Night had fallen, but sleep was a luxury neither Davi nor Russell could afford.
After returning to their inn and having their dinner, the twin duo set out to train intensively.
Inside their inn, a guttural growl escaped Davi's throat as his body spasmed violently.
Steam rose from his bare torso as veins bulged unnaturally, black blood dripping from his pores like sludge.
His breathing was ragged, each inhale coated with agony.
Russell stopped practicing his control of magic, instead he asked Davi if anything was wrong.
"Everything is fine brother… Aghhr! Bu..t you don't need to worry" Davi said with so much pain that Russell obviously didn't believe him.
"Don't worry let me heal you… It could cause you some relief younno" Russell said as he began gathering the nen slowly condensing it into a water ball.
"No! Don't do anything… If you must do something practice your magic, this is something I must pull through alone" Davi said.
Although Russell definitely wanted to disobey Davi, something in him convinced him that everything is under control.
"Could this be related to his tamed beast?" Russell thought which the left outside the inn due to the pungent smell decay it excluded.
However instead of practicing his magic Russell watched Davi out of worry.
[Host has commenced the second phase of Hell Initiate/Body Refinement Realm (Foundation stage): Muscle Tempering]
[Warning: Intense pain and cellular breakdown imminent!]
He bit down on windcaller to suppress his screams.
The Asura Qi within him moved like a storm boiling, tearing and reforging.
Davi's muscles were no longer just flesh; they were being reforged like steel, fiber by fiber, under the violent tempering of the Hell of Torment Sutra.
His skin had already been tempered with what came the next was… The muscles.
Davi's mind hovered on the brink of collapse, however realizing that Russell would go into panic should something happen gave him just the strength he needed to stay afloat.
He could feel each cell split, rupture, and then mend itself under the oppressive influence of Asura Qi.
"Was the Asura Qi always this terrifying?" Davi thought to himself.
"This hell of torment sutra really is a hell of a torment… Heck!!! When will this end?!" Davi cursed inwardly.
"Previously during the fight with the earth fanged rats… The repercussions for using the Asura Qi wasn't as sever as this… So, how come?" He thought further.
The Qi didn't just temper his muscles gently, it forced the body to refine itself through destruction.
[Host Progress… 3%... 3.7%... 5%...]
His vision blurred.
But Davi's heart remained resolute.
Davi had long since abandoned the idea of comfort… To achieve the revenge he sort.
Besides, the path of cultivation is not walked by the sane or the soft.
***
Russell had already being watching for over two ours into the night now… Just like Davi re-assured him, everything was indeed under control.
"I guess I could practice right? But it wouldn't hurt to still pay attention to him" Russell thought thinking of how cool his twin's awakened ability is.
At the conner of the room, Russell sat in meditation.
Blue light flowed around him, more refined than before.
He extended his palm, forming a faint shimmering field of mana. Then he took a knife and pressed it to his forearm.
A shallow cut.
Russell focused.
The cut closed but at an extremely slow pace as he gritted his teeth through the process.
Reflecting on the process after the would had healed he said.
"Better control... More mana consumption..." he murmured to himself.
"I can't heal a serious injury at this rate" Russel reflected.
His affinity to healing magic was growing steadily.
He glanced at Davi, whose face was twisted in silent agony, black fluid seeping from his skin like molten oil.
Russell frowned.
He wanted to ask if Davi needed help.
But he didn't.
Somehow, he knew that this was not a battle he could interfere with.
Davi's training was... foreign… Savage… Something that screamed "not magic"
However he couldn't place what.
***
The next morning at Ashwood Forest
The candidate stood once more on the grassy plains outside the central grove of Ashwood.
A platform had been erected, pulsating with blue glyphs and golden rings.
Several instructors from different academies stood on floating pedestals above, ready to evaluate the next phase of the Mage Ascension Exam surprisingly, Old man frank was amongst them shocking Russell to the core.
"Davi… Old man frank is amongst them… Could he really know the intricacies behind our origins?" Russell asked.
"Hmm… I didn't expect that… Lets watch on an see how it goes… this exam would be interesting no doubt" Davi responded
"However it would not hurt like i said earlier to be cautious of our dealings with him in the future" Davi added.
Just then, Lady Stacy's voice echoed over the field.
"Today, we test two things... Mana control... And elemental affinity."
Excitement crackled in the air as those who passed the exam yesterday felt pumped.
This was the moment many had waited for… At this time no one amongst the crowd could be described as a normie all had magic potentials and all at the rank of magic apprentice if not higher.
Affinity tests determined a mage's potential, direction, and prestige.
