The ethereal sky above the Academy remained calm, indifferent to the pain throbbing in Lígia's eyes. The training platform slowly began to fade, the runes dimming in a soft glow. The arcane mist seemed to sigh along with it.
The system was the first to react. It appeared floating beside Lígia's head with the most concerned expression a holographic cat could muster.
"This was... too much" it said, ears drooping "You've exceeded the limit of the secondary sensory channels. You have microfractures in your arcane neural tissue. You'll need absolute rest... or, of course..."
It snapped one paw.
A holographic display opened midair, spinning gently with soft glimmers and a subtle melody of enchanted flutes. At the center floated a thin vial, containing a shimmering blue-light liquid:
"Celestial Elixir for Overloaded Eyes —
Repairs arcane channels, refreshes magical retina, adds glow and confidence. Comes with petal scent."
"Limited-time offer" the system muttered, winking "And you get cashback if you buy two!"
Lígia, still collapsed on the floor with her hands clutching her throbbing eyes, let out a long hissed sigh.
"You're trying to sell me magic eye drops... while my eyeball is bleeding?"
"It's not eye drops. It's premium celestial elixir with a base of crystallized mana. Noble line product. Outperforms any ocular healing ritual. And you can pay in installments"
"System Shoppe" Lígia huffed, her voice dragging "You're the commercial version of opportunism"
"And you've got mana conjunctivitis" the system spun indignantly in the air "I'm trying to help — with style"
Before the argument escalated into magical contracts, Lady Asvalira approached slowly, her steps light and darkly elegant.
She knelt in front of Lígia, her eyes now calmer — though still carrying the sternness of someone who'd seen hundreds of young people break from too much thirst.
"That's enough for today" she said firmly, though not harshly "You crossed the limit. One more exercise... and you might lose your spiritual vision temporarily. Or permanently"
Lígia was still panting, but her jaw locked at those words.
"No" she said hoarsely, then forced her body up on her elbows "I won't stop now"
Asvalira frowned.
"You're in no condition to continue. The realm itself is fluctuating. You're exhaling unstable mana through your face"
"I'm fine" Lígia pushed herself into a sitting position. She was trembling, yes. She was as pale as the moonlit stained glass of the academy, yes. But her eyes — despite the dried blood at the corners — were still sharp.
"It just hurts. And pain... I can handle"
"You were just launched five meters away, nearly had an ocular rupture, and now you're saying you want more?"
"It's a class, not a war. I can still go on" Lígia wiped the sweat from her forehead with her forearm "You said the predator learns from the mistake. Well, I made one. And I want to learn before the mistake eats me alive"
The system opened its mouth to protest, but... stopped. The look Lígia gave wasn't asking for anything. It was resolute.
Lady Asvalira stood still for a moment. Her ancient, impassive eyes locked onto Lígia's.
Silence.
Then, the professor stood up, drawing a new sequence of runes from the air.
"One more round"
Lígia smiled, in pain. But satisfied.
The system, suspended midair, only murmured with feline resignation
"Genius. Crazy genius"
The floor of the training platform trembled in gentle waves, resonating with the power Lígia forced back into her muscles. The sweat was already drying on her skin. Her hands, once trembling, were now steady — and her eyes, despite the pain, burned with a new light: sharper. More predatory.
Lady Asvalira stood with arms crossed, hovering slightly above the conjuring circle. The system floated nearby. Both were completely silent.
Lígia landed from her last defensive spin with the grace of someone who had done it a thousand times — but it was her first.
She returned to the center.
The five mana figures reappeared around her, but now in even faster, more random sequences, pulsing in unpredictable rhythms.
"It has begun" said Asvalira, her voice low like a judgment drum.
Lígia closed her eyes for a second.
Inhaled.
Time slowed down.
But now... her body reacted differently.
Before the first strike even formed, Lígia's leg muscles flexed with near-violent precision, her center of gravity adjusting perfectly. Her spine arched, shoulders rotated, and her reflexes... no longer seemed human.
She wasn't just dodging.
She was already out of the way before the strike arrived.
The first enemy vanished under a fluid counterattack. The second evaporated with a bodily twist that seemed to ignore physical limits. The third tried to surprise her — and was slammed to the ground by a silent, precise sweep.
From above, Lady Asvalira widened her eyes.
"This isn't just perception..."
The system whispered, its voice hoarse with disbelief.
"She's activating... adaptive body reflexes. But she hasn't even learned that yet!"
The fourth enemy came with brute force. Lígia took the impact with her shoulder, body spinning midair, and upon landing, she propelled herself back into position with one hand — like a beast using the fall as momentum.
Thin veins of scarlet mana ran through her arms and legs.
Asvalira dropped to the ground, her cloak fluttering, eyes locked on the impossible.
"This... this is Third Order. Predator's Body"
The system dropped its holographic notebook to the ground.
"Damn geniuses. I swear by all runes. Damn. Geniuses"
Lígia stopped at the center of the circle. The five enemies had dissipated. The ground was scratched. Her scarlet eyes burned with intensity.
She was still panting. But standing. Steady.
