Yan Shuo took a deep breath. His focus locked onto the marble tiles continuously rotating beneath his feet. If this room was a chessboard, then every shift of the marble was not random chaos, but a calculated move made by Haoran.
"Pieces are not merely moved. A piece is the owner of the square it occupies," Yan Shuo affirmed inwardly.
He did not try to resist the movement of the floor with brute strength. Instead, he relaxed his body, followed the rhythm of the rotating marble, then stomped his foot precisely on a stationary coordinate he had calculated inside his mind.
Srrt!
The room trembled for a moment. The circular patterns on the marble walls suddenly slowed down, then came to a complete stop. The classroom door that had previously disappeared now reappeared in its original position. Yan Shuo had successfully locked the distorted space using nothing but logic.
From the gray sky above, Haoran closed his book with a soft clap. He smiled before leaping down from the height without making a sound.
"One hour and thirty minutes to grasp the fundamental concept of spatial positioning," Haoran said as he landed firmly on both feet. "Not bad for a former day laborer."
Yan Shuo wiped the sweat from his temple, his breathing still slightly heavy.
"Have I passed, Master?"
"Passed the first test? Yes," Haoran answered briefly. "But this was only the warm-up."
Before Yan Shuo could respond, Haoran snapped his fingers once more. His cubic pupils rotated rapidly. Instantly, the marble walls of the classroom collapsed into particles of light, and the air around them abruptly changed—cold, damp, and carrying the scent of wet moss.
A deafening roar immediately assaulted Yan Shuo's hearing.
They were no longer in Classroom 1H.
Before Yan Shuo now stretched an ancient forest filled with gigantic trees bearing silver leaves. At the center of the forest stood a natural fountain in the form of a vertical waterfall cascading violently from a crack in the sky, towering so high that it seemed to pierce the clouds.
"What place is this?" Yan Shuo asked, looking upward. His eyes widened as he stared at the impossibly tall waterfall.
"This is a place to shatter the limitations of your body," Haoran said calmly, pointing toward a massive boulder directly beneath the impact of the waterfall. "The second test. Walk to that rock, then endure beneath the pressure of that fountain for as long as you can. Use your spatial logic to redirect the burden of the water."
Yan Shuo swallowed hard.
Without saying much, he stepped forward. However, the moment his body touched the edge of the waterfall's flow, an unbelievably overwhelming hydraulic force slammed into his shoulders like a giant hammer.
Blar!
"Ugh!"
Yan Shuo was instantly knocked flat, his face planting into the wet ground. The pressure of the water was far too immense to calculate through instinctive logic.
"Failed. Try again," Haoran ordered from beneath a tree.
Yan Shuo got back up, his teeth chattering. He attempted to calculate the angle of the water's descent before stepping in for a second attempt.
Blar!
He was thrown back once again, tumbling across the slippery river stones.
"Failed. Again."
The third attempt failed.
On the fourth attempt, he did not even manage to stand upright before the water crushed his defenses.
Yan Shuo continued trying until his body was covered in bruises and his tactical clothing was completely soaked. After countless attempts, he finally collapsed at the riverbank, gasping heavily from extreme exhaustion.
Haoran walked closer, observing Yan Shuo's trembling body. His cubic pupils scanned the flow of energy within his disciple.
The man let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"It seems my suspicion was correct. The problem isn't your mind, Yan Shuo—it's your vessel," Haoran muttered, appearing somewhat puzzled. "Your physical body is too weak. Your soul is ready to process the data, but your muscles and bones are not strong enough to withstand the backlash pressure of natural energy."
Yan Shuo let out a weak groan, clutching his chest as he struggled to breathe.
"Then... what should I do?"
Haoran turned around. With a wave of his hand, three black logs, each as large as a human body, floated out from the forest and landed heavily in front of Yan Shuo.
Thud!
"Lift all three. Carry them and run around the area surrounding this fountain," Haoran commanded mercilessly.
Yan Shuo forced himself to stand. With great difficulty, he tied the three logs to his back using the rope provided by Haoran.
The moment the weight settled onto his body, Yan Shuo's expression changed drastically. His face flushed red, and the veins in his neck bulged violently as though he were carrying hundreds of kilograms.
"Walk... take a step..." Yan Shuo whispered instructions to his own legs.
One step.
Two steps.
By the third step, his knees began to tremble violently.
Thud!
He collapsed, his face sinking into the mud.
