Chương 27: The Apothecary and the Berserk Bear

Simon was an anomaly. He had absolutely zero interest in family feuds, combat power rankings, or breaking records. In the eyes of the entire school, he was nothing but a pure, unadulterated pharmacology maniac willing to stay awake for three days straight just for experimental data.

"Please hurry up, Mr. Examiner. The [Toxic Agaric Extract] in my mentor's lab reaches its overheating critical point in ten minutes. I need to get back and mix the coolant," Simon urged impatiently, checking the mechanical watch on his wrist. Accompanied by a low hum, the dummy finished writhing and shedding its scorched skin, returning to its original state. Simon didn't even bother taking a combat stance. He casually traced an impeccably precise, flawless mana trajectory in mid-air.

"[Heavy Water Impact]." The movement was clean and efficient. There was no excess mana leakage, nor were there any flashy sound or light effects. A highly compressed, deep blue sphere of water slammed into the dummy's chest exactly like a heavy, solid cannonball. [Comprehensive Rating: 920 Points.]"That is your first score, you still have two—" the examiner began dutifully.

"No need, no need. Just record this score. Hitting it two more times won't break 950 anyway, it's a pure waste of time." Simon didn't even wait for the examiner to finish. Frantically recording the water-element dissipation data from the dummy's impact on his datapad, he dashed off the martial stage like a gust of wind, heading straight for the laboratory building without looking back. The teachers and students didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But watching Simon's retreating back, Rowan offered an exceedingly professional evaluation in his mind: A perfectly standard water-element circuit. The operation of the source runes was incredibly smooth. But his casting is far too rigid, exactly like a robot inputting commands. His force generation is entirely inflexible. Still, to ordinary people, this is basically a living textbook on water-element magic...

"Rad!"

"Damn right, it's finally my turn to teach these Consortium princes a lesson!" Rad rolled his thick neck, his dark-gold bones emitting a series of spine-chilling, continuous pops. Taking massive strides toward the martial stage, his heavy footsteps made the stairs groan under the weight.

Looking at this hulking man from the underhive—wearing a tattered mechanic's tank top and covered in hideous scars and crude magitech cybernetics—a few Consortium scions in the front row openly furrowed their brows, disgustedly covering their noses with handkerchiefs.

"How many hits is this machine supposed to withstand again?" a wealthy heir mocked in a low voice.

"Don't let a barbarian like this dirty the equipment." Rad heard the mockery, but he didn't argue. His response consisted only of absolute, unadulterated violence. He didn't cast any spells, nor did he draw a weapon. Like a wild, ferocious beast, he stood before the newly repaired dummy and took a deep breath. The berserk vitality in his body, mixed with the dark-gold shimmer of the Heavy Metal Body Refinement Art, surged into his heavy mechanical right arm like a breached dam.

"First punch!" Rad unleashed a roar. His waist pivoted violently, driving the heavy metal arm through the air with a shrill, tearing whistle. He slammed a devastating hook straight into the dummy. BANG! [945 Points!]"Again!" Rad didn't pause. He didn't give a damn about elegance or composure. The exhaust vents on the back of his magitech arm spewed a blast of scalding, high-pressure white steam, and the shriek of gears entering extreme overload echoed across the arena.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. BANG! [1010 Points!] A wave of intense murmurs swept through the crowd.

"Is he a Tier 1 Martial Artist?!"

"When the hell did he break through?!"

"Who is this guy?!"....... Someone with absolutely zero expensive armor assistance had forcefully shattered the 1000-point barrier using pure flesh and a magitech prosthetic! But that wasn't enough. This berserk bear that had crawled out from the depths of the underhive was far from satisfied. Rad's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Like a runaway heavy armored vehicle, his entire body launched high into the air. The mana-conductive wires on his right arm glowed a blinding yellow from extreme overload.

"Shatter for me!!" Coming down from above, he smashed his fist viciously onto the top of the dummy's head! BOOM— CRACK! Amidst a deafening crash, the dummy—weighing several tons—was actually forced into a violent backward tilt by this unreasonable, pure violence. The securing bolts on its base groaned in agony. The numbers on the giant screen spun frantically like they had lost their minds, finally locking dead! [Comprehensive Rating: 1045 Points!] The arena was dead silent for one second.

