Solo Cultivating in Superhero Academy-Chapter 19: Trigger the ability

A quiet, trembling unity.

And though they were scared, something inside each of them had ignited.

Some small spark.

Because for the first time, someone—anyone—had looked at them and said, I choose you.

They stood a little straighter now. Shoulders squared. Heads higher.

Still afraid.

But braver than before.

And all the while, Elius remained still.

Unmoving.

But inside his mind, a different scene was playing out.

Four glowing swords floated around him, slow and elegant, like dancers under starlight. They shimmered with ethereal light—each one carved from radiant crystal and bound with invisible threads of power.

No... not four.

Five.

Elius opened his eyes and looked at them through his inner vision.

Congratulations.

You have formed a party of five.

Reward: Fivefold Sword Formation - Beginner Level.

Effect: Receive five unbreakable spirit swords. Each sword can be individually controlled by thought and refined further through battle and growth.

Hidden Trigger: Sword Control Bonus Activated.

Affinity synchronized. Control increased. Base attack speed enhanced.

[Hidden System Notice: Party synergy detected. Evolution conditions in progress.]

Elius's lips curled slightly.

These swords weren't in the original game.

He had played that system in his past life religiously. He remembered every dungeon, every update, every little trick. There was no such reward back then.

Which could only mean one thing.

This world was adapting.

Changing.

Evolving along with him.

Was it because he reincarnated?

Was it because the system recognized his ambition?

Whatever the reason, Elius no longer felt confused. Not anymore.

Instead, he felt grateful.

More rewards mean more power. More power means more control. And more control means...

"...more chances to humiliate you, Father," he murmured under his breath.

The glowing swords hummed slightly in response, as if they shared his hunger.

Elius tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling back toward his four sidekicks.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

Ron was trying to show Lina how his claws could slash through rock—accidentally breaking a portion of the floor tile.

Lina looked horrified and whispered apologies to the arena itself.

Shiro was meditating while his shadow clone attempted a handstand and failed.

Klee was healing his own blistered fingers from too much enthusiastic high-fiving with Ron.

Useless.

So hopelessly useless.

But now... they were his.

And somehow, impossibly, they were already becoming stronger.

He wouldn't tell them.

Wouldn't explain why their skills felt easier to control.

Wouldn't tell them that he'd awakened a hidden system no one else could see.

He'd let them grow into it.

Let them earn their evolution.

And when the time came, the world would see what trash could become in the hands of a true king.

He straightened.

And at that moment—

A voice boomed over the arena speakers.

"Team 17-A... EL1US' team. Prepare to enter the dimensional rift!"

All eyes turned.

And so did Elius, finally moving, the five swords orbiting him in silence.

He looked back at his party.

Four faces looked back—nervous, sweating, trembling... but burning with the flicker of purpose.

He said nothing.

He simply walked forward.

And they followed.

The instant before they crossed the threshold of the rift, just as the shimmering veil of color began to spiral open like a cosmic maw, Elius turned around, cloak fluttering behind him, and raised his voice—calm, clear, and shocking.

"I am not an Esper."

The words were like a thunderclap in silence.

A collective gasp spread across the field. Even students far off in line turned their heads.

Some teachers blinked. Some frowned. Radiant Man's glowing eyes narrowed slightly.

Professor Boom actually tripped over his own voice box and had to reboot his vocal processor.

Lina, Ron, Shiro, and Klee froze.

"What... did he say?" someone whispered behind them.

"Did he say he's... not an Esper?"

"But his sword ability—"

"Wasn't that how he passed the trial?"

"How... how is that possible?!"

But before anyone could demand answers, before Radiant Man could even open his mouth, Elius spun on his heel and stepped forward, vanishing into the rift like a shadow swallowed by firelight.

"W-Wait! Hey!" Ron yelled.

"Move!" Lina hissed, grabbing Klee by the sleeve.

Shiro's clone collapsed in panic, and the real Shiro dragged it forward as he leapt in behind them.

And then—

They fell.

Colors burst around them.

The world became a churning maelstrom of shifting lights, ethereal fractals, collapsing stars, and twisting runes.

The dimensional rift was like falling through the bloodstream of a god—each second stretched and warped, their bodies tugged by forces they couldn't comprehend.

And in the chaos, Elius's voice cut through the void.

"HEY! The four of you. Transform."

His voice was no longer quiet or cold.

It was commanding. Sharp as steel. It carried weight.

Ron twisted his head in midair. "What?!"

"I said—transform!" Elius barked. "Once we land, there could be monsters, creatures, mutated beasts—whatever nightmare the teachers cooked up. We don't get time to warm up. We hit the ground fighting. Understood?"