"Get up, Yan Shuo! Stop whining like a little child!" Haoran shouted from afar.
With the last remnants of his strength, Yan Shuo crawled, straightened his back once more, and began walking slowly.
Three meters later, his body collapsed again with a heavy thud.
He continued getting back up, walking a few centimeters, then collapsing again, groaning in pain amid the torment of his physical despair.
While Yan Shuo was bleeding and struggling in the Isolated Sector, a different situation was unfolding in the western dormitory block.
Vat Diante suddenly woke from his deep sleep when he caught the scent of an extremely strong, expensive perfume inside his room.
He immediately jumped out of bed, instinctively sparking small currents of electricity across his fingertips.
"Who's there?!" Vat barked sharply.
In the corner of the remarkably tidy room, an elderly woman with a sturdy build was casually examining Vat's collection of silver coins on his desk.
The woman wore flashy modern streetwear brands—an oversized neon jacket and thick boots. Her skin was a rich brown color, covered in geometric tattoos that occasionally glowed with a golden light.
"Quite a nice collection, Young Man," the old woman said, her voice hoarse yet commanding.
"You... Professor Marayonka?" Vat lowered his hand, the arrogance on his face fading slightly into reluctant respect. "What is a high-ranking executive division officer doing in my room?"
Marayonka turned around and stared at Vat with her sharp old eyes.
"Haoran asked me to inspect his elite student who was just humiliated by a Class-B monster. He said your lightning is efficient, but your mentality is filthier than a sewer. Put on your shoes, Vat. We're going to straighten out that crooked ego of yours."
Vat's eyes widened.
"W-What? Is this my punishment?"
Sweat immediately broke out across his face.
At the same time, in the quiet university garden, Elara was still sitting alone on a wooden bench, lost in thought.
The chilly atmosphere around her was suddenly shattered when a bright and cheerful laugh echoed through the air.
"Hi, Pretty Big Sister! Why are you always frowning as cold as an ice pop?!"
Elara blinked and looked upward.
There, floating in the air without any form of assistance, was a young boy dressed in a loose robe, smiling broadly. The boy was incredibly cheerful, and his height was barely half of Elara's.
His pair of eyes sparkled mischievously as he spun through the air before landing vertically atop the backrest of the wooden bench.
Elara stared at the flying child with her usual expressionless gaze.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your new mentor for special training! My name is Kiko!" The boy gave an exaggerated military salute before chuckling. "Master Haoran said your sword intent is as limp as overcooked vegetables because you spend too much time daydreaming. So..."
He paused for a moment before speaking with a faint smile.
"...let's play together until your sword can cut the wind!"
Back at the second testing ground, the sky above the giant fountain was beginning to darken.
Yan Shuo had just collapsed for what felt like the hundredth time.
His body was numb, covered in mud and sweat.
Haoran walked over and stopped beside Yan Shuo's sprawled form.
"That's enough for today."
Yan Shuo removed the wooden logs strapped to his back with trembling hands before looking up at his teacher with reddened eyes.
"I... I still can't summon my chessboard, Master."
"Not yet," Haoran said as he helped Yan Shuo to his feet, allowing his student to lean against a nearby tree. "But today, your muscles were stretched, your logic was forced to operate beyond its limits, and you didn't give up even though your body collapsed again and again. Remember this, Yan Shuo: a game of chess is not won simply because you possess powerful pieces, but because you know how to survive under the pressure of a bad position."
Yan Shuo fell silent, contemplating every word spoken by his teacher as he stared at the roaring waterfall before them.
Meanwhile...
On the rooftop of one of the tallest skyscrapers on the outskirts of the city, the night wind blew fiercely, whipping against Vat Diante's gray tactical cloak.
The teenager now stood at the edge of a narrow concrete barrier. His heart pounded like a war drum—not because of monsters, but because of the grip of Professor Marayonka's wrinkled yet steel-hard hand clutching the back of his collar.
Vat looked down at the city streets below, which appeared no larger than matchstick lines. Vehicles moved like fireflies.
He swallowed with difficulty.
The cold sweat on his skin evaporated instantly beneath the night wind.
"Prof... isn't this already beyond the curriculum?" Vat shouted, his voice turning hoarse as the wind swallowed it. "I'm a lightning-element user! I don't have the ability to fly yet!"
Marayonka chuckled deeply.
The geometric tattoos on her brown skin glowed gold, contrasting sharply against her wildly fluttering oversized neon jacket.
