Saltwind Tidal Academy did not sleep.
It pulsed.
Morning mist rolled off the cliffs like breath from a leviathan's lungs, and the massive ranking board shimmered above the central courtyard.
10,000 names.
And near the very bottom:
Rank 9,998 — Jeather Vale.
Students whispered as he passed.
"The Leviathan rumor is real."
"He fought a Gold-tier juvenile."
"With Rank 312."
"He didn't seal it."
"He survived."
Survived.
Jeather walked through them with a neutral expression, hands in his pockets.
Survival wasn't victory.
It was unfinished business.
Above the rooftops, a Bronze-tier Tidewing Falcon perched on a curved coral arch, watching students flow beneath like schools of fish.
Jeather glanced at it briefly.
It stared back.
Then looked away.
He continued toward the administrative wing.
Saltwind's Beast Exchange Hall was carved directly into the academy's eastern cliffside.
The interior was vast, tiered like an amphitheater, with glowing containment arrays lining the walls.
Caged beasts.
Bound contracts.
Students negotiating.
Selling.
Trading.
Jeather stopped at the reception counter.
A middle-aged woman with sea-green eyes glanced up lazily.
"New seller?"
"Where do I offload beasts?" Jeather asked.
She raised a brow.
"Depends. What quality?"
"Bronze. Standard Silver. No deformities.
Combat viable."
Her posture straightened slightly.
"Bulk?"
"Yeah."
She studied him for a moment.
"…Rank?"
"9,998."
She blinked.
Then smirked.
"Either you're stupid or interesting."
"Both."
She gestured toward the descending platform behind her.
"Evaluation pit three."
Jeather stepped into the evaluation pit and opened his Beast Realm.
The air shimmered.
One by one, beasts materialized within the containment circle.
Bronze-tier Reef Talon Gull.
Bronze Coralback Tortoise.
Silver Tidal Fang Eel (not the evaluation one — a prior capture).
Silver Coral Stalker.
Two Bronze Reefbreakers.
They appeared confused but contained.
From inside the Beast Realm, voices echoed.
Saxum boomed immediately.
"Jett selling friends?!"
Jeather pinched the bridge of his nose.
"They're not friends."
Astrael's calm tone followed.
"Utility assets. Not aligned with long-term objectives."
The Basilisk hissed softly.
"Unremarkable bloodlines."
Then—
a softer voice.
Bright.
Playful.
"Does that mean I'm staying?"
The otter.
Jeather's lips twitched.
"Yes. You're staying."
The otter spun in an invisible circle inside the realm.
"Ha! I knew it! I'm adorable and dangerous."
"Mostly loud," Velkaria murmured.
The newly sealed Mutated Abyssal Rifthound materialized within the realm's crystalline plains.
It stood apart from the others.
Silent.
Observing.
Its voice was low.
Distorted.
"You destabilized my anchor."
Jeather smirked faintly.
"You tried to eat me."
"Fair."
Good.
It had personality.
He would keep that one.
And the mana crystal shard.
And the juvenile Leviathan memory burned in his mind.
The exchange evaluators circled the beasts.
One of them whistled.
"These are clean captures."
Another nodded.
"No corruption. Minimal damage."
The receptionist leaned over the railing above.
"New kid, how are you this stocked already?"
Jeather shrugged.
"I explore."
After assessment and pricing calculations, the total sum displayed in glowing script.
A significant amount.
Enough for equipment upgrades.
Access fees.
Information.
Jeather nodded.
"Transfer."
The beasts dissolved into academy containment sigils.
Payment transferred to his academy account.
Inside his Beast Realm, Saxum muttered.
"Jett heartless merchant."
Jeather folded his arms.
"If I keep everything, I stagnate."
The otter popped up.
"Does this mean we get snacks?"
"…Yes."
Cheers echoed in his mind.
When Jeather stepped out of the Exchange Hall, the air had changed.
Students stared openly now.
Selling multiple Silver-tier beasts in bulk wasn't normal for someone ranked near bottom.
Whispers multiplied.
"Where is he hunting?"
"Who's backing him?"
"Is he from a hidden faction?"
From a balcony above, Nerissa Vale leaned against the railing.
"You move fast."
"Money's useful."
"You sold them?"
"All but the interesting ones."
She studied him carefully.
"You're building something."
"Always."
Her gaze flicked toward the ranking board.
"You planning to challenge upward soon?"
