After the long and crazy winter vacation, that extra day of compensatory sleep seems to have magic, sweeping away the fatigue of travel and the chaos of jet lag.
When the morning light of Midtown High School's first day of school once again filled the familiar campus corridor, Lin Hai, Gwen, Peter and Harry finally reunited.
"Hey! Guys! Good morning!" Peter was the most energetic, with a bright smile on his face, and couldn't wait to share his mood with his friends. "It feels like a century has passed! How did you sleep?"
"Resurrected." Harry adjusted his sleeves, obviously his state has returned to the calm young master Osborn, "My brain has finally restarted from the continuous impact of delicious food, beautiful scenery and pandas."
Gwen smiled and greeted everyone. Her complexion also recovered very well, and her golden ponytail swayed slightly with her movements. "I have to say, being able to Huaxia back to New York's own bed quickly is one of the best things in the world."
Lin Hai shrugged and said with a smile, "It's an effective use of resources. But the feeling of going back to school... well, it's quite amazing."
During the break, the four of them naturally gathered together and excitedly reviewed the various adventures of the winter vacation - Ta Lo's magical creatures, Azure Dragon's shock, Sichuan-Shu's delicious food and magnificent scenery.
Their conversation attracted Mary Jane, who happened to be passing by. This lively, cheerful, and curious red-haired girl came over.
"Hey, what are you talking about so happily? It sounds like you experienced some great adventure during the winter vacation?" Mary Jane asked with a smile.
When Peter saw Mary Jane, his face was slightly red, but he still started to tell excitedly, "MJ! We were just talking about going to Huaxia during the winter vacation. It's really... great!" He couldn't find the right words for a while and gestured with joy.
Gwen took over and described it in clearer terms. "We went to Lin Hai's hometown and some very beautiful places nearby, and saw a lot of completely different scenery and culture."
Harry added, "I also tasted delicacies that are enough to subvert your taste perception."
Lin Hai summed it up with a smile, "In short, it was a very fulfilling and eye-opening trip."
Mary Jane listened to their descriptions, his eyes became brighter and brighter, and his face was full of wonder and yearning, "Wow! It sounds really great! I really envy you! Listening to what you said, I want to go to Huaxia. It feels full of mystery and history!"
Seeing how interested Mary Jane was, Lin Hai, Gwen and Harry exchanged tacit glances and started making noises at the same time.
Lin Hai touched Peter with his elbow and smiled at Mary Jane, "It's okay, MJ, there will be a chance in the future! Anyway, we Peter can understand it now. Some daily Chinese, and I also went to Huaxia for 'further study' and learned a lot of 'survival skills', such as how to use chopsticks to grab the last meatball in a hot pot." He winked at Peter narrowly.
Gwen also pursed his lips and smiled and echoed, "Yes, my ability to recognize directions has improved a lot, at least I won't get lost in the vegetable market. When I have time in the future, I can let him be your tour guide and take you to Huaxia to experience it~"
Harry plays the role of "rational analysis": "From the feasibility analysis, Mr. Parker is indeed the most suitable candidate at present. He has rich experience, and... has pure motives, and there will never be any bad phenomena such as robbing customers."
Peter was made red-faced and the tips of his ears turned red by what his friends said to each other. He didn't know where to put his hands and feet. He stammered and wanted to explain, "I... I didn't... don't talk nonsense..."
However, Mary Jane laughed openly. She looked at Peter who was at a loss and said naturally, "Okay, if I really want to go, I will definitely find Peter to be my tour guide and translator!"
Hearing this, Peter instantly stopped all panic, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he agreed almost immediately, without hesitation, and with unconcealable joy. "Really? Great! No problem! Cover it with me!"
His surprised, happy and flattered look once again caused Lin Hai, Gwen and Harry to burst into good-natured and understanding laughter.
After laughing, the four of them said goodbye to Mary Jane who was called away by their friends, and the conversation gradually turned to their plans for this semester.
The second half of the senior year of high school has begun, and everyone's goals are clearer and more determined. Compared with the first half of the semester, the main framework of the plans of the four of them has not changed, but the focus and depth have been different.
The magic practice of Lin Hai and Gwen is still "weekend only". After school every Friday, they will still go to Kamar-Taj via Sanctum Sanctorum.