"You think the lightning element is only about shocking people like an electric eel, huh? Lightning is ionization, energy, and absolute acceleration. If you can't control your own gravity, you'll never be more than a walking battery."
"But not by free-falling like this—"
"Such a spoiled brat."
Release.
Without any warning, Marayonka opened her hand.
"FUUUUUUUUCK!"
Vat screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice pierced through the night.
His body shot downward in a vertical free fall.
The wind slammed into his face with brutal force, making it difficult to keep his eyes open. The cold air sliced against his skin. Within seconds, floor after floor of the skyscraper flashed past him like scenes from a fast-forwarded film.
"Damn it! Damn it! Fly! Think, Vat, think!" he shouted inwardly.
He tried to activate his Stellar energy.
Blue arcs of electricity began exploding across his body, leaping wildly onto the glass walls of the building as he passed them, leaving cracks behind. He attempted to direct the electrical thrust downward to slow his descent, but the force of the wind was too strong. His concentration shattered. His body flipped upside down, head below and feet above.
The hard asphalt road below rushed closer at a terrifying speed.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Vat gave up.
He squeezed his eyes shut, cursing both Haoran and this insane old woman in his heart.
Srrt!
The fatal impact he imagined never came.
His body suddenly stopped instantly, hanging upside down only a few centimeters before his forehead could kiss the asphalt.
Vat opened his eyes, breathing heavily.
His eyes widened as he stared at the grains of dust on the road directly beneath his nose.
He felt no pain.
"D-Do I... already have the ability to fly?" Vat muttered, his voice trembling between disbelief and relief.
"Don't daydream while you're still on the ground floor, Boy."
Marayonka's voice echoed from above.
Vat glanced toward his feet dangling in the air.
A thin strand of golden energy—finer than a hair yet as strong as a ship's anchor—was wrapped around his ankle.
At the upper end of the strand, Professor Marayonka stood casually on the edge of a third-floor balcony, supporting Vat's entire body weight with nothing more than her raised pinky finger.
Whoosh!
With a single flick of that pinky finger, Marayonka yanked Vat back upward as if reeling in a yo-yo.
Vat's body shot into the air, but before he could even plant his feet on the balcony, Marayonka had already leaped through the sky.
The old woman grabbed the collar of his shirt mid-motion and began diving and swinging between the gaps of the skyscrapers.
Her movements were astonishingly fast and agile. She leaped from support pillars to massive holographic billboards using only one free hand, while the other carried Vat's helplessly swinging body like a sack of rice.
"Let me go! I can move on my own!" Vat shouted, feeling his pride shatter into pieces.
"Be quiet and enjoy the ride, Big Ego!" Marayonka shouted back while laughing freely.
Thud! Blar!
Marayonka made her final landing in a quieter area, far away from the bustling center of Seroin City.
With a powerful swing of her arm, she casually threw Vat over a hedge.
"Ugh!"
Vat rolled across the neatly trimmed grass, his tactical cloak now covered in dirt.
He quickly got up, ready to protest, but the words caught in his throat when he saw the building in front of him.
It was an old classical-style complex with a dimly glowing wooden sign:
Seroin Indah Nursing Home
Behind the large glass windows, several elderly residents sat in wheelchairs, while others calmly knitted.
Marayonka landed soundlessly beside Vat and folded her arms across her chest in her usual overly fashionable pose.
"You will work here for the remainder of your special training," Marayonka said flatly, her eyes fixed sharply on Vat.
Vat stared in disbelief, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
"Work here?! I'm the heir of the Diante Clan! I came to Noxward to become a ranked Stellar user, not an elderly caretaker!"
Marayonka leaned her face closer.
The golden aura from her tattoos pressed against the atmosphere around them, making the air feel heavy.
"That ego of yours is exactly why your lightning remains unstable, Vat. You think you're above everyone else, which is why you can't synchronize with your team's frequency. Here, you'll learn humility."
The old woman smiled in a terrifying manner, causing the hairs on the back of Vat's neck to stand up.
"Remember one thing. If I hear that you've scolded or shouted at any of the elderly people inside... I will personally drag you away and hang you upside down above the active volcanic crater in Sector 3 for three days and three nights. Understood?"
Vat swallowed hard.
His anger and pride instantly shrank before the threat of the legendary executor.
The lightning coursing through his body faded completely.
"U-Understood, Professor," Vat finally squeaked out.
"Good. Get inside. Their dinner schedule starts in five minutes."