In the safe zone, Adrian stood as dozens of white-grey knowledge spheres circled him like miniature worlds.
He gestured gently, and the spheres floated toward the Celestials.
For a long moment, the six veterans who had once carried humanity's burden simply stared.
They had heard of these spheres, but this was the first time they would use one.
Max chuckled, breaking the reverent quiet. "I guess I'm sitting this one out, huh?"
Adrian smiled faintly. "Only for now. I've yet to comprehend Water's truth."
Even Gary got one; only Max was left in this.
Max waved it off with an easy grin. "It's fine, boy. I've waited two thousand years, what's a little longer?"
The others chuckled lightly before reaching out.
One by one, they placed their hands upon the hovering spheres.
The instant they did, the spheres dissolved into them. Their minds flooded with knowledge of their concept, the flows, the structure of truths… all became clear in their thoughts.
Within seconds, the Celestials sat cross-legged in silent meditation, their essence flaring in gentle pulses.
Adrian watched closely.
He was curious how long it would take for them to ascend to Stellar.
Aurelia took more than a month; even his father did it in a few months. But the Celestials had millennia of combat experience, more than anyone Adrian knew. It was possible they could ascend faster.
...
Days passed within the safe zone.
Elliot was the first.
His fire domain spread from him, bright and fierce, he opened his eyes and grinned, "Finally."
Ilyas followed soon after, his ice domain blossoming.
Then came Gary, whose already-formed shadow domain deepened until it swallowed the light from the stars themselves.
A few days later, Orin's gravity domain rippled, bending space in slow, elegant folds.
And finally, Selric's space domain unfurled, infinite layers folding into each other until the very room seemed larger than before.
They stood together in silence.
They'd left Earth, spent thousands of years stuck at SSS-rank, then they were stuck in this structure and again spent more than two thousand years trapped at SSS-rank, unable to step into the Stellar stage.
Now, within mere days, they had stepped into Stellar, a step they thought would never come.
Selric stared at his hands, turning them over slowly.
Elliot wiped his eyes quickly, pretending it was sweat.
Orin was the first to break the silence. "Alright. I'm itching to test this domain."
"Of course you are," Selric sighed.
Gary chuckled. "Let's give him what he wants."
Moments later, they streaked into the trial zone, their new domains clashing playfully.
Fire and gravity tore through the void as laughter echoed across the fractured space.
Elliot hurled a blazing comet at Orin, who caught it mid-flight and crushed it into embers.
Ilyas froze a passing asteroid, and Selric folded space to drop it on Gary's head.
Gary dissolved into shadow, reappearing behind Selric with a grin.
"Missed."
"Did I?"
Their joy was infectious.
Adrian floated a little away from them, smiling faintly before turning inward.
He, too, was eager to test something.
...
Adrian drifted to a quieter corner.
He raised his hands.
The faint white-grey glow of his Source veins pulsed under his skin.
He cast a simple fireball, just to test the difference, and blinked in surprise.
The mana cost had halved.
He didn't exactly know if this was the same case when he was in Source Form; the transformation itself kept draining too much mana from him, but now he could see the difference.
Not only that, the casting felt faster.
The essence surged as though it had been waiting for his thought before he even finished it.
He tried again, this time an ice shard, then a gravity snare.
Every time, the reaction was the same, faster, smoother, more efficient.
The more he used them, the more he could feel it, as if his hands were learning to mimic Source Form.
He tried experimenting for some time.
Other than the skill cost, the only difference was that he could cast a spell much faster than before.
But this already gave Adrian a huge advantage.
Others could reach his spell-casting speed, but that would have taken them centuries of hard training, while Adrian could already do it with any concept he had.
And especially reduced mana cost meant longer sustainability.
If he could refine his combat mastery of every concept like he did for the Fire Concept, he could dominate even a veteran dual-essence Stellar without his Source Form.
Adrian clenched his fists, feeling the veins pulse beneath his skin.
The path forward was clear.
He needed to train. Not just comprehend, but master.
