Ryker’s eyes narrowed. He couldn’t help but admit that the result was astonishing. Though, the idea that he would have to put so much effort into using his Time Type Spirit Energy now was a bit annoying, it was better than not being able to use it at all.

‘Instant casting, huh… Not bad.’

There were two methods of using techniques. Well, there was really only one way, but the difference was that you could choose the balance of the two halves depending on your battle style.

The first method was through circulation of Spirit Energy through the Meridians or Circle Paths. It was said that these mysterious paths had untold power and worked akin to formations within the body. Circulating through certain pathways, at a certain speed, would elicit certain reactions in the environment. These reactions could be known as techniques.

The second method was through the soul itself. Humans obviously didn’t have the same Meridian Pathways that Spirit Beasts did and were much more limited in the kind of techniques they could use as a result. In order to combat this, humans created a method of eliciting a reaction in Spirit Energy through the soul.

Usually, one would have to use both at once and fighters would be separated based on the methods they used.

Some would go fifty-fifty, circulating Spirit Energy part of the way, before imposing the action they wanted through their soul the rest of the way.

Some would go hundred-zero, going with one aspect and forgoing the other completely. Those with powerful souls would obviously prefer to not have to circulate at all, while those with weak souls would want to ignore that weakness.

The trouble was that there was no true “zero”. Even if Ryker relied on his soul to impose his will on his Spirit Energy, he would still need to circulate the Spirit Energy to its exit point first.

However, while he was using this method, his Spirit Energy was already there. As for his soul, it was so powerful that he could instantly push his intention outward, molding the Spirit Energy to his will.

This led to the effect of instant casting.

In a usual battle, it would probably take him at least a few seconds before he could output that strike again, and he would likely have to alternate arms and Circle Pathways. But now…

‘I guess there is some benefit to the annoyance after all… Even so, I’m fairly certain that there’s no Spirit Energy in this world designed to be used in such a convoluted way. There are definitely secrets to this Time Type Spirit Energy that I just haven’t come to understand yet.’

Ryker exhaled and he released the hold he had on his Spirit Energy, allowing his body to reconfigure itself back into a more relaxing equilibrium.

‘Now if only I could find some Time Type treasures so that I could test how the mirror would use it…’

Ryker’s attention slowly turned back to the world around him and he found the others looking at him with shock-filled gazes.

“I think I need a new whip,” Ryker said with a grin, holding up the shredded pieces in his palm.

It was an unfortunate loss. He had only just got it, but he lost it already. Honestly speaking, though, without a treasure beyond the Enlightenment Realm, there was no way for a treasure to withstand that kind of strength, and there was simply no way the Federation had anything like that.

‘I can think of a workaround,’ Ryker thought to himself. There were more ways to use Spirit Energy than just as an amplifier.

With a step, he hopped down to the arena below.

He laughed at the look on Patience’s face. “Don’t worry, your old man will foot the bill. He owes at least that much.”

Patience didn’t even quite know what to say to this. She didn’t have the words to even describe the kind of strength Ryker had just displayed. What was most shocking was that he didn’t even look tired.

That was probably the more fearsome part of Time Type Spirit Energy. Ryker had only needed to use a fraction of his Spirit Energy to create that reaction. He probably used even less than a normal Ascension Realm expert would.

Given the fact he was a 9th Circle Talent, his reserves were also obscene as well. If it wasn’t for a limitation of his weapons, and some other advantages an Ascension Realm expert would have that he wouldn’t, he would even dare to say that a battle against such a person would be easy.

“Alright, I think I’ve spent enough time on myself,” Ryker said, crossing his arms and looking at the others. “What you guys have been doing, though, is unacceptable. You—”

Ryker looked toward Rosemary.

“Your battle style is terrible. There’s no separation between your beast and yourself, you rely on the same pattern of attack again and again, and you lack mobility in battle—even worse, you’ve made your beast just as immobile. That’s not something you can afford when you have just one beast.

“You also focus too much on attacking yourself. There’s nothing wrong with a Mythical Master taking the reins in battle and supplementing or even complementing their beast. Your problem is that your form of “controlling” a battlefield is just telling your beast to do whatever you’re doing.”

Rosemary frowned. Her grandfather had always told her to fight alongside her Spirit Beast as one, she didn’t like what Ryker was saying at all.

“Hey.”

Ryker poked her forehead with a finger, almost a bit too hard. She grabbed at her head, her frown deepening into a glare.

“Don’t worry about whatever other nonsense you’ve learned—”

“It is not nonsense!”

“It will get you killed,” Ryker said bluntly. “You want to test it out?”

“You’re stronger than me, what would that prove?”

“I won’t use strength exceeding the 1st Enlightenment Realm, and if I use more Spirit Energy than a 2nd Circle Talent would have, I will directly forfeit.”

Looking at Ryker’s confident glance, Rosemary suddenly felt doubtful. But when she thought about her grandfather, she gritted her teeth and accepted the challenge in a fit.

Soon, the two stood across from one another. Ryker had his arms crossed over his chest, and his blue eyes sparkled with an amused light.

