Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Mission Hall

The Mission Hall stood near the center of the academy grounds. Five stories of white stone and glass, rune arrays glowing faintly in the walls. Holographic displays floated in the windows, showing mission postings that updated in real-time.

Runar and Celestia walked up the front steps. Early afternoon, and the place was busy. Students everywhere—clustered around displays, arguing over team formations, comparing contribution point totals.

Inside was louder. The main hall stretched up through multiple floors, open atrium design with floating platforms at each level. Mission boards covered the walls—massive holographic displays organized by color coding.

Green missions clustered on the lower floors. Yellow and orange on the middle levels. Red missions at the top, fewer of them, much higher rewards.

Students rushed past them in both directions. A second-year nearly collided with Celestia, muttered an apology, kept running. Two third-years were arguing loudly near one of the displays, their teammates trying to calm them down before it escalated into actual fighting.

“—told you we should’ve taken the beast extermination mission—”

“—and I told YOU that we’re not ready for Star Fusion threats—”

“—well maybe if you’d stop wasting contribution points on useless pills—”

“Watch where you’re going, idiot!” someone yelled from across the hall.

“You watch where YOU’RE going!”

The argument escalated quickly. Two students squaring off, qi flaring, their teammates pulling them apart before it turned into an actual fight.

Runar and Celestia walked past them toward the main mission board.

A few heads turned when they entered. Not recognition—just the natural reaction to seeing two exceptionally attractive people. Cultivation removed impurities from the body, making every cultivator handsome or beautiful by default. But Runar and Celestia were several notches above the standard. Silver hair and starlight eyes on him, silver-blue hair and perfect features on her. They stood out physically even in a room full of enhanced cultivators.

The stares didn’t last long. Students went back to their missions, dismissing them as new first-years who probably didn’t know what they were doing yet.

They walked to the main mission board.

The mission board dominated the north wall. Three stories tall, organized into sections.

**GREEN: Foundation/Advanced Class – 10,000 to 50,000 Points**

**YELLOW: Elite Class – 50,000 to 200,000 Points**

**ORANGE: Apex Class – 200,000 to 1,000,000 Points**

**RED: Special Authorization Required – 1,000,000+ Points**

Runar scrolled through the orange-tier listings.

**Clear Beast Nest – Solar Flare Realm Spirit Beasts**

Location: Training Ground Seven

Reward: 50,000 Points

Time: 2-4 hours

**Investigate Spatial Anomaly**

Location: Northern Forest

Reward: 75,000 Points

Time: 6-8 hours

**Eliminate Star Fusion Cultivator – Rogue Threat**

Location: Border Zone 43

Reward: 200,000 Points

Time: Variable

The rewards were okay. Time requirements weren’t great though.

He switched to red-tier missions.

**Exterminate Supernova Beast Horde**

Location: Asteroid Belt Sigma-9

Reward: 1,500,000 Points

Time: 8-12 hours

Requirements: Normal Peak Supernova combat power OR team of 3+ qualified students

**Eliminate Rogue Cultivators – Multiple Supernova Threats**

Location: Abandoned Station Complex

Reward: 1,800,000 Points

Time: Variable

Requirements: Normal Peak Supernova combat power minimum

**Retrieve Stolen Technology – Peak Supernova Guards**

Location: Black Market Hub Station

Reward: 1,600,000 Points

Time: 6-10 hours

Requirements: Normal Peak Supernova combat power

Better rewards. Still long though.

“You two looking for red-tier missions?”

A woman’s voice. Runar turned. Mission Hall staff member, middle-aged, Star Fusion realm. She wore official robes with the academy emblem.

“Yes,” Runar said.

“You’re first-years.” Not a question.

“Yes.”

“Red-tier requires authorization. You need to pass combat evaluation first.” She gestured toward a doorway on the left. “Testing chambers are through there. Costs ten thousand points to attempt. Pass and you get the points back plus mission access. Fail and you lose the money.”

“What’s the evaluation?”

“Combat against an AI construct. The AI studies battles constantly—millions of combat records, learns and adapts in real-time. It’s programmed to be more dangerous than fighting an average genius cultivator at the same realm.” She paused. “Most students need multiple attempts.”

Around them, the noise continued. Someone dropped a stack of mission documents. Cursing followed, then laughter from nearby students.

The woman ignored it completely. “You still interested?”

“Where do we register?” Celestia asked.

“Desk over there. Also—all mission assignments are private. Nobody sees what you take or complete unless you tell them yourself. And you’ll need to provide your spiritual signature for mission tracking purposes.”

They walked to the registration desk. A young guy sat there, sorting through paperwork.

“Names?”

“Runar Cross and Celestia Stormwind.”

