Win.

Chapter One (Continued)

"You have angered me now, youngster. Not only did you not let me introduce myself, but you also destroyed my armor. You will pay for this... now perish!" The woman pointed her hand toward Alex, her voice dripping with venomous malice. 

"FLY!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Alex was blasted backward, slamming into the mountainside. An incredible explosion happened and everything breaked, an enormous dust cloud went up in the sky and like a bomb, the noise it made, fully shattered the entire forest, leaves fell down and almost everyone participating in this thing heard those. they that this was just a fight between top participants and it was. very powerful noise. that did everything this. leaves sliced.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGHHGHGHHG!!!" he screamed, spitting out blood. His clothes were torn to shreds, leaving his torso fully exposed.

But something strange happened.

Alex fell back to the exact spot where the cave had been. The rocks caved in, and he was buried among the rubble.

"Huh?" He glanced behind him and saw the bag he had brought for the test.

~~

[You died at age 88.

You can keep one thing from the simulation:

The strength you had at age 28

The experience you had at age 28

The knowledge you had at age 28]

~~

"Damn it, now I have to dig..." the woman grumbled in annoyance as she approached the cave.

"Huh?"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

She jumped back in fear.

"Tell me your name," a deep voice rumbled from the cave.

"Lamia..." she replied.

"Then... perish now..."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The ground exploded outward, releasing a force unlike anything Lamia had ever seen. It was as if a volcano had erupted, unleashing a torrent of energy.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HIT ME LIKE THIS, FLY!" she shouted, moving with lightning speed, like a character controlled by a player in a video game.

But... the explosion didn't happen immediately. The ground seemed to calm, but...

"SHIT!!!" she cursed as the explosion contracted, focusing on the exact spot where Lamia was standing. And then, like a tower collapsing—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It exploded outward.

BANG!!!

Waves of energy shot into the sky, parting the clouds like a tsunami splitting the ocean.

"Huh?" Demetrius looked up, surprised. This was no ordinary spell.

"Oho?" Other examinees glanced skyward, smirking.

"This is..." Mysterious figures also looked up, visibly shaken.

Alex emerged from the rubble, falling to his knees.

"Cough... Cough... Cough... is this bitch finally over?" He looked up, but too weak to stand, he leaned against a rock.

And that's how we got here.

The dust settled.

"You... BRAT!!!"

Alex was leaning against a boulder, bloodied. In front of him stood a bloodied woman, her skin entirely burned off, yet still alive, her gaze filled with hatred.

"Damn you... brat..." she muttered.

"ENTANGLE!" she shouted, her words dripping with malice. The dust around them swirled and formed into a cage, rushing toward Alex.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT, JUST FUCKING FALL!!!" Alex yelled, exasperated that she was still standing. Using the last of his strength, he conjured a fire sword and—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

"GAGHHGHLLL!!!" He sliced off Lamia's hands.

"BRA--- AGH!!!" He knocked her unconscious.

"I don't know who this is, but if I bring her to the examinees, I might get some rewards..." Alex finally allowed himself to relax.

"Huh?" He looked up and noticed a crack in the sky.

"Hahahahahahahah!!! I DID IT!!! I CRACKED THE SKY!!!" Alex laughed loudly. He hadn't expected to gain enough power to crack the sky without spending a few years here.

"This is all because of this..."

--

[At age 43, you managed to recover from your injuries and contemplated Lamia's powers. You discovered her secret: when she spoke her spells out loud, they created a slight disturbance in the air. You remembered noticing a tiny amount of dust shifting before the spell was even cast. You deduced this was likely some kind of mastery over the Air element. Recalling what Homer told you, that only spells could have Masteries, you realized that with enough training, one could assimilate fully into an element, gaining complete control over it—like a god... Hephaestus. Inspired, you merged [Kagami Laser] and [Inferno's Call] to create a new ability that called upon the Spark in the air for the Fire element, creating a domain around you in which Spark could be heated. Within this domain, you could control and fire lasers with just a word...]

--

"This is... a really overpowered ability, but... I don't have enough power to use it fully... just a small bit... Looks like I've discovered the Simulation's weakness. If I don't upgrade to a higher level, no matter how powerful the spell I get in the Simulation, I won't be able to use it..." Alex finally rested, grudgingly standing up. He looked toward the cave.

It had survived since he hadn't destroyed it. Smiling, Alex reinforced the cave's entrance and went inside, knowing he would need to rest for a long time and prepare to break the illusion again.

--

A Few Months Later

"Ugh..." Alex exhaled, glancing around. Sparks of energy were gathering around him.

"Man... this is intense..." He had figured out how to grow stronger here. By focusing on his elements and spells repeatedly, tiny sparks would gather and be absorbed into his body through his pores.

He discovered that his vessels and muscles were being filled with Spark in this way.

"Looks like I have some talent; I just reached the peak of the 4th Tier." Alex examined his hand. The redder his skin became, the closer he was to reaching the peak of his Tier.

"Is it time?" He looked up at the crack in the sky, noticing that pieces were beginning to fall away, yet it remained largely intact.

Alex pointed his finger toward the sky, climbing to the highest peak he could find and taking a deep breath.

"Now..."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Crack!!!

BSHHGHGHGHGH!!!

The sky shattered, and everything went white for Alex. He smiled, knowing he had finished the exam. What level he had reached or how much time it took, that was something he would figure out later. 

End of Chapter.