EVEN AS A SLAVE, THE HEAVENLY DEMON’S MIGHT SHALL TAME THE BEAUTIES

When the classroom was empty save for the two of them, Ashcroft moved to the enchanted board and studied the modified seal with the intensity of someone examining a priceless artifact. His fingers traced the organic markings Yomi had added, though he was careful not to actually touch the dormant pattern.

"How?" he asked finally, turning to face his student with an expression that mixed scholarly fascination with genuine awe. "How did you complete the seal in its original theoretical form? What you just demonstrated was pure Aether manipulation, something that's been lost for centuries."

Yomi considered his response carefully, recognizing that this moment would define his relationship with the academy's most knowledgeable faculty member. "You called it Aether," he said slowly. "I know it as... something else."

The admission hung in the air between them like smoke from an alchemical experiment, carrying implications that both men understood without requiring explicit statement. Ashcroft was confronting evidence that challenged fundamental assumptions about magical theory, while Yomi was revealing capabilities that couldn't be explained through conventional understanding.

"Something else," Ashcroft repeated, his voice carrying the hunger of someone who had spent his career pursuing exactly this kind of revolutionary discovery. "Mr. Masaru, what I just witnessed could revolutionize everything we think we understand about magical theory."

He began pacing the chamber with barely contained energy, his academic instincts overriding social conventions as he processed the implications of what had just occurred. "Those markings you used, they're not from any known magical tradition. The energy you channelled didn't follow standard mana circulation patterns. And the results..." He gestured toward the dormant seal. "Perfect theoretical Aether manipulation."

Yomi watched the professor's excitement with calculating attention, recognizing an opportunity that could serve his larger purposes. "Perhaps I could explain this 'something else' I mentioned?"

Ashcroft settled into his chair with the deliberate calm of someone preparing for a profound discussion. "Please. I'm fascinated to understand what I just witnessed."

Yomi moved to the center of the chamber, his posture relaxed yet somehow commanding attention. "Ki is life energy in its rawest form," he began, his voice taking on the authority of someone who had spent decades mastering these principles. "Unlike your magic, which asks permission from the world through formulas and incantations, Ki simply commands reality to respond according to will and intent."

To demonstrate, Yomi extended his hand toward a small artifact on Ashcroft's desk, a crystalline paperweight that had been a gift from a former student. Without visible effort, without magical formulas or complex gestures, the object began to rise, floating through the air with the kind of smooth control that spoke of absolute mastery.

"No incantation," Ashcroft breathed, his eyes tracking the floating crystal with scholarly fascination. "No visible energy channeling. How is this possible?"

"Ki responds to intent rather than technique," Yomi explained as the crystal performed a graceful dance through the air before settling gently back on the desk. "Will, not formula. Understanding, not memorization. It's the difference between commanding and requesting."

Ashcroft began frantically taking notes, his scholarly instincts overwhelming his ability to simply observe. "Fascinating! This could revolutionize magical theory! If energy can be manipulated through will alone..." His voice trailed off as the implications began cascading through his understanding.

He looked up from his notes, a sudden thought occurring to him. "Mr. Masaru," he said carefully, his tone mixing academic curiosity with cautious hope, "would it be possible for you to... activate the seal you modified? I mean, truly activate it rather than simply completing the pattern?"

Yomi raised an eyebrow, studying his professor's expression. "Are you certain you want me to do that?"

Ashcroft's response came with the gentle authority of someone who had spent decades managing overeager students. "Mr. Masaru," he said with mild reproach, "as impressive as your abilities may be, I am still the lecturer in this classroom. I believe I can handle whatever theoretical demonstration you might provide."

Yomi shrugged with casual acceptance, recognizing the academic hierarchy even as he doubted his professor's understanding of what he was about to witness. "As you wish."

He moved to the enchanted board where his modified seal waited, raising his hands in preparation for something far beyond the classroom's normal demonstrations. His fingers began forming complex patterns, demonic hand seals that predated human magical theory by millennia, each gesture carrying power that resonated with forces older than civilization.

The seals flowed together with practiced precision:

Rat,

Ox,

Tiger,

Dragon.

Each one building upon the last, channeling Ki through pathways that conventional magic couldn't comprehend. The air around Yomi began to shimmer with barely visible energy as reality prepared to bend according to his will.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Ashcroft leaned forward in his chair, studying the seal with academic intensity, waiting for whatever theoretical demonstration his student might provide.

Then reality shifted.

The classroom dissolved around them like smoke dispersing in wind, solid walls and familiar furnishings becoming translucent before vanishing entirely. The sensation was disorienting, not violent displacement but a gradual transition that left consciousness intact while completely altering their environment.

They found themselves standing, somehow, impossibly, in the middle of a vast water body that stretched to every horizon. Above them arced an endless sky painted in twilight hues that seemed to exist outside normal time, while beneath their feet...

Ashcroft's breath caught in his throat as he looked down through crystalline water that revealed depths beyond measurement. Far below them, moving with ancient grace through the liquid depths, swam a creature of legend made manifest.

The dragon was enormous, easily a thousand feet in length, its serpentine body undulating through the water with fluid power that spoke of control over elemental forces. Its scales shifted between pure white and absolute black in patterns that seemed to follow their own cosmic rhythm, while its presence radiated the kind of spiritual pressure that made mortal souls recoil in instinctive recognition of their own insignificance.

"By the ancient gods," Ashcroft whispered, his voice barely audible as he stared at the impossible sight beneath them. "What... what is this place?"