Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 31

The week before the House Ascendant preliminaries settled into a comfortable rhythm for William. Classes resumed their normal pace after the expedition, and he found himself appreciating the predictability of the schedule, dawn combat training, morning lectures, afternoon cultivation practice, and evening sparring with Liam three times a week.

Combat training with Instructor Valdris had become noticeably easier since the tournament. William could maintain his enhancement for longer periods without his essence pathways burning, and his reaction time had improved enough that he wasn’t constantly getting hit during drills.

"Better," Valdris grunted during a footwork exercise. "You’re not falling over yourself anymore."

William blocked a strike and countered with a quick jab that Valdris deflected easily. "That’s a low bar."

"It’s progress," Valdris said while increasing the tempo. "Most students plateau after their first tournament. You’re still improving."

The drill continued for another fifteen minutes before Valdris called for a break. William grabbed water and noticed his breathing was more controlled than it used to be, he could recover faster between exercises, which meant his essence capacity was expanding properly.

Magical Theory with Professor Ashcroft was less physically demanding but required more focus. The lecture covered essence affinity interactions and how different elements could complement or interfere with each other during cultivation.

"Fire and wind affinities, when cultivated together, create a natural synergy," Professor Ashcroft explained while drawing diagrams on the board. "Fire feeds on oxygen, wind provides it. However, this same synergy makes it dangerous for inexperienced cultivators to attempt both simultaneously."

William took notes while thinking about his own situation. His fire affinity had broken through the fifty percent threshold, and wind was sitting at forty-eight percent according to his last check. The professor’s warning about attempting both at once was probably something he should pay attention to.

Lyanna sat two rows ahead, and William noticed she kept glancing back at him during the lecture. She’d been doing that since they returned from the Vale, though she hadn’t approached him directly about whatever she was researching. He figured she was still trying to understand what happened with Seraphina without realizing there was a curse involved.

After class, she caught up with him in the hallway.

"William, do you have a minute?"

"Sure," he said while adjusting his bag.

"I wanted to ask about your essence cultivation progress," Lyanna said. "You mentioned during the expedition that your gates were opening faster than expected. Have you noticed any unusual interactions between your affinities?"

"Fire and wind seem to work well together," William admitted. "I haven’t tried combining them during cultivation though."

"That’s smart," Lyanna said. "Professor Ashcroft’s warning about synergy dangers is based on real incidents. Students have permanently damaged their pathways trying to force multiple affinities to activate simultaneously."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

They walked together toward the cultivation halls, and Lyanna seemed like she wanted to say something else but kept hesitating. Finally, she just settled on a simple comment.

"You’re doing well with your training. I can tell you’ve improved since the tournament."

"Thanks," William said. "You helped with the theory foundation."

"Still, the practical application is all you," Lyanna said before heading toward a different cultivation chamber.

Essence Cultivation with Master Erian was William’s favorite class because it was the one place where he could actually measure his progress objectively. Master Erian used essence readers and diagnostic tools to track students’ development, which meant William got regular updates on his affinity percentages without relying entirely on the system interface.

"Let’s see where you are this week," Master Erian said while placing the essence reader against William’s wrist.

The device hummed for a moment before displaying results on a small screen.

"Fire affinity at fifty-three percent, wind at forty-nine percent," Master Erian read aloud. "Water, lightning, earth, and shadow are all progressing steadily as well. Your cultivation speed is quite impressive for someone who started with sealed gates."

"Is the speed normal?" William asked.

"Normal? No. Possible? Yes," Master Erian said. "Your body is compensating for lost time. The gates were sealed for years, so now that they’re open, your essence pathways are developing rapidly to catch up. It won’t last forever, eventually you’ll hit the same plateaus as everyone else."

"How long until that happens?"

"That’s hard to say, it could take months, or maybe a year. Depends on how much essence you cultivate and how well you manage the strain on your pathways."

William nodded and spent the rest of the class session working on controlled essence circulation. The goal was to move essence through his pathways without forcing it, letting the flow remain steady and consistent rather than bursting with power and then depleting.

It was tedious work, but he could feel the difference it made. His essence control had gone from D+ to C rank according to the system, and Master Erian’s measurements confirmed that his pathways were handling larger amounts of essence without damage.

After classes ended, William returned to his room to rest before the evening training session with Liam. Kai was there, reading as usual, and barely acknowledged William’s presence with a slight nod.

"You training with Hemsworth again tonight?" Kai asked without looking up from his book.

"Yeah."

"I noticed that recently, that’s steady progress"

"Thanks, I guess," William said while changing into training clothes.

Kai shrugged and went back to reading, apparently satisfied with that response.

---

Training ground seven was empty when William arrived, as usual. Liam showed up a few minutes later carrying two practice swords instead of one.