For Lin Hai, he has successfully mastered the extremely practical core skill Portal Magic. Therefore, his next goal is directly towards another unpredictable magic - Mirror Dimension.
He is well aware of the complexity and danger of this magic, which involves deeper distortion and manipulation of the laws of space, and is far from as "simple" as opening a Portal.
Ancient One once showed him its power, which can pull the battle into a dimension that is completely dominated by the caster and does not affect the real world.
"I can learn Portal and have accomplished the planned goal. After all, my fighting method is still very different from Kamar-Taj's traditional method." Lin Hai said frankly to Master Hamil.
"As for Mirror Dimension, I don't have high expectations. If you can learn the most basic entry and maintenance, it is already a full harvest. If you really can't learn it, it doesn't matter. Just think of it as expanding your theoretical knowledge of space magic."
He maintains a pragmatic and peaceful mentality, viewing this study as a valuable exploration rather than a task that must be accomplished.
Gwen's magic path is more gradual. She has successfully mastered the first basic defensive magic earlier, which marks that she has truly entered the door of the magic palace.
Her next goal was not to pursue higher-level and more powerful spells, but to follow Lin Hai's advice and decide to extensively dabble in many basic magics with low cost and different effects.
"Learning magic is like learning a language, or learning music," Lin Hai told her. "Learning only one complex piece of music (advanced magic) may allow you to perform well quickly, but if you don't learn scales, chords and music theory (basic magic) first, your upper limit will be locked and it is easy to go astray. Moreover, most of Kamar-Taj's advanced magics also have limitations of one kind or a huge price."
Gwen was convinced. She began to systematically learn basic protection and grappling techniques, the simplest energy impact, and various small spells for lighting, cleaning, perception, and simple transformation.
These magics cost little and are relatively easy to learn, but their combinations are endlessly variable. She hopes that in this way, she will not only expand her practical methods, but also gain a broader and deeper understanding of the energy structure, operating principles, and even the knowledge behind magic from the most basic level.
As for those high-level magics that required huge costs, she decided to put them on hold for the time being.
"Leave the future matters to your future self," she said. "Doing the present things well and laying the solid foundation is the most important thing. Maybe there will be other, safer ways to make up for the need for strength in the future."
In terms of academics and family responsibilities, Harry has made greater strides. He has changed from "learning more and doing less" last semester - that is, focusing on observing, learning and absorbing the experience of Norman and the senior members of the board of directors - to "learning while doing and applying what he has learned."
He began to really get involved in the operations of Osborn Enterprises. Norman deliberately let him go and trained him. Not only did he let him sit in on higher-level strategic meetings, but he also began to let him independently preside over some small and medium-sized business activities, such as a marketing plan for a new product, a scientific research cooperation project negotiation with a university, and even a final interview for a recruitment plan for young scientific and technological talents.
Harry needs to make decisions independently and assume corresponding responsibilities under the watchful eyes of his father and shareholders.
He clearly realized. "Tony·Stark is a genius, but now he is just a cynical playboy."
The goal of Harry is not to copy another Stark, but to hone all aspects of oneself as much as possible, such as business acumen, management ability, technological vision, and interpersonal network, in order to To make up for the "shortcomings" of Osborn Industries in top technology and other aspects, it will steadily catch up with Tony, rival Tony, and even surpass Tony in the future.
When Lin Hai learned about Harry's goal, he understood that although it was impossible for Harry to technically surpass Tony, a person with a brain cursed by knowledge, Harry was taking a more comprehensive path.
Overtaking on a curve is also overtaking, so Lin Hai said nothing and just encouraged Harry.
In comparison, the goal of Peter appears to be more "simple" and "pure", but it is also full of challenges.
His core task is still to continue his scientific research. His Spider-Suit is still continuing to iterate, and Web Shooters has also made new progress in its adaptation mode and biodegradability research.
But the top priority of his work is to continuously enrich his scientific research achievements resume in his university application materials more than a year later.
He knew that compared to the business empire behind Harry, the mysterious magic of Lin Hai and Gwen, and even Gwen's excellent academic achievements, he needed some "hard-core" and tangible results to prove himself.
"Making his resume even thicker" is his simplest and most direct goal. He spends more time in the laboratory, frantically collecting data, optimizing experiments, and writing reports.
All efforts are for that common goal: to ensure that the four of them can enter the same dream university together.