By the third month, the academy was no longer unfamiliar.
The students had settled into their roles.
The strong were noticed.
The loud were remembered.
The quiet were often underestimated.
Zhao Kai had become the easiest person to speak with, because he never seemed offended by silence. He visited the library more often now, partly
out of habit and partly because Mo Chen was there.
One afternoon, Zhao Kai leaned over a table and glanced at the open notebook.
"Another page ofi beast notes?" he asked.
Mo Chen nodded.
Zhao Kai scanned the lines. "You really are preparing fior everything."
Mo Chen turned a page. "Preparation reduces mistakes."
"That sounds like something old people say."
"It is true anyway."
Zhao Kai laughed.
Their friendship had deepened slowly, not through speeches, but through repeated contact. Zhao Kai still carried pride, but he no longer used it to
push Mo Chen away. Instead, he treated Mo Chen like a person worth arguing with.
That was progress.
Then the first friction began.
Zhao Kai, who had always liked measuring people, asked Tang San a few pointed questions in class about soul ring hunting and control. Tang San
answered briefly and accurately. That made Zhao Kai uncomfortable in a way he did not openly admit.
Xiao Wu noticed the exchange and immediately became hostile toward Zhao Kai's tone.
"You talk too much," she said sharply.
Zhao Kai frowned. "I was asking a question."
"You were showing off."
"I was not."
"You were."
Mo Chen watched the exchange without stepping in. The tension was small, but it existed.
That was the nature ofi the academy.
Even ordinary words could sharpen into conflict.
Tang San remained calm through it all. He did not show off his achievement, but his presence alone was enough to make comparisons unavoidable.
simple routine fior practical field practice on Saturdays.
Not a true soul hunt.
Not a dangerous expedition.
Just a controlled spirit hunt day.
The outer forest near Notting City was used fior observation, movement practice, and basic survival awareness.
Mo Chen regarded Saturday as important.
It was the only day when his training could leave the yard and enter real space.
That morning, he carried the wooden sword on his back and a small pouch ofi wooden darts at his waist.
He had made the darts himself.
Simple wood.
Balanced shape.
Weighted tips cut by hand.
Not lethal.
Not fancy.
But useful fior control training.
During the past weeks, he had practiced dart throwing at wooden posts behind the house.
At first, the darts scattered badly.
Then they improved.
The goal was not strength.
The goal was spritual and spirit power guidance.
Each throw had to match breath, sight, and intention.
He stood at the edge of the forest.The first part was easy.
Walking breathing.
Two steps inhale.
Two steps exhale.
Passive awareness.
Notice the sound of leaves.
The shape ofi the path.
The movement ofi insects.
The change in air.
The forest was not deep, but it was alive.
Mo Chen moved a little fiarthe
That was when he saw his first real challenge.
A low-level spirit beast, no larger than a dog, stepped out from behind a cluster of brush. Its body was thin, with a narrow head and alert eyes. It
looked ready to bolt if pressured too hard.
He only lowered his breathing.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
The beast shifted its weight.Mo Chen reached fior a wooden dart.
The movement was calm.
Not fast.
Forceful.
Just exact.
He released the dart.
It struck the ground near the beast's front leg and snapped against a stone with a sharp sound.
The beast flinched.
That was enough.
Mo Chen stepped forward with the wooden sword ready, but he did not attack blindly. He watched the beast's reaction, its direction, its balance.
Then he used the second dart.
Not at the body.
At the path.
The beast turned away from the sound and fled into the brush.
The test ended there.
No victory cheer.
No proud statement.
Just one successful response to a real situation.
Mo Chen remembered the moment in silence.
In his diary that night, he wrote only this:
forest test complete.
No panic. No mistake. Control held.
Reaction based on breath and observation.
Result: successful.