Wei Xuan woke before dawn, his body feeling different—lighter, stronger. He sat up carefully, checking his limbs. No visible changes, but the mana inside him had grown. Not by much, maybe ten percent, but enough to notice. One night of cultivation. One small improvement. It works.
Marcus stirred in his bunk, mumbling something about breakfast. Wei Xuan waited until his roommate's breathing evened out again, then closed his eyes. He needed to test this properly. Wei Xuan focused inward, and the mana responded immediately, flowing through his channels like it had been waiting. He guided it through a full circulation—down from his core, through his legs, up his spine, across his shoulders, down his arms, back to the center.
The academy taught partial circulation. Small loops. Safe and slow. Wei Xuan was doing full-body cultivation, the kind that took years to master in the novels he'd read. Except here, no one knew it was possible. The mana completed its circuit, and Wei Xuan felt warmth spread through his chest. His muscles relaxed, then tensed with new strength.
He opened his eyes. The room looked sharper, colors more vivid. He could hear Marcus's heartbeat, steady and slow. Wei Xuan clenched his fist, and the mana gathered there instantly, responding to his will. This is just the beginning.
"You look better today." Marcus was pulling on his academy robes, yawning. Morning light filtered through the narrow window, painting everything gray-gold.
"Slept well," Wei Xuan said, strapping on his wand.
"Good. You'll need it." Marcus grabbed his wand from the desk. "Gareth's doing combat drills today. Sparring matches."
Wei Xuan paused. "Sparring?"
"Yeah. Tier 1 students only, so at least we won't get destroyed by the seniors." Marcus grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Still gonna be rough, though. Most of us can barely cast a shield spell."
They headed to the training grounds together. The sun was barely up, but dozens of students were already there, stretching or practicing basic spells. Wei Xuan spotted a few familiar faces from yesterday. No one looked at him directly.
Instructor Gareth stood at the center of the grounds, arms crossed, his expression as welcoming as a stone wall. "Line up!" The students scrambled into formation. Wei Xuan and Marcus took their places near the back.
Gareth's gaze swept over them. "Combat is the foundation of magic. Spells mean nothing if you can't use them under pressure." He gestured to the training circle marked in white chalk. "You'll spar in pairs. Three-minute rounds. Use any Tier 1 spell you know. First to land a clean hit wins."
Murmurs rippled through the group. Some students looked excited. Most looked nervous. "First pair: Marcus and Finn."
Marcus's face went pale. He glanced at Wei Xuan, who nodded once. You can do this. Marcus stepped into the circle. His opponent—Finn, a stocky boy with red hair—grinned confidently.
"Begin!"
Finn moved first, his wand flicking out. A bolt of fire shot toward Marcus. Marcus raised his wand. "Shield!" A translucent barrier appeared, and the fireball hit it and fizzled out. Finn didn't wait. He cast again, faster this time. Another fireball, then another. Marcus blocked the first, but the second slipped past his guard and grazed his shoulder.
"Point to Finn!" Marcus stepped back, breathing hard. His shoulder smoked slightly, but he wasn't hurt.
"Next pair: Wei Xuan and Sarah."
Wei Xuan blinked. A girl stepped forward—blonde hair tied back, sharp green eyes. She held her wand like she knew how to use it. Sarah. He remembered her from yesterday, one of the students who'd glanced at him, then looked away.
Wei Xuan walked into the circle. Sarah studied him. "I'll go easy on you."
"Don't."
Her eyebrows rose. "Begin!"
Sarah moved immediately, her wand tracing a quick pattern. Three ice shards materialized in the air. Fast caster. The shards shot toward him. Wei Xuan didn't raise his wand. He shifted his weight, letting mana flow to his legs. The world slowed slightly—not much, just enough.
He stepped left. The first shard missed by inches. Stepped right. The second shard passed harmlessly. Ducked. The third shard whistled over his head. Sarah's eyes widened.
Wei Xuan raised his wand. "Spark." A basic spell, Tier 1, barely worth learning. It created a small burst of light and heat—useful for starting fires, nothing else. Except Wei Xuan poured mana into it. The spark became a flash, bright enough to make Sarah flinch and raise her arm to shield her eyes.
Wei Xuan moved, closing the distance in two steps. He tapped his wand against her shoulder. "Point to Wei Xuan!"
Silence. Sarah lowered her arm, blinking away spots. She stared at him. "How did you—"
"Lucky dodge," Wei Xuan said, keeping his expression neutral. Gareth was watching him now. Really watching. Wei Xuan met his gaze for half a second, then looked away. Not too much. Not too fast.
The sparring continued. Wei Xuan won his next match too—another "lucky" dodge, another perfectly timed basic spell. His third opponent was a nervous boy who telegraphed every move, making it almost too easy. Wei Xuan ended the match quickly, not wanting to draw more attention than necessary. By the time Gareth called an end to the session, students were whispering. He could feel their eyes on him, hear fragments of conversation. "Did you see that?" "How did he move so fast?" "Maybe he's been hiding his strength?"
Wei Xuan kept his expression neutral, but inside he was calculating. Three wins out of three matches. That was enough to prove he wasn't completely hopeless, but not so dominant that it would raise serious questions. The key was to appear talented but not exceptional. Promising but not threatening. He needed to walk a fine line between obscurity and prominence, at least until he was strong enough that questions didn't matter.
Gareth dismissed them with a curt nod, but Wei Xuan noticed the instructor's gaze lingering on him for a moment longer than the others. Not suspicion, exactly. More like... interest. That could be good or bad, depending on how things developed. For now, Wei Xuan would take it as a sign that his performance had been noticed without being alarming.
