William woke to darkness and the sound of a bell chiming somewhere in the distance, his body protesting the movement after spending half the night practicing essence manipulation exercises that had left him drained in ways he didn't fully understand yet.
He checked the small clock on his nightstand that read four-thirty in the morning, which meant he had thirty minutes to get to the Arena Complex for his first combat training session with Instructor Valdris, and he dragged himself out of bed while his muscles screamed at him for the abuse.
Kai was still asleep on the common room couch where he'd apparently spent the entire night, not even bothering to move to his bedroom, and William quietly gathered his training clothes before heading to the bathroom to make himself presentable.
The academy grounds were eerily beautiful in the pre-dawn darkness with magical lights floating along the pathways like captured stars, and William followed the map through corridors and across bridges while other students emerged from their dormitories looking far more awake and prepared than he felt.
The Arena Complex turned out to be a massive structure with multiple training grounds visible through archways, each one designed for different types of combat, and William joined the growing crowd of first-years gathering in the main arena where a man who could only be Instructor Valdris stood waiting.
Valdris was tall and muscular with scars crossing his arms and face that spoke of countless battles, his grey hair pulled back in a practical style, and his eyes held the kind of sharp assessment that suggested he'd seen everything and wasn't impressed by much.
"Line up by house," Valdris commanded without preamble, his voice carrying across the arena with the authority of someone who expected immediate obedience, and students scrambled to organize themselves into four distinct groups.
William found himself standing with about fifteen other House Ascendant students who all looked like they'd rather be sleeping, and he noticed that the other houses had significantly larger groups suggesting that misfits and special cases were the minority.
"Combat training is mandatory every morning at dawn because warriors don't get to choose when battles happen," Valdris said while walking along the lines of students with his hands clasped behind his back, "some of you come from families with extensive martial training, some of you are natural prodigies who picked up a sword once and became masters, and some of you have never held a real weapon in your lives but managed to pass the entrance requirements through other means."
He stopped at the center of the arena and gestured for everyone to spread out with enough space between them to move freely.
"Today we assess your current capabilities so I can divide you into appropriate skill groups," Valdris explained while essence began swirling around him in visible patterns that made the air feel heavy with power, "you will demonstrate basic combat forms, essence enhancement techniques, and reaction speed against simulated attacks, and based on your performance you'll be assigned to remedial, intermediate, or advanced training groups."
The assessment began with House Arcturus going first, and William watched students demonstrate combat abilities that ranged from impressive to absolutely terrifying, with one silver-haired girl performing sword techniques that left afterimages in the air and created small craters in the reinforced arena floor.
But the main stand out of House Arcturus was the protagonist, Liam Hemsworth who like any other MC had a tragic past only to awaken some OP system and rule the system.
The arena fell silent when Liam Hemsworth stepped forward for his assessment, and even Instructor Valdris seemed to pay closer attention than he had for previous students.
Liam was exactly what you'd expect from a protagonist, tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes that held a determination bordering on arrogance, the kind of presence that naturally drew attention even when he wasn't trying.
"Liam Hemsworth, House Arcturus," Valdris announced while checking his tablet, "orphan background, self-taught cultivation, passed the entrance exam with the highest combat score in fifteen years."
Whispers rippled through the gathered students because someone with no family backing achieving that kind of result was practically unheard of in an academy dominated by noble bloodlines and ancient cultivation families.
Liam drew his practice sword with fluid grace that suggested countless hours of training, his stance perfect in a way that came from hard-earned experience rather than expensive instructors, and when he channeled his essence the air around him seemed to shimmer with barely contained power.
He moved through combat forms that were technically flawless and devastatingly efficient, each strike carrying enough force to crack the reinforced arena floor despite using a practice weapon, and his essence control was so refined that he could maintain enhancement for extended periods without showing any sign of strain.
The demonstration lasted three minutes but felt longer because everyone watching understood they were seeing someone who would inevitably rise to the top of the academy rankings through sheer talent and determination.
When Liam finished and returned his practice sword to the rack, Valdris made notes on his tablet with an expression that might have been approval or respect.