“Begin.” Desmond said with a hint of wariness and blame in his tone.

“For the record,” Ryker suddenly said as the skies were filled with spiraling red horns. “Those parameters I just set were parameters that I’ve already used once before. This is the second time I’m fighting you, isn’t it? Do you remember how it ended the first time?”

Rosemary, who was in the middle of a fierce attack, and was somewhat taken aback by Ryker talking to her instead of dodging out of the way of the spiraling horns, suddenly remembered and her eyes widened.

Ryker smiled.

Suddenly, a half dozen copies of Ryker appeared and the spiraling horns seemed to have lost their target.

BANG.

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Rosemary bent over as a fist was driven into her gut. Her breath came out in a wheezing cough as she bent over.

Ryker caught her before she could fall over, allowing her to catch her breath. Quite frankly, his blow this time was even weaker than the first. It was just that he went to the extreme on the illusion to really drive home the point. So whereas during their first battle she had been able to brace herself somewhat, this time she was caught entirely off guard. He was practically like a ghost, arriving by her side with her being none the wiser. Even her Spirit Beast hadn’t reacted and he must have walked right by it.

Rosemary slowly caught her breath, pressing a hand to her stomach.

“Do you understand my meaning now?” Ryker asked.

Rosemary looked up at him. There was a clear hint of defiance in her eyes even now.

“Ah, I get it. You think that the advantage is just because of my illusions, right? That I’d be able to do that to anyone regardless of battle style?”

Rosemary didn’t respond, but it was clear that she agreed.

“Okay. Sofia, come here.”

Sofia was glaring daggers at Ryker by now, but when she heard the sudden command to come over, she was caught off guard. In the end, she could only walk over with some wariness in her gaze.

“You’ll battle Rosemary next. Same rules. Don’t hold back, or else I’ll have to punish the both of you.”

Ryker smiled brightly and gave the two women space.

“Oh, right. Sofia, don’t use your duck either.”

Sofia grit her teeth, but then obliged too.

The battle erupted.

Rosemary used the same methods, but she seemed even more determined to not lose in humiliating fashion again, this time overdrawing her Spirit Energy just to fill the air with even more of those spiraling red horns.

Unfortunately, it caused her to lose even more miserably. Her control of so many at once weakened her agility and coordination in using them. By the time Sofia used her far better reflexes and speed to get through the avalanche of attacks, Rosemary could only squint her eyes close as a fist appeared before her face.

Of course, unlike Ryker, she didn’t actually follow through. But the result was clear enough.

Rosemary had a clear lack of mobility and flexibility in battle, and it was something that she had transferred over to her beast as well. Bunny beasts should have great agility and decent speed, but she basically ignored a huge foundational piece of her skill.

“Now you,” Ryker looked toward Sofia. “I think even if you're aware of your own weakness, that’s part of the perks of being an Innate Battle Genius. It might even be better described as less of a weakness, and more of a misappropriation of your resources.

“You’ve gotten very good at fighting on your own already, so much so that you’ve lost the ability to coordinate with your Spirit Beast. In some ways, you have the opposite problem of Rosemary, and if you don’t want to abandon your Spirit Beast in the future, you’re going to have to find a way to fix it.

“It would be hard for me to help you with that directly because your approach is, technically, the smartest. Using your Spirit Beast as a proxy to filter Mature Spirit Energy into yourself and attacking on your own is likely the best battle style you have now. But I have a theory that they’re more to being an Innate Battle Genius than just control over yourself.

“From now until we’re inevitably kicked out of here, you and Rosemary will spar with each other. Both of you will only be allowed to use their Spirit Beasts to attack, and Rosemary you aren’t allowed to use your Spirit attacks, only physical attacks for now.”

“Why are you doing this?” Rosemary asked after he was finished.

Ryker raised an eyebrow. “Doing what?”

“Why are you trying to help us? What is your purpose for all of this? You’re so powerful already, you don’t need us.”

“Mm, mm,” Ryker nodded along, seemingly feeling pleased with himself before he finally answered. “Discipline.”

He didn’t say anything more on the topic as he looked toward Desmond.

“You have a great deal of battle experience and your greatest weakness isn’t caused by yourself. You’ve lost too many Spirit Beasts, your soul has been harmed again and again, and right now you’re more of an empty shell than anything else.

“If you want a chance at reaching your full potential, you’ll need to heal your soul first.”

Ryker twirled the Divine Dagger in his fingers, flipping it from finger to finger in a fluid motion. He had felt that tug on his soul very clearly when he used it on himself. Theoretically, this dagger should be able to heal a person’s soul as well.

He doubted this thing could heal his soul, at least not without him finding nine targets with Pure Souls first, and those were even rarer than 9th Circle Talents. He had never heard of another 9th Circle Talent, let alone someone with a Pure Soul—at least not alive during his own era.

“Sure, why not,” Ryker suddenly said. He’d help Desmond recover his soul over the next few weeks. It would be a good experiment as well to see how humans reacted to the use of this Divine Dagger.

