A full year had ground by in the West Wing Academy. For most, it was a year of steady cultivation and lectures; for Ryan's circle, it was a year of silent warfare.
David's rise in the Law Enforcement Pavilion had been written in bruises. As Vice-Captain of Squad 1, he was challenged nearly every week by veterans who couldn't stomach a freshman superior. Jonah, the demoted captain of Squad 3, had become a shadow of malice. During a high-stakes perimeter mission in the Grey Woods, Jonah and his loyalists had orchestrated a "monster surge" ambush. David had returned to the Phoenix Wing drenched in blood, clutching a fractured ribs and a punctured lung, but his eyes remained as cold as Ryan's.
The breaking point came over a Fire Lily.
Jasmine had reached a critical junction in her medicinal cultivation; she needed the rare fire-attributed herb for her next evolution. Resources were scarce, and though Ryan and David had enough mana stones to sustain themselves for five years thanks to their Ragnor hoards and Olivia's backing, a Fire Lily couldn't be bought with silver alone—it had to be taken from the volcanic ridges of the Outer Reach.
David had taken the mission. He returned half-charred, having survived another "accidental" collapse caused by Jonah's interference, but he delivered the Lily into Jasmine's trembling hands.
When Professor Olivia saw David's state, her golden aura flared so violently the Refinement Hall windows shattered. "I will turn that peasant Jonah into a garden fertilizer," she hissed.
"No," Ryan had intervened, his voice a calm anchor in her rage. "If you kill a Captain of the Law Enforcement, you'll owe Valerius a debt of not interference. Let the children settle their own accounts. I have a plan that doesn't just kill Jonah—it erases him."
The plan was set in the dimly lit corner of Ryan's suite. Lucas, now a prominent rising star in the Mage Club, was pacing the floor, cursing under his breath.
"You want me to do what?" Lucas squawked. "I'm a delicate researcher, Ryan! I'm a scholar of the arcane! I'm not bait for a Silver-Peak psychotic like Jonah!"
"You're the only one he thinks he can bully without immediate retaliation," Ryan said, sipping a cup of Fire Lily tea. "He's frustrated. He's failed to kill David three times. He's desperate for a win. You will take an outdoor mission to collect 'Cloud-Silk.' You will provoke him in the canteen, let him see you leaving alone, and lead him to the Ravine of Echoes."
"He'll kill me!" Lucas barked. "He's a Silver Peak! I'm still at Middle Stage!"
"He won't kill you," David grunted from the corner, his torso wrapped in fresh bandages. "Because I'll be ten meters behind you in the shadows. And Ryan will be waiting at the finish line."
Lucas sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Fine. But if I get a scratch on this face, I'm charging you double in mana stones."
The provocation went perfectly. In the central canteen, Lucas had "accidentally" spilled soup on Jonah's boots and laughed, calling him a "demoted failure who couldn't even beat a freshman's shadow."
Driven by a year of bottled rage, Jonah didn't even wait for a full squad. He took two Silver-Early lackeys and shadowed Lucas out of the Academy gates.
As they reached the Ravine, Jonah stepped out of the brush, his obsidian earth mana vibrating with killing intent. "Nowhere to run now, you little mage rat. I'm going to peel the skin off your face before I go after your 'Master'."
"You talk a lot for a guy who spends his days crying about his old job," Lucas sneered, though his hands were shaking.
As Jonah lunged, manifesting a massive stone fist, Lucas crushed a concealment talisman. David stepped out of the void, holding a Recording Mana Stone high. It captured Jonah's roar, his unauthorized attack on a fellow student, and his explicit intent to kill.
"Got it," David said, clicking the stone off.
"Kill them all!" Jonah screamed, realizing the trap. "Dead men can't testify!"
The fight was short and brutal. Jonah's two lackeys didn't even see Ryan move. A wave of Absolute Zero frost swept through the ravine, pinning their legs to the ground instantly.
"Your turn, Jonah," Ryan said, walking out from behind a jagged rock. His aura was different now—sharper, deeper. A year of mastering the Frost-Bound Sovereign had made his mana feel like solid ice.
Jonah roared, throwing a Mountain Smasher punch. Ryan didn't dodge. He caught the fist in a palm encased in crystalline ice. The impact shattered the ground beneath them, but Ryan didn't budge.
"A year ago, you might have stood a chance," Ryan whispered. "Ice Glacier: Final Shatter."
A spike of ice erupted from Ryan's palm, driving straight through Jonah's Dantian. It didn't kill him, but it did something worse—it shattered his mana core. Jonah let out a strangled gargle as his Silver Peak aura evaporated into the air, leaving him a powerless husk.
By the time the Law Enforcement patrol arrived, David was already there in his Vice-Captain uniform, standing over a "traumatized" Lucas.
"Captain Jonah attempted to assassinate a member of the Mage Club during an official mission," David reported to the responding officers, his voice cold and official. "I intervened to protect the student. Here is the visual evidence."
With the recording stone and the testimony of a "victim" like Lucas, there was no room for debate. Jonah wasn't just demoted; he was stripped of his cultivation and expelled from the Academy in disgrace.
The news hit the Law Enforcement Pavilion like a thunderbolt. The Captain of Squad 1 personally visited David the next day, offering a rare salute of respect. The "cub" had finally shown his teeth, and nobody—not even the veterans—dared to question his authority again.
Back in the Refinement Hall, Jasmine hugged Ryan tightly, her evolution successful thanks to the Fire Lily.
"You're a terrifying person, Ryan Ragnor," she whispered against his chest.
"I prefer the term 'Efficient'," Ryan replied, his gaze already moving to the next piece on the board.