[2k+ words]
William's second day at Celestial Heights Academy started exactly like the first, painful, exhausting, and with the distinct feeling that his body was staging a rebellion against his life choices.
The pre-dawn combat training left him bruised from sparring matches against intermediate group students who all had significantly more experience than his three days of crash-course preparation, and Instructor Valdris had spent most of the session correcting his footwork with increasingly pointed commentary about noble sons who thought money could replace actual skill.
By the time William dragged himself to breakfast in the main dining hall, he was seriously reconsidering whether survival was worth this level of constant physical misery.
The dining hall was massive with long tables organized by house affiliation, and William grabbed a tray of food that looked far better than anything he'd eaten in his previous life before finding a relatively empty section of the House Ascendant table.
Most students were too focused on their own meals and conversations to pay him much attention. However, he noticed a few glances from various tables that lingered slightly longer than casual observation would warrant.
"You're the Cross kid," said a voice beside him, and William looked up to see a girl with auburn hair and green eyes sitting down across from him without waiting for an invitation, "Instructor Valdris mentioned you have high essence capacity but control issues, which is basically the Ascendant house motto at this point."
William swallowed his food and tried to place her face from the combat assessment, eventually recognizing her as one of the students who'd demonstrated shadow manipulation.
"That's an accurate summary," he admitted, because there was no point in denying what the entire intermediate group had witnessed during sparring. "I'm William, though you apparently already knew that."
She smiled with amusement that suggested she found his self-awareness refreshing compared to whatever she'd expected.
"Mira Ashford," she introduced herself while stealing a piece of fruit from his plate with casual familiarity, "I'm in your combat group and your magical theory class, and I've been taking bets with my friends about how long before you either quit or figure out how to actually use all that essence you're sitting on."
William raised an eyebrow at her bluntness but found it oddly preferable to the whispered gossip he'd been overhearing since arriving.
"What are the current odds," he asked while continuing to eat because his body desperately needed fuel after the morning's abuse.
"Three to one that you wash out before midterms," Mira said cheerfully while examining his remaining food options, "but I put money on you lasting at least a semester because anyone stubborn enough to show up to intermediate group with your skill level probably has the determination to survive through sheer spite."
Before William could respond to that somewhat backhanded vote of confidence, the dining hall's ambient noise shifted in a way that made him look toward the entrance.
Liam Hemsworth had just walked in with a small group of House Arcturus students orbiting him like he was the sun and they were desperate planets seeking his attention, and William watched the protagonist navigate the social dynamics with the kind of natural charisma that made people want to follow him.
"That's the scholarship orphan everyone's obsessed with," Mira said while following his gaze, "apparently he's some kind of cultivation genius who taught himself everything and still managed to outperform nobles who've had private tutors since birth, which makes him either incredibly talented or incredibly lucky."
William studied Liam's interactions and noticed the way the protagonist seemed to naturally draw the attention of several female students including the silver-haired sword prodigy from House Arcturus and the violet-haired mage from House Luminara, both of whom appeared to be competing for his notice in subtle ways that probably weren't as subtle as they thought.
"He seems popular," William observed neutrally while finishing his breakfast, and Mira snorted with amusement.
"Popular is an understatement," she said while standing up with her own empty tray, "half the girls in our year are already trying to figure out how to get close to him, and the other half are busy hating him because their families consider orphans beneath their station, it's very entertaining to watch if you enjoy social drama."
William filed that information away as potentially relevant given that the novel had been centered around Liam's romantic conquests, and he made a mental note to stay as far away from that particular plot line as humanly possible.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of lectures and practical sessions that left William's brain just as exhausted as his body, and by the time he collapsed into bed that night, he'd already forgotten half of what he'd learned and would need to relearn it tomorrow.
The week continued in that same brutal pattern with minor variations, combat training that gradually showed tiny improvements in his technique, theoretical classes that filled his head with information he struggled to retain, and cultivation sessions where he slowly learned to sense his essence more clearly even if controlling it remained frustratingly difficult.
By the end of the first week, William had achieved exactly three things: he hadn't died, he hadn't quit, and he'd managed to remain mostly invisible despite his family name and reputation.
It was Friday evening when everything shifted slightly, and William found himself in the common room attempting to complete the written analysis Professor Ashcroft had assigned while Kai occupied the couch with his usual novel.
"There's a gathering tomorrow night," Kai mentioned without looking up from his book, "an informal thing where students from different houses meet up in one of the abandoned courtyards to drink and socialize away from faculty supervision."
William looked up from his essay about essence meridian theory and tried to figure out why his apathetic roommate was suddenly offering social information.
"Are you actually suggesting I attend a social gathering," William asked with genuine confusion, "because that seems wildly out of character for someone who spends most of his time pretending the rest of humanity doesn't exist."
Kai turned a page in his novel with the smile of a ghost
"I'm not suggesting anything," he said with his usual flat affect, "I'm merely informing you that it exists in case you want to do something other than study yourself into an early grave, some people find it useful for making connections or at least having one night where they're not constantly stressed about failing."
William considered the offer and decided that maybe one evening of not thinking about his inadequate combat skills or the overwhelming coursework might actually be beneficial for his mental health.
"Where is this gathering," he asked while closing his textbook because he wasn't making progress anyway, and Kai finally looked up with what might have been approval.
"Eastern courtyard near the auxiliary library," his roommate said while returning attention to his novel, "starts around sunset and usually goes until someone passes out or the faculty inevitably discovers it and shuts everything down, try not to do anything stupid that gets you expelled on your first social outing."
William went to bed that night with the vague plan of attending tomorrow's gathering, mostly because staying in his room alone while everyone else socialized seemed like a waste of what little free time the academy allowed.
