After a week of suffocating isolation and agony that nearly claimed his life, Ray finally opened his eyes.
The room was heavy with the thick, pungent scent of concentrated mana.
He focused his gaze on his core, buried deep within his abdomen, and a smile of
sheer disbelief and triumph spread across his face.
"A Three-Star Silver Core?" he muttered, his voice raspy.
A week ago, he was a mere Eight-Star Bronze; now, thanks to his reckless
decision to swallow the Phoenix Pill in one go, he had vaulted across an entire rank, landing five stars into the Silver tier.
Ray chuckled to himself. "The greater the risk, the greater the reward.
That is the law of this world, and I know it well."
Ray stood up, feeling a surge of fresh, potent mana coursing through his veins like lightning.
He wasn't the same student desperate for scraps of power anymore; he was
becoming a vessel that breathed mana itself.
He strode toward Professor Ariadne’s office with steady, unwavering steps.
He knocked on the door and, upon hearing the invitation to enter, stepped inside.
Ariadne glanced up at him, then froze, her eyes widening in genuine shock.
"A Silver Core?" she whispered, unable to mask her awe.
"You managed to absorb the entire Phoenix Pill in just one week?" She knew
the statistics by heart: an average person took three months, a genius needed a
month, but this boy had shattered every precedent, mastering it in a mere seven days.
...
Stolen story; please report.
On the other side of the academy, in the gravity chamber that had become a
hellscape of sweat and raw pain, Valerian collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
His body was trembling, yet his expression radiated a strange, twisted satisfaction.
"Huff... I’m finally done."
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host. Mission Completed: Build a Worthy Physique.]
[Would you like to claim your reward?]
Valerian shouted with a feverish intensity: "Yes, of course!"
[Processing Reward...]
In that instant, Valerian felt his heart hammer against his ribs in a bizarre rhythm.
A torrent of new power flooded his cells, as if every muscle fiber was being forged anew in fire.
The sheer euphoria of the empowerment was intoxicating; he felt as though he
could shatter the very walls of the room with his bare hands.
Driven by the adrenaline, he jumped up and slammed his fist into the wall—only to let
out a howl of pain as his hand throbbed and swelled.
He had forgotten, for a split second, that the chamber walls were reinforced with magical steel.
[Ding!]
[The Host has earned a spin on the Wheel of Fortune.]
"Wheel of Fortune?" Valerian questioned.
[Does the Host wish to spin or not?]
"Spin! Just spin it!" Valerian snapped. He added under his breath, gritting his teeth, "Damn you, you arrogant system."
His rage toward the system's cold, condescending demeanor was growing,
but the hunger for power remained greater than his wounded pride.
A massive, dazzling wheel appeared before him, divided into nine segments numbered 1 through 9.
"Please spin the indicator," the system announced blankly.
Valerian slammed his hand onto the wheel.
It began to rotate—slowly at first, then accelerating into a frantic, blurred spectrum of color.
With every rotation, his heart pounded against his chest.
A full minute ticked by in agonizing silence until the movement began to slow...
stutter... and finally, it drifted to a halt on the number...
His eyes were glued to the result. The system began to unveil the prize hidden
behind the digit, and Valerian waited, breathless, desperate to know if his
fortune would finally grant him the strength to crush Ray once and for all.
...
Back in Ariadne’s office, the air was thick with anticipation.
She studied Ray intently, still reeling from the discovery of his Silver Core.
Ray cut through her thoughts with calm composure, tilting his head.
"When do we start training? I think I’m ready."
Ariadne offered a cold, enigmatic smile. "Right now."
She rose from her chair, her long robes trailing behind her with an aura of authority. "Follow me."
Ray stepped out behind her, walking through corridors that felt longer than
usual, until they reached a structure hidden in a remote corner of the academy.
The gate to the "Special Training Room" was massive, forged from a mysterious, obsidian-like metal.
Ariadne touched the gate, and it hissed open, releasing a blast of hot wind heavy with raw, volatile mana.
This wasn't just a room; it was a vast, open-air space engineered specifically to test the limits of a practitioner.
"Here," Ariadne said, standing in the center. "I won’t teach you the magic of books, nor the magic of standard battles.
I am going to teach you how to master the power of your elements."