Afraid? Maybe. But not of herself. Of what the body knew, without being taught.
Lady Asvalira stepped forward slowly.
"You... skipped an Order"
"I... what?" Lígia blinked. "I just moved. I felt like... if I didn't shift my hips first, I'd strain my knee. And if I didn't rotate the weight on my heels, I'd lose the second attack..."
"That's arcane biomechanics. You just triggered the muscle adaptation response of a domain that requires three weeks of meditative training before the actual prep begins"
Lígia frowned, wiping sweat from her brow.
"I just... listened to my body. And it... acted"
The system groaned softly, with pure feline despair.
"It's official. You're an unconscious, annoying genius. Go screw yourself in the astral plane, Lígia"
Lady Asvalira did not laugh.
She snapped her fingers. The runes vanished.
"That's enough. Before you accidentally discover the secret of time reversal"
Lígia, still not grasping half the impact of what she had done, wiped the dried blood from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and said genuinely
"...So I did well?"
"Damn geniuses" Lady Asvalira rubbed her face, took a deep breath, and murmured once more with the resignation of someone who had already accepted the chaos.
Lígia merely shrugged, unbothered, like someone receiving a critique that sounded like a compliment and didn't have the energy to argue. Her body still throbbing from the last sequence, she let herself fall back onto the floor of the platform, arms resting on her knees.
"Well then" she murmured, out of breath "Class dismissed?"
The system snapped its ethereal paws.
The sound echoed through the realm like a soft bell.
In the blink of an eye, the world changed.
The mattress sank slightly under Lígia's weight. She was back.
Sitting on the bed, still in her training uniform with faint traces of mana on the sleeves, Lígia looked around, slightly confused, until her whole body protested with deep, muscular and magical pain.
"Argh..." she groaned, holding her back. "Was that training or a polite attempt to break me in half?"
Gradually, she got up from the bed. Her feet touched the warm floor. Her joints cracked, and the blood still echoed mana through her veins like a muffled drum.
With slow steps, she walked to the tall, frosted-glass windows, pushed aside the enchanted curtains... and stopped.
The dawn light painted the sky in soft shades of pale wine, ancient gold, and a trace of lavender between the clouds. The towers cut the horizon with elegance, and below, the gardens still slept — breathing mana in translucent vapors.
Lígia rested her hands on the window frame and watched in silence.
For a few seconds, she forgot.
There... only the sunrise existed. Calm. Alive. As if the world was trying to remind her that, despite everything, there was still beauty waiting to be noticed.
A soft purring cut through the moment.
"You've got two hours before the butler of boredom comes to wake you"
Lígia turned her head.
The system was lying belly-up on the sheets, stretched as if it had no worries in the universe.
She let out a light sigh.
"So I've got time to die a little, resurrect, and pretend I'm fine"
The cat blinked with a blasé look.
"Yeah. But I recommend a bath before any resurrection. You smell like burnt mana and wounded ego"
Lígia huffed... but smiled.
And returned to ...and smiled again.
She turned away from the window.
The room was quiet. The kind of silence that didn't demand anything. Just space. Just time.
With careful steps, Ligia moved to the small crystal basin by the corner, ran her hands under the enchanted stream, and splashed water on her face.
Her reflection stared back from the silvered glass. Eyes red. Hair tangled like a battlefield. A face still too young to carry so many scars of willpower.
"You're insane," she whispered to herself, watching her expression shift with the words. "But I guess that's what it takes, huh"
The system jumped off the bed, hovering mid-air with its tail swaying like a pendulum.
"Insane is a sliding scale" it said "On one side, you have people who talk to flowers. On the other, people who talk to cats that sell arcane eye elixirs"
Ligia dried her face and reached for her jacket. Every fiber of her body ached, but there was a strange clarity in it. A sense that something had shifted. Not broken — evolved.
"System" she said, eyes narrowing slightly as she pulled her hair into a loose knot "What's the price for crossing Orders like that"
The feline paused in the air. Its holographic fur rippled with indecision.
"You really want to know?"
"I asked, didn't I?"
"It varies" it began, floating in lazy circles "Some go mad. Others burn out. Some simply fade — the arcane body rejects the leap, can't handle the restructuring, and the user ends up a pile of twitching nerves and regret"
Ligia raised an eyebrow.
"And me?"
"You..." The system landed gently on her shoulder "You just did it. Instinctively. Which means one of two things: you're either a once-in-a-generation anomaly... or you're about to explode in three to five business days"
She snorted.
"Good to know. I'll mark it on my calendar. 'Potential spontaneous combustion'"
"Make it festive" it said, tail flicking "Maybe throw a party. Invite all the other overachieving lunatics"
She adjusted the collar of her uniform and turned toward the door. Outside, the Academy was waking. Bells ringing in the distance. Mana pulses humming beneath the stone like a heartbeat.
Ligia opened the door, took one step out, and paused.
"Hey" she said, glancing back at the system "Thanks. For not stopping me"
The cat blinked.
"Who said I could've?"
She smiled. Just a little.
Then walked out.