The sun had completely set. The moon hung high over the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, bathing the white marble buildings in a soft, silver glow.
Inside the elite cafeteria on the second floor, the atmosphere was usually refined. Noble students ate delicate portions of gourmet food, sipped expensive wine, and discussed politics or fashion in hushed tones.
Tonight, that silence was broken by the sound of utensils clinking rapidly against ceramic plates.
The Royal Team sat at a large round table in the corner. They looked like they had just crawled out of a swamp. Their uniforms were dusty, their hair was messy, and they smelled faintly of sweat and dirt.
Usually, they would have cared about their image. Yu Tianheng was the face of the academy. Dugu Yan was a fashion icon. But tonight, they didn't care.
They were starving.
"More rice!" Shi Mo shouted, waving an empty bowl.
A nervous waiter hurried over with a large wooden bucket of steamed rice. Shi Mo didn't wait for him to scoop it. He took the bucket.
"Brother," Shi Mu said, "share."
"Get your own bucket!"
Beside them, Yu Feng was tearing into a roasted chicken with a savagery that betrayed his elegant bird spirit. Osler was eating dumplings as if they were going to run away.
Even Dugu Yan, who usually ate like a bird to maintain her figure, was currently devouring a steak the size of her face.
Arthev sat at the head of the table. He was the only one who looked clean. He ate steadily, chewing each bite before swallowing.
"Digestion is important," Arthev remarked, watching Osler choke on a dumpling. "If you eat too fast, the blood rushes to your stomach, and you will feel lethargic."
"We are lethargic," Dugu Yan grumbled, her mouth full. She swallowed heavily. "You broke us, Arthev."
"I rebuilt you," Arthev corrected. He poured a cup of tea and slid it across the table to her.
"Drink. It aids digestion."
Dugu Yan looked at the tea, then at Arthev. A week ago, she would have thrown it in his face. Now, she took it.
"Thanks," she muttered.
The table went quiet for a moment, the only sound being the chewing. Then, Yu Tianheng wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"Arthev," the Captain said. "I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"The Science Sect," Yu Tianheng started.
"Where is it? I looked through the library. There is no record of a sect by that name."
The table stopped eating. Everyone looked at Arthev. They were all curious about the mysterious background of the boy who defied common sense.
Arthev placed his chopsticks down gently.
"It is not a sect with a mountain gate or a grand hall," Arthev lied smoothly. "It is a philosophy. A way of thinking."
"A philosophy?" Ye Lingling asked softly.
"A way of thinking?"
"Yes," Arthev nodded.
"Most Soul Masters ask 'what'. What is my spirit? What is my rank? What is my skill? The Science Sect asks 'how' and 'why'."
Osler tilted his head. "Like... why is the sky blue?"
"Actually," Arthev said, "that's an excellent question."
He picked up a cup of water.
"Light from the sun looks white, but it is made of many colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. When sunlight hits the air, the colors scatter. Blue scatters the most because it travels in shorter, tighter waves."
He swirled the water.
"So when you look up, you see the blue bouncing around the sky. At sunset, the sun is lower, so the light passes through more air. The blue scatters away completely, leaving only the reds and oranges."
The team stared at him.
"You just... know that?" Yu Feng asked, a chicken leg frozen halfway to his mouth.
"I observed. I tested. But first of alI, we ask why."
"Okay, okay," Shi Mo leaned forward, his massive elbows on the table. "Then why does water boil? You mentioned that earlier.
We know if heated enough it just boils"
Arthev smiled slightly. This was familiar ground.
"Water is made of tiny particles. Invisible ones. When you heat water, those particles move faster and faster. They bounce off each other. When they move fast enough, they break free from the surface and fly into the air as steam. That's boiling."
He tapped the teacup.
"At high altitudes, the air is thinner. There's less pressure pushing down on the water. So the particles escape more easily. Water boils at a lower temperature. Food takes longer to cook."
"Wait," Osler's eyes went wide. "Are you saying... if I climb a mountain, I can't even boil an egg properly?"
"Not without adjusting your method."
"That's insane," Osler whispered. "How do you even figure that out? Do you just... climb mountains and boil water for fun?"
"We test limits," Arthev said simply.
Dugu Yan set down her fork. Her expression had shifted from exhaustion to genuine curiosity.
"What about poison?" she asked. "My serpent venom. Why does it hurt some people more than others?"
"Two factors," Arthev replied immediately.
"First, body mass. A larger body has more blood and tissue. The venom spreads thinner, like dye in a larger bucket of water. Second, tolerance. Some people have been exposed to small amounts before. Their bodies learned to fight it."
"So if I use my venom on the same person repeatedly..."