Marcus caught up to him as they headed back to the dorms, his expression a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"You moved like—I don't know. Like you knew where the spells were going before they were cast." Marcus shook his head, as if trying to make sense of what he'd seen. "And that thing with the spark spell? I've never seen anyone make a basic spell that bright."
Wei Xuan shrugged, keeping his tone casual. "I got lucky."
"Twice?"
"Three times, actually." Wei Xuan allowed himself a small smile. "Maybe I'm just having a good day."
Marcus didn't look convinced, but he dropped it. They walked in silence for a while, crossing the campus as other students streamed past them. Wei Xuan could feel the difference in how people looked at him now. Not with respect, not yet, but with curiosity. The invisible student from Building C had suddenly become visible, and that brought its own complications.
They reached Dormitory Building C. The hallways were narrow and dim, lit by mana crystals that flickered occasionally. Their room was at the end—small, cramped, but private. Wei Xuan closed the door behind them.
Marcus sat on his bunk, pulling off his boots. "You're different."
Wei Xuan paused. "Different how?"
"I don't know. Yesterday you could barely circulate mana. Today you're dodging spells like a Tier 2 student." Marcus looked up. "Did something happen?"
Wei Xuan considered his answer carefully. Marcus was his roommate, one of the few people here who didn't treat him like dirt. If Wei Xuan wanted an ally, Marcus was the obvious choice. But trust was a risk. How much should he reveal? Too little, and Marcus would keep asking questions. Too much, and he might panic or, worse, tell someone else.
"I figured something out," Wei Xuan said finally. "About mana circulation."
"What kind of something?" Marcus leaned forward, genuinely interested now.
"The academy teaches us to circulate mana in small loops. Safe and controlled." Wei Xuan sat on his own bunk, choosing his words carefully. "But what if you circulated it through your whole body? All at once?"
Marcus frowned, his expression shifting from curiosity to concern. "That sounds dangerous."
"It's faster."
"Faster doesn't mean better. You could damage your channels. Burn yourself out." Marcus shook his head emphatically. "The instructors know what they're doing, Wei. There's a reason they teach it the slow way. I've heard stories about students who tried to rush their cultivation. Some of them ended up crippled, unable to use magic at all."
Wei Xuan didn't argue. Marcus wasn't wrong—for most people, full-body circulation probably was dangerous. The academy's conservative approach existed for a reason. Most students didn't have the knowledge or control to attempt advanced techniques safely. They'd push too hard, damage their channels, or worse. But Wei Xuan wasn't most people. He had knowledge from another world, techniques refined over thousands of years of cultivation stories. He understood the principles, knew the warning signs, could sense when to push and when to hold back. Marcus didn't need to know that.
"Maybe you're right," Wei Xuan said, keeping his tone neutral. "I'll be careful."
Marcus relaxed slightly, satisfied that his warning had been heard. "Good. I don't want to wake up one morning and find you've exploded or something."
Wei Xuan smiled. "I'll try to avoid that." He paused, then added, "Thanks for worrying about me, though. Not many people here would."
Marcus shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "We're roommates. We should look out for each other." He stood and stretched. "I'm going to grab dinner from the hall. You coming?"
"In a bit. I want to rest for a while first."
"Alright. I'll bring you something back if there's anything good." Marcus grabbed his coin pouch and headed for the door, then paused. "Wei? Whatever you're doing... just be careful, okay?"
"I will."
The door closed, and Wei Xuan was alone. He lay back on his bunk, staring at the ceiling. Marcus's concern was genuine, which made Wei Xuan feel slightly guilty about not being completely honest. But some secrets were necessary, at least for now. Once he was stronger, once he'd proven his methods worked, maybe then he could share more. Maybe then he could help Marcus and others like him break through the limitations the academy imposed.
That night, after Marcus fell asleep, Wei Xuan cultivated again. This time, he pushed further. He circulated mana through his body in increasingly complex patterns—not just simple loops, but spirals, layers. He compressed the mana in his core, then released it in controlled bursts.
His body heated up. Sweat beaded on his forehead. But the mana responded, growing denser, stronger. Wei Xuan felt something shift inside him—a barrier, thin as paper, that he hadn't noticed before. He pushed against it steadily, not forcing, just maintaining pressure. The way he'd read about in dozens of breakthrough scenes. Not brute force. Consistent, controlled pressure applied to exactly the right point.
The barrier cracked. Mana flooded through him, twice as strong as before. His channels widened, adapting to the increased flow. Wei Xuan gasped, his hands clenching the bedsheets.
When it was over, he lay still, breathing hard. The new level settled through him in waves — richer, denser, more present. He could feel the ambient energy in the room with new clarity, the slow drift of mana through the stones, the trace heat of Marcus's body across the room.
Qi Gathering, Layer 2. In cultivation terms, he'd just broken through to the next stage. In this world's terms, he was probably equivalent to a mid-level Tier 1 Apprentice now. Maybe higher. One night of real cultivation, and he'd made progress that would take academy students weeks.
Wei Xuan stared at the ceiling. He couldn't let anyone know. Not yet. If the instructors found out he was advancing this fast, they'd ask questions, want to study his methods, maybe even try to control him. No. Better to stay quiet. Keep his head down. Let everyone think he was still the weakest student in Building C.
He had Layer 2 now. He had the technique confirmed. He had two weeks.
Wei Xuan closed his eyes. Let's see how far I can go.