BOOM—!!
Our fists collided.
The shockwave exploded between us.
I slid backward.
Azharyon slid backward too.
For half a second, neither of us moved.
Then—
He vanished.
My pupils contracted.
SWISH!
I twisted.
His fist passed my cheek.
I felt the pressure of it against my skin.
I stepped away—
Too slow.
His elbow came from the opposite side.
BAM!
It caught my shoulder.
Pain exploded through my body.
I spun with the impact instead of resisting it.
One step.
Two.
I stopped.
Azharyon was already coming again.
No pause.
No wasted movement.
He had changed.
The attacks weren't simply faster.
They were connected.
One attack became the beginning of the next.
Punch.
Elbow.
Knee.
Kick.
Every movement forced me into the position he wanted.
I blocked the punch.
The elbow came.
I ducked.
The knee followed.
I jumped.
The kick caught my leg before I landed.
BOOM!
My body flew sideways.
I twisted in the air and landed on one hand.
The floor cracked beneath my palm.
I pushed myself up.
Azharyon was standing several meters away.
Waiting.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
"You're thinking too much."
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.
"I'm thinking enough."
He smiled.
"Then think faster."
He disappeared.
My instincts reacted.
I moved left.
His fist missed.
I turned—
His other fist was already there.
BAM!
It struck my guard.
My arms went numb.
I stumbled backward.
His knee came next.
I blocked.
The impact forced me down.
I planted one foot.
Pivoted.
Redirected his momentum.
For a moment, I had an opening.
I struck.
THUD!
My palm connected with his ribs.
Azharyon's body shifted.
But he didn't stop.
His hand caught my wrist.
His eyes met mine.
"Got you."
He pulled.
I followed the movement instead of resisting.
My body rotated.
My free hand came around.
BAM!
My elbow struck his shoulder.
His grip loosened.
I broke away.
We separated.
My breathing was heavier now.
So was his.
Only slightly.
I stared at him.
He was enjoying this.
Not because he was winning.
Because I was finally making him work.
The gravity chamber hummed.
Then—
MMMMMMMMM—
The runes changed.
I felt the pressure before I saw the numbers.
The gravity increased.
BOOOOOOM!
My knees bent.
The force slammed into my body.
The floor beneath my feet cracked.
I clenched my teeth.
Azharyon lowered his stance.
The others around the chamber became still.
This was no longer a simple increase.
The chamber was responding to us.
To me.
I felt the pressure pressing against every part of my body.
Muscles.
Bones.
Lungs.
Even the movement of my blood felt heavier.
The system appeared.
> [Environmental Pressure Increased]
[Adaptive Response: Active]
[Accessible Power: 0.5%]
Still.
0.5%.
I almost laughed.
After everything—
The number hadn't changed even once.
Good.
That meant I wasn't being handed power.
If I wanted to survive this—
I had to learn.
Azharyon attacked.
I stepped aside.
His fist missed.
I moved inside his range.
He changed direction.
I followed.
His knee came upward.
I shifted my hip.
The strike grazed me.
I countered.
THUD!
He blocked.
I changed direction again.
Elbow.
Blocked.
Low kick.
Blocked.
Palm.
Blocked.
He was reading me now too.
Our movements became increasingly similar.
Two fighters adjusting to each other with every exchange.
Then—
Azharyon's fist slipped through.
BOOM!
It struck my abdomen.
Air exploded from my lungs.
My feet left the ground.
I flew backward.
CRASH!
My back slammed into the reinforced wall.
Cracks spread outward.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
My body slid down.
I forced myself up.
One hand against the wall.
Then the other.
My vision blurred.
Azharyon approached.
"You're hurt."
"I know."
"You can stop."
I looked at him.
"No."
His eyes sharpened.
"Why?"
I pushed myself fully upright.
"Because I'm learning."
Azharyon stared at me.
Then—
He smiled.
"Then keep learning."
He came forward.
This time I didn't watch his hands.
I watched his center.
His balance.
The movement of his energy.
The instant his weight shifted—
I moved.
His fist passed me.
I was already inside.
Palm.
He blocked.
But I didn't stop.
I turned.
His shoulder moved.
I knew the counter before it came.
I ducked.
Elbow.
I caught his wrist.
Turned.
Redirected.
For one brief moment—
I controlled the exchange.
Then Azharyon broke free.
He jumped backward.
We stared at each other.
My breathing slowed.
Something had changed.
I could feel it.
I wasn't merely reacting anymore.
I was beginning to understand the movement before it happened.
Then—
The chamber shook.
BOOOOOOM!
The gravity increased again.
My body dropped.
One knee touched the floor.
I caught myself.
The pressure was becoming ridiculous.
The system flashed.
> [Gravitational Stress Increasing]
[Adaptive Synchronization: Ongoing]
I looked at Azharyon.
He was still standing.
Sweat rolled down his forehead.
His breathing had finally become noticeable.
But he hadn't reached his limit.
Not even close.
That realization sent a strange excitement through me.
He was still holding back.
I smiled.
Azharyon noticed.
"You're enjoying this."
"Maybe."
He shook his head.
"You're strange."
"So I've been told."
He laughed.
Then his aura changed.
The air around him tightened.
My smile disappeared.
That wasn't ordinary energy reinforcement.
His entire body seemed to become heavier.
Denser.
More dangerous.
