The elites from the eastern continent took their first steps past the gate, getting a feel of the gravity pressing down on them.
"Nothing much," Sang Heok remarked, his tone carrying a nonchalant edge that belied the crushing weight of the trial. As the leader of the Eastern exchange group, he transitioned seamlessly from a measured walking pace to a steady jog, ascending the gravity-laden steps with an effortless grace that stunned the onlookers.
Min-Seok let out a sharp laugh, his breathing perfectly synchronized with his rapid movements as he followed Sang-Heok's lead. "This weight is nothing," he called out, his voice steady despite the crushing gravity formations. "We train under significantly higher pressure just during our daily warm-ups back home".
Zi Hao, the physically most imposing member of the group, chose a more measured approach, ascending the thousand steps at a steady, regular pace. Unlike his more exuberant teammates, he maintained a cautious discipline, grounding his massive frame against the gravity formations to ensure his internal stability remained unshaken.
The Valerian spectators watching the trials were visibly shaken by the ease with which the Eastern exchange students navigated the gauntlet. While the local aspirants struggled against the crushing weight, the visitors demonstrated the fruits of rigorous physical cultivation that started from a young age.
Their bodies, tempered through years of high-pressure training, withstood the gravity formations with a nonchalance that bordered on disdain.
At the 700th step, the momentum of the Eastern group finally met its match. The gravitational force had intensified to 3.5x Earth's standard, a threshold that forced even Sang-Heok and Min-Seok to abandon their jogging pace for a more labored, rhythmic stride.
With the field finally stretched thin, Rosalind decided to make her move. A heavy silence fell over the square as the Empire held its collective breath, waiting for the official debut of the youngest Imperial Princess.
Rosalind took a moment to stretch, her expression one of focused tranquility, before dropping into a low, coiled sprinting position. As she channeled her Void elemental mana, a dark, shimmering aura rippled across her form, and she exploded forward with a violent burst of speed.
She tore through the Academy's gates like a streak of midnight, effortlessly overtaking the struggling participants who were pinned beneath the gravitational weight.
100 steps,
200 steps,
300 steps,
Rosalind's initial explosion of speed met its first true resistance at the 100th, 200th, and 300th steps. The crushing weight of the Trial of Perseverance began to claw at her momentum, forcing her to transition from an all-out sprint to a sustained, high-speed run.
400 steps,
500 steps,
600 steps,
As the gradient steepened, a sheen of sweat broke across Rosalind's brow. By the 600th step, the gravity had intensified to the point where her run settled into a rhythmic, determined jogging pace.
700 steps,
800 steps,
The pressure became a physical wall. Rosalind slowed to a brisk, calculated walking pace, her Void mana shimmering as she navigated the densest gravitational nodes. Despite the strain, she began overtaking the elite exchange students, who were now laboring under the 3.5x gravity threshold.
The atmosphere underwent a terrifying transformation. At this height, the air felt like liquid lead—thick, suffocating, and resisting every movement.
At the 970th step, Rosalind drew level with Sang-Heok and Min-Seok. While the Eastern leaders were locked in a desperate struggle with their own physical limits, Rosalind's Blackwell-trained focus allowed her to push past them, her eyes fixed solely on the summit.
The final 30 steps became a grueling, two-minute battle of wills. Under a staggering 6x gravitational pressure, her muscles screamed and her bones felt as though they might buckle.
"How did Mentor Markus breeze through this so easily?" Rosalind thought, her breath hitching as she clawed her way up the final rise.
With one last, agonizing surge of mana, she hauled herself over the final step, collapsing onto the summit plateau. She had finished the trial, leaving the rest of the world's elite in her wake.
The leaderboards have been updated:
Trial of Perseverance
Markus Blackwell 4 minutes 13 seconds
Rosalind Valerian 4 minutes 52 seconds
Caspian Valerian 5 minutes 52 seconds
Rosanne Vance 6 minutes 33 seconds
Felix Valerian 6 minutes 47seconds
Cassian Valerian 7 minutes 2 seconds
Beatrix Valerian 7 minutes 28 seconds
Elara Valerian 7 minutes 59 seconds
Alaric Ironwood 8 minutes 30 seconds
Morgana Mordred 9 minutes 8 seconds
**
The leaderboard stone groaned as the ancient inscriptions shifted, the magical ink dissolving and reforming to reflect a new reality. Rosalind Valerian's final time flared in a brilliant violet hue, officially knocking Headmistress Elena's historic records off the Top 10 leaderboard.
The achievement sent a shockwave through the gathered spectators, as a record that had stood for decades was finally eclipsed by the youngest Imperial Princess.
From the spectator booth, Markus watched the leaderboard update with a clinical detachment, noting the subtle tremor in the air as the Academy's enchantments adjusted to the new data.
Emperor Valerian let out a booming laugh that echoed through the private spectator booth. "My apologies, Headmistress," he said, his voice thick with fatherly pride and a hint of imperial mischief. "It seems my youngest is intent on shattering more than just expectations today. I'd advise you to keep a close eye on the leaderboard; she's only just getting started."
Elena's eyebrows visibly twitched at the remark, her composed mask slipping for a fleeting second. She remained silent, though her knuckles whitened as she gripped the stone railing of the balcony.
The Emperor's antics were as grating as the record-breaking climb itself—a blatant reminder that the traditional Academy standards she had upheld for decades were being systematically dismantled by the Blackwell-trained Princess.
Markus chuckled softly, a sound that carried more weight than the Emperor's boisterous laughter. "She was trained by me, after all," he said, his voice smooth and devoid of false modesty. "Failing to claim a spot on the leaderboard would reflect poorly on my mentorship—and I don't care for subpar results."