“What the hell kind of thought process made you think I came from the future?” I asked the woman. She tilted her head at my unexpected answer.

“Oh my… Did I reach the wrong conclusion? I thought I hit the nail on the coffin…”

“No… You’re not wrong. I’m just surprised you got it right on the first try. What gave it away that I was from the future?”

“So I was right! Splendid!” She cackled with a laugh that was easy on the ears. While laughing, Tisha took the opportunity to sit back on her cushion.

“The attire, the design of some of your mana swords, how you spoke with the other pupils, and the contents of your questions and answers. But most importantly, the constitution of your body. A human being able to utilize mana and use magic? It’s unheard of!”

…Yep, that does make sense. I would’ve come to the same conclusion as her. As expected of the master of the Demonic Dojo. She isn’t dumb and pays close attention to even the littlest of details.

“If you don’t mind me asking. How are you able to use magic as adeptly as those of the athios? I’m quite intrigued if you can’t already tell,” she said with twinkling eyes.

I averted my gaze and watched Solgac dozing off. “It’s simple. An unknown god implanted a core inside of my body that allows me to use mana to my liking. There are also humans just like me that can wield magic in the future.”

“…Fascinating!” She replied. Tisha drummed her fingers along the wooden table as her eyes darted around my body. “If you don’t mind again. Can I see your hand for a moment?”

“My hand? Why?” I asked curiously.

“As a martial artist of the Transcendent Realm, I’m able to gauge a person’s power through touch. I can also do that with just a glance, but the results are more accurate through skin contact.”

She held her arm over the table, waiting for my answer. I glanced at the still hand and the expectant woman’s eyes. I still sense no malice or bad intentions behind those little orbs that glow with immense strength. Though reluctant, I lifted my arm and clasped hands with Tisha.

“So…” I began, wanting to make small talk as I watched the woman do her thing. Probing her for information is my top priority since I don’t know when we’ll begin our final fight. Right now she had her eyes glued shut, still holding hands with me. Solgac’s head was peeking over the table as she watched the two of us curiously.

“You’re in the Transcendent Realm… The first pupil mentioned that he was a first-rank warrior. I’m guessing there are ranks among the demons who practice martial arts?”

“…”

Well then, I guess whatever she’s doing requires one hundred percent focus. Either she can’t hear me or is purposely ignoring my voice. I’ll ask her again once she’s don-

“Oh my…” Tisha mumbled. After uttering those words, she let go of my hand and slowly opened her eyes.

“I should’ve known! This core you speak of works similarly to the core inside an Apithien! It all makes sense now! No wonder your mana is rich, and your magic is strong. You’re an Apithien yourself, one of the strongest species in Earthiens!” Tisha’s mouth quivered as she struggled to suppress a smile.

“Was it implanted in your body through rigorous experiments? Or was my hypothesis about you being the offspring of a human and athios true? No, that’s not right. You did say an unknown god implanted the core inside of your body. Wait, I’m sure you said there are other humans just like you too! I assume this happens far into the future…”

Tisha kept babbling on and on about different topics. Her constant spew of random topics was just like listening to a professor’s lecture for two hours straight, bored out of your mind. I let out a loud sigh as I held a hand up to stop the animated woman.

“Can you chill out for a moment? I can feel the headache from before returning…” I said with a strained voice. The room quickly grew silent as Tisha shut her mouth.

“My apologies, Laila. This is the first time in history that a human has gained this much strength. Not only that, but they are able to wield magic. This is the breakthrough of the century, so you understand why I’m so eager to learn more.”

“Mhm... Speaking of the breakthrough of the century…” I speedily added in, wanting to change the subject quickly before she went back to her rant. “If you answer the questions I ask of you, you’ll also be learning about the future of Earthiens. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

“Really now? I don’t mind. Ask away.” Tisha motioned with a wave of her hand. I nodded and continued.

“First question. You said you’re in the Transcendent Realm. I heard from Luci that he is a first-rank warrior. Are there ranks among the demons? Or is it just for martial artists?”

“First off, that was two questions. Secondly, that’s the first question you ask me? I thought you would want to ask of the gods first since that’s what piques your interest.”

“…I wanted to start small, but since you don’t mind what questions I ask of you, then don’t be alarmed by the questions later.”

