News in Victoria City Martial Arts University didn't just travel; it ignited. By the time the final bell of the morning session rang, the "Class 9 Massacre" had morphed from a localized training spar into a legendary tale of a "Fossil's Revenge."
In the high-end cafeteria of the Glory District, where the Talent Class dined on spirit-grain and nutrient-dense monster meats, the air was thick with disbelief.
James White sat at the head of a velvet-cushioned table, his silver fork hovering over a plate of Blue-Scaled Salmon. He hadn't touched his food. His eyes were fixed on the screen of his holographic comm-link, which was currently flooded with shaky, hidden-camera footage of Leo Miller retching stomach acid onto a dusty gym floor.
"Is it true?" a girl at the table whispered, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and excitement. "Did that E-rank... did he really put a Hercules in the infirmary with one punch?"
"It was a fluke," James snapped, the air around him crackling with a sudden, violent surge of static. His blue eyes flashed with a dangerous, electric light. "Leo Miller is a meathead. He probably walked into a strike he didn't see. A Martial Artist is still a Martial Artist. You can dress a pig in silk, but it's still a pig."
But deep down, James felt a cold, oily sensation in his stomach. He remembered the weight of Alex's presence in the lecture hall—the way the boy had walked past him without even a flicker of fear. He remembered Sujata Roy's amber eyes as she handed over that ancient, rotting book.
"James," Lance Sharp hissed. Lance had joined the table, his nose encased in a thick, white medicinal cast. His voice was nasally and full of venom. "You have to do something. Thorne is protecting him. The South District is already starting to call him the 'Iron King.' If we don't crush him now, the ordinary classes will start thinking they actually have a chance."
James looked at Lance's broken face. A cruel smile curled his lips. "Crush him? No, Lance. We aren't going to crush him. We're going to let the university's own 'Evolutionary Law' do it for us."
He stood up, the static electricity from his robes causing the nearby silver utensils to vibrate. "The Freshman Survival Trek starts in three days. The South District and the Glory District will be dropped into the Sector 7 Wilderness. There are no teachers there. No 'stop when you hit the mark.' Just the forest, the monsters... and us."
The Forge in the Dark
While the Talent Class plotted, Alex Silvester was nowhere to be found.
He had skipped the communal lunch, opting instead for a quiet corner of the Old Martial Arts Library—a crumbling annex that was rarely visited because it contained no mana-scrolls or spell-books.
Alex sat on the floor, the Fist of Law-Breaking spread open before him. The pages seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat. As he read the second chapter—[ The Marrow-Tempering Breath ]—he realized that the "Mud Embryo Realm" was not just a stage of physical strength, but a stage of internal alchemy.
Standard Cultivators used mana to coat their bones like a shell. But the Extreme Martial Path used the "Fires of the Forge" to change the bones from the inside out.
Alex closed his eyes and began to breathe according to the jagged diagrams in the book.
Haaa—fuuu.
With every breath, he visualized his blood turning into molten lead, heavy and hot. He directed that heat toward his bone marrow.
Tssshhh.
A faint sound, like water hitting a hot frying pan, echoed in his ears. A sharp, stinging pain radiated from his ribs, spreading toward his spine. It felt as if a thousand needles were vibrating inside his bones. This was the "Bitterness" Sujata had spoken of. This was the grind that no "Genius" would ever endure.
Alex's skin turned a deep, bruised crimson. Steam began to rise from his shoulders, smelling faintly of metallic impurities being forced out of his pores.
[System Notification: Bone Density +5%]
[Current Realm: Mud Embryo — Stage 23]
He opened his eyes, and for a split second, they didn't look human. They looked like two glowing embers. He looked at a nearby stone pillar—one that had stood for a century. He didn't punch it. He simply pressed his thumb against the surface.
Crk.
The solid stone crumbled like a dried biscuit. Alex withdrew his hand, his expression grim. He was getting stronger, but his control was slipping. He was becoming a weapon that didn't know how to be a person.
The Silent Watcher
"You're going to kill yourself if you keep pushing that fast."
Alex didn't jump. He had sensed the presence ten minutes ago—a scent like mountain air and cold jade. He turned his head to see Sujata Roy leaning against a bookshelf, her arms crossed. She looked out of place in the dusty, dark library, like a diamond in a coal bin.
"The survival trek is in three days," Sujata said, her voice soft but firm. "James White has already contacted his family. They're sending him a Tier-3 Thunder-Core Amulet. He doesn't plan on letting you return to the city."
Alex wiped the sweat from his forehead with a ragged towel. "Is that why you're here? To tell me I'm going to die?"
Sujata walked toward him, her amber eyes scanning the cracks in the pillar he had just touched. "I'm here because I want to see if my grandfather's gamble was worth it."
She stopped a few feet away. "James is a spark. He's loud, he's fast, and he's bright. But sparks burn out. You..." she reached out, her fingers hovering just inches from his reddened skin, sensing the unnatural heat radiating from his body. "You are a slow-burning furnace. If you survive the trek, you'll be the most dangerous thing in this university."
"And if I don't?" Alex asked.
Sujata pulled her hand back, her expression returning to its usual mask of calm. "Then you were just another fossil that couldn't handle the heat."
She turned to leave, but paused at the door. "Sector 7 isn't just forest, Alex. There's an old Extreme Martial Sect Outpost buried near the North Ridge. The mana-users won't be able to enter it. It's protected by a 'Gravity Array' that only someone with a dense physical foundation can withstand."
She didn't look back as she vanished into the hallway. "If you find it... you might find the second half of that book."
Alex sat in the silence, the weight of her words settling over him. He looked at his hands—the hands that had beaten the acid out of a Hercules and shattered a testing marble.
The university thought they were sending the "trash" to a survival test. They didn't realize they were sending a wolf into a forest full of sheep.