Ats stood still for a moment before starting. He raised his right hand, moving it slightly, then tapped his helmet.

  Silence… Absolute silence.

  He could feel the weight of the armor, but when he lifted his foot to take a step, there was ion.

  This armor pletely shut down all his senses. It felt like he was standing in a void—no sound, no smell, no touch. Absolutely nothing. Well, at least if he fell into va, he’d feel the heat. That was some small fort.

  He lifted his head slightly, visualizing the terrain he’d memorized beforehand. There were streams of va along the track, some ses requiring him to leap across gaps. If he jumped too short, he'd fall in.

  He started to move. Every step felt aimless, direless. This time, even Kurogasa wouldn’t step in to correct his path. Ats would have to realize when he was heading the wrong way on his own.

  He had to finish this challeirely by himself. Twenty ps. Only then would he succeed.

  Right! If he couldn’t rely on his sehe only optio was the same as before—trial and error, enduring burns and excruciating pain.

  Ats started running, moving more easily than in his earlier attempts, despite the weight of the armor. By now, he had built enough endurao run for hours without feeling tired. However, the moment any part of his body touched the va, the searing pain would still be unbearable.

  Danger!

  He se—just as his right foot was about to nd. But it was too te. His momentum carried him forward, and his foot plunged into the va.

  ARGHHHH!

  ARGHHHH!

  Ats roared in pain, pulling his body bad colpsing onto the ground. The scream ripped from his throat, eg across the area—or so he thought. From his perspective, it vanished into the void of silence created by the helmet.

  Iy, Kurogasa, Lyrassa, and Edrik were standing not far away, watg him ily.

  Ats writhed on the ground, clutg his leg as the blisteriore through him. It was as though the pain pierced straight to his bohreatening to crush them, sending waves of agony through his entire body.

  He e. He forced himself to E!

  Fog his breathing, he worked tain trol of his mind, f himself to calm down ahe pain gradually fade.

  Moments ter, he stood up again, steadying himself. Step by step, he searched for the edge of the molten stream. He had to cross it. He had to jump to the other side.

  Ats inhaled sharply, trying to calm himself, suppressing every ounce of fear swirling within him.

  This wasn’t the first time he’d been burned by va!

  With that thought, he jumped, his body surging forward despite the weight of the armor.

  A—

  He missed.

  Both feet plunged into the molten river, searing agony shooting through his legs.

  Ats immediately scrambled to the edge, pulling himself out of the va and colpsing onto the ground. His body trembled untrolbly, s down his face. The pain was unbearable, threatening to push him into unsciousness.

  He couldn’t take it!

  He had to stop this madness!

  Why?!

  Why did he have to put himself through such grueling, torturous training?

  He had Elite Subordinates, didn’t he? Warriors strong enough to fight on the frontlines, while he could stay at the back, giving ands.

  Wouldn’t that be easier?!

  After all, he’d only ever had one bat talent. He wasn’t born a fighter! Why was he f himself this hard?!

  Did he really think he could catch up to someone like Kareem? That he could bee as strong as a man who had trained and fought for decades—probably 60 years or more?

  And him? He was just 22 years old, f out loud! Why torture himself to this extent just to grow stronger?

  Ats screamed, his voice raw with pain, as he smmed his fists into the ground, trying to distract himself from the agony c through his body.

  Minutes passed, but the pain didn’t let up.

  HELL NO! HELL NO! HELL NO!

  He roared at himself, f his resolve to surfabsp;

  I didn’t e this far just to stop now! This is still the early phase! I haven’t grown stro all yet!

  With sheer willpower, Ats pushed himself to his feet again and started running. His legs felt like they were on fire—literally—but he didn’t stop. He kept going until, once again, his body betrayed him.

  He missed the jump.

  And once again, his feet plunged into the va.

  The unbearable pain ed him, but he gritted his teeth, enduring it. Every part of him screamed to stop, to give up.

  There was no way this ossible!

  No way anyone could aplish this!

  What was even the purpose of running without any senses? How could someone possibly "feel" their surroundings without traditional senses?

  Ats ched his fists in frustration.

  How the hell am I supposed to do this? What kind of cept do I o use? Kurogasa hasn’t given me a single clue!

  [Your stitution has increased by 1 point.]

  Were they just trying to torture him with this training? No. This was his own choice. Ats had chosen the most grueling training menu, one desigo push him to his absolute limits and frowth.

  Wait… absolute limit? f growth?

  That’s right. He would only grow whe his breaking point—when there seemed to be no way out. It was in those moments of plete hopelesshat breakthroughs would e.

  And where was he now? He was just enduring the pain of being burned by va, over and ain—a pain he’d already faced tless times before. He could still keep going.

  By midday, Ats still hadn’t mao plete even his first p.

  When the break for lunch arrived, none of his troops stopped to eat. They, too, kept training harder than ever.

  Watg their Lord step willingly into what looked like Hell itself made their own suffering feel lighter. Inspired by his resolve, they pushed themselves even further.

  “Hey, everyone, is the food bad?” the male cook asked nervously. “Please tell me. If it is, we’ll remake everything from scratch.”

  The female cook, panig, only to drop a pot onto the ground in her rush. The loud ctter drew the attention of nearby troops.

  “The food is fihe female cook said.

  The two cooks exged a sigh before curiosity got the better of them. They, too, wandered over to see exactly what kind of hellish training their Lord utting himself through.

  By te afternoon, as the sun began to sink toward the horizon, Ats was still nowhere near pleting a single p. He wandered aimlessly, his sense of dire pletely lost, plunging into the va over and ain and enduring the uing agony that followed.

  Now, he y sprawled on the ground, his body feeling utterly destroyed. Exhaustion gripped him, and his sciousness began to waver. In this void where none of his senses worked, it was as though he was teetering on the edge of passing out entirely.

  He didn’t even know how long he had been enduring this torment or hos he might have pleted. Time had dissolved into a blur of pain and effort.

  As his eyes began to flutter closed, a faint glimmer caught his attention—a single, floating dot of light h near him.

  Wait, what is that? he thought sluggishly, f his hazy mind to focus.

  The dot was a soft reddish-e, faint and delicate.

  Half-scious, Ats straio look around him. To his surprise, more faint lights began to appear in the area surrounding him.

  Soft e, deep brown, pale blue—more and more faint dots of light emerged, scattered around him.

  What is that?!