No one saw what happened.
The night was quiet, but the silence wasn't empty. It was loaded—with whispers, with questions, with fear.
Robert Young didn't return to class the next day.
Robert Young was found alone, collapsed under the portico, drenched in cold sweat, his skin pale and lips tinged blue. He was breathing—but barely. His eyes were unfocused, his mana flow unstable. The medical staff couldn't explain it.
The academy's medical team rushed him to the infirmary. Nanjuro Imari herself examined him.
"No physical injuries, No signs of combat. Just... spiritual shock." she reported. "But his mana flow is erratic. His spirit core is trembling. It's as if he saw something that rewrote his soul."
Robert refused to speak.
When pressed, he whispered one thing:
"He said… he's Loki."
The academy buzzed with speculation. Not from the instructors. Not from the elite. But from the background voices—the mob students.
"Who's Loki?"
"Is it a nickname?"
"Did he get cursed?"
"Maybe he saw a ghost?"
"I heard he was attacked by a void spirit."
One student leaned in conspiratorially.
"He said 'Loki.' You know who that sounds like?"
"Louie?"
"Or Xiaoqi?"
"Exactly. Xiaoqi… Loki… sounds kinda similar, right?"
"Wait, you think Louie did it?"
"No way. He's just a freshman. He does have his way with words."
"Still… it's weird."
No one had seen Louie near the portico.
No one had proof.
But the name lingered.
"The name sounds like Louie. Did Louie do something to him? Hahaha!"
Some dismissed it as a prank.
Others weren't so sure.
"Robert Young is a disciple of Zodiac Taurus. He's not weak."
"But he couldn't breathe. He couldn't see."
Louie, meanwhile, said nothing.
He attended class. He smiled.
But the silence around him grew louder.
Subject:
Robert Young
Condition: Mana destabilization, spiritual trauma
Diagnosis: Temporary void-state exposure
Notes: No known avatar technique matches the symptoms. Recommend isolation and mana therapy. Possible metaphysical interference.
The next day, the rumor had spread. A first-year student. A wordsmith. The trickster. A god of mischief.
Louie Monteazul walked through the academy halls like nothing had changed. But everything had. Students glanced at him, some curious, others cautious. Even instructors seemed to pause when he passed.
Long Xiaolan heard the whispers too.
She didn't know what to believe.
Was it a joke? A bluff? Or something deeper?
After the lessons, Louie went to the library, flipping through ancient texts—not about avatars, but about myths. He wasn't looking for answers. He was looking for patterns. Patterns relating to the possible cause of Ragnarök.
"If I am Loki… then who else is here?"
He remembered Freyr.
He remembered Ragnarök.
He remembered betrayal.
And he remembered the third party—the one who ruined everything.
Louie went and sat alone in the academy's garden, the moonlight casting silver shadows across the stone path. The whispers of students had faded. But inside his mind, the echoes grew louder. He remembered the strategy: Odin's deception, Freyr's bait, Thor's thunderous charge. The frost giants and demons were falling into place. The trap was perfect.
"Who ruined the plan?"
"Who turned victory into annihilation?"
Until it wasn't. A third party had intervened. Not a god. Not a giant. Not a demon.
Something else.
Louie remembered the moment the sky cracked—not with lightning, but with silence. A void opened above the battlefield.
It wasn't thunder.
It wasn't light.
It was silence—so complete it felt like the universe had stopped breathing.
The sky didn't just crack. It peeled.
Like a curtain pulled back to reveal something that should never be seen.
Above the battlefield, where gods clashed and giants roared, a rift appeared. Not black. Not white. Not even color. It was absence. A wound in reality.
Time slowed. The frost giants stopped mid-charge. Freyr's sword froze mid-swing. Thor's hammer hung in the air like a forgotten thought.
Odin's voice—always commanding—was swallowed whole.
Louie remembered the feeling.
Not fear.
Not awe.
Displacement.
Like his soul had been nudged out of alignment with the world.
He couldn't hear.
He couldn't see.
He couldn't feel.
But he knew.
Something was watching.
Not from above. Not from below.
From outside.
Then came the whisper.
"You are not the only trickster."
The voice didn't echo. It folded into his thoughts, like it had always been there, waiting for him to remember.
Louie had turned, expecting a rival. But what he saw was… nothing. A shadow without form. A presence without name. It didn't fight. It unwound. Reality bent around it. The battlefield collapsed into chaos - not from force, but from forgetting. Names faded. Weapons dissolved. Even the gods began to lose shape.
Louie felt something inside him fracture. Not his bones. Not his mana. His myth.
He was Loki.
But in that moment, he wasn't sure what that meant anymore.
Was he the deceiver?
The survivor?
Or just another pawn in a game played by something older than gods?
