Chương 42: The Sixth Seal, and the Danger of Simply Walking

Midnight. The isolated training yard behind the Vance Grand Knowledge Hotel sat wrapped in a high-grade soundproofing array. The night wind drifted through the enchanted bamboo groves, rustling faintly against the granite floor. Lucian folded up the scroll where he'd translated Clause 72 of the Divinely Chosen Covenant and turned to look at the girl standing in the middle of the yard.

"Done. The Sixth Lock's lost its effect. Try taking one step." Astra nodded. She raised her right foot and gently set the toe of her boot down on the granite. BOOM! An ear-splitting explosion rang out. The half-meter-thick stone floor shattered into hundreds of fragments. A crater more than two meters deep opened right beneath Astra's foot, dirt and dust flying into the air like a heavy magic cannon had just struck the spot.

The wind pressure from her step alone sent a set of wooden table and chairs ten meters away crashing into the wall. The dust slowly cleared. Astra stood frozen at the bottom of the crater, both hands hanging suspended in midair, her entire body rigid as a stone statue. The System v2. 0 notification window appeared in front of Lucian. [SIXTH SEAL: FULLY SHATTERED!] [Energy release ratio: 0. 0001% → 0. 01% (A 100-FOLD INCREASE)!] ASTRA Level: 35 → 42 Rank: C — Monster (approaching Rank B — National) Physical Strength: 421, 100 → 4, 200, 000 (×10) Speed: 512, 000 → 2, 560, 000 (×5) Endurance: 684, 400 → 3, 422, 000 (×5) Mana: 880, 000 → 4, 400, 000 (×5) OVERALL COMBAT POWER: 41, 200, 000 (41. 2 MILLION!) Forty-one million two hundred thousand. Physical Strength alone had leapt from just over four hundred thousand to 4. 2 million — a pure muscular explosion that outright dwarfed Lucian's own total Combat Power. Astra tried wiggling a toe.

Crack! The stone edge beneath her foot instantly crumbled into fine powder. Panicking, she reached out to grab the marble pillar beside her for balance. Crack, crack, crack! The three-ton load-bearing pillar sprouted a dozen spiderweb fractures at once, plaster dust raining down over her head.

"Lucian..." Astra stood frozen at the bottom of the crater, eyes brimming with tears, her voice shaking violently.

"I... I don't dare move anymore..."

"Stay right there," Lucian rubbed his temples, feeling like his wallet had just taken a fatal stab wound.

"Fixing this crater is going to cost at least thirty silver. And don't touch that pillar again — if the roof caves in, that's another ten gold." He turned and nodded to Sylvia, waiting at the edge of the yard. Sylvia quickly brought out a silver tray and set it on the one stone table still intact in the corner: a bowl of hot lamb soup, a silver spoon, and a glass of water. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Step lightly over here," Lucian ordered.

"Practice regulating your muscle output." Astra bit her lip, held her breath, and tensed every fiber of her body to lift her foot. It took her a full five minutes, each step as shaky as someone walking a tightrope, before she finally crawled out of the crater and sat down on the stone bench across from Lucian. She reached for the silver spoon to scoop up some soup. Crunch. The moment her two fingers closed around it, the sturdy silver spoon crumpled into a piece of metal as thin as paper.

Startled, Astra let go and quickly reached for the glass of water instead, hoping a drink would calm her nerves. CRASH! The glass didn't even get the chance to shatter into pieces — the four-million-point grip crushed it straight into a fistful of glittering powder that spilled through her fingers. Water soaked through the front of her rough cloth dress. Astra stared at the pile of glass dust on the table, her eyes reddening, tears starting to fall onto her lap.

"I... I've turned into a monster... I can't even hold a spoon... Tomorrow, on the arena floor, I'm going to trample someone to death..." This was Mana Intoxication — what happened when a body received a massive increase in usable power before the nervous system had time to recalibrate. Every unconscious movement now carried far more force than Astra intended. Lucian looked at the pile of glass dust and sighed. He stood, stepped over the wreckage, and reached out to take hold of Astra's right wrist.

Layered Focus: Neural Pathway Lock. Spell Control: 95, 200, 000, 000 points. A thread of silvery mana, thinner than spider silk, smooth and cool, slid from Lucian's fingertip through her skin, sinking deep into every bone joint, every muscle fiber, and every motor nerve ending along Astra's arm. With ninety-five billion points of Spell Control, Lucian's mana operated like a microscopic hydraulic shock-absorber system. It automatically wrapped around each of her muscle fibers.

Every time Astra's body unconsciously exerted force beyond a normal person's threshold, the mana generated counter-resistance before the excess could reach her fingertips. Lucian also left a return pulse in the structure. If an external binding ever tried to seize her mana channels again, he would feel it immediately. The raging fire howling through Astra's veins gradually settled, flowing obediently to the rhythm he set. Astra looked up. The tension and ache in her finger joints vanished completely.

Her arm felt light and smooth, every muscle moving as effortlessly as if she'd never gained four million points of strength at all. She stared at the small hand of the ten-year-old boy still gripping her wrist, her ash-grey eyes wide with astonishment.

"My strength... it's listening to you..." At the entrance to the yard, Sylvia watched the silver threads settle around Astra's arm, then glanced at Lucian.

"That's stable?"

"For now."

"Good. Because we're running out of spoons." Lucian released Astra's wrist, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe up the spilled water on the table, and grumbled.

"I've built a mana shock absorber into your mana channels now. It'll automatically cap your striking force to that of an ordinary knight. Try picking up another spoon and eating. Break one more and I'm docking a silver coin." Sylvia quickly brought out a fresh silver spoon. Astra took a deep breath and reached out with a trembling hand to take hold of the handle. The silver spoon held its shape. She carefully scooped up a bite of hot lamb soup, blew on it gently, and took a small sip.

The rich sweetness of the lamb and the fragrance of the herbs spread across her tongue. The girl's ash-grey eyes lit up, shining under the moonlight.

"It's so good..." She looked up at Lucian, breaking into the brightest smile she'd ever worn.

"It didn't break." Astra stared at the spoon like she'd just won another tournament. Lucian pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, glancing at the magical hourglass on the study table. Tomorrow morning was the Semifinals. Semifinal 1: Lucian Vance versus the Great Swordmaster of House Valois. Semifinal 2: Princess Eleanor versus Astra. He broke off a piece of dry bread and took a bite, running the numbers quietly in his head.

Tomorrow, she only needs enough force to break Eleanor's guard and force a ring-out. Anything more than that becomes a repair bill.