Chapter 4 Evolution Triggered
867 Words
The air in the training field felt frozen.
[Impact Strength: C-Rank (Initial Stage)]
The number still hovered midair.
A B-rank domain—torn apart head-on.
An F-rank overpowering a B-rank.
This was no longer luck.
This was an anomaly.
Damian’s expression darkened.
He had never been forced back like this inside the academy.
Especially not by an F-rank.
“You cheated,” he said coldly.
Leon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“You can keep pressing.”
His tone was calm—almost indifferent.
The system interface floated at the edge of his vision.
[Failure Count: 81/100]
Nineteen more.
Only one crack remained in his Talent Core.
Once it shattered—
The first evolution would trigger.
Damian stopped holding back.
“Gravity Domain — Second Phase.”
Boom.
The air sank again.
Gravity doubled.
The ground split.
Spectators stepped back instinctively.
“He’s serious now.”
“That’s B-rank maximum output!”
Leon’s shoulders slammed downward.
His bones creaked under pressure.
Pain surged like a tidal wave.
But his eyes grew colder.
Good.
The stronger the pressure—
The more failures.
He condensed energy again.
A sphere formed.
It shattered instantly.
[82/100]
Again.
[83/100]
The crushing force made his arm tremble.
[84/100]
The stands grew restless.
“Is he insane?”
“He can already output C-rank. Why keep failing?”
Ryan clenched his fists.
He understood now.
Leon wasn’t trying to win.
He was—
Betting on evolution.
Damian roared,
“Are you using me as a tool?!”
He slammed both hands downward.
Gravity spiked again.
Leon’s knees nearly touched the ground.
Blood slipped from his lips.
[88/100]
Inside his mind, the final crack in the crystal began glowing.
Leon closed his eyes.
Letting the pressure churn inside him.
Ninetieth failure.
[90/100]
The system alerts grew urgent.
[Structural Reorganization: Preparation Complete]
Energy across the arena destabilized.
Even the intelligent barrier flickered.
Instructor Kane Rowe’s gaze sharpened.
“He’s on the edge of losing control…”
Ava watched without blinking.
She could feel it.
Something in the air was changing.
Damian sensed the danger too.
“End this!”
He poured everything into the gravity field.
The weight of a collapsing mountain crashed down.
Leon was driven into the ground.
Blood splattered.
Gasps erupted from the stands.
“Stop!”
But Leon didn’t pass out.
He was smiling.
Softly.
“Just a little more.”
He forced every last thread of mental energy forward.
Ninety-five.
Failure.
Ninety-six.
Failure.
Ninety-seven.
His consciousness nearly shattered.
Ninety-eight.
The world grew silent.
Ninety-nine.
The Talent Core emitted a blinding crimson light.
The interface flashed wildly.
[99/100]
Damian’s pupils contracted.
“Die!”
Gravity peaked.
And in that instant—
Leon made one final attempt.
The hundredth.
Energy formed—
Then violently collapsed.
—
[Failure Count: 100/100]
—
Time seemed to freeze.
All sound vanished.
Inside his mental space—
The fractured crystal exploded completely.
Crimson energy surged like molten lava.
Fragments reorganized.
Cracks vanished.
A new core formed.
The system interface rewrote itself.
[Evolution Triggered]
[Talent Upgraded]
[Misfire → Failure Catalyst]
[Current Effect: Each failure permanently increases base output by 1%]
[Failure Count Reset]
—
Reality snapped back.
“BOOM!!!”
A circular crimson shockwave erupted from Leon’s body.
The gravity domain shattered instantly.
Damian was blasted backward.
The energy barrier trembled violently.
Numbers skyrocketed.
[Impact Strength: B-Rank (Mid Stage)]
Complete silence.
An F-rank—
Releasing B-rank power.
Damian crashed heavily onto the ground.
Chest burning with pain.
He stared forward in disbelief.
Leon slowly stood.
His injuries remained.
But his aura was entirely different.
No longer chaotic.
Now—
Stable.
And dangerous.
Energy pulsed steadily in his palm.
This time—
There was no failure.
He flicked his hand lightly.
A crimson blast struck the ground beside Damian.
The floor exploded—
But Damian was unharmed.
Perfect control.
Leon looked at him.
“Continue?”
His voice was calm.
No mockery.
Which made it worse.
Damian gritted his teeth.
For the first time—
He felt fear.
The rules had been broken.
On the observation platform, Ava’s breathing grew slightly heavier.
She had seen that moment clearly.
It wasn’t simple amplification.
The structure of his talent had changed.
“He… evolved?” she murmured.
Kane spoke quietly beside her.
“The iron law that talents cannot grow—”
“Has just been torn open.”
At the center of the field, the interface appeared again.
[Failure Catalyst: 0%]
A new beginning.
A new evolutionary path.
Leon lifted his gaze to the gray sky.
For the first time—
He truly controlled his own power.
Failure was not a curse.
It was fuel.
The public challenge was over.
But the real storm—
Had only just begun.
In the distance, Ava finally stepped down from the platform.
She stopped at the edge of the arena.
Her eyes met his directly for the first time.
“Leon.”
It was the first time she spoke his name.
“Do you know what you just did?”
Leon looked at her calmly.
“I won a fight.”
Ava fell silent.
“You rewrote the rules.”
Leon smiled faintly.
“Then I’ll keep rewriting them.”
- Writer
