The morning sun hung high above the Academy Main Arena, turning the expanse of white sand in the center of the ring into a sea of blinding light. Thousands of students from all cohorts packed the circular stands, creating a deafening buzz of voices, like the sound of a giant beehive angry and ready to sting.
Today was judgment day for all of us. Individual Physical and Technical Practice Exam.
For most students here, today was hell on earth. This was a crucial moment where the results of hard training over a semester were tested in public, where pride as a prospective knight or mage was at stake, and failure meant shame that would haunt until graduation day arrived.
But what about me?
I stood calmly in the Lower Category participant queue, stretching my neck left and right until it made a satisfying crack sound for my stiff muscles.
To me, this place was not hell at all. After surviving the jaws of death of the Grizzly Bear, after breaking the shoulder of the Silver Golem with a shattered body, and after going through "Hell Conditioning" under the gravity pressure of the crazy Instructor Brook...
This arena looked like a fun children's playground.
"Participant number one hundred four, Arin!"
The magical voice from the loudspeaker echoed loudly, calling my name to the center stage.
I stepped forward out of the line confidently. Hundreds of pairs of eyes immediately focused on me like stage spotlights. Their gazes were very diverse. There were Class C students staring with hope and admiration, Class A students staring with skepticism and disgust, and of course, the burning hateful stares from Gordon's group and his lackeys.
In the center of the arena, Instructor Adnia stood with arms crossed arrogantly. Her black robe fluttered in the wind, her face heavily made up to cover stress wrinkles, but her eyes radiated the cunning of a venomous snake ready to strike.
She smirked when she saw me. A premature smile of victory.
"Welcome to the exam, Arin," she greeted with an affected sweet tone, her voice amplified by magic so the entire stadium could hear her insult. "I hope your 'fragile' body has fully recovered. Because today's exam standards... will be slightly different from usual."
I stopped right in front of her, staring into her eyes with disturbing calmness. "I am ready anytime, Instructor. Do not hold back for my sake."
Adnia snorted dismissively. "Oh, I will not hold back in the slightest. First exam: Cardiovascular Endurance under Mana pressure."
She pointed to the running track surrounding the arena with her staff. There, several weighted vests coated with magic circuits were prepared in a row.
"The rules are very simple," explained Adnia with a mocking tone. "You must run fifty full laps. This vest will provide a gravity load adjusted to the student's mana capacity. Since you have no mana at all... the system will automatically adjust it to the 'Basic Knight' standard."
Adnia picked up a thick black vest and threw it at me without warning.
I caught it with one hand.
THUD.
My hand dropped slightly due to the surprising weight. This thing was very heavy.
This was clearly not the Basic Knight standard. This vest had been deliberately sabotaged. The weight was at least one hundred fifty kilograms. This was the standard load for a Class S Student using full aura reinforcement.
Adnia smirked thinly, waiting for me to protest or beg for leniency. She wanted me to shout, "This is unfair!" in front of everyone, so she could humiliate me as a weak and whining coward.
The audience began to whisper. Even from the distant stands, they could see how much my hand dropped when catching the vest.
"That looks incredibly heavy..." whispered a Class C student to his friend. "Look at Arin's shoulder dropping like that. That must be Adnia's sabotage."
I looked at Adnia, then smiled a thin disparaging smile.
"Just this?" I asked softly, raising an eyebrow.
Adnia's smile faded slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I thought the exam would be difficult and challenging," I said while putting on the vest casually as if wearing an ordinary jacket. I tightened the straps on my chest, feeling the load of one hundred fifty kilos pressing on my shoulders and back strongly.
It was indeed heavy. My collarbone felt pressed by an iron bar.
But...
Compared to the pressure of Brook's Gravity Domain which felt like carrying a mountain? This was just a school backpack slightly full of textbooks.
"Please begin, Instructor," I said challengingly.
Adnia gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Run! Fifty laps! Time limit thirty minutes! If you stop, you fail and get out of my class!"
Tweet!
The whistle blew loudly.
I did not start with a light jog to save energy like other cautious students on the track.
I took a deep breath.
Inhale... Hold...
Piston Heart: Maximum Junior Aura.
THUMP.
My heart pumped blood rich in oxygen and serum to my leg muscles. My muscle fibers, which had been densified and destroyed repeatedly by Brook's training, now responded with an instant burst of power.
I exploded from the starting line.
BAM!
The ground under my feet cracked slightly as I shot forward.
