Chapter-70
The moment the first crystal mirror shattered, hundreds of crystal blades shot toward Sonu.
They were fast.
Far faster than ordinary weapons.
Each blade carried a strange spatial force that could cut through normal magical barriers as easily as paper.
But Sonu simply stood there.
His expression didn't change.
He raised one hand.
BOOM!
A powerful wave of magic exploded from his body.
The incoming crystal blades stopped in mid-air.
For a moment, the entire canyon became silent.
Then—
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Every single blade shattered.
Crystal fragments fell around Sonu like rain.
The mysterious entity remained silent.
Sonu looked toward the enormous eye hidden inside the violet sky.
"So this is your attack?"
The space around him suddenly twisted.
The entire canyon seemed to fold inward.
The ground beneath Sonu disappeared, while the sky came crashing down from above.
The entity was trying to fold Sonu into the space itself.
Sonu narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting."
He released his magic.
Space itself began obeying him.
The distortion around his body stopped.
Then Sonu slowly pushed his hand forward.
The folded space was forced open.
The entire canyon shook violently.
For the first time, the mysterious entity seemed surprised.
"You…"
Sonu didn't wait for it to finish.
His aura exploded.
Fire, ice, lightning, wind, earth and space magic appeared around him at the same time.
He wasn't using his full strength.
Not even close.
Yet the pressure was enough to crack the massive crystal formations surrounding the canyon.
The mysterious eye disappeared for a moment.
Then the voice returned.
"Return what you took."
Sonu immediately understood what it wanted.
"The Void Fox?"
Silence.
Sonu smiled.
"No."
The voice became colder.
"You stole what belongs to this place."
Sonu looked at the Void Fox inside his Tamer Seal.
The little fox was peacefully sleeping in the silver valley.
Sonu had saved it from certain death.
He wasn't going to hand it over.
"You should have protected it better."
The atmosphere became extremely heavy.
The entire Crystal Canyon began collapsing.
Crystal mountains broke apart.
The violet sky cracked.
The ground floated into the air.
Sonu looked around.
He understood that the entity wasn't simply attacking him anymore.
It was destroying the entire portal.
Perhaps it wanted to trap him.
Perhaps it wanted to force him to leave.
Either way, Sonu had no intention of staying in a collapsing portal.
He had already obtained what he came for.
A rare beast with a Spatial Law bloodline.
There was no reason to risk unnecessary damage.
Sonu gathered his magic.
"Fine."
The entity remained silent.
Sonu looked toward the enormous eye one last time.
"I'll leave."
He paused.
"But I'll come back someday."
The eye disappeared.
The Crystal Canyon began returning to normal.
Sonu opened a spatial gate.
Without hesitation, he stepped through it.
The moment Sonu returned to the outside world, the portal behind him violently shook.
The red glow slowly disappeared.
Then the portal closed.
Sonu stood quietly in the forest.
He looked at his modified watch.
The portal's energy reading had returned to normal.
Sonu didn't report what had happened inside.
There was no reason to explain the mysterious entity.
As far as everyone needed to know, he had entered a dangerous portal, fought a powerful beast, obtained a new contract, and returned alive.
That was enough.
Sonu stored the Rift Drake's body inside his Tamer Seal and began walking back toward the military base.
On the way, he checked the Void Fox again.
The little fox was still sleeping peacefully.
Its injured leg had completely recovered.
Sonu smiled.
"You're lucky."
The fox opened one eye.
Then it went back to sleep.
Sonu laughed.
"You really don't care about anything, do you?"
The fox's three tails moved slightly.
Sonu continued walking.
When he returned to the base, nobody paid much attention.
The students were still busy with their own training.
Some were fighting beasts.
Some were practicing magic.
Others were trying to tame their first beasts.
Sonu simply returned to his normal routine.
He didn't mention the Crystal Canyon.
He didn't mention the mysterious voice.
And he certainly didn't mention that something inside the portal had called him a thief.
For the next several days, Sonu remained unusually quiet.
He spent most of his time training.
His contracted beasts also received his attention.
The Gladehart continued practicing movement and healing.
Since deer-type beasts were naturally peaceful, Sonu didn't force it to become aggressive.
