Chapter 1: Magic Awakening
Bo City
Tianlan High School, First Year (8) Class.
"Next, Xu Shen."
Xu Shen opened his eyes in a daze, letting his body's instinct lead him unsteadily to the podium.
"Hurry up, what are you spacing out for?"
The homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng, frowned. It was his first time seeing a student so distracted during the Awakening Ceremony.
"Place your right hand on the Awakening Stone, close your eyes, and feel your spiritual world!"
Hearing Old Xue's familiar voice, Xu Shen felt a bit disoriented. This youthful body was full of vitality, completely at odds with the crippled body he had dragged around for decades.
Was it a dream?
One by one, familiar faces were clearly laid out before him, making his faded memories gradually clear.
The bright autumn wind drifted in through the window, waking Xu Shen from his daze.
He shook his head vigorously and placed his right hand on the Awakening Stone.
A warm, moist energy flowed from his right hand throughout his body. His ethereal spiritual world, like a primordial chaos, split open with a fissure. A warm light emerged from the void, gathering into a small, faint golden stardust.
"Light System!" Old Xue shook his head, his voice tinged with pity.
A burst of laughter erupted from below the podium. It wasn't mockery; everyone knew how useless the Light System was in the early stages, and they simply couldn't hold it in.
It was well-known that the Light System's elementary magic, Radiance, was essentially a glorified light bulb. Its attack, defense, and support were all lacking, which meant almost no team would accept an elementary Light System mage.
And being a mage was an extremely resource-intensive profession. If no one wanted you, you couldn't acquire resources. This meant that if a child from a poor family awakened the Light System at the elementary level, their life's difficulty would instantly multiply.
Xu Shen was naturally humorous and optimistic. If this wasn't a dream, he would have dramatically wailed at Old Xue like a clown, "Teacher, I'm going to the rooftop, don't stop me."
But at this moment, his lips trembled slightly a few times, and then he made no further movement.
He hadn't spoken for decades, and even opening his mouth felt unfamiliar, so he simply walked silently off the podium.
Xue Musheng looked at the "lost" Xu Shen and couldn't help but encourage him: "Xu Shen, don't give up. The Light System is very powerful in the later stages."
"Next, Wang Cheng!"
"Water System!"
With a wail, Wang Cheng shouted at Xu Shen, who hadn't yet returned to his seat: "Light System classmate, want to go to the rooftop? Let's go together."
"Next…"
...Xu Shen's mind was still a bit muddled as he returned to his seat.
Is this a dream?
If not, why is it so real?
If it is… he slapped himself hard on the forehead.
The slap was so crisp and loud that it made Xu Shen the focus of the entire class.
"This guy must be losing it…"
Whispers filled the classroom, and glances directed at Xu Shen were full of sympathy.
"Xu Shen, are you alright?" Old Xue paused the Awakening Ceremony and asked.
As a homeroom teacher at Tianlan High School, he had seen students who, after awakening the Light System, became disheartened and chose to give up, though not many, there were some.
For this reason, the school had installed anti-theft windows in various unexpected places.
Looking at Old Xue's worried eyes, Xu Shen slowly shook his head.
Xue Musheng sighed slightly and continued the Awakening Ceremony, but his gaze still occasionally drifted towards Xu Shen, afraid that the guy might invent a new way to die when no one was looking.
Has he really been reborn?
Xu Shen closed his eyes and entered a state of meditation.
The release of magic consisted of only three very simple steps.
First, meditation.
Second, control.
Third, release!
When a person closes their eyes, their mind is actually filled with various complex thoughts.
But if one thinks of nothing and is undisturbed, their mind is a blank slate!
After a mage awakens, their blank world will contain the stardust of their corresponding system.
Meditation is entering a state of emptiness, free of distracting thoughts, to "see" the stars within the stardust.
For a novice mage, learning to skillfully enter a meditative state would take at least two or three months, but for an experienced reborn individual like Xu Shen, meditation was almost as instinctive as opening his mouth to eat.
In his spiritual world, within a pale golden stardust, nine stars swam freely like fish. The beautiful and enchanting stardust captivated Xu Shen.
It was a beauty he could never tire of seeing.
That's right, there were nine, two more than ordinary people!
In his previous life, he wanted to play the pig to eat the tiger, hiding this talent tightly. But the difficulty of controlling the stars was beyond his imagination. While others had begun to skillfully cast elementary magic, Xu Shen was still struggling with the ninth star, until he received a withdrawal notice… Just as he was about to expose his talent to stay in school, the damned Black Vatican arrived.
Although he miraculously survived the Bo City calamity, he became disabled thereafter.
A cripple with inconvenient legs, no matter how amazing his talent, what good was it if he lost his mobility?
After all, on the battlefield, no enemy would politely wait for you to complete your magic… "Number 48, Mo Fan!"
Xu Shen opened his eyes.
He seemed to hear the chanting of the Goddess of Destiny, and the gears of fate began to turn.
No one could have imagined that this transfer student, who entered through the back door, would become the hero who would turn the tide in the future during the Bo City calamity and the Ancient Capital Calamity.
At this moment, the young man walked step by step onto the podium, his handsome face seemingly calm, but unable to hide his nervousness.
"Oh my god, someone in the next class awakened the Lightning System!"
On the playground, a student shouted in surprise.
Xu Shen knew that was Xu Zhaoting. Although they shared the same surname, they actually had no familial relation.
The teachers and students of Class 8 all ran out to observe this Lightning System genius, who had only a one-in-a-thousand chance of awakening.
Thus, apart from Xu Shen, no one else saw the mysterious and dangerous purple light on the Awakening Stone in Mo Fan's hand.
When everyone returned, the purple on the magic stone had faded, and a fiery red glow warmed the somewhat chilly classroom.
A born dual-system talent, Xu Shen felt a bit envious. This was much better than his terrible innate nine stars.
"Wow, wow, it's the Fire System!!"
"Amazing, our class has another Fire System."
"Who said he would fail to awaken? It's actually the Fire System, how enviable."
After the excitement of the Lightning System slowly subsided, everyone finally discovered Mo Fan's awakened system.
"Fire… Fire System…" Xue Musheng stared blankly at the student before him.
This… this was a treasure found again!!
And judging by the intensity of the flames, his talent seemed even higher than Zhou Min, who had also awakened the Fire System earlier.
"Fire System student, hmm, hmm, you must work hard in the future. Feel free to ask the teacher if you don't understand anything." Homeroom teacher Xue Musheng patted Mo Fan's shoulder and said with great satisfaction.
For a transfer student far exceeding expectations, Old Xue fully demonstrated to everyone what an art of changing one's expression was.
"Alright, students who awakened other systems, don't be discouraged. Although the Lightning System, Fire System, etc., have considerable advantages in early cultivation, each magic system has its strengths and there is no hierarchy. Especially in later stages of cultivation, every system is incredibly splendid. Now, let's begin the first lesson of magic high school…"
..."Control, that is, controlling these irregularly moving stars within the stardust, making them stay in specific positions to form a star-path."
"Once the star-path is formed, the magic power will be transmitted through this star-path into the mage's body, transforming into true magic, and released!"
"The three steps above constitute the entire process of magic release."
"Magic cultivation is a tedious and arduous process. To see the flowers bloom, one must persevere. Students, I share this with you."
"Alright, class dismissed!"
As an experienced veteran teacher, Xue Musheng's grasp of time was impeccable. The moment his words fell, the dismissal bell seamlessly followed.