“Fair enough,” Tisha calmly agreed. “Yes, there are ranks among the martial artists. The ones who don’t practice martial arts are called Regulars. After that, in ascending order, it goes from a Third-Rank warrior, a Second-Rank warrior, and then a First-Rank warrior. We group those three ranks into the lower sections of the martial arts hierarchy in power. Your rank is determined by your Qi and martial arts mastery.”

“Third-Rank warriors have some form of martial arts training, and their Qi levels are low too, so they are considered the weakest other than Regulars. Second-Rank warriors are experienced in martial arts and their Qi levels are average at best. First-Rank warriors are much stronger than the two previous ranks, as this is reserved for geniuses similar to Luci.”

“Now comes the middle section of the martial arts hierarchy. If this wasn’t obvious enough, think of the ranks in the form of a pyramid. The top is where the strong lie and the weaker ones accompany the bottom. The middle section consists of Expert-Rank- martial artists who have mastered their respective art. Many masters that teach disciples are in this ranking. Next comes the final one of the middle section and it’s the Transcendent Realm or Transcendent-Rank.”

“Those in the Transcendent Realm like me are the martial artists who have created an original martial art. They are also leaps and bounds stronger than the Expert-Rank. I’m in the Transcendent Realm because of my strength and my ingenuity in martial arts.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Tisha puffed out her chest with a wide smile plastered on her face. She was quiet for a few seconds, almost as if she was waiting for me to comment on her achievements. When she realized that I wasn’t going to do anything of the sort, she forcibly let out a cough.

“AHEM! Anyways… I’m sure that answers your first two questions.”

“Um, aren’t you missing something?” I asked the woman, narrowing my eyes. I’m pretty sure she wanted me to look at the ranking system as if it was a pyramid. If there’s a bottom section and a middle section, then what about the top section?

“You mean the rankings on the top, correct? Well…” Her voice faltered for a moment, averting her gaze away from mine. After about a few minutes of grueling silence, Tisha moved her face closer to mine and whispered in my ear.

“I’m not supposed to speak of this out loud so keep this a secret, oh human from the future.”

The hell? Why is she whispering? Does she not want to be heard by someone? She’s acting very cautious right now… This must be an important piece of information

“You’ve been curious about ‘them’, right?”

…Them? Ah, I see what’s going on now. What she’s about to say must not reach the ears of the gods. Do they have a chokehold on Tisha or something? What sort of information is she about to give me?

“It has been foretold that a martial artist who reaches the pinnacle of martial arts will have power comparable to 'them'. This kind of information is only known between a select few mortals and them. I’m sorry, but I cannot say any further. If you want to know more, then you’ll have to ask the demons in your timeline yourself.”

Tisha removed herself from my ear and looked around the room nervously.

That’s an interesting piece of information. A martial artist that reaches the top will have power comparable to the gods? I think I hit the treasure trove of information to deal with the Pillars! I knew talking with the Demonic Dojo master will have useful information! I’ll ask her how to reach the pinnacle of martial arts. Since she’s in the Transcendent Realm, she should know, no matter how small the detail may be.

“How does one g-“ Before I could finish, Tisha placed a finger on her lips and shushed me with stern eyes. I was going to whisper under my breath what happened this time, but something unexpected happened. In the back of my mind, I had a sharp prodding like my brain was being electrocuted, but the feeling was faint.

Holy shit! You can communicate with me through your mind? That’s amazing… and creepy at the same time.

Forcefully? With how the flow of the conversation has been going, it’s safe to bet that you’re referring to the gods, right? Why are they all up in your business like this?

Yes, I am. Do I have to train my mind and body while meditating under a waterfall?

…That sounds complicated as hell. What do you mean I have to release all the negativity inside my body? You also say I should understand my body and the world? How does that he-

Zzzt!

A sound as garbled and ear-piercing like static washed over me as I groaned in pain, clutching my head. The voice of Tisha from my mind was now gone. When I craned my neck upward, she had a deadpan expression. The light from her eyes was gone, like the glass eyeball on a lifeless doll. She was slumped over the table, her mouth left agape. Solgac hopped on the table and was sniffing at the demon woman.

“Uh… The heck just happened?” I leaned over and placed my hand on Tisha's shoulder, but when I tried to shake the woman, she wouldn’t budge an inch. I was quite perplexed. It’s like Tisha’s body has been frozen over, though she was still warm.

