Tony closed his eyes for a brief moment, withdrawing his awareness into the quiet void of his mind. 'System Spirit, wake up this instant,' he commanded internally, trying to force a connection with the hidden interface that had governed his entire past life. However, his consciousness remained completely dark and silent, showing absolutely no response.
The digital countdown was still stubbornly locked behind the spatial friction of his cross-world traversal. Tony let out a low, silent curse under his breath, realizing that his grand cheat was still out of commission, leaving him to handle the upcoming trial entirely with his manual willpower and his raw, newly acquired 7th Class Disciple magus power.
Just as the massive flying turtle completed its slow, heavy descent and hovered near the stone docking platforms, a group of arrogant senior disciples dressed in magnificent, crimson-and-black academy robes stepped onto the wooden deck.
