09.23 A.M. – Applied Magic Class
Sunlight streamed through the tall glass windows. The faint chirping of magical birds echoed softly.
Inside the classroom, a circle of desks surrounding a mana-imbued ritual circle sat about 30 students preparing to practice elemental summoning spells.
Tap... Tap...!
The sharp click of high-heeled shoes striking the floor.
Everyone froze for a moment.
The classroom door opened.
A confident woman in a sleek gray-black coat walked in. Her steps were slow and deliberate, radiating an imposing aura.
Her sharp, striking features framed by wine-red hair, the ends braided and flicked upward as she turned.
It was Felicia Wardwell, the new instructor at Nexus Academy.
"Good morning, third-year students of class A-6..."
Her voice was cold, making everyone flinch. Not loud, but every word struck clear in their minds.
"I am Felicia Wardwell, your new Applied Magic teacher and homeroom instructor... And no, I am not here to play with children."
The introduction nearly made the entire class laugh.
"Haha! Which teacher introduces themselves like that?"
"Yeah, the 'not here to play with kids' line kinda blew it!"
Max whispered to Kaen beside him. "This teacher's kinda hot."
Bam!
Kaen smacked Max hard.
"Stop thinking about that, dude! Seriously."
Felicia adjusted her sharp-framed glasses and coldly said:
"Anyone who casts unauthorized magic in this classroom will lose the right to attend this semester immediately."
Her words silenced the room.
"If you think this class is easy, you can leave right now."
Many swallowed hard.
But the one who seemed unfazed was...
Fayros Darneth, sitting at the back next to Iris.
Iris was allowed in class because she was diagnosed with PTSD and needed close supervision, which Fayros was assigned to provide since the MILK class.
The black-haired boy raised his head slightly, locking eyes briefly with Felicia.
His deep, pitch-black eyes absorbed everything like a void, causing Felicia to falter, then he dropped his gaze again.
Felicia composed herself and wrote something on the Nexus Board.
"Syrvalen — Basic Wind Elemental Circle."
"Wind magic requires the lowest mana control, so the mana consumption is minimal."
"Suitable for beginners... Today we will practice drawing wind elemental circles without chanting spells first."
A light brown-haired boy's hair fluttered gently as he raised his hand.
"If someone can't draw it at all, does that mean they have no mana?"
"What a dumb question, Max... You're in third year and still don't get it?"
"Yes, that's right..." Max answered quietly.
"The answer is yes... but everyone can perform the ritual circle as long as they follow its conditions."
Felicia picked up something from a box.
"Oh! Almost forgot to hand these out."
She revealed...
ARCTIC WRIST-CORE [Type-VF]
A sleek white-silver bracelet inscribed with geometric mana circles, semi-mechanized and worn on the wrist.
When worn, it automatically scans biometrics and activates a Holo-Interface on the wrist.
A transparent magical display to configure spells and monitor mana levels in real-time.
"I secretly bought a military-grade model to sneak in here. Don't tell anyone." Felicia smiled slightly, unnoticed except by Lira and Fayros.
"That's expensive, right?"
"Yo, we get to use it!?"
"But it's random, y'all."
Excited chatter buzzed around the room, hoping to get the upgraded military version.
"We'll do the draw via Core Capsule Dispense."
Felicia explained.
[Crea et incapsula]
The capsules appeared, each containing an ARCTIC WRIST-CORE, more than 30 in total.
"Please come up and draw by your number."
One by one, students reached out and confirmed their mana signature to draw from the capsule.
Beep sounds echoed lightly, as students stepped forward eagerly.
"Number 17… Marine Farvin."
A purple-haired girl with a forced smile stepped forward and touched the circle.
A faint blue light flashed once.
A small box popped out of the dispenser.
"Oh... it's a student model," she whispered, returning to her seat.
"Number 18… Fayros Darneth."
The classroom fell silent as if stunned.
Fayros rose slowly, walking directly to the capsule without hesitation.
The magic panel glowed as his finger pressed down casually.
Suddenly…
Ding—!
An alert sounded different from the others.
The screen flashed:
"Biocode: Unable to analyze. Advanced analysis mode is running..."
Max whispered. "Is it a bug?"
"No way, that's the 'no-code' guy!"
Kaen swore loudly.
Then…
[Confirmed – Capsule automatically selects a special code]
A silver-black capsule with hex patterns emerged, surrounded by a faint glow — as if it recognized him.
The whole room froze.
Fayros took the box with one hand and turned silently back to his seat.
Lira looked up nervously and whispered.
"Did you get something special...?"
"Not sure."
He said simply, slowly opening the box.
Inside was a black matte ARCTIC WRIST-CORE, a special edition not even in the government catalog.
No serial number.
But a mysterious info bar immediately appeared on the magical display:
[AWR-C0D3: Voidframe — Forbidden Slot Detected]
Lira's eyes widened.
"That's the code for the banned prototype...!"
"What!?" Kaen, Max, and the others all turned toward him.
Lira swallowed hard.
She'd read classified reports in the Valientear royal database.
"Voidframe" was no ordinary device. It was a prototype forbidden weapon, banned after the Black Manafault incident 7 years ago.
She was about to ask, but Fayros silenced the screen with one finger and turned toward the window.
"Useless... I don't even have mana to use it."
"Strange... normally the government filters these. Why did this slip through? Like 7 years ago..."
Lira's eyes grew wider, understanding immediately.
"Brother..."
Iris gripped his shirt tighter, sensing a bad omen creeping close.
Suddenly…
[Error — Alert Level 7]
The Nexus Board emitted a sharp, piercing alarm everyone could hear.
The central screen briefly displayed the institution's symbol before shutting off as if nothing had happened.
Felicia narrowed her eyes.
She tapped her glasses quietly, sending an internal command without moving her lips.
[Urgent Alert Incident Report – VOID Code]
[Origin: Classroom A-6]
But the Nexus AI replied:
[Error Not Found]
"So it's like this..."
She whispered, cold but with a flicker of unease inside.
Someone deliberately hid this info from her.
Whoever it was must have authority above the institution's system.
Fayros sat by the window again.
Iris held him tightly, sensing a ripple in the air.
Felicia's voice came again — different this time, quieter but sharper with pressure.
"Darneth... after class, meet me at the private ritual control room, basement floor."
"Yes..." Fayros answered clearly but quietly.
Silence fell again.
Lira spun around, whispering urgently.
"Are you really going? That place is...!"
Fayros only replied with one word.
"Yes..."
His ink-black eyes revealed no emotion but trembled faintly.
Lira's legs gave way and she collapsed.
"Mom...!"
Iris caught Lira, unaware she'd spoken aloud.
Everyone turned sharply.
"Mom...?" Kaen repeated, puzzled.
"You misunderstood, that's the princess... Iris." Max added.
"Sorry... Lira just reminded me of my mom..." Iris apologized, sobbing softly.
A classmate shouted from behind.
"Hey, worthless! Take care of your kid!"
Then muttered under his breath,
"Annoying as hell... just trash who survived the war... should all die."
Screech—!
Two chairs scraped back loudly.
"What did you say...?"
"Say 'worthless' all you want... but don't touch my kid."
Their eyes burned with rage as Max and Kaen prepared to throw punches.
Felicia readied a control spell — not to stop Kaen and Max, but to hold back Fayros.
Before they reached the kid...
Smack—!
A punch landed on the classmate's face, smashing him against the wall.
"Ugh...!"
The pitch-black eyes were empty, but far more vengeful than when Fayros had smashed the router.
"Don't touch the people important to me, ever!"
Felicia knew she'd been too slow with magic, so she calmed and warned all four.
"All four, calm down and respect others! Or I'll call your guardians."
Her cold voice controlled the situation — though she doubted how long it would last.
Fayros returned to his seat.
Lira's trembling eyes begged silently for peace.
The black-haired boy turned out the window again.
His gaze not on the view, but seemingly listening.
A whisper no one else could hear.
The voice he'd known since childhood?
Or the voice of the "Shadow" no one believed was real?
05:52 P.M.– Basement, Private Ritual Control Room
The room was pitch black, no natural light.
Only the faint glow of a slowly spinning magical core at its center.
Felicia was already waiting, surrounded by secret CLASS-R magical screens.
Even she had to hack through security layers to reach this place.
"Do you know what you're holding?"
Fayros stood silent.
"Voidframe wasn't made by the government... It came from a secret organization erased from history... The [Ascalon Project]."
He looked up slightly and said something that made Felicia almost gasp.
"I know... because I was part of that project."
Felicia wanted to curse inside.
Impossible.
The "project" was destroyed during the Black Manafault.
All children in it were supposed to have died.
Except...
"So... you're the survivor of Void-Cell Zero...?"
Fayros didn't answer, but his blank expression seemed to say yes.
Seven years ago in R.R. 2103 — Neurea Secret Research Station: Project Ascalon
Alarms repeated softly over the main lab.
More than 40 researchers stared at dozens of clear glass capsules floating in a tank.
In the center, one capsule held a boy about seven, with jet-black hair as dark as void.
He floated in dark gray mana fluid, circuits wrapped around him, and something embedded on his wrist...
The prototype "Voidframe."
"Stability over 98%, Dr. Eradis!"
A technician reported.
Dr. Eradis, head of Project Ascalon, smiled thinly.
"Void-Link... activate."
He reached for the panel.
[ACTIVATE – VOID-CELL 00]
Suddenly...
Whoosh —!
The fluid swirled violently.
Magic circuits flickered throughout the institute.
A scream echoed — not human, but from mana itself.
The boy's eyes snapped open.
They were pitch black, but unlike any human eyes — no reflection.
And at that moment... everything shattered.
"Magic in the room is being devoured!?"
"No! Core Control has been hacked... it won't disconnect!"
"Damn it... what the hell is happening...?"
The glowing floor pulsed back up.
Researchers screamed in pain.
Their mana was sucked out through their veins.
Some became gray-black corpses in a blink.
"Run! Cut the system if you can!"
"No! Voidframe is alive!"
A burst of forbidden dark mana erupted from the capsule.
Everything fell silent.
No sound.
No magic.
Only the "Shadow" growing in the boy's mind.
[Black Manafault] started then—and ended in 3 minutes 49 seconds.
Neurea disappeared from all maps.
The government erased all records.
Number of survivors: zero.
Current Day
"How did you survive..."
Felicia whispered, disbelief in her voice.
Fayros stood silent, then said:
"I don't know... I woke up in an orphanage, a different one. It was so different from the last."
06.03 P.M. in the teacher's lounge
The room was bathed in warm light from a magical lamp hanging from the ceiling.
A faint aroma of magical tea lingered gently from a kettle placed in the center of the table.
Professor Breania slowly sipped her tea, her eyes lowered, but her expression was unusually tense.
"The Shadowless Demon...? What exactly is it...? How is it connected to the dark shadow that kid saw? And why... does it resemble Fayros?"
She frowned deeply.
Thump... Thump!
The sound of firm footsteps grew nearer.
Ping... Fwoosh—!
Professor Halien opened the door to the lounge, holding a file in his hand.
His mage's training robe was slightly singed at the sleeves.
He must have just returned from the field test room.
"Still can't figure it out, Breania?"
He dropped heavily onto the wooden chair, causing it to creak.
"Yeah, this matter's getting complicated and fishy..."
"An hour ago, I asked Felicia to cast a spell to help me sleep... I saw something in the dream."
she spoke softly as she slowly placed her teacup down.
"That kid... Fayros... He's in a sea of shadows."
Halien paused for a moment.
"You say that again?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"There's no such thing as a sea of shadows on the mana map."
"There is... but only in the subconscious mana." Breania replied without looking at him.
"It's a state where the mind merges with suppressed magical energy, turning into a void."
She lowered her gaze.
"And inside that kid, there is a 'voice' constantly screaming silently, which gave me goosebumps..."
"Scared?" Halien frowned.
"Yes... I'm scared... scared that it's causing the kid to suffer from within, with no one able to help..."
Halien was silent for a long time before sighing heavily.
He tossed the file on the table.
"I hacked the government system an hour ago."
he said flatly, looking her straight in the eye.
"Are you crazy!?"
"Yeah."
"Y-You're way too crazy!"
Halien ignored Breania's and the professor's protests.
"There's no 'boy' on the list of Neurea's deceased,"
"But there's a 'gap'... like someone deleted data across the entire section."
Breania froze.
"If that's the case... those people must be above the Mage Council."
"Or worse... not even in Nexus's system at all."
Halien spoke slowly, clearly irritated.
"Today, Capsule supplied that kid's equipment, but Nexus AI couldn't analyze the code..."
"I don't think it's a bug."
"It's a choice." Breania whispered.
"Who chose?" Halien asked.
"The equipment itself."
"That's insane!!!" Halien shouted, unlike his usually calm demeanor.
"It's not 'ordinary equipment.' If it can remember a 'bond' even after 7 years... that means it had a previous owner."
"Then who else could the previous owner be...?" Halien asked again.
Breania raised her eyes slightly, her gaze trembling with worry.
"The one we call the code-less child... Fayros Darneth..."
The room fell completely silent, so quiet you could hear their breathing.
Halien and Breania locked eyes, as if wanting to say something in their minds.
"Sigh..."
Halien stood up and walked to the tall window, gazing out at the training building bathed in faint blue light along its energy lines.
"I was never afraid of that kid..."
he murmured.
"But today, when the system reported an error... it was terrifying. I felt like the air stopped breathing."
Breania nodded lightly.
"I've felt that way before, when I was in the Northern Warzone."
"Like everything quieted down... until I heard my own fear."
Halien clenched his fist.
"It's not Darneth who's scary... but what's inside him."
"I heard he went mad, clutching his head, seeing things normal people can't, and is terrified of something inside his mind..."
Professor Breania lowered her eyes, saying nothing further, but her eyes trembled. A gentle breeze stirred her white hair softly.
The atmosphere was quiet for a while.
"I've been observing Fayros for a long time."
Breania slowly rose and picked up a bag on the cabinet behind her.
Inside were small black mana crystals—objects usually used for building structures, but these looked twisted, almost alive.
"These are fragments from the places that kid passed through."
She placed them on the table.
"The mana in that area is 'distorted' to a level equal to forbidden ritual results... but no magic was cast."
Halien's eyes widened.
"This is... absolutely insane...! There really was no spell cast!?"
"Something I forgot to mention in the dream is... I saw heaps of corpses, a fallen kingdom, and in one corner stood a 'man resembling Fayros's ancestor' right in the center... called the Shadowless Demon."
"Shadowless Demon...? That's just a kids' bedtime story, right!?"
Halien asked, his golden eyes trembling with doubt.
"Yes... The control panel in the Level 0 raw data room said so."
"We have to believe it half and doubt it half for now."
Halien analyzed.
"Yes." Breania concluded.
"Although I don't know who he really is... I do know that if we don't touch that kid's human side now..."
"What's inside him... it will consume him entirely."
The hum of the mana pressure regulator in the room softly cut through the silence.
Halien sighed heavily again.
He leaned against the window sill, speaking quietly as if to himself.
"If his ancestor really is the Shadowless Demon... even the whole council combined wouldn't stand a chance."
Breania, about to leave the room, suddenly paused.
"The Shadowless Demon... has no shadow... that's why his true self can't be found..."
Halien joked lightly, an unusual amusement in his tone.
Breania looked at him silently.
"I don't care who he is..."
"But he's still a 'child.' And children... should be understood, not controlled."
Halien raised an eyebrow.
"So what now? Walk up and ask him directly, 'Hey kid, are you the heir of the Shadowless Demon?'"
Breania didn't answer but walked to a cabinet along the wall.
She took out something... a pure clear mana orb the size of a pigeon egg.
Inside, it reflected faint shadows of thoughts.
"This is the psychic reflection chamber..."
She placed the orb on the table.
"I will ask to talk with him for an hour... without cameras, no AI, no evaluation systems."
"Are you crazy!?"
Halien's golden eyes widened in shock.
"He might... not be the ordinary kid we think he is..."
Breania interrupted.
"That's why I must talk to him myself. Not through reports, signals, or others."
Halien clenched his teeth, knowing he couldn't stop her.
He knew Breania's stubbornness well.
"Then I'll go explore the lower levels of the school research center myself..."
He grabbed his mage robe hanging beside the door.
"There are rumors that on the basement floor 0, there's something that shouldn't exist... I'll take a risk."
Breania nodded.
"Be careful."
Halien smiled faintly, then turned around.
But before opening the door, he turned back once more.
"If that kid cries... don't let him cry alone."
Breania smiled faintly.
"I won't let him be alone anymore... even if he's a code-less mage."
19.15 P.M. Nexus Academy Basement Floor -3 (Restricted Area)
Clang... Clang—!
The metal stairs creaked with each step Halien took.
Dust clung thickly to the railings. The magical lamps flickered, seeming to warn, "You shouldn't be here."
"Research center floors 0 to -2 are nothing unusual... It's suspicious as hell why they built such a complicated passage."
He took a deep breath, then touched his arm cuff.
A magical ring appeared on his wrist, showing mana stability around him:
0.4%
Too low for a school area... almost like this place was "cut off" from all magic systems.
"Nexus Level -3, Sealed Warehouse... Unauthorized personnel prohibited."
a faint system announcement came from an old speaker.
Halien raised the file to cover his face and confidently passed the surveillance cameras.
"I am B-Delta level staff with access to Archive-06 to collect historical magic files... password XenoSix."
"Identity confirmed... This data does not exist in the system." the AI warned.
It wasn't Nexus AI but TAC-9.
"Heh..."
Halien smirked, quickly casting a golden magic circle from his fingertips.
[Incantatio infiltrationis in gradu codicis, Supera]
Creak —!
The heavy iron door slowly slid open, releasing a faint cold mist as if unlocking a seal.
Halien grinned slyly.
The corridor was dark, lit only by rows of faint blue glowing crystals.
Halien walked slowly to a room with an ancient emblem... a black eye crossed by a dagger.
"This emblem... It belongs to the forbidden project... the organization didn't even tell me about it. Heh... This is going to be fun."
When he pushed the door open, inside was...
Walls stamped with a silver-blue hexagonal shield emblem surrounded by digital rings.
Inside were circuits and triple-layered magical spheres, at the center a "Eye of Wisdom" glowed softly white, surrounded by glowing Arcane Circuit code lines.
Rows of giant liquid tanks lined up, each containing a human child's body.
All had "lifeless eyes" and mana tubes stuck throughout their bodies, but none had ink-black eyes like Fayros.
In the middle of the room, a tank was sealed with the highest-level magical lock.
Halien held his breath for a moment...
"Is this... a human experiment lab?"
"Don't tell me there are multiple branches? Or have they moved here!?"
He walked to read the sign on the central tank:
[Subject-0A: Undefined ID | Codename: UmbraFay]
"Umbra... Fay...?"
He froze, eyes wide when he saw the child in the tank... looking very much like Fayros as if a 'prototype' but with emerald green eyes.
Suddenly...
"Help... me..."
A faint voice leaked through the magical system beside the room.
The voice wasn't a child's. It had a tone of something older than humans and shouldn't be able to speak.
"Shadowless Demon!? No... impossible...!"
Halien's golden eyes widened.
The voice echoed through the room:
"...I... have been in darkness for a long time..."
Halien recoiled.
Black magic circles began creeping along the wall edges, like fog invading the real world.
A faint breeze whispered the approach of chaos.
"Damn it... I might have awakened a forbidden thing!"
He quickly spun around to flee.
"You all... made me... then abandoned me."
"Fayros... is only a fragment of me."
"And I will return... to swallow all shadows whole."
The voice howled painfully, and dozens of children in tanks lifted their heads.
"Brother... want to play with us?"
Then the lights went out...
Boom—!
The tanks shattered. Halien ran away immediately.
But suddenly...
Thud —!
"Ugh...!"
Halien was pinned down by something and fell flat.
"Damn it... what the hell is this!?"
He slowly turned his head to see what was pressing him down—it was...
Dozens of children, smiling emptily in a horrifying way, pinning him down.
"Nowhere to run~"
"Let's play... brother."
"Stay with us forever~"
"Brother's mana is so much... but you can't escape~ hehe."
Halien struggled but the combined strength of these many children was overwhelming.
His heartbeat thundered in his head.
A brown-haired man decided to cast a spell, but...
A little girl covered his mouth.
"Shh... don't struggle. That's not good."
His golden eyes trembled as he noticed the breath sounds behind the kids growing clearer.
"Help... me..."
A boy resembling Fayros walked slowly with tears.
Woosh —!
Suddenly, a deep purple vortex surrounded everyone like the demon's rebirth.
"Haha! Finally... I'm free...!"
A cluster of purple smoke formed a shape revealing a wicked face.
"Thank you... for releasing me. Now I can have a body again."
"I will reward you handsomely~"
Then...
"Huff... huff..." came the sound of heavy breathing from resistance.
The boy resembling Fayros, like a prototype, slowly raised a knife.
"Brother... help me!"
"Kill me... I don't want to..."
"Killed someone again!!!"
Whoosh —!
The knife thrust down into Halien's chest, who could not resist.
But what happened next was unexpected...
Tap!
The sound of a hand placed on the little boy's head.
"Shh..."
A finger wrapped in black smoke gently touched the lip of its faceless owner.
The children suddenly snapped out of control, as if by miracle. Halien broke free immediately.
"What the hell... is this!?"
The purple smoke, nearly formed, confused and panicked.
"You claim Fayros is just a fragment of you?" a voice spoke.
Everyone except the boy looking like Fayros turned toward the voice — it was the Dusken Shade.
"Hehe... pathetic~"
"Y-You..."
The purple smoke merged into a handsome young man with devilish sharp eyes.
He smirked, suppressing his anger but breathing heavily.
"Ha ha... good... then I'll stretch out a bit!"
The man charged at the shadow in an instant.
"Hmm... good at physical attacks, huh?"
The Dusken Shade said.
"Eh...!?"
The purple smoke man froze, surprised that someone knew his ability so quickly.
Thud!
In a blink, the purple-haired man was slammed hard to the ground, denting the floor.
The children, now conscious, covered their mouths in fright.
Halien, confused by the scene, glanced at some data that read...
"Do not assist out-of-system entities or they will bring disaster upon us all."
Halien twitched his eyes slightly and smirked.
"Of course..."
Then...
"N-No...!!!"
Squelch... Crack—!
The man formed from the purple smoke collapsed, lifeless.
He had been killed — his heart torn out barehanded by the shadowy figure.
The dark form, now clear for all to see, stood over the corpse.
"Take the children and get out... Halien."
The command came cold and immediate.
"And you... what the hell are you!?"
Halien asked, his voice as cold as steel.
But the Dusken Shade gave no answer.
"Shut that mouth... and follow my orders. Or I'll kill you where you stand..."
The voice was frigid—so cold it pierced to the bone.
"I won't be showing myself again for a while."
With those final words, the figure vanished—leaving only questions in his wake.
Location: Data Sanctum HQ – Secure Command Wing
"Now our experimental subject has escaped."
spoke TAC-9 in a distorted, robotic tone.
BANG!
A scholar slammed the table.
"What did you just say!? Don't tell me this has something to do with that twisted shadow again!"
Deputy Commander George turned to Selene, issuing his orders:
"We need to eliminate all parties connected to the shadow."
"W-Wait! I'm a priestess, you know!"
Selene protested, her silver hair flipping as she turned sharply.
"And yet you're still the most skilled infiltrator we have."
"Humans killing each other…? Isn't that madness? If you want it done, hire someone else!"
She snapped — blurting it out before she could stop herself.
It was the first time she'd ever spoken so recklessly.
George leaned in.
"Then how about... seven million? Do what you do best: gather intel, infiltrate… and kill."
"W-What?! You're hiring me!? Have you lost your mind?! I'm a priestess! I've never even thought of killing anyone...!"
George's voice dropped, low and deliberate.
"Then choose, Selene: dirty your hands... or have the money to save your sister."
That stopped her cold.
She swallowed hard, bitterness rising in her throat.
She knew exactly what he meant.
Her younger sister — the only family she had left — was suffering from a rare and incurable disease.
A condition so bizarre that no magical system could even diagnose it properly, let alone treat it.
In this world, no existing magic could help.
There were only two known ways to save her:
1. Obtain a cure distilled from the tears of a "Nellazyn' Quaeirn."
2. Or... obtain the tears of the Sealed One within the Mana Stream.
Also known as... Nellazyn' Quaeirn.
Selene turned her face away, biting her lip.
She had reached the most brutal crossroads of her life.