Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 391: Game Date [I / Bonus Chapter]

The moment the trio crossed the threshold onto the polished quartz flooring, the energy of the grand lobby washed over them.

"Haah... I love this place."

Unlike the suffocating silence of high-society boutiques, this place thrummed with life.

Towering holographic banners suspended from the soaring glass ceiling flickered with vibrant game sprites, pulsing leaderboards, and animated championship brackets.

Stationed immediately beside the golden velvet-rope entryway was a reception desk forged from brushed obsidian and glowing azure crystal.

Behind the counter stood a pair of immaculately dressed receptionists in sleek gold-trimmed vests and crisp white shirts, their posture straight and welcoming.

The moment their eyes caught Harper’s unmistakable violet hair and Silas’s imposing presence, the head receptionist bowed deeply from the waist.

"Welcome to The Grand Nexus, esteemed Lords," the receptionist greeted them with practiced reverence. "Are we initiating a standard seasonal pass today, or shall I calibrate the sovereign corporate suites for your party?"

"Give us the full platinum package," Harper commanded with an energetic grin.

She stepped straight up to the automated platinum terminal embedded in the counter, pulling her sleek black corporate card from her pocket and tapping it against the runic sensor.

BEEP-CHIME!

The machine chimed in a rapid cheerful ascending trill.

A concealed mechanical dispenser slid open, neatly pushing forward three heavy gold-trimmed digital Nexus Cards that thrummed with pulsing magical current.

"Three unrestricted sovereign cards loaded with unlimited baseline credits," the receptionist announced, extending them on a velvet tray with a bow. "All tiers, private battle enclosures, and sensory simulation vaults are fully unlocked. Please enjoy your evening at The Grand Nexus..."

"Thanks!" Harper chirped, scooping up the cards.

She spun on her heel, thrusting one card into Silas’s chest and offering the second to Seraphina with a smug theatrical flourish.

Seraphina did not take the card immediately.

She reached out with two manicured fingers, gingerly pinching the glowing gold-rimmed rectangle as if it were a rare volatile alchemical sample.

She held it up to the light of the chandelier, turning it over with deep skepticism.

"What is the operational function of this plastic rectangle?" Seraphina asked, her melodic voice carrying an unmistakably haughty edge. "Am I required to channel my concentrated crimson flame into the circuitry to initiate the mechanisms?"

"No, Princess, it’s money," Harper laughed, shaking her head at the noblewoman’s sheltered cluelessness. "You tap it against the scanner, you play the games, and you try not to throw a royal tantrum when I completely crush you. Follow me... first up is the Titan Hammer Strikers!"

Harper led the way across the vibrant floor, her sneakers squeaking lightly against the immaculate tiles as Silas and Seraphina followed behind.

They arrived at a cordoned-off physical performance zone dominated by a towering, reinforced steel apparatus that looked less like a carnival attraction and more like an industrial siege weapon salvaged from a dwarven fortress.

The striking base was a colossal glowing anvil forged from enchanted dark-iron, bolted directly into the foundation.

Rising behind it was a massive segmented vertical column of crystalline light that stretched forty feet toward the vaulted ceiling.

A digital banner flickered brightly across the top of the rig:

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[THE KINETIC IMPACT DECIMATOR - TITAN STRIKER RIG]

[TEST YOUR RAW MIGHT - NO MANA PERMITTED]

[YOUR STRENGTH IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS]

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Standing beside the safety railing of the strike platform was a dedicated game attendant... a burly broad-shouldered man wearing protective ear dampers and a heavy leather technician’s apron.

The attendant bowed respectfully as the three of them stepped onto the perimeter mat.

"Welcome to the Kinetic Impact Decimator, my Lords," the attendant introduced with a deep baritone. "The rules are entirely straightforward, yet brutally unforgiving... The platform beneath your feet emits an active null-field that completely suppresses internal mana circulation in case you are a true Lord or an Adventurer. You cannot rely on elemental enhancement, core reinforcement, or weight manipulation. This machine measures pure muscle power and explosive physical torque. The one with the highest kinetic yield claims the round..."

He turned to a magnetic weapon rack bolted beside the anvil, unlocking a heavy, two-handed alloy warhammer crafted from solid dense tungsten-steel.

The attendant offered the massive tool to Harper with two hands, grunting slightly beneath its deadweight.

