C196 – Dawn of Steel and Sweat The first golden whisper of morning hadn’t even brushed the towers of Neo Orcus when Elias Holloway tore through the skies, a streak of mana glinting faintly behind him. The air bit at his cheeks, the chill sharp enough to wake even a corpse, but the young heir didn’t care. There was a rhythm to his heartbeat that matched the world’s pulse. Training day. He landed on the outskirts of the city, where the barracks squatted like sleeping beasts of oak and stone. The faint musk of sweat, oil, and powdered chalk clung to everything—proof that warriors here bled long before they celebrated. Inside, early risers were already at it, moving through drills with the kind of fervor that only desperation—or ambition—could summon. Among them stood Sheina, her braid whipping like a flag of defiance as she loosed arrow after arrow. The air sang with t

 C198 – The Verdict of Echoes: A Resounding No Beneath the Falcon Sky The concept of Absolute Unity Defense, even in its most diluted form among the ordinary Lytaians, was an absurd miracle—an invisible shield dense enough to let its bearer shrug off the crushing weight of an entire mountain’s tantrum. Even if a tonne of jagged rubble were to collapse upon them, the light woven through that barrier would hold, humming like the heartbeat of an ancient rune. To Elias, it was almost mundane now. A simple part of being a citizen of Lyta. A gift coded into every soul that pledged allegiance to his company-nation. In pure calculation, the force of a tonne of debris barely matched a low-tier 1-star spell like [Boulder Throw]. And as long as a Lytaian reached the level of a 2-star practitioner—something nearly every citizen did within their first month—they could walk through collapsing buildings or dive he

 C200 – The Gathering of the Twin Fangs Elias awoke to the soft but persistent sound of knocking—a rhythm too urgent to be one of the morning maids. His consciousness swam from the calm tides of slumber into sharp focus. He sat up, golden strands of dawn light painting faint lines across the room through the silk curtains. “Sheina?” he muttered groggily as he reached for the nearby robe. When he opened the door, his guess was confirmed. Sheina stood there, her posture stiff, eyes bright with purpose. It was strange seeing her here—at this hour, she was always at the Lyta training grounds, drilling the recruits or sparring against three knights at once. “Lord Elias,” she greeted, bowing slightly but speaking without delay. “A message has arrived from the Orc Chieftains. They request an immediate meeting with all three leaders—yourself,

C202: Convergence Beneath the Earth’s PulseThe Earth Goddess—or as the ancient tongues whispered, the Resonant Mother of All Soil and Stone—had never felt closer to the Orc tribes than she did in this single trembling breath of the world. For centuries they had chased after a phantom of her warmth, a lingering echo that vanished the day their relic was taken. But now… the pulse had returned.It wasn’t just spiritual. It was physical. The sensation clawed deep into their bones, as if molten gold flowed through their marrow. The two Orc Chieftains—one crowned in coarse fur and fangs, the other bristling with hardened quills—could feel her essence like a heartbeat under their feet. It was as if they stood not upon dirt, but upon her chest, the planet itself breathing with maternal rhythm.The Mithril Artifact before them radiated a brilliance that rivaled the moonlight. It was dense, alive, and thrumming with mana—the type that refused to sit still, the kind that bent reality just by ex

Chapter 204: The Shadow that Watches Over Lyta[Superior Sugar Rush]— This divine-grade skill allows the user to ignite their veins with the power of Unity upon the consumption of chocolate, momentarily transcending their natural limitations and achieving a state of unparalleled strength. The surge is fleeting, lasting only until the mana-blood synchronization stabilizes, but within that window, the user’s might becomes something beyond mortal comprehension. Only one activation may occur at a time, but no cooldown governs its reuse—once one’s body can endure another surge, the heavens themselves will not object.It was a universal gift bestowed upon every single Lytaians—be they engineers bending mana into circuits, farmers coaxing life from mana-rich soil, or musicians weaving harmony into living sound. The skill was both offense and lifeline; a last, desperate trump card capable of turning ordinary men into warriors when the situation demanded survival.Now, every citizen under the