That evening William reluctantly made his way to the library's auxiliary study rooms where Lyanna was already waiting with books spread across the table and an expression that suggested she'd been there for a while.
"You're late," she observed while gesturing for him to sit, "I was beginning to think you'd try to avoid this meeting."
William sat down and pulled out his own notes while trying to figure out how to handle working closely with someone who was closely analyzing his every movement.
"Just got delayed," he said neutrally, "so what's our approach for this project."
They spent the next two hours actually working on the assignment, and William discovered that Lyanna was brilliant but also demanding in ways that made Professor Ashcroft seem lenient by comparison.
She would interrupt him mid-sentence if his reasoning was flawed, point out gaps in his understanding with smart suggestions, and occasionally demonstrate magical theory concepts with small essence manipulations that made the air shimmer around her fingers.
"You're not stupid," Lyanna said while reviewing his notes, "but you think like someone who memorized everything from books without practical application, which makes your theoretical knowledge useless in real situations."
William couldn't argue with that assessment because it was completely accurate, and he watched as she corrected his calculations about essence flow patterns with quick annotations that actually made the concepts clearer.
"Your essence capacity is wasted if you can't control it properly," she continued while moving on to the next section, "it's like having a massive reservoir of water but only a tiny pipe to channel it through, which means most of your potential just sits there doing nothing."
By the time they finished planning their research approach, William's brain hurt from keeping up with her rapid-fire theorizing, but he'd also learned more about essence manipulation in two hours than he had in a week of lectures.
"Same time tomorrow," Lyanna announced while gathering her materials, "and don't be late again, I don't have patience for people who waste my time."
William made it back to his room feeling exhausted for the first time this week, and he found Kai reading on the couch as usual.
"How was the study session with the Stormweaver heiress," his roommate asked without looking up from his book, "did she interrogate you about your mysterious essence signature or just make you feel inadequate about your magical theory knowledge."
William collapsed into one of the common room chairs and pulled out his own textbook because he still had other assignments to complete.
"Both," he admitted while flipping through pages, "but I actually learned a lot, so I guess being made to feel inadequate was worth it."
Kai made a chucking sound and went back to his novel, leaving William to work through his reading assignments in relative peace.
The next few days fell into a new pattern with dawn combat training where William continued to show gradual improvement, morning lectures where he tried to absorb impossible amounts of information, afternoon cultivation sessions where his essence control slowly stabilized, and evening study meetings with Lyanna where she alternated between teaching him useful concepts and criticizing his inadequacies.
It was exhausting but productive, and William found himself actually enjoying the challenge despite the constant stress of being surrounded by people far more talented than him.
Friday afternoon came with an unexpected disruption when William was heading to cultivation practice and found Seraphina waiting outside the meditation gardens with her arms crossed and had a somewhat serious expression.
"We're sparring," she announced without preamble, "you've had almost two weeks of intermediate training and I want to see how much you've actually improved."
William looked at the meditation gardens where Master Erian would be expecting him, then back at Seraphina who clearly wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I have cultivation practice right now," he said while knowing it was probably pointless to argue, "can we do this another time."
Seraphina tilted her head slightly with a stare he was becoming uncomfortably familiar with.
"Master Erian won't mind if you miss one session," she said while already walking toward one of the smaller training courtyards, "and you need real combat experience more than you need to sit quietly meditating about essence flow."
William followed her because refusing Seraphina seemed like it would lead to worse consequences than missing cultivation practice, and they reached an empty training courtyard where she immediately tossed him a practice sword.
"Standard sparring rules," she said while drawing her own weapon with fluid grace, "match ends when someone yields or can't continue, and don't hold back because I won't."
William settled into his stance while channeling essence into his body for enhancement, and he noticed Seraphina was watching his movements with sharp attention like she was cataloging every detail.
The match started without anyone signaling, Seraphina simply launching forward with speed that was faster than the opponents he had fought previously, and William barely managed to deflect her opening strike before she was already flowing into a combination that forced him into pure defense.
