Eren stopped the session early.
That alone told Lia something had changed.
Inside the Sovereign Genesis Realm, the air still shimmered with residual heat and spiritual pressure, but the urgency that had driven the last few days abruptly vanished. Charmander sat upright, tail flame steady. Honedge hovered in place, blade angled downward in a resting posture.
Lia wiped sweat from her neck. "Why stop now?"
Eren didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened the system interface.
Then another panel.
Then a third.
Treasure inventory unfolded in layered lists—crystals, cores, essences, fragments. Some pulsed faintly, others radiated pressure strong enough to distort the air around them.
Lia's eyes widened slightly.
"…You're thinking what I think you're thinking."
"Yes," Eren said calmly. "We're done saving."
She didn't argue.
That was the frightening part.
For weeks, they had treated treasures like insurance—too valuable to touch, too rare to waste. But daily sign-in had changed the equation. The exclusive realm's output had changed it further.
Stockpiling no longer meant safety.
It meant stagnation.
"Our Pokémon are ready," Lia said after a moment. "If we don't push them now, we're the bottleneck."
Eren nodded. "And bottlenecks get crushed."
He selected the first item.
Refined Combat Essence (Low → Mid Tier)Effect: Stabilizes battle instincts, accelerates level consolidationSide effects: Neural overload, stat imbalance
For anyone else.
Eren tapped Confirm.
"Charmander first," Lia said without hesitation.
Charmander rose immediately, eyes bright, no fear—only anticipation.
The essence dissolved into light and flowed into its chest.
There was no explosion.
No scream.
Just a sharp intake of breath.
Charmander's muscles tensed, every fiber tightening as if drawn inward. Its tail flame compressed into a dense, brilliant core, heat folding back on itself. The ground beneath its claws cracked—not from force, but from control sharpening beyond its previous limits.
Charmander exhaled.
The air rippled.
A controlled, silent shockwave expanded outward and stopped exactly three meters away.
Lia's breath caught. "That… that was perfect dispersion."
Charmander looked down at its claws, flexed them, then looked up—calm, focused, aware.
Combat Evaluation Updated: High Gym Level
One treasure.
No backlash.
No instability.
Eren didn't pause.
Next item.
Flame-Type Growth Crystal (Mid Tier)Effect: Enhances elemental affinity, improves output ceiling
Again, confirmation.
This time, Charmander's core flared.
For a brief instant, something ancient stirred beneath the surface—pressure, dominance, a hint of draconic authority—but it didn't escape. The sealed bloodline absorbed the energy cleanly, reinforcing the container rather than breaking it.
Charmander dropped to one knee.
Then stood.
Its eyes gleamed—not feral, not wild.
Disciplined.
Potential Stability: IncreasedLevel Consolidation: Complete
Lia let out a slow breath. "Two treasures. Zero side effects."
Eren's gaze shifted.
"Honedge."
The sword Pokémon drifted forward, eye unwavering.
Eren selected a different set.
Spirit Core Fragment (Mid Tier)Effect: Reinforces spiritual density, sharpens form control
Light wrapped around Honedge.
The blade vibrated—not violently, but with increasing resonance. Its metallic sheen deepened, edges refining to a clarity that felt almost unreal. The spiritual eye burned brighter, perception expanding inward rather than outward.
Honedge understood itself better.
The realm reacted.
Ambient energy bent subtly toward the blade, not absorbed—acknowledged.
Then came the second item.
Weapon Mastery Relic (Low Tier)Effect: Improves combat technique assimilation
The moment it integrated, Honedge's posture changed.
Not stronger.
More correct.
Angles aligned. Balance perfected. Intent sharpened.
Combat Evaluation Updated: Peak Gym LevelPotential Limit: Stable (Champion-Class Ceiling)
Lia stared openly now. "Eren… they're jumping entire phases."
"Because we're not forcing breakthroughs," he said. "We're removing restraints."
They didn't stop.
They couldn't.
Low-tier EXP candies followed—not as crutches, but as polish. Each one refined gains instead of inflating them. Mid-tier treasures came next, carefully chosen, deliberately paired.
Hours passed.
Then silence.
Charmander radiated restrained power, heat curling inward like a coiled storm. Honedge hovered silently, pressure so refined it barely registered—until focused.
Lia sat on the ground, exhausted, exhilarated. "We were idiots for saving."
Eren closed the interface.
"No," he said quietly. "We were cautious."
He looked at their Pokémon.
"Now we're decisive."
Outside the realm, the world remained unchanged.
Inside it, two young trainers crossed a line most never reached in a lifetime.
And for the first time since Heaven's Rule was established, growth occurred that didn't destabilize balance—
—but redefined it.
Tomorrow, daily sign-in would activate again.
And this time, they would use everything.