Every concept, every domain, refined until they moved like extensions of his will.
...
He returned to the Celestials, who had finished testing their domains and were gathered around, their expressions a mix of exhilaration and disbelief.
Each of them stared at identical golden holograms floating before them.
› Requirements Met. Exit Permitted.
Everyone except Gary and Max.
"Figures," Max said, laughing. "I'm always last."
Gary shrugged. "At least you'll have company."
Selric clapped Max on the shoulder. "We'll help you both clear it. Won't take long with all of us working together."
They exchanged looks, but everyone was smiling.
With their powers now, it was easy to help Gary and Max clear this level.
And for now, no one even wanted to go out. They just wanted to train for some time, and then help Max and Gary to clear the level before they exited this structure.
Orin cracked his knuckles. "I've waited two thousand years. A few more years won't kill me."
Ilyas nodded. "Besides, I want to see what I can really do with this domain."
Elliot grinned. "Then let's make it count."
...
Five years passed inside the structure.
The Celestials refined their domains, mastering control over them.
Max trained relentlessly alongside them, refining his SSS-rank techniques until they rivaled those of veteran SSS-ranks.
When Gary and Max finally completed their trials, they returned to the safe zone with tired grins.
"Finally." Max stretched his arms wide. "Two thousand years, five years, or five minutes, doesn't matter. It's done."
Gary chuckled. "Feels good to finally be free."
The others smiled, already talking about the galaxy waiting beyond, about Earth, about the Origin Clan.
Selric turned to Adrian. "What about you?"
They had already decided to exit this structure.
Staying here and trying the higher levels could improve them, but they wanted to return for now after the things they went through all these years.
And this structure could be reentered, so it wasn't like they were going to lose anything.
Adrian said softly. "My trial isn't done."
They didn't worry much, since they knew Adrian was capable of completing the higher levels.
Gary nodded. "We'll wait for you outside."
"Don't take too long," Orin added with a grin.
One by one, the Celestials raised their hands and confirmed the exit.
› Confirm Exit.
Adrian saw everyone getting teleported. The Celestials could finally get some rest, and now it was time for his training.
He turned back toward the dark horizon of the third level.
He had time, and inside this place, time was his greatest weapon.
He still had training left, combat mastery in all five advanced concepts.
And so the years passed.
...
Thirty-five years passed within the structure, barely more than two days outside.
In that time, Adrian fought relentlessly, his combat style evolving.
Adrian not just tried to master individual element's mastery, He also learned to chain his concepts together, weaving them into seamless combinations.
At one fight, he froze an entire cluster of essence beasts, pulled them together with gravity, then ignited them into white fire, shattering hundreds in a single motion.
Another time, he folded space around a swarm, compressed them with gravity until they couldn't move, then let shadow essence devour them from within.
His movements became fluid, efficient, wasteful motions slowly stripped away.
His mana expenditure dropped further.
For thirty-five years, he perfected himself.
At this point, he felt it, if he faced the Demon Lord Kraxis now, he could kill him without even using his Source Form.
But still, it could not be as easy as it was in his Source Form. Even with all the mastery he got now, it wasn't like the enemy lacked it. But still, with the experience Adrian got now, and also with his Source veins, he could dominate and kill Kraxis faster.
He stood on a floating shard of rock, his hands glowed faintly with white-grey light, the Source veins pulsing beneath his skin.
And then—
A golden hologram appeared before him.
› Kill Count: 101,052 / 100,000
› Level Three Cleared.
› Candidate Adrian… parameters exceeded.
› The fourth trial is irrelevant to your progression.
› Advancement protocol engaged. Proceed to the Fifth Trial.
Adrian blinked, murmuring to himself, "Irrelevant?"
The hologram shifted to show the details briefly.
› Level Four: Kill Quota – 500,000 Essence Beasts. No new phenomenon zones.
"So it's just more of the same…" Adrian sighed. "Then let's see what's next."
He dismissed the hologram with a flick of his hand.
› Teleporting Candidate to Fifth Trial.
The void warped around him, and Adrian vanished.