The flight back to the academy was a long, suffocating silence. The boisterous energy of the trip out had evaporated, replaced by a heavy, uncertain tension. The other members of Squad 7 kept their distance from Ren, their gazes a mixture of awe, fear, and deep-seated confusion. They knew they had survived something they shouldn't have, and they knew, on some instinctual level, that the quiet boy in the corner was the reason why.
Anya was an island of perfect, cold composure. She sat with the shielded evidence bag containing the Pagoda emitter resting on her lap, her expression revealing nothing. She had won her piece, and now she was waiting for the game to continue.
The moment they landed, Ren was given a quiet, non-negotiable order by the grizzled officer at the outpost: "Elder Tian expects you in his Pavilion. Immediately."
Ren walked through the familiar paths of the academy, the normalcy of it all feeling bizarre after the life-or-death struggle in the swamp. He found the Elder in the obsidian map room, which was now displaying a real-time schematic of the Sunken Coast, with a blinking red icon marking the location of the now-collapsed Rift 7-Gamma.
"Report," the Elder said, his voice as calm as a frozen lake.
Ren recounted the events with precision, leaving nothing out. He described the appearance of the Master-level Bog-Lurker, the discovery of the Pagoda's stealth-emitter, his own invisible counter-measure, and finally, Anya Volkov's brilliant, decisive move to secure the emitter as official GAMA evidence.
When he finished, the Elder was silent for a long time, his fingers steepled before him. He was not angry. His expression was one of cold, hard calculation, a grandmaster analyzing a complex and dangerous new board state.
"She is brilliant," the Elder murmured, more to himself than to Ren. "To use GAMA's own protocols to secure evidence against GAMA's own interests, all to further her private investigation of you… her cunning is equal to her talent. She has placed us in check."
"What will happen to the emitter?" Ren asked.
"It is currently being logged in the academy's evidence vault," the Elder replied. "Anya has formally requested that the Spirit Lumina Pagoda's own technical experts be allowed to assist in the analysis, citing the device's complexity. A reasonable, and therefore dangerous, request." He looked at Ren. "She has created a situation where the hunters will be given the very weapon used by their prey and asked to analyze it for clues. We cannot allow that."
The Elder walked over to a communication console. "But a check is not a checkmate. She has used GAMA's rules to her advantage. I will now use them to mine."
He pressed a single button, his authority flowing through the academy's network. "This is Elder Tian of the High Council," he spoke into the console, his voice carrying an unassailable weight. "Regarding the anomalous artifact recovered by Squad 7 from Rift 7-Gamma. Due to the device's potential connection to inter-faction espionage and the recent security incidents at this academy, I am invoking High Council Mandate 12-B. The artifact is now considered evidence in an active internal security investigation. All analysis will be conducted exclusively by my office. Seal the evidence vault. Grant access to no one. That is all."
He cut the connection. With a few simple sentences, he had taken Anya's piece off the board and locked it in his own private box.
"She will be furious," the Elder stated with grim satisfaction. "But she can do nothing. You have your reprieve. The evidence is contained." He turned to Ren, his expression hardening. "This incident has proven that your progress is both remarkable and insufficient. Your mastery over subtle arts is growing, but you lack a decisive weapon. You have the power of a thunderclap, but you have no lightning."
"The old fool finally speaks a shred of truth!" Zephyrion's voice erupted in Ren's mind, filled with vindicated fire.
"Your training enters a new phase," the Elder commanded. "Report to your room. Your next lesson will be waiting."
Confused but obedient, Ren returned to his dormitory. Sitting on his desk was a single, ancient-looking scroll, sealed with the Elder's personal sigil. He opened it.
Inside, there was no complex theory, no GAMA-sanctioned technique. There were only two things. The first was a diagram of the human body, its spiritual channels mapped with excruciating detail. The second was a single, starkly written sentence.
"The first true technique of the Raijin is not a weapon. It is a key. It is called 'Thunder's Echo'. It is the art of striking an opponent's Aetheric channels with a resonant frequency so perfect that it does not damage them, but temporarily seizes control of them. Master this, and your opponent's own power becomes your puppet."
Ren stared at the scroll, a cold understanding dawning on him. The Elder had locked away Anya's physical evidence. And now, he had given Ren the schematics to the very weapon she was trying to understand. He was no longer just hiding Ren. He was arming him for the next confrontation. The quiet war of ghosts had just acquired a new, sharper set of knives.