Jumping Off a Building Right From the Start?

"Xu Fang, get down! It's too windy up there, it's dangerous!"

"Look on the bright side. So what if I awakened the Light Element? I awakened the Water Element. Did you hear me complain?"

"Think of it this way: even if you never become a Great Mage, at least your family won't have to buy light bulbs anymore, right?"

"Zhao Kun San, if you can't comfort someone, shut your damn mouth! Monkey, use Wind Track to get that blond kid down!"

"...Brother Fan, I just awakened."

Tianlan Magic High School.

At the edge of the rooftop stood a boy in a high school uniform. His face was expressionless as the wind whipped his uniform into a loud flapping.

"Light Element..."

"Heh."

If not for that flashy blond hair and the glaring sun overhead, this scene would have made every gloomy girl scream with excitement.

He glanced back at the others, then stepped forward without hesitation.

"Ahhh—!"

The intense sensation of weightlessness instantly pulled his scattered thoughts together.

Xu Fang's eyes flew open.

"I actually didn't—Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

As the ground rushed toward him, Xu Fang was completely stunned. Before his brain could even process what was happening, his arms and legs were already flailing in the air, instinctively trying to save himself.

It was no use at all.

First falling off a cliff, then off a building. What kind of luck was this...?

At the very last moment, a furious shout rang in Xu Fang's ears:

"Wind Track · Drifting Shadow!"

Whoosh!

Xu Fang's falling body abruptly slowed, then shot back into the air. The brand-new textbooks laid out outside the teaching building were swept skyward by the gust.

Then someone grabbed him by the collar and tossed him over a shoulder.

"Principal Zhu, I'm taking this brat with me. I'll buy you a drink next time!"

Xu Fang felt like a sack. The stubbly man didn't bother asking his opinion; he slung Xu Fang over his shoulder and hurried away at an unreasonable speed.

After they left, the once-quiet campus erupted.

"Wind Track · Drifting Shadow! Brother Fan, that's Level 3 Beginner Magic! That was freaking awesome!" Zhang Xiaohou, skinny as a monkey, exclaimed excitedly.

"Nothing special. By the time I'm his age, I'll have him dangling upside down and beat him senseless," Mo Fan said casually. "Who was that guy?"

Zhang Xiaohou shook his head. "No idea. He was wearing a military uniform, so he's probably a Military Mage from outside the city."

"I could've figured that out without you telling me. Green Tea Man, do you know him?"

Mu Bai's eye twitched. He took a deep breath.

Don't get angry. Don't get angry. Keep up appearances. I can't stoop to this little punk's level. I'm practically a young master of the Mu Family, while he's just the son of a servant.

"Typical narrow-minded commoner. That's Commander Zhankong of the Snow Peak Mountain Posthouse. You could even call him the most important man in Bocheng after the Mu Clan... Hey, are you even listening?"

Mo Fan ignored him completely, folded his arms, and watched Xu Fang disappear into the distance.

Elsewhere.

Perched on Zhan Kong's shoulder, Xu Fang struggled to process his situation.

He'd transmigrated.

He'd gone from a cliff back on Earth to the world of Full-time Mage, becoming a sixteen-year-old high school freshman.

Damn it, of all the worlds he could've transmigrated to, why this one?

The world of Full-time Mage was a Magic Plane much like Earth, where powerful Demon Beasts multiplied like chives in a field.

Worst of all, humanity was already at a severe disadvantage, yet people still couldn't put aside their differences and unite against their common enemy. Instead, society was rigidly divided, with nations and factions constantly at each other's throats.

There was no room to slack off here. In the world of Full-time Mage, danger had a way of finding you. Without High-level Cultivation to fall back on, a single Commander-level Demonic Beast could wipe out an entire group.

But you couldn't stand out too much, either. The Holy Judgment Court and the Heterodox Judgment Court did little besides stockpile accusations, then swing their holy blades at talented people.

—Five-star General MacArthur once said that no danger could compare to going to the world of Full-time Mage, because the trauma that world left you with wouldn't fade even after two and a half years.

No matter how unwilling he was, Xu Fang had no choice but to accept the fact that he'd transmigrated to this screwed-up world.

As for his original self's background, it was fairly straightforward.

His parents had both been Military Mages. His father had even been a powerful Intermediate Sky Eagle Mage, one of Bocheng's true elite.

But they'd died during a mission while covering for their comrades, leaving only ten-year-old Xu Fang on the Xu family household register.

