The morning sun bled through the heavy velvet curtains of my master suite, but it brought no warmth to my aching limbs. As I struggled to push myself up from the silk expanse of my king-sized bed, a familiar, cold chime echoed in my mind. A transparent screen flickered into existence, hovering in the dim light of the duplex mansion.
[NEW QUEST: THE DAILY RECONSTRUCTION]
[Push-ups: 100]
[Sit-ups: 100]
[Pull-ups: 100]
[Jumps: 100]
[Squats: 100]
[Run: 10 KM]
[PENALTY: All skills will be locked, and Host will be automatically transported into an S-Ranked Dungeon.]
"I see," I muttered, my voice raspy from sleep. "Workout exercises I wasn't exactly used to back in Shang City are right here in front of my eyes. And if I ignore them... a death sentence awaits."
The penalty was no joke. An S-Ranked dungeon was a meat grinder for anyone below Tier-eight, and in my current state, it would be an execution. I rolled off the bed and dropped into a push-up position. I thought the first set would be easy—after all, I had the soul of a god—but by the time I approached thirty, reality set in.
My arms began to scream. My head felt as if it were being filled with heavy stones, the pressure mounting behind my eyes.
"Shit... this is the result of not practicing workouts in the morning," I hissed through clenched teeth.
I pushed through fifty. Sixty. By ninety, the world was a blur of sweat and carpet fibers. I couldn't feel my arms anymore, they felt like numb pillars of lead, and my chest felt as if an invisible giant were standing on it. But the image of that S-Rank dungeon flickered in my mind, a cold motivator. With a final, guttural roar, I finished the hundredth rep and collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
[PUSH-UPS: ✓]
[SIT-UPS: 100 INCOMPLETE]
[PULL-UPS: 100 INCOMPLETE]...
"Dammit," I wheezed, staring at the long list remaining. "I just attempted one exercise that felt like it took years, and I still have an entire circuit to go."
I wanted to quit. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to crawl back into the silk sheets. But the fear of the penalty kept me moving. I opted for the easier ones next, attacking the jumps and squats. My stomach ached, a sharp, twisting pain that reminded me of how underdeveloped this Veyron body truly was. By the time I finished the pull-ups on the decorative molding of my balcony, my hands were raw.
Finally, there was the run. I left the mansion, stepping onto the wide, manicured field that surrounded the duplex. I ran until my vision tunneled, until the only sound was the thundering of my fragile heart and the rhythmic slap of my feet on the grass. Just as my lungs felt like they were about to burst, the system dinged.
[QUEST COMPLETED]
[PENALTY: NULL]
I collapsed onto the field, the cool grass biting at my sweat-soaked skin. I stared at the morning sky, my chest heaving. "This system is going to kill me someday," I thought.
I managed to drag myself back inside. In went into the bathroom to have my bath, the steam was already rising. The maids had prepared my bath, a sprawling marble tub filled with aromatic waters. I hopped into the tub, sinking beneath the surface. As I soaked, a strange sensation washed over me. The crushing fatigue, the lactic acid burn, the bone-deep weariness—it all vanished in an instant.
"System Sage?" I asked internally. "Why did all my fatigue vanish so suddenly?"
[RESPONSE: Because the bath has been fortified with mana-petrification salts by a maid called Maria. She observed you struggling with a simple workout and acted to prevent muscle atrophy.]
A flash of heat that had nothing to do with the water hit my face. Embarrassment. Maria, the woman who had served my family for years, had watched me gasping like a fish out of water while doing basic calisthenics. I finished the bath quickly, my dignity slightly bruised even if my body felt refreshed.
A soft knock echoed at the door. I knew who it was. I opened it to find Maria standing there, her expression neutral and professional, holding a crisp set of fabric.
"Young Master Oliver," she whispered. "Your attire for the Academy has been prepared."
I took the uniform and laid it out on the bed. A bitter smile touched my lips. In this world, you didn't just carry a badge; you wore your status like a second skin. The Shang Vanguard Academy was a hierarchy of thread and dye.
The low-rank Uniform (Tiers 1-2) wore plain, sterile white military-like uniform and matching trousers. It bore a single, lonely star on the lapel. This was what I had been assigned.
