The Seventh Star Mote

"Four down. Controlling five at once is a whole different level of difficulty — I hope I can get all seven of these little bastards chained into a Star Trail before the semester ends..." Mo Fan muttered to himself. "Monkey said he can only manage an hour of Control practice a week at most — go five minutes over and he completely shuts down. No idea why I've been able to pull off two hours from the very start. Could it be because I awakened Dual Elements?"

*If the mana cost per Control attempt is the same for everyone... that would mean my mana pool is double theirs.*

Every magic student had a finite reserve of mental energy. Each attempt to Control a star mote drained it a little more. Given the mental capacity of first-year students at this stage, it seemed the overwhelming majority could only sustain Control practice for an hour before hitting their limit.

A free extra hour, stacked on top of Mo Fan's daily grind, had pushed him far ahead of everyone else. Even Mu Bai — supposedly the most talented student in the class — had only managed to control three star motes, according to his lackey.

Seven was the threshold. Mo Fan had four under control already and was on track to break through to five within the week. It was looking more and more like Dual Elements had given Mo Fan not only the ability to run two accounts simultaneously, but a longer daily training window than anyone else.

*Now that* was a perfect advantage.

*At this rate, reaching the peak of life and landing a wealthy beauty — totally inevitable.*

Eight o'clock on the dot: first period, Demonology. The teacher responsible for the course was Zhang Jianguo, homeroom teacher of the neighboring class.

"Mo Fan, why are you late *again*? Can't you show up with even a shred of attitude?" The moment Mo Fan shuffled through the door, Zhang Jianguo was on him without mercy. "Your natural talent is already below most of your classmates. Your foundation is weak on top of that. And now you're not even taking your studies seriously. Look at Zhaoting in my class — Lightning Element talent, sharp mind, strong foundation, fully committed. He can already control four Lightning star motes. And you? I hear your Fire star motes are still completely uncontrolled to this day. Your Fire awakening is going to waste on someone like you!"

Mo Fan's gaze drifted toward the ceiling.

*Zhang Jianguo, will you ever let it go?* The man worked that Lightning kid's name into practically every class period.

Zhaoting was the student from Zhang Jianguo's own class who had awakened Lightning Element at the school's opening ceremony. Zhang Jianguo paraded the name around daily — even while wearing his best stern-educator expression, he couldn't quite hide the satisfaction leaking through.

*"That guy's at four star motes? I'm already at six and one step from finishing,"* Mo Fan thought, entirely unimpressed, and strolled over to his seat without a care.

"Right then — everyone open your Demonology textbooks. Today we'll continue with some of the more common demon species. As you all know, demons inhabit the wildlands beyond our human cities. They're inherently hostile toward humans — they roam freely, hunt, slaughter each other... So, if a mage ventures out into the wilderness and encounters a One-Eyed Demon Wolf, what do they do?"

Zhang Jianguo launched into his lecture with obvious enthusiasm.

The One-Eyed Demon Wolf.

A demon that lurked in the wildlands closest to human settlements. Mo Fan had only ever seen them through textbook images and video clips — and even at that remove, the savagery was unmistakable.

Ordinary people had no means of fighting these creatures. Only mages could stand against them. For this particular group of magic students — who couldn't Release a single skill yet — stumbling across one would be nothing short of a massacre.

The One-Eyed Demon Wolf had been the centerpiece of Demonology for an entire week now. Mo Fan had heard more than enough.

While Zhang Jianguo droned on, Mo Fan turned his focus inward. His unique double practice window had already carried him to six Lightning star motes under control. When he concentrated completely, all six fell into formation and traced a clean Star Trail.

The problem was the seventh. It was *exceptionally* stubborn — like a fortress immune to both sweet words and brute force, yielding to neither persuasion nor pressure. Mo Fan was at his wit's end.

*One step away. One miserable, infuriating step.*

"Hey, Mo Fan — how's the Fire Element training coming along?" Zhang Hou leaned over the moment Mo Fan sat down.

"Same as always," Mo Fan said absently.

Fire Element...

Exactly as Zhang Jianguo had pointed out: Mo Fan still hadn't managed to control a single Fire star mote. There was nothing to be done about it — this entire semester, every last bit of his mental energy had gone into the Lightning Element. Fire would have to wait.

"Seriously? Your basics must really be dragging you down." Zhang Hou shook his head. "I heard Mu Bai already has four Ice star motes under control. If he keeps grinding through winter break, he might even be able to Release Ice Vine — the Basic-level Ice skill — by next semester."

"I know."

"Bro, how are you not *worried*? I'm telling you — he and Zhao Kunsan are already scheming up ways to make your life miserable."

"Let them."

Mo Fan's head was entirely occupied by the seventh star mote. Everything else was noise.

"All I'm saying is — stay sharp." Zhang Hou sighed. "This semester's almost over, and next semester there's the practical magic Release assessment. If you can't pull it off, the school will find some excuse to push you out."

The semester slipped by faster than expected. Mo Fan could feel it — a quiet but growing certainty that the seventh star mote was finally beginning to waver. All those months of relentless, stubborn devotion were starting to wear it down.

"This is worse than trying to win over a goddess," he grumbled, shuffling out through the school gates. "Endless coaxing, endless patience, endless negotiation..."

The entire semester, Mo Fan had barely stepped off campus. Two hours of Control practice every day, followed by ten hours of Meditation, then class, food, sleep — not a single day off, not once.

Regardless, the semester was over. Students collected their winter break assignments and scattered for home.

Passing through the school gates, Mo Fan's feet automatically steered him toward the bus stop for his old neighborhood — then he caught himself.

*Right. Dad sold the house. I'm basically homeless.*

His father Mo Jiaxing was probably still out driving somewhere. With nowhere to go, Mo Fan turned it over in his mind and decided it was time to visit his aunt's place and check on Xinxia. He hadn't seen her in nearly half a year. He wondered how she was doing over there.

*I'll go pick her up from school.*

Mo Fan boarded a bus heading toward a different middle school across the city.

On the bus, with nothing else to occupy him, he slipped inward and went back to work. He focused his mind on the seventh star mote and began coaxing it, one more time — *would today finally be the day?*

Different elements had different temperaments, and within any given element, each individual star mote had its own personality. Some were easy enough — a few nights of patient negotiation, a little smooth-talking, and they'd cooperate. Others were volatile and difficult to even approach; push them too hard and they'd lash back with a mental shockwave, sending sharp pain stabbing through the mind and draining mental reserves several times faster than normal.

This seventh star mote was the volatile kind. Irritable, combative, impossible to reason with — more of a diva than anything Mo Fan had ever had to deal with. One wrong move and the whole attempt fell apart.

Lately, though, something had changed. The star mote was gradually, grudgingly showing signs of willingness — the faintest thaw in its resistance. Mo Fan could sense it. Otherwise he might have actually broken down; he'd already sunk nearly a full month into this single, infuriating star mote.