"You’ve got a look on your face like you just hit the jackpot. Come on, spill it—what’s the good news?" Luo Yuanxing asked, arching an eyebrow in curiosity.

  The joy radiating from Han Ming was so blindingly obvious he wasn't even trying to hide it. In a place like Cloud City, there weren't many things that could get pampered socialites like them this excited, which only piqued Luo Yuanxing’s interest further.

  "Good news? Oh, it’s better than good," Han Ming replied with a knowing smirk.

  "Well, give us a hint! Did some high-end establishment find a new star attraction?" Qin Shi teased.

  "Or did you find a rare delicacy you haven't tasted before?" Luo Yuanxing guessed, knowing Han Ming’s obsession with food. "Or maybe you finally captured a new spirit beast?"

  "Nope. Keep guessing," Han Ming said, beaming at his two companions.

  "Alright, enough with the mystery. If it's something good, just tell us," Qin Shi groaned. After a few more failed guesses, he was losing patience.

  "He's right, Han Ming. We’ve been friends forever—just tell us already! Why the games?" Luo Yuanxing added. He genuinely couldn't think of anything else that would warrant this level of elation.

  Seeing his friends reaching their breaking point, Han Ming stopped playing coy. He gestured for them to lean in closer. Qin Shi and Luo Yuanxing immediately huddled in.

  "Let me ask you both something," Han Ming whispered, his eyes sparkling with an eerie, rhythmic light. "Do you... want to learn magic?"

  Qin Shi and Luo Yuanxing froze for a heartbeat before bursting into synchronized laughter.

  "Han Ming, buddy, I think you’ve finally snapped. Have you gone crazy from wanting to be a mage so badly?"

  "Do you really have no sense of our own limitations? If we could cultivate, do you think we’d be sitting here waiting for you to ask us that?"

  "Look, we’re destined to just live off our inheritances and die. Don't go filling our heads with impossible fairy tales."

  "Exactly. Now, come on, Han Ming—tell us the real reason you're so happy."

  The two went back and forth, their tone less about mocking Han Ming and more about a bitter, shared self-deprecation. Born into power but lacking the aptitude to wield it—it was a unique brand of misery they all understood.

  "I am asking you with absolute sincerity," Han Ming said, his expression turning dead serious.

  "Fine, fine. We believe you're sincere. We want to learn it. We want it more than anything. Happy now?" Qin Shi replied with a dismissive wave. "Now, are you going to tell us what’s actually going on?"

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Han Ming felt a pang of irony. He understood exactly how they felt because not long ago, if someone had asked him the same question, his reaction would have been identical. To ask a man with zero aptitude if he wants to learn magic is usually an insult—a cruel joke.

  If Qin Shi and Luo Yuanxing weren't his closest friends, they might have flipped the table right then and there.

  "I know you don't believe me. To be honest, I wouldn't have believed it myself," Han Ming said, straightening his posture. "Watch this."

  "Wind Blade!"

  Mana swirled in the palm of Han Ming’s hand. A faint, translucent arc of green energy condensed instantly and went flying.

  A mage doesn't strictly need a staff to cast. A staff is simply a tool to amplify power, increase casting speed, or—in the case of high-quality gear—expand one's mana capacity. But at its core, magic is channeled from within.

  The weak blade of wind hissed through the air and struck the wooden table in front of them, leaving a shallow but distinct notch in the surface.

  Qin Shi and Luo Yuanxing’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

  The low power of the spell wasn't the point. The point was that Han Ming—a man they had known since childhood to be a "talentless waste" just like them—had just cast magic. Right there. In front of them.

  "I... I’m not seeing things, am I? Fatty, you saw that too, right?" Qin Shi’s jaw was hanging so low it looked like it might unhinge.

  "I... I think so? Unless we’re having a collective hallucination. Maybe I’m just seeing spots?" Luo Yuanxing rubbed his eyes vigorously, convinced his vision was failing him.

  But the notch on the table remained. It was physical proof that what had just happened was reality, not a trick of the light.

  The two stared at the mark for a long time before slowly, mechanically, looking up at Han Ming.

  "What are you two looking at?"

  Han Ming was startled by the four glowing, green-tinted eyes staring at him like hungry wolves. He instinctively crossed his arms over his chest, looking at them warily.

  "Han Ming... can you really cultivate now?" Qin Shi asked, his voice trembling as he fought the urge to pounce on his friend.

  Luo Yuanxing looked at him with a level of longing that was almost painful.

  "Of course... not."

  Han Ming dragged out the first word just to dash their hopes with the second.

  "Not?! If you can't cultivate, then how the hell did you just throw a Wind Blade?" Qin Shi looked ready to punch him.

  "The truth is, my natural aptitude hasn't changed a bit," Han Ming explained with a shrug.

  He had tried to meditate the moment he got home. He knew the standard methods, and he was desperate to see if the "miracle" had truly fixed his body. But reality was cruel: his affinity for mana in the outside world was still a big fat zero.

  If his guess was right, the credit belonged entirely to the New World Mode in the Training Room. But Han Ming didn't care. If there was an alternative path to power, who cared if the "traditional" way was still closed?

  "Then how is this happening?" Luo Yuanxing pressed, his desperation peaking. They couldn't let this sliver of hope slip away.

  "And that is why I’m so happy," Han Ming said, his excitement bubbling over again. "In a tiny, tucked-away alley in Cloud City, there is a shop... an incredible shop..."

  Kael’s Combat Strength Enhancement Arena had a strict four-hour daily limit per person. Because of this, the trainees from Brilliance Academy couldn't spend all their time in the shop.

  The Cloud Forest had become their go-to proving ground to test their results.

  One could only say that since Kael opened his shop, the monsters of the Cloud Forest had been having a very bad time. In the past, the sheer number of beasts and the treacherous terrain kept mercenaries in check. The deep woods, guarded by powerful ranked monsters, were a "no-go" zone for most.

  But now? The power balance had shifted.

  Previously, only the Blood Wolf Squad treated the forest like their personal backyard. Now, they were joined by a literal army of elite academy students.

  "Captain, these monsters are getting harder and harder to find," muttered a burly member of the Blood Wolf Squad, sitting on a stump and wiping gore off his greatsword.