The Silver/Gold Uniforms (Tiers 3-4),these students wore deep red uniforms with ebony-black trousers. They were distinguished by two stars on the shoulder.
The Elite Uniforms (Tier 5) also wore the same red-and-black theme, but with four stars, signifying their transition into true combatants.
The High-Tier Uniforms (Tiers 6-7) usually put on a striking Royal Blue uniform that looked like military dress. The boys wore black trousers with the blue uniform top, while the girls—like Suki—wore pleated white skirts with golden patterns around it. Their badges boasted five stars.
The Legendaries (Tier 8-9) bore six stars, the maximum rank before the Starless Divine Diamond Rank.
I picked up my jacket. It was the white of the E-Class, but unlike the cheap versions worn by the commoners, mine was tailored from royal silk. I pulled on the white top and trousers, adjusting the silver chains that hung from my pocket side—a small, rebellious flair of the Veyron style .
As I looked in the mirror, I looked gorgeous despite putting on the uniform meant for low tiers the white made my jet-black hair pop, and my face looked sharp, handsome, and regal. After dressing up, I prepared to leave for the Academy.
.....
The Academy training grounds were a monument to human ambition. The facility stretched for miles, a sprawling landscape of stone, steel, and mana-fields. As I walked through the central plaza, the silver chains at my hip clinked softly, a rhythmic sound that accompanied my steady stride.
To my left was the Stalker's Ring. I watched for a moment as students practiced ninja-like stealth movements, their bodies flickering in and out of shadows, blurring into the environment until they were nothing but whispers of wind.
Further down was the Martial Pavilion, a symphony of violence. The air here was heavy with the scent of sweat and ozone. Tier-five students were engaged in brutal fist-fights realising shockwaves, their movements precise and lethal. Nearby, swordsmen practiced techniques that sent arcs of pressurized air cutting through heavy training dummies.
On the far right stood the Arcane Spire. This was the realm of the Mages. Circles of students sat in deep meditation, chanting incantations that summoned spheres of swirling fire and jagged pillars of ice.
I smiled, a memory of my former life as Tom surfacing. Back then, on the old Earth, the dream was that anyone could become anything they wanted. Here, everyone was boxed into a Tier from birth. But I knew the truth. Every martial art, every spell—it was all just a different way of manipulating the same Standing Wave.
"Oliver!"
The voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to see Ria and Kael jogging toward me. Ria wore her white E-Class uniform with a modified sleeve to accommodate her scrap-metal arm, which was tucked neatly against her side. Kael's jacket was buttoned to the very top, a futile attempt to hide the wisps of black smoke that occasionally leaked from his collar.
"You're actually here," Ria said, her eyes traveling over my royal white attire. "You look... surprisingly regal for a guy with one star."
"The clothes don't make the man, Ria," I said, my gaze returning to the horizon. "The resonance does."
Kael looked toward the Martial Pavilion, where a Tier-five student had just shattered a stack of reinforced bricks with a single palm strike. "We've been waiting. You promised to teach us how to be someone. Everyone else here is training with Tier-six instructors. We have nothing."
I looked at them. Truly looked at them. I could feel the weakness in my own chest—the way my heart struggled to pump mana through my underdeveloped, Tier-E veins. I wasn't ready to fight the high-rankers yet, and neither were they.
"We aren't going to the Pavilion," I said, turning away from the noise and toward the North field—the empty, desolate corner of the grounds where the grass grew tall and the equipment was rusted.
"Then where?" Ria asked, confused.
"To the beginning," I replied. "The academy teaches you to build a house by looking at the roof. They want you to cast spells before you can even stand properly. I'm going to teach you how to dig the foundation. It's going to be slow. It's going to be boring. And for the next month, you're probably going to hate me for the hell I'm about to put you through but trust me you will start praising me later if you're seeing the progress."
I started walking, my pace slow and measured. I had to be careful; my soul wanted to fly, but my fragile heart would overheat if I pushed too hard too soon.
"Oliver?" Kael called out as they followed. "What's the first lesson?"
I didn't turn around. I kept my eyes on the North Field.
"The first lesson," I said, my voice carrying a weight that defied my rank, "is learning how to breathe without breaking your own ribs."