A shimmering orb was brought forward, floating gently in the hands of a robed examiner from Aetherveil Spire from the central continent known for their Magic Formation.
"Step forward… Place your hand on the Orb"
Russell was among the first.
He stepped forward with quiet confidence.
The moment his hand touched the Orb, a brilliant glow enveloped it… Soft, rippling like the surface of a lake.
Royal Blue!
Whispers rose from the crowd.
"Water Affinity!"
"A healer and water mage? That's rare..."
The Orb vibrated once, then displayed five water rings.
"A-rank affinity… Impressive," one of the instructors remarked.
Russell bowed slightly and stepped back.
A lot of others went true the test with 65% of them at E rank few at D rank… Comparing it with Russell who came out with an A rank, one could truly see the disparity amongst them.
After some time was Gerald, the leader of Red Rock Mercenaries.
He stomped up, slapped his hand on the Orb.
Crimson flames erupted.
A surge of heat blasted outwards as the crowd gasped.
Fire bloomed within the Orb like a wildfire.
"Fire Affinity!"
Six full rings.
"A rank!"
Even the instructors nodded with appreciation.
Then came Loken.
Lightning cracked across the field as his affinity revealed itself.
Sparks danced around the Orb.
"Lightning Affinity... Hmm, unstable," muttered one teacher.
"Potentially dangerous but rare… C Rank!"
Alyssia followed, elegant in her movements.
When her hand touched the Orb, a calming breeze swept across the arena.
Wind Affinity.
Four perfect rings.
"Wind mages are rare among royals… B rank" The Instructor said.
And then...
It was Davi's turn.
He stepped forward.
His hand met the Orb.
Nothing happened.
Not a flicker.
Not a pulse.
The Orb remained completely inert.
A deep silence settled over the field.
One instructor frowned. "Try again."
Davi did.
Still nothing.
"No mana signature detected," the examiner said with confusion. "Not even a trace."
A murmur began to build.
"How can he not have affinity? Didn't he tame a beast?"
"That's impossible without mana."
"Was it was fake?"
"Or... something else?…"
Russell's eyes narrowed.
"System what is happening? I thought you said you could awaken magic in me… You don't seem forthcoming on your words eeh" Davi asked.
[Host has to concentrate on cultivation!]
~Sigh
"Your no fun… Ayo!!!" Davi lamented inwardly
Russell wasn't taking this likely on the other hand as he remembered the strange aura around Davi when he fought that beast.
The way Davi moved.
His pain... his strength...
"Wasn't that magic?" Russell asked himself completely confused.
As he remembered the events of the previous night a the inn and how Davi healed himself mysteriously after such grueling pain… Logic just didn't make sense.
Lady Stacy, from her pedestal, looked down at Davi with thinly veiled curiosity.
"No magical affinity," she declared, voice ringing out.
"Yet you tamed a beast and passed the earlier trial… You really are interesting Davi L. Vermillion eeh!"
She smiled mysteriously, arousing anger withing the hearts of men as they targeted their hatred to no one else other than Davi!
"We will find out which soon enough" Lady Stacy remarked casually.
Davi said nothing.
He turned, walked back to the line, ignoring the stares… The whispers and doubtful glares.
Inside, the System pulsed again.
[Hell Initiate/Body Refinement Realm (Foundation stage): Muscle Tempering 12% Complete]
[Host physical durability: Increased!]
[Strength feature added!]
[Strength: 24/100]
He clenched his fist.
The path he walked was not theirs to understand… Thought Davi.
***
Later that evening, as the candidates rested and prepared for the next trial, Russell approached him.
"No affinity?" he asked quietly.
Davi looked up from where he sat under an ashwood tree, his eyes distant as he reminisced on the good old times back in the world of forsaken saints.
"None."
Russell hesitated.
"But you're getting stronger… Way faster than me… And that beast... You didn't just tame it by chance right?" Russell asked.
Davi offered a slight shrug.
"Who knows? Maybe it empathized with my blindness" Davi smugly
Russell nodded slowly, then said…
"You're not a mage, are you?"
"Of course I am… what do you think?" davi responded looking at Russell as if he were a fool.
"Hmmm… Maybe its connected to our origins" Russell hypothesis.
Davi looked at his arms, flexing them slowly.
Muscle fibers, newly forged, moved like coiled serpents beneath his skin.
The twin duo sat in silence for a moment longer.
***
The next trial would begin in three hours.
The candidates of the Mage Ascension Exam could not rest uneasily.
For among them was a 'blind' boy with no magic, no mana, and no known affinity… yet he was rising.
It just didn't make sense!