Then, the section housing the commoner students erupted into deafening, roof-lifting, fanatic cheers! It was the sheer madness of the underclass witnessing one of their own shattering the wall of social class! Standing on the stage, Rad gasped heavily for air, sweat pouring down his face like a waterfall. The magitech prosthetic that had borne the brunt of the force was still venting wisps of superheated waste steam, looking as if it could short-circuit and break down at any moment.

Yet, he raised his head with absolute arrogance and shot a vicious middle finger straight at the Consortium scion who had covered his nose earlier. Then, he turned around, dragged his heavy footsteps down the stairs, and stopped in front of Rowan. Thud. Without any politeness, Rad punched Rowan's shoulder hard with his scalding metal arm, flashing a wildly uninhibited grin.

"Done and dusted. I just peeked at the list. You're up next. From here on out... it's all on you." He stared into Rowan's eyes hidden in the shadows, lowering his voice.

"You're the valedictorian who crawled out of the underhive with me. Don't go pissing your pants in the martial exam." Rowan lightly brushed the dust Rad had rubbed onto his shoulder. The corner of his mouth finally curled into an undisguised, faint smirk.

"Next!" Because of the consecutive high scores, the examiner's voice now carried a trace of excitement. Looking at the electronic roster in his hand, he called out:"Rowan!" In that instant, the gazes of hundreds of people in the arena converged upon him simultaneously like searchlights. To the seniors of West Point High, this name was not unfamiliar.

Three years ago, it was this very commoner—who had crawled out of the underhive sewers—who crushed Julian Sterling with an absolutely perverted score in the Unified Entrance Exam, taking first place. It was just a pity that in a world like Terra, where resources were utterly monopolized, a poor man's talent was the most worthless thing in existence. Without money for alchemical potions or magitech armor, this former genius had completely faded into obscurity over his three years of high school.

Under these varying gazes—the reignited expectations of the commoner students inspired by Rad, Julian's icy indifference as if looking at a corpse, and Cecilia's profoundly hidden scrutiny... Rowan slowly raised his hands and pulled back the hood that had been covering most of his face. He didn't have Rad's exaggerated muscles or roaring presence, nor did he possess Julian's dazzling armor or commanding aura.

He merely took incredibly steady steps—the steps of a man who had measured the distance between life and death. Like a fathomless, abyssal pool, he walked step by step onto the martial stage. The eyes of the entire arena were fixed on his lean silhouette. Rowan stood before the newly self-repaired [Comprehensive Tactical Sensor Dummy] without a single wasted motion. There was no roar of a magitech engine like Julian's, nor the suffocating mana pressure Cecilia had emitted.

He simply, exceptionally calmly, reached out his right hand and gripped the D1-grade High-Frequency Straight Sword he had spent thousands of Terra Credits on. Schwing— The dark-silver blade cleared the scabbard, gleaming with a chilling coldness under the arena's fluorescent lights. A few muffled sneers rippled through the crowd. In their eyes, someone who couldn't even cast a spell was just a poor mortal.

Thinking he could challenge the dummy just because he held a magitech straight sword was nothing more than a comical farce. But the next second, all the sneers died abruptly. Rowan moved. He didn't channel a single drop of mana. Relying purely on the instantaneous explosive power of his leg muscles, his entire body lunged forward like a feral panther bursting from cover.

His waist twisted, his spine acting like a drawn longbow, driving his right arm to deliver a vicious, brutal slash directly into the dummy's bionic armor! BANG! An incredibly dull, heavy metallic crash echoed across the arena. The numbers on the giant screen instantly jumped. [Comprehensive Rating: 820 Points!] The students fell silent for a fraction of a second before erupting into a wave of disbelieving whispers.

"820 points? How is that possible?!" A noble student's eyes widened in shock.

"He didn't even use a spell! Wasn't he known for his mental power back in the day? That pure physical destructive force... it's almost on par with those high-tier mercenaries fighting in the underground boxing rings!"