The military had taken custody of Xu Fang.

For his safety, they hadn't let him live at the Snow Peak Mountain Posthouse. Instead, they'd settled him in the Xu family's old home and sent him money each month.

Growing up like that had made Xu Fang bold and competitive. Snow Peak Mountain also regularly sent over nourishing Demonic Beast Meat, so he'd been stronger than other kids from an early age and had become a King of Children.

There were over a hundred unruly kids in this neighborhood, but only two and a half Kings of Children.

Xu Fang, Mo Fan, and half of Mu Bai.

Xu Fang and Mo Fan had similar temperaments. They feared nothing, swaggered everywhere, and were wild to the core. They got into minor scuffles every three days and major brawls every five, and they were often left bruised and battered.

Sometimes they worked together, too. When Mo Fan eloped with Mu Ningxue, Xu Fang had kept watch. He'd even covered his naturally striking blond hair with a hood. In return, Mo Fan had washed his socks for a month.

As for Mu Bai, that two-faced little rat, the two of them despised him.

Xu Fang had grown up in this environment, all the way until the day of his awakening, the moment that would determine his fate.

Of the three, Mu Bai had awakened the Ice Element, a powerful attribute passed down through the Mu Family.

Mo Fan had awakened the ridiculously powerful Great Fire Element, and even his sidekick, Zhang Xiaohou, had awakened the Wind Element.

And the original Xu Fang... Xu Fang, who had been going through his memories, widened his eyes in surprise.

He'd thought the original Xu Fang had simply looked down on the Light Element, but there was more to it.

The original Xu Fang had awakened the Fire Element first, an offensive powerhouse of an element. But before the Red Star Dust in his Spiritual World could take shape, a patch of Golden Star Dust had swallowed it whole.

Swallowed it...

It...

It...

The original Xu Fang had completely lost it!

It was like scoring over 600 on the college entrance exam, only to have some classmate from the middle of nowhere change your application, leaving you headed to a vocational college three months later.

Watching Mo Fan and Mu Bai bask in the admiration of everyone around them, the original Xu Fang had lost heart and gone straight to the rooftop.

This...

Xu Fang wasn't sure what to make of it.

Having read the original story, he could say that the Light Element became incredible later on. Whether it was the Super Level skill Sacred Art: Demon Judgment Sword or the Forbidden Curse Heaven's Rainbow, it had the highest single-element damage and was invincible among those of the same level.

But the original Xu Fang didn't know that!

In his eyes, he'd gone from a promising offensive mage to a glorified light bulb. Going to the rooftop had seemed only natural.

Now that Xu Fang had taken over, he wasn't about to kill himself.

Come on, the Light Element was powerful enough to swallow the Fire Element. Who would believe it had nothing special going for it?

Xu Fang planned to study his Star Dust properly—just not right now.

He was getting tossed around so badly he could hardly stand it, and being carried around like a sack was humiliating.

"Commander, put me down. I can walk by myself."

"Oh? Embarrassed now, are you?"

Zhan Kong kept walking, grumbling as he went. "I went to this lousy opening ceremony just for you. I only happened to glance at a girl's thighs, and you went and climbed onto the rooftop?

"Have you no shame? I'm asking you, have you no shame? You're a grown man, and you're going to kill yourself just because you awakened the Light Element?

"I knew a senior whose first element was the Light Element, too. He didn't go around trying to kill himself. He went straight to the Forbidden—straight to the Super Level. He's the big shot of our Southern Military Region!

"Now look at you!

"Damn it, the gap between people is wider than the gap between people and dogs!

"And that's not even mentioning that senior. Just look at your dad. He was a fine man. Even before he died, all he could think about was you. He wanted you to have a Sky Eagle of your own and become a Sky Eagle Mage.

"A Sky Eagle Mage? Hmph. Look at the state of you. You think you can become a Sky Eagle Mage? You'd be better off as bird food! If I threw a bun to a dog, it'd be more qualified than you!"

Zhan Kong's tongue was vicious.

But he really was worried. His old comrade's only son had nearly jumped off a building and died right in front of him. If anything had happened, how could he have faced his friend?

Damn it, his hand was itching. He wanted to smack Xu Fang upside the head.

Xu Fang listened quietly. When Zhan Kong finally ran out of steam, he spoke in a low voice:

"Commander, I want to go to the Ancient Capital."

Screech!

Zhan Kong stopped abruptly. "What did you say?"

"I said I want to go to the Ancient Capital."