"Here’s how it works," Harper explained to Seraphina, taking the heavy alloy hammer casually with a single hand and resting the sixty-pound head against the rubber floor. "You step onto the strike pad, grip the shaft, and deliver everything your muscles have got. Highest score takes the crown!"

Harper stepped firmly onto the center of the rubberized strike pad.

The moment her boots settled as a faint azure hum rippled through the floor... the null-field activating, sealing off her internal lightning reserves but Harper didn’t flinch.

Silas on the other hand rolled his eyes.

’It’s always mana suppression with these people... Tch...’

Her athletic legs planted wide, locking into a low stable center of gravity.

She rolled her shoulders, her competitive nature igniting as she hoisted the massive sixty-pound warhammer high above her head with both hands.

Her back muscles coiled tightly beneath her tailored jacket with her breath drawing in through her teeth.

"HAAAAH!"

With a fierce athletic grunt, Harper snapped her hips forward, bringing the tungsten warhammer down in a terrifying, full-body arc of pure momentum.

CLAAAANG!

The impact echoed across the open floor like the detonation of an artillery shell.

The dark-iron anvil shuddered violently on its bolts as the crystalline column of light surged upward in a blinding flash of white energy, rocketing past the 5,000-point mark, tearing through 8,000, and finally locking into place with a sharp chime.

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STRIKE RATING: 9,450 POINTS

RANK: VANGUARD CLASS - HIGH-TIER

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"Hah!" Harper gloated, tossing the heavy hammer toward Silas, who caught the spinning shaft effortlessly in mid-air.

She turned to Seraphina with a wide insufferably cocky grin. "Top ten on the daily facility leaderboard! Beat that with your fancy tea-party etiquette, Princess!"

Seraphina let out a cold sharp scoff, stepping onto the rubberized platform with her chin tilted high.

"A barbaric, unrefined display of peasant brute force," Seraphina declared, brushing a lock of crimson hair behind her shoulder. "However, House Bloom’s physical conditioning is flawless in every metric... Give me the implement."

Silas handed the warhammer over.

The moment Seraphina took the weapon, her slender arms dipped slightly beneath the sudden unassisted deadweight with the null-field instantly cutting off her internal flame mana.

’Ah... It’s quite heavy.’

Her jaw tightened in determination.

Despite her delicate hourglass frame, she was an awakened Lord... her power had been permanently elevated by years of high-tier core refinement.

Seraphina took a deep breath, planted her heeled boots firmly against the strike pad, and hoisted the hammer overhead.

"Yield to House Bloom!" Seraphina cried, bringing the weapon down with a sharp focused shout.

CRASH!

The hammer slammed into the anvil with a bright metallic crack.

The column of light shot up the glass tube, blazing through the mid-tiers before settling firmly at 7,800 POINTS - ELITE CLASS.

The machine chimed, dispensing a short ribbon of silver tickets.

Seraphina puffed out her cheeks in profound annoyance, glaring at the digital readout with sheer indignation.

"The gravitational calibration on this apparatus is clearly biased toward vulgar, unrefined brawlers! It failed to properly register the rotational torque of my strike!"

"Sure it did, Princess," Harper laughed, clutching her sides. "Keep telling yourself that! Your turn, Silas! Show her what a real strike looks like!"

The attendant stepped forward, looking at Silas with an appreciative nod. "Whenever you are ready... The platform is calibrated."

Silas stepped up to the rubber strike pad, casually holding the heavy sixty-pound warhammer in one loose grip.

He looked down at the dark-iron anvil and Silas didn’t activate his Mythic Gold Core.

’It’s probably going to end up the way it did in Shogitown...’

He didn’t attempt to channel a single fraction of mana against the platform’s null-field but his physical body was no longer that of a standard human.

Forged in the brutal crucible of multiple serious fights, his raw muscle fibers carried the terrifying power of a true Lord.

Silas shifted his stance slightly and he took a relaxed half-step forward with his broad shoulders dropping naturally into alignment.

’I should still hold back a bit... I can’t pay for broken equipment.’

Silas simply rotated his hips, coiled his core, and brought the hammer down in a clean, compact, and effortlessly violent arc.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The sound that detonated through the room was not the metallic ring of a hammer hitting an anvil.

It was a deafening sonic shockwave that rattled the teeth in everyone’s skulls and violently shook the rubber floorboards for thirty feet in every direction.

The attendant’s jaw dropped so fast his magnifying spectacles slid off his nose.

The vertical column of light didn’t climb... it exploded.

