The engineering tower fell into stunned silence.
A new Administrator signal.
Already.
Forty-eight hours had shrunk to maybe four. Maybe less.
Lena grabbed Ethan's arm hard enough to hurt. "We can't face another one. Not like this."
Kai'Alar lifted her head, eyes narrowing as she analysed the sky through the cracked windows.
"No," the alien envoy agreed. "You cannot. Not yet."
Ethan swallowed. "Then we need to get ready. Fast."
Kai turned to him with a look that was equal parts appraisal and challenge.
"You have evolved three times in less than a day," she said. "Most beings evolve once in a decade, if ever. Your capacity for adaptation is… unprecedented."
Ash floated closer.
[CORRECTION: HIS ADAPTATION RATE IS DANGEROUS AND UNSAFE.]
Kai didn't look away from Ethan.
"Exactly. And we will use that danger."
Lena frowned. "Use it how?"
Kai clasped her hands behind her back.
"By forcing more evolution."
Ethan froze.
"W-wait. Force? As in—you want me to deliberately trigger near-death events?"
Kai smiled lightly. "If necessary, yes."
Lena stepped forward immediately, fire in her eyes. "Absolutely not. He almost died twice today already!"
Kai raised a calm hand. "And yet he lives. Stronger than before."
"That's not the point!" Lena snapped. "He's still human!"
Kai's silver eyes gleamed.
"Are you sure?"
Ethan's stomach twisted.
"Enough," he said, voice sharp. "No more cryptic comments. If you know something about my system—or me—start explaining."
Kai studied him for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. But explanation alone won't save you."
She tapped her armoured wrist.
The air shimmered—
A holographic interface appeared, showing a rotating sphere with hundreds of glowing threads spiralling outward.
"What is that?" Lena asked.
"The System Core," Kai said. "This is the structure behind the power that governs your world."
She zoomed in.
The threads weren't just glowing lines.
They were chains.
Thick. Interlocking. Binding the sphere in place.
Ethan felt his throat tighten. "Chains…?"
"Yes," Kai said softly. "The System was created to restrict evolution, not encourage it. Classes, stats, levels—they appear empowering. Yet all structure is limitation."
Her eyes snapped to Ethan.
"Except yours."
Ethan frowned. "My system… breaks the chains?"
"No," Kai corrected.
"It ignores them."
The room went still.
Ethan exhaled shakily.
His system didn't just break rules.
It functioned outside them entirely.
Lena gripped his arm again, more gently now. "Ethan… this is bigger than we thought."
He nodded slightly. "Yeah. I'm starting to get that."
Kai dismissed the hologram.
"You need combat conditioning. Strength. Reflex optimisation. Elemental mastery. And above all—control over your evolutions."
"Control?" Ethan repeated. "What does that mean?"
Kai stepped forward, close enough that he felt her cold, electric aura.
"It means you stop waiting for your instincts to trigger evolution.
And learn to command it."
The words hit harder than any punch.
"Command… evolution," Ethan echoed softly.
Lena whispered, "Is that even possible?"
Kai nodded. "For him? Yes. His system adapts based on stress and intention. If he learns to direct that intention, he can evolve at will."
Ethan's heart pounded.
Could he evolve by choice?
By willpower?
Not just by almost dying?
Kai straightened.
"We begin immediately."
Lena stepped between them.
"Wait. He needs rest—"
Kai placed a hand on Lena's shoulder—not roughly, but with firm pressure.
"Your concern is noted. But if we delay, he dies. And so does everyone here."
Lena swallowed hard.
Ethan stepped forward, voice steady despite the fear twisting inside him.
"Okay. What do I do?"
Kai gestured toward the ruined courtyard.
"Follow me."
TRAINING BEGINS
They moved into the open space outside the tower, the cracked marble tiles still warm from the Hellhound's molten blood.
Students watched nervously from inside the lobby.
Kai stood across from Ethan, spear deactivated at her side.
