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nI was currently sitting at my usual desk, in the far back corner of the room. Everything seemed normal...except for one thing. It was quieter than usual. People were staring at me - though not out of disgust and insult like before, but now of curiosity and perhaps jealousy.

nYu An Xue in particular seemed to be greatly interested in me, but of course, she wouldn't show that, being a cool beauty and all. But I could catch her sneaking gazes at me when she thought I wasn't looking. Everyone still kept their distance from me (not that I minded, to be honest), but they didn't just not want to talk to me. Instead...it seems they were reluctant to approach me. I could guess what the reason was:

nIf someone was the first to engage in conversation with me, they would undoubtedly become the laughingstock of the class. At least, that's what they all thought. It wasn't true now that I've shown a little bit of my powers - everyone was curious. But they had no way to tell what each other were thinking. Every one of them thought that they were the only one that wanted to talk to me, and therefore were afraid to actually put it into action.

n

"Big Brother Xuan Kai!

" a cheery voice rang out across the awkward classroom. Yep. This girl - Qing Yue - had no difficulty talking to me, as usual. But right now, I was terrified. Terrified of what she was going to do to me, with that extra-innocent-looking smile on her face.

"Hehehe...let's have a little talk!

"

nWell, this was bad. By 'talk' she probably means another two-hour-long lecture.

"Er...w-why don't we do that...later...

" I trailed off, seeing as how she was right in my face.

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"Let's have a little talk!

" she repeated, that pure smile still plastered across her cute face.

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"Um, er, r-right. Okay.

" I gave in. Fine...I've already been through one lecture, what's the harm in another?

nLittle did I know, I would soon come to think back on this as the worst decision of my life.

n*****

n- The Next Day -

nYeah. That was the worst decision of my life.

nI thought it would be only two hours, but Qing Yue made me stay up all night (No, not what you're thinking of right now). Can you believe it? She even made Feng Mian sit there the whole time as a punishment for not telling her either. Feng Mian objected, but it seems neither of us could beat Qing Yue in a psychological battle (even without her using Psychic-Element Magic). Pretty ironic, considering Feng Mian was the one who told her about our operation afterwards. You dug my grave, now you have to lie in it too.

nShe made us go without dinner that night as well. Correction: she made us eat what she made. I wasn't keen to taste her cooking again after zong zi incident, and well..let's just say her skills haven't improved since then. So in reality, it was worse than having no dinner at all. Though, of course, neither Feng Mian nor I voiced our complaints out loud. We knew better.

nI've got to acknowledge her integrity though. In order to make sure WE didn't fall asleep, she stayed up all night too. She had us repeat the story of Operation: Freedom from beginning to end, over and over again. Does it not get boring, listening to the same thing on loop?

nBut in any case - with that, here we were. Feng Mian and I, sitting beside each other in class with very distinct deep black circles surrounding our eyes and clear fatigue, like comrades in suffering. Qing Yue, meanwhile, seemed to be perfectly fine on the other side of Feng Mian. I sighed. Today, if I remember correctly, had a magic training class as well, meaning I would have to display my skills once more. I don't think I've used up all the mana given to me by Feng Mian the day before yesterday, but...

nI would ask Feng Mian or Qing Yue to supply me with more mana sometime today. They were the only ones that knew of this vulnerability of mine, after all. Reason being, I couldn't let others know of my weakness. If they found out I had to rely on external mana to be able to cast magic, I would be done for. Before, I was just a joke to everyone, but now that they've seen me wield three elements at the age of 14...

nThat's right. They'll want to eliminate me as soon as possible.

n*****

n- 1:00 PM, Magic Training Class -

nIt was time. I would like to show as little of my power as possible, but...it seems the circumstances just wouldn't allow me to. Today just happened to be the day where the school would test if anyone has awoken a new element - the tester is to channel mana into an Awakening Orb - a special Magic Artifact made directly for this purpose.

nIt was like an Awakening Stone in the sense that they both had mana traces of all 21 Elements, but that's where the similarities end. While an Awakening Stone could only be used once and allowed for the user to gain a new element, an Awakening Orb could be used infinitely but could not help the user awaken a new element.

nI had already received some mana from Qing Yue earlier during Lunch (Feng Mian was too exhausted from staying up all night). Apparently, Level Two Blessing-Element mana-restoring spells like Restitutio: Mana could work on me as well. It was the one Qing Yue had cast on me. I infer that other mana-replenishing spells could do the same.

nTo be honest, I would usually sit these lessons out, and the teachers couldn't care less. But today, Mr. Wang had made sure I was present for this class. It seems the students weren't the only curious ones. In fact, I'm pretty sure news of my duel had also spread to the upper years, and the newcomers (first-years).

