Chapter 499 Growing Pressure Andar made a pushing gesture with both of his palms as if he were trying to touch them together, this motion began drawing the bracelets hovering in the air, together. The three bracelets were about six inches away from each other, and with every inch he brought them closer, the force generated from their resistance increased. Loud blasts erupted from the space in between the bracelet like a volcano erupting, bringing with it hurricane-class winds. Each of the bracelets was either rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise, as Andar was deciphering the mystical combination that would allow him to fit them together. This was both a rigorous and delicate process that needed his devoted attention. This process was still difficult, almost as if he was trying to solve a Diophantine equation while randomly tapping on the pages with a pen and hoping something would stick. Well, Andar had a lot of pens, his Gray Will gave him millions, and those pens could write really, really fast. He was like the monkey given a typewriter and unlimited time, after an infinity, he would write a complete work of Shakespeare. [Andar did not understand how this Analogy came to his heart. He dismissed it as a vestige left behind by the Main Body.] Yet, Andar understood that Gray Will had already been used to decipher the equation up to this extent, and he was already spent, he could no longer determine what would happen next because this fell outside his equation, he only had to push on and merge the bracelets, which slowly came closer once more. At this time there were five inches separating the bangles and Andar began to feel a crushing weight around his body, ignoring that sensation because his physique was tough enough to handle it, he pushed forward and was rewarded with the bangles coming closer, reducing the distance to four inches. As the pressure was ramping up, he did not hesitate to push it closer, leaving three inches. His footing nearly gave way as the ground before him vapourised, spreading cracks for hundreds of feet around. His quick reflex saved him as he diverted a portion of the force threatening to squeeze him into a paste, and set them below his feet so he was standing in midair. The Acolytes screamed in surprise at this new development, and the supervising Mages began moving everyone backward until there was a space of at least a thousand feet around Andar. Looking from the corner of his eyes Andar sighed in relief and finally released the barrier he was using to cover his body and the Talisman Bench. A loud crack like thunder escaped from his body, and an ephemeral force he had been keeping locked around his body was now released. The ground around him for six hundred feet was suddenly pressed down twelve inches as if a giant fist had slammed against the earth, crushing the hundreds of Talisman Benches to rubble, all the Acolytes had been drawn away from that region by the supervising Mage, else thousands would have perished. However, this was not the end as every Acolyte below the Third Rank fainted including Mira as the air for thousands of feet became congealed like concrete, and a formless pressure that was physical as well as mental impacted the audience. There would have been mass casualties among the Acolytes if not for the Mages anticipating this oncoming pressure and blocking the pressure that the Acolytes could not withstand, however, they did not cancel it entirely leaving the pressure below Rank 3 of the Acolyte realm, for this was a form of training for the Acolytes who were lucky to be here. This pressure was Tribulation! Any Acolyte that could withstand this pressure and rise would end up stronger for it. The eyes of every Mage here shined with appreciation at the pressure that Andar had been effortlessly enduring all this while. Even a Rank 1 Mage was getting uncomfortable as the pressure was making them sweat, but they would be damned if they retreated before an Acolyte. They would have no face to ever stand before this monster anymore. With the pressure reduced on his body, Andar could breathe a little easier. The force that spread out from him was only ten percent of the pressure he was enduring, judging by the fact that the earth beneath his feet had been vaporized and he was only holding himself up by a cushion of hardened air. Andar was performing many tasks by himself and unlike Rowan, he did not have multiple consciousnesses to bear all the weight of it all. He had to be simultaneously fighting off the bone-crushing pressure, and maintaining his focus while aligning the bracelets together. In addition to all that, there was a repulsive force from the three bracelets he had to carefully manage, otherwise, all his work would go down the drain. His head felt like it was about to burst open, every single muscle and nerve was screaming in discomfort, but he continued pushing through the agony, for him, pain could not trump the sweetness of victory. Mira's eyes struggled open, and she coughed blood, she looked at the ground in shock and looked at the figure of Andar. He seemed to be underwater as his figure was shrouded in a haze of violent rippling forces. Directly over Andar's head, a spectral image was beginning to be created, it was a bracer with three colors that appeared hazy but was slowly solidifying. She looked down at Andar whose face was locked in concentration, his hands slowly came closer and a shockwave erupted from his position accompanied by a flash of lightning. Mira blacked out once and she was not the only one, many Rank 1 Mages staggered and fell to their knees. The faces of the Rank 2's went white and the Rank 3 began to have an uneasy feeling in their heart. They recognized what Andar was creating and the sheer impossibility of it was causing them to reassess their estimation of this young man's potential.