The arena had reached a fever pitch.

  After the physical trial and the surgical dismantling of the martial automatons, the crowd no longer saw Zef as a promising applicant.

  They saw a phenomenon.

  A riddle wrapped in bck iron and impossible calm.

  The obsidian floor had been repaired in minutes by silent logistics mages.

  Now a new circle had risen in the center — a massive mana-conducting array thirty meters wide, its surface etched with spiraling silver glyphs.

  At its heart stood the Aegis Tower: a tall, pitch-bck obelisk forged from the legendary “Stone of Nihility” — a material said to swallow any spell thrown at it.

  [System Alert: Fourth Trial Commencing — Magical Proficiency]

  [Objective: Destroy or fully disable the Mana Absorption Tower using elemental magic]

  [Warning: Suppress Darkness and Lightning traits completely. Detection will trigger immediate containment protocols]

  [Current Magic Level: 15 (Intermediate)]

  The grand mage stepped forward.

  A tall figure with a silver beard that reached his belt, eyes ancient and calcuting.

  He carried a staff of white ash topped with a fist-sized mana crystal.

  When he looked at Zef, there was no warmth — only the cold curiosity of a schor facing a specimen he did not yet understand.

  “The Aegis Tower devours mana,” he announced, voice amplified across the arena. “It was built to test the limits of even Archmages. Overwhelm its absorption capacity or transmute your elements into a form it cannot process. Show us your affinity.”

  Zef walked to the center without a word.

  He stood three meters from the tower.

  The bck stone pulsed — a slow, hungry heartbeat.

  He closed his eyes.

  No incantation.

  No hand seals.

  No glowing circles in the air.

  He simply reached.

  First came Water.

  The temperature in the arena dropped sharply.

  Frost flowers bloomed across the obsidian in fractal patterns.

  Moisture condensed from the air in seconds, swirling around Zef’s right hand until it formed a dense, razor-sharp spear of ice — seven feet long, edges glinting like broken gss.

  The grand mage’s staff struck the ground once.

  “A single element already?” he muttered. “Impressive, but insufficient.”

  Zef ignored him.

  His left hand rose.

  The air around the spear began to twist.

  A vacuum vortex wrapped the ice — spinning at terrifying speed, compressing the atmosphere into a howling cyclone.

  The spear now rotated inside a screaming sheath of wind.

  Dual cast.

  No chant.

  No visible strain.

  Gasps rippled through the stands.

  Zef took one step forward.

  The ground beneath his right boot cracked.

  A column of molten rock erupted — earth and fire fused at white heat — rising like va pulled from the pnet’s veins.

  He did not let the elements csh.

  He forced them into alignment.

  The molten rock coiled around the spinning ice spear.

  The extreme temperature difference created a violent pressure wave — steam exploding outward in controlled bursts.

  The spear now burned and froze at the same time, a chaotic nce of impossible physics.

  The Aegis Tower reacted.

  Its surface glowed violent violet.

  It drank — greedily — trying to absorb the incoming mana storm.

  Zef tilted his head slightly.

  “Not enough,” he said quietly.

  He clenched his fist.

  The spear accelerated.

  The vacuum vortex tightened.

  The molten shell hardened into bck volcanic gss.

  The ice core inside remained impossibly intact — a frozen heart inside a burning shell.

  Then he released.

  The projectile did not fly like an arrow.

  It teleported forward in a straight line — propelled by its own internal contradiction.

  The tower met it head-on.

  For three full seconds the Stone of Nihility held.

  Then it screamed.

  A metallic, tortured sound — like a dying star.

  Cracks raced up its surface.

  Violet light flickered wildly.

  The absorption runes overloaded and shattered one by one.

  BOOM—!!!

  A blinding white shockwave erupted from the point of impact.

  Steam, ash, molten droplets and razor-sharp ice shards exploded outward.

  The protective barriers around the arena groaned, spiderweb fractures racing across them.

  When the dust and vapor finally cleared…

  The Aegis Tower was gone.

  Only a glowing crater remained — edges still red-hot, center filled with fine bck ash and scattered fragments of the once-unbreakable stone.

  Zef stood exactly where he had been.

  Not a thread of his tunic was torn.

  Not a bead of sweat on his face.

  Faint sparks of the four elements still danced between his fingers for a few seconds before fading.

  [Fourth Trial Results: Perfect (Beyond Recorded Limits)]

  [Magic Level Increased: 15 → 35 (High-Level Mage)]

  [New Skill Acquired: “Elemental Harmony” (Passive)]

  [Description: Combine two or more elements at 40% reduced mana cost]

  [New Skill Acquired: “Silent Transmutation” (Passive)]

  [Description: Cast elemental spells Levels 1–5 without verbal or gestural components]

  [Experience Gained: 8,000 (Multiplier Applied)]

  [Level Up! Current Level: 24]

  The arena was deathly quiet.

  No cheers.

  No whispers.

  Just stunned, breathless silence.

  The grand mage’s staff slipped from his fingers and cttered to the ground.

  He stared at the crater, then at Zef, then back at the crater — as though hoping the ws of magic would reassert themselves if he looked long enough.

  In the stands, noble children who had mocked him earlier now sat frozen.

  One girl clutched her dress so tightly her knuckles turned white.

  A boy whispered: “He… he didn’t even chant…”

  In the highest balcony, the Council of Elders rose as one.

  No appuse.

  No words.

  Only eyes — wide, calcuting, and for the first time… uncertain.

  Zef looked up at them.

  Then he spoke — voice calm, almost bored, yet carrying clearly to every corner of the arena:

  “The physical tests were tedious.

  The martial test was predictable.

  This one… was mildly interesting.”

  He turned toward the Proctor.

  “One remains.

  The Soul Trial, correct?”

  The Proctor swallowed hard.

  “…Yes.”

  Zef nodded once.

  “Good.”

  He walked back to his position — casual, unhurried.

  Inside, a single quiet thought surfaced:

  The soul is where they will try to chain me.

  That is where the real game begins.

  [System Warning]

  [Multiple Arch-level mana signatures converging on the arena]

  [The Council of Elders has arrived to personally oversee the final test]

  Zef’s lips curved — the faintest hint of a smile.

  Let them come.

  He was ready to show them what a soul without chains looked like.