Supreme Magic

That day, the topic on every student's lips was the Beast Battle set to begin that afternoon. For years it had been the single most anticipated event on Pearl Youth Campus.

Colorful banners printed with images of Summoned Beasts hung at every corner of the school grounds. Word had it that the entrance to the student residential block even featured enormous posters of standout performers from previous Beast Battles — each one looking impossibly cool.

Mo Fan was up early, taking his time to make himself look sharp.

Looked at from a different angle, the Summoning Element students were the stars of the show too.

His Gloom Wolf Beast was still buried in recovery sleep. Mo Fan's chances of actually competing were essentially zero. What should have been a golden opportunity to show the entire school that he had both brains and looks had been reduced to showing up and looking handsome. *Well. At least I've still got that.*

"Mo Fan, bro — out of dormitory solidarity, give us a sneak preview of your Summoned Beast," his roommate Zhang Pinggu said, eyebrows raised hopefully. "Just so we have some idea what we're dealing with."

"Nothing to hide. It's a Gloom Wolf Beast," Mo Fan said plainly.

Zhao Manyan, standing nearby and fussing over his own appearance with the same degree of vanity, glanced over with mild surprise. "A Gloom Wolf Beast? That's the fan favorite among Basic-Level Summoners. The thing hits harder than your average adult Demon-Beast, too."

"A Gloom Wolf Beast..." Zhang Pinggu shook his head with a rueful grimace. "Our whole dorm combined probably couldn't take you."

"Don't use your own limitations to measure everyone else," Su Long cut in, his tone cool and dismissive.

The dormitory now had five residents. Of them, Mo Fan got along best with Zhao Manyan, who had the bunk across from his.

Zhang Pinggu was the shameless, easygoing type — a guy who didn't sweat anything and could trade jokes with absolutely anyone.

Su Long had arrived last. A quiet arrogance lived behind his eyes, and when Zhang Pinggu had tried to warm up to him on day one, a single icy look had sent him retreating without another word.

The other two... Mo Fan still hadn't bothered learning their names. They'd been in their own world since the first day — silent, never initiating contact. Zhang Pinggu seemed to know them well enough, but as far as Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan were concerned, those two might as well not exist.

"Good luck," Zhao Manyan said, finishing his preparations and giving Mo Fan a pat on the shoulder before heading out.

Mo Fan had nothing left to do but wait, quietly, for the impending ordeal to begin.

At the Youth Battle Hall, Mo Fan and his dormitory mates went their separate ways.

As the "stars" of the event, the Summoning Element students had to arrive backstage early for preparations.

The Youth Battle Hall was a magnificent structure. Inside, the dueling floor was even larger than a football field. On ordinary days it hosted major competitions; today, the entire space had been transformed into an immense enclosed fighting ground known as the Beast Cage — a barrier-reinforced arena ringed on all four sides by tiered stadium seating, row upon packed row, capable of holding upwards of ten thousand spectators. A facility on this scale could only have been built by a school with Pearl Academy's bottomless resources.

Students had been streaming in since lunch. By the time the midday crowd hit full force, the sheer press of people had already set the atmosphere thrumming.

By around three o'clock, every seat was filled. A sea of young, energetic faces stretched in every direction, the stands alive with the vitality of the student body. Young women were everywhere — in abundance, beautifully and unmistakably present. Aside from a university, you'd truly be hard-pressed to find this many of them gathered in one place anywhere else in polite society.

"God, so many people. I'm already a wreck..." Yang Yi muttered backstage, his face pale.

One glance into the arena confirmed why. A solid wall of unfamiliar faces, and that was just one side. Just looking at it set your heart hammering — and when it was you standing in the center, surrounded on all four sides by ten thousand pairs of eyes, you'd probably forget which Element you even studied.

"What's the big deal? I live for crowds like this." Hai Dafu looked practically electric with excitement. "All day — in the residential block, in the cafeteria, on the walk over — I kept hearing people talk about our Summoned Beasts. Some of them actually claimed they could put our beasts down without breaking a sweat." He grinned, all teeth. "I just laughed. My White Armor Battle Sting will teach them exactly what getting steamrolled feels like."

Zheng Bingxiao stood nearby, perfectly composed.

The others showed little outward reaction either — but the occasional gleam of quiet confidence in their eyes made the truth plain: every single one of them was looking forward to this.

Pearl Academy drew elite Mages from every corner of the country. If you could distinguish yourself in an arena like this, wasn't that the surest proof of what you were worth? Everyone who arrived at a prestigious academy burned with the same hunger — to shine, to be seen, to leave a mark.

"Before I begin my address, I want to settle one thing with you."

The ceremony had started. The first to speak before a crowd of over ten thousand was, naturally, Dean Xiao.

"If your only ambition is to become a Mage who earns society's respect, draws a generous salary, and lives a comfortable, high-quality life..." He paused. "Then I must tell you, with full sincerity: you have come to the wrong place."

"Every Mage who walks out of Pearl Academy will possess the power to change the world. Every one of them will be a hero capable of shouldering the duty of protecting humanity. If anyone here is chasing only the former — we can hand you a Pearl Academy diploma and a letter of recommendation right now, and you can go live that life immediately. Please do not occupy a place that someone worthier needs." His voice carried absolute conviction. "Wealth, fame, reputation — we are not short of any of those. The only thing we are short of is this: an undying heart devoted to the pursuit of supreme magic."

Mo Fan stood backstage, not far from where Dean Xiao's voice carried out across the hall.

He watched the faces around him carefully. In nearly every pair of eyes, something lit up.

The speech landed the way it did because of what it demanded. In a world where everyone was chasing fame and fortune, this Dean was telling every person in that hall: a Pearl Academy diploma already secures all of that. But was that really all these students — the ones who had clawed their way into one of the most prestigious magical institutions in the country — had come here for?

In the face of supreme magic, all worldly glory was dust.