"Ascetic" Lynn

Spring gave way to autumn, and before he knew it, Lynn had already spent more than half a year at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

Unlike students from noble families, commoner geniuses like Lynn had to do more than just study magic. They also had to set aside extra time to learn writing and etiquette.

After all, the Imperial Capital Magic Academy was the largest institution for cultivating talented mages in the Roland Empire. Every student it produced would become at least an advanced mage.

Upon graduation, they could even be granted the title of viscount in some smaller kingdoms. The most outstanding students might even receive a noble title from the empire. That was why the academy's curriculum included not only magic, but also lessons in noble etiquette.

"Today is the last lesson." In the bright chapel, Lynn listened half-heartedly, sitting ramrod straight.

"Lynn, Old John's lectures are as torturous as ever. I'm so jealous of Leiluo and the others. They don't have to come to class and suffer through Old John's lessons." His brown-haired desk mate whispered to Lynn, his voice full of envy.

Lynn kept his eyes forward, but a glint of schadenfreude flashed in them.

"Thwack!" A finely crafted magic staff flew in from across the room and smacked the brown-haired boy on the head. The elderly lecturer's furious roar followed right after.

"Taylor, you again! It's bad enough that you don't pay attention in class, but now you're disturbing Lynn, too!"

"You don't act like a noble mage at all. You're as crude as a warrior!" The old man clearly knew the boy well. Taylor was obviously a repeat offender.

"You're acting more like a warrior than I am," Taylor muttered.

"You dare talk back? Copy the Etiquette for Mages a hundred times when you get back!"

"Please, no, esteemed Archmage John! A hundred times would take me a whole month..."

"Ding! Ding!" The class bell rang.

Poor Taylor was taken away by Old John, while Lynn returned to the dormitory alone.

As soon as he opened the courtyard gate, Lynn spotted two young men in fine clothes sitting in the middle of the yard.

One was Leiluo, the other Gates. They were the other two residents of Dormitory 9527, besides Lynn and Taylor. Unlike Lynn and Taylor, both Leiluo and Gates came from noble families, so they hadn't had to study etiquette alongside Lynn.

"The third's back. Where's the fourth?" Leiluo, the oldest of the four, looked behind Lynn and frowned in puzzlement when he saw no one following him.

"Don't tell me Old John took him away again?" Gates asked with a strange look, as if he'd just thought of something.

"Congratulations. You got it right." Lynn glanced at Gates in surprise.

"How many times has this happened now?" Leiluo asked with an exasperated laugh.

"Seventeen," Gates said suddenly.

Leiluo and Lynn both gave Gates a strange look.

"Your sense of what matters is as weird as ever..." Leiluo's mouth twitched, and he quickly changed the subject.

"There's a freshman mixer this afternoon. We were going to wait for you two and go together, but it looks like Taylor won't make it. Lynn, are you coming?"

"No." Lynn answered without hesitation.

"Going to train again?" Leiluo put an arm around Lynn's shoulder. "Third, you're so talented that reaching the sixth level should be easy. You don't need to work yourself so hard."

"Come on, take a day off. Trust me, the freshman mixer at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy is different from the ones at other academies. It's called a freshman mixer, but besides us, there'll be some second- and third-year students there too."

"You know what I mean. The second- and third-years are a few years older than us, and there'll be pretty upperclasswomen..." Leiluo winked at Lynn meaningfully.

Gates's eyes widened. "Upperclasswomen?" He looked very tempted.

Faced with two roommates who had gone astray at such a young age, Lynn smiled helplessly.

"You two perverts can go without me. I'm going to my room to train."

"Ah... Still so young." Lynn was set on his decision, and Leiluo and Gates knew what he was like, so they didn't try to persuade him any further. They left together.

Lynn hurried back to his room, climbed into bed, lay down, and closed his eyes.

At the same time, thousands of miles from the Roland capital, in a detached villa at the Dragon Knight Warrior Academy in the capital of the Starfire Kingdom, Xiao Yan opened his eyes after meditating.

"I can't control two bodies for long. My soul is still too weak. I'll have to focus on one for now."

"I'll put my main body's cultivation on hold and raise my clone's strength to the Saint Domain first. By then, with a Saint Domain soul, I should be able to control both clones for extended periods and cultivate normally."

Xiao Yan stood up and flashed to the edge of a lake in the middle of the courtyard.

"Whoosh!" With a turn of his hand, a finely crafted black knife appeared in his palm. Xiao Yan stepped forward and quickly approached a boulder by the lakeside.

"Crack!" As his hand flashed back and forth, countless chips of stone fell away, and a human outline gradually took shape.

Xiao Yan was using the Flat Blade Style mentioned in the original story by Doehring Cowart, a technique that could train one's mental strength.

Of course, this wasn't the authentic version. It was an imitation Xiao Yan had developed through his own talent. It couldn't compare to the real thing, but thanks to the white talent [Fallen Genius], Xiao Yan's soul power still grew quickly, eventually surpassing his main body.

The soul split created by the Origin Bead had originally been only a small portion of Lynn's soul. To put it in numbers, it had reduced Lynn's soul strength from thirty-seven times its original level to thirty-six times—only one portion had been split off.

Now, after more than half a year, Xiao Yan had used his talent to break through to the fourth level as a warrior. His magic level had also recently reached the third level, which was classified as an intermediate mage in the Coiling Dragon World.

Near dusk, Xiao Yan's soul was a little tired. He studied the boulder before him, now carved into a rough human shape, then expressionlessly put away the small knife and picked up a huge black Heavy Ruler from the ground.

He began practicing alone beside the lake.

Unlike Lynn, Xiao Yan knew exactly what his role was. Socializing was the main body's concern; the clone only needed to focus on cultivation.

The key to becoming a Saint Domain mage was mental strength, so Xiao Yan had worked out an imitation of the Flat Blade Style.

The key to becoming a Saint Domain warrior was Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth, so from the very beginning, Xiao Yan had sensed the world around him while honing his technique.

"Talent is only potential. Hard work is what turns it into reality."

[Talent Clone: Xiao Yan

Strength: Level 4 Warrior, Level 3 Fire Element Mage]

Tap, tap, tap.

"Taylor must be back." Lynn opened his eyes, yawned, and got out of bed. Then he stood before the mirror, changing his microexpressions.

A little while later, Lynn opened the door with an "exhausted" look on his face.

"Third Brother, another whole day of ascetic cultivation?" Taylor had long since grown used to seeing Lynn look exhausted, but he still couldn't help clicking his tongue.

"Don't spend all your time training. You need to take care of yourself. Meditating for too long isn't good either."

"Haha... Heaven rewards diligence. Heaven rewards diligence..." Lynn waved him off, looking perfectly earnest, without the slightest trace of guilt.