"One thousand and eighty-four." Adom's arms trembled as he lowered his chest toward the ground, the weight on his back pressing down like a small mountain. Sweat dripped from his forehead, forming a growing puddle on the stone floor of the training room."One thousand and eighty-five."His muscles screamed in protest. Every fiber in his shoulders, chest, and arms felt like it was on fire. The half a ton of draconite metal strapped to his back might as well have been the weight of the world itself."One thousand and eighty-six."This was it. His previous record. His arms shook violently as he pushed himself up, fighting against gravity and the heaviest metal known to exist. His breathing came in ragged gasps.He tried to lower himself again for eighty-seven.His arms gave out halfway down.For a moment, he hung there, suspended between success and failure, his body trembling with exhaustion. Every instinct told him to collapse, to let the weight win, to accept that this was his limit.But he'd been at this for five years. Five years of pushing his body beyond what any reasonable person would consider possible. Five years of turning himself into something that was hardly human anymore.He wasn't stopping at his old record.With a sound that was half growl, half desperate gasp, Adom forced his arms to extend. Slowly. Agonizingly. His entire body shook with the effort, but he completed the rep."One thousand and eighty-seven."The moment he finished, Adom rolled sideways, letting the massive weight slide off his back and crash to the floor with a sound like thunder. He sprawled on the cool stone, gasping for air, his chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon.His new record.A familiar chime echoed in his mind, followed by the appearance of a translucent window .[Primordial Body has reached Level 2!][Benefits (...)