Malcorn stood beside Leon and Smith, his eyes fixed on the black currents devouring Adam's body. His voice came low, sharp as a blade:
— "Purity is not just a number… it is a trial that grinds everything down. Talent gives you a beginning, experience paves the road, but pain… pain alone carves the essence of mana into the blood. The purification of bloodlines is nothing but crushing, pressing, and expelling of impurities. Every second is hell compressed into the veins."
He continued, eyes following the glowing circle:
— "Reaching eighty percent marks one as gifted. Touching ninety makes a genius, born perhaps once in a century. But beyond that? Every step higher is like climbing a mountain with no summit."
Leon answered with icy calm:
— "That is why the higher the number climbs, the greater the toll it takes from soul and flesh alike."
Smith's voice carried no mercy:
— "But Adam… he has no choice but to endure. Mana spares no one."
---
Minutes dragged. The first, the second, the third… the hall became an open tomb, filled only with heavy breaths. Adam's skin flushed red, glowing as if his blood boiled beneath a layer of fire.
A spectator whispered, trembling:
— "He's lasted over five minutes…!"
Another gasped:
— "Five minutes? It's been half an hour!"
Malcorn crossed his arms, the gaze of an expert on his face:
— "He has no intention of stopping soon. At this pace, he might last an hour… or longer."
But Leon showed no reaction. His steady eyes spoke what his voice revealed only with killing coldness:
— "Three hours. That's what I see in his eyes."
The assistants swallowed hard as Adam's body blazed brighter, a mass of burning blood.
---
The hours passed: one… two… three. Each extra minute weighed heavier on the silence. Even the coldest awakeners parted their lips in disbelief as Adam surpassed four hours… then five.
Leon himself — the former record holder — remained silent, though inside he knew: what the boy had broken was not a number, but a declaration. A beginning of something beyond even his will.
Inside Adam's consciousness, the system echoed:
[Main Mission: Awakening Complete — Successful.]
[Reward: Bloodline Evolution → Unknown Blood.]
[Sub-Mission Unlocked: Mana Purity.]
[Condition: Reach 97% Purity.]
[Reward: Retain all bloodlines after evolution.]
Yet Adam did not stop. Even after success was declared, his body resisted. In the darkness, echoes of the first timeline seeped into his mind — the screams of the fallen, promises left unfinished, faces swallowed by death.
A faint smile crossed his inner self, and he whispered:
— "I won't let it happen again."
---
After five and a half hours, the glow finally faded. Adam collapsed to his knees, gasping like a man who had risen from the depths of the ocean.
Eyes froze upon him: some in disbelief, some in fear, others in awe they had never felt before.
Before anyone dared to speak, Leon turned to Smith with lethal cold:
— "Eliminate every spy."
Smith and his men moved silently. Leon's voice then rang for all to hear:
— "Nothing that happened here leaves these walls. If a single word escapes… I will brand you all as traitors."
A suffocating silence fell — broken only when Malcorn stepped forward:
— "Wait, Leon. We must know… what is this child's mana purity?"
Leon's eyes narrowed:
— "That is none of your concern."
Malcorn smirked slyly:
— "If you let me test him, I'll silence the room myself. I'll bury this secret. But if you refuse… don't blame me if tongues start to loosen."
Leon stared at him long and cold before answering:
— "Do it."
---
Malcorn approached, placing the device beside Adam. Numbers appeared… 0.00%.
Gasps erupted across the hall.
— "Impossible!"
— "The device is broken!"
They repeated the test once, twice, three times… six. Each time, the same result: absolute zero.
Adam lifted his head, voice weary but cutting:
— "Enough… I'm tired of these games."
He rose unsteadily, heading for the teleportation gate.
Before he could leave, Malcorn spoke again, tone serious this time:
— "Leon… the Central Continents are boiling. The noble houses are forming alliances. Do you truly think House Ivanhart can remain apart?"
Leon's reply was iron and ice:
— "House Ivanhart has never sullied itself with politics. That does not mean anyone dares test its boundaries. Those who doubt… may try for themselves."
Then, cutting him off:
— "But this is irrelevant."
He entered the gate with Adam.
---
Back at the mansion, no celebration awaited — only a heavy silence that blanketed the halls.
Adam climbed to his room alone, sat cross-legged, eyes closed.
Inside his body, bloodlines began to weave together, shifting like rivers awaiting revelation.
He whispered faintly:
— "Then… let's see what blood runs through me now."
And he opened his eyes onto the beginning of a new journey.