Midnight, the Next Day – The Lunar Wing

The moonlight poured down, weaving through the spires of the Lunar Wing. The usually vibrant corridors of the Academy were now silent as most students had gone home or to their dorms to sleep.

Only the distant sound of humming mana turbines and wind brushing against the stained-glass windows broke the stillness of the night.

Albedo stood before the twin obsidian doors of the Lunar Wing’s private training hall. The crescent moon carved into the door glowed faintly, responding to his presence as it clicked open.

Behind it was a massive chamber illuminated by violet. The chamber was larger than any of the standard training grounds, and had tall columns carved from night-crystals reaching towards a dome shaped ceiling.

“Right on time. Good, I hate tardiness.” The smooth voice of Headmistress Raphaeline echoed in his ear as he saw her across the room.

She was standing barefoot on top of an onyx platform, wearing a form-fitting black training bodysuit with gold accents that glowed with runic instriptions.

~WHOOSH~

In a flash, as soon as their eyes met, she appeared in front of him, once again making Albedo aware at the difference in their power at the current moment.

“You’re strong for your level, but you haven’t reached the limit yet. You haven’t achieved true strength. True strength is synergy. A perfect unison between body and mind, between mana and muscle.”

She snapped her fingers.

~CLANK!~

A rectangular section of the floor slid open behind her, and with a rumble, a mechanical platform rose, revealing a set of obsidian weights.

Some of the tools were orb-shaped, some looked bladed, and one of them, a chained cube, radiated an intense pressure that even affected Albedo, garnering his attention.

“These,” she said, running her fingers along one orb, “are Void-Weighted Constructs. Calibrated to fluctuate their mass based on your mana signature and intent. Try to cheat by holding back, and they’ll get heavier. Push too hard, and they’ll retaliate. They don’t respect pride.”

She turned back to him and continued speaking, “Your first task: carry this set,” she gestured to a pair of bracers and shoulder-bound weights.

“While carrying them, you need to maintain six orbs in perfect mana-controlled rotation around your head, one orb for each direction.”

With another snap, six shimmering violet spheres floated from a side pedestal, humming with arcane power.

“Clockwise. Uniform speed. Radius: one meter. Deviation? You restart.”

Albedo raised a brow, “While just walking?”

Raphaeline smirked “While dodging.”

~BANG!~

A sigil on the floor ignited, and from the shadows, mana-turrets unfolded from the walls. Each one bore crystalline tips, clearly designed to fire precision-grade mana bolts.

“And yes,” she added, casually, “you will be shot at. Non-lethal, of course. But quite painful. Enough to make you cry for your mother, if you slip up.”

Albedo raised an eyebrow, “Seems like you’ve prepared a-lot for just our first training session.”

“Yeah because this is your reality now,” Raphaeline continued, “You don’t have a year, you need to be ready now. Maximize your strength in every realm before breaking through to the next one, and this is how.”

Albedo eventually nodded and walked over to the equipment. The moment he touched the weighted bracers, a shock surged up his arms, not painful, but jarring, as if the mana inside the constructs was testing him.

He gritted his teeth and equipped the gear. It clamped down tight.

Then came the shoulder weights, which settled over him like the pressure of a mountain. He didn’t buckle. But sweat began forming almost instantly across his brow.

What Raphaeline said was right, the weights were perfectly weighted to match his level of strength, making them the perfect level of heavy for effective training.

Finally, he lifted his hand. The six orbs hovered at his command, each one responding to his mana with a slight delay.

He rotated them slowly, quickly gaining the feeling or them as he grew more skilled at manipulating them.

Clockwise.

Evenly spaced.

One meter radius.

For a moment, the room fell into eerie silence while he was practicing.

Then,

~FWIP!~

A bolt of violet mana screamed past his face, grazing his cheek.

Albedo flinched instinctively, and immediately, the top-left orb wobbled.

~BZZT!~

It buzzed red and froze, floating in place as it pulsed ominously for a second.

Then.

~BOOM!~

It exploded in a flash of violet fire, releasing a shockwave that struck the remaining five orbs.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The chain reaction detonated the entire rotation mid-air, and a surge of mana tore across the chamber like a hurricane. Albedo didn’t have time to shield himself. The force slammed into his chest like a battering ram, hurling him across the room.

~CRASH!~

He smashed into one of the night-crystal pillars, cracking it with the impact before collapsing onto the ground in a heap.

His bracers sizzled with mana discharge, the shoulder weights pinning him down like anchors from hell. Smoke rose from his arms. A trickle of blood dripped down his lip.

