The Extra's Rise-Chapter 308: Prelude to Inter-Academy Festival (3)

I exhaled as I finally stopped my sword, finishing the final movement of the Tempest Dance Technique that I could manage. The practice blade hummed softly as it cut through the air one last time, then fell silent as I held it steady, my breathing controlled despite the exertion.

A fine sheen of sweat covered my body, testament to the hours I'd spent in the academy's private training room, repeating the same sequence until my muscles burned and my mind narrowed to a laser focus.

Finally, I had achieved adept realm of mastery in the art with all my hard work.

I wasn't a master yet, but adept realm meant I could execute the entire sequence without a single wasted movement, each strike flowing into the next with the inevitability of rainfall becoming rivers.

After the third mission, there was nothing much to do other than train and push myself more for the Inter-Academy Festival.

And finally, it was paying out for me. Weeks of grueling practice, of breaking my body down and building it back stronger, of studying techniques until I dreamed of sword forms and mana circulation patterns. All of it had brought me to this moment—standing on the precipice of a breakthrough that would fundamentally change my capabilities.

'You're ready,' Luna informed me, her voice echoing in my mind with unusual solemnity. No teasing remarks or sarcastic observations—just a simple confirmation of what I already knew to be true.

I exhaled as I nodded, feeling the White mana core inside my sternum. The core wasn't just a reservoir of power anymore—it had become a nexus, a foundation upon which I could build something far greater.

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It was time to complete the final stage of the Integration process and reach low Integration-rank.

I set my practice sword aside, moving to the center of the training room. The academy had spared no expense in these facilities—reinforced walls that could withstand considerable magical discharge, automated healing arrays embedded in the floor, and mana circulation systems that would prevent energy backlash from damaging the wider structure.

I needed all of those safety features now.

Integration wasn't just another rank up. It represented a fundamental shift in how a mage interacted with mana. Instead of simply drawing power from within and without, Integration meant exactly what the name suggested—integrating mana completely into one's body, dissolving the core that had previously served as a container and allowing that power to flow freely through every cell.

The benefits were enormous: a seventy percent boost to mana quality and quantity, significantly enhanced physical capabilities, and the ability to execute techniques with a level of precision previously impossible. The foundation for truly extraordinary power.

The risks were just as significant. If done incorrectly, the dissolving core could damage one's mana circuits permanently, or worse, cause a catastrophic energy discharge that would leave nothing but ash where a promising mage once stood.

I sat cross-legged on the floor, closing my eyes and steadying my breathing. The preliminary work had already been done over months of careful preparation—strengthening my mana circuits, expanding my core's capacity, and perfecting my control over internal energy flows.

Now came the culmination.

"Let's do this," I murmured, as much to Luna as to myself.

I began drawing mana from the atmosphere around me, pulling it into my body in carefully measured streams. Unlike my previous training, where I had forced mana through my circuits to break and rebuild them stronger, this required absolute precision. Too much pressure and the core would resist dissolution; too little and the process would stall halfway, leaving me in a dangerous limbo.

The first tendrils of pain began spreading through my chest as my core responded to the external pressure. Not the sharp, immediate agony of torn circuits, but something deeper and more pervasive—the discomfort of fundamental change.

'Focus on the boundaries,' Luna advised. 'The core isn't meant to be solid. It's an artificial constraint, a training wheel. Remind it of what it truly is.'

I followed her guidance, concentrating on the edges of my mana core. In my mind's eye, I could see it—a sphere of compressed white energy, pulsating with potential. I imagined those edges softening, becoming permeable, allowing the energy to seep outward into the surrounding tissue.

The pain intensified as the process began in earnest. Sweat beaded on my forehead, no longer from physical exertion but from the internal battle being waged inside my body. My muscles tensed involuntarily as waves of mana began to escape the dissolving core, seeking pathways through my system.

This was the critical moment—guiding that freed energy not into a chaotic explosion but into a controlled integration with every cell in my body. I visualized a network, a perfect lattice extending from my sternum outward, providing channels for the mana to follow.

My breath caught as the first major surge hit, a rush of power that made my fingers tingle and my vision blur even behind closed eyelids. The core was beginning to collapse in earnest now, its carefully maintained structure giving way to something more primal and fluid.

'Don't fight it,' Luna cautioned as I instinctively tried to contain the rush. 'You're not losing control; you're gaining a new kind of control. Let it flow.'

I forced myself to relax, to accept rather than resist. The mana spread through my torso, down my limbs, up into my head—not in a wild torrent but in steady, powerful currents that seemed to illuminate every nerve ending as they passed.

The sensation was indescribable—like being filled with liquid light that somehow weighed nothing yet contained immense potential. I could feel my awareness of my own body expanding, becoming more detailed, more precise. Each muscle fiber, each bone, each drop of blood suddenly felt accessible to my consciousness in a way they never had before.

A sound escaped my throat—not quite a groan, not quite a gasp—as the final structure of the core gave way. The remaining concentrated mana rushed outward in all directions at once, a controlled explosion contained entirely within my skin. For one terrifying, exhilarating moment, I felt like I might come apart at the seams, my physical form insufficient to contain the energy surging through it.

Then, just as suddenly, equilibrium returned. The mana settled, no longer a separate entity within me but a part of me—as integral to my existence as blood or bone.

I opened my eyes, blinking at the mundane reality of the training room. Nothing had visibly changed, and yet everything felt different. The quality of light, the texture of the air, the weight of my own body—all perceived with a clarity that bordered on overwhelming.

I raised my hand, watching as mana responded to my thought, flowing to my fingertips without the delay or resistance I had grown accustomed to. Not just faster—fundamentally different. The energy wasn't being channeled from a reservoir; it was already there, present in every part of me, waiting only for direction.

Low Integration-rank. I had done it.

A smile spread across my face as I rose to my feet, marveling at the sensation. My muscles felt more responsive, my movements more precise. I picked up my practice sword again, executing a simple cut that somehow felt both effortless and more powerful than before.

"This," I said aloud, "is going to change everything."

'Don't get cocky,' Luna replied, though I could hear the approval in her mental voice. 'Low Integration is just the beginning. You've opened the door; now you have to walk through it.'

She was right, of course. The real work was just beginning. Learning to properly utilize this new state of being, to maximize the advantages it offered while avoiding the pitfalls that came with increased power. And beyond that, progressing to mid and high Integration-rank, each step bringing me closer to the level I would need to face Vorgath.

But for now, standing in the quiet training room with power flowing through me like never before, I allowed myself a moment of pure satisfaction. A milestone reached. A threshold crossed.

I was on my way.