The weakness purifying mountain and the black dojo

While there were two who had already reached the peak of the pathway, it was a much more serious confrontation elsewhere.

The weakness purifying mountain was the first assessment for the students of the military academy.

Like its name suggested, it ridded weakness.

Weak geniuses would not be permitted into the military academy, it was that simple.

One may ask if those such as Felix were unlucky.

After all, it was obvious that he had immense potential from the fact that he stepped onto the enlightening platform just once, before awakening...

But he had only become a stellar fighter last night, so he did not have the necessary time to equalize the playing-field with other stellar fighters.

Yet, this was not the case.

Physical assessments of students weren't the true core of the test, as was obvious previously, with Anon.

Though the first obstacle was physical and only so easily passed due to Anon's standing as a second world entity, the titan's movements were simple, and its strength wasn't overwhelming even for newly awakened stellar fighters.

For someone like Felix, already skilled in combat, and coupled with a firm will and quick thinking, defeating the titan was feasible.

From there, the strength of one's mind would play a more important role in passing this assessment.

Such a test of the mind, seamlessly worked in Felix's favor.

So, while some students would fail to traverse to the top of the weakness purifying mountain, the military academy, who did not view their test as difficult in the first place, felt as if they lost nothing by banishing these types of geniuses.

In fact, these failures were mostly geniuses who saw a particular golden platform.

It wasn't the platform itself, after all, the challenges remained the same throughout the four platforms.

But that platform, the one Cassius had seen, was visible only to those viewed by the tower's A.I as average geniuses.

In the eyes of these 'average' geniuses, there was a lack of firmness that the other geniuses had.

For the most part, such individuals, which happened to make up a great percentage of the geniuses to have entered the military academy, failed to ascend to the mountain's peak.

Bang!

Stepping into the hovering bus, Cassius slammed his fist against the frame of the entrance.

Following him whilst shrouded in disappointment, was Dalia.

'Father did not tell me about this...'

Whether he was angry or whatever, it did not matter.

Currently, he truly felt what hopelessness was.

Intelligence did not directly affect one's physical strength, nor the strength of the mind.

There were too many intelligent yet weak-willed individuals in the old world, and the current earth.

To be swallowed by this hopelessness...

Cassius knew he could not let that happen.

And yet, when he glanced at his right wrist which was now bracelet-less, he simply could not muster the necessary strength needed to resist this hopelessness.

Several buses lifted from the grassy field, slowly ascending into the air before loud revving noises reverberated outwardly.

These vehicles traversed the air, rising high into the skies where blinding flashes of light then burst forth, encompassing them, and devouring their bodies whole.

At the mountain top, there were still over a hundred students who had passed the assessment.

They all faced the direction where the dean and adults standing behind him, were.

Standing with a hunched back mid-air, the dean pointed toward the disappearing flying buses before stating, "The weak, gone!"

"Remaining, are future soldiers of this great country."

"The only country."

"The victorious country!"

His words caused the pores of these students to raise as a burning sensation swelled in their hearts.

This was what the military academy desired.

'A human race separated not by skin color nor ideologies.'

'One united to confront the demonic monstrosities roaming the lasting lands, and beyond.' Anon thought, 'To venture the universe, and dominate as the supreme race.'

"Students, no!"

The dean grinned, "Children of the military academy, on your wrist is a special piece of technology not known by the commonplace."

"As you all grow more powerful, you'll learn of more secrets, but for now, treat this bracelet as the academy placing its trust in you."

As he said this, the bracelet on Anon's wrist grew heated before it began to tremble.

"Brace yourselves…!" The dean warned.

Andrew jumped back in shock as a light abruptly burst forth from the bracelet.

But before he could stumble into anyone close to him, the light completely enshrouded his form before he disappeared completely.

No one had time nor cared to react as such lights shone from their own bracelets, enshrouding them too.

Before long, the mountain top was silent.

The winds that traversed this false world suddenly weakened, and the air grew stale.

The dean silently observed before clapping his hands twice.

Suddenly, the world changed.

