Charlotte, ever the eager one, rushed towards the stairway with her super-speed and begin her climb. Almost all the youths in the crowd also followed her footsteps, not willing to yield to her eagerness, yearning to showcase their talent and awe their peers!

Despite the commotion, and the blood pumping sense of excitement amongst the crowd. Percy remained calm as he observed the crowd who are rushing up the wide stairway that is 888 steps high.

This is because Percy understood that he is not a natural, he did not have the advantage over those youths due to the lack of a superpower. He had learnt the hard way from young to not rush headfirst into things and to observe the situation first before striking hard and fast.

Leo threw a glance at Percy and smirked, finding Percy to be an interesting recruit who is not swayed by the crowd and is able to tackle the situation calmly

In a short span of 30 seconds, most of the youths who rushed up the stairway started to feel dizzy and collapsed before the 40th step. Even Charlotte who is on the 94th step was forced to slow her pace to a crawl as she felt the strong pressure pushing down on her that is increasing with each step.

To ensure these 'casualty' do not hinder the progress of others, Leo signalled for nearby soldiers to begin evacuating them to the med bay at the academy.

"Fools! Do you think you are all gifted children blessed by the heavens?!" Leo boomed as he shakes his head in disapproval. "Even I wouldn't dare to challenge the stairway in such a way! Remember, this is not a sprint, but a marathon!"

Percy pondered on the speech by Leo, though he had yet to understand the mechanism behind this, he realized that this ceremony is not about speed but progress! No matter how slow one may be, so long he reaches the top at the end of it, it will be all worth it!

With this newfound understanding, Percy approached the stairway. Of course, he is not the only one who kept his wits and stayed behind, another individual with a proud bearing stride towards the stairway, passing Percy to begin his climb. Percy looked up at this young man and noticed that despite his slow pace, each step he took seemed light and weightless, almost as if he is floating slightly above the steps. His dashing appearance and crisp dark blue attire also reinforced his image and made him seemed almost noble!

Percy complained inwardly that the heavens sure are unfair, as all their blessings are seemingly bestowed upon that young man. Percy shakes his head and lightly slaps his face as he tries to reorient himself to the task on hand. For he is here today to take his first step towards greatness!

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Percy finally took his first step on the stairway, he felt a rush of spiritual energy originating from the stairway flowing through his body, rushing towards his brain. Suddenly, his heart started to pound, gradually increasing in speed and strength such that he can see his veins popping and even hear his pulse! With a dim glow originating from his chest, this flow of spiritual energy that was originally bound for his brain starts to divert itself towards his heart instead. As Percy struggle and panic over this crisis, he heard a mechanical female voice.

['Another' program executed successfully. Detected spiritual energy source, diverting energy source to the power core.]

[Charging power core 0%... 0.01%...]

Percy collapsed on the ground as he became overwhelmed by the surge of spiritual energy flowing into him. The flow of spiritual energy stored within the stairway became chaotic and this phenomenon did not go unnoticed by Leo as he dashed towards the mechanical lever to shut the power off.

The chaotic flow of spiritual energy flowing into Percy slowed Leo's speed as he felt the chaotic energy pushing against him, and the strength of this pressure seemed to increase with every step Leo took.

[0.02%...0.03%...]

At this moment, Leo's eye sparkled and turned red as he let out a grunt, releasing an aura cloaking over Leo. A faint translucent image of a lion's head can be seen overlapping his head, roaring against the chaotic spiritual energy flow.

[0.04%...]

Even with this, Leo struggled as he inched towards the lever. Sweat can be seen dripping from his face as he grits his teeth for the final push towards the lever. Finally, he reached the lever and turned it off. Shutting off the flow of energy emitted from the stairway, releasing the pressure the chaotic spiritual energy had placed upon him.

[…0.05%... Exhausted immediate spiritual energy source. Switching into power-saving mode. *Warning* The system has minimal functionality in power saving mode, recommending the host to provide a new energy source to recharge the system and regain its full functionality.]

[Begin diagnostic of the host. Detected host to be of human origin. Based on the incomplete archived records, analyzing risk factor. Analyzed odds of host perishing within 1 month to be at 100%. Guidance protocol booted….]

After hearing the final words from this female mechanical voice, Percy finally lost consciousness due to the strain placed upon him during the spiritual energy absorption process done by the System.

The sudden loss of spiritual energy from the stairway confused the remaining youths who were undergoing the ceremony.

At this moment, Leo pointed at Percy and listlessly commanded, "Soldiers! Evacuate that recruit to the med bay at the academy…. And request a team of scientist to diagnose today's incident. As for the rest of you, the ceremony is over, proceed to the academy hall and await further instructions."

"But Sir! What about my ceremony? This is supposed to be my chance to unlock my superpower!" a slender, sly looking young man with greasy hair questioned as he jogs down the stairs towards Leo.

"This is an order! Soldiers! Guide these recruits to the hall to wait for further instructions!" Leo howled as he is still trying to catch his breath from the earlier incident.

"Yes Sir!" the platoon of soldiers resounded as they quickly form up and split the tasks amongst themselves and begin carrying out their orders.