"They develop resistance. Yes. That's why you should vary your attack patterns. And why you should never reveal all your abilities in a single fight."
Dugu Yan's eyes gleamed. She was taking mental notes.
Yu Tianheng leaned back, crossing his arms. "And lightning? What does your Science Sect say about lightning?"
"Lightning is the flow of energy," Arthev said.
"It follows the path of least resistance. Metal conducts lightning better than air. Water conducts better than stone. That's why standing in a puddle during a thunderstorm is foolish."
"So when I strike with lightning..."
"Aim for their weapon. Their armor. Anything metal. The lightning will jump to those first. You don't need to hit their body directly. Just get close enough."
Yu Tianheng's eyes widened. That was tactical knowledge no one had ever taught him.
"You learned this from books?" the Captain asked.
"From observation," Arthev said. "And from testing."
"What about healing?" Ye Lingling's soft voice cut through. "The Nine Heart Begonia accelerates natural recovery. But how does it know what to heal? Why doesn't it just grow tumors or something?"
"An excellent question." Arthev turned to her.
"The body already knows how to heal itself. Every cut, every bruise, every broken bone, your body has a blueprint. It knows where everything belongs. The Nine Heart Begonia doesn't create new instructions. It just provides fuel. It speeds up the clock."
He paused.
"But there is a limit. If you heal the same injury too many times without letting the body rest, the blueprint gets blurry. Scar tissue builds up. That's why I don't just break you and have Lingling heal you forever. We need rest cycles."
Ye Lingling nodded slowly. "So I'm not really healing. I'm just... accelerating time?"
"In a way. You're giving their bodies the energy to do what they already know how to do."
She looked at her hands. Her delicate, pale hands that had brought so many back from the brink.
"I never thought of it like that," she murmured.
"That's the problem with most Soul Masters," Arthev said. "They have power, but they don't understand it. They swing a sword without knowing metallurgy. They throw fire without understanding combustion."
"So what's fire?" Shi Mu asked, genuinely interested.
"Fire," Arthev said. "It requires three things. Fuel, oxygen, and heat. Remove any one, and the fire dies. That's why sand puts out a campfire, it smothers the oxygen. That's why water works on wood fires, it cools the heat. But water on an oil fire? That just spreads the fuel. The fire gets worse."
"Huh," Shi Mo grunted. "So if we fight a fire-attribute Soul Master..."
"Don't throw water at oil-based flames. You'll kill us all."
"Is that why you wear a shirt that weighs as much as a horse?" Yu Feng asked, eyeing Arthev's collar.
"Gravity is a constant force," Arthev shrugged.
"If you fight gravity every second of every day, then when you fight an opponent, it feels like floating."
Yu Tianheng leaned back in his chair. He looked thoughtful. "It sounds... lonely. No clan support. No elders."
"Freedom has a price," Arthev said simply.
He did not explain further. With no clan behind him, every mistake would be his alone. No elder would shield him from consequences. No family name would open doors or soften blows. If he rose, it would be on his own strength. If he fell, there would be no one to catch him.
The conversation drifted to lighter topics. They talked about the upcoming tournament. They joked about the other teams. Even Qin Ming, observing from a nearby table, hid a smile behind his hand.
"Hey, Arthev," Shi Mo grinned, his earlier curiosity returning. "You know all this science stuff. Do you have a girlfriend?"
The shift was so sudden that several people choked.
Dugu Yan choked on her tea. Ye Lingling looked up sharply. Yu Feng actually swallowed a chicken bone and started coughing.
Arthev blinked. "No."
"Hah! I knew it," Shi Mo laughed, slapping the table.
"You're too serious! All that 'why is the sky blue' and 'how does water boil', girls don't want to hear that! They want fun! Excitement! Romance!"
"Romance," Shi Mu repeated flatly. "Brother, you think climbing into your shell and hiding is romance?"
"That's called mystery! Girls love mystery!"
"Girls love men who bathe," Dugu Yan snapped, recovering from her tea-induced coughing fit. "Which you haven't done in three days."
"I'M BUILDING CHARACTER!"
"You're building a habitat!"
The table erupted in laughter.
Osler wiped tears from his eyes. "Arthev, seriously though. Have you ever liked anyone? Even a little?"
Arthev paused.
For a brief moment, fragments of his previous life crossed his mind.
A classroom bathed in afternoon light. A girl near the window laughing softly with her friends. He remembered how his eyes used to drift toward her without reason, how her presence somehow made ordinary days feel lighter. Back then, he had never understood what that feeling was.
The memory faded as quickly as it came.
"No," he said honestly. "I haven't had time."
"That's so sad," Yu Feng said, finally pulling the chicken bone from his throat. "You can calculate boiling points and lightning paths, but you can't talk to a pretty girl?"