The energy beam violently shattered through the 10,000-point ceiling in a fraction of a millisecond, blew past the facility’s all-time historical high score, and completely fried the internal sensory conduits of the glass pillar.

BZZZZT-CRACKLE!

A shower of harmless, bright blue sparks rained from the top of the tower as the digital display violently strobed in crimson warning text.

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[CRITICAL ALERT: STRUCTURAL OVERLOAD]

SCORE: 19,850 - TITAN MONARCH CLASS

[NEW ALL-TIME FACILITY RECORD]

=========================================

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHUNK!

The ticket dispenser went completely haywire.

It began vomiting an unbroken, endless river of golden tickets that spilled over the platform, pooling around Silas’s heavy boots like a shimmering fountain.

Harper’s jaw dropped so low it looked as though it were about to detach from her skull.

Seraphina stood completely frozen, staring at the smoking, visibly dented dark-iron anvil. Her crimson eyes were wide with starry-eyed bewilderment.

"The... the output..." Seraphina whispered, her chest heaving as she stared at his broad shoulders in awe. "Without mana... that was purely his physical power..."

Silas casually stepped off the platform, setting the slightly warped hammer back onto the magnetic rack with a soft click.

He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

"The balance on the grip is pretty good," Silas muttered deadpan.

The attendant scrambled forward, frantically hitting reset runes on the smoking console while staring at Silas as if an ancient dragon had just casually strolled into his arcade.

"A-A thousand honors! I... I shall preserve this impact crater for the archives!"

"That was a crude measurement of brute force," Seraphina declared firmly, turning her back on the broken anvil and crossing her arms with determined pride. "A true Lord relies on cognitive processing, spatial awareness, and immaculate reaction time so take us to an apparatus that tests mental acuity."

’Tch, what a sore loser.’

Harper rolled her eyes, but a competitive smirk returned to her face.

"Fine by me, Princess. Let’s see how fast that royal brain works when things start flying at your face."

They moved to the eastern wing of the second floor, arriving before a massive circular pavilion dominated by four sealed hemispherical domes forged from transparent, reinforced poly-crystal.

Above the central archway, a glowing holographic title spun in mid-air: The Holographic Reflex Dome.

Stationed at the entrance of the Dome zone was a sharp professional female attendant holding a digital tracking pad.

She bowed crisply as the three Lords approached.

"Welcome to the Holographic Reflex Dome," the attendant explained with a polite voice. "This simulation evaluates tracking, micro-reflexes, and selective cognitive processing... Once inside the active field, our light-projector arrays will launch high-velocity photon orbs at random vectors around your body. The rules are simple: you must strike Red orbs with physical force, dodge Blue orbs entirely, and cleanly catch Green orbs in mid-air. Striking a Blue orb or missing a Red orb results in immediate combo termination. The difficulty scales dynamically every ten seconds."

"Finally, a test worthy of noble intellect..." Seraphina declared smoothly.

She swiped her gold-trimmed Nexus Card at the entry turnstile and stepped gracefully into the center of the transparent glass dome.

BEEP-BEEP-GO!

The internal projection arrays flared to life.

Within a fraction of a second, dozens of luminescent fist-sized light-orbs exploded into motion, whizzing through the air around Seraphina’s head like a swarm of hyperactive, glowing hornets.

Seraphina’s demeanor shifted instantly into that of a high-tier combat prodigy.

’Let me impress my man...’

Her long crimson hair flowed like liquid fire as she danced across the circular platform with breathtaking elegance.

She ducked beneath a cluster of high-speed blue orbs with millimeters to spare, pivoted on the ball of her foot to shatter incoming red orbs with sharp precise palm strikes, and reached out with razor-thin focus to snatch green orbs straight out of the air.

Her movements were seamless, disciplined, and mesmerizing to watch.

The speed doubled, then tripled, the orbs blurring into streaks of light, but Seraphina’s focus remained ironclad until the final chime sounded.

DING-DING-DING!

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[ROUND COMPLETE]

SCORE: 4,850 - GRANDMASTER REFLEX

ACCURACY: 98.4%

=========================================

Seraphina glided out of the glass dome, casually brushing a stray lock of crimson hair behind her ear.

She looked down her nose at Harper, shooting the woman an arrogant triumphant smirk.

"Observe and despair, woman," Seraphina mocked smoothly. "Precision is bred through centuries of noble lineage."

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