Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 944

Chapter 944 216.4 - Overachievers

"I accept it, okay."

Eleanor's hands came together with a crisp clap that echoed through the wide, empty chamber.

The sound wasn't loud-but new.

I was final. Like a door closing. Or the start of something

"Good," she said, voice firm now, shedding the softness from moments before. "Then let's begin.

She stepped past them with ease, making her way to the center of the facility. The mana in the room stirred faintly around her, reacting not to any spell, but to her presence. It always did.

Ethan and Astron followed in silence, the air around them shifting from quiet conversation to something heavier, Familiar, Dangerous.

Eleanor turned to face them, her expression composed, all traces of amusement and challenge now gone. In its place-professional, precise focus.

"In the past two sessions," she began, "I pushed your bodies to their limits. Gravity, pressure, adaptation, endurance. I wanted to see how your bodies reacted. How your instincts compensated. And more importantly-how you think under stress."

Ethan's shoulders tensed slightly at the reminder. His muscles still remembered. His bones probably did too.

Astron said nothing, his posture straight, his focus sharpened.

Eleanor clasped her hands behind her back.

"That stage," she continued, "was foundational. Understanding how far you can be pushed physically is important-but it's only one side of the equation."

She let the weight of that settle for a moment.

"Now," she said, her voice taking on a cool edge, "we shift."

Ethan blinked. "Shift... how?"

Eleanor's eyes gleamed. "To control."

She took a step forward. "I've seen how your bodies react. But I haven't yet seen how you direct that reaction. From this point onward, I'll be evaluating how well you command your own mana under stress-not just letting I act as instinctual reinforcement."

Her gaze flicked to Astron. "You flow around pressure."

Then to Ethan. "You try to crush through it."

She tilted her head. "Neither is wrong. But both are incomplete."

Ethan frowned slightly. Astron simply waited.

"This next phase," Eleanor said, gesturing to the floor as intricate mana patterns began to light up beneath them, "will require refinement. Focus. You've adapted to external pressure. Now, I want to see how you shape your own."

The floor beneath their feet split into two wide sections-mirrored chambers, shimmering with thin veils of mana.

"You'll each enter a zone calibrated to match your resonance patterns," she said. "Inside, you'll have full access to your mana-but the environment will amplify feedback. Loss of control, overexertion, emotional turbulence... every mistake you make will rebound tenfold."

Ethan stared at the chamber forming beside him. "So... a punishment room?"

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "A mirror."

She looked between them. "Step in. From now on, your enemy is not the room, or the weight, or even each other."

She smiled faintly, a quiet, knowing thing.

"It's you."

******

The chambers pulsed once with faint light-an almost imperceptible hum of mana resonance as they stabilized.

Ethan and Astron stepped forward without hesitation.

The moment they crossed the veil, the world shifted.

Inside, the air felt alive. Not heavier, not denser-just... aware. Like every inch of the chamber was watching. Waiting. Ready to respond to their every movement.

Ethan exhaled sharply, already feeling the slight tug at his mana veins, as if the room were reading him, challenging him. His instinct flared, and he immediately pushed back-force met force.

Astron, by contrast, didn't react. Not outwardly. He let the sensation sweep through him, registering the subtle push and pull without resistance. He simply adjusted, letting the environment inform his next move.

Outside the chambers, Eleanor stood in silence, her blue eyes watching intently-but her mind was already sharpening into something more. Something deeper.

This is why they call her the Invoker.

Not just because of power.

But because of command.