I ran. Not a marathon run, but a full-speed sprint.
I passed the first student in five seconds. The second student in ten seconds. I ran with high knees, back straight, fighting the one hundred fifty kilo load on my body as if the load did not exist at all.
One lap passed. Two laps. Five laps.
My speed did not decrease in the slightest. Instead, it got faster as my heart heated up and my biological machine reached optimal temperature.
The wind hit my face hard. Sweat began to drip, but my breathing was still regular and rhythmic. The rhythm of my footsteps thumped on the arena floor like terrifying war drums.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
In the stands, the sound of whispers turned into silence, then turned into cheers of disbelief.
"Crazy... he is sprinting with that load?!"
"He is already on the tenth lap! The others are only on the third! Is he not tired?"
"Is he human?!"
I passed Gordon who was also running on the same track. Gordon was panting on the fifth lap. His face was beet red, sweat pouring profusely from behind his helmet.
As I passed him from the outside, I turned slightly toward him.
"Move to the left, Mr. Noble," I said casually as I overtook him at double speed. "You are blocking the way."
"Y-You... Hah... Hah..." Gordon tried to speak, but his breath was gone. He stared at my receding back with eyes wide in horror, disbelieving what he saw.
Thirty laps. Forty laps.
I did not feel agonizing fatigue. The pain in my muscles had become a familiar old friend. The Grizzly Serum ate the lactic acid in my muscles and turned it back into energy. I was a tireless biological perpetual motion machine.
Fifty laps completed.
I stopped right in front of the frozen Adnia. Without collapsing, without vomiting, and without fainting.
I stood tall, chest rising and falling with a strong and controlled rhythm. Thin white steam billowed from my entire body, the result of high-level metabolic combustion heating the surrounding air.
I took off the vest and dropped it at Adnia's feet.
CRASH!
The stone floor under the vest cracked due to the weight of the impact. Dust billowed, dirtying Adnia's shiny boots.
"Done, Instructor," I said flatly, wiping sweat from my forehead with my sleeve. "Decent warm-up for this morning. When does the core exam begin?"
Adnia's face was deathly pale. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She stared at the heavy vest, then stared at me as if I were a monster disguised as a human.
From the VIP stand, I heard a very familiar laugh.
"Hahaha! That is my punching bag! Get them, Arin!"
Rose Carlos laughed freely, hitting the railing happily without caring about noble princess etiquette. Beside her, Elena Rhyms smiled proudly, her golden eyes sparkling seeing me dominate the stage.
"Next!" shouted another committee member through the loudspeaker, breaking the awkwardness of Adnia who was still in shock. "Durability Test!"
We were herded to the center sector of the arena. There, a three-meter-tall Stone Golem stood waiting silently. This was not an ordinary Golem. This was a Tester Golem designed specifically to hit students. Its fists were coated with magic padding to prevent death, but the impact was still equivalent to being hit by a speeding horse carriage.
"This exam tests your body endurance and Mana Shield," explained Adnia, her voice trembling slightly, trying hard to regain her lost authority. "Students must take one direct hit without being thrown out of the red circle with a diameter of two meters. Use your best barrier if you want to survive."
One by one, students stepped forward trembling.
They chanted layered protective spells. Colorful mana light wrapped their bodies like cocoons.
THUD!
The Golem hit.
CRASH!
Magic shields shattered. Students were flung, rolling out of the circle while groaning in pain. Failed.
"Next, Gordon Kyle!"
Gordon stepped forward confidently, trying to restore his pride. He activated his Aura, strengthening his plate armor until it glowed dimly.
BAM!
Gordon was pushed back one meter, his shoes dragging the sand leaving deep tracks, but he managed to stay inside the circle. He smirked arrogantly, raising a hand to the audience, enjoying the rapturous applause.
"Next... Arin."
The name was called, and the stadium went silent again instantly.
I stepped into the red circle then stood with feet shoulder-width apart, puffing out my chest challenging the Golem.
"He is not using a barrier?" whispered someone in the stands with a horrified tone. "Does he want to die foolishly?"
"He has no mana for a barrier, you fool! He has to take it with his bare body!"
Adnia smiled cunningly again. This was her chance. The Golem had no feelings. A pure physical punch would crush an ordinary human's ribs into powder.
"Start!" shouted Adnia enthusiastically.
The Stone Golem raised its right fist high. The magic engine inside its body hummed low, gathering kinetic energy.
