What would this last test be?
Jack didn't feel much confidence: Mana? 16%. Old Ghost? Out of commission. His own sate? Bad, with a leg and an arm limp. This time, he could truly only rely on himself.
Are you ready, young man?" The Headmaster gently asked. Yet behind his amiability, there was a sharp and merciless appraising gaze. Confronted with such a question…
"Ready? Can I get more time if I'm not…" Jack playfully answered, sighing to himself as he stood behind the man. The latter quickly brought him to a cluster of large capsules.
If anything, they looked like VR pods he had seen in his previous life. Wait… did a technology like that exist in this world thanks to magic?!
Yet, there was something scary about them, namely the warnings plastered all over. Those would have made anyone with a brain have second thoughts.
| Danger! Do NOT Enter! |
| Risk of Death! Intense Testing Area! |
| Only Access with Authorization from the Academy! |
All the other tests before hadn't had any warnings… only this one! What did it imply? For them to add signs… didn't this mean people DID die here in the past?!
"This one's also simple. Just go in, and don't come out until the timer runs out. There's also an emergency stop button in there once you can't take it. Press it before it's too late."
Just like that, Jack had the Headmaster's blessing to risk his life. He limped toward a pod, entering it, the door creaking so much as it closed on him that it felt like a monster.
The interior was dark.
A seat, a bright frozen timer on the wall, and a large red STOP button.
It looked like a ride from hell, the magical version, and Jack had the feeling that there would be no stopping once it started.
"Tch— Here goes nothing." He sat down, and the world around him started rumbling! He could feel the capsule shaking as if it was about to explode!
That's when it happened.
The wall lit up with countless runes.
All started emitting pressure on his body and soul, one so strong it eclipsed all! Rays cascaded on him from the glyphs as if trying to break him entirely!
At this moment, he felt like a damn hamster in a microwave!
— CRUSH! CRUSH! CRUSH! —
What the heck was this test, and how long was he supposed to survive it?! Barely seconds into it, he already felt like throwing in the towel, blood splashing out his previous wounds.
Testing room? More like a torture room!
Every second in this pod felt like his limbs were getting pulled out of his body. Yet, he had to endure, or all this shit he had just gone through would have been for nothing!
His injuries, his foxes expending their energy to help him long-distance, and even the Old Ghost's weakening himself. It was all for this moment!
"You think I'll let an artifact break me? DREAM ON!"
The crazy pressure was both physical and magical. It was as if they had combined testing for the WILL and RES stat simultaneously. Sadly, the latter was definitely lacking!
As he struggled to resist, he grimaced…
15% Mana
12% Mana
7% Mana
This was BAD!
Forget his secrets spilling out; he'd be crushed like a watermelon between a fitness model's thighs! How many babies does it take to paint a Test Room? Depends how far they explode!
He could already picture his tiny body turning into a bloody red pulp on the walls, and he wasn't eager to give this place a redecorating! But, what could he even do!
He needed Mana, and ASAP!
Yet, he could only rely on himself.
So what could he freaking do?! Had he been doomed from the start? Just as he believed so, a crazy thought suddenly rooted itself in his brain. What if he could—?!
Without waiting, he forced himself to calm his beating heart. He even lay his back against one of the walls, ignoring the sharp pain stabbing him.
He then pictured himself on a sunny afternoon, warm light cascading over his face. Afterward, he laid backward… and closed his eyes?!
"1 sheep, 2 sheep, 3 sheep…."
The pain was agonizing… but a life of hardship had prepared him for this. He managed to clear his mind, his breathing becoming slower and steadier as he dozed off.
[Slumbering One Activating! +Rest Efficiency!]
This was the solution he had thought of to replenish his Mana as quickly as he expended it. He was finally using the ability he had diligently cultivated since the womb.
Thus a certain equilibrium established itself.
Slumbering One would refill his Mana, while his Evil God's Body would instantly collect it and expend it, making sure his defenses held on.
Yet, even then, his Mana kept going down… just at a lower rate— not that he felt it. Jack was long gone, lost in dreams.
He found himself alone in them, facing a great evil that no mortal could potentially beat. He had sealed it inside him in a last recourse to buy humanity's time and….
Dreams aside, a certain Headmaster was getting restless.
"He's still inside?! This, hasn't it been a little too long already? Is he still going strong even now?" He remarked, worried, only for his employee to sigh.
"He's probably already dead by now. I just hope he didn't make much of a mess in there." He rubbed his forehead, already getting annoyed.
That's when the Headmaster made a move. He crashed Jack's pod open, analyzing the situation… only to freeze in utter shock. What was this?! WTF!
— Snore! Snore! Snore! —
Jack was peacefully sleeping, even slightly moving as he drooled a little bit. HOW?! This defied the realm of what should have been possible!
The Headmaster's brain short-circuited. How?! How?! How the fuck was this possible?! This made no damn sense! But just as he was getting confused, he noticed something.
"Is this… a meditation technique?!"
Using this, he seemed to be regenerating Mana very quickly. This was what had allowed him to keep struggling in this horrendous environment. This was CRAZY!
Yet, even now, he was losing Mana slowly.
Deeming that he had survived enough, the Headmaster grabbed Jack, bringing him out of danger in a princess carry. Yet, he had barely taken a few steps that…
[Warning! Evil Godly Body Activating!]
"WHAT?!"
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