Louie stood beside Freyr, bloodied but defiant. The battlefield was scorched. The gods were falling. Heimdall was already gone. Tyr had vanished. Thor was wounded, clutching Mjolnir like a lifeline. Baldr's head had just flown as an old blind sword immortal escaped, also suffering from the curse backlash from killing Baldr.
Freyr looked at Louie, his eyes dimming.
"You were right. It wasn't the giants. It wasn't us."
"It was something else." Louie whispered.
Freyr smiled faintly.
"Tell Gerd… I loved her."
Then he charged into the void.
And was never seen again.
Louie didn't cry. He couldn't.
The air was too thick.
The sky too broken.
"Go tell her that yourself, you idiot."
He turned to Odin, who stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching the third party with unreadable eyes.
"You knew." Louie said.
Odin didn't answer.
He simply vanished.
Louie opened his eyes. The garden was still. But his heart wasn't.
"I am Loki," he whispered again. "But even I don't know what that thing was."
He stood up, brushing off the dust.
If it was here—if it had followed him across realms, across time—then Ragnarök wasn't over.
It had only just begun.
The next day.
The large auditorium door slid open with quiet precision. The class today was held at the auditorium, and all the freshmen were gathered.
A man stepped in—tall, lean, and composed. His posture was perfect, his movements deliberate, like every step was part of a kata. He wore a dark mandarin-collared coat, simple yet elegant, and his hair was tied back in a short, disciplined knot. His face bore the calm intensity of someone who had seen war and written poetry about it.
He looked like a fifty-year-old Ip Man, if Ip Man had spent half his life meditating and the other half dissecting mana flows under a microscope.
"Good morning," he said, voice low but resonant. "I am Yu Chen. I will be your instructor for Mana Control and Avatar Resonance."
No one spoke. Even Shen Guqi, who usually couldn't resist a quip, stayed silent.
Yu Chen walked to the center of the room and turned slowly, his gaze sweeping across the students—not judging, but measuring.
"Before you wield power, you must understand it. Mana is not just energy. It is memory. It is emotion. It is the echo of your soul."
He tapped the board, and a glowing diagram of the Avatar System appeared—circles, lines, and symbols that looked half scientific, half arcane.
"I have spent thirty years researching mana control. Not just how it flows—but why it chooses. Today, you will learn whether it chooses you."
The room shifted. The lesson hadn't even begun, but already, the students felt like they were being watched—not by Yu Chen, but by something deeper. Something waiting to be awakened.
The classroom buzzed with anticipation. Today's lesson was different. No theory, no history. Just power.
Instructor Yu Chen stood before the class, his robe flowing like mist, his eyes sharp with centuries of study. He tapped the board again, where a diagram of the Avatar System glowed faintly.
"Mana essence," he began, "is the lifeblood of resonance. It is not just energy—it is identity. Without it, you cannot connect to higher beings. Without control, you cannot survive the connection."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"There are three types of mana flow: Celestial, Terrestrial, and Hybrid. Celestial mana links you to star-born deities—Western gods, cosmic avatars, beings of light and void. Terrestrial mana binds you to earth-born spirits—Eastern zodiacs, ancestral beasts, elemental guardians. Hybrid mana… is rare. It means your soul is a bridge."
A hand shot up. It was Shen Guqi, already grinning.
"Sir, what if someone has no mana? Like, zero? Are they just… spiritually bankrupt?"
The class chuckled. Yu Chen didn't.
"No mana means no resonance. But it doesn't mean no worth. Some beings exist outside the system. Some… rewrite it."
Louie's eyes flickered.
Another hand rose—Suda Phongphanit, graceful and composed.
"Instructor, is mana inherited? Or cultivated?"
Yu Chen nodded.
"Both. Some families pass down mana like blood. Others forge it through discipline. The Long family, for example, has cultivated spear-bound mana for generations. That's why Long Xiaolan's resonance with the Zodiac Dragon is so seamless."
Long Xiaolan sat straighter, her expression unreadable.
A student raised his hand next.
"What happens if someone's mana doesn't match their avatar?"
Yu Chen's tone darkened.
"Then the avatar rejects them. Or worse—consumes them. Mismatched resonance leads to instability, madness, or death. That is why weapon choice, combat style, and mana flow must align."
The room fell silent.
Another student spoke quietly.
"Instructor… has anyone ever connected to a being that wasn't in the registry?"
Yu Chen hesitated.
"Yes. Once. But that student didn't survive the awakening. The being was… unclassified."
Louie's fingers twitched.
Yu Chen turned back to the board.
The room shifted. Excitement. Fear. Curiosity.
Louie leaned back in his chair, eyes half-lidded.
"Let it decide," he whispered. "Or let it break."