I closed my eyes for a moment. Remembering the hellish training with Brook.
Do not be a stiff stone. Be dense iron.
I did not harden my muscles stiffly which would actually make them brittle. I densified my bone structure and muscles, locking them to the earth's axis through feet gripping the ground.
Piston Heart: Minimum Senior Aura.
Blood pumped profusely to the skin surface, hardening the dermis layer. My bones, which had cracked and healed repeatedly, were now denser than reinforced concrete.
The Golem swung its fist down.
SWISH...
CLANG!
The sound of the impact was not a dull thud like hitting soft meat. It was a loud clang like a giant hammer hitting a solid iron post.
The giant stone fist struck my chest squarely.
I was not flung.
Even my feet did not shift a single millimeter from their original position.
I received all that kinetic energy, distributed it from the chest, to the spine, to the pelvis, to the legs, and dumped it into the ground. The floor beneath my feet cracked forming a spider web, but my body remained solidly immovable like a mountain.
Instead...
Crack.
A cracking sound was heard from the direction of the Golem.
The surface of the Golem's stone fist cracked. Small stone fragments fell to the ground. The Golem's hand bounced slightly due to recoil hitting an object harder than itself.
I opened my eyes slowly, exhaling slowly.
"Is that all your strength?" I asked the Golem and indirectly Adnia. I patted the chest of my shirt which was slightly dirty with stone dust. "Instructor Brook's massage is much nicer than this."
Silence.
Then, an explosion of cheers shook the arena until it vibrated. Class C students jumped up and down in joy, hugging each other.
"HE IS A MONSTER! ARIN IS A MONSTER!"
"THE GOLEM CRACKED! DID YOU SEE THAT?! HIS BODY IS HARDER THAN STONE!"
Adnia took a step back, her face losing color completely. She couldn't comprehend it with common sense. How could a human without mana possess a body as hard as a dragon?
But I wasn't finished. There was still one more exam. An exam that would be my declaration of war to this entire elite class.
"Final Exam," Adnia's voice sounded weak and hoarse, as if she had just seen a ghost. "Destructive Power Test."
We moved to the other side of the arena. There stood a terrifying testing device for physical fighters.
A black granite stone slab thirty centimeters thick, erected with sturdy iron supports. Obsidian Black Granite reinforced with hardening magic. This object was designed to absorb physical impact. Usually, it took intermediate-level Aura or Fireball explosion magic just to make a small crack on its surface.
"Participants must crack this stone to pass," said Adnia trying to focus. "Destroy it completely for a perfect score. But be careful, this stone can break your hand."
Gordon stepped forward first. He gathered all his Aura into his greatsword, shouted loudly, then slashed with all his might.
CRACK!
A large crack appeared splitting the stone into two large parts that fell to the ground. Gordon smiled satisfied, showing off his muscles. Perfect score.
"Your turn, Arin," called Adnia. But this time, her eyes narrowed suspiciously upon seeing the black glove on my hand. The Feather-Touch glove given by the Duke.
"Stop," ordered Adnia as I approached.
She walked to block me, pointing at my hand with her sharp index finger.
"According to Pure Physical Exam rules Article 4: Using artifacts, charms, or any strength-enhancing tools other than standard weapons is prohibited," said Adnia with a triumphant smile reappearing on her lips. "Take off your expensive glove, Arin. We want to see your 'real' strength, not the Duke's money power you use."
Adnia thought the glove was the source of my strength. She thought without it, my hand would be crushed to pulp when hitting the hard granite stone.
The audience fell silent. Rose in the stands looked worried; she stood up from her seat.
"She told him to hit granite with bare hands? That is crazy!"
"His bones could shatter! That granite is magic-reinforced!"
I looked at Adnia, then looked at my glove.
"Are you sure, Instructor?" I asked softly, a warning tone there. "This glove is actually... to protect the test equipment, not to protect me."
"Do not be arrogant, Brat!" snapped Adnia. "Take it off now or you are disqualified for cheating!"
"Fine. If that is what you want."
I took off the right glove slowly. Put it into my pants pocket calmly.
Now, my hand was bare under the scorching sun.
The magic camera in the arena zoomed in on the image of my hand to the giant projection screen so everyone could see this humiliation.
And the entire arena gasped in horror simultaneously.
It was not the smooth hand of a school teenager. It was not the manicured hand of a noble.
My right hand was a living map of suffering.
