Rui was almost confused. The initial wave bounced back from him like a beach ball against a steel wall.
It couldn't be helped, he was twenty-four now, and his brain had almost finished the entirety of the growth to adulthood. The fortitude of his mind truly spiked past ordinary limits, every parameter of his mind was far beyond what someone his age could have possibly been capable of.
In fact, when he looked around, he had noticed that there were only grade-ten Martial Squires left, that too the older and more experienced ones.
He was by far the youngest one there, the youngest after him seemed to be a woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
Soon enough, the initial wave eliminated the weakest of Martial Squires. It became clear to them and everybody else that they were not of the same caliber of Martial Squires as those standing, and were promptly removed from the battle arena.
"So many simply from the initial wave, how disappointing," The man snorted contemptuously. "Is that all the Martial Squires of this generation have? Hm?"
He directed the question towards those remaining. "It may very well be the case that we may have to skip a round or there won't even be eight Martial Squires left by the time the third round ends."
('He's trying to get onto everybody's nerves…?') Rui wondered with an amused expression.
Regardless of what he said, it was clear that such a degree of pressure was not enough to take them down.
"All of you seem confident about overcoming the initial wave…" The man remarked with an amused expression. "Let us see if you can maintain that attitude."
Many stumbled as the pressure began escalating even more. The sheer amount of mental force that he was exerting had far exceeded that of baseline Senior-level pressure. Not even the Kaddar Martial Squires had exerted such pressure on Rui even at their peak.
Many of them began sweating profusely.
They gritted their teeth.
They clenched their fists.
They pushed against the land beneath them as they felt chains emerging from the ground, wrapping around them, threatening to drag them to the depths of the underworld.
The clouds darkened growing thick and dense as they descended from the skies, overlapping the very world, threatening to consume those that resisted!
Of course, this did not happen, at least, not in the real world.
That didn't mean their perception was as unperturbed as material reality was.
"...Urgh!"
"…Dammit!"
THUD!
They collapsed to the ground one by one.
They resisted.
They fought back.
Yet most failed, collapsing to the ground with expressions of frustration.
It was not a pleasant sight.
Yet in the middle of what ought to have been a profound tribulation, there were some who were looked out of place.
Rui simply stood there, feeling awkward.
He felt like he should at least pretend to be pressured, if not for no other reason than not to offend the Martial Master. It wouldn't make do for him to make a powerful enemy who thought he was insulting him by making a mockery of his challenge.
He glanced around, trying to get a gauge of what the average Martial Squire looked like, yet he did spot some anomalies.
He even recognized a few of them.
The old lady that he had spotted in the dining hall was also unperturbed. He had felt that she was strong back then but he now realized that she was even more formidable than he gave her credit for.
There were a few others that were fine even after the extensive boost in pressure exerted by the man.
"Hm…" The man hummed as he saw that even the added pressure stopped knocking down any more contestants.
The Martial Squires simply silently endured the pressure, yet the same could not be said for the huge crowds of spectators.
Many of them cheered for the standing Martial Squires. It appeared that they had been fed potions that gave them enough of the fortitude needed to endure the pressure without mentally collapsing, allowing them to feel the nervous tension and the sheer thrill of the perilous fear that the Martial Master evoked in them.
"WOOOOOO!"
"This shit is lit!!!"
"Is that the best you got, old man?!"
Of course, certain spectators were removed because of their disrespect to a vaunted figure of the Theocracy.
Nonetheless, it was in sharp contrast to the incredibly resilient Martial Squires who bore the tribulation silently.
"It seems I've underestimated all of you…" The Martial Master spoke.
His tone was severe.
His eyes narrowed.
A sadistic smile spread on his face.
Something was off.
They could all sense it.
"…But were you under the impression that the challenge had actually begun?" The man asked with the most innocent voice.
Their eyes widened.
A chill crawled up all their spines.
The man's arms and hands began moving.
It was a simple movement, smooth and slow.
They watched silently.
Their expressions grew vacant.
Their attention lulled.
"Psychic Calamity Style…" The man murmured, indicating the arrival of the actual challenge.
Two words escaped his mouth.
"Heavenly Pathos."
The man clapped as a strange flash of light spread across the colosseum for a brief moment.
Opaque barriers momentarily appeared in front of the spectator stands, isolating them from the scope of the powerful technique.
The contestants froze.
Their pupils dilated.
THUD
They all collapsed one by one.
Silence spread across the colosseum.
The spectators were stunned speechless.
"…What happened?"
"Why did they all collapse?"
"…Are they all dead?"
"Don't be stupid! He would never kill them!"
"They are not dead, obviously," The Martial Master clarified to the spectators. "The Heavenly Pathos technique is a powerful mental technique that has a wide area of effect, and a large scope. The technique hypnotizes the targets and causes a hallucination that allows them to live their greatest dreams, paradises, and ideal lives. Only those with powerful fortitude can break out of it. It is a Master-level technique, but I have reduced its intensity so that the Martial Squires have a faint possibility of overcoming this challenge most likely starting from within the next hour."
He glanced back at the unconscious contestants. "The first two hundred contestants that break out of the illusion and wake up will pass through to the next round."
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