The days in the Academy settled into a rhythm that felt both new and heavy.
The routine for the students are as follows; morning breakfast at the school canteen, specialized classes for bloodline in alignment to the seven school of thoughts, and finally general classes.
Elara stood in the Whispering Void training hall, the wide chamber wrapped in soft violet haze. Floating lanterns drifted lazily overhead, their light pooling and shifting across the cool stone floor like spilled ink. The air carried the faint scent of night-blooming flowers and old parchment, while a gentle breeze slipped through the high arched windows, stirring the edges of robes. Students formed loose circles, their voices low as they practiced basic illusions. One boy managed a shaky orb of light that flickered and died with a soft pop. Another girl held a faint image of a flower for a few heartbeats before it dissolved into sparks.
When her turn came, Elara stepped into the open space. The instructor nodded once. She drew a slow breath, letting the faint pull of her Echo Gaze awaken. The world around her seemed to slow, the edges of the lanterns sharpening until she could see every faint crack in the glass. She copied the technique she had just watched. A small crimson bird appeared in front of her, wings beating with steady, lifelike rhythm. It hovered there, solid and real, then twisted into a deeper, richer red hue that pulsed with an almost living warmth before she let it fade.
A ripple of surprise moved through the circle. Several students leaned forward, eyes wide. Mira, standing nearby, clapped her hands once, her face lighting up with open delight. "That was incredible," she whispered, leaning closer. "The way the color shifted… it felt alive. No one else did that."
The instructor paused, his gaze lingering on Elara a moment longer than the others. "Unusual depth," he said quietly. "Most first-years struggle to hold a stable form. You not only held it, you altered its nature. That kind of instinctive evolution is rare."
Elara kept her expression calm, offering only a small nod. Inside, the praise felt warm, but it also carried the same quiet pressure she had sensed since the sorting. Her family's messages had already begun arriving — short notes reminding her to excel, to bring honor to the Voss name. She kept her face still, but the gentle ache of wanting something simpler lingered: a quiet evening with her mother, a moment without expectation.
Not far away, in the shared training yard between several schools, Kael moved through a basic spatial exercise. The yard was open to the sky, sunlight slanting across cracked stone tiles. A low stone wall bordered one side, and beyond it the chasm dropped away into golden haze. Other students practiced nearby — some lifting weighted orbs, others trying to compress small areas of air.
He focused on the black gravitational force inside him. When he extended it, the air around a small training stone tightened with a low hum. The stone dropped faster than it should have, cracking the tile beneath it. A few nearby students glanced over. One boy from Iron Citadel whistled softly. Kael only glance at him, his expression neutral.
Later that afternoon, the two paths crossed for the first time in a shared elemental fundamentals class.
The class was held in a large open courtyard where the ground was marked with concentric rune circles. Students from different schools mixed together for these mandatory sessions. The courtyard was bathed in warm sunlight, the stone tiles warm underfoot. Flowering vines climbed the low walls, and a gentle breeze carried the faint scent of distant rivers and silver leaves. Instructors moved between the circles, correcting posture and breathing with quiet words.
Elara stood in one circle, practicing basic energy circulation. The instructor moved between groups, demonstrating how to draw Prime Essence into the body even without using one's awakened bloodline. "Before your bloodline gives you a specialized domain," the instructor explained, "Prime Essence is the very essence of the world. It allows you to touch the natural elements — fire, water, wind, earth — in their raw form. Your bloodline simply grants you a specialized path and stronger abilities once you learn to control this essence."
Elara felt the faint pull as she guided the energy through her runes. It felt different from her Echo Gaze — broader, less focused, like touching a wide river instead of a single stream. The rune circle at her feet glowed softly as she circulated the Prime Essence, the light reflecting off the stone in gentle waves.
Kael stood in a circle a few rows away. He moved through the same exercise with steady precision. The black gravitational force inside him responded smoothly, drawing in the raw Prime Essence and letting it flow through his circuits. He felt the difference clearly — the general circulation was broad and unstructured, while his Devourer's Hunger wanted to pull and consume. He held it in check, letting only what was needed pass. The rune circle beneath him glowed darker than most, the light seeming to bend slightly toward him.
The instructor's voice carried across the courtyard. "Circulate steadily. Do not force it. Prime Essence is not a tool to be grabbed — it is a current to be guided. Your bloodline will give you mastery over one domain, but learning the basics here allows you to understand the world's essence itself."
Elara returned her attention to the glowing rune at her feet. The light danced across her hands as she drew the energy in. Beside her, Mira tried again, her own rune flickering brighter for a second before settling.
Kael continued his circulation, the black force inside him responding smoothly. He felt the subtle difference between the structured flow the instructor taught and the hungry pull of his own power. The courtyard was alive with small sounds — the soft hum of runes, the occasional gasp when someone lost control, the rustle of robes as students shifted.
Later that night, Elara sat down on the balcony of her dorm as she guided the prime essence from the air into the rune circuit in her body. Accordingly to what she has learnt over the general classes, it takes nine whole circulation to advance from a stage in realms. It might sound easy but it's also difficult this is because the strength of one's soul power determines how far you can concentrate on guiding prime essence before you become exhausted from spiritual fatigue, and trying to continue after spiritual would lead to an inevitable loss of control and a instant reversion due to direct contact of prime essence, normally runes which serve as an anchor are usually in a state of weakness during cultivation so it makes reversion easy. Another reason why circulation is difficult is because each persons runes like their soul weapons are different as they are the essence of one's existence which include one's bloodline and affinity with abilities, therefore tracing these runes by guiding prime essence for circulation is difficult afterall runes evolve along side realms and stages.
Elara thought about these as she completed her ninth circulation as she finally entered the middle stage of the Awakening realm.
Huuu... Elara exhaled as prime essence quickly gathered around her runic pattern that emerge behind her beforing bursting into a brilliant crimson flash of light. Her previous faint rune became clear.
"Finally, I'm at the middle stage" Elara muttered as she got up before stepping back into the dorm room, completely ignoring the look of antonishment from Selene's expression.
Despite it being over two months since their admission, Selene has chosen to take the revelry between both their families seriously. Elara was to lazy to reason with her afterall...
I already have enough people who cares about me, anymore would become a hassle and wouldn't make any difference. Elara thought as she left the balcony.
How did she...so quickly... We are both freshmen how is it that she advances so quickly, it has only been two months and she has entered the middle stage, and I'm still stuck at the seventh circulation of the initial stage. Selene thought as she gritted her teeths.
In her own right she could indeed be called a genius after all, most freshers are still stuck at the fourth circulation and some others with poor talents were also stuck at the first circulation of the initial stage of the Awakening realm. But she was already at the seventh circulation, however comparing herself with Elara is just... So dispartive.
If I can't surpass her then father and mother would be so disappointed and the family might not get enough eged during negotiations between both families and our status might also plummet compared to the the Voss's family among the circle of families in of the Whispering Void. Selene thought desperately about her family situation.
"It seems I have to cultivate harder" Her eyes glowed with a fierce light.