My knuckles were thickly calloused, dark and rough like rhino skin. The skin was covered in small white scar tissues, scars that had just healed, then tore again, then healed again repeatedly. The bones on the back of my hand looked larger and prominent, a sign of hyper-calcification due to constant breaking and healing.
It was a hand that had hit an iron post thousands of times. A hand that had been destroyed and rebuilt by madness and serum.
"His hand..." whispered Elena in the stands, covering her mouth with her hand. "What did you do to yourself, Arin?"
Adnia stared at the terrifying hand with disgust mixed with horror. She took a step back unconsciously.
I ignored them all. I stood solidly in front of the black granite slab.
My distance was only half a meter.
I did not take a running start, let alone shout to gather strength like Gordon.
I only lowered my stance. Planting my heels into the ground.
Instructor Brook said: Do not hit the surface. Hit what is behind it.
I took a breath.
Piston Heart: Maximum Senior Aura.
THUMP-THUMP!
My heart beat twice quickly. Hot blood flooded my right arm. My triceps, shoulders, and back muscles expanded, tensing as hard as steel under the skin.
I did not condense aura outside the skin like other knights; that would be considered cheating because I 'had no mana'. I condensed my own muscle mass inside the skin.
My hand mass had mutated to become denser than an iron hammer. Now just the acceleration.
I pulled my fist back. Only ten centimeters.
"Destroy," I whispered.
BLAM!
I rotated my waist, sending a kinetic wave from the heel of my foot, up to the waist, rotating at the shoulder, and exploding at the tip of my first two knuckles.
My fist struck the center of the granite slab.
No usual crack sound.
There was a dull explosion sound like a cannon fired inside a narrow cave.
KABOOM!
The thirty-centimeter thick granite slab did not split in two. The slab exploded into pieces.
The center part, where my fist landed, disintegrated into fine dust and small pebbles spraying backward at bullet speed. The thrust force was so strong it penetrated the stone, hit the iron support behind it, and bent the iron support post into a broken 'V' shape.
The rest of the stone crumbled, falling to the ground into shapeless rubble.
Stone dust billowed thick, covering Adnia's face who stood too close.
Silence.
Absolute silence. Even birds stopped chirping in shock.
One second. Two seconds.
The dust slowly thinned, blown by the wind.
I still stood in the punching position. My fist smoked, not because of magic, but because of extreme kinetic friction heat.
I pulled my hand back slowly, then blew away the gray dust sticking to my grazed knuckles. My skin was slightly red and a little blood seeped from the middle knuckle, but no bones were broken.
My hand... was harder than that granite stone.
Adnia coughed, fanning the dust in front of her face. When she opened her eyes and saw the remains of the bent support post and the pile of dust that used to be the test stone... her face lost all color of life.
Her eyes bulged, staring at my intact hand with horror. Her lips trembled violently.
"H-How..." her voice choked, small and frightened. "No mana residue... no explosion magic... was that pure physical? Impossible..."
I looked at her flatly, then patted the remaining dust on my sleeve casually.
I stepped closer to her, making her step back nervously as if I would hit her too.
"Your stone is too soft, Instructor," I said coldly, my voice loud enough to be heard by the front row still gaping. "Maybe for next year's exam, you need to replace it with iron? Or maybe..."
I looked straight into her terrified eyes.
"...the head of someone stubborn?"
I did not wait for her answer. I turned and walked away leaving the arena with calm steps.
In the upper stands, in a hidden shadow area, Vesper closed his small notebook slowly. His usually expressionless face now looked very serious. Cold sweat dripped on his temples.
"His external physique is a monster," muttered Vesper, his hand trembling slightly holding the pen. "His bones are as hard as Adamantium. His muscles as dense as a Golem. Ordinary physical attacks in the Dungeon later won't be effective. Spike traps, falling rocks, arrows... all useless against him."
Vesper stared at Arin's receding back.
"He is truly a war machine. But machines... need fuel."
Vesper adjusted his shiny glasses. His eyes flashed coldly.
"We cannot destroy his body. We must cut off his oxygen totally. Hypoxia is the only way to defeat him."
Meanwhile, in the middle of the arena, cheers finally exploded like a broken dam.
"ARIN! ARIN! ARIN!"
Class C students screamed hysterically, calling their hero's name. They saw their new god had risen.
I walked toward the exit tunnel, toward the Sector 9 Dungeon gate without looking back.
Tomorrow, in the dark and air-scarce depths of the earth, the real war would begin. And I... I was ready not to breathe.