Wei glanced back. She saw a man walking straight toward her. He looked young—around twenty-three—but his voice belonged to someone in his fifties.
"What's going on here…?" a heavy voice echoed as he arrived.
Who is he…? Wei wondered, knowing Hao would hear her thoughts.
"He's the principal of this academy— Principal Shegan," Hao answered through thought.
"But he looks so young. How can he be a principal at that age?" Wei thought back.
"He's actually fifty-five. He used to be a Holy Knight, so even at his age he still looks this young," Hao explained.
"Ah… so that's how it is." Wei understood immediately.
"Nothing much, Principal Shegan… we were conducting the test," Instructor Ren said respectfully.
"I saw a blast from my office. What was that?" the principal asked.
"Sir, that was Wei," Saren said quickly, drawing his attention toward Wei.
"Oh? So it was you. This year we truly have some talented students," the principal commented with a light smile.
"Sir, she cheated! No first-year academy student can use magic on that level," Leon said loudly.
"Who said an academy student cannot use such magic?" the principal interrupted him sharply.
"What do you mean…?" Leon asked, confused.
"Let me speak to the girl first. You can question me afterwards," the principal said.
His tone silenced everyone, and Wei wondered what questions he intended to ask.
More students gathered around as whispers filled the area—Kael, Eryan, and Rael among them.
"Wei, what is your rank and level?" the principal asked.
"My rank is E… and level Twelve " Wei lied calmly.
"Level twelve, hmm… Then how many times have you cast magic?"
"Five times," Wei replied.
"Oh? Five times. That must have used a lot of MP. Then tell me—how many elements can you cast?" he continued.
"Almost four… but if I cast every four element, I can only use each one once or twice."
"I see… so you have magic, but no mana."
"You could say that. I simply have a low MP," Wei corrected politely.
"Haha… interesting. Would you show me a spell?" His eyes sparkled with excitement—he hadn't met a promising student in years.
"Forgive me for interrupting, sir… but Wei has already used a lot of mana earlier. I doubt she can cast more," Liang stepped in.
"Yes, Principal. My brother is right. I've used too much mana," Wei added.
"Brother? Are you Instructor Liang's sister?"
"Yes, sir… she's my sister," Liang answered.
"But Liang… I thought you had twin siblings?"
"I do. This is Wei, and this is Hao. They're my younger brother and sister."
"Very well. Wei, once your MP recovers, show me your magic. I'll be waiting," the principal said with a soft smile.
"Of course," Wei nodded.
The principal turned to leave—
"Principal!"
Saren stopped him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Sir… this girl cheated. How can anyone use four types of elements?"
"Saren, who told you humans cannot use four elements?"
"Principal, I've never seen anyone use more than two…" Saren replied arrogantly.
"But you must have heard—our ancestors used all elements," he said calmly.
"But sir, weren't they SS-rankers? And there are no SS-rankers now. Those things are just stories written in books," Saren insisted, supported by murmurs from others.
"You think what's written in books is a myth? It's not. Sometimes a person receives the blessing of all the gods—allowing them to use all elements," the principal said firmly.
"So how can you ask such questions?" he added, silencing her completely.
"Even so, sir… you should at least check whether Wei cheated or not," Evelyne spoke.
"Fine. Wait—I'll check. Miss Ren, bring me the Echo Crystal."
Ren quickly fetched the Echo Crystal and handed it to him.
"Lumen memoria—reveal the unseen!"
With the incantation, the crystal glowed, projecting a wide screen that displayed all the recorded tests.
The principal fast-forwarded to Wei's turn.
The crowd watched in silence—every spell Wei cast came directly from her own hands. No magical device, no cheat item.
"There is no cheat item. Which means—Wei did not cheat," the principal declared, before turning away.
"You heard him. Leon, get ready to be my sister's servant," Hao said smugly.
"Servant…?" Kael looked confused.
Kael, Eryan, and Rael had just arrived and didn't know about the previous argument.
"Ask your friend," Hao said.
"What's going on?" Kael asked Leon.
