The school infirmary was quiet at dawn.
Xu Mang sat on the edge of the bed, jacket folded neatly beside him. His ribs still ached with each breath, but the Wind path spell Lu Mei cast last night had already knitted most of the deeper bruising. A faint cold breeze circled his ankles.
The Frost Star Wolf lay curled under the bed—not asleep, but unmoving, eyes half-open.
Xu Mang leaned down. "Still sulking?"
The wolf huffed quietly, turning its head away.
Xu Mang didn't blame him. The first real defeat cut deeper than any wound. The Evolving Warrior monster had thrown them around like toys. Even Wolfie's extreme frost did little to slow it.
"We lost fair and square," Xu Mang said. "No excuses."
Wolfie let out a low, embarrassed whine.
Xu Mang put a hand on its crown. "Good. Remember how it felt. Because if we repeat that in the Bo City Disaster… we die."
He slid off the bed slowly, testing his balance. Pain flickered under his ribs again, faint but sharp. He ignored it. They didn't have time to rest.
Lu Mei walked in a moment later, carrying a clipboard under one arm and her staff under the other. Her hair was tied differently today—practical, high, professional.
"You're awake," she said. "Good. You heal faster than most novices."
"It was just bruising," Xu Mang replied.
"That wasn't bruising," Lu Mei said flatly. "Your right lung was nearly punctured. Your wolf's shoulder joint was half-frozen from mana backlash. And your nervous system is almost overloaded from using Lightning while injured."
She stepped closer, her eyes sharp.
"If I had been two seconds later, you would've died. And your wolf would've been eaten."
Wolfie shrank down, ears flat.
Xu Mang nodded once. "We understand."
"Do you?" Lu Mei asked. "Because I heard you're planning to train again tonight." By the way I see that you're like my little brother and have 2 elements. How is that so?
"Not tonight,This morning. I won't but I, as your brother, am lucky also to be a once in a generation mage " Xu Mang said.
Lu Mei stared at him for a long moment.
"You're insane," she concluded. "But the determined kind."
She signed the paper on her clipboard with a flick of her pen and handed it to him.
"Do yourself a favor. Train outside the barrier today. Fresh air. No sewers. And don't fight alone."
Then she leaned in slightly, voice low.
"There's an old saying among intermediate mages: 'If you can't kill your weakness, you train until your weakness dies on its own.'"
She turned, walking toward the door. "Figure out which one happened last night."
Xu Mang watched her leave.
Wolfie climbed out from under the bed, shook once, and stared at the door.
"Don't look at me like that," Xu Mang said. "She's right."
The wolf puffed out a cold breath, forming a tiny cloud in front of its nose.
"Let's go."
They left the infirmary.
The safe zone outside the eastern wall was misty at sunrise.
Xu Mang stepped past the metal fence and into the sparse forest, inhaling deeply. The air tasted different out here—sharper, cleaner, carrying the faint pulse of untamed mana.
Wolfie stretched its tiny limbs, frost drifting from its paws, eyes alert.
Xu Mang knelt and drew a line in the dirt.
"Training starts simple."
Wolfie tilted its head.
"Lightning control."
Xu Mang summoned the Lightning stars. Seven points of light aligned quickly, their familiar arcs humming with sharp tension. He could reach Level 2 easily—but Level 3 required stability, not strength.
And last night, he had failed in stability.
He directed the lightning around him, shaping it into a tight orbit, then compressing it until it buzzed against his skin.
Too fast, it exploded.
Too slow, it fizzled.
Perfect speed—
He let go.
A thin bolt tore through the air and pierced a thick tree trunk. Bark exploded outward.
Wolfie barked sharply, impressed but irritated—clearly comparing it to how little damage it had done to the sewer monster.
"Yeah. I know."
Xu Mang tightened his grip on the pendant at his chest.
Next: Summoning control.
He formed the silver crescent. This time, it didn't shake. The gate opened a sliver—just enough for the Summoning Plane's cold to whisper through.
A drifting fragment of lightning herb fluttered out, pulled by Wolfie's breath of frost.
Xu Mang caught it.
Still too slow.
Still not enough.
Footsteps approached.
Lu Jun.
He walked through the grass, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. His White Tiger Pendant glimmered faintly, sensing the Summoning Gate.
"You're training already," Lu Jun said.
Xu Mang didn't stop. "Can't afford to fall behind."
Lu Jun watched the lightning orbit form again. "Your control is good. Precision's the issue."
"Yeah." Xu Mang nodded. "Lightning is fast. Too fast. If I can't direct it perfectly, I'll tear myself apart when I reach Intermediate Tier."
Lu Jun sat on a fallen log. "Wolfie okay?"
Wolfie growled softly, eyes narrowing. Lu Jun laughed. "He looks offended."
Xu Mang sighed. "He thought he could handle an Evolving Warrior."
Lu Jun grew quiet.
"You two aren't weak," he said quietly. "The monster was too strong."
"And there will be stronger ones," Xu Mang replied. "Bo City Disaster won't wait for us to catch up."
Lu Jun leaned forward. "Let me help."
Xu Mang looked at him.
"I'm not saying I'm stronger," Lu Jun said. "But I can tell when someone is overloading their meridians. Your lightning flow is wrong at the end of the orbit."
Xu Mang blinked. "You can see that?"
"I have Space as my hidden element," Lu Jun said. "My perception is naturally sharper."
Xu Mang lowered his hands.
"…Show me."
Lu Jun didn't."Alright,Alright you know I have the Metal element but don't tell anyone or else the heresy court will be on both our asses"
One correction.
One shift in timing.
One adjustment in star-order.
And the lightning orbit tightened.
Xu Mang stared at his hand. "That fast?"
Lu Jun shrugged. "Sometimes you just need someone who sees differently."
Wolfie barked once, tail flicking.
Xu Mang exhaled.
"Thanks."
Lu Jun stood. "We're all in this together. Bo City needs all three of us—Mo Fan included."
Xu Mang nodded slowly.
"Speaking of Mo Fan," Lu Jun added, "he passed the Hunter's exam yesterday morning."
"Good," Xu Mang said. "He'll get battlefield experience early."
Lu Jun smiled faintly. "And maybe come back alive."
Xu Mang didn't smile.
Not yet.
"We still have a long way to go."
Lightning crackled between his fingers. Wolfie stepped closer, frost forming a circle around its paws.
And for the first time since the defeat, Xu Mang felt the path forward solidify.
He wasn't strong enough.
Not yet.
But he would be.
Because this time—
Bo City wouldn't fall the same way.