At the dawn whistle's call, the air was thick with an unsettling metallic vibration.
On the horizon, a non-Euclidean mechanical tower rose abruptly, resembling a rusted needle braided into the chest of the earth, silently announcing a countdown to some impending doomsday.
Outside the outpost, a long line meandered into the depths of the mist. Within thousands of pairs of clouded eyes, a flicker of final, desperate madness remained.
Lu Cen sat beside a localized anti-magic stone pillar known as the "Great Altar Nail," fiddling with the broken crystal tip of a staff. His left fingers were bare, the silver veins on them pulsing slightly in the cold wind, as if breathing in the thin ether of the atmosphere.
"Next."
Lu Cen didn't even look up. His voice was raspy, sounding like two rusted iron plates grinding against each other.
A pale young man wearing a mage's robe stepped forward, trembling. He was a dropout from the capital's St. Mir Academy, kicked out because his mana affinity was lower than 0.1.
"Lu… Lu Cen, I want to learn that power… the kind that can crush a staff," the youth stuttered, reaching out to grab Lu Cen's arm, which was covered in silver patterns. His throat moved with great difficulty as he spoke.
Lu Cen pointed to a black iron tub at his feet. It was filled with a viscous, dark purple liquid that radiated a crushing sense of weight, as if it were a solid block of lead weighing ten thousand pounds.
"That is 'Mana Heavy Water,'" Sylvie whispered. She leaned against the doorpost, her face still somewhat pale, but her gaze had regained the cold clarity of a Saintess.
"If a drop touches an ordinary person, their bones will be crushed to powder instantly," she warned in a low voice, a hint of pity flashing in her eyes.
The youth extended his trembling hands, attempting to summon his last sliver of mana to envelop the iron tub. However, the moment his fingertips brushed the handle, his weak vision shattered instantly, as if being forcibly devoured by an invisible, gaping maw.
Crrr-ack—
It was the mournful groan of a spine unable to withstand the pressure.
The young man slammed into a kneel, his knees hitting the mud with a heavy thud. The droplets of heavy water that splashed out corroded deep holes into the ground.
"Cen… save… save me…"
The youth howled. The capillaries in his face ruptured due to extreme congestion, causing blood to seep from the roots of his hair.
[Side Note: The surrounding refugees retreated in fear, cursing Lu Cen for his blatant disregard for human life. But within Lu Cen's field of vision, a row of green text—visible only to him—refreshed on the system interface:]
[Physical Detoxification Progress: 15%... Detected that the internal mana circuits supporting the body are being forcibly shattered by gravity.]
"Use your brain. Use your shoulders."
Lu Cen stood up, every step he took causing the ground to vibrate. He walked toward the youth and pressed his silver left index finger firmly against the center of the boy's spine.
Hum—!
A violent yet precise physical shockwave exploded through the young man's frame.
The youth felt the "magical residue"—which had been clinging to his veins like stagnant glue—being forcibly ripped away by the magnetic field of the stone pillar. He violently spat out a mouthful of dark red, metallic-tasting gore.
In the next second, to the astonishment of the onlookers, the "failure" of a youth who could barely stand a moment ago actually wobbled to his feet. He reached down and, with a single hand, hoisted the iron tub filled with Mana Heavy Water.
[System Prompt: "Physical Awakening" mechanism of the Extreme Realm Academy has taken effect for the first time.] [Feedback: Randomized Skill "Gravity Point" acquired. Stamina Synchronization increased to 18%!]
"This… this is my body?" The youth stared blankly at his slightly bulging, defined muscles.
He felt a sense of "groundedness" he had never known before—a weight that the ethereal, fleeting glow of magic could never provide.
"Carry it and run a hundred laps around the stone pillar," Lu Cen sat back down in the shadows, his tone flat. "Run, and you are Student Number One. Fail, and you're finished."
Suddenly, Lu Cen's brow twitched.
He sensed someone at the very end of the line—a figure in a wide, hooded sweatshirt watching the scene coldly. There was no mana fluctuation coming from the back of the stranger's neck, yet they carried a specific aura that made the silver blood in Lu Cen's veins boil instantly...
The aura of the Progenitor.
"A-Er, clear the area," Lu Cen commanded in a low voice, re-wrapping his left hand in its protective sleeve.
[New Clue: Abnormal garbled code appearing on the system interface: 'Target: Sanctuary Connector... Detected Old God Mechanical Drive Source...']
Sylvie seemed to sense the shifting energy as well. She instinctively touched the magic array on the back of her neck; it was becoming searingly hot.
"Lu Cen, the 'heartbeat' beneath the ground… it stopped," Sylvie's voice trembled so much it was barely audible.
Lu Cen snapped his head up toward the distant mechanical tower.
The massive gear at the top of the tower had ceased its rotation. In its place, tens of thousands of silver beams—formed from pure "Physical Regression" energy—were plummeting toward the academy like falling stars.