“…”

A thought crossed my mind when I was inspecting Tisha. I grabbed the nearest edge of the table and tried to push the table to the side, but even that wouldn’t budge. I switched my attention to the cushion I was currently sitting on and tried to pry it away. The same result followed. After the tests I conducted, I came to one conclusion. Time has been frozen.

But by whom, I wonder? Is it the work of the gods in this timeline? Tisha did say that the gods were keeping a close eye on her. She was also in a hurry to say what she said. What I don’t understand is which god exactly. From my knowledge, no olympian god can control time as they please. The only person with that power was the Titan Chronos, and he should be imprisoned in Tartar-

Beep!

[Due to an unforeseen event, the trial has been paused momentarily. Please wait while we go through the necessary configurations.]

“So it wasn’t the gods that did this, but the S.O. To be interfering like this… Are you scared that I’ll uncover secrets you don’t want Tisha to spill?!” I shouted at the ceiling. Instead of a verbal reply, it only greeted me with silence.

“…As expected as much. Of course you wouldn’t tell me.” I scoffed, returning my attention to the frozen Tisha. The little dragon was now on top of Tisha’s head and was actively smacking her front paws at her scalp with a devilish smirk. I had to grab Solgac by the belly and place her in front of me. Solgac sighed while having a disappointed look on her face.

“You can’t be doing that to people, ya know? Especially when they're decommissioned like her…”

“Hm? Who’s decommissioned?” A happy voice suddenly rang out. Solgac and I both jumped up to see Tisha staring back at us with a smile. The life in her eyes returned to its previous vitality.

“Damn it, lady! Don’t scare us like that! Geez!"

Solgac was snarling at the woman, peeking from behind my back.

Tisha glanced at the both of us with a puzzled expression. She brushed our reactions aside and coolly stood up. “It’s about time we start the final challenge in the Tower of Strength.”

“Er… are you not going to address what just happened to you?” I said worriedly.

“Hmm~ What are you talking about? Did something happen to me?”

“Nope, never mind. Forget what I said,” I added in. If she doesn’t remember what happened, then there’s no use in telling her. The S.O. probably wiped her memory or something. Actually, how did the S.O. do that? Wiping the memory of someone in the past is kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Just how powerful is this damn thing? Am I missing a crucial detail here? It feels like it…

“Come here, Laila.” Tisha motioned. She pointed at the spot directly in front of her. I was a bit nervous around Tisha after what just happened and how we’re starting the final challenge. But, since I still sense no ill intentions from the woman, I complied. I walked over to Tisha and stood face-to-face with her. Solgac was strapped to my side.

“So? When are we going to start duking it out?” I said while pulling out my weapon.

Tisha shook her head at the sight. “Duking it out? Who said we were fighting? You’ve done enough of that, right?

“Uh… isn’t this the Tower of Strength? What else would you do other than fighting?” I replied, stashing the rapier back in the Inventory.

“You won’t be fighting physically in this challenge. If we were to fight, I would win without breaking a sweat, and you know this.”

“…How blunt of you.”

I mean, I knew that the gap between us was large after my battle with the first pupil. If you’re the master of someone like Luci, especially when you are the master of the Demonic Dojo, a highly esteemed place in the Demonic Continent of all places, then you’re probably a monster yourself. Luci is a First-Rank warrior while Tisha is in the Transcendent Realm. Only an idiot would fail to realize the gap in strength. Even then, it still pisses me off that I had to hear it out loud.

With that in mind, I tried my hardest to hide my annoyance. “You said I won’t be fighting physically nor will we be dueling. What’s going to happen now?”

“Good question. I guess we’ll be finding out soon.”

“Um, wha-“

Without warning, my vision grew dark as Tisha hid my face behind her palm. After I heard a harsh mutter from beyond the hand, I soon found myself feeling drowsy. My eyelids felt heavy, and it was becoming hard to keep myself wide awake. While I was struggling, Tisha spoke to me, though it was hard to understand since it sounded echoey and distant.

“The final challenge will occur from within. A tough body is useless without a solid mind to accompany it. Good luck, Laila.”

Darkness soon enveloped me as I felt my mind wavering, and my body drifting into a deep sleep.