nThus, here I was, in the Magic Training Room for 2nd Years. Class-A students of each year got their own room for doing practical training, but the rest of us had to stick with this public one. I had been in this room just a couple days ago, but so much has happened lately that it felt distant. Along with the other 24 students of the class, I stood in a vertical line along the main pathway marking the middle of the entire room. Mr. Wang had ordered us to do so without too much care, seeing as how we had already done this many times (except for Qing Yue, Feng Mian, and I).

nSuddenly, the door swung open and a cart was brought in by what seemed to be a school staff member, albeit not a teacher, and we shuffled further into the room hurriedly to make space. Placed in it was an Awakening Orb, carefully set on top of a red cushion, as if presenting it to a king. Mr. Wang glanced at it and signaled for the woman that had brought it in to retreat. She complied after a slight bow, and shut the door behind her quietly.

n

"Alright, we are ready to begin now,

" Mr. Wang announced after she was gone.

"As usual, we will go in alphabetical order. First up - Ai Yao!

"

nA girl with short, black hair, walked up to the Awakening Orb. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Putting her right hand on the orb, glowing with energy, she began channeling mana into it.

nAfter a short while, the orb began flashing a light purple. Mr. Wang nodded twice and spoke.

"Sky Element aptitude, no change.

"

nAi Yao seemed dejected, and let out a sigh. She then walked back into her spot on the line, without even being told to. Mr. Wang didn't seem fazed at all, seeing as how this was natural. When people find out they haven't awoken a new element, it's only logical they will feel disappointed.

n

"Next up - Bao Yan Shi!

"

nAnd so, the testings continued. Those with multiple elements were able to make the orb change colors in rapid succession, in accordance to which elements they had.

nThis testing exists because of the infinitesimal chance that someone awakened a new element in their body, without the help of an Awakening Stone. It was certainly rare, but not unheard of. The thing is, a lot of people awaken a new element without them every finding out. It's impossible to tell by yourself which elements you have, unless you try casting magic belonging to every single one. This was time-consuming and tedious, so most people didn't bother. Thus, the Awakening Orb system took place.

nIt was done mandatorily once a month, excluding summer break and winter break. In addition, those who felt something off about their mana could request to use the Awakening Orb to test if they had awoken another element...though theoretically speaking, this was inconceivable. After all, if it were possible, this system wouldn't exist in the first place.

nBefore long, it was Feng Mian's turn. She stepped out of line and went up to the Awakening Orb after a brief glance at me for some reason. Surprisingly enough, Mr. Wang was actually treating Feng Mian the same as the other students. Everyone had suddenly become cold to her after she placed her desk beside mine, but their attitudes were changing now. Naturally, the same thing was happening to Qing Yue.

n

"Hm...Feng Mian, Ice-Shadow Dual-Element Awakener...

" Mr. Wang muttered.

nFeng Mian ignored him and did the same as all the other students before her. She appeared nervous and took a deep breath. Was this really that scary? Anyway. She placed her right hand on the Orb, and it immediately began shining - brighter than when anyone else tried before. At first, it was a crystal clear light blue, depicting the Ice Element. A split second later, however, it changed into a heavy black - Shadow. It continued altering between the two for a while, and Mr. Wang opened his mouth to tell her that's enough, but then-

n

"Huh?! Deep violet?!

" a voice spoke all of our minds.

nThe orb was now emitting a deep purple aura, in contrast to the light purple Sky-Element from before.

nMr. Wang widened his eyes like the rest of us.

"Th-This is...the Poison Element!

"

nImmediately, shouts broke out among the masses.

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"Woah! Someone really awakened another element without going through an Awakening?!

"

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"Wow! This is the first time I've seen this!

"

n

"Way to go, Feng Mian!

"

nThough in the midst of all the excitement, there were also some voices of envy, of disgust.

n

"Hmph.

"

n

"Tch...she thinks she's so good...

"

n

"Still can't believe she survived that...

"

nIndeed - it was Li Yi Fei and his two lackeys. And by 'that', they meant the Abomination Flare incident. Li Yi Fei had originally targeted Feng Mian in order to make her submit to him and be his girlfriend, but Feng Mian refused defiantly and the trio soon ran out of patience. They had used the art of Conjoined Release to unleash an offensive Level Two spell - Abomination Flare.

nIf I had not been there at the time, Feng Mian would've died. I had leapt from the roof just in time to land in front of her and block the attack. Fortunately, my stone pendant absorbed most of the power, and left me dirty and shirtless, but otherwise fine.

nThe three of them had already escaped by the time hordes of people came to investigate, and so had we. Though I passed out on the same roof from before and Feng Mian had to carry me to the school infirmary...but that's a different story. Just thinking back on it makes me embarrassed.

nIn any case, after all they've done - when Feng Mian showed up safe and unharmed at school the next day, their minds were filled with confusion and frustration. And to this day, they hate her down to the bones, perhaps even rivaling their hate for me.

nFeng Mian exhaled and opened her eyes slowly. Then, turning to me, she gave a cute wink and a secret thumbs-up. I smiled in return.

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