Morning in the wasteland arrived shrouded in fog so thick it felt like a layer of viscous dust. The scorched scent of last night's crash still hung in the air, now mingled with the briny tang of freshly overturned soil.
Lu Cen stood in the clearing of the abandoned outpost, his boots planted firmly atop the newly re-erected Mana-Suppressing Stone pillar. The rawhide wrap on his left index finger was soaked through; a silver light shimmered through the cracks in the leather, pulsing like a restless, caged heart.
"Fifty more. Unless you want that mana to burn through your internal organs again."
Lu Cen's voice was cold and devoid of emotion, grating like a rusted iron file.
Sylvie was half-kneeling in the mud. Her once-magnificent Saintess gown had been shredded up to her knees, revealing legs caked in slush. A heavy, squared-off log was balanced across her shoulders, her arms trembling violently from acute muscular fatigue.
"I am... the Saintess of the Empire... this is sacrilege..." Sylvie gritted her teeth. Sweat dripped from her elegant chin onto the log, making a faint patter sound.
"The gods can't save a drowning man, but strong lungs can." Lu Cen walked up behind her. Without a shred of mercy, he placed a massive hand on the log and shoved downward.
[System Notification: Teaching target detected at the "Edge of Physiological Collapse."]
[Feedback: Host granted "Willpower Transmission" buff. Stamina recovery speed increased by 10%.]
Sylvie let out a pained groan. Yet, strangely, under that bone-crushing weight, the rusty, burning sensation deep in her spine actually began to recede. The heavy pressure acted like a lid, forcibly clamping down on the volatile energy ravaging her body.
"Is this... your way of 'breaking' magic?" Sylvie looked up with difficulty, staring at the man's back.
"No. This is the first lesson in learning how to live like a human being."
Right then, the dense fog in the distance swirled violently. A set of erratic, floating footsteps accompanied by the dragging sound of chains echoed from the outpost's only entrance.
Lu Cen whipped around, the silver sparks deep within his pupils igniting instantly.
A skeletal figure stumbled out of the mist, collapsing headfirst onto the overgrown grass before the stone pillar. It was a boy, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, draped in nothing but tattered rags. His ribs were painfully prominent. The most chilling sight, however, was a deep purple, bleeding brand on the back of his neck: Permanent Slave.
"Save... save me..." The boy lifted his head, eyes filled with the despair of one toyed with by magic.
Sylvie instinctively tried to stand and cast a healing spell, but Lu Cen's foot slammed onto the end of her log, pinning her to the spot.
"Don't use your hypocritical light to hurt him," Lu Cen said curtly.
He stepped toward the boy. He didn't offer a hand to help him up; instead, he scrutinized the boy's body with a gaze as cold as ice.
"Where did you escape from?"
"The Ducal House... the heavy water mines..." the boy rasped, pointing back into the mist. "They used me... as a consumable for 'Magical Circuits'... I've been running for three days..."
Sylvie's face went pale. "The heavy water mines? Those are guarded by the Mana-Suppressing Legion. How could a commoner like you possibly escape?"
Lu Cen suddenly leaned down. Before the boy's terrified eyes, he reached out and squeezed the boy's calf muscle.
Crack.
The sound of Lu Cen's knuckles popping echoed through the clearing. His grip was terrifyingly strong, and the boy's face instantly flushed crimson.
"Muscle fiber density far exceeds a commoner's. Heart rate is stable. No signs of dehydration after a long-distance sprint." Lu Cen released his grip, a flicker of derision in his eyes. "Does Cedric really train his dogs to be this sloppy at acting?"
The boy's body stiffened. The aura of weakness vanished in an instant, replaced by a snake-like chill. But before he could strike, Lu Cen was faster.
He snatched the Mana-Suppressing Stone pillar with one hand and slammed it into the ground!
BOOM!
The earth shuddered. A pure physical shockwave erupted in a ring, blasting the soil away from the boy's feet. Like a startled lizard, the boy used all four limbs to perform a distorted, mid-air flip, landing firmly a few meters away.
The brand on the back of his neck flared with an eerie red light—the sign of a self-destruct array.
"Kill me... or watch me blow this place to hell!" the boy sneered, his body beginning to swell like a balloon.
This was the Empire's most sinister tool: the Living Bomb.
"Lu Cen! Run!" Sylvie screamed, trying to rush forward.
Lu Cen didn't budge. He stared at the boy, a cruel arc curling his lips.
"You want to talk about explosions in front of me? You know nothing of physical pressure."
Lu Cen took a deep breath. The rawhide wrap on his left index finger shattered instantly, revealing the silver finger bone beneath, etched with intricate, precision gears.
He took a single step forward, and the stone tiles beneath his feet turned to powder. He didn't aim for the boy's vitals. Instead, he pressed that silver finger directly onto the center of the brand on the boy's neck.
VROOOOM—!
The boy watched in horror as the mana about to detonate within him froze the moment it touched Lu Cen's fingertip. It didn't vanish; rather, it was forcibly compressed by Lu Cen's terrifying "Physical Density," solidified within his very cells.
[System Notification: Extreme Limit Academy module loading: 10%...]
[Assistant Teacher candidate (Sylvie) and First Student candidate identified.]
[New Feature Unlocked: 5% Stamina Sharing Bonus for all members! Academy Rules established.]
The boy slumped to the ground, his sneer turning into pure terror. He felt the magical laws within him... collapse.
"From today on, you are not a fugitive, nor are you a bomb." Lu Cen withdrew his finger and found a new piece of rawhide to wrap it, his tone flat. "Go carry that rock over there. Do it a hundred times, and you'll be my second disciple."
The boy stared at him blankly. The Cedric-planted coldness in his eyes actually showed a crack under Lu Cen's blunt command. It was a directive based on a sense of "solidity" that no one had ever given him before.
Lu Cen turned back to Sylvie. "What are you looking at? You still have twenty squats left."
Sylvie bit her lip. For the first time, she didn't talk back. She looked at the boy starting to move the rocks, then back at Lu Cen.
"Do you really intend... to build an academy in the Empire's land of exile?"
"No." Lu Cen looked up at the mist-shrouded sky. "I am building a graveyard to bury the dreams of every mage in existence."
In the mud outside the outpost, near the boy's footprints, a tiny mechanical beetle quietly crawled out. Its multifaceted eyes were transmitting Lu Cen's cold face in real-time.
Behind the beetle's back, Lu Cen's right heel silently crushed a magical jammer that had just fallen from the boy's tattered rags.