The fifth week without Priscilla passed more easily than the first.
Nova threw himself into cultivation with renewed focus, the Iron Foundation Method cycling through his meridians for hours each night. The Intermediate Chamber became a second home—four hours every day, sometimes five, pushing toward the next breakthrough.
CULTIVATION STATUS
Rank: 1st Order, 5th Rank
Progress to 6th Rank: 23%
Mana Reserve: 312/312 units
Teleportation Range: 110 feet
Bloodline Activation: 29%
The breakthrough had come on day thirty-four—a smooth ascension to 5th Rank that left Nova feeling sharper, faster, more in control. His teleportation range had expanded again. His mana reserves had grown. His bloodline hummed with increasing warmth beneath his skin.
Progress, he thought. Finally.
Week 15, Day 2 — Class Rankings
The monthly update brought changes.
MONTH 4 RANKINGS — FIRST YEAR
Valerius Chen — Class S — 2nd Order, 4th Rank
Isadora Vane — Class S — 2nd Order, 4th Rank
Nova Almond — Class A — 1st Order, 5th Rank
Marcus Stone — Class S — 2nd Order, 3rd Rank
Kaelen Stoneheart — Class A — 1st Order, 9th Rank
Seraphina Cross — Class A — 1st Order, 8th Rank
Darius Vane — Class A — 1st Order, 8th Rank
Vivienne Reed — Class A — 1st Order, 7th Rank
Corbin Hale — Class A — 1st Order, 7th Rank
Rina Moon — Class A — 1st Order, 6th Rank
Nova studied the list with cold satisfaction. Marcus Stone had dropped below him—a Class S student, with all his family's resources and connections, now ranked behind a village boy with no backing.
The whispers in the dining hall had grown prominent.
"He's only 1st Order, 5th Rank. How is he beating 2nd Order students?"
"His teleportation is broken. Someone should complain to the instructors."
"He's cheating. Has to be."
Nova ignored them.
Week 15, Day 4 — Combat Class
Thorne introduced ranked sparring again—this time with a twist.
"Today, you'll face opponents from outside your normal rotation. Class A will spar with Class S. Let's see how our elite track measures up against the privileged."
Nova's opponent: Marcus Stone — 2nd Order, 3rd Rank — Earth Manipulation.
The Class S student stepped onto the platform with barely concealed rage. He'd been humiliated by the rankings, his position below a 1st Order nobody. Now he had a chance to prove where he really belonged.
"You're going to regret this," Marcus growled.
"Unlikely."
The match began.
Marcus attacked with fury—earth surging from the platform in waves, trying to crush Nova under sheer weight and power. His cultivation was higher, his mana reserves deeper, his control precise.
But he was angry. And anger made him predictable.
Nova teleported through the gaps in his attacks, appearing where Marcus didn't expect, striking where his guard was weakest. Each hit landed—not hard enough to win, but hard enough to annoy him.
Marcus grew more frustrated. His attacks became wilder. His mana consumption spiked.
Three minutes in, he was breathing hard. Four minutes, his control slipped. Five minutes—
Nova appeared behind him, blade at his throat.
"Match," Thorne called. "Almond wins."
Marcus stared at nothing, disbelief etched on his features. A Class S student, raised on private tutors and enhancement pills, defeated by someone who should have been beneath his notice.
The observation balcony was silent.
Then Valerius Chen began to clap.
Slowly. Deliberately. His eyes fixed on Nova with something that might have been respect—or might have been something far more dangerous.
"Well done," Valerius called down. "You've proven your point."
Nova met his gaze. "I wasn't trying to prove anything."
"Weren't you?" Valerius smiled. "Interesting."
After class, Thorne pulled him aside.
"That was a statement. Whether you meant it or not." The instructor's voice was quiet. "Marcus Stone's family has influence. They won't forget that their son was humiliated by a nobody."
"I don't care."
"You should." Thorne studied him. "Privilege doesn't just disappear because you're stronger."
Nova said nothing.
"Watch your back. And watch your—" Thorne paused. "Watch your connections. Anyone close to you becomes a target."
Nova thought of Priscilla. Of the hollow space behind his ribs that had grown smaller but not disappeared.
