After prodding around for a minute without catching a glimpse of the emblem, he decided to err on the side of caution and didn’t approach the pile of rubble. Instead, he turned to search deeper inside the building.

The light shining in through the now-gaping hole where the door had previously been didn’t reach far down the hallway, and past a few meters, it was completely dark. Kai peered into the shadows for a few moments, then slowly started walking forward.

On the left side of the entryway, a tall wooden door was propped open, a small door stop poking out from beneath it. The door itself was in a much better state than the one on the front of the building- with the roof and floors above it to shield it from the elements, it didn't look like it would fall apart from a mere touch.

Instead of investigating further into the darkness Brewan had run into, Kai turned and began checking out the room.

“It looks a bit like the study space back home, just a lot bigger…”

[A classroom. Brewan did say that this is an academy, so it checks out.]

Inside, soft cushioned kneeling pads were positioned in uneven rows, some of them thrown to the side as if whoever had been seated on them had gotten up in a hurry. At the front of the classroom, a tall blackboard leaned against the wall, scribbles of white chalk still hanging on its surface.

[Something, something, (make?), (stronger), something…]

Halia mumbled inside Kai’s mind as she read the runes on the board, her voice only growing more excited the further she read.

[Aha, I was right! I really did get the right runes for your s- my sword!]

Halia went back to mumbling as she tried to discern the meaning of the other runes on the board, and Kai ventured around the room, trying to find anything else related to the crescent moon symbol he’d seen above the doorway.

There was nothing. Aside from the cushions and the blackboard, there was almost nothing in the building.

It looks like I need to search a bit further inside, but I don’t have any light. Hm… Halia did make one of her weird text boxes before, she might be able to figure something out.

After calling for her a couple times, Kai managed to drag Halia’s attention away from the runes.

[I can’t. When you were running away, I used the rest of your mana to enhance your muscles more. I was trying to model how I did it after cultivation, so it would be detrimental if I tried to pull it back out now.]

She continued to go into further detail, and Kai nodded his head as he listened along. Halia wasn’t just temporarily enhancing his strength using mana. Instead, similar to how the Qi Kai was familiar with had been used, the mana would be permanently consumed to increase his physical strength.

[Fufu… I’ll have to save double the free mana next time. I wonder how much it’ll take before I can start making cool stuff.]

Halia paused for a moment, seeming to remember something.

[Right, you should go find our new friend. I want to take a peek at the book he’s carrying around, it might help me figure out more about mana.]

Kai had already explored the entirety of the room and didn’t hesitate to head back out into the entryway. Before he could venture into the darker recesses of the hallway, he heard a yelp of shock.

“Sydney, you’re alive!”

Brewan’s voice echoed through the dusty hallway, followed by a few crashing noises.

The noises were coming from a room just a short way into the darkness, and it didn’t take Kai for more than a few seconds to reach the doorway. It was a room similar to the classroom he had just investigated, a small window on the far side of the room allowed a stream of evening sunlight in and illuminating the room just enough for Kai to see.

Most of the kneeling cushions had been gathered at the side of the room, and Brewan was standing in front of a large pile of them. Kai could see another figure lying down on a makeshift bed of cushions.

“Who- ah! Kai, you’re alive, too!”

Brewan whirled around when he heard the other young man walking into the room, but then swiftly turned his expression back to the person lying down on the cushions.

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“Hey, wake up!”

Brewan pushed against the figure’s shoulder, but they barely budged.

[Damn. He’s alive, but…]

Kai walked over to the makeshift bed, his eyebrows creasing as he looked down. A young man in his early twenties was lying on the bed, his face a pallid gray color. Long strips of cloth had been torn from his clothing and were now wrapped around one of his legs, a deep red staining the once blue cloth. The color scheme and insignia on his shoulder matched Brewan’s robes, but his gear looked more like light armor than robes.

“Brewan, do you know this guy?”

Brewan paused his attempts at waking Sydney, then nodded.

“He’s the 3rd year student I was sent out to find. He’s one of the highest-ranked knight students in his year, so they sent me to search for him.”

Sydney shifted around as Brewan was speaking, and they refocused their attention on the injured man. Aside from the clearly nasty wound on his leg, a few smaller, mostly-healed cuts were visible on his arms, and there were three deep scars on the chestpiece of his light armor.

