Olivia gestured for Orion to follow her as she turned around and led the way toward their destination.
They passed through various corridors, and Orion had expected that there would be nothing of particular interest, unlike the stone and crystal-molded palace.
As a result, he wasn't disappointed by the views until they finally arrived at their destination.
Olivia opened the door and then proceeded to clap her hands. In response, the entire room suddenly lit up with a radiant glow emitted by the hanging crystals.
Stepping inside, Orion took a good look around and saw various small platforms that resembled stages.
On the sides, there were various small spaces filled with dummies, while others were empty but seemed to be designed for a specific purpose.
Regardless, it didn't take Orion long to realize that he was currently in what appeared to be the Quartzwraith training grounds.
Olivia closed the door behind him and led the way forward, eventually stopping in front of a massive, tall wooden pillar adorned with various crystal-like surfaces.
"This pillar was crafted by one of the finest artisans in the Crystalforge Clan, designed as a means to test one's strength. When you're ready, strike it with all your might. You can even channel your magical energy into it; that will provide us with a more accurate assessment of your strength," Olivia explained as she observed from the side.
Orion walked toward the imposing pillar, tightening his fist as he did.
"Are you sure it won't break?" Orion quipped, trying to inject a touch of humour into the current atmosphere.
"Humph! Don't get cocky. I can admit that you're strong, but this pillar was crafted to withstand a full-blown attack from a Crystal King," Olivia retorted, snorting at the young man's words.
She was convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that the young man before her wasn't anywhere near that level of strength, no matter what anyone might say.
Orion smiled confidently. He fixed his gaze on the pillar and clenched his fist tightly, intending to use only one of his Vylkr containers.
Slowly, he immediately tapped into the Vylkr container in his heart, drawing out one hundred per cent of the Vylkr energy it held for this single punch.
Inside Orion's body, his heart rate surged instantly, and his veins expanded and contracted as the dense Vylkr energy coursed through them. The reason his body didn't tear apart from the inside out was that every muscle, tissue, and bone had already been slowly reconstructed to accommodate the presence of the two Vylkr energy containers.
In a split second, all the Vylkr energy from head to toe surged towards Orion's right fist, and then...
"BOOOOMMM!!"
Orion's fist collided with the pillar, producing a thunderous noise that resembled the footsteps of an enraged giant. Following Orion's punch, the pillar reverberated for a brief moment, and then its crystal-like surface began to glow brightly, radiating from the point of impact. It initially displayed a light cyan hue, which abruptly shifted to a dark cyan hue before settling on a vivid light green hue.
"Crystal Luminary Rank!" Olivia exclaimed in astonishment. Her eyes widened in shock as she observed the scene unfolding before her. This was outrageous, she couldn't help but think.
But that wasn't all. Since he was testing the limits of his strength with only one of his containers, Orion immediately activated his gift.
"CRACKLE!!" "CRACKLE!!"
Several bluish streaks of lightning, shining with an intensity far greater than when he had previously activated it, now blended with his Vylkr energy.
The furious crackling and bright flashes of lightning filled the air, drawing Olivia's attention away from the pillar. She focused her gaze on the electrified Orion, whose right fist crackled with an incredibly dense lightning energy.
Taking a step back to avoid the several streaks of lightning that zipped around him from his arm, Olivia watched with rapt attention. She didn't want to miss a single moment of his actions.
'What is he doing?' Olivia thought.
After the first punch, they already had an idea of his current level of strength, even though it was incredibly shocking.
Although at this point, she was beginning to believe her previous doubts that Orion was incapable of using magical energy, she immediately pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. She decided to ask him about it later. Her eyes followed his lightning-coated fist as it struck the pillar once more.
"BOOOMMM!! BAANNNG!!!"
This time, it sounded like a thunderstorm hammering its lightning upon the earth. Of course, Olivia had no idea what a thunderstorm sounded like, but she was sure it couldn't be anything less than this.
Immediately after, the pillar hummed and lit up with a light cyan hue once more, then changed to a dark cyan hue, followed by a light green hue. Then, to Olivia's shocked and overwhelming disbelief, it changed to a dark green hue and then surprisingly fell back to a light green hue.
But even as the dark green hue faded, the overwhelming disbelief that had enveloped Olivia's being didn't fade.
"... Crystal Sage," Olivia's lips trembled, as if she were unsure of the words themselves, even though she had witnessed the dark green hue right before her eyes.
It should be known that the average Prismerian would neither be able to advance into the Crystal Luminary Rank nor the Crystal Sage Rank, even as they reached old age. The fact that the young Clan heirs had been able to advance into the Crystal Adept rank so early was solely due to their Major Clan's continuous support from infancy.
So, individuals like Merida Luminous and the Prismaflow twins were already considered geniuses among geniuses within the Major clans. Considering that, what should she call the young man in front of her who possessed the strength of a Crystal Luminary Rank and could temporarily deal damage equivalent to that of the Crystal Sage Rank...
'Abomination,' Olivia thought, although she refrained from voicing the word aloud, keeping it locked inside her mind.
Her gaze remained fixed on Orion as he retracted his fist, stretched his body, and then turned around to lock eyes with her.
"Your turn," Orion said.
