity and control.
But the most crucial difference was regeneration. Mana cultivators possessed passive restoration capabilities that allowed their energy reserves to replenish automatically over time, making them formidable in extended engagements where stamina management became crucial. They could sustain their single ability longer, recover from exhaustion faster, and maintain peak performance through protracted conflicts that would drain aura users completely.
Aura cultivation, by contrast, drew power from the practitioner's own will, creating energy that was more immediately responsive to emotional states and conviction. While this allowed for explosive bursts of power that could exceed mana-based techniques in pure intensity, it also meant that every technique came at the cost of the user's own vitality. No passive regeneration, no automatic restoration - just the burning fuel of determination and physical resilience.
The trade-offs were significant. Each mana user possessed exactly one specialized ability that they had perfected through years of dedicated practice, their genetic predisposition determining which specific power they could develop. Aura users, meanwhile, developed broader skillsets that emphasized adaptability and will-based enhancement. Their techniques were more flexible, more responsive to immediate circumstances, but also more demanding in terms of energy expenditure and recovery requirements.
Fenix had spent his first day in the training room simply experimenting with the available options, learning to navigate the interface that selected opponents from the comprehensive database. The avatars were designated as "Unknown Fighters" - John Doe classifications that obscured their original identities while preserving their combat capabilities and techniques.
Now, as he stood in the training chamber's center at the beginning of his third day, sweat still cooling from the previous evening's session, he felt ready to truly test himself against opponents whose advantages would force him to evolve or be overwhelmed.
---
"Begin simulation," Fenix commanded, his voice echoing in the chamber's artificial space. "Intermediate-rank mana user."
The stasis pod responded with its familiar hiss of releasing pressure, aromatic steam carrying the scent of preserved combat data and technological precision. The featureless avatar stepped forward, pale as polished bone and smooth as flowing water, its blank features somehow managing to convey focused attention.
The avatar's transformation revealed a different kind of mana ability entirely. Berserker Form - a single, specialized power that flooded the practitioner's body with mana-enhanced physical capabilities. The avatar's muscles expanded visibly as the ability activated, its strength, speed, and resilience enhanced far beyond normal human limitations.
This was the fundamental nature of mana abilities - each practitioner developed mastery over one specific power that became their defining capability. Unlike aura users who learned multiple techniques, mana cultivators focused their entire development on perfecting their single gift.
The avatar moved first, its mana-enhanced reflexes carrying it forward in a straightforward assault that tested reaction speed and defensive capabilities. But Intermediate-rank, even enhanced through Combat Arts specialization, represented a level of opposition that Fenix's current abilities could handle with relative ease.
His katana cleared its sheath with the whisper of steel through polished wood, Black Soul's dark blade catching the training room's artificial illumination. The weapon felt alive in his grip, responding to his enhanced aura like an extension of his own will.
The exchange lasted perhaps thirty seconds. The avatar's Berserker Form provided impressive physical enhancement, but its techniques remained within parameters that months of training with Ghost had taught him to counter. His sword work created defensive screens that turned aside enhanced strikes while his footwork kept him positioned for devastating counters.
When his final combination landed - a flowing sequence that combined perfect technique with aura-enhanced precision - the avatar crumpled without ceremony, its artificial consciousness recognizing defeat according to its programming parameters.
"Simulation complete," the training room announced with mechanical precision.
Fenix nodded, though the victory felt hollow. Intermediate-rank opposition, regardless of specialization, no longer provided the kind of challenge that forced growth and adaptation.
"Next simulation," he commanded. "Intermediate+ rank."
---
The second engagement revealed a completely different type of mana ability.
The new avatar's transformation manifested as Illusionist - a single, specialized power that created reality distortions and false images. The avatar could make itself appear to be in multiple locations, generate phantom attacks that felt real until the moment of impact, and create environmental illusions that made targeting extremely difficult.
Each mana user possessed exactly one such ability - their entire combat effectiveness built around mastering that single power to its absolute limits.
Fenix's enhanced awareness, developed through months of training with Ghost's advanced techniques, allowed him to penetrate most of the avatar's illusions through pure sensory acuity. His Willstep capability provided mobility that the avatar's reality distortions couldn't effectively limit. Most importantly, his aura-enhanced strikes carried enough raw power to overwhelm mystical barriers that were designed to counter normal attacks.
The battle was more technically sophisticated than his previous encounter, requiring careful timing and tactical thinking to overcome advantages that pure strength couldn't address. But the fundamental gap in their capabilities remained too wide for the avatar's specialization to bridge effectively.
Victory came when Fenix managed to close distance during a moment when the avatar's reality distortions left it vulnerable to direct assault. His Edgeflare-enhanced strike carried enough concentrated power to penetrate its mystical defenses and inflict decisive damage.
"Simulation complete."
