Rei and Raiden stood facing each other in the center of the arena, their muscles tense, eyes locked. The air around them crackled with anticipation, heavy with unspoken challenge. The training grounds had gone quiet, other sparring matches pausing as attention shifted to what promised to be an exceptional display of power.

  Raiden smirked, shifting into a stance, his lightning dancing across his skin in delicate patterns of blue-white light. "You're fast, Rei. Faster than most, even without a Concept. But you're still too slow." His blind eyes somehow found Rei's with uncanny precision, tracking him through the electromagnetic field that his body generated.

  Before Rei could respond, Raiden surged forward, his body becoming a streak of electricity. The entire arena filled with sparks as he delivered a relentless barrage of lightning-infused punches. Each blow sent violent surges of electricity coursing through Rei's body, making his muscles seize and his nerves scream in agony. The impacts came faster than Rei could counter, each one perfectly placed to maximize damage.

  Rei gritted his teeth, the pain almost unbearable. His body jerked with each strike, the electricity disrupting his nervous system and making coordinated defense nearly impossible. This is too much... The thought flashed through his mind as another blow connected with his ribs, sending him staggering backward.

  From the sidelines, several senior heroes gathered to watch, whispering among themselves. Among them, a stern-faced man in official Academy robes observed with narrowed eyes, making notes on a tablet. Shoto had been monitoring Rei closely since his honorary license was granted, his distrust of both Rei and Kage evident in his rigid posture and occasional scowl.

  Raiden, lost in the heat of battle, pushed himself further. His hands crackled with raw power before shifting, lightning molding them into deadly spear-like extensions that extended from his fingertips. His eyes gleamed with unrelenting determination, the electricity around him intensifying. "SHOW ME YOU'RE NOT WEAK, REI!" he roared, lunging forward with killing intent.

  Time slowed as Raiden's spears neared Rei's body—until Rei's hands shot forward, catching Raiden's lightning-clad spears with his bare fists.

  A searing shockwave burst through the arena as Rei's hands burned, the electricity piercing straight through his palms, leaving gaping holes. Blood sizzled against the lightning, evaporating in small clouds of crimson mist. The pain was excruciating, yet Rei held firm, his expression shifting from shock to something darker, more primal.

  "REI!" Hiro's voice cut through the tension, and before anyone could react, he was in the ring, rushing to Rei's side. His amphibian features contorted with genuine concern, gills flapping in agitation. "Raiden, that's enough! You injured our friend!" He crouched down, his webbed hands hovering over Rei's wounds, his eyes analyzing the damage with clinical precision. "Let me lick you, Rei—I can regenerate your hands."

  But before Hiro could act, Rei's eyes flickered bright red.

  The gaping wounds in Rei's hands didn't just heal—they twisted. Single strands of raw, writhing DNA slithered from the edges, weaving together like grotesque tendrils. The flesh stitched itself back with an unsettling, wet sound, pulsating as if his body was forcefully rewriting itself. Hiro watched in horror, unable to look away as bone, muscle, and skin reconstructed before his eyes.

  "This isn't normal regeneration," Hiro whispered, his scientific mind racing despite his fear. "The cellular restructuring is happening at the genetic level—it's like his DNA is actively rewriting itself in real-time." His webbed fingers reached out tentatively, then pulled back. "No healing ability I've ever encountered works like this. It's not just repairing—it's transforming."

  Across the hall, Shoto's tablet slipped from his fingers, clattering to the floor. His face hardened into a mask of cold fury and vindication. He had suspected something was wrong with the boy, and now he had proof.

  "Rei... what exactly are you?" Gojima and Sama halted their fight, feeling the intense shift in the room's energy. The air had grown heavier, charged with something beyond normal mana—something ancient and unsettling.

  Hiro instinctively backed away, his eyes wide in awe. "Rei... what exactly is your Concept?"

  Rei's pupils sharpened, elongating into vertical slits resembling those of a lion. Claws formed on his fingers, extending from where normal nails had been moments before. His teeth slowly extended into sharp fangs, visible as his lips pulled back in a wide grin. A grin that didn't belong on Rei's usually expressionless face.

  Unlike his previous transformations—moments of fear or rage that had triggered something within him—this was different. More savage. More ancient. As if something buried deeper than his conscious mind had clawed its way to the surface, something that had been dormant since long before Rei's existence.

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  "I'm not sure, Hiro. But the thrill of blood, the thrill of battle, and the thrill of dying... excites me." His voice had changed—deeper, with a rasping quality that hadn't been there before. The words seemed to emerge from somewhere else, as if a different entity was speaking through Rei's mouth.

  He turned his gaze back to Raiden, a predatory gleam in his crimson eyes. "Now, Raiden. Let's begin our round two, shall we?"