"Advanced group," the instructor announced without elaboration, and Liam nodded once before returning to his position among the House Arcturus students who all looked at him with varying degrees of admiration or jealousy.
Several girls in the crowd watched Liam with obvious interest, and even some of the male students seemed impressed despite the competitive environment where everyone was constantly measuring themselves against their peers.
"That's the guy everyone's been talking about," whispered one student near the back, "heard he lived in the slums and taught himself cultivation by studying discarded manuals from noble families, now he's stronger than most people with actual bloodline advantages."
Liam seemed oblivious to the attention or simply didn't care about it, his focus already shifted to analyzing the other students' performances with the calculating gaze of someone who saw everyone as either potential allies or future obstacles.
When a violet-haired girl from House Luminara stepped forward for her assessment and demonstrated magical abilities that rivaled his combat prowess, Liam's eyes lingered on her with interest that suggested he recognized a worthy rival when he saw one.
The assessment continued with the remaining students, but the standard had been set, and everyone knew that Liam Hemsworth and a handful of other prodigies would be the ones to watch as the semester progressed and the real competition began.
House Luminara went next with magical demonstrations that involved elemental manipulation and reality-bending spells, followed by House Valoris showing balanced combinations of physical and magical combat that proved why they'd been sorted into the versatility house.
Then it was House Ascendant's turn, and William felt his anxiety spike as students ahead of him demonstrated abilities that were unconventional but clearly powerful, including one girl who could manipulate shadows into solid weapons and a boy whose body seemed to phase between solid and incorporeal at will.
When his turn came, William stepped forward into the center of the arena while drawing the practice sword he'd been issued from the weapons rack, and he took a breath to center himself the way his mother had taught him during those three brutal days of training.
He could feel essence within his body and carefully channeled just enough to enhance his physical abilities without losing control, feeling the sword become lighter in his enhanced grip as he moved through the basic forms that the Cross family's master cultivator had drilled into him.
Each strike and parry was executed with technical precision even if it lacked the power and speed that more advanced students displayed, and William completed the demonstration before stepping back while his essence control wavered from the sustained effort.
Valdris made notes on a tablet without comment and gestured for the next student to begin their assessment, and William returned to his position while trying to ignore the few whispers from students who'd probably expected worse from someone with his reputation.
The assessment continued for another hour with students being called up individually and sorted into their respective skill groups, and when it finally ended, William found himself assigned to the intermediate group along with roughly a third of the first-years.
"Intermediate group will focus on refining your basics and building practical combat experience," Valdris announced while distributing training schedules, "you have the foundation but lack the polish and real-world application needed to survive actual combat situations, so we'll be correcting that through daily sparring sessions and scenario training."
The session ended with instructions to return tomorrow at the same time, and William made his way back toward the dormitory with his body aching from the sustained essence usage and his mind already dreading the daily dawn training that would become his new routine.
He crossed the bridge to the east tower and noticed a few students from various houses walking the same path, most of them too focused on their own exhaustion to pay him any attention beyond brief glances that acknowledged his presence without hostility or particular interest.
Back in his room, William collapsed onto his bed and checked the time to see he had exactly two hours before his next class, which meant he could either sleep or review the magical theory material he was supposed to have read last night.
His body voted for sleep but his mind knew that showing up unprepared to Professor Ashcroft's class would be a terrible way to start his academic career, so he forced himself upright and pulled out the textbook that had been included in his academy supplies.
"You look like death," Kai observed from the doorway with his usual flat affect, apparently awake enough to notice William's condition even if he didn't particularly care about it.
"Combat training at dawn followed by two more classes today," William said while flipping through pages of magical theory that made his head hurt, "and I'm pretty sure my body hates me for all the essence manipulation I've been forcing it to do."
Kai made a noncommittal sound and shuffled toward the small kitchen area in their common room where he started making what looked like tea from supplies he'd brought with him.
"The first week is always brutal," his roommate said while waiting for water to boil, "most students drop at least one class or switch to easier electives because the workload is designed to weed out people who can't handle the pressure."