Still not enough challenge to force real growth.
"Expert-rank simulation."
---
The Expert-rank avatar demonstrated the power of Telepathy - a single mana ability that provided enhanced awareness of intentions, emotional states, and tactical planning. The avatar could sense what Fenix was going to do before he fully committed to actions, making surprise attacks nearly impossible.
This was how mana cultivation worked - one ability, developed to extraordinary levels of mastery. Where aura users learned multiple techniques, mana practitioners focused their entire lifetime on perfecting their single gift.
Combined with the mana cultivator's passive regeneration capabilities, the Expert-rank avatar presented challenges that forced Fenix to dig deeper into his accumulated skills.
His opening gambit - a Willstep repositioning followed by immediate Edgeflare assault - was countered with casual precision as the avatar's telepathic awareness allowed it to track his spatial displacement and prepare defensive measures. His follow-up sword combinations, while technically perfect, found themselves consistently countered by an opponent who seemed to know what he was planning before he committed to specific actions.
The engagement stretched for nearly ten minutes as Fenix adapted to fighting an opponent whose mental advantages made conventional tactical approaches ineffective. He had to abandon pattern-based techniques in favor of improvisation that even he didn't fully plan in advance. His aura control reached new levels of precision as he learned to mask his intentions behind layers of misdirection and false commitment.
Victory finally came through a combination of techniques that the avatar's programming hadn't encountered before. His Pulsebreak disruption destabilized the mental connection just long enough for a successful Willstep transition, while his Astral Doppelganger Art created multiple attack vectors that overwhelmed telepathic tracking through sheer complexity.
"Simulation complete."
The fight had been genuinely challenging, forcing him to evolve his approach in real time. But Expert-rank opposition still fell within his capabilities, even when enhanced by specializations that provided significant tactical advantages.
"Expert+ rank simulation." He commanded.
---
The Expert+ avatar possessed the Telekinesis ability - a single mana power that allowed manipulation of objects and forces at a distance. The avatar didn't need physical contact to affect the world around it. Training equipment became projectiles, floor sections shifted to disrupt footing, even air pressure changed to interfere with movement patterns.
Like all mana abilities, Telekinesis was this avatar's sole power - but it had been developed to such mastery that it could affect multiple targets simultaneously with precise control.
But more dangerously, the telekinetic abilities could affect him directly. Not crude lifting or throwing, but subtle manipulations that interfered with his balance, timing, and weapon control. The avatar could make his sword feel heavier at crucial moments, disrupt his Willstep transitions by affecting the spatial relationships he relied on, even interfere with his breathing patterns during extended exchanges.
Combined with Expert+ rank power levels and the passive regeneration that allowed sustained ability usage, the avatar presented opposition that pushed Fenix to his absolute limits.
The battle lasted over twenty minutes as he learned to fight an opponent whose advantages transcended direct physical confrontation. His enhanced awareness became crucial for detecting telekinetic manipulations before they could disrupt his techniques. His aura control reached new depths of precision as he learned to reinforce his movements against external interference.
His Astral Doppelganger Art proved invaluable, as the avatar's telekinetic abilities seemed less effective against projected consciousness than physical manipulation. But maintaining the technique while countering constant environmental attacks drained his energy reserves at rates that threatened his endurance.
Victory came through a desperate gambit that risked everything on a single perfect execution. He used his Willstep capability to position himself at the exact center of the avatar's telekinetic field, where the overlapping force patterns created a momentary null zone. His Edgeflare-enhanced strike, delivered from impossible proximity, carried enough concentrated power to overwhelm the avatar's defenses before its abilities could reassert control.
"Simulation complete."
The fight had genuinely tested his capabilities, forcing innovations that months of training hadn't required. But he had adapted, overcome, and emerged victorious through techniques that were becoming increasingly sophisticated.
"Graduator-rank simulation."
---
The Graduator-rank avatar possessed the Weapon Master ability - a single mana power that turned the practitioner's chosen weapon into an extension of their consciousness. Every movement carried lethal potential, every technique flowed seamlessly into devastating combinations, every defense created opportunities for overwhelming counterattacks.
This avatar had devoted its entire existence to perfecting this one ability, achieving mastery levels that made its weapon work seem like an art form rather than mere combat technique.
But more than technical mastery, the Graduator-rank avatar possessed the kind of battlefield intelligence that came from theoretical centuries of combat experience. It read his patterns, adapted to his innovations, and countered his advantages with tactical sophistication that rivaled Ghost's most challenging lessons.
Most importantly, its mana-based passive regeneration operated at levels that made extended combat almost impossible. Wounds that should have created tactical advantages healed within minutes. Energy expenditure that should have created fatigue was restored faster than he could exploit it. The avatar could maintain peak performance indefinitely while his aura-based techniques drew from finite reserves.
