Mist from the early morning curled lazily over the roofs of the village, glinting silver in the first rays of sunlight. Seraphina stepped lightly onto the uneven cobblestones, her compressed form keeping her chest and hips as ordinary as a tomboy's. Her trousers and simple shirt fit loosely, and her hair, kept short under her suppressive Qi, framed a face that could have been plain if not for the faint allure of her angelic features, now slightly tamed.
She stretched, raising her arms and twisting, careful to keep the movements casual. In her mind, she reminded herself: act weak. Act like the others. No revealing of strength. She glanced around at the small cluster of villagers gathered by the central fountain, mostly young men and women with nervous energy, each hoping to make it to the city and the cultivation school there.
"Morning," she called, her voice soft, intentionally ordinary.
The villagers waved back. She recognized a few faces from yesterday: Taro, a gangly boy with dirt-streaked clothes; Mina, the girl who had been picking herbs near the stream; and Haru, who was small but quick, already fumbling with a basket of vegetables.
Her eyes scanned each of them carefully, memorizing their weak stat aura through the faint pulse of Qi she could sense. None of them exceeded Body Building Layer 3. All had basic stats under ten.
> [Mini System Screen – Village Youth]
Taro – Body Building Layer 3, Strength 8, Agility 7, Endurance 6, Balance 5
Mina – Body Building Layer 3, Strength 7, Agility 8, Endurance 7, Balance 6
Haru – Body Building Layer 3, Strength 6, Agility 7, Endurance 7, Balance 7
Seraphina smirked slightly to herself. Perfect. They would never suspect she was at Core Formation Layer 4, stats all above seventy.
She approached casually, her posture relaxed, arms crossed over her chest to emphasize her "tomboyish" flatness. A subtle swing of her hip, a tilt of her head, all designed to seem like teasing playfulness rather than the aura of a goddess.
"Hey," she called to Taro. "Morning stretches?"
Taro jumped, caught off-guard. "Uh… yeah… sure… uh… you?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Just making sure I'm not the weakest in the village," she said, deliberately letting her voice wobble slightly, as if unsure. She struck a casual pose, turning to show her flat chest and small hips to the boys, and winked. "Think I could… uh… be your girlfriend?"
A collective laugh rose from the group, some nervous, some teasing. Taro blinked, red creeping across his cheeks. "Wha… me?"
Taro was so embarased as she have never even held a girls hand before.
she is a tomboy but well, she is not ugly.
"Yeah, you," she said, pointing casually, "I think you'd be… fun." She grinned, exaggerating the shy tomboy act.
The other two scoffed collectively, shaking their heads. "Flat chest, flat butt," one teased, "no grace, tomboy nonsense."
Seraphina bowed dramatically, waving a hand. "Ah, right. Too ordinary for you magnificent beings," she said in mock solemnity. "I'll just… go pick herbs over there."
then she turns back as if she remembered something. I can ride well, she said with a smirk.
She moved off toward the forest edge, walking slowly, deliberately showing off the clumsy, plain tomboy manner. Her compressed form made her powerful body almost invisible under her casual movements.
Once out of sight, she dropped into a squat, Qi already flowing through her core. The moment her breath deepened, she began cultivating silently.
> [Passive Cultivation Active]
EXP gain: 1 per minute from environmental Qi
She focused, inhaling the morning Qi. Each breath felt absurdly powerful, filling her core and limbs with energy.
> [Current Status]
Core Formation Layer 4
EXP: 950 / 3000
Stats: Strength 70, Agility 70, Endurance 70, Balance 70
Stat Points: 0
The minutes passed. Every inhale of Qi, every subtle adjustment in muscle and balance, added to her experience. By the time the sun had fully risen, she had quietly integrated the environmental energy into her body, her EXP rising silently in the system.
Satisfied, she stood, brushing dirt from her trousers, and wandered back toward the villagers, acting as if she had just finished simple morning stretches.
The day continued with interactions—short jokes, shared laughter, playful teasing. Mina approached her with a basket of herbs. "Hey, you're faster than you look," she said. "I can barely keep up."
Seraphina shrugged, smiling faintly. "Eh… maybe I'm just lucky today," she said, hiding the subtle twitch of her enhanced agility.
Taro, still blushing from her mock confession, muttered, "You… you really are something."
