His muscles began to tear under the immense pressure, his veins bulged so much they looked like they might burst, and his pulse raced to a frightening degree... so fast he thought he was going into a full-blown panic attack.
His face turned bright red, and dark purple marks appeared on his skin, as if his whole body had been brutally beaten. His fingers swelled, and the veins on his face and neck stood out so clearly that he looked terrifying.
Leeward was about to scream from the unbearable pain, but he clenched his jaw so hard he could hear his teeth grinding together.
Am I going to die?
That was the first thought that crossed his mind. This was the first time he had attempted to break into a new rank. Moving between the four tiers hadn't been as painful or difficult as trying to climb to a completely higher one.
Leeward had lost the ability to tense his muscles; they were almost all torn apart, and he could no longer sit up or even maintain his balance
He fell off the bed onto the floor in a very bad position; his waist still above the mattress, while his face and upper body were stretched out on the floor.
He didn't care about his position at all.
His entire focus was on the transition.
I just had to blast the Spirit Foundation so it covered my entire body... I had to calm down... Come on, just a moment and it would pass like the others, even if it hurt a lot.
He was afraid of dying, really afraid of failing while blasting his Spirit Foundation... but he accepted the possibility. If he died here, it was simply the end of his life.
He had no faith in anything.
Most people have beliefs they were raised with—believe in reward after death, or another life, or resurrection... but Leeward saw life as simply ending at death.
A former slave like himself, born and raised a slave, yet with the arrogance and condescending manners of a king... he had nothing to believe in anyway.
He gathered all the Spirit Energy he had stored in his body and concentrated it inside his Spirit Foundation at his belly with complete focus.
The Spirit Energy began to flow inside the silver sphere of his Foundation, like a coherent wave of air
It grew rapidly, until it became enormous, covering his intestines, stomach, and most of his internal organs in his abdomen.
This severely affected his vital organs, causing him a feeling of
nausea, as if his stomach and intestines were being squeezed from within.
Leeward paused briefly.
I'll just do it... Nothing comes without risk, after all.
He pushed out all the spiritual foundation gathered inside him at once.
Powerful waves surged throughout his body as his spiritual foundation suddenly shrank, becoming weak and small—smaller than a fist.
There was only one danger that could lead to his death
That absolute spiritual energy would leak out of his body
absolute spiritual energy would leak out of his body due to the blast wave.
If that happened, his spiritual foundation would become far too weak to regenerate... which would mean the loss of his soul and his death.
To avoid this, Leeward tightly closed the pores of his skin and focused each emitted wave inside his body, even though it was like a saw tearing him apart from within—raging like a destructive tornado.
He felt like a glass of water.
Water inside him violently pounding against its walls in successive waves trying to break it from the inside until the glass shattered. That was the closest description of his condition.
But if the waves didn't break the glass... they would make it stronger, more resilient to even more violent waves in the future.
His consciousness began to gradually fade, but he insisted on resisting.
Isn't it... I still have to stay awake until the spiritual energy inside my body calms down... and when the healing begins... only then can I allow myself to faint
The waves lasted for a limited time, then finally began to flow inside the torn tissues, muscles, and all the vital parts of his body... even the
microscopic ones, the beneficial bacteria.
The pain was still present... but something was beginning to change.
Something profound... on the level of life itself.
That wave had completely cleansed his body of any disease whatsoever; even the microscopic bacteria and germs were instantly eradicated. Although Leeward's body was ravaged, it looked like that of a newborn baby...
Completely pure. Carrying no disease, no burden that might hinder its vitality.
His tissues began to rebuild themselves, sustained by the spiritual energy that nourished them. Even his skin gradually became purer and firmer, as if an entirely new layer were being created over it.
After a treatment period of more than five continuous hours... the clock now read three in the morning.
Everyone was asleep, and some were still awake, lost in thoughts of their miserable lives.
But Leeward... he was reborn among them.