Azharyon stepped forward.
The floor cracked beneath his foot.
CRACK.
My instincts screamed.
This was different.
He hadn't simply increased his speed.
He had increased everything.
Power.
Precision.
Intent.
I lowered my stance.
Azharyon disappeared.
BOOM!
I blocked.
My arms shook violently.
He attacked again.
I moved.
Another strike.
I dodged.
Third.
I barely escaped.
Fourth—
BAM!
His fist caught my ribs.
Pain tore through my side.
I flew across the chamber.
Before I could land—
He was there.
I raised my arms.
BOOM!
His fist slammed into my guard.
The floor shattered beneath me.
I sank into the crater.
Azharyon stood above me.
"Get up."
I stared at him.
Then pushed myself upward.
He attacked again.
I blocked.
Again.
I dodged.
Again.
I countered.
But the difference was obvious.
He was forcing me backward.
Every exchange.
Every second.
Every breath.
The pressure increased.
My body screamed.
My muscles trembled.
My lungs burned.
Still—
I watched.
I learned.
I adjusted.
Then the chamber made a sound I'd never heard before.
A deep mechanical roar.
MMMMMMMMMMMM—
The runes across the walls ignited.
One after another.
The pressure multiplied.
The system appeared.
> [Gravity Array: Escalation]
[2,500-Fold Gravity Approaching]
My eyes widened.
"What?"
Azharyon's expression changed.
Even he looked serious.
The gravity descended.
BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!
The world disappeared beneath weight.
My knees slammed into the floor.
BANG!
The alloy beneath me cracked.
My arms buckled.
The air became almost solid.
Breathing felt like dragging a mountain into my lungs.
My muscles screamed.
My bones groaned.
I tried to stand.
Nothing.
My arms shook violently.
I pushed harder.
My body refused.
The system flashed.
> [Gravitational Stress Threshold: Critical]
I gritted my teeth.
Again.
I pushed.
One knee rose.
Then—
BANG!
It collapsed.
Azharyon remained several meters away.
Even he had lowered his stance.
His Blue aura flickered around his body, compressed tightly against his skin.
He was reinforcing himself.
Efficiently.
Not wasting anything.
I watched him.
Then looked at my own hands.
I was doing the opposite.
I was fighting the gravity.
Every muscle was tense.
Every joint was resisting.
Every breath was forced.
I was spending energy simply trying to tell the gravity:
No.
And the gravity didn't care.
I closed my eyes.
The noise faded.
The pressure remained.
My heartbeat echoed inside my chest.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Why was I fighting it?
The question appeared naturally.
I didn't need the system to answer.
I already knew.
I wasn't fighting gravity.
I was fighting the feeling of being crushed by it.
Fear.
Resistance.
Pride.
All of them consumed energy.
I exhaled.
Slowly.
My shoulders relaxed.
My arms relaxed.
My legs relaxed.
I stopped trying to overpower the pressure.
Instead—
I let it exist.
The gravity didn't become weaker.
My body simply stopped wasting strength fighting what it couldn't change.
Energy moved.
Not explosively.
Not wildly.
It flowed through the places that needed it.
My spine.
My knees.
My shoulders.
My lungs.
Every point of stress received exactly what it needed.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
The system appeared.
> [Adaptive Synchronization Increasing]
[Energy Distribution: Optimizing]
[Accessible Power: 0.5%]
I opened my eyes.
The chamber looked different.
Not because the gravity had changed.
Because I had.
I planted one foot.
The alloy floor cracked.
I planted the other.
My muscles trembled.
But they didn't collapse.
I stood.
Slowly.
Completely.
Azharyon's eyes widened.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
He smiled.
"There you are."
I raised my head.
The pressure was still monstrous.
Yet—
It no longer felt chaotic.
It had rhythm.
Every force had direction.
Every movement had consequence.
I didn't need to resist everything.
I only needed to move correctly.
Azharyon stepped forward.
Under 2,500-fold gravity—
he attacked.
His fist came toward my face.
I moved.
Not after the attack began.
Before.
His fist passed beside my cheek.
I stepped inside.
His elbow came.
I had already shifted.
His knee rose.
I moved with it.
His hand came down.
I caught his wrist.
For one heartbeat—
Everything stopped.
His eyes met mine.
Mine met his.
Then I twisted.
BAM!
My palm struck his ribs.
Azharyon's body slid backward.
His boots carved two deep lines into the alloy floor.
Silence.
I remained standing.
Breathing.
My body was exhausted.
My ribs hurt.
My muscles burned.
But my movements felt—
Clean.
Azharyon slowly straightened.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then looked at me.
A smile spread across his face.
Not the smile of a brother teasing his younger sibling.
Something sharper.
More excited.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
The system flickered.
> [Threshold Condition Detected]
[Adaptive Response: Accelerating]
My gaze dropped briefly toward my hands.
Nothing had changed.
My bloodline was still—
100% sealed.
My accessible power—
0.5%.
I hadn't unlocked anything.
I hadn't broken anything.
I had simply stopped wasting what I already possessed.
Azharyon lowered his stance.
"One more."
I looked up.
The pressure around us seemed to deepen.
The chamber waited.
So did he.
And somewhere beneath the seal—
something seemed to notice the difference.
I smiled.
"Come."
Azharyon vanished.
And this time—
I didn't wait for him to attack.