My Muscle System in the Mage World

Aur's eyes trembled; his demeanor finally seemed lost.

"You are the person I first bought from."

In front of him stood an old man with a single leg and an eyepatch over his left eye.

"How did you find out that I'm not a Tier Seven Wizard?"

"Well, the answer is simple, brat. If it were a matter of logic, then without using any spells, it would have been basically impossible for me to find you. However, I have this handy thing."

He took out an old compass without a needle.

"This is what I call a relic of the past."

"Hmm?" Aur tilted his head with a confused expression. "Relic of the past?"

"From the Golden Era—the era where every path flourished, and the wizard path was basically non-existent."

"Interesting," Aur muttered, his eyes narrowing as he observed the object. "So this thing doesn't require any mana?"

The eye-patched old man chuckled softly, his voice tinged with amusement. "No, it's far from simple. This compass is... mysterious, to say the least. It doesn't require any fuel to function, works entirely on its own, and its capabilities... Well, they're too many to count. Even I haven't uncovered all its secrets yet."

Aur's head shot up, his skull-like visage trembling "Really?" he asked, his voice adopting a tone so innocent it sounded out of place.

The old man nodded with a slight grin. "Yeah, really."

Without hesitation, Aur extended his hand toward the compass, his movements almost playful. "Give it to me then," he said, his tone resembling a child reaching for candy.

The old man arched an eyebrow, the grin on his face widening. The tension in the air didn't dissipate—it grew heavier.

"Haha." The tall man chuckled, delivering a light kick to Aur's chest. The force sent him hurtling back into the molten volcano, his body vanishing momentarily beneath the bubbling surface.

"This kid has completely lost his mind," the man remarked, shaking his head in disdain.

But in moments, Aur floated back into the air, his posture eerily unshaken. His expression, oddly innocent, was now that of a child's, as he took slow, deliberate steps forward.

"Give me the compass," his tone was insistent, like a child demanding a toy.

"Haha!" The four Tier Seven Wizards erupted into mocking laughter, their amusement filling the air.

"He doesn't have the guts," one jeered.

"He's just a fool," another sneered. "What was he thinking, letting us enter this world? A pathetic joke."

The eye-patched old man laughed the loudest, his guffaws echoing in the air—until they stopped. His laughter cut off abruptly, and his face froze, his expression stiffening into something unnatural.

Aur's head tilted slightly, and when he spoke again, his voice was devoid of warmth, icy cold and sharp as a blade.

"Give me the compass," he repeated, his demeanor completely transformed.

"Hmph," the old man scoffed, though unease flickered in his single visible eye. "I knew you were faking it."

"Stella." Aur's voice boomed as he lunged forward, his raw, brutal speed sending a shockwave rippling through the air. His target was clear…

In an instant, the space around them twisted unnaturally, locking the area in place. The flow of mana froze entirely, cutting off all access to external sources of power.

Then came the crushing force—a terrifying pressure that seemed to press against the fabric of existence itself.

"Gravity: One million times," Stella uttered softly.

After uttering this, Stella's own body began to break apart, cracking like fragile glass, shattering piece by piece.

The eyepatched man stood motionless, his eye narrowing as the invisible force bore down upon him, countless unseen attacks targeting him from every direction. And yet, his expression didn't falter. A flicker of disdain crossed his face, and his lips curled into a disappointed sneer.

"If you think you can kill me so easily," he said coldly, "then you are delusional."

Behind him, the other three remained motionless, their postures relaxed. Amusement danced in their eyes, though faint traces of caution lingered beneath their calm exteriors. They observed the scene like spectators to a show, curious but not concerned.

"One glance at them, and I know they're just randomly formed parties," Aur thought rapidly as he soared through the air, his body pushing to its absolute limits in a desperate lunge forward.

Whether it was the force of his blood and Qi or his mastery over Magic, he poured every ounce of himself into the effort.

In a single, swift movement, he reached his target.

"What are you doing, brat?" the old man asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Di—"

"Here, take your respect." A creepy smile stretched across Aur's skinless face, grotesque and monstrous, like a nightmare as he tightly hugged the old man's body.

"Nooo—!" The old man's scream erupted, his eyes widening to their limits as his heart trembled violently.

His instincts flared like a raging forest fire, but even so, he was utterly helpless, every nano second felt like he was being dragged inexorably toward death's maw.

It felt like an eternity, yet in the blink of an eye, Aur and the eyepatched man vanished without a trace.

The sheer speed of their disappearance left the three Tier Seven wizards utterly flabbergasted.

"Where did that brat go?" the tallest of them asked, his voice tinged with confusion.

"He didn't use Space Magic, nor did he activate any ancient relic. So how did it happen?"

The same bewilderment flickered in the hearts of the other two Tier Seven wizards.

"It's not easy to kill a Tier Seven, anyway," the short one remarked confidently. "He should be fine."

…

The eyepatched old man found himself in a cramped, suffocating space with barely any room to move. He was completely immobilized, unable to even twitch a single muscle.

Pitch-black darkness surrounded him, pressing in from all sides.

"Where is this place?" he murmured, his voice trembling. Shaken to the core, he darted his gaze around, as though searching for answers in the oppressive void.

"How is it, old man?"

Aur's faint shadow emerged from the darkness, barely visible. His crimson pupils glowed menacingly as they locked onto the old man.

"You… how…!?"

The old man's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. Fury surged within him as he prepared to unleash his world's mana and obliterate Aur with overwhelming force. But then—

"My connection to my inner world… has been lost."

Frozen in absolute disbelief, the old man stood motionless, his mind struggling to process what was happening.

Aur stared at him in silence for a moment before clasping his hands together and bowing. "Here is your vain respect, old man. I will bow to you wholeheartedly, as much as you want."

"You…" the old man stammered, his voice trembling with suppressed rage and fear.

"Take your respect—and die with it." Aur raised his head, his crimson pupils narrowing into slits.

"Nooooo!" The old man's horrified scream echoed into the void as everything around him froze, his movements completely sealed.

Desperate, he summoned his artifacts—countless Tier Six treasures capable of cleaving mountains in half or annihilating millions with a single strike. But even these unparalleled tools of destruction were rendered useless.

One by one, they fell to irrelevance as he was crushed, piece by piece, under the overwhelming force of Aur's crumbling mental space. The entire dimension collapsed rapidly, dragging the old man into its annihilation.

"It's useless, old man. In my Mental Space, I am god," Aur declared coldly.

In the old man's wide, horror-filled eyes, Aur's image began to grow, looming larger and larger. His crimson, icy pupils seemed to pierce directly into the old man's soul.

"Mo... monster," the old man stammered, his parched lips trembling as despair gripped him.

He could feel it—an enormous, unseen palm making him dance like a monkey.