"It's him? How can that be possible?!"
The participants watched in stunned silence, their eyes widening and mouths agape as Valerius achieved what many believed was impossible. They knew Valerius as the most unremarkable youth in their community, but he had surpassed all the expectations they had about him to become the first to reach the outer circle in the ceremony, awakening his first spirit vein.
For a moment, they couldn't believe it.
"The trash of the Khaleji, he is..."
The eyes of every single person present in the ceremony site opened so wide that it seemed as if their eyes would burst from their sockets and their jaws dropped so low it appeared they would dislodge and fall down to shatter the very ground beneath them as they laid witness to something even more shocking.
"... He is going ahead?"
Valerius was seen running towards the inner circle, inducing shock in the crowd.
By this point, it was common knowledge that the further you go in the trial, the harder the pressure you'll face.
The journey towards the inner circle should be twice, maybe thrice as hard as the journey towards the outer circle.
There was no way one could simply speed-run it, right?
That was what everyone believed.
But now, a play that contradicted their beliefs was playing out.
For a moment, they were trapped in a limbo of disbelief, unable to escape it.
A moment later, murmurs of disbelief began to spread like wildfire throughout the ceremony site.
"I can't believe it! He's going for the inner circle!"
"He was barely standing at the start! How is he pulling this off?! Did he take some secret drug?"
As the situation unfolded, the eccentric Aric and the old man Kendrick, also known as the Thousand Faces, observed with keen interest.
"Had he been training in secret and hiding his strength all this time, playing the pig to eat the tiger?" Aric remarked, his voice laced with amusement as his eyes twinkled with intrigue. His expression was one of fascination, characteristic of his eccentric nature.
"He wasn't pretending," Old Man Kendrick responded, his tone steady. "At the start, he could barely withstand the pressure."
"Then how do you explain what he is doing now?" Aric questioned, his curiosity piqued.
Old Man Kendrick stroked his fake beard that he had glued on his face to look his age. As he stroked his beard, he looked more thoughtful than ever. After pondering for a few moments, his eyes lit up, and his eyebrows raised in realization. He turned towards his disciple and, in a somewhat excited tone, said, "This young man... He might possess a spiritual physique."
Hearing his words, Aric's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his eyes gleamed with realization.
"That might very well be the case," he said, the tone of his voice reflecting his excitement.
In the world of Serphendale, aside from the arcane heart and special bloodline organs, people could also be born with unique physiques.
However, the appearance of these individuals with special physiques was rare.
There were nine divine spiritual physiques and an uncategorized number of extraordinary spiritual physiques. Each spiritual physique was unique and divided into different ranks, with the divine spiritual physiques being at the very top.
The intriguing aspect of these spiritual physiques was that they all shared one similarity.
Adaptability to soul radiation.
Soul radiation refers to the emission of a significant amount of a wizard's soul power, which can influence both the environment and people around them. This powerful force tends to pressure others into submission, creating a challenging and oppressive atmosphere. When someone is able to adapt to this soul radiation, it results in a reduction of the pressure they experience, allowing them to operate more freely and effectively within the affected area.
But honestly, adaption to soul radiation was only possible for spiritual physiques, and the rate of Adaptability determined the grade and quality of a spiritual physique.
In the eyes of Aric and Kendrick, Valerius, having adapted to the intense soul radiation in the area between the outer and inner circles, meant he had a spiritual physique.
Considering how swiftly he had done it, they were led to believe that Valerius might possess one of the nine divine physiques.
Consequently, they felt as if they had stumbled upon the treasure they had been looking for. They exchanged joyful glances, their eyes brimming with excitement and joy.
"We have found the Limitless, but he is a descendant of the Khaleji. Poaching him won't be easy. Our task has just gotten harder," said Aric with a heavy heart.
It seemed like Aric and Old Man Kendrick were on a quest. Their task was to bring the Limitless under their wing. Aric believed that Valerius might be this Limitless person they were looking for under the order of a certain someone from the Central Wizard Academy. And as Valerius was a descendant of the Khaleji, their task has become significantly more challenging. After all, poaching talent from the Khaleji was known to be difficult almost impossible, as they were protective of their own.
Aric had one fault; he was impatient and tended to jump to conclusions too quickly. This was something Old Man Kendrick was aware of.
"Aric, you have one fault. You are impatient and come to conclusions too quickly," Old Man Kendrick said, emphasizing his point with a stern yet concerned tone. At the same time, he knew he had to do something to improve his character or else there would never come a day when Aric would observe and analyze situations more thoroughly before making decisions.
"You don't think it's him?" Aric raised an eyebrow, questioning Kendrick's doubts.
"While he has indeed shown signs of possessing a divine spiritual physique, what are the chances it is the Limitless?" Kendrick said calmly, trying to instill a sense of patience in his disciple.
Aric knew the answer.
The chances were non-existent.
It all depended on fate and luck.
"Even if Valerius wasn't the Limitless, he is still a talent worth recruiting. The potential he has shown is too great to ignore," Aric said.
"My dear disciple, we only have one recommendation letter, and it's for the Limitless only," the old man said.
*****
Like a dragon pretending to be a worm, only to soar when it counts. At the moment, that was the perfect way to describe Valerous. At least, the onlookers thought so.
"He was just feigning weakness all along! I am screwed!"
Watching Valerius go further and further away, Elrik felt as if he had been played. A terrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. And his heart sank.
He had reached the outer circle a mere five minutes after Valerius. However, this journey had taken its toll on his body, and he felt like he would collapse at any moment.
In other words, he couldn't go on any longer. At least that was what his body, which was on the brink of collapse, was telling him.
"If I give up here, I will be doomed."
Thoughts of the humiliation he would have to endure if Valerius ended the ceremony at the inner circle and he at the outer circle filled his mind.
These thoughts filled him with resentment and determination, the emotions he much needed to move forward with renewed vigor.
Thud!
But like a car that has run out of gas his march forward stopped after a while, and he collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold, his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"Did he think he was a protagonist?" Benjamin scoffed, glancing at Elrik's collapsed figure.
Benjamin was second in the ceremony after Valerius. He was on his way to the second circle and didn't appear exhausted. It seemed like he would be able to get there!
He raised his head and saw that a lone figure was already ten feet away from his ultimate goal of the day.
"That guy is full of surprises," he said under his breath.
The lone figure was Valerius.
The inner circle was extremely close to him.
However, his stamina was close to running out.
So what did he do?
He put the last remaining stat point he had into his stamina.
His stamina increased by 1, giving him the much-needed energy to reach it.
Three things happened then.
Firstly, his level 2 spirit vein awakened. Now, his soul power capacity had increased to 20 points!
Secondly, he completed another task of his second ongoing quest, gaining 2 stat points.
Lastly, he attracted the attention of the very person he had been hoping to meet.