The engagement lasted over an hour and pushed Fenix beyond every limit he thought he possessed.
His sword work reached new heights of perfection as he was forced to make every strike count against an opponent that could afford to trade injuries for tactical position. His aura control achieved levels of efficiency that squeezed maximum effect from minimum energy expenditure. His technique integration became so sophisticated that he was combining abilities in ways he hadn't known were possible.
But it wasn't enough.
Despite fighting at the peak of his capabilities, despite innovations that transcended his previous understanding, despite endurance that bordered on the superhuman, the Graduator-rank avatar's advantages proved insurmountable through conventional approaches.
He was finally driven to attempt techniques he had never used in actual combat.
His Astral Doppelganger Art manifested with stability and power that surprised even him, the combat pressure triggering refinements that safe training had never achieved. The projection wasn't just a crude echo anymore - it was a sophisticated extension of his will that could fight with near-independence while maintaining perfect coordination with his physical form.
The advantage was immediately apparent. The avatar's Combat Arts specialization had been designed to counter single opponents through overwhelming physical superiority. Fighting against coordinated attacks from multiple positions simultaneously created challenges that its programming struggled to address effectively.
For perhaps ten minutes, the Astral Doppelganger gave him parity against impossible odds. His physical form and projected echo worked in perfect harmony, creating compound attack patterns that forced the avatar into reactive rather than proactive responses. Each successful strike carried the amplified power that made his echo attacks effectively one tier above his base capabilities.
But the Art's fundamental limitation became apparent as the engagement continued. The technique drew from his vitality rather than renewable energy reserves, creating a countdown timer that favored his opponent's sustainable capabilities. As his strength began failing, the projection grew unstable, the perfect coordination degrading into increasingly desperate attempts to inflict decisive damage.
The avatar's killing blow came when his exhaustion finally compromised the delicate timing that made the Astral Doppelganger effective. A gap in coordination created an opening that Graduator-rank reflexes exploited with clinical precision.
"Simulation complete. Defeat due to energy depletion."
Fenix lay on the training chamber floor, his chest heaving as his overtaxed aura core struggled to maintain basic functions. The defeat stung, but more than that, it had shown him exactly how far he still needed to climb.
The Graduator-rank avatar possessed advantages that transcended simple power differences. Its passive regeneration, sustained ability usage, and accumulated battlefield experience created a combination that couldn't be overcome through technique alone.
But he had lasted over an hour against opposition that should have eliminated him within minutes. More importantly, he had forced innovations that advanced his capabilities in ways that safe training never could.
As he settled into meditation posture to begin recovery, Fenix's mind was already working through the lessons learned and possibilities revealed. The Art required refinement to extend its sustainable duration. His aura efficiency needed improvement to match mana cultivation's regenerative advantages. Most crucially, he needed techniques that could exploit the specific weaknesses that mana specialization created.
The defeats had been more valuable than any victory.
---
As Fenix sat in meditative recovery, his aura core gradually stabilizing after the punishment of extended combat, he became aware of another presence in the training chamber.
Kai Ackerman stood near the entrance, his Expert+ aura signature radiating controlled hostility that suggested he had been watching for some time. His crimson eyes held depths of resentment and challenge that made the training chamber's atmosphere feel suddenly oppressive.
"Impressive display," Kai said, his voice carrying acid that could have etched steel. "Fighting avatars that can't actually kill you. Very heroic."
Fenix didn't open his eyes or acknowledge the provocation directly, though his enhanced senses tracked every detail of his cousin's emotional state and physical positioning.
"I've been thinking," Kai continued, moving closer with deliberate steps that echoed in the chamber's artificial silence. "About our family. About strength. About who really deserves to stand at the top."
When Fenix still didn't respond, Kai's voice took on sharper edges. "You've impressed everyone with your mysterious training and impossible advancement. But I know the truth - you're still the same pathetic failure who needed protection to survive your own awakening trial."
This time, Fenix's eyes opened, crimson meeting crimson in a moment of perfect mutual understanding. The challenge had been issued. The response was inevitable.
"You want to settle something?" Fenix asked, his voice carrying the calm certainty that had marked his previous encounters with family politics.
Kai's smile was sharp as a blade's edge. "A duel. No audience, no political complications, no veterans to interfere. Just us, our abilities, and the truth about which Ackerman deserves the respect our name commands."
The training chamber fell silent except for the soft hum of mana-tech systems and the synchronized breathing of two warriors whose relationship had been building toward this moment since the temple trials had changed everything.
Fenix rose from his meditation posture with fluid grace, Black Soul's weight familiar and comforting at his side. The exhaustion from his avatar battles faded as anticipation began building in his chest like a second heartbeat.
Finally, a real test.
"When?" he asked.
Kai's grin widened with predatory satisfaction. "Now."