"To become the avatar of a higher being," Instructor Yu Chen, the mana control teacher, began, "you must first master mana essence. Without it, the system will reject you. You'll remain ordinary. The power of the higher being, the constellations and the deities cannot manifest in your body."
Louie sat quietly, eyes half-lidded, listening.
"Mana is the bridge," Instructor Yu continued. "It connects your body to the divine. Control it, and you may channel gods. Fail, and you'll burn out before you even awaken."
Instructor Yu paced in front of the class, his voice sharp and commanding.
"Today, you will test your compatibility with the Avatar System. Place your hand on the reader. Let it measure your mana essence. Let it decide if you are worthy."
One by one, students stepped forward to place their hands on the mana reader. The device glowed, pulsed, and revealed their potential.
The students were paired off for mana control practice. Some summoned flickers of light. Others shaped elemental bursts. Long Xiaolan's mana shimmered like a dragon's breath—elegant, coiled, potent.
Her mana shimmered like coiled lightning. The reader pulsed gold.
[Zodiac Dragon: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 98%. Avatar resonance: High."
She stepped back with quiet pride, her spear aura flickering like a dragon's tail.
Shen Guqi strutted forward, cracking jokes even as he placed his hand on the reader.
[Zodiac Monkey: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 68%. Avatar resonance: Unstable."
"Unstable? That's just my charm!" he laughed, earning groans and chuckles.
Xiao Tanglou was silent and focused. His mana was cold and steady. The reader glowed blue.
[Zodiac Snake: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 85%. Avatar resonance: Balanced."
He nodded once and returned to his seat without a word.
Li Moubin's mana flared aggressively. The reader flickered red.
[Zodiac Tiger: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 97%. Avatar resonance: Volatile."
"Volatile? That's just how I wake up." he muttered, cracking his knuckles.
Zhang Yuili approached with quiet confidence. His mana was sharp, refined, and ancient. The reader pulsed silver.
[Disciple of Guan Yu: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 88%. Avatar resonance: Martial Integrity."
"Guan Yu?" Shen Guqi whispered. "No wonder he's always so serious."
Zhang Yuili simply bowed and returned to his seat.
A beautiful girl from Thailand tested her mana. Suda Phongphanit's mana flowed like water—graceful, unpredictable, and haunting. The reader shimmered in aquamarine.
[Avatar of Siren Queen Lysithea: Compatible]
"Mana flow: 76%. Avatar resonance: Enchanting."
"She's dangerous," Xiao Tanglou murmured. "Beautifully so."
Some students smiled with pride as their names lit up beside legendary beings—avatars of Anubis, Kuan Yin, Fenrir, and Garuda. Their mana flowed, their futures felt bright.
Others weren't so lucky.
The reader blinked red.
[Incompatible]
"Mana flow: insufficient."
One girl quietly wiped her eyes. A boy clenched his fists, refusing to cry. Another simply stared at the screen, hollow-eyed.
Yu Chen offered no comfort.
"This is the truth of resonance. Not everyone is chosen."
Louie stood alone.
He placed his hand on the mana reader.
Nothing.
The screen blinked.
"Error: No Avatar System Detected." The voice of the AI tester sounded.
Whispers spread.
"Is he unregistered?"
"Did he fail the compatibility test?"
"Maybe he's just weak…"
Louie didn't flinch.
He knew the truth.
He wasn't connected to a higher being.
He was one.
"Mana essence… avatar system… compatibility…"
Louie thought.
"They're trying to become what I already am."
He remembered the moment of reincarnation. The void. The choice. The descent into flesh.
He didn't borrow power.
He contained it.
Instructor Yu approached.
"Student Xiaoqi. You didn't activate the reader."
"I did. It didn't recognize me."
"Try again."
Louie placed his hand once more.
This time, he let a sliver of his true essence leak through.
The screen didn't blink.
It shattered.
Mana surged through the room—wild, chaotic, ancient. Students gasped. Some fell to their knees. Long Xiaolan instinctively summoned her spear, eyes wide. Shen Guqi dropped his snack. Zhang Yuili's eyes narrowed. Suda's enchantment aura flickered in retreat.
Yu Chen stepped back, stunned.
"What… what kind of mana is that?"
Louie withdrew his hand.
The room fell silent.
"It's not mana," he said.
"It's memory."
The classroom was silent.
The shattered mana reader lay in pieces, its fragments humming with residual energy. Students stared. Some in awe. Others in fear. Even Long Xiaolan looked shaken, her spear still half-summoned, flickering with uncertainty.
Instructor Yu Chen stepped forward slowly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"How… is this possible?"
Louie turned to face him. His eyes weren't glowing. His aura wasn't flaring. But the weight of his presence pressed against the room like gravity.
He smiled.
"Because…"
He stepped past the broken reader, past the stunned students, past the instructor who was shocked.
Then a name echoed.
"I am Loki."