"Talking is easy," Arthev said. "Understanding is hard."
"Ohhh, deep," Shi Mo nodded sagely. "Very deep. But also an excuse. I bet you're scared."
"Of a conversation?"
"Of feelings!"
Ye Lingling was quiet. Her eyes kept drifting to Arthev's face, watching his calm expression. There was something there. Something hidden behind the logic and the training and the impossible weights.
"Maybe he just hasn't met the right person," she said softly.
The table went silent. Everyone looked at Ye Lingling. Then at Arthev. Then back at Ye Lingling.
Dugu Yan's eyes narrowed with predatory interest
Oh ho, her expression said. Ohhhhh ho.
"So, Lingling," Dugu Yan said sweetly. "What kind of person do you think would be right for Arthev?"
Ye Lingling's pale cheeks flushed pink. "I....that's not....I was just saying....."
"Someone who likes science?" Osler teased.
"Someone who appreciates good posture?" Yu Feng added.
"Someone who can survive his training without crying?" Shi Mu grinned.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ye Lingling's voice cracked. She grabbed her water cup and downed the entire thing in one go, refusing to look at anyone.
Dugu Yan laughed. It was a genuine, unguarded laugh, rare for the serpent girl.
"Arthev," Dugu Yan said, leaning across the table, "if you ever want advice on girls, come to me. I'll teach you."
"You tried to poison me last week," Arthev reminded her.
"That was professional. This is personal. Different skill sets."
"She's not wrong," Yu Tianheng said, finally joining the teasing. "Dugu Yan knows more about social manipulation than anyone I know."
"IT'S CALLED CHARM!"
"It's called venom," Osler corrected. "Everything you touch either likes you or dies."
"That's not true! Some people just run away!"
The table dissolved into laughter again.
Arthev watched them. The way Yu Tianheng's stiff shoulders finally relaxed. The way Dugu Yan's sharp features softened when she laughed. The way Ye Lingling peeked at him through her fingers, still blushing.
'See?' Matatabi purred in his mind. 'This is good for you.'
'It's inefficient,' Arthev thought back.
'Efficiency isn't everything, kid.'
He didn't argue.
---
After dinner, the team walked back to the dormitories. The night air was cool. The heavy feeling of exhaustion had been replaced by the warm, fuzzy feeling of a full stomach.
They reached the fork in the path. The girls' dorm was to the left, the boys' to the right.
"Goodnight," Ye Lingling said, her eyes lingering on Arthev for a second.
"Rest well," Arthev nodded. "Tomorrow, we add five kilograms to the vests."
"You are evil!" Dugu Yan groaned, but she waved as she walked away with Lingling.
Ye Lingling glanced back once. Just once. Then she disappeared around the corner.
The boys walked in silence for a bit. The dormitory hallway was quiet.
When they reached Arthev's door, Yu Tianheng stopped.
"Arthev," he said quietly.
Arthev turned. The rest of the boys had gone ahead to their rooms. It was just the Captain and the Arthev.
"Yes?"
Yu Tianheng looked at the moon through the window at the end of the hall.
"My family... the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan... we believe we are the strongest beast spirit. We are proud. Arrogant, maybe."
He turned his gaze to Arthev.
"I always thought my path was set. Cultivate, become a Titled Douluo, lead the clan. But watching you... watching how you train, how you think... it makes me realize how small my world was."
Yu Tianheng clenched his fist.
"You aren't just teaching us tricks, are you? You are changing how we see the world."
Arthev leaned against the doorframe. His expression was unreadable in the shadows.
"The world is changing, Captain," Arthev said, his voice low. "The old ways... the ways of clans and lineage... they are strong, but they are rigid. And rigid things break."
He thought of the Broken Circle. He thought of the hidden threats in the dark.
"I am just making sure you are flexible enough to survive the storm."
Yu Tianheng nodded slowly. "I will survive. And I will get stronger."
"Thank you, Arthev."
"Get some sleep, Captain. You have lightning to control tomorrow."
Yu Tianheng smiled, a genuine, tired smile, and walked down the hall to his room.
Arthev watched him go.
He opened his door and stepped into his dark room. He didn't turn on the light. He walked to the window and looked out at the campus.
'You're getting soft, kid,' Shukaku chuckled. 'Making friends? Giving pep talks?'
'Building assets,' Arthev corrected, though his tone wasn't as cold as usual.
'Keep telling yourself that,' Matatabi purred. 'Your heart rate lowers when you are with them. You are relaxed. It is good for your mental health.'
Arthev didn't argue. He sat on his bed and closed his eyes.
It was a good night.
To be continued....