"I understand."
"Good. Now get out of here. Next class starts in ten."
Week 15, Day 6 — The Greenhouse
Nova found himself there without conscious decision.
The Moonlace seedling had grown again—five new leaves now, its stem thickening, its first bud forming. He watered it carefully, the way Priscilla had shown him, and checked the soil moisture with fingers that had learned to be gentle.
"You're doing well," he told it. "She'll be proud."
The plant didn't respond. It never did.
But something else moved in the greenhouse—a flicker of motion near the entrance. Nova's hand went to his blade.
"Relax." Rina Moon stepped into view, her spatial sense clearly alerting her to his tension. "It's just me."
"What do you want?"
"To warn you." She moved closer, keeping distance but not hiding. "The Stone family is asking questions. About you. They're digging."
"Let them dig."
"They'll find something. They always do." Rina's expression was unreadable. "There's a girl in Class B—Priscilla. She's been gone for weeks. Accelerated training. But when she comes back—"
Nova's eyes went cold. "She's off limits."
"To you, maybe. Not to them." Rina stepped back. "I'm not your enemy, Nova. I'm telling you this so you can prepare. When Priscilla returns, her life here changes. Whether you want it to or not."
She left.
Nova stood alone among the plants, the Moonlace seedling pulsing softly beside him, and felt something cold settle in his chest.
Anyone close to you becomes a target.
He'd known this. Had always known it. In another life, his closeness to his family had made them targets. His friendship with Genesis had made him a target. Everything he loved, everything he valued—the universe found ways to take it.
Maybe I should push her away, he thought. Protect her by staying distant.
But even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn't.
Not because he loved her—love was too strong a word for something so new, so fragile. But because she was his. His ally. His confidante. His connection to something beyond the endless grind of cultivation and combat.
He wouldn't let them take that.
Week 16, Day 1 — Morning Exercise
Valerius announced a change.
"Starting today, gravity training will be supplemented by mana resistance drills. You'll wear inhibitor bracelets and compete in low-mana environments. The goal is to prepare you for dungeons where your powers may be suppressed."
Groans from the class.
Nova said nothing. He'd been training without powers for months now. This was just another challenge.
The first drill was simple: navigate an obstacle course while carrying 3x gravity and functioning with only 10% of your normal mana regeneration.
Nova finished third—behind Kaelen and Darius, both of whom had focused heavily on physical conditioning.
"Not bad," Valerius said, passing him. "But not good enough. Again."
He ran it again. And again. And again.
By the end of the session, he'd shaved twelve seconds off his time.
Still third.
Still not good enough.
Week 16, Day 3 — The Letter
Another message from Priscilla.
Nova,
One week left. The instructors say my progress is unprecedented. They're talking about fast-tracking me to Class A when I return.
I'm scared. Class A students are different. Stronger. More competitive. What if I don't belong there? What if I fail?
I know you'll say I'm being ridiculous. You always do. But I need to hear it anyway.
Tell me I belong.
—P
Nova read the letter twice.
Then he wrote back.
You belong where you fight to be. Class A, Class B, doesn't matter. What matters is that you never stop fighting.
See you in seven days.
—N
That night, he looked at the Moonlace seedling and thought about what was coming.
Priscilla would return. The Stones would make their move. Valerius Chen would continue his games. And somewhere in the background, the first soul fragment waited—hidden, patient, ready to change everything.
He touched the seedling's newest leaf.
"Seven days," he murmured. "Then everything changes."
The plant didn't respond.
But in the darkness of the greenhouse, something stirred. Something ancient. Something that had been waiting for him to notice.
Nova's head snapped up.
A faint pulse of energy—familiar and foreign at once—rippled through the space. It came from nowhere. From everywhere. From beyond.
The Godless System flashed.
FRAGMENT DETECTED
Distance: Planetary range
Direction: Unknown — Signal intermittent
Note: Source is moving. Tracking unavailable.
Nova's heart hammered.
The first soul fragment. Not hidden in some distant ruin—moving. Approaching. Or being brought closer.
Someone else has it, he realized. Someone else is carrying it.
The question was: who?
And more importantly: did they know what they carried?