Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 66

William’s second class of the day was Practical Essence Application, which involved mostly hands-on demonstrations and technique refinement. The instructor had them working in pairs on controlled essence output exercises.

William got paired with a third-year student named Derek from House Valoris. The exercise was simple — maintain consistent essence flow through a testing crystal for two minutes without fluctuation.

It should have been challenging. Most students struggled to keep their output steady for even thirty seconds before it started wavering.

William completed it in one attempt with zero fluctuation. The crystal glowed with perfectly consistent light for the full two minutes.

Derek stared at the crystal, then at William. "How did you do that?"

"Just focus on keeping the flow steady," William said, trying to downplay it.

"I am focusing. Mine keeps spiking after twenty seconds."

The instructor walked over and examined William’s result. "Perfect consistency. Well done Cross. You can move on to the advanced exercise."

William internally cursed himself. He was drawing attention again by performing too well. The SSS trait made everything effortless, but that was exactly the problem — it was too effortless.

He moved to the advanced station and completed that exercise as well, though he deliberately introduced minor fluctuations to make it look less perfect. The instructor still praised his improvement but didn’t comment further.

The class ended and William left quickly, wanting to avoid any more conversations about his suddenly improved control.

He grabbed lunch alone at a corner table in the dining hall, hoping for a quiet meal. That lasted approximately five minutes before Mira appeared and sat down across from him.

"You’ve been busy lately," Mira said, setting down her tray.

"Not really," William replied.

"Right. That’s why Helena Rubinstein has been asking around about you, and why you just demonstrated perfect essence control in Practical Application."

William looked up from his food. "How do you know about the class thing?"

"Derek is in my study group. He wouldn’t shut up about it." Mira ate some of her lunch casually. "So what’s your secret?"

"There’s no secret. Just practicing."

"Uh huh." Mira didn’t look convinced but she didn’t press further. "Well, whatever you’re doing, keep it up. The Inter-Academy competition is getting closer and we need everyone at their best."

"Speaking of which, how’s your training going?"

"Good. My shadow manipulation has been improving steadily. Adrian’s been helping me refine some techniques." She paused. "Though between you and me, I think he’s getting nervous about the competition."

"Why?"

"Because the other academies aren’t going to be easy. We’re good, but we’re not unbeatable." Mira finished her drink. "Anyway, I should get going. I have Combat Theory next and Professor Varen gets annoyed when people are late."

She left and William finished his lunch in peace. The afternoon classes were less eventful — History of Essence Cultivation was mostly lecture-based and William could blend into the background without drawing attention.

By the time classes ended, William was ready to head back to his room and rest. He was crossing the main courtyard when someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

He turned and saw Helena Rubinstein standing there with that same calculated smile.

"William," she said. "I was hoping I’d run into you."

"What do you need?"

"I wanted to invite you to something." Helena pulled out a small card from her bag. "There’s a party this weekend at one of the off-campus houses. Nothing too formal, just students getting together before midterms start. I think you should come."

William looked at the card. It had an address and time written in neat handwriting.

"I don’t really do parties," William said.

"You should make an exception for this one. Lots of influential students will be there. Good networking opportunity." Helena’s green eyes studied him. "Plus it would be nice to see you in a more relaxed setting."

"I’ll think about it."

"That’s what you said this morning about talking to me." Helena stepped slightly closer. "You know William, most people would be flattered by the attention I’m giving you."

"I’m not most people."

"Clearly." She smiled wider. "Just consider coming. I think you’d enjoy yourself more than you expect."

She walked away before William could respond, leaving him holding the party invitation card.

William stared at it for a moment, then pocketed it and continued toward his dormitory. Kai was in their room when he arrived, predictably reading at his desk.

"You look tired," Kai commented without looking up.

"Long day," William said, dropping his bag.

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Not really. Just classes and people bothering me."

Kai finally looked up. "That Helena girl approached you again?"

"How did you—"

"I saw her talking to you in the courtyard. She’s persistent."

"Yeah, she invited me to some party this weekend."

"Are you going?"

William pulled out the card and looked at it again. "Probably not."

"You should go," Kai said.

William looked at his roommate in surprise. "Why?"

"Because sitting in this room all weekend isn’t going to help you with anything. Plus parties are where things happen." Kai went back to his book. "Trust me on this one."

"That’s cryptic."

"That’s accurate."

William set the card on his desk and changed out of his academy uniform. He spent the next few hours doing light cultivation practice and working on an essay that was due next week, trying to keep his mind occupied.

Dinner came and went. William ate with Marcus and Sara, enduring another round of questions about Seraphina that he mostly deflected. By the time he got back to his room, it was getting late and he was exhausted.

He lay in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened over the past few days. The SSS trait, the situation with Seraphina and Claire, Lyanna asking him out, Helena’s persistent interest, and now this party invitation.

’When did my life get this complicated?’ William thought.

---

The next few days passed in a blur of classes, training, and trying to manage the increasingly complex social dynamics around him. William continued being careful about demonstrating his new abilities too obviously, though it was getting harder to deliberately perform worse than he was capable of.

Seraphina remained consistent — she didn’t pressure him about their relationship status but she also didn’t distance herself. They trained together, ate together sometimes, and she’d occasionally grab his hand when they walked between buildings.

Claire was similarly persistent. She’d appear seemingly at random throughout the day, always finding excuses to talk to him. Sometimes it was about Inter-Academy strategy, sometimes about class material, and sometimes she didn’t bother with an excuse at all.

Lyanna had backed off after asking him out, giving him space to think about it. Though William caught her watching him sometimes during shared classes, her expression unreadable.

Helena continued appearing at opportune moments, always with that calculated smile and always mentioning the party. By the third time she brought it up, William started considering actually going just to stop her from asking.

Friday afternoon arrived and William was in the training facility working through combat drills when Liam approached.

"You’re looking sharp lately," Liam commented, watching William execute a fire-enhanced strike sequence. "Your control has improved significantly."

"Just practicing more," William said, finishing the sequence.

"Must be some intense practice." Liam grabbed a practice sword. "Want to spar?"

They spent the next hour trading strikes and techniques. Liam was still clearly superior in terms of raw skill and experience, but William noticed he was keeping up better than he used to. The SSS trait made reading Liam’s movements easier and responding appropriately much more natural.

"You’re adapting faster mid-fight," Liam observed when they took a break. "That’s new."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. Before you’d get locked into patterns. Now you’re adjusting on the fly." Liam drank from his water flask. "Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. The competition is three weeks away and we need everyone performing at their peak."

They finished training and William headed back to clean up. When he got to his room, Kai was actually packing a small bag.

"Going somewhere?" William asked.

"Yeah, I have some things to take care of off campus this weekend." Kai closed his bag. "You should go to that party."

"You’re still on about that?"

"I’m serious William. You need to go." Kai’s expression was more serious than usual. "Something important is going to happen there."

"What kind of something?"

"I can’t tell you that. But trust me, you need to be there."

William stared at his roommate. Kai almost never gave direct advice about anything, and when he did it was usually significant.

"Fine," William said. "I’ll go."

"Good." Kai grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "I’ll be back Sunday evening. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone."

"That’s rich coming from you."

Kai left without responding, leaving William alone in the room wondering what the hell his roommate knew that he didn’t.

He could only wander as he slowly drifted into sleep.

---

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