Born with Dual Elements (Part One)
"Next..."
"Next..."
"Next..."
"Zhang Hou!"
Zhang Hou — the scraggly beanpole standing not far from Mo Fan — glanced back over his shoulder. "Brother Mo Fan, I'm heading up."
"Go for it."
"Hah. Hope you get Water too." Zhao Kunsan was already firing off snide remarks.
Zhang Hou was a skinny little thing. The moment he placed his hand on the Awakening Stone, a strange vortex of wind materialized above it within moments, gusting hard enough to send the teacher's collar flapping.
"Very good — Wind element, fine talent. Train diligently and don't get lazy," said Xue Musheng, a satisfied expression crossing his face.
Privately, the homeroom teacher was quite pleased with himself. Only a dozen or so students in, and Class 8 had already produced two high-quality Awakenings. With proper effort, both had real potential for a prestigious magical university.
*The real gem, of course, was student number one — Mu Bai. Exceptional ice-element talent, backed by one of the great ice-element clans. A future pillar of the magical world.*
*Looks like Class 8 just might rank near the top this year.*
"Next..."
"Next..."
"Next..."
**Fwoosh——**
An orange tongue of flame leapt up from the Awakening Stone.
The whole class went wide-eyed.
"Fire — Fire element!!"
"Holy — and it's a girl! What's her name?"
In an instant, the girl who had just Awakened became the center of attention. Fire element was the crown jewel of all elemental types — the dream Awakening for any basic-level mage, if such a thing were a matter of choice.
Unfortunately, Fire was notoriously stingy. The probability was low — at most three per class, well under one in ten.
"Her name's Zhou Min. I think her mother's one of the teachers here," someone murmured.
"She's pretty cute, too. Someone should go introduce themselves."
"Careful, though. Zhou Min looks all quiet and gentle, but she's secretly a firecracker. How else would a girl Awaken Fire element?"
"Fair point. Fair point."
"Like mother, like daughter — Teacher Wenhua would be very proud to hear this," homeroom teacher Xue Musheng said with a smile.
"Thank you, teacher."
"Next... Wind element."
"Next... Holy Light Element."
"Teacher, I'm going to the rooftop. Don't bother stopping me," the Holy Light student said flatly.
"Next... Water element."
"Holy Light buddy — wait for me. I'll join you."
"Next..."
...
At long last, nearly every student in the class had completed their Awakening. Mo Fan stood clutching student card number forty-eight, his heart hammering harder than he could ever remember. No one in that room could have been as nervous as he was. For one thing, he had only encountered magic three months ago. For another, he was genuinely terrified of failing the Awakening altogether.
"Number forty-eight — Mo Fan!"
"You're up!" Zhang Hou turned around and shot him an encouraging look.
"Your family scraped together everything they had just to get you in here — don't go getting any hopes up. Best case you land Water or Holy Light, and you'll be dead weight until Intermediate Level anyway. Worst case, you fail the Awakening entirely — and then it's all gone for nothing. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Zhao Kunsan let every word drip with contempt.
"Can you just shut that mouth of yours?" Zhang Hou snapped.
In Zhang Hou's eyes, Mo Fan was his elder brother. His magical scores might be embarrassing and he might have slipped in through a back door — but Zhang Hou had no desire to watch Mo Fan Awaken something lesser than everyone else.
Nine years of compulsory magical education existed precisely to lay the groundwork for Awakening and to build the theoretical foundations needed for future cultivation. Without it, not only would the Awakening likely fail — one's magical development would hit a wall from the very start.
Mo Fan took a breath and made his way through the crowd.
"That's him? I heard he got in through connections."
"Who is he, though — he's actually kind of good-looking," said a girl with bright, curious eyes.
"Total disaster of a student. He was in the class next to mine at middle school," cut in another girl with a mushroom-cut hairstyle and a mouth to match.
"Oh, that bad? Then his Awakening's probably not going to impress anyone."
"Whether he even manages to Awaken at all is the real question."
"Hey, all you Holy Light and Frost Water people out there feeling sorry for yourselves — don't despair just yet! Hang around and watch our friend Mo Fan's Awakening. You'll feel so much better afterward. This guy scored in the single digits on his exam. Foundation so weak it barely exists. He'll probably fail the Awakening entirely." Zhao Kunsan had been squabbling with Zhang Hou long enough — now he threw the words out at the whole room.
And it worked. The Holy Light and Frost Water students really did sharpen their gazes. *If someone actually failed the Awakening outright, now that would be truly... comforting.*
"Quiet!" Xue Musheng leveled a sharp glare at Zhao Kunsan.
Near the edge of the crowd, the corner of Mu Bai's mouth lifted slightly. *Good — let Mo Fan embarrass himself in front of everyone.* The guy was worthless trash. What right did he have to be anywhere near Miss Mu Ningxue? Meanwhile Mu Bai himself was handsome, magically gifted, and hardworking to boot — Mu Ningxue ought to naturally gravitate toward him, not someone like that.
"You worthless piece of garbage," Mu Bai murmured, voice barely above a breath, as Mo Fan passed by him. "Word is your family sold their house just to get you in here. If you fail your Awakening, do yourself and everyone else a favor — find the nearest river and jump in. Save your family the shame."
Mo Fan glanced at him. He swallowed the urge to tell Mu Bai exactly where to go, and walked the rest of the way to stand before teacher Xue Musheng.
"Mo Fan — go ahead and place your hand on this." Xue Musheng's tone was measured.
As homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng was well aware of this particular student's situation.
Near-bottom scores on the magic middle school exit exam. Enrolled at Tianlan Magic High School on a recommendation from someone in a position of authority. From what Xue Musheng could gather, Mo Fan came from a perfectly ordinary family — no connections, no apparent talent, grades too poor to look at. Being saddled with a student like that was a headache. One dead anchor could drag the entire class's overall standing down.
*Nothing to be done about it. Just my luck. Let's hope the kid doesn't actually fail — because if he does, I'll be the laughingstock of the entire year.*
Mo Fan's hand wouldn't stop trembling. He was more anxious than he had anticipated.
"Steady. Stop shaking," Xue Musheng said quietly.
Mo Fan grabbed his right wrist with his left hand to hold it still, then pressed his palm flat against the Awakening Stone.
It was ice-cold. Whether from the previous student's ice-element Awakening still lingering in the stone or something else, a distinct chill seemed to radiate across its entire surface...
*Wait — something's wrong. Why is it going numb... and warm?*
"Close your eyes. Feel your Inner World." Homeroom teacher Xue Musheng's voice was firm.
*Hopeless student. Doesn't even know the basic steps.*
Mo Fan did as he was told and shut his eyes.
The Inner World was the mental space a person accessed when they closed their eyes — at first, pure void. Under ordinary circumstances, the mind would begin generating images: hazy fragments of thought flickering past like scenes from a half-remembered dream. But when the mind went completely still, when nothing was left to imagine, the Inner World became a perfect blank — like a sky stripped of every last star.
Nothing existed in the Inner World. Yet the moment Mo Fan pressed his palm against the Awakening Stone, he felt it — a current of electricity, surging from his hand and flooding through his entire body.
Then, as if steered by some extraordinary force, that current swept through the void of his Inner World —
And a blazing arc of purple carved itself across the darkness.
Dazzling. Breathtaking. Soul-shaking.