Lucian stared in absolute horror. Right in front of him, hovering ominously over the flowing river of magma, was a massive, swelling bubble of liquid lava. It was towering at roughly 6.8 feet — almost the height of a tall, imposing human.

[you meatbag, run and take cover right now unless you want your skin to literally melt off your bones! It’s going to blow!]

Lucian frantically whipped his head around, pure panic scrambling his thoughts. He couldn’t find a single safe spot to hide. Well there was none.

Adrenaline flooded his body, spiking to its absolute peak. In that split second of life-or-death terror, all the agonizing muscle pain and exhaustion from yesterday’s torture completely vanished from his mind.

Suddenly, a desperate idea flashed in his head. Without hesitating, he thrust both his hands forward, aiming directly at the swelling monstrosity.

"Come on... please work!" he roared through gritted teeth.

Fierce torrents of water erupted from his palms. The water shot forward, rapidly forming thick, protective walls of moisture on both the left and right sides of the lava bubble, attempting to trap it.

[Mana Depletion: 766 → 760 → 754...]

He was recklessly pouring out massive amounts of water, trying to use the dense walls to physically compress the bubble. The intense clash of extreme heat and freezing water created blinding, hissing clouds of steam.

Slowly but surely, the immense pressure of the water walls began to work. The giant lava bubble started to shrink.

Within a few agonizing minutes, the threat had been compressed down to the size of a harmless, ordinary ball.

Pop.

It burst with a pathetic sizzle. No explosion. Zero damage.

Completely drained of energy, Lucian dropped his hands and slumped forward, resting his palms heavily on his knees.

Huff... huff... huff...

[Low-Tier Heat Resistance Unlocked.]

"What? That’s it?" he groaned.

"As if this hellish training wasn’t brutal enough, now I have to deal with these random explosive hazards too...?"

[You should be on your knees thanking me that you are even alive. If I hadn’t woken you up at the exact right second, your death would have been excruciatingly painful...]

"Dammit! Just shut up and give me a bottle of water..."

Lucian downed the water in seconds. He sat slumped on the black floor for a brief moment, letting his racing heart slow down. Then, forcing himself back to his feet, he gripped the hammer and resumed his torment.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Days began to blur together in the blink of an eye... eating, drinking, the endless, maddening echoes of the hammer, and collapsing into exhausted sleep. That was his entire existence now.

[Day 20: Hour 346]

The physical changes in Lucian’s body were becoming starkly visible. His muscles were growing far more defined and incredibly dense, his entire physique radiating a faint, powerful glow from within.

[Day 50: Hour 900]

The profound, crushing isolation had made him highly irritable. Now, even a minor notification ping from the System was enough to drive him insane with annoyance.

[Day 60: Hour 1,080]

In the dead silence of his resting period, his skin would become unbearably dry and cracked from the blistering heat. In the night he would wake up like a zombie, dump cold water over his entire body, and instantly fall back into a deep, dreamless slumber without a single thought.

[Day 100: Hour 1,792]

"Come on, Sera... and Elira... why can’t you two just drop this stupid rivalry?" he mumbled tiredly to the empty air, striking the anvil.

"I can’t tell you guys the truth... but if you don’t stay by my side, I’m going to get killed by some damn fate correction..." To fend off the creeping insanity of absolute solitude, Lucian had resorted to talking to himself.

Terrified of falling into the dark pit of mental breakdown, he tried his hardest to keep his mind active and vocal.

[Day 200: Hour 3,650]

Lucian’s pants and shoes had completely disintegrated into charred, torn rags. Now, wearing absolutely nothing but his underwear, he continued to relentlessly swing that colossal hammer. He had grown a thick, untamed beard, and his hair was a wild, disheveled mess.

But who gave a damn about appearances in here?

he was not even halfway yet.

[Day 375: Hour 6,750]

Over a full year had passed, and Lucian had completely assimilated into this hellish environment. The blistering heat was no longer an issue; his body had adapted perfectly. The colossal hammer, which once felt impossibly heavy, now felt as light as a tuft of cotton in his hands.

Even a casual swing just to wipe the sweat from his brow generated a terrifying, whip-like shockwave that echoed through the cavern like a thunderous slap.

[Day 557: Hour 9,999]

Only one hour left. Maybe just a few minutes.

The colossal cavern was completely unrecognizable now. It had been brutally pulverized from all sides, heavily fractured by the sheer, devastating shockwaves of Lucian’s relentless hammer strikes. With every single swing he made, loose rubble and stones cascaded down from the cracking walls.

The intricate rock formation on the ceiling had long since collapsed, leaving a massive, gaping hole that finally revealed the pristine, clear sky above.

Lucian’s focus had reached a terrifying state of hyper-concentration. His dead, glowing eyes were locked onto a single, microscopic spot on the anvil. If he truly wanted to, he could probably split the entire remaining cavern in half right now just from the compressed air pressure of a single swing.

His physique had undergone a monstrous evolution. He was noticeably taller, built with incredibly dense, lean muscle. Every deep cut and fiber of his body glistened with sweat, radiating a powerful, overwhelming aura. The frail, pale, 2nd-Stage Lucian was dead and buried.

This was the true awakening of a completely new being.

CLANG!

[10,000-Hour Mission Completed.]

Ding! Ding!

Completely ignoring the flurry of ringing System messages, Lucian raised his arms high and brought down one final, apocalyptic swing onto the anvil.

The very second the metal made contact, there was a deafening, sickening crunch.

The ’indestructible’ colossal hammer instantly shattered into a million pieces, crumbling away into fine, gray dust right through his fingers.

And that anvil also split into two pieces, and a strange light burst out from between them...

Lucian leaned down and looked...

"Now what is this?"

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

The System’s notifications were now coming in so rapidly, almost as if they wanted to grab Lucian’s attention...