“Do you know how to heal him?”

Brewan shook his head.

[I know necromancy.]

“Not helpful.”

[Ehm… the biggest risk should be infection, I think. It looks like this guy’s probably been here for a while, and if the wound isn’t kept clean, he’ll die.]

Kai was pretty sure he’d overheard villagers living near their sect’s borders saying similar things in the past, so he nodded, then carefully started to unwrap the crusted-on makeshift bandage. He took care to roll up his sleeves first, even though they were already splattered with the boar’s lifeblood.

Kai winced as he pulled the bandage free, and Halia let out a gagging noise in his mind. A sizable chunk of Sydney’s leg was missing. It looked like something had brutally ripped into his lower thigh, leaving behind a mangled mess of blood and muscle.

“S- spell of cleansing.”

A faint blue light flickered to Kai’s right, where Brewan was standing. The robed fellow had his magic book out again, the pages trembling as he pointed it toward the wound. The blue light washed over the wound, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

“W- we don’t have detailed first-aid classes until our second year. The only spell I know for it is the basic cleansing one.”

Kai took a deep breath, then looked back down at the wound. It… wasn’t the worst he’d seen. Accidents in martial tournaments could have serious consequences. Hunting beasts was a dangerous job. Kai had seen plenty of injuries and even deaths back home, and he’d seen people come back from worse than this.

Cultivators, though. People with enhanced bodies, who could recover from injuries.

“I- I don’t think we can get him back to a settlement in this state. If that huge bird from before sees us, we won’t even be able to run away, and a lot of beasts can smell blood. Even with a dispersion spell, we can’t escape if we bring him with us.”

Brewan took a hesitant step back from the bedside.

[I think he can heal.]

“Eh?”

Kai rose up from where he was kneeling, his hand moving toward the sheathed ruby sword.

[Not Brewan, Sydney. He has a ton of mana, and I think he’s using it pretty similarly to how qi was used back at the sect. Just like what I did for you a few minutes ago, it’s all in his muscles.]

She’s saying that this fellow is similar to a cultivator?

[I don’t know enough about this place to be sure yet, but I’m going to make some estimates. One of the runes I engraved on the necklace lets me estimate how much mana something has.]

[Kai- Level 1]

[Terror Bird- Level 29]

[Sydney- Level 22]

Terror bird… that must be the giant thing that was chasing us. Halia’s saying that this Sydney fellow is only a bit weaker than it?

[We didn’t get close enough to it, but if I had to guess, that giant bear back at the warehouse was probably somewhere in between those two in strength.]

[I’m guessing that the cleansing spell Brewan used will keep Sydney’s wound clean, and if body reinforcement works the same way cultivation did, I’m pretty certain he will heal. All he needs is food and water.]

Brewan just said that we won’t make it if we try to carry him back to a settlement, though. I don’t see any food here, and I doubt there are many useful supplies left around here.

[Rage Boar- Level 4]

“Huh?”

[Food. Levels.]

Kai quickly shook his head. Endangering his own life to save a complete stranger was utter stupidity.

[The other beasts are a lot weaker than the terror bird. They aren’t impossible for you to hunt, and you’ll get stronger every time you take one of them down. If you run into something you can’t beat, just run back here.]

A bit of excitement started to creep into Halia’s voice as she continued.

[You can hunt and get stronger, explore the academy ruins and learn more about magic, and make allies at the same time!]

Kai wanted to ignore what Halia was saying, but he couldn’t deny that it was starting to sound like a fair idea. He didn’t know anything about this new world around him. If it was anything like the cultivation one he was familiar with, it was definitely in his best interests to get stronger as fast as possible.

… If I want to see even a hint of my dreams achieved, I’ll need to take risks. I won’t succeed if I just try to play it safe all of the time. Besides… if the other three heard that I was cowering in some ruins I’d never hear the end of it.

Kai stood up, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword.

“Brewan. When your mana recovers enough to use your dispersion spell, we’ll go outside.”

The mage’s face looked pensive.

“I’m going to hunt another beast, save your mana so we can escape back here afterward. This guy will need food if he wants to recover.”