It felt like awakening from a long, dreamless slumber when Max's eyes slowly opened. His vision adjusted to dim light, and the first thing he saw was the ceiling above him. The rock was rough and uneven, its dark gray surface glistening faintly as though carved from some ancient stone. The entire place felt heavy, like the air itself had weight.

"Where is this?" Max whispered under his breath. He tried to move, to push himself up, but his body refused to obey. It was as though countless invisible hands pinned him down, forcing his chest and limbs against the cold ground. He could not lift even a finger. Only his mouth moved freely.

'The pressure here is worse than outside,' Max thought calmly, refusing to let frustration creep in. His memory flashed back to the last thing he had seen before collapsing—the silhouettes of dwarf-like figures emerging from the strange settlement. Now, lying in this cavern, he could only assume that these beings had brought him here.

With deliberate focus, Max activated his Three Dimensional Body. His perception spread through the cave like ripples in water. He immediately sensed two familiar presences close by. Evan and Nina lay only a short distance away, their bodies sprawled on the ground just as helpless as his. Their breathing was steady, but they were still unconscious, their limbs pressed flat against the stone.

'So they are here too,' Max thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. If the dwarves had meant them harm, there would have been no reason to keep his companions alive. The fact that all three of them were unharmed reassured him that the beings were not hostile. At least, not yet.

Knowing this, Max forced his racing mind to steady itself. The pressure was immense, crushing every muscle and bone, but instead of panicking he chose to adapt. His instincts told him that the only way forward was to endure this weight until his body grew accustomed to it. If he could not stand under it, he would never be able to escape, nor could he protect Nina and Evan when they awoke.

'I suppose this might be the second stage of the trial,' he reasoned in silence. The first had been surviving the endless wasteland and reaching the ruins. This, perhaps, was the continuation. The trial of enduring the ruin's gravity, of learning to move where others could not.

And for that, Max already had a plan forming in his mind. But before he could attempt it, he needed to test something first.

He drew upon the depths of his strength, activating the full power of his one thousand Draconic Essences. Veins bulged across his body as the raw, untamed energy surged violently through him, making his muscles swell with power. The ground beneath him quivered faintly under the sudden burst of energy.

With his body straining, Max tried to lift himself. His focus sharpened, every fiber of his being channeled into the attempt. Yet no matter how much force he poured into his limbs, his body remained pinned against the cold stone. He could not even rise an inch.

"Again! Dragon Scales Transformation!" Max growled, refusing to give up. In response, black dragon scales rippled across his skin, locking into place like living armor. They glowed faintly at first, then turned into a radiant golden sheen as the essence of his thousand Draconic Essences coursed through them. His aura flared, shaking with intensity. With this layered transformation, he forced his strength outward once more.

This time there was progress. His fingers twitched, straining upward against the invisible pressure. Slowly, agonizingly, he managed to move them. Then his neck shifted slightly, and he turned his head with great effort, breaking the suffocating stillness. It was a victory, though a small one, and it showed him how severe the pressure truly was. If this was the effect on him, someone far weaker would never even twitch a finger here.

"I still can't move my body," Max muttered through clenched teeth, his voice calm but edged with the weight of exertion. Yet he did not feel disappointment. His mind was already analyzing, calculating. The pressure pressing on him now was stronger than the one that had nearly crushed him unconscious outside the ruins.

Back then, the weight had been magnified because he was carrying Evan and Nina, which had multiplied the strain threefold. Now, inside this cavern, the pressure felt even heavier, like an evolved version of what he had endured earlier.

Despite this, Max remained confident. He could sense the truth clearly. If he gave himself time, his body would adapt. That had always been his path—enduring, evolving, and rising through overwhelming odds.

'Last time I forced it and lost consciousness,' Max thought with focus. 'This time I cannot make the same mistake. If I want to overcome this pressure, I must let my body grow accustomed to it. Slowly. Steadily. One step at a time.'

He exhaled deeply, his golden scales flickering faintly under the crushing force, his determination unshaken. The trial had only just begun, and he would master it.

Hours slipped away in silence as Max lay pressed against the cold stone. His body remained locked in the Dragon Scales Transformation, every scale glowing faintly gold as the power of his thousand Draconic Essences coursed through him.

At first, every breath felt like lifting a mountain, every twitch of his fingers drained more strength than an entire battle. Yet as time moved forward, something subtle began to change.

The unbearable weight no longer felt as suffocating as before. His golden scales, once trembling under the crushing force, now steadied little by little. The pressure still pressed down on him like an ocean trying to drown its prey, but his body was beginning to respond. The energy flowing through his transformation shifted, adjusting itself in harmony with the weight.

He could feel it clearly. His Dragon Scales Transformation was adapting. Slowly, painstakingly, but with undeniable progress, it was becoming accustomed to the oppressive force of the cavern. His breathing steadied, his chest no longer felt like it was being crushed inward with each inhale. His fingers moved more fluidly, his neck turned with less strain than before.

Max did not relax, but a flicker of satisfaction stirred in his eyes. This was what he had hoped for. The longer he endured, the more his body would learn to exist beneath this impossible weight. The Dragon Scales Transformation was not merely resisting the pressure—it was evolving through it.

'Good,' he thought firmly. 'Slowly but surely, I will stand.'

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