For a few seconds, everything was spinning and he could barely register where he was. The dome above him even flickered in and out of focus.

Then he heard the slow, deliberate sound of heels approaching.

~CLICK~CLICK~CLICK!~

Raphaeline stood over him, arms folded, her expression utterly unreadable.

“Lesson number one,” she said calmly, “the punishment for failure isn’t a lecture.”

She snapped her fingers again.

The six violet orbs reformed midair, shimmering with renewed power. They hovered patiently beside her, like obedient familiars awaiting command.

Albedo gritted his teeth and forced himself upright. Every muscle screamed. His lungs burned. But he didn’t stop.

“Are you going to heal me?” he rasped, spitting out a bit of blood.

Raphaeline chuckled.

“No.”

She leaned down, her glowing eyes inches from his.

“Your body will adapt faster by recovering naturally. Scars are badges. Pain is memory. You want to become strong, Albedo?”

He nodded slowly.

“Then earn it. Again.”

She stood and gestured to the platform.

“Restart.”

Albedo grunted painfully as he stood up, exhaling and calming down, channeling mana through his body and then towards the orbs.

Once again, the orbs began to rotate.

FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!

This time three bolts came in a burst, one high, two low.

Albedo ducked and twisted, easily dodging the high ones and twisting the low one, but another attack went unseen, crashing into his back and causing two of the orbs to tremble out of place.

“F*ck off!” Albedo muttered as the two orbs exploded, causing another chain reaction that sent him crashing into another pillar, coughing up more blood.

Once again, Raphaeline walked in front of him, staring him in eye eyes as she spoke, “Lesson number two….Never trust your eyes.”

“Your eyes can be deceived, magic has infinite possibilities. Trust your power, your Mana to sense around you. Letting your mana senses drop for even a millisecond is certain death. You’ve only awakened recently, so you’re still not fully adapted to this, but learn it quickly.”

Raphaeline said, and quickly remade the orbs once again.

“Restart.”

Minutes bled into what felt like hours, as Albedo continued this grueling training.

The turrets showed no mercy. They fired at random intervals, some aiming for his feet, others for his arms, others high enough to singe his hair.

He also realized there were invisible turrets, shooting a variety of invisible attacks that could catch him off. Some of the attacks only appeared in his mana senses fractions of a second before they collided.

Albedo had failed quite a few times due to those kind of attacks, but they caused him to truly maximize his senses. He could never lose sight of the goal, making sure to dodge and keep the orbs in tact.

He had also realized the six orbs were maddeningly sensitive. Even the slightest slip would trigger a wobble, that would cause a full, painful reset.

By the 15th failure, his breathing was heavy. His muscles burned. Sweat soaked through his training uniform.

By the 20th, his vision blurred. His mana felt sluggish, his nerves frayed. At this point, he had been exploded so many times it was ridiculous.

But by the 30th attempt, something had clearly shifted.

His body had adjusted to the weights with micro-movements, and his mana pulsed out in steady waves, syncing with the orbs now as if they were extensions of his will.

~FWIP~FWIP~FWIP~

Albedo weaved through the barrage, dodging to the left and twisting around, even leaping over one of the attacks, all the while keeping the orb spinning in synchronized perfection.

He made it thirty seconds. Then a minute.

Then two minutes, then five minutes.

When the turrets finally powered down, Albedo was kneeling, the orbs still spinning in place.

Raphaeline stood silently at the edge of the chamber, arms crossed, wings flicked outward ever so slightly.

“…You learn fast,” she said finally, stepping toward him.

Albedo didn’t look up, “Is that the end of today’s training?”

Raphaeline laughed, a low, sultry sound. “Please. That was your warm-up.”

Albedo groaned softly, wondering if Raphaeline was actually a sadist. It wouldn’t be that weird as a Demoness for her to be one.

She knelt in front of him, meeting his gaze directly.

“Good instincts. Even better adaptability. But raw grit only gets you so far, Albedo.”

She tapped her temple gently. “You have the makings of a killer. But if your mind isn’t sharp, if your discipline falters, you’ll make mistakes. And one mistake is all it takes to lose everything.”

Her voice softened just a touch, “You said you’d burn the world if it meant saving your sister. I believe you. But emotion won’t be enough. You’ll need precision. Control. Cold calculation, sharpened like a blade.”

Albedo stared at her.

Then, slowly, he nodded.

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

She leaned closer, her violet eyes glowing faintly, “Then prove it. Come back tomorrow. And the day after. No breaks. No excuses. I’ll break you down, Albedo. But I promise,”

She stood.

“What rises from the ashes will be worthy of the war to come.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep