A week before the exam, the Grey Academy had turned into a living experiment ground—no room for mercy, no time for rest. Every class of mages was locked into a personalized training schedule crafted by the most ruthless of instructors—those who believed greatness is not born in lessons… but at the edge of pain.
The fire mages were taken to the "Hall of Flame," a suffocating chamber with burning walls and trembling air from sheer heat. Creativity wasn't rewarded here—only the ability to forge an inner fire that doesn't burn the heart, but feeds it. Skins peeled, lungs drained, and endurance was measured by silence amidst agony.
The ice mages were sent to the "Polar Chamber," where the air froze before reaching the lungs. There, they learned true freezing doesn't target skin… but the heart's nerves. The skill was in stopping a heartbeat—without breaking it.
In the Mirror Room, shadow mages faced their fiercest enemies: themselves. Each stood before a dark reflection bearing a memory they wished forgotten—betrayal, fear, a moment of weakness. Each copy was stronger than expected… and closer to the truth than they could defeat.
The mentalists were suspended in an illusory field belonging neither to thought nor to reality. They had to distinguish the academy from prison cells, comrades from nightmares, their real body from the one burning in imagination.
Nature mages were tasked with planting semi-magical creatures that bonded with their users' energy. One misstep in harmony, and the creatures would coil around them, feeding on their very souls.
And the metal mages—in the harshest training—learned to smelt iron inside their guts, then draw it from their pores as living armor. Some bled to death. Others succeeded in crafting swords from their own bones—carving them out, then returning them inside.
On a cold grey morning, Professor Iris Lovyn, elemental magic instructor from the continent of Sier, stood before a crowded class and declared with scorn in his voice:
"Tomorrow begins the Ranking Tournament.He who remains standing… earns the Elite Recommendation.And he who falls? Let him remember: ashes don't pity."
Shouts rose—some filled with excitement, others hiding fear behind false confidence.
The tournament would have three stages: an initial elimination with sixteen students, followed by a semifinal of four, then a final battle before the faculty board.
In the Elite Dorm, Raine stood facing his two roommates.
Kavren, the metal mage from Aron, bore a stone-cold face and eyes full of hatred. It was clear he couldn't stand Raine—not because of his strength, but his name… and origin.
While polishing his metal gauntlets, Kavren muttered:
"Don't sleep near us. Some of us breathe with honor—not smoke from your people's corpses."
Raine replied without blinking, in a voice calm as if speaking to a shadow:
"I don't sleep…Not when hell is awake inside me."
As for Lina, the healer from Nora, she stared at him like he was a breathing curse. She said nothing—but her disgust was sharp enough to make silence feel like a knife.
The next day, the battles began.
Match one: a nature mage girl from Sier vs. a fire mage from Aron. She seemed weak at first—but every attack from her opponent only fed her multiplying vines. The arena quickly turned into a dense forest that choked out fire and swallowed light. The match ended with the fire mage collapsing, poisoned by a flower that had bloomed from his own flames.
Match two: an ice mage from Nora vs. a lightning mage from Aron. It wasn't a fight—it was a seizure war. The ice froze the arena, but the lightning slithered through and pierced the brain. The victor stood at last… having lost his left eye.
Match three… was silent. And black.
Raine entered without a word, facing an Aron shadow mage skilled in making shadows strike illusory targets. At first, it was a cold mental standoff. But suddenly, silence consumed everything. The battle moved into a dreamscape Raine had created—where his opponent's shadow refused to obey him. A reflection of fear itself offered the mage to Raine… on a silver platter of terror.
Then came the main fight.
Lucray, from Nora's "Shadow Beast Sect," entered dragging a cloak of wolf pelts. His body was tattooed with glowing lines that pulsed with beast magic.
He roared:
"Soul-Killer… I offer you to the scream of my last brother!"
From his shadow, three beasts emerged:
A one-eyed wolf breathing fire,
A human-toothed eagle with shattered bone wings,
A giant spider with burning legs and bleeding eyes.
They surrounded Raine from three angles.
But he didn't move.
Time froze. Or so it seemed.
His body stood still, stone-like.
But his shadow? It spread like a creeping, monstrous dragon. It swallowed the spider first—soundless, as if the earth itself opened and devoured it.
Lucray screamed, trying to summon the spider again—But it returned… twisted.It tore his chest open—then vanished before touching him.
Raine raised his eyes. They were still.
No spell.
But the air around him began to cloud.
He whispered:
"Did you think shadows attack?No… they remember."
He pointed to the ground.
Beneath Lucray, a new shadow rose—not his own.It had a face.Eyes.And intentions.
The two remaining beasts vanished, then reappeared.
One chewed at his leg.The other tore into his shoulder.
Lucray screamed:
"What is this?! I've lost control!"
Raine murmured:
"Your shadow… betrayed you."
Then he stepped forward,Placed a single finger on Lucray's forehead…And pushed him into another world.
Inside the illusion, Lucray experienced exploding loops of reality.
Once, he found himself mid-duel.Then woke in a prison cell.Then saw his mother dying.Then became an old man… staring into a mirror that didn't reflect him.
In each cycle, the shadow whispered:
"You are weak… you cast no shadow."
Twelve illusions in moments.Each tore a piece of his mind.
Outside, the professors on the panel whispered, then fell silent… then began to tremble.
In the upper chamber, where the glass was blood-red and the light distorted, three professors watched closely.
Mira, from Aron, said:
"He's a monster… but methodical."
Radin, from Nora, eyes flicking between disgust and dread, added:
"A shadow mage from Darkol… We should have expelled them, not blended them in."
Professor Lovyn, from Sier, simply smiled coldly and said:
"No. We watch… and see who tears the others apart first."
After the battle, Professor Nyra, the shadow magic instructor, summoned Raine to her office.
She spoke calmly, but tension lurked behind her tone:
"Your shadow isn't normal.How many souls have you consumed?"
Raine stared into a corner, as if seeing a face no one else could:
"I stopped counting…I just listen to their screams…As they die out inside me."
Nyra spoke slowly:
"Be careful, Raine.Shadows open doors…And some of them never close once crossed."
That night, the students returned to their dorms.Some were torn.Some boasted of their wounds.Others fell silent from loss.
As for Raine…
He sat in the corner of his room, staring at the ground.
No… not the ground.
His shadow.
He whispered:
"You devoured Lucray…Will you digest everyone I fight after him?"
And his shadow…Smiled.