Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Improvements Rhian flared his wings slightly as he stepped out of the simulation pod, still proud of how naturally they had become a part of him. They were sturdy, reliable in combat, and seemed to resist elemental attacks more than most materials. He hadn’t tested them fully, but the durability was clear. As he thought about his current situation, he could only sigh. The lockdown was one thing, it had been boring and dragged on far too long. Two full months of no portal access had left the academy stale. But worse than the lockdown was the shift in behavior from the other students. Rhian had gotten used to the looks and cowardly whispers four months ago, after the school found out he was evolved. But now, after the deaths and the lockdown, things had escalated. The stares had more malice. The whispers had turned to open disgust. The atmosphere felt heavier every time he walked through the halls. He knew the only reason most didn’t say it to his face was because he was strong. Not the strongest, but easily in the upper ranks of his year. That was enough to make people hesitate. But that wasn’t the case for Iris. She wasn’t weak. After the expedition, she’d absorbed her share of cores and reached the peak of F Rank. She was close to a breakthrough. But to most students, she was still an easy target. They didn’t fear her strength, so they didn’t hold back their words. They didn’t bother to whisper around her. They insulted her directly, laughed behind her back, and questioned why she was even here. Rhian didn’t like it, but Iris kept brushing it off. She smiled and shrugged and tried to pretend it didn’t matter. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 But it did. As he pulled his wings in, folding them tightly against his bare back, Rhian exhaled again and stepped out of the simulation chamber. The cool air of the corridor brushed against his skin as he walked. His muscles were still tense, but not from the fight, he was used to those. It was the atmosphere of the academy that made him uneasy. Miss Liane had been the first to speak directly about it. She warned them to stay low, not to stir anything. Her voice had been calm, but firm. There was something behind her words, something planned, though she hadn’t said what it was yet. Rhian understood why. After four months in this city, learning about how things worked, he had seen how deep the division between evolved and normal carriers really ran. The quiet hatred wasn’t just in whispers or stares, it was rooted into the structure of the city itself. There would be no fixing it anytime soon. No chance of peace in the near future. And if a civil war ever started, it wouldn’t just destroy the lives of those who hated the evolved, it would ruin things for everyone caught in between. The people who simply wanted to live. The ones who didn’t care who was evolved or not. They’d suffer first. He sighed. But enough about the depressing stuff. Despite everything he had to complain about, there were things he was genuinely proud of, things that reminded him he was still growing. First was his combat prowess. The [Combat Instinct] ability was easily one of the most broken things he had. The more he fought, the faster he learned. Every spar, every exchange, even simulation matches sharpened him. And when paired with the [Ragnarok Physique], which ensured his body evolved through strain and pressure, the two abilities together created a terrifying combination. One helped him fight smarter. The other made him stronger with each fight. That alone was enough to lift his spirits. He’d seen how far he’d come in just a few months. He could now go toe-to-toe with Nia in a one-on-one, enough to make her activate her lightning ability just to keep up. That was more than just a small victory. That was progress. And then there were his other abilities [Shadow Manipulation] and [Illusion]. Shadow Manipulation hadn’t changed drastically, but his understanding of it had. His control was sharper, cleaner, more deliberate. He was no longer just yanking shadows to trip someone or bind them. Now he could disrupt movements mid-action, pin limbs with precision, even use multiple shadows in tandem if he focused. Still, there was more he wanted from it. Controlling a shadow was one thing. But shaping it into something else? Something more? That was where his thoughts kept going. He wanted to turn a shadow into a humanoid figure. A soldier. A fighter. An extension of himself made from shadow. It sounded simple in theory. But in practice, it was anything but. The illusion, in fact, had shown insane growth. Miss Liane had once told him to take a closer look at his abilities, to figure out why his illusions only lasted five seconds. At first, Rhian was confused. Comparing illusion and shadow manipulation didn’t seem helpful. They felt too different. Shadow relied on what already existed. He simply extended his energy into the object and controlled it. It was mostly mental, with minimal energy loss. But that was exactly what opened the door. The more he held shadows, lifted them, shaped them, the more he noticed something. They didn’t drain divine energy as much as they taxed his focus. It was strain, not burn. But illusions were different, they felt like tearing a piece of himself away. And that’s when it clicked. The reason the illusion disappeared after five seconds wasn’t because of a set limitation. It wasn’t the ability cutting out. It was because the energy he gave it ran out. When he created an illusion, it was like cutting off a portion of his energy and letting it burn independently. Once it burned through that small piece, the illusion vanished. That was the flaw. To make them last longer, he couldn’t just ’create and release.’ He had to maintain the energy flow, to sustain it like a flame instead of lighting a match and letting it burn out. That realization alone changed everything. But Miss Liane had warned him. If he chose to keep feeding energy into illusions, he would lose their most dangerous advantage. Because his illusions, in their original form, had no tether. They were cold, silent, and undetectable. If he could find a way for them to physically interact, they’d be perfect for stealth kills. But if he pumped energy into them, if he made them more lifelike, more lasting, then they could be felt. It was a tradeoff. Undetectable but short-lived? Or detectable and sustained? But again, this also had ways around to play with, and just because they were now detectable didn’t mean someone knew they were illusion. Either way, it was growth. Real growth. And Rhian wasn’t done pushing yet.