The room was just a little bit smaller than the tent Mikhail had grown accustomed to over the past two weeks.
On the floor, he watched as the silver tendril connected to dormant gray lines on the floor, giving them a spark of energy that made the entire inscription light up at once.
The central ring stood alone at the center of the room's floor, but vine-like offshoots revealed seven smaller rings all over the floor.
Yet the inscription didn't stop there.
Three circles towards the center of the back, left, and right walls had offshoots that climbed the wall to the ceiling, where he saw a second formation that mirrored the one on the ground.
"Everyone, ready up!"
The shout resounded throughout the four corridors. And like that, the hall filled with adolescents and young adults began to stir.
Mikhail didn't need an explanation to understand that was his cue to enter the formation's central ring. He walked over and then turned around once he had done so, now facing the door.
He and Myles ended up gazing at each other as a result. The man simply nodded his head, acknowledging Mikhail's presence. And Mikhail returned the nod of acknowledgement.
"Alright, I'm going to begin powering the Muscle Refinement Rooms! Brace yourselves, and good luck!"
Mikhail expected the doors to close, giving everyone privacy, yet they didn't. Instead, he watched as the silver lines outside became a dark crimson, radiating an almost sinister soft red light. A sense of trepidation filled him as he watched the color slowly creep towards the inscription under his feet.
And then, it connected to the main ring. It immediately flashed with the soft red light, yet it was the only part of the inscription that did so.
Immediately, Mikhail felt a difference.
His muscles felt as though he had just begun to do a light jog. It was a jarring and confusion inducing sensation. Although he was perfectly still, he felt his muscles getting stressed. Despite his desire to look down at himself, he remained still.
He hadn't forgotten that maintaining a perfect posture was imperative for the process to yield the best results. He lost track of time as he immersed himself in the strange sensation. Yet a slightly brighter shade of crimson began to creep through the inscriptions on the ground outside, and with it a slightly harsher red light.
When it reached the inscription beneath his feet, the central circle and one of the offshoots flashed with the slightly brighter crimson.
Now, Mikhail felt as though he was doing a casual sprint. He felt his muscles beginning to grow warmer. This was nothing to him. It was so negligible that Mikhail's mind began to wonder about how this whole inscription thing worked…
Time passed.
Every so often, the stress he felt on his muscles would increase. The last circle on the floor had just lit up. And now, the lines on the ground were a proper crimson, radiating a vibrant red light.
He was finally starting to feel the effects of the inscriptions. His muscles felt like they were beginning to burn from the stress. And yet, his focus still didn't waver. This was nothing in comparison to the awful pain he had felt for three months straight.
Across the hall, he could see the man's neutral expression become a smirk as their gazes crossed paths once again.
More time passed.
Mikhail's muscles felt like they were on fire now! The fifth offshoot ring of the ceiling's inscriptions was lit. The crimson lines had become even brighter. The harsh light having grown even harsher. Mikhail's skin was covered in sweat, and his expression had become a light frown.
Although this was tough, he had been through tougher!
Even more time passed...
The seconds seemed to draw on forever as Mikhail's muscles began to sting with pain. There was only one ring that had yet to light up with the intense red light and bright red color.
It was the central one on the ceiling.
Mikhail's focus was almost entirely on the stinging pain all over his body. His face had become a scowl. He had no idea how long he had been at this level, but it seemed like a forever ago by now.
Yet his focus was suddenly drawn to the ground as he saw the harshest and brightest red light yet. And it was creeping slowly along the floor.
Every instant that he watched the red line approach caused a faint mix of emotions to rise up within him. He felt a sense of dread and anxiety. Yet, he also felt a sense of determination and excitement.
'I can do this! I will do this! I must do this!'
He chanted to himself as the line creeped closer and closer to the inscription beneath his feet.
And then, with a flash, the room he was in was bathed in an intense red light. His skin, the walls, and even the floor seemed to be dyed in red. His eyes grew bloodshot and he clenched his teeth as he felt the muscles beneath his skin getting torn to shreds.
His gums began to bleed as he clenched his teeth tighter and tighter. Blood trickled out of the corners of his mouth as his expression seemed to become that of an intense and deranged fury.
The pain was on par with the pain he felt when his Spiritual Pressure pressed down on his body, and it was arguably even worse since the pressure didn't rip apart the fibers of muscle tissue.
'I MUST DO THIS! I MUST ENDURE! I MUST DO THIS! I MUST ENDURE! FUCK THIS HURTS!'
His thoughts grew messy the longer he endured. His vision was becoming blurry as he continued to hold out against the pain.
An unknown amount of time passed, and his body began to falter. His intense drive to endure kept him upright for a short while longer, but eventually…
Mikhail's body fell to the ground.