it came from everywhere at once.
Dark slime started coming out of his skin. He had prepared himself for a lot of strange things, but he wasn't ready for this.
"Okay," he said to himself.
He could feel it coming from his muscles and bones. The process was working, and it was pushing out all the waste that had been trapped in him for years.
Sweat was one thing. This was a different kind of experience entirely.
Panicking wasn't an option so he focused on keeping his breathing steady and allowing the tempering finish its work.
The pressure he felt in his bones was still there but it was different now. When he touched his arm, he could feel his muscles tightening and becoming stronger. It felt like his body was finally coming together, with everything coming into place to make him stronger than he was before.
It lasted longer than the first phase.
Twelve minutes, maybe fourteen.
He stayed in the water and took a breath. He was checking to see if his body still functioned correctly, which it did.
He stood up.
Crack. Crck.
His back, his hips, and his knees all popped one after another. He rolled his shoulders and felt his bone and muscle settle into position.
He came out of the tub and reached for his towel.
He was drying his hair when the system chimed.
[Breakthrough Detected: Rank 1 (3-Star) → Rank 1 (4-Star).]
[Fighter Rank: Rank 1 (4-Star).]
Then, beneath it, something he hadn't seen before appeared.
[Milestone Achieved: Rapid Progression Threshold Cleared.]
[System Reward: Silver Chest.]
The chest appeared on the bathroom floor. it was bigger than the bronze one from the exam. This was silver-grey and it had a smooth surface with runic patterns along the edge.
He crouched in front of it and pressed the latch.
Click.
Inside was a sword.
This wasn't a standard academy sword. This one was a Rank 2 weapon.
This sword was the same size as a one-handed sword. The crossguard was plain and built to work well. The handle was covered in a heavy wrap that molded to his grip, making it comfortable to hold.
He held and turned it slowly.
Asura's Ignition was ready inside him and when he held this sword, he could feel that the two were compatible. The sword's material could channel the ignition's output without breaking under the load.
He looked at the system screen again.
[Star-Forged Blade: Rank 2. Compatible with Asura's Ignition. Maximum channeling capacity: Unlimited within current rank.]
He sat with unlimited for a moment.
Then he stood up.
He had to clean the bathtub before Maeve woke up. He also needed to hide the Rank 2 sword so maeve wouldn't find it and ask questions. He also needed to eat cause his body was exhausted from all the changes it had just gone through.
He leaned the Star-Forged Blade carefully against the wall, wrapped the towel around his shoulders, and started with the tub.
Scrub. Scrub.
The cleaning took a while.
He was halfway through it when Maeve knocked on the door.
"Are you still in there?"
"Yes."
"It's been a long time."
"I know."
A pause. "Are you alright?" Maeve asked.
"I'm fine," he said. "I'll explain later."
There was another silence. He could tell she was thinking about whether or not to believe him.
"There's food," she said.
"I'll be out in ten minutes."
Her footsteps moved away down the hall, and he went back to the bath.
He finished cleaning it. After that, he got dressed. He wrapped the Star-Forged sword in the cloth the vial had come in and found a place for it in the back of the wardrobe.
He went to eat the food she had made and sat at the table in the sunlight. With every breath he took, he felt his body becoming stronger. Finally, his bones and muscles were strong enough to handle his powerful moves.
He was 4-Star.
He had a sword that could channel fire without breaking.
He had covered an unreasonable amount of ground since yesterday morning.
The food was good. He didn't rush it.
But that night, later, when the estate had gone quiet and Maeve was asleep, he found himself awake.
He lay on his back on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while.
Eventually he sat up and put on his shoes and went outside.
The academy grounds at midnight were different from the academy grounds in the day. Quieter, obviously, but not empty. The paths between buildings had their own nighttime logic. Bright lamps made clear lines through the darkness, and you could see the meditation lakes far off in the distance.
He walked toward them.
He didn't have a destination. He just walked until he heard a sound.
It wasn't a voice, but the sound of something slicing through the air. It sounded like someone was practicing the same move repeatedly with intense focus.
He came around the edge of the lake and stopped.
She was maybe twenty meters away, standing at the water's edge in the moonlight, and she had a spear.