In the blink of an eye, Rose found herself in a new place.
The office was gone, replaced by a mountaintop with storm clouds gathering thickly overhead, as if ready to pour down rain at any moment.
In front of them, a large pit lay on the ground.
Rose looked at her father, Daniel, who quickly inscribed a magic array around the pit with his mind power.
As soon as the array was completed, the clouds above split open with a violent burst, and a silver bolt of lightning struck down heavily toward Daniel’s position!
Rose closed her eyes, but the feeling of being hit by lightning never came.
Opening her eyes, Rose saw the silver electric currents crackling within the pit in front of her.
Another bolt of lightning then struck down, and this time Rose watched clearly.
The massive lightning bolt seemed to be twisted by some strange force as it descended, pulling it directly into the pit.
More and more lightning bolts rained down from the sky, all converging into the pit, which now resembled a thunder pool—a reservoir of liquid-like lightning.
“Father, what is this place?” Rose asked.
“This place is known as the Land of Divine Punishment, one of the Dead Zones on the continent,” Daniel explained.
“Storm clouds constantly gather here, and lightning strikes down at regular intervals. No life can survive here, hence the name Dead Zone.”
Indeed, this place was called the Land of Divine Punishment because of its relentless lightning.
Every few minutes, bolts of lightning would strike the ground.
But it wasn’t just the frequency that earned it its reputation as a forbidden zone; the lightning here seemed to harbor a unique malice against life.
If any living being entered, the lightning would zero in on it, striking repeatedly without pause.
Even a tier-sage would struggle to withstand the barrage of lightning here, and so it became known as a Dead Zone.
The surrounding mountains were bare, scarred by the remnants of lightning strikes, with no signs of life.
Yet, since Daniel and Rose had arrived, the lightning seemed to be redirected into the pit.
As the lightning pooled to form the thunder pool, no more bolts struck from above.
Rose was puzzled—wasn’t this supposed to be a Dead Zone? Why didn’t it seem so dangerous?
Daniel pulled out a magical item and said,
“This is an artifact crafted by a master, capable of withstanding lightning.”
With that, he tossed the artifact toward the thunder pool.
Before it even reached the pool, a tiny arc of lightning from the edge instantly obliterated the artifact, leaving no trace behind.
The power of just a single arc was enough to destroy a master-crafted item—an unimaginable force.
“Rose, for the coming days, you’ll train here at the edge of the thunder pool, honing your finishing moves and…”
Daniel stepped closer to the thunder pool.
“Father, be careful!” Rose instinctively called out but quickly remembered that her father had created the thunder pool, so it surely couldn’t harm him.
Daniel smirked slightly, reaching his right hand into the thunder pool.
A tiny sapling began to rise slowly from the liquid lightning within.
“The power of lightning here is exceptionally strong. Lightning represents both destruction and rebirth, two sides of the same coin.”
With that, Daniel withdrew his hand, and the sapling slowly sank back into the pool.
This was rebirth from destruction. Even in the desolation of a Dead Zone, there was a glimmer of new life.
For any tier-master, this place was a dream, a direct path toward becoming a tier-sage.
“Stay here and train; the unique lightning here will have surprising benefits for your mind power growth.”
“Understood, Father. I’ll give it my all.”
“Good.”
With that, Daniel returned to his office. The students were still waiting there.
“Now, each of you, tell me—what do you want to strengthen during this special training?”
No one replied right away.
The students, once again, seemed shy and reserved in his presence, just as they had been at the beginning.
Seeing no one speaking, Daniel continued,
“As your headmaster, I must be responsible for you. If you’re unsure, let’s take another approach. What do you feel is missing in yourself that separates you from true power?”
“No need to mention mana stones; the academy will provide as many as you need. What else do you think you lack?”
After a pause, a student at the front spoke softly,
“Headmaster, I feel my spear is lacking. When facing spell beasts on the frontier, it was hard to handle.”
Daniel looked at him, immediately recalling his information.
“Reed, right? Your fundamentals are strong; just keep following your current path. As for the spear… head over to see Ms. Isolde later. There are related spells; mention I sent you.”
“Thank you, headmaster!” Reed replied excitedly, preparing to leave.
“Hold on,” Daniel stopped him. “That’s academy-provided gear; it doesn’t count as my promise to you. Anything else?”
Reed looked momentarily confused; he hadn’t considered he might ask for more.
Turning to the others, Daniel continued,
“You all should take a moment to think as well.”
After a brief silence, Reed spoke again,
“From a young age, I was fascinated by the powerful figures in books. After recent battles, I realized my combat experience is lacking. If I could face an opponent of equal level with rich battle experience…
“Headmaster, I want a sparring dummy at my level but with vast combat experience. I want to find out my limits!” Reed looked hopefully at Daniel. frёeωebɳovel.com
The other students looked curiously at their headmaster, wondering if he’d grant Reed’s unusual request.
“I see. Follow me,” Daniel replied, and with that, Reed vanished.
They arrived in a void—a place outside time and space, containing everything yet incomprehensible due to its vastness.
This was the center of the timeline, containing all information from the world’s beginning to the present.
Though Reed had countless questions about his surroundings, he remembered the headmaster’s words and stayed silent.
Daniel used his mind power to create an altar-like structure nearby, along with a large arena.
“Try it out. Stand on the altar,” Daniel instructed.
Without hesitation, Reed stepped onto the altar.
In the next instant, he nearly screamed!
He saw numerous figures appear in the vast arena—no ordinary people but tier-sages!
The closest figure, a giant sword wielder, was Eivorth, the dragon-slayer sage, who had slain a dragon a thousand years ago.
Beside him was the Earth Tier-Sage, the only one in centuries to master earth spells to reach tier-sage, reaching the peak of humanity’s affinity with the earth.
Reed recognized many of these faces from stories, yet here they were, right before his eyes.
He instinctively took a step back, leaving the altar, and the figures vanished.
“What’s wrong? Are you scared? Don’t you want to find your limits?”