After returning to the dorm, Robb didn't rest. He dropped straight into that day's meditation.
Ever since changing his class to [Alchemy Apprentice], his perception of mental force had grown noticeably sharper—
and today's insight into "rhythm" during body-tempering seemed to open a brand-new path.
"If the Solar Breathing Technique imitates the sun's pattern…"
Robb flipped open his battered copy of Basic Meditation.
"…then mental force must have its own natural rhythm too."
He studied the fundamental rune of three curved lines.
In the past he had copied it mechanically; now he realized the spacing of those arcs hinted at a hidden cadence.
Driven by the idea, he began tracing the rune in different beats.
[Basic Meditation started]
As the first curve took shape in his mind, he didn't rush.
He listened to the pulse of his mental force instead.
Whenever part of the rune resonated with the wave of that force, the line grew perfectly stable.
"So that's it…"
The rune wasn't merely a conduit; its very shape mimicked the force's most natural flow.
[Special effect triggered: Mental Rhythm — meditation efficiency slightly increased]
[Basic-Meditation XP +1]
[Basic-Meditation XP +1]
[Basic-Meditation XP +1]
[Daily training limit reached. Rest is advised.]
The extra XP confirmed he was on the right track.
Just as Robb considered pushing on anyway, a commotion rose outside.
"Someone else just advanced?"
He opened the door in time to see a familiar figure—Locke, a fellow arrival that term—dash toward the testing hall, face pale yet glowing with excitement.
"Seems another candidate has broken through," Andrey said, stepping from a nearby room.
"The closer we get to the deadline, the more people gamble everything."
Robb understood. When hope dimmed, many turned to desperate measures—
dabbling in forbidden spells or buying shady "special tonics."
"Let's watch. Any success is worth studying."
Andrey waited while Robb locked his door. "We might pick up a trick or two."
The Test Hall
It sat at the dormitory's center, housing a custom crystal sphere that measured mental-force strength.
By the time they arrived, the hall was crowded.
Locke stood before the sphere, bloodless but elated.
"It's starting," someone whispered.
He set his hand on the glass; dark-red mist swirled inside.
Moments later a bright sigil coalesced—flickering like a faulty bulb but clearly above threshold.
Gasps rippled through the hall.
Locke, once a fringe Six-Star like Robb, had met the apprentice standard nearly three months early.
"How'd he do it?"
Murmurs filled the air, yet Andrey's face tightened.
"Something's off."
"What do you see?" Robb asked softly.
"His pupils," Andrey said, easing Robb backward with an arm.
"They're far too dilated, and—look at his hands." Locke's fingers quivered against the sphere. "Classic sign of mental-force instability."
Right then Locke clutched his head and groaned.
Clarity drained from his eyes; his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Move!"
Andrey yanked Robb away. The cry was still echoing when Locke screamed—
—eyes shot with blood, mental waves erupting like a storm.
Air congealed; everyone felt it crushing their lungs.
"After-effects of black-market boosters," Andrey muttered. "Fool actually tried that stuff."
Inside the sphere, the crimson mist thickened; the sigil twisted. Very bad.
People scattered—just as a white-robed figure flashed into the hall.
Candidates recoiled to the walls, terror and awe naked on their faces.
No wonder: a true sorcerer had arrived.
Robb had heard the stories. Once mental force crossed a threshold, a sorcerer's magic became "active," forming a Domain—an energy field even its owner could never fully seal.
Most masked it, yet within two meters the average body reeled: dizziness, nausea, fever, eventual organ failure. The frail might die within minutes.
Hence sorcerers lived alone behind layers of wards—privacy and public safety both.
As the white robe drew near, air thickened like syrup; each breath burned.
Robb's skin prickled with a thousand needles, and he was still ten meters away.
Nearby candidates blanched; one's nose bled. None dared move—disrespect could be fatal.
Power itself commanded obedience.
Terror blended with yearning: every apprentice dreamed of wielding such might.
"Enough—step back if you can't stand it."
The sorcerer's cold voice rang out. A sweep of his staff sent a silvery halo across the floor, shoving everyone to the walls and leaving Locke convulsing alone.
"Interesting… likely overdosed on a mental catalyst."
From his sleeve he produced a vial of oily black liquid.
"Perfect chance to test a new formula."
Andrey's face went ashen—clearly he'd witnessed scenes like this.
"Don't watch," he hissed, but Robb knew he had to remember. This was the sorcerer's world: the strong used the weak as lab material.
A shriek cut through the hall as invisible force shoved the liquid down Locke's throat. His body bucked; something writhed beneath his skin.
The sorcerer clenched a fist, silver rings binding the thrashing figure. Locke's eyes jittered in their sockets, pupils reflecting shifting geometries.
"Ah—textbook Nystagmus Syndrome," the sorcerer remarked, as though at a specimen.
"Mortals who glimpse forbidden truths often react this way. The catalyst must be brewed from aberrant eye tissue."
Then the flesh under Locke's skin bulged and churned.
His right arm swelled; the surface split, revealing pulsing meat.
"Flesh proliferation. Rare—two strains of corruption at once."
Robb fought nausea. Even the sorcerer's own eyes quivered—scars of long exposure to mysteries.
Locke's screams warped into inhuman tones while flesh assembled grotesque limbs and organs that collapsed in turn.
"Don't look—let's go!" Andrey dragged Robb away, yet the images seared into memory.
On the Way Back:
Robb walked in silence, those scenes replaying: the glyphs in Locke's eyes, the crawling flesh, the warped air.
Why would a pill for boosting mental force end in horror like that?
"Andrey…" Robb finally asked, "those symptoms—eye tremor, flesh proliferation—have you seen them before?"
The blond youth's face turned grim. "Robb, that's not something you should worry about right now!"