Maple City, Mage Tower.
"That's all for today's lecture. Review these key points when you get back; they'll be on every exam."
"You have the apprentice assessment in six months. Meditate diligently and cultivate your Mana. You don't want to fail and be expelled from the Mage Tower."
"Class dismissed!"
After the teacher left, the students all began to pack up, ready to head home.
A few well-dressed students clustered together, discussing where to go have fun after class.
The plainly dressed students rushed home to meditate and practice their Cultivation.
Li Wei, wearing a faded Mage Apprentice robe he hadn't replaced in two and a half years, picked up a broom and began to clean the classroom.
As he swept, he mulled over his current situation.
Three days ago, he had transmigrated from Earth to this world.
After three days of adjusting, he had digested his predecessor's memories and gained a clear understanding of his circumstances.
First off, he was an orphan!
Three years ago, a twelve-year-old Li Wei had roamed the streets of Maple City's Lower City District, fighting stray cats, dogs, and other vagrants for scraps of food from the trash.
By a stroke of luck, a Master Mage from the Mage Tower had judged him to possess Fire Element Affinity.
He had fortunately shed his identity as a street orphan to become a noble Apprentice Mage within the Mage Tower.
But that was the extent of it.
Having never studied before, Li Wei's progress in learning Magic Knowledge after entering the Mage Tower was far slower than everyone else's.
Two and a half years had passed, and he still hadn't managed to cultivate a single shred of Mana.
Passing the apprentice assessment in six months seemed like a distant dream.
In six months, he was certain to be expelled from the Mage Tower.
He would become a vagrant once more.
He would lose the very means of his survival!
Let alone his dream of becoming a Mage, an Extraordinary Being.
After finishing cleaning several classrooms and hallways, Li Wei headed toward the apprentice dormitories.
The Mage Tower provided him with shelter and three meals a day.
In return, his only duty, aside from his daily magic lessons, was to clean the instructional areas.
It was safe to say that being expelled from the Mage Tower meant losing everything.
Food, shelter, hope, a future...
'I must pass the apprentice assessment in six months!'
Back in his room, Li Wei sat cross-legged on his bed, facing the wall.
He focused his mind, and a line of text slowly materialized on the wall before him.
[Basic Meditation Method (Entry Level)]: 58/500
Since transmigrating, he had been able to see his Cultivation progress.
With a flicker of his focus, the text before him vanished.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began his meditation and Cultivation.
He calmed his mind, cleared away stray thoughts, and focused his spirit to sense the Magic Elements in the world around him.
This first step alone took Li Wei half an hour to accomplish.
After half an hour of meditation, he finally sensed the free-floating Magic Elements in the air.
The second step was to absorb the Magic Elements and convert them into Mana.
Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Ice, Nature, Light, Dark...
The types of Magic Elements in the world were endless, but within Li Wei's perception, there was only one: the Fire Element.
Specks of the Fire Element, like tiny embers, drifted in the air. Guided by his Spiritual Power, they drilled into his body.
Of the Fire Element that entered his body, the vast majority eventually dispersed back into the air; only a tenth was absorbed.
A little over twenty minutes later, Li Wei's Spiritual Power was depleted, and his meditation came to an end.
[Basic Meditation Method (Entry Level)]: 70/500
Seeing the results of his Cultivation, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
'At this rate, I should be able to pass the Mage Apprentice assessment in six months.'
Li Wei gathered his thoughts.
'The key to cultivating Mana lies in the Basic Meditation Method and Spiritual Power. The Basic Meditation Method determines the efficiency of my Cultivation; the more Magic Elements I can retain, the easier it is to produce Mana. And the stronger my Spiritual Power, the longer I can meditate.'
'If I only rely on rest and sleep to recover my Spiritual Power, I can practice Cultivation two or three times a day at most.'
'As long as I follow this routine, I'll be able to generate Mana in twenty days, tops!'
The uncertainty and hesitation he felt about the future began to fade, and his worries gradually disappeared.
His anxiety and worry about the future transformed into anticipation and hope.
'A Mage! Extraordinary Power! I must become a Mage!'
For Li Wei, the chance to live a second life and grasp Extraordinary Power was an irresistible temptation.
The people of this world could never imagine the yearning and obsession that people from Earth had for Extraordinary Power.
When mealtime arrived, Li Wei went to eat right on schedule.
If you missed mealtime, you went hungry.
After dinner, Li Wei returned to his room, lit the Magic Fluorite, and studied the Magic Knowledge in his textbook.
For most people in this world, the nights were dull.
They were reluctant to even keep an oil lamp or candle lit for too long. Only high-ranking officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants could afford to use magical lighting devices.
Li Wei, thanks to the Mage Tower, was able to use a Magic Fluorite.
"Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth are the world's four most fundamental Elements. They are the building blocks of all creation..."
"The Water Element can transform into the Ice Element and the Air Element..."
"The Fire Element can transform into the Thunder Element and the Light Element..."
"When the Wind Element and Water Element merge, Natural Elements are born..."
He read for hours without realizing it. By the time he looked up, it was the middle of the night.
Li Wei rubbed his throbbing temples. His body was sending signals of exhaustion, but his mind was so thrilled and excited that he found it hard to even think about sleep.
'Magic Elements make up the entire world? Are Magic Elements like atoms? Or even smaller particles—protons, neutrons, electrons, or even quarks!'
'So Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth are the most basic particles, and they combine to form all sorts of higher-level particles—Thunder, Ice, Light, Air, Nature... and these ultimately form the world as we see it?'
Having read parts of the textbook on magical principles and theory and combined it with his own understanding from Earth, Li Wei's perception of Magic was turned completely upside down.
He had originally thought of it as a supernatural, unscientific form of Extraordinary Power.
But after this brief introduction, he discovered that Magic was actually incredibly scientific!
'On Earth, humanity discovered the laws of macroscopic physics and used them to try and explain the world. Only after reaching the limits of macroscopic physics did they delve into the microscopic realm and finally find a way to explain the universe.'
'The "God Particle" that countless scientists on Earth sought in the microscopic domain... here in the Magic World, every Mage can control it!'
'Mages are the ones closest to the fundamental truths of this world!'
The truth of the universe was laid bare before him. If Li Wei had been a theoretical physicist, he probably would have gone mad with ecstasy.
But he wasn't one, and he didn't really care about the world's fundamental truths.
What he cared about was the Power of Magic!
'If the world is made of magic particles, then by controlling those particles, you could theoretically do anything!'
That was what Li Wei wanted.
Infinite possibilities! An infinite future! Infinite hope!
'I will become a Mage! The most powerful Mage!'
But after indulging in fantasies about the future, he ultimately had to ground himself in the present.
He turned off the Magic Fluorite, plunging the room into darkness, leaving only the faint Magic Radiance filtering in from outside the window.
His heart still racing with excitement, Li Wei lay down to sleep.
He wanted to practice his Cultivation right away, but he couldn't calm his mind enough to meditate.
Li Wei couldn't sleep.
He tossed and turned, unable to find rest.
It wasn't until the dead of night, when he was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open, that he finally drifted off to sleep.