Her technique was flawless with each movement perfectly balanced and time, no wasted energy or telegraphed intentions, and William found himself getting pushed back despite using everything he'd learned over the past two weeks.
He tried to create distance with a burst of essence-enhanced speed but Seraphina anticipated the movement and cut off his angle with a strike aimed at his leading leg that forced him to block low, which left his upper body exposed for her follow-up.
The practice sword cracked against his ribs with enough force to make him gasp, and Seraphina stepped back while lowering her weapon.
"You're thinking too much again," she said with slight frustration, "your body knows what to do but your brain keeps interfering with thinking instead of just reacting."
William caught his breath while his ribs throbbed from the impact, and he realized she was right because he'd been consciously processing every move instead of letting his training take over.
"Again," Seraphina commanded while resetting to her starting position, "and this time stop thinking and just fight."
They sparred for another hour with Seraphina gradually increasing the intensity while William slowly started responding more instinctively, and by the time she finally called an end to the session he was covered in bruises but moving more naturally than he did before.
"Better," she said while staring at him with that same unreadable expression, "you're still years behind where you should be but at least you're improving at a decent pace now."
William wasn't sure if that was a compliment or just an observation, but he took it as encouragement anyway because Seraphina wasn't the type of person to praise people without reason.
"Why are you helping me," he asked while they walked back toward the main academy buildings, "you could be training with advanced students who would actually challenge you instead of beating up someone from the intermediate group."
Seraphina was quiet for a moment before answering in a way that felt honest.
"Your essence signature interests me and I want to understand it," she admitted while not looking at him directly, "and watching you improve is more entertaining than sparring with people who already know what they're doing."
William decided not to question that logic too deeply because getting free combat training from an A-tier cultivator was too valuable to risk losing by overthinking her motivations.
They parted ways at the intersection where paths diverged toward different dormitories, and William limped back to his room feeling like he'd been run over by a carriage but also strangely satisfied with the progress.
Kai took one look at his condition and shook his head slowly.
"Let me guess, Seraphina Ashenheart decided to use you as a training dummy," his roommate said while returning attention to his novel, "you're either very brave or very stupid for agreeing to spar with someone who could kill you without breaking a sweat."
William collapsed onto the couch because moving to his room felt like too much effort.
"Didn't really have a choice," he said while trying to find a position that didn't make his ribs hurt, "and she actually taught me useful things between the beatings, so I'm calling it a win."
The weekend passed with William alternating between studying for upcoming exams and practicing alone in training courtyards because his body needed recovery time before more sparring matches, and by Monday morning he felt ready to face another week of brutal routine.
Dawn training went smoothly with William winning his first sparring match against a boy from House Valoris who specialized in earth magic, and the victory felt significant even though Valdris barely acknowledged it beyond making a note on his tablet.
Breakfast came with another problem when William sat down at the House Ascendant table and immediately noticed Clarie Hivolt watching him from across the dining hall with a smile and a look of interest on her face.
She stood up and started walking toward his table slowly, while William resisted the urge to just leave his food and run because that would be cowardly and probably make things worse.
"William Cross," Clarie said while sitting down across from him without invitation, "I've been thinking about our last conversation and I've decided we should get to know each other better."
William looked at her while trying to figure out how to avoid this situation without either submitting to whatever she wanted or offending someone who could probably destroy him.
"I'm pretty busy with classes and training," he said politely, "but I appreciate the interest."
Clarie smiled at this which made William feel that she wasn't really giving him an option.
"Everyone is busy with classes and training," she said while leaning forward slightly, "but people make time for things that interest them, and you interest me William Cross, so we're going to spend time together whether you think you're too busy or not."
William felt his jaw tighten because the casual way she assumed control over his schedule was exactly the kind of thing that triggered his stubborn refusal to be pushed around.
"With respect, I decide how I spend my time," he said firmly while maintaining eye contact, "and while I'm sure you're used to people rearranging their lives around your preferences, I'm not interested in that kind of dynamic."