"If I join your guild…" Aaron's voice stayed low, steady. "What happens when I become stronger than everyone in it?"
The words hung there.
The forest clearing went still. Even the swirling Nightmare rift behind Feng Tianhao slowed, the black-and-crimson energy twisting like it had heard the challenge.
Feng Tianhao stared at him a long second. Then the Dragon Knight threw his head back and laughed, deep and rough, the sound rolling through the trees like distant thunder.
"You've got balls, kid." He wiped the corner of his eye with one armored finger. "Most rookies would be on their knees thanking me for the offer. You stand here and ask about surpassing the whole guild."
His golden eyes sharpened. The dragon aura coiled tighter behind him, scales flickering. "Do you even know what level I'm at? One eighty-nine. National Guardian. I've buried monsters that would turn this entire academy to ash."
Aaron didn't flinch. He rested his hand on the Abyssfang Blade at his hip. The legendary weapon hummed faintly under his palm, golden runes catching the weak light. Frost traced the air in front of him, thin white lines cracking the dirt. He didn't draw it. He didn't need to. The simple pressure was enough.
Feng Tianhao noticed. His smile didn't fade, but something shifted in his posture. Respect, maybe. Or curiosity.
"Confidence is rare these days," the Dragon Knight said. He crossed his arms, armor plates clinking. "Most freshmen beg for a spot in Thunder Dragon. They chase the name, the protection, the resources. You're already talking about outgrowing it."
Aaron stayed quiet for a beat. He let his gaze drift to the rift, then back to the man in front of him. The system panel still floated beside Feng Tianhao, level one eighty-nine glowing like a warning. Instructors back at the academy barely cracked seventy. This guy had walked most of the road already.
Yet Aaron felt no fear. Only calculation.
Joining would mean instant doors. A personal recommendation from a National Guardian could drop him straight into a Regional Elite Academy. Heavenly Phoenix. The place where legends were forged. He knew the stories. Hunters who trained there came out changed, ready for the real wars beyond the walls.
But the academy tournament waited. Two days until elimination. The finals at the end of the month. That stage wasn't just a school fight. It was where reputations were born. Rewards. Exposure. A chance to stand in the center and make his own name before anyone else stamped theirs on it.
Guilds had rules. Hierarchy. Veterans took the kills, the loot, the glory. A freshman, even one with a legendary blade, would start at the bottom. Every monster he dropped, every level he climbed, would get folded into Thunder Dragon's records. Not his.
Aaron exhaled slow. The air tasted heavier near the rift.
"I appreciate the offer, Senior Feng," he said. "A letter from you could change everything for most people."
Feng Tianhao tilted his head. "But not for you."
Aaron met his eyes. "Not yet."
A low growl rumbled from the rift. A shadow leaked out, a mid-level rift beast, scales glistening, claws scraping dirt. It lunged straight at Aaron, jaws wide.
He moved before it crossed half the distance.
The Abyssfang came free in one smooth draw. Black blade flashed. Frost exploded across the creature's side. The beast staggered, legs buckling under sudden ice. Aaron stepped in and drove the point through its throat. Cold energy ripped outward. The monster dropped without a sound, body already breaking into faint particles.
The whole thing took three seconds.
Feng Tianhao watched without moving. His dragon aura flared once, then settled.
"Impressive," he said quietly. "For a freshman."
Aaron wiped the blade on his sleeve and slid it back into the sheath. "I've still got the tournament to finish. If I walk away now, every achievement after this gets attached to your guild first. Not me."
He took one step closer. The ground crunched under his boot.
"I don't dislike guilds. But when I stand somewhere, I want it under my own name. If I ever build one… it won't be small."
Feng Tianhao studied him a long moment. The rift hummed louder behind him, energy starting to pull inward.
"Ambition like that gets people killed," the Dragon Knight said. His tone stayed even, almost thoughtful. "Or it makes them legends. I've seen both."
He uncrossed his arms. The golden armor caught the last light filtering through the trees.
"Very well, Aaron Emegrey. I won't push." Feng Tianhao glanced toward the shrinking rift. "The world outside these walls is bigger and meaner than your academy games. Survive the tournament. Survive what comes after. If your confidence holds, we might meet again on a real battlefield."
He turned and walked into the vortex without another word. The rift collapsed behind him, shrinking to a pinprick of light before vanishing completely.
Silence rushed back in.
Aaron stood alone in the clearing. The dead rift beast had already dissolved. Feathers from earlier fights still littered the ground nearby. He looked toward the spot where the S-Rank hunter had disappeared, then turned his gaze deeper into the wilderness.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of the Abyssfang Blade.
"Guilds," he murmured.
The word tasted like smoke.
He started walking again, boots crunching over broken twigs. The trees closed in thicker ahead. Two days until elimination. Plenty of time to push harder.
If he ever raised his own banner, it wouldn't fly under anyone else's shadow.
It would cast its own.
And the world would learn exactly what an E-Rank Laborer could build when no one held him back.