"I made a bet. If Wei could move the mithril dummy, I'd become her servant for a month," Leon explained.
"Hmm… I get it. She didn't just move it—she dealt heavy damage, didn't she?" Kael said, having watched the recording.
"Yes…" Leon sighed.
Turning to Wei, he added,
"I keep my word. Starting tomorrow, I'm your servant."
"Sure," Wei replied casually.
Leon stormed off with an annoyed expression, and the others followed.
"Jin, handle things here. I'll be back," Liang ordered before leading Wei and Hao away.
A short distance away, in a quiet corner, Liang finally stopped.
He stared at the two of them intensely.
"What's with that look? Why are you staring like that, brother?" Hao asked.
"Do I look uneducated to you? How did you two think I wouldn't find out the truth?" Liang said seriously.
Wei and Hao exchanged nervous glances—unsure what to do.
"Maybe we should tell him everything…" Hao thought.
Wei silently agreed.
"Brother… we didn't intend to lie. We just never got the right moment to explain," Hao said carefully.
"Then speak. Everything."
"We went hunting together. Suddenly Wei's level started rising rapidly… matching mine," Hao said.
"What do you mean?" Liang frowned.
"After she recovered, we went to the Dusky Forest. In two days, Wei reached level fourteen. After fighting the Red Wolf, both of us became level sixteen," Hao explained.
"Wait… yesterday during dinner, was she really talking about hunting Red Wolves? We thought we were misheard."
"No, she meant it. I said 'baby wolves' to cover it up," Hao admitted.
"Why lie to me?" Liang asked again, softer this time.
"We just didn't get the right chance to tell you," Wei said.
"She's stronger now—it's good for her. No one will trouble her anymore," Hao added.
"…You're right," Liang sighed.
"Come here."
Both of them stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
"Remember this—I'm your big brother. Even if you do something wrong, you can still come to me. I will always help you. Understand?" Liang said gently.
He felt guilty for making them uncomfortable enough to hide something so big.
"Okay, brother," Wei replied with a wide smile.
The three of them shared a warm moment.
"I have to go. More students are waiting for their tests. You two get something to eat from the canteen," Liang said before heading back.
Wei and Hao sat in the canteen, eating fried meat.
"Is meat the only thing they serve here? This is so boring," Wei complained, chewing a slice.
"You don't like it? Then what do you want to eat?" Hao asked.
"Hmm…" Wei thought.
"I don't have a favorite dessert or anything… but I don't want to waste my second life eating the same meat every day."
"You had more dishes in your old world?" Hao looked curious.
"Yes, many. If I get the ingredients, I'll cook them for you," Wei smiled.
"I'll look forward to it," Hao said happily.
After finishing their meal, they headed to their department.
Inside the department's training room, Wei was teaching Hao martial arts and boxing.
"I think you've learned the basics," Wei said with a grin.
"So what now?" Hao asked.
"Since this world isn't mine…" Wei said.
"So…?" Hao waited.
"We're going to make some changes. Simple."
"…Changes?" Hao echoed.
"Watch carefully and copy me," Wei said.
She stepped into the center of the training room and took a martial arts stance. Hao watched intently.
Wei gathered her mana, focusing it into her hands. Then she began moving—karate strikes flowing with sharp precision.
With every movement, a burst of force shot from her hands, slicing through the air like a physical strike of mana.
"Wow…" Hao gasped, stunned.
Her moves looked simple, but the mana woven into each strike made every blow feel overwhelmingly powerful.
"You just need to use your mana in combat form like this," Wei said.
"When did you learn this? You've only been in this world for a few weeks! And you already created your own combat style?" Hao asked in disbelief.
"I just infused martial arts with mana. Nothing much," Wei replied casually.
"It's not that easy… I only mastered it properly two days ago. Try it. You'll get it after some practice," she said, sitting down at a nearby table.
"Alright…" Hao tried.
But he couldn't gather his mana properly—sometimes it wouldn't form in his hands, other times the flow broke.
"I think I should learn mana control first…" Hao muttered before walking out.
"Haha… I knew he'd say that," Wei laughed as he left.
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