Instead, he trained it to dodge attacks, support allies and use its healing abilities at the correct moment.
The Tyrant Trees were trained to improve their control over vines.
The World Tree Sapling continued growing peacefully inside the Tamer Seal.
And then there was the newest member of his group.
The Void Fox.
Sonu spent considerably more time training it.
Its Spatial Law bloodline made it different from ordinary beasts.
Its body was small.
Its attack power wasn't particularly impressive compared with the monsters Sonu had fought before.
But its speed and spatial abilities were extremely valuable.
"Again."
Sonu stood in an open training area.
The Void Fox stared at several targets placed around it.
The fox disappeared.
Whoosh!
It appeared beside the first target.
Then vanished again.
Whoosh!
Second target.
Third.
Fourth.
The fox continued moving between them.
Sonu watched carefully.
"Good."
The Void Fox's three tails moved happily.
Sonu then changed the training.
"Now use Fold Step."
The fox hesitated.
Its three tails stopped moving.
It had only recently learned how to use the ability.
Sonu waited patiently.
"Take your time."
The fox concentrated.
Spatial energy gathered around its body.
The space between Sonu and the fox slowly distorted.
Then—
Whoosh!
The fox disappeared.
A second later, it appeared beside Sonu.
Sonu smiled.
"Better."
The Void Fox looked proud of itself.
Sonu reached down and gently touched its head.
"You'll become much stronger."
The fox closed its eyes happily.
Several days later, the military training finally came to an end.
The students gathered together as the instructors announced the completion of the training period.
For many students, the experience had been life-changing.
Some had successfully tamed their first beasts.
Some had discovered new abilities.
Some had learned that real combat was completely different from classroom training.
And some had realized that they were simply not ready for the dangerous life of a tamer.
Sonu stood among them quietly.
His score remained at the top.
His enormous lead had never been challenged.
After the final evaluation, the students were sent back to the academy.
The atmosphere on the journey was much more relaxed than before.
Everyone was talking about what they had experienced.
Sonu simply sat quietly and looked outside.
The strange encounter inside the Crystal Canyon still remained somewhere in his mind.
Thief.
The word continued bothering him.
Not because he was afraid.
But because he didn't understand what the entity meant.
What exactly had he stolen?
The Void Fox?
Or something else?
Sonu had no answer.
For now, he decided to leave the mystery alone.
Eventually, the academy came into view.
The students returned to their normal lives.
A few days after their return, a major announcement appeared across the academy's information network.
Every screen displayed the emblem of the Federation.
Students immediately gathered around.
Sonu also glanced at the announcement.
A large title appeared.
FEDERATION ACADEMY TOURNAMENT
Below it was the official announcement.
The Federation will host a grand tournament for academy students.
Military academies, universities and other recognized institutions across the Federation will be invited.
Friendly races allied with the Federation will also participate.
The tournament will provide students with an opportunity to compete, learn and build relationships with other civilizations.
The academy immediately became noisy.
"A Federation tournament?"
"I heard students from the elven academies will participate!"
"Then the dwarves might come too!"
"What about the orcs?"
"If they're allied, they can participate."
"This is going to be huge!"
Sonu quietly read the announcement again.
A tournament involving students from different races.
That was certainly more interesting than another ordinary academy competition.
He looked toward the Tamer Seal.
The Void Fox was awake now.
Its three tails moved as it looked at him.
Sonu smiled.
"Looks like we have a tournament to prepare for."
The Void Fox tilted its head.
Sonu stood up.
He had already spent enough time training alone.
Now it was time to prepare all his contracted beasts.
The Gladehart.
The Tyrant Trees.
The World Tree Sapling.
And the Void Fox.
Each had different abilities.
Each needed different training.
Sonu wasn't interested in simply winning a student tournament.
He wanted to see how his beasts performed against talented tamers from different civilizations.
Especially the Void Fox.
Its Spatial Law bloodline might allow it to surprise even experienced tamers.
Sonu looked toward the academy's distant training grounds.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Let's see what kind of opponents the Federation has prepared."
The tournament had not even begun.
But Sonu was already looking forward to it.