"Brought you a better weapon," Liam said while tossing one over. "Yours is too light for proper enhancement training."

William caught it and immediately felt the difference. The practice sword was heavier and better balanced, designed to channel essence more efficiently than the standard academy issue weapons.

"Thanks."

"Don’t mention it," Liam said. "Now, let’s work on your enhancement consistency. You’re good at bursting with power for short exchanges, but you fade too quickly in extended fights."

They started with basic drills, and Liam immediately pushed William harder than their previous sessions. The tempo was faster, the strikes came from unpredictable angles, and there was no time to think, only react.

William enhanced his strikes and focused on maintaining the flow of essence rather than spiking it with each attack. It was harder than it sounded because his instinct was still to burst with power when he needed it, but that approach burned through his reserves too quickly.

"Steady," Liam called out while deflecting a strike. "You’re spiking again. Keep it consistent."

William adjusted and tried to smooth out his essence flow, which immediately made his strikes weaker but more sustainable. Liam nodded in approval and increased the pressure, forcing William to maintain the technique under stress.

They sparred for twenty minutes straight before Liam called a break. William was breathing hard but not completely exhausted, which was an improvement from their first session where he’d been gasping for air after ten minutes.

"Better," Liam said. "You lasted twice as long this time."

"Still feels inefficient," William admitted while catching his breath.

"That’s because you’re fighting your own instincts," Liam explained. "You learned to fight by surviving short, intense exchanges. Now you’re trying to train for longer engagements, which requires a completely different approach."

"How did you learn?"

"Necessity," Liam said. "When you’re fighting for food or defending yourself in the streets, you don’t always get the luxury of short fights. Sometimes you have to outlast your opponent, which means conserving energy becomes more important than overwhelming them."

They rested for a few minutes before moving on to the next exercise. Liam wanted to test William’s fire affinity in combat, which meant incorporating elemental techniques into their sparring.

"Show me what you can do with fire," Liam said while taking a ready stance.

William drew on his fire affinity and felt the familiar warmth spread through his essence pathways. Fire essence was more aggressive than neutral enhancement—it wanted to burn and consume rather than simply strengthen. He channeled it into his sword and watched flames flicker along the blade’s edge.

"Good control," Liam observed. "Now use it."

They clashed, and William immediately noticed the difference fire enhancement made. His strikes carried heat that forced Liam to adjust his blocks, and the flames created openings by threatening to singe exposed skin. It wasn’t overwhelming power, but it added another layer to his attacks that made them harder to predict.

Liam countered with his own enhancement techniques, and William found himself pressed harder than before. Liam’s essence control was still far superior—his movements were fluid and efficient where William’s were still somewhat rough around the edges.

"You’re telegraphing your fire techniques," Liam said while deflecting a flame-enhanced strike. "I can see when you’re channeling fire essence because your stance shifts slightly. Fix that and you’ll land more hits."

William adjusted his approach and tried to keep his stance neutral regardless of which affinity he was using. It was difficult because fire essence naturally made him more aggressive, but he forced himself to maintain control.

They continued sparring with William gradually improving his integration of fire techniques into normal combat. By the end of the session, he could throw in flame-enhanced strikes without obviously telegraphing them, though Liam still blocked most of the attempts.

"Much better," Liam said while they were cooling down. "Your fire affinity is developing faster than I expected. Have you tried combining it with wind yet?"

"Master Erian and Professor Ashcroft both warned against combining affinities too early," William said.

"They’re right to be cautious," Liam agreed. "But eventually you’ll need to learn how your affinities interact. Fire and wind have natural synergy, which means they can amplify each other if used correctly. They can also backfire spectacularly if you lose control."

"I’ll stick with fire for now."

"Smart. Master one thing before trying to juggle multiple elements."

They talked for a while about affinity development and training methods, and William found these conversations just as valuable as the physical sparring. Liam had years of practical experience that formal classes didn’t cover, and he was surprisingly willing to share what he’d learned.

"You’re preparing for the preliminaries?" Liam asked as they were packing up.

"Yeah. Combat bracket is first."

"You’ll do fine," Liam said. "Your improvement rate is faster than most students I’ve seen. Just don’t overthink it during the actual matches."

"I’ll try."

They parted ways with plans to train again in two days, and William headed back to his dormitory feeling satisfied with the progress. His combat ability was improving steadily, his fire affinity was becoming reliable in actual fights, and training with Liam was pushing him to develop better habits.

The system interface popped up briefly as he walked.

[Fire Affinity: 54%]

[Wind Affinity: 49%]

[Combat Assessment: C+ Rank]

William dismissed it and focused on the path ahead. The preliminaries were in a few days, and he needed to be ready.

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