"Careful," Seraphina teased, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Wouldn't want your heart to explode before you even play with me." She laughed, low and playful, causing the boys around her to roll their eyes and laugh too.
Despite her playful exterior, she never stopped cultivating. Sitting quietly under a tree, inhaling Qi, she focused on breakthroughs.
1 – Early morning, Core Formation Layer 4 → 5
2 – Midday, Layer 5 → 6
3 – Late afternoon, Layer 6 → 7
Her body coiled and released, compressing her form for maximum efficiency. Muscles flexed under her tomboyish clothes, yet she remained unseen by the villagers' divine sense.
> [Status Screen]
Core Formation Layer 7
EXP: 0 / 4500
Strength: 71
Agility: 72
Endurance: 74
Balance: 71
Stat Points: 0
By the afternoon, she moved to help gather herbs alongside Mina and Haru. She played her role well, pretending to stumble occasionally, acting weak when lifting heavy roots. The villagers watched, none suspecting her true strength.
At one point, Taro tripped on a tree root, dropping his basket. Seraphina caught it effortlessly, but let it slip slightly in her hands, giving a mock struggle. "Woah! Almost lost it," she said, laughing. The boys snickered, thinking her tomboyish clumsiness was genuine.
The villagers shared stories of the city school, of the strict tests and powerful elders. Seraphina listened, offering small nods and encouragement. When one boy complained about the difficulty, she chuckled softly. "It's not impossible… just takes time," she said, hiding the fact that she was leagues beyond them.
She even let herself joke about her "flat" body. "Good thing I'm not a distraction, huh?" she said to the boys, striking a pose. They laughed, thinking she was shy and playful, completely unaware of her true form.
Around mid-afternoon, she found a quiet stream and again sat to cultivate, flowing through Qi exercises she had perfected since leaving the forest. Each inhalation brought experience, each exhalation integrated her techniques. Passive cultivation added to her already immense EXP from environmental Qi.
> [EXP gain calculation]
Core Formation passive: +1/min
Current EXP: 1130 / 4500
She smiled faintly to herself. Even here, unseen, the absurd speed of her cultivation continued. No one could match it, not in the village, and not in the city.
Mina, unaware, wandered close. "You really… you're strange," she said. "Most of us would be exhausted by now."
Seraphina grinned under her tomboy disguise. "I guess I just have… stamina," she said lightly, making the girl giggle.
Later, while helping Haru sort through collected herbs, she teased him relentlessly. "Careful! You might crush the herbs with all that strength," she said, feigning alarm at his attempts. Haru laughed nervously. "I'm not that strong!"
"You are if you try," she said with mock seriousness, but then laughed. The playful teasing lightened the day, bringing smiles and chuckles to the group.
By evening, the village square was filled with the warm golden light of the setting sun. Seraphina retreated under a tree, letting the others continue gathering and talking, giving herself a moment to cultivate once more. She closed her eyes, letting Qi from the environment rush through her body, breaking through one last time before resting.
Her compressed form flexed subtly, muscles tightening, strength and agility surging.
> [Status Screen – Evening Update]
Core Formation Layer 7
EXP: 1300 / 4500
Strength: 72
Agility: 74
Endurance: 75
Balance: 72
Stat Points: 0
Satisfied, she stretched, standing and letting the faint breeze brush against her, hair still short under compression, tomboyish but with the hidden poise of a goddess beneath.
Taro finally approached, cheeks red. "Hey… um… so… about that… girlfriend thing," he stammered.
Seraphina smiled playfully. "Sure," she said, shrugging, "I'll be your girlfriend…okay?
He nearly tripped over himself, eyes wide. "Really? I… I never… wow."
She laughed softly, ruffling his hair. "Don't worry. You'll survive… probably."
This will be fun, she muttered with mischief in her eyes
The villagers laughed at the scene, teasing both of them, while Seraphina's mind remained focused on her cultivation. Even in this playful day, she had advanced further than anyone could comprehend, her EXP steadily climbing, her Core Formation techniques integrating naturally, her control absolute yet hidden.
As night fell, she found a quiet spot under a large tree to meditate, letting her body absorb the last bits of Qi before sleep. She smiled faintly, thinking about the city school a month away, the adventures to come, and the friends she had made.