BOOM!
At first, Orion only registered a deafening ring in his ears, as the massive hammer hadn't actually struck his physical form.
But a split second later, a wave of numbness, swelling pressure, and agonizing pain erupted from every single tentacle on his body, instantly severing his perception of the outside world.
The colossal hammer fell again and again. With each strike, his body was treated like raw iron on an anvil—shattered, then forcefully compressed. Through this brutal process, the hidden impurities within his form were violently purged, bit by bit.
If the first trial was focused on forging external artifacts, this second stage was entirely about forging the flesh itself. Endure three thousand strikes to be reborn, or perish on the anvil.
Orion finally understood what those dying sparks of cosmic fire had been when he first arrived. They were the extinguished life forces of previous challengers from the Death-Soul Race.
CRACK! SNAP!