Spider-cracks formed on the cloudless blue skies as if they had crystalized into glass, before it then shattered into blue heavenly fragments.

The black sun solidified before melting into three black rivers.

The very world transformed into a white void, a blank canvas.

"This is truly a blessed year."

The dean's hands were clasped behind his back as he stood in front of two dozen or so individuals, observing the changes in this world.

"Many of last semester's instructors broke into the fourth world, so were sent to the army.

"Even better, twenty-seven new instructors, followed by one hundred and fifty students, have become part of the academy."

The world was akin to a white canvas whilst the floor was a floor made out of light devouring darkness.

It was what the dean, and the twenty-seven instructors behind him stood on.

Before him stood an unusually large, round stone table, encircled by nearly a hundred marble thrones. Most of these thrones were already occupied by individuals.

"Go ahead and get to know one another."

The dean chuckled, "To finalize the curriculum of the three groups, the first meeting of this semester within the black dojo shall soon commence."

Before their eyes, Veerabhadran Rao stepped onto an invisible platform, lifting himself upwards as he ascended the air and towards the black ceiling.

Such a ceiling, Veerabhadran Rao's body phased right through.

The Black Dojo!

It was situated within the core of the military academy and held three layers.

The bottommost layer hosted all the instructors, whilst the three deans were in the upper layer, separated by a black river that they stood on.

"And what about the third layer?"

A new instructor listened intently but could not help but voice out with a questioning tone as the experienced instructor paused before he even beginning to speak of the third layer. 

"The black dojo is a unique piece of technology, a separate realm where the laws of the real world do not apply." The instructor pointed above, "Look, that's the upper layer, but if you look closer, you can see the ceiling of the upper layer, or more accurately, the floor of the highest layer."

In the upper layer, there was a crystal table which three crystal thrones were situated around.

Beyond that, there was the floor of the third layer, and even further...

"Don't stare at it too much, lest you mistakenly see what should not be seen!"

Though he said this, it was too late.

The new instructor was frozen in place, tears trickling down his cheeks.

These tears...

A cold prickling sensation stabbed into the new instructor's cheeks as these tears, black in color, streamed down his face.

Pa!

The experienced instructor sent a slap that rocketed across the new instructor's face, snapping him back to reality.

Quickly retreating his gaze, the new instructor's eyes dilated in terror as he incoherently muttered, "I-I-I saw... I saw... I saw it..."

"Indeed, the seat of the founder, the supreme commander's throne, the human lord's..." The experienced instructor felt a shiver run down his spine as he said this.

"Attention!"

Before he could impart any more knowledge to the new instructor, the meeting officially began.

Above, there were three crystal thrones, each hosting an individual.

These beings could not be seen by those in the lesser layer, appearing as shadowy entities.

Similarly, if, hypothetically speaking, the human lord appeared in the highest layer, he'd appear as such, a shadowy entity.

Naturally, the number of times he made an appearance during meetings like this could be counted on one hand.

The first time he appeared was in the first meeting when the military academy was established.

"Since then, there was only one more time, specifically, sixteen years ago." The experienced instructor whispered this.

As the new instructor nodded his head, he heard something odd.

In the Black Dojo, the darkness that was the ground was peculiar and soft, devouring light, and even sound.

And yet, the sound of footsteps resonated in the new instructor's ears. These footsteps reverberated rhythmically within the Black Dojo.

It was almost hypnotizing, as if, just the sound it made could be released as a piece of music.

It alone was enough for the new instructor to unknowingly push the throne away and drop to his knees.

Just, he was not the only one.

The new instructors, along with the seasoned ones, pushed away the thrones they sat on and dropped to their knees.

The deans, including Veerabhadran Rao, felt their bodies tremble under the heaviness of the air, and they too followed suit.

The new instructors struggled to think, and the experienced ones were not far behind. However, the deans understood clearly what was happening.

As recorded previously, in the two occasions when the human lord graced these meetings with his presence, all knees buckled, and all heads bowed.

Kowtow to the supreme commander.

Pay respect to the human lord.