And he broke through to the second rank—Solid Warrior, the Foundation Layer
He rose slowly and adjusted his position. All the small pimples on his face were gone, and the scar above his eye was much less pronounced. He looked at his fingernails and found them perfectly clean, free of any blemishes.
This... I'm now in second place... and the renewal my body has undergone is immense.
He stared at the scars on his chest; they hadn't disappeared completely, but they were much lighter, like distant traces of old memories.
But suddenly, a very unpleasant smell hit his nostrils. Even he himself couldn't stand it.
And as soon as he looked closely at his skin to understand why:
Am I that dirty?
He saw black fluids covering his arms and his entire body. Dark, sticky secretions, the remnants of what his body had expelled during
the purification process: toxins, bacteria, excess fat, everything that had previously weighed him down.
His spiritual foundation within him had reassembled itself, returning to its normal size—a small, fist-sized sphere, stable and strong.
I'll take a bath... then go to sleep... Today was certainly hard... but this is a wonderful accomplishment.
The sensation of his new body gave him true happiness. A quiet happiness... but a profound one.
The night passed peacefully.
As dawn broke, the sun's golden rays shone from the east behind thick clouds, indicating that the coming days would bring rainy weather.
The distant clouds were black, heavy with rain... as if they were about to burst.
Haigye stood there, on his porch, anger simmering in his chest after the news he had received.
That bastard who stole my silver... Tok-nim... you won't escape my grasp for long
The previous night, the Danek Arena guards attended and gave a full report of what happened to the arena owner,
A full report of what happened to the ringmaster, Heneghi Mehrville Monoth.
He learned that one of the guards had been killed in the chaos, and that the only ascendant to escape was Tok Nim—the very cause of the chaos inside the ring.
So... it was Tok Nim who took the silver.
i.e., Leward.
Heneghi held a piece of paper with a rough sketch of Leward's face drawn on it and stared at it for a long time.
"My dear... did you sleep well? All night I heard you calling... are you all right?"
A woman entered through the balcony door.
The door was white, decorated with small, symmetrical windows.
Heneghi turned, the sunlight reflecting off his aged face, showing his gray hair and thick beard.
He looked at the woman.
It was Rishi... Owerd's wife.
Released from the seat of power, no longer useful to the investigation due to her mental state, the first place she went to find shelter from the night's cold was Heneghi's house.
Haa, he knows.
Her lover.
Or the man she was cheating on her husband with.
She touched his shoulder gently, looking at him with eyes that held a mixture of coquetry and concern.
"Nothing... I'm just angry that someone dared to steal my money."
Haigye's fortune was enormous, and ten kilograms of silver wouldn't change his life... but it remained important to him, a matter of honor before it was money.
"Really? Who dared to do that?"
Rishi showed suppressed anger, then her eyes fell on the drawing in his hand.
It was Leeward's features, frozen for a moment...
She stood beside Higgie, and recognized him instantly.
She knew Leeward well; he had been Overd's slave.
And how many times had she tried to seduce him to satisfy her filthy lust... but she hadn't succeeded.
Leeward was too tough for a woman to tempt him into committing a shameful act with her.
She hadn't cared much about it at first, but the repeated embarrassment she had suffered because of him... had planted within her a desire for revenge.
Someone like Rishi betrayed everyone.
She had cheated on Overd with Higgie for money and influence, and yet it hadn't satisfied her; they were both old, unable to satisfy her desires, so she had also cheated on them with younger men.
She was the epitome of someone driven by lust and money... without any control over his desires.
The moment Higgie heard her words, his expression changed instantly, and he looked at her with sharp seriousness
"So you know him? Who is he? And where does he live?"
He gripped her shoulder so tightly it hurt.
"Easy... you're hurting me... He's just a former slave of Owerd. I think he got his freedom. His name is Leeward Gshin, if I remember correctly."
She feigned weakness under his grip, while harboring deep resentment.
That damned Leeward... how many times has he humiliated and rejected me... What does he think he is to reject a beautiful woman like me? Damn him... I'll get my revenge... and I'll make him see the consequences of his actions...