As of now, Ryker still wasn’t sure if it was safe to use, at least not for the sake of improving talent. It was so far outside the norm of what he once thought was possible that it needed further investigation. Desmond would be the perfect subject for that.

Finally, he looked toward Patience who looked nervous, almost as though she was waiting for her own grade.

Ryker laughed. “What do you look so nervous for?”

“I am not nervous.”

“I haven’t seen you battle before, so I have no idea what your weaknesses are. Want to spar?”

Patience blinked and eventually nodded.

It took a while, but eventually she returned with three beasts. They were all lion beasts.

One of them was the one she rode into the Quota Check, a slender beast with white fur and a bright golden mane. A second was the reverse, having bright golden fur and a more subdued white mane. The final seemed to have dancing flames for its mane and eyes while its coat was a sleek black. Although this final one seemed close to a Crimson Lion in look, Ryker could tell that it was a sub-species or weaker stock.

The battle between the two began and Ryker didn’t seem to make much attempt to take Patience down. As the latter got more comfortable with the idea that she wouldn’t suddenly crush Ryker by accident, she started pressing harder until she found herself going all out.

Patience’s beasts were not weak by any stretch. They were all in the 6th Enlightenment Realm just like she was, and they all used Fire Type Spirit Energy despite their different looks.

Patience herself didn't seem eager to attack, something that was a bit odd considering the heavy armor she wore and the heavy training she clearly underwent.

However, Ryker was patient, dodging out of the way of claw strikes, redirecting balls of fire and slipping out of encirclements that seemed to have him dead to rights.

Then Patience suddenly moved.

“Oh?” Ryker understood what was happening immediately.

The valiant woman stomped a foot and the ground erupted in a ring of flames. The concentration of Fire Type Spirit Energy in the air had risen to the point it was practically the only Spirit Energy present.

Within this ring of fire, Ryker couldn’t easily slip out and her beasts seemed to have gained a boost to their strength.

Their manes flared with power and their roars layered atop of one another.

Ryker felt an assault on his very bones that made his eyes narrow.

‘This is [Lion’s Might] but used as an offensive attack? This is a formation, clearly. Just a layer deeper and quite cleverly applied.’

A blur of gold appeared before Ryker and a great sword descended from the skies.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as Patience joined the battle. He actually began to feel a little bit of pressure at the same time.

Unlike the others, Patience not only had multiple beasts, but she was also used to using them at one. She set up the battlefield to her advantage, cornered him, and then pressed that advantage. Of course, this was only allowed because he had taken his foot completely off the gas pedal, but it was something earned by her nonetheless.

At the end of the day, Ryker, too, was in the 6th Enlightenment Realm. Facing so many without taking the initiative to attack himself was quite foolhardy. However, he didn’t seem to mind it.

‘There’s something missing in this formation…’

Then it clicked for him.

Patience’s Spiritual Resonance. Or, rather, her lack of one. Just like him, she had been born without her family’s Resonance.

‘Well, I guess I can’t say that anymore. But it looks like she’s done her best to reconstruct it on her own using bits and pieces of different techniques. It’s clever.

‘She should be on the border of becoming a 5th Circle Talent, and her soul is probably at the Rising Soul level in order to control all these things at once.’

It had to be remembered that most usually had souls a step below that of their Circle Talent. A Peak 4th Circle Talent like Patience would probably have a Tranquil Soul, the equivalent of a 3rd Circle Talent. But instead, she had a Rising Soul, the equivalent of a 5th Circle Talent and a soul level one step above her own.

‘Not bad,’ he thought to himself, ‘there are very few in the Valorian Clan with souls this strong.’

Ryker’s own father was a 6th Circle Talent and his soul was also at the Rising Soul level. The person with the strongest soul in the family other than Ryker was his grandfather who had a Rushing Soul, and that was only one level above Patience.

‘She’s taking the wrong path, though. Using external means to mimic a Spiritual Resonance is a waste of energy. If she wanted to create a Spiritual Resonance, she would need to reach the God Realm first.

‘Her style of combat would be much stronger if she used those bits and pieces within their own strengths, rather than trying to retrofit them into a new whole by suppressing the parts that don’t work together well.’

The Fire Type Spirit Energy suddenly reached a peak and roared out. The entire battlefield was filled with an upsurge of flames that looked like a vortex of red and gold, enveloping the two.

When it finally settled down, though, Sofia, Rosemary and Desmond were stunned to find Ryker pressing two fingers to Patience’s forehead, having side stepped her great sword.

Ryker smiled. “You did good.”

Patience huffed out deep breaths, a hint of frustration in her eyes. She didn’t touch Ryker a single time even when he wasn’t fighting back.

“Don’t be so down,” Ryker grinned, “at the same cultivation realm, there’s no one in the Valorian Clan that can defeat me.

“I think I have a good path for you. Listen to me and you’ll be stronger than ever.”

So that was what Ryker did for the next few weeks. Aside from meditating on Phoenix’s talents, cultivating himself, and testing out ways to better use Time Type Spirit Energy, he made the Federation Palace his own personal lounge.

He really wanted to see how long the higher ups would tolerate him.

He had a feeling he wouldn’t have to wait for long.