The four of them looked around the kaleidoscopic corridor, blinking through the storm of light.

"I-I can't just—" Klee started.

Elius cut him off.

"You thought I brought you here to babysit? To be baggage?" His voice was mocking. "Do you think I'm the kind of guy who'd carry four sacks of useless meat around just to prove a point?"

They were stunned into silence.

"You wanted to be heroes, didn't you? This is it. Right here. No cape. No anthem. No pretty crowds. Just death waiting on the other side of this rift."

His smirk spread with venomous arrogance.

"Either you become someone, or you die trying."

Shiro clenched his fists. "But we—"

"You what?" Elius's voice cracked like thunder. "You're weak? You can't do it? You think the world cares?"

Klee flinched.

Ron gritted his teeth.

Lina looked down.

"You think I chose you to protect you?" Elius scoffed. "You think this is pity? This isn't charity. This is war."

He leaned forward, eyes glowing like molten steel.

"I'm not here to make you feel safe. I'm here to drag you kicking and screaming into greatness."

For a moment, the swirling lights seemed to pulse with his words.

Ron's hands trembled.

"I... I can't," he whispered. "I've tried so many times. It's impossible—"

Elius pointed at him like a judge passing sentence.

"You," he said. "Do it."

"I—" Ron backed up in midair, twisting through the flow of color. "I can't! I tried so many times, the transformation doesn't work right, it always hurts, it always fails, I'm just a freak with weird feet and—"

"Shut up." Elius's voice dropped like an anvil.

"Just listen."

Ron's mouth snapped shut.

And in that moment, Elius's vision flickered.

> DING!

Party Member Ron has met breakthrough conditions.

Trigger Cultivation Party Upgrade?

[YES / NO]

Elius didn't even hesitate.

"Yes."

The rift reacted.

Light exploded behind Ron, twisting into spiraling green and gold arcs that coiled around his body like snakes of divine energy. His pupils dilated. His back arched. His claws spread wide.

"What the—what's happening—?!"

Elius didn't answer.

Because he was watching it.

The transformation.

The birth of power.

Ron's skin rippled—scales spreading like wildfire, green and iridescent, wrapping his arms, his chest, his back. His bones cracked. Snapped. Reformed.

His legs bulged, the chicken-like digits splitting, extending, shifting into lethal, agile raptor talons that glinted with evolutionary memory. His spine elongated. A tail burst from his lower back, sleek and balanced.

His teeth elongated into curved knives.

"AAAAAGHHHHH!" Ron screamed—not in pain, but in release.

His body was breaking the seal of limitation.

His eyes burned yellow, slit like a predator's.

Muscles snapped and regrew in real time.

Even his aura changed. It became primal. Wild. An apex creature pulled straight out of ancient death jungles.

The transformation had started.

Ron's screams became a roar.

Shiro, Lina, and Klee watched in horror and awe as their teammate morphed into something not-quite-human.

Half-reptile, half-myth.

His raptor snout opened and released a shriek so powerful it distorted the surrounding color fields.

And then—he stopped.

Breathing heavily.

Hunched over.

Half-human, half-velociraptor.

Green scales. Golden eyes. Claws like knives.

Ron turned slowly toward Shiro.

"...I told you," he growled with a toothy grin, "I'm a velociraptor, not a chicken."

Shiro's mouth hung open.

Lina was speechless.

Klee dropped the healing charm he was holding.

But Elius's voice snapped them all back to reality.

"We're landing. Now."

Ron's head snapped forward.

And without hesitation, he slammed his clawed fist into his chest and roared again.

"Then let me finish it!"

The transformation began again.

And this time, it was faster.

More brutal.

More absolute.

Muscle tore and regrew in perfect harmony. Scales spread across his shoulders, forming natural armor plating. His spine straightened into a combat posture built for leaping, tearing, and killing.

He crouched low as his tail extended further, balancing his body like a tightrope walker on the edge of chaos. His eyes turned from yellow to glowing red. His fingers and toes flexed, claws scraping against the dimensional current.

And then—BOOM.

The evolution stabilized.

Ron stood tall, powerful, and terrifying.

A fully formed green-scaled velociraptor hybrid, breathing steam from his nostrils, eyes burning like suns.

Every inch of him screamed an apex predator.

He growled low in his throat.

Shiro's voice was barely a whisper. "H-He's... a real dinosaur..."

Klee stared, mouth open.

Lina clutched her chest.

Elius didn't smile.

He merely nodded.

"Good," he said. "But we're not yet ready."

And as the swirling lights of the rift began to open, the scene ended with the sound of claws clicking against glowing energy—Ron, the first of them, now reborn as a weapon.