Saturday brought no dawn combat training which meant William actually got to sleep past five in the morning for the first time since arriving, and he spent the day catching up on reading assignments and practicing essence manipulation in his room until his control improved enough that he didn't immediately lose focus after thirty seconds.
When sunset approached, William changed into casual clothes that didn't scream "noble's son" quite as loudly as his usual academy uniform and made his way toward the eastern courtyard with directions Kai had scribbled on a piece of paper.
The courtyard turned out to be partially hidden behind overgrown gardens and architectural features that suggested it had been abandoned years ago, and William could already hear voices and laughter filtering through the evening air as he approached.
He rounded a corner and found roughly fifty students gathered in clusters around the courtyard with bottles of what was probably alcohol being passed around despite the academy's rules against it, and the atmosphere was relaxed in ways that made the usual competitive tension seem like a distant memory.
Mira spotted him almost immediately and waved him over to where she stood with a small group of House Ascendant students who all looked equally exhausted from the week.
"I won my bet," she announced cheerfully while handing him a bottle of something that smelled strong enough to strip paint, "you survived the first week without quitting or dying, which means several people owe me money."
William took the bottle and decided that one drink wouldn't kill him after the week he'd endured, and the liquid burned going down in ways that suggested it was probably homemade and definitely not academy-approved.
"Congratulations on profiting from my suffering," he said while coughing slightly from the alcohol's strength, and Mira laughed with genuine amusement.
"That's the spirit," she said while introducing him to the other students whose names William immediately forgot because his exhausted brain had reached capacity for new information, "welcome to the informal therapy session disguised as a social gathering, where we all pretend we're not slowly dying from the workload."
William spent the next hour talking with various students about their shared misery regarding impossible assignments and brutal training sessions, and he found the casual atmosphere surprisingly relaxing compared to the constant pressure of academy life.
He was halfway through his second drink and actually enjoying himself when he noticed Liam Hemsworth arrive with his usual entourage, and the protagonist's presence immediately shifted the courtyard's energy as people gravitated toward him like moths to flame.
William stayed on the periphery of the gathering and watched the social dynamics play out with detached interest, noting how Liam seemed genuinely uncomfortable with all the attention despite clearly being skilled at managing it.
The silver-haired sword prodigy, Seraphina, he remembered from the combat assessment, appeared beside Liam with two drinks and an expression that suggested she was staking claim to his attention, and William observed their interaction with the kind of morbid fascination that came from knowing he was watching the novel's plot unfold in real time.
"That's going to end badly," Mira commented while following his gaze, "Seraphina Ashenheart doesn't share well and Lyanna Stormweaver is already circling like a predator, the betting pools are currently split on whether they'll fight over him or team up to eliminate competition."
William decided that staying far away from that particular drama was definitely the smart choice, and he was about to suggest finding somewhere quieter when he felt someone's gaze fixed on him with uncomfortable intensity.
He turned slightly and found himself meeting crimson eyes across the courtyard, and Seraphina was staring directly at him with an expression he couldn't quite read while Liam continued talking beside her completely oblivious to her divided attention.
The moment lasted only a few seconds before she looked away, but William felt something shift in the air that made his instincts scream danger.
"Did Seraphina Ashenheart just stare at you?" Mira asked with genuine confusion. "Because that was weird; she doesn't usually notice people who aren't either threats or potential sparring partners."
William drained the rest of his drink and decided it was probably time to leave before whatever that moment was developed into something more complicated.
"I think I'm going to head back," he said while handing the empty bottle to Mira, "long week and I should probably get actual sleep before combat training starts again Monday."
Mira looked skeptical about his excuse but didn't push, and William made his escape from the gathering before anything else strange could happen.
He was halfway back to the east tower when he heard footsteps behind him that were too deliberate to be coincidental, and he turned to find Seraphina standing there with her hands casually resting near the daggers she wore even at social gatherings.
"William Cross," she said with that same unreadable expression from earlier, "I've been meaning to talk to you since the combat assessment."
William's mind raced through possible responses while every survival instinct told him this conversation was going to complicate his life in ways he really didn't want to deal with.
"About what," he asked carefully while maintaining enough distance that he could potentially run if this turned violent, and Seraphina tilted her head slightly like she was examining something fascinating.
"Your essence signature is strange," she said while taking a step closer, "during the assessment I noticed you have massive capacity but almost no control, which suggests either recent awakening or deliberate suppression, and I'm curious which one it is."
William considered lying but decided that someone like Seraphina would probably see through anything he said anyway, so partial truth seemed like the safer option.
"I recently awakened," he admitted, because it was close enough to accurate, "my abilities didn't manifest properly until recently, which is why I'm so far behind everyone else in terms of practical application."
Seraphina studied him for another long moment before nodding once like she'd confirmed something.
"That makes sense," she said while turning to leave, "try not to die before you figure out how to actually use all that power, it would be a waste."
She walked away without explaining what she meant by that, and William stood there trying to process what had just happened while his exhausted brain struggled to understand why the first heroine out of all the Heroines was suddenly interested in him.
He made it back to his dormitory and collapsed onto his bed while staring at the ceiling, and for the first time since arriving at the academy, he pulled up the system interface he'd been mostly ignoring.
[Curse Status: Partially Active]
[Current Affected Individuals: 1]
[Target: Seraphina Ashenheart - Early Stage Attraction]
[Warning: Continued interaction will accelerate curse effects]
William closed the interface and wished he could go back to his boring corporate life where the worst thing that could happen was a failed presentation, not being noticed by a sword-wielding heroine with the power to kill him and the curse-induced inclination to become possessive.
He fell asleep that night with the distinct feeling that his carefully maintained invisibility was starting to crack, and Monday's return to routine training would probably bring complications he really wasn't prepared to handle.