There was nothing Zeion could do; he had to accept the punishment that had been given. For several days work without stopping, only gathering quarry stones for a piece of bread to survive. "From any perspective, this kind of work is too heavy! Huh... it's really difficult to do all this..." Even Zeion's well-trained body would still feel weary with all this, his body in a seated position staring endlessly at the mining wall. Unconsciously, he had channeled a large flow of energy throughout his body, which, if used now, would create a giant crater. "Should I just escape from here?" grumbled Zeion. "Good afternoon, young man..." This voice diverted Zeion's gaze; spontaneously, he glanced to the right, where an old man was already standing, looking friendly toward him. Seeing Zeion silent, the old man spoke again, "Why? Didn't you hear my gr

With indifference, Zeion walked away; he had no time to deal with this burly man. His entire body was exhausted from today's work, and he longed to lie down and feel the pleasure of stretching his body. "Where do you want to go?..." Zeion's shoulder was grabbed, and his body bit turned. With surprise in his eyes, he watched the man in action. Dash... A blow to his face caused the bread in his hand to fall to the ground. Everyone witnessing this fell silent; the punch was powerful enough to make the sound ring. The pain from the punch made Zeion bow his head, staring directly at the bread now mixed with the soil. That was his dinner for today's work, and since earlier, he had been very hungry. All of this was truly tiring for him; after working all day, he had to accept that his bread had fallen. "Why did you turn my b

Slowly every eye pupil tightened, as a man appeared in the midst of this atmosphere. Everyone witnessing it could feel the intense intimidating aura emanating from this man; just looking at his body would give rise to a feeling of wanting to escape. "What is this? Why does that person look so intimidating?" The first meeting with Aesyium didn't show anything important, but now Zeion's body seemed to be stirred by the energy fluctuations. He felt as if he was being led to do something that might shake the surrounding area. If not for Hander's warning to control his emotions, he might have quickly stepped forward, confidently showing that Aesyium was someone he could defeat. Aesyium began to glance at each face in front of him, looking insulting and condescending. He even hoped not to linger there. A slight exhale, and some of those who saw his reaction underst

"Hooh... you say this with great arrogance, do you understand the consequences?" Aesyium asked. Anyone would think Zeion was daydreaming, the person he was talking to held the highest authority. And, with his arrogance, Zeion uttered such words. "I know the consequences. If you didn't handle this in a cruel manner, I might not have intervened. But, what you've done is truly outrageous! If you only wanted to select those with abilities, it should have been done with a few individuals. Why did you instruct everyone to do it?" "Your courage to say this is truly commendable. I never expected to meet someone bold enough to voice such opinions." The atmosphere became tense; they exchanged glances with intimidating auras. "Kid, what you're doing is a violation! In other words, you're trying to protect others even though someone else was at fault." "Hah... whether it

In the end, Zeion's problems multiplied. After the incident, he found himself bound in a cage with chains that wrapped around his entire body. "Huh... what will they do with me after this?" His eyes fixed on the chains, sensing something strange. "Wait, these chains are infused with special energy! They really have restraining tools like this..." If Zeion remembers correctly, he had witnessed Hander channeling energy into a staff to generate more powerful attacks. His eyebrows furrowed instantly; it was a bitter memory to keep reliving. Actually, if he wanted to, he could easily release the chains. But, doing it would only add to his problems. There was no choice, only to wait for the impending decision. A bright light from outside became visible as if the cheers of people buzzed in his ears. "Right, today is the day of the competition! I