CHAPTER 123: ADVANCEMENT

The hum of the Nova Sanctum’s engines faded into a softer throb, steady as a heartbeat.

Lucian stood in the control room, eyes still locked on the map as the faint blue glow faded from the glass. His gaze was sharp, but his voice came low, directed at Lucy.

"Rest. We’ll go deeper tomorrow."

Lucy opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, then stopped. She saw something in his eyes—something heavier than exhaustion. She only nodded once. "Don’t keep me waiting too long."

Lucian turned, cloak trailing across the floor. "Alfred. Return Karl to his cell."

The AI core chimed in acknowledgment. Energy flared around Karl’s restraints, pulling him back toward the lower decks. Karl only laughed on his way out, throwing one last grin over his shoulder. "Sweet dreams, kiddos. Try not to die without me."

The door hissed shut. Silence settled.

Lucian walked the length of the corridor alone. The lights dimmed as he passed, his shadow stretching long behind him. He reached his quarters—steel doors that opened at his touch.

Inside was stillness. Just the faint hiss of circulating air, the pulse of Sanctum’s core echoing faint through the walls.

Lucian let the cloak slip from his shoulders. He sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Kaelis."

The air rippled. From the shadow at his feet, the dragon rose—massive, spectral, coiled in luminous scales of black and violet. Its eyes burned like molten suns.

Lucian tilted his head once. "Watch over me."

The dragon dipped its head, curling around the room, wings folding close.

Lucian exhaled slowly. Then, his voice sharpened.

"Cael. I’m ready."

The system flared alive.

[Advancement Trial Available]

[Current Rank: X]

[Next Threshold: XX]

[Restriction: Solo Completion – Extreme Difficulty]

[Trial Commencing...]

The room fell away.

Everything collapsed into black.

Not silence. Not emptiness. Black alive, moving, thick as ink. The ground formed beneath his feet—a battlefield carved of fractured glass, suspended in a void of storms. Lightning twisted in every direction, but it was wrong—red, jagged, tearing the air as if reality itself were bleeding.

Lucian stood steady. His body burned already, the system suppressing all outside boosts.

A voice, Cael’s, echoed faint through his mind. No anchors. No resets. No help. Just you.

Lucian flexed his fingers. "Good."

The air trembled.

Something stepped out of the storm.

It wasn’t a monster this time.

It was a man.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Armor like fractured stone fused with burning veins of magma. His skin shimmered faintly, silver etched with scars. His eyes—cold, endless white.

And his weapon—

A spear, longer than Lucian’s height, jagged edge dripping sparks that didn’t fall.

Lucian narrowed his eyes. "So that’s my opponent?"

The man didn’t speak. Didn’t move. He simply lowered the spear into stance, the void screaming as the weapon aligned.

Lucian felt it. Pressure, heavy and suffocating. A foe equal.

Then the trial began.

The man blurred forward—spear thrust cutting reality.

Lucian bent space, Fold Step cracking the ground as he slipped sideways, the spear grazing his ribs by less than an inch. He retaliated immediately, hand slicing out. Dimensional Claw tore forward, a blade of distortion aimed at the man’s chest.

The man spun the spear, parried the claw like it was nothing, and slammed the haft down. Gravity spiked. Lucian’s knees buckled before he ripped space open beneath his feet, breaking the field’s hold and launching upward.

He flipped mid-air, hands glowing, and slammed downward. Space compressed into a ball—he hurled it like a meteor.

The explosion ripped the platform apart, glass shards flying like knives.

But the man walked out of the smoke, almost untouched. His armor cracked faintly, but his expression didn’t change. He thrust again—this time the spear’s edge stretched, elongating through dimensions.

Lucian folded sideways again—too late. The tip grazed his arm, tearing blood free. His body burned at the sting.

The man’s eyes flicked, reading him like a book. No words. Just cold execution.

Lucian wiped the blood from his arm, lips curling faintly. "Fine."

His aura burst. Space screamed. Time bent faint around him, slowing the red lightning in the background. His body blurred—Fold Step chaining into Fold Step, until the world looked like it had too many Lucians at once.

He struck.

Dimensional Claws slashed from every angle, blades of space ripping into the man’s armor. At last, sparks flew—wounds carved across his chest, shoulder, thigh.

The man staggered.

But he didn’t fall.

Instead, he lifted the spear high—then slammed it into the ground.

The void collapsed.

Every floating shard, every lightning bolt, every piece of glass-platform twisted toward the impact, a black hole forming in the center.

Lucian was dragged instantly. His body pulled, bones straining, skin tearing. His teeth clenched, his vision blurred.

"—Tch."

He raised his hand. Space bent, warped—but the pull was stronger.

The man raised the spear again, preparing the killing strike while Lucian was caught.

Lucian’s breath burned in his chest. His veins screamed with power he couldn’t hold back anymore.

He stopped fighting the pull.

And instead—he used it.

His body shot forward, straight at the man, faster than even Fold Step could launch him. His hand glowed—distortion, compression, everything layered.

The man’s eyes widened for the first time.

Lucian slammed his palm into his chest.

[Dimensional Implosion]

The world screamed.

The man’s armor shattered inward. The void folded around him, pulling his body into itself, warping bone, skin, weapon. His spear shattered into fragments of light as his form collapsed into dust.

The black hole snapped shut.

Silence fell.

Lucian staggered, blood dripping from his mouth, but his body still upright. His hand trembled from the recoil.

Then the system spoke.

[Opponent Neutralized]

[Trial Completed]

[Rank Advanced: XX]

[Stat Limit Expanded: 20,000]

[Skill Upgrade: Dimensional Claw → Rift Rend]

[New Ability Unlocked: Gravity Sever]

Lucian’s chest rose and fell, sweat dripping down his jaw.

But then—

[Optional Advancement Available: Rank XXX Trial]

[Warning: Extreme – Requires Absolute Resolve.]

Lucian exhaled a shaky laugh. "Good, let’s do this."

He said chugging down a health potion he just bought.