  Every nerve in Raiden's body screamed at him to stop. Something about Rei's aura was different—wrong. The electromagnetic field surrounding him had changed, becoming chaotic and unpredictable, like a storm system suddenly developing cyclonic rotation. But deep down, Raiden felt the same thrill of battle, the desire to test himself against whatever Rei was becoming.

  Electricity surged around Raiden's body, his determination unwavering as he prepared for another exchange. "Let's begin."

  A sudden boom sent Hiro flying back as Raiden erupted forward, fully engulfed in lightning. The floor cracked beneath the force of his launch, debris scattering across the training grounds. "Oh no... Raiden is getting serious," Hiro muttered in fear, picking himself up from where he'd landed.

  From his vantage point, Hiro's keen scientific eye noticed something alarming. "His muscular density has increased at least threefold," he mumbled to himself, his medical training kicking in despite the danger. "Bone structure reshaping, endocrine system probably releasing unknown compounds... this isn't just a transformation, it's a complete physiological overhaul."

  Raiden appeared before Rei, aiming for a decisive blow to the chest—but in an instant, Rei vanished.

  Before Raiden could react, a whisper brushed against his ear. "Too slow."

  Raiden spun around, launching a counterattack, but hit nothing but air. The spot where Rei's voice had come from was empty. Damn... his speed is overwhelming now. Raiden's blind eyes narrowed in concentration as he focused entirely on the shifts in electricity in the air. Sight was never an option for him—he had to feel Rei's movements through the current itself, tracking the subtle disturbances in the electromagnetic field.

  Without hesitation, Raiden hurled a volley of lightning spears in Rei's direction, covering every possible angle of approach. Rei effortlessly dodged most of them—until one struck his chest, piercing through him with devastating force.

  Sama shot up from the sidelines. "That's enough!"

  But Rei continued walking forward, unfazed by the gaping hole in his chest, which began to heal right before their eyes. The wound closed with the same disturbing, organic movement, flesh knitting together as if time were being reversed. He grinned maniacally, blood staining his teeth. "Oh, this? This is nothing. Show me more!"

  Shoto had seen enough. He slowly descended the stairs from the observation platform, each step deliberate, his face a mask of controlled rage. His hand moved to the communication device at his belt, summoning security protocols without drawing attention.

  Raiden's stomach twisted, fear creeping into his veins despite his competitive nature. This wasn't a normal healing ability—this was something else entirely. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to push forward despite his instincts screaming for retreat. "I have to end this now."

  With a final surge, Raiden charged—only for Rei to effortlessly catch his face mid-strike, slamming him into the dirt with impossible strength. The impact created a small crater in the reinforced training floor, dust rising from the point of impact.

  Raiden gasped, the sheer force of the impact rattling his skull. Above him, Rei laughed hysterically, his fangs bared, his clawed fingers digging into Raiden's scalp with enough pressure to draw blood. The sound was nothing like Rei's usual quiet demeanor—it was wild, unrestrained, almost euphoric.

  "STOP!" Hiro's voice was desperate, pleading. "Rei, stop this!" His scientific analysis continued even through his panic. "Your hypothalamus is likely overproducing—your brain chemistry is completely distorted! This isn't you, Rei!"

  A new voice cut through the chaos.

  "ENOUGH!" Shoto's voice boomed with venomous disdain. The high-ranking official stood at the edge of the training grounds, his face contorted with disgust as he surveyed the scene. His sharp gaze swept across the arena, landing first on Rei, then searching the stands for any sign of Kage. "This is an academy, not a playground for monsters gifted licenses they didn't earn!" His fists clenched tightly at his sides, knuckles white with tension. "We do not train assassins here. We do not train reckless killers. Those who taint this institution with blood have no place among us!"

  Rei's predatory grin faltered at the interruption, his eyes dulling into a deep, lifeless black. His head pounded violently, another headache tearing through him as the transformation began to recede. The claws retracted, the fangs shortened, and his posture became more human again.

  Shoto marched onto the battlefield, his face filled with disgust. "This is not a battlefield! This is an academy!"

  Raiden, despite being battered, sat up and defended their fight. "This was between warriors. This wasn't personal." His voice was steady despite the blood trickling from his scalp.

  Shoto ignored him, his piercing gaze shifting towards the stands.

  His fists clenched in fury.

  Perched casually above, watching the entire fight with an amused smirk, was none other than Kage. He had arrived silently during the commotion, positioning himself to observe the transformation with clinical interest, making no move to intervene even as things escalated to dangerous levels.

  Shoto's teeth ground together in frustration. How despicable. To have both Kage and that monster Rei in this academy... His mind was already working, planning ways to remove these unwelcome elements from the institution he had dedicated his life to protecting.

  Kage merely grinned wider, adjusting his Cartier shades. "Yes, brat. This is exactly what we need." The words were quiet, meant only for himself, but they carried a weight of anticipation.

  The battle had revealed something crucial about Rei—something Kage could use.