"Not yet."
A shadow fell across them.
Both looked up.
At the highest terrace overlooking the courtyard stood one of the Top 10.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Aura controlled like a drawn blade.
Rank 7 — Kael Viremont.
He wasn't looking at Nerissa.
He was looking at Jeather.
Then he turned and walked away.
Nerissa's jaw tightened slightly.
"…You're being noticed."
Jeather smiled faintly.
"Good."
That night, Jeather sat cross-legged in his dorm room.
He entered his Beast Realm fully.
The landscape had grown.
Crystal plains shimmered softly.
Astrael stood atop a raised stone platform, flame aura subdued but powerful.
Velkaria hovered above a flowing current river.
Saxum hammered imaginary constructs from rock.
The otter zipped between them energetically.
The Basilisk coiled in golden silence.
And the Mutated Rifthound stood near the crystal shard he had sealed.
Jeather approached it.
"You're adapting."
"Yes," it replied calmly. "Your realm stabilizes my distortion."
"You'll fight for me?"
A pause.
Then:
"You are apex within this territory."
Good enough.
Jeather turned to the group.
"From now on, communication is open. You speak. You advise. You complain."
The otter gasped dramatically.
"We can complain?!"
"No."
"Too late."
Astrael's steady gaze met his.
"You are approaching a threshold."
"The Leviathan," Jeather said.
"Yes."
Velkaria added gently,
"And the Top 10 have shifted attention."
Saxum grinned.
"Jett smash rankings soon?"
Jeather looked up at the sky of his realm.
"Soon."
The next morning, Jeather visited the Archive Tower.
Rows of floating water-slate records hovered in rotating rings.
Rare Beast Sightings.
Uncharted Zones.
Gold-tier Activity.
He skimmed quickly.
Several flagged areas:
Northern Trench — unstable currents.
Sunken Obelisk Ruins — Silver-tier clusters.
Blackwater Shelf — restricted after student casualties.
Restricted.
He smiled.
A Bronze-tier Inkfin Lurker clung to the ceiling arch above the archive chamber, blending into stone.
Jeather noticed it immediately.
"Relax," he muttered. "Not here for you."
It blinked slowly.
By afternoon, formal challenge notices began appearing in his academy slate.
Rank 9,732.
Rank 9,401.
Rank 8,990.
Students testing him.
Jeather declined all.
For now.
Let them wait.
The higher ranks watched patterns.
He wouldn't rush.
That evening, as he stood near the academy's western tide cliffs, he felt it.
Pressure.
Not hostile.
Evaluative.
He turned.
Darius Vell stood there.
Rank 7.
"You fought the juvenile Leviathan," Kael said plainly.
"Yes."
"You didn't seal it."
"No."
"Good."
Jeather raised a brow.
Kael's eyes were sharp, calculating.
"Sealing something you can't control gets you killed later."
Silence stretched.
Then Darius stepped closer.
"You're building capital. Gathering rare contracts. Avoiding unnecessary challenges."
Jeather smirked faintly.
"You spying on me?"
"I observe assets."
Darius's gaze flicked briefly — not to Jeather's hands—
but slightly to his shadow.
As if sensing something within the Beast Realm.
Interesting.
"You'll challenge upward soon," Darius continued.
"When I'm ready."
"Good."
Darius turned to leave.
Then paused.
"Rank 1 doesn't fall to impatience."
Then he vanished into the descending mist.
Inside the Beast Realm, Astrael spoke softly.
"He is strong."
"Yes."
Velkaria added,
"He measured you."
Saxum cracked stone loudly.
"Jett measure back later."
The otter popped up on Jeather's shoulder.
"I vote we fight something big again."
Jeather chuckled.
"You would."
Far beneath the academy's reef cliffs, in the trench where light barely reached—
The juvenile Leviathan moved.
Its wound had scarred.
It remembered flame.
It remembered the pressure.
It remembered him.
Predators did not forget.
And it was growing.
Closing Scene
Jeather stood alone beneath the ranking board that night.
Rank 9,998.
Unchanged.
For now.
He had money.
He had rare contracts.
He had a mutated spatial predator adapting inside his realm.
And he had drawn the eyes of Rank 7.
Ten thousand students.
One throne.
He looked up at Rank 1.
"Soon."
Behind him, perched on the academy's highest coral spire, a massive Silver-tier Stormcrest Albatross watched the courtyard silently.
Waiting.