William absorbed that information and decided that dropping classes was not an option when he was already struggling to prove he belonged here, so he went back to reading about essence theory and elemental affinities while his exhausted brain tried to retain information that would probably be tested soon.
Two hours passed faster than he wanted and William found himself walking toward the North Tower for magical theory class, joining streams of other first-years who all looked varying degrees of prepared and anxious about their first real academic session.
The classroom was a circular chamber with tiered seating that descended toward a central platform where Professor Ashcroft presumably conducted lectures, and William chose a seat near the middle where he could see clearly without drawing attention to himself.
Students filed in gradually and William recognized several faces from combat training including the silver-haired sword prodigy who took a seat near the front with the confidence of someone who excelled at everything, and he made a mental note to avoid any interaction with her because getting on the radar of someone that dangerous seemed like a terrible idea.
Professor Ashcroft arrived precisely on time, a middle-aged woman with sharp features and eyes that suggested she could see through any excuse or deception, and she immediately launched into a lecture about the fundamental principles of essence manipulation without bothering with introductions.
"Essence is the foundation of all cultivation and magic in this world," she said while diagrams appeared in the air showing complex patterns of energy flow, "it exists within every living thing and in the environment around us, and your ability to sense, gather, and control essence determines your potential as a cultivator."
William took notes frantically because everything she said was information he needed to understand if he wanted to improve his terrible control, and he found himself actually interested in the subject despite his exhaustion.
The lecture continued for two hours covering topics like essence meridians, cultivation stages, and the relationship between elemental affinity and essence manipulation efficiency, and Professor Ashcroft assigned reading from three different textbooks plus a written analysis due next week.
When the class finally ended, William gathered his materials and made his way toward the Meditation Gardens for his essence cultivation session with Master Erian, his mind already overwhelmed by the amount of information he was expected to absorb and apply.
The Meditation Gardens turned out to be a peaceful area with carefully maintained plants and small pavilions designed for quiet contemplation, and William joined a group of about twenty students sitting in a circular formation around an elderly man who radiated calm authority.
"I am Master Erian and I will guide your cultivation practice for the duration of your time at this academy," the man said with a voice that was surprisingly strong despite his aged appearance, "cultivation is not about forcing power but about understanding the natural flow of essence and learning to work with it rather than against it."
He led them through breathing exercises and meditation techniques designed to help them sense their internal essence more clearly, and William found the practice surprisingly difficult because his mind kept wandering to all the other things he needed to worry about instead of focusing on the subtle energy within his body.
By the time the session ended two hours later, William felt mentally exhausted in a completely different way than the physical exhaustion from combat training, and he stumbled back to his dormitory wondering how he was supposed to maintain this schedule every single day for the next four years.
Kai was still on the couch when William returned, now reading what looked like a novel rather than any academic material, and he glanced up with his usual expression of mild disinterest.
"Survived your first day," his roommate observed, and William collapsed into one of the common room chairs with a groan.
"Barely," he admitted while pulling out the reading assignments he needed to complete before tomorrow, "and I still have three textbooks to read plus a written analysis to finish before next week."
Kai turned a page in his novel without looking particularly sympathetic to William's plight.
"Welcome to Celestial Heights Academy," he said with the faintest hint of amusement, "where they expect you to become a legendary warrior-scholar while surviving on four hours of sleep and pure spite."
William opened his magical theory textbook and started reading while his body screamed for rest, knowing that tomorrow would bring another dawn combat session followed by more classes and more impossible expectations that he somehow had to meet.
At least nobody had tried to kill him yet, which felt like a minor victory given his circumstances and the curse lurking in the background waiting to complicate his life in ways he couldn't predict.
He made it through fifty pages of dense theoretical material before his eyes started closing involuntarily, and he finally admitted defeat by dragging himself to bed with the intention of waking up early to finish the reading before combat training.
His last coherent thought before sleep claimed him was that if this was what being an academy student felt like, he genuinely had no idea how anyone survived to graduation without dying from exhaustion or giving up entirely.