My Muscle System in the Mage World

"And I can't defend against it?" Aur asked, a scowl on his face. "Yes, master." Stella nodded. "With your image split, as long as you remain here, you'll be exposed to the coordinates of this world." "Hmm?" Aur closed his eyes, thinking carefully. He didn't have many choices right now. Going outside would be even more dangerous, as he wouldn't have the protection of those Tier Seven Wizards… "The Supreme Court," he muttered to himself. Nina and the Greater Lord Crystal had slipped through his grasp, and Aur had ruthlessly slaughtered everyone, including the Golden Army. Reconciliation was out of the question, not that Aur wanted it anyway. From the moment he glimpsed the future, Aur knew there was no chance of reconciliation. He would become nothing more than a guinea pig, a lab rat, if he entered the Supreme Court. Yet, he felt little resentment toward them; he might have done the same if he'd encountered a variable like himself. "But I will survive and grow stronger. I will reach Tier Nine." Aur's crimson pupils glinted fiercely as he commanded Stella. "Prepare for war." "Yes, master." Stella immediately bowed in response. "I've also brought the ingredients to prepare more potion—to help suppress this mark." "All right, master," Stella responded obediently. "I need to prepare for those Tier Seven Wizards. Until then, I must find ways to strengthen myself even further," Aur thought to himself. He quickly set to work, refining the potion to suppress the mark implanted by the Greater Lord Crystal. Time was of the essence; each moment could shift the outcome entirely. The process was extraordinarily tedious and complex. It took Aur a full day to complete the potion, but once it was ready, he drank it immediately, successfully suppressing the mark once more. He then refined five additional potions, which should last him another six months in the real world. While Stella prepared for the upcoming battles, Aur looked up at the ominous black pillar floating in the sky, his eyes narrowing as he observed it in silence. "This thing will help me refine my Mental Space, huh?" Aur murmured as he slowly reached out to touch the black pillar. Its surface was smooth and cool under his fingers. He tried to bite his finger, attempting to draw blood, but to no avail—the skin remained unbroken. "Forget it," he muttered, shaking his head. He pulled out a Tier Three Lethal Artefact and, with a casual slash, made a small cut on his finger. A thin scratch appeared, and a few drops of golden blood surfaced. The artefact disintegrated into dust, swept away by the wind. Aur let the droplets of golden blood fall onto the black pillar. Shing! The moment his blood touched it, the pillar lit up, radiating a bright and powerful light. "Get ready, Stella," Aur said softly. "Yes, master." Stella handed him a vial filled with a golden potion. Aur carefully added a few drops of his own blood to the vial and offered it as a sacrifice to the black pillar. As soon as the potion touched the pillar, its glow intensified, radiating even more light. "Now for the final touch," Aur murmured to himself. He raised his hand, and Stella moved behind him, placing her hand gently over his. In an instant, a shimmering purple circle appeared in the air, emanating the power of a Tier Four presence, hovering slowly above them. "I sacrifice thee as my offering to #### ### !@#$#@!..." Aur chanted in a strange, unintelligible language. Even though he didn't understand the words, with each syllable, the black pillar vibrated, resonating deeply with his voice. Then, in a sudden flash, the black pillar surged upward, merging completely with the glowing purple circle in the air. Aur watched as the black pillar seamlessly merged into his body. "Muscle system," he muttered to himself, closing his eyes to focus all his attention on his system's internal space. He extended his hand, and a small black void appeared. The merged black pillar flowed from his hand, vanishing into the void and settling within his system space. For a moment, Aur felt nothing, which made him tilt his head in mild confusion. "Hmm?" "Master Aur, what is that void?" Stella asked curiously. "You don't need to know," he replied casually. He looked back at his system interface, noticing that the storage stats were slowly flickering, showing signs of change. — Storage Space: 0/3 cubic metres — Despite all the effort Aur had put into understanding Space Magic, his Storage Space remained the same. Time was always a bitch, and expanding his space would demand far more time than he could currently spare. Although three cubic metres was a small limit, he had no choice but to work within it for now. As he pondered this, the storage stats suddenly vanished from his system, and Aur felt an unfamiliar connection deep within—something linking directly to his soul. He couldn't quite explain it, but the connection was unmistakable. Aur closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself in a confined space, shrouded in darkness. "I did it." A smile spread across his face. He had truly done it. With an authentic Mental Space once again, connected directly to his soul and fully under his control, Aur had regained his status as a true Wizard. "This Mental Space feels even more connected to me than my original one," Aur mused, raising his brows in surprise before returning to reality. He picked up a stone from the ground, glancing at it—and in an instant, it vanished. "It can't be…" Aur's eyes widened as he sensed the stone inside his mental space. With a single thought, he brought it back into reality. "Does it even have the functionality of my system's storage space? Could I use this on living beings as well?" His gaze shifted to the rat king, cowering in a corner, its eyes wide with fear. In an instant, Aur appeared beside the rat king and placed a hand on it. "Become my experiment." The rat king vanished, reappearing in Aur's cramped Mental Space. Here, Aur was a god, able to control everything within it. He could even block mana entirely, making spellcasting impossible—or, at the very least, extremely difficult.