He pulled up a holographic form. “Combat evaluation. That’s ten thousand points each. Twenty thousand total. I’ll also need your spiritual signatures for the mission system.”

A formation array appeared on the desk. Runar placed his hand on it, letting his spiritual signature imprint into the academy’s database. Celestia did the same. Every cultivator had a unique spiritual signature—impossible to change, impossible to fake. It was how the academy tracked mission assignments and completions.

“Done. Chamber Three is open. Down that hall, last door on the right.”

The corridor was quieter. Thick walls, soundproofing formations. Testing chambers lined both sides, their doors sealed with heavy barriers.

Chamber Three’s door opened when Runar approached. Inside was a large circular room—fifty meters across, walls covered in formation arrays that pulsed with contained power.

A holographic interface materialized at the center.

COMBAT POWER EVALUATION

Select Difficulty:

– Normal Peak Supernova (Required for Red-Tier Access)

– Genius Peak Supernova (Required for Special Missions)

– Normal Peak Neutron Star (Required for Unique-Level Missions)

Runar selected Normal Peak Supernova.

Evaluation begins in 30 seconds.

Objective: Defeat the combat construct.

Time Limit: 10 minutes.

WARNING: Combat AI active. Construct will adapt to your techniques.

The formations activated. Energy gathered at the room’s center—condensing, solidifying, taking shape. A humanoid figure formed from pure qi, features sharpening until it looked almost human. Male, average height, wearing simple combat robes. Its eyes glowed with artificial intelligence.

The construct moved first.

It closed the distance in a picosecond, appearing directly in front of Runar with its fist already driving toward his face. The speed was impressive—proper Peak Supernova velocity. The technique was textbook perfect, no wasted movement.

Runar leaned back. Just enough. The fist passed a hair’s width from his nose.

He didn’t counter immediately. Instead, he stepped to the side as the construct’s follow-up kick came through. Watched the AI’s movement patterns, analyzed the decision-making process.

The construct recognized he wasn’t attacking back. Adjusted tactics. Increased aggression, launched a three-strike combination—punch, elbow, knee—all aimed at vital points.

Runar blocked the punch with his left forearm, redirecting rather than absorbing. Stepped inside the elbow strike, making it pass harmlessly behind him. Caught the knee with both hands and pushed the construct away.

Still no counterattack.

The AI processed this. Modified its approach. Started using techniques specifically designed to force responses—attacks that created no safe defensive options, only counter-opportunities.

Runar flowed around them. Used minimal movement, pure efficiency. His footwork was precise. Each step positioned him exactly where he needed to be.

This was training. The original body had spent two hundred years in the Comprehension Space mastering 3,333 Laws. That comprehension had transferred to the clone—all 3,333 Laws at perfect mastery, all of them perfectly fused into a unified whole.

Runar had no idea what his actual combat power was. Probably around Neutron Star realm. Maybe higher. But he wasn’t here to demonstrate that.

He was here to refine his hand-to-hand combat.

The construct shifted to grappling techniques. Tried to lock Runar’s arms, restrict his movement. The AI had determined that if striking wouldn’t work, controlling his mobility was the next best option.

Runar let it happen. Let the construct get a grip on his right arm. Felt how the AI positioned its body for maximum leverage.

Then he broke the hold. Simple twist of his wrist, shift of his weight. The construct stumbled back half a step.

Runar attacked for the first time.

A palm strike. Not using Law fusion, just pure physical technique. The strike carried perfect form—weight transfer from legs through hips through shoulders through arm. The force concentrated into a single point.

The construct raised both arms to block. The impact drove it backward three meters, feet scraping against the chamber floor.

The AI adapted immediately. Recognized that Runar’s physical strength exceeded Peak Supernova level. Started using evasion-based tactics, refusing to take direct hits.

Good.

Runar pursued. Not at full speed—maybe 3 percent. Fast enough to pressure the construct, slow enough to focus on technique refinement.

He threw a combination. Jab, cross, uppercut. The construct dodged the first two, blocked the third. Countered with a low sweep kick.

Runar jumped over it. Landed and immediately launched a roundhouse kick that the construct barely deflected.

The fight continued like this for several minutes. Runar would attack, the construct would defend and counter, Runar would adapt. He was testing different techniques, seeing what worked against an opponent that learned in real-time.

At the five-minute mark, he decided to end it.

He activated just Space Law. Created a super thin and condensed spatial blade in his right hand, invisible there wasn’t even a faint distortion in the air.

The construct recognized Law activation. Raised full defenses, layered barriers of Peak Supernova qi.

Runar swung.

The blade cut through the barriers like they were paper. Bisected the construct vertically. The qi structure collapsed, dispersing into ambient energy.

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