"First lesson," she said. "Control the Ignition."
Ethan nodded, raising his burned hand. "I've been doing okay with—"
"Show me," Kai said simply.
Ethan inhaled and summoned the fire.
A flame burst from his palm—erratic, too large, flickering wildly like an uncontrolled blowtorch.
Kai lifted one eyebrow. "Unrefined."
"It's new," Ethan muttered.
Kai stepped beside him.
"Your fire reflects your state of mind. Unstable mind… unstable flame."
She placed two fingers on his wrist.
"Breathe. Focus. Shape your intention."
Ethan exhaled slowly.
He remembered the fear from the Administrator.
The desperation with the Hellhound.
The rush of heat.
The panic—
No.
Not panic.
Control.
The flame steadied—becoming a tight, focused sphere.
Ethan's eyes widened.
"I—I did it."
Kai nodded. "Good. Again."
He extinguished the flame and tried again.
This time it came easier. Smaller. Precise.
Lena's voice drifted from behind them. "Ethan… that's incredible…"
Kai stepped back.
"Lesson two. Use it."
She activated her energy spear with a sharp snap—the blade humming with lethal power.
Ethan tensed. "Are we—fighting?"
"Yes," Kai said.
Lena yelled, "WHAT?! No—Kai, he's injured!"
Kai didn't take her eyes off Ethan.
"I will not strike to kill. But if he cannot block even a fraction of my power, he will never survive as an Administrator."
Ethan raised his fists. "Alright. I'm ready."
"No," Kai corrected. "You are not. But you will be."
She vanished.
Ethan barely processed the movement before the spear blade slashed toward his ribs.
He dodged purely on instinct.
His Micro-Calculation passive flared—
showing him her next angle of attack just a hair before she moved.
He twisted aside, flame surging through his hand—
—and fired a burst at her torso.
Kai deflected it with a flick of her wrist.
The fire dissipated harmlessly.
"You hesitate," she said calmly.
"I'm trying not to die!" Ethan snapped.
"That is hesitation."
She lunged again.
Ethan Phase Shifted just in time—
appearing two meters behind her.
Kai smiled faintly. "Better."
She spun, spear slicing horizontally.
Ethan blocked with a burst of fire—
The flame meets the energy blade in a flash of sparks.
Heat surged, pushing back the spear.
Kai's eyes widened slightly.
"Interesting."
Ethan exhaled shakily. "Does that mean I'm improving?"
"It means," Kai said, "you are adapting quickly. Too quickly. And your system is responding."
A notification blinked in Ethan's vision.
[EVOLUTION POSSIBILITY: HIGH]
His heart slammed into his chest.
"Already? But I didn't almost die…"
Kai pointed at him with the spear.
"Your intent changed. You will sharpen. That is enough."
Lena stepped out from the tower doorway, voice full of awe.
"He's evolving because of training…?"
Kai nodded.
"Exactly."
Ash pulsed excitedly.
[RECOMMENDATION: SELECT EVOLUTION PATH.]
Ethan stared at the glowing message forming before his eyes.
Two options appeared.
EVOLUTION AVAILABLE
[1. HEAT PRESSURE]
Focus heat into compressed bursts.
Short-range impact attacks.
Improves flame density and shape.
[2. IGNITION VEINS]
Fire flows through your bloodstream.
Improves stamina, recovery, and elemental resistance.
Fire abilities empower your physical strikes.
Lena covered her mouth. "Ethan… both of those sound… insane."
Kai stepped closer.
"One evolution gives you precision," she said.
"The other gives you endurance."
Ethan exhaled slowly.
Both were powerful.
Both would change his fighting style.
He had seconds—maybe minutes—before the Administrator descended.
Kai watched him intently.
"Choose, anomaly. Choose your path."
Ethan clenched his bandaged fist.
Fire burned beneath his skin—
a spark of power waiting to evolve.
"I choose—"