Chapter 1 _ The Boy Who Couldn't Awaken
The world had color only when magic touched it.
At least, that's what people said.
When Jin Hyeon walked through the gates of Hanseong Academy that morning, he couldn't see any of that color. The air shimmered faintly with mana where others trained,lines of glowing symbols, sparks like living constellations,but for him, it was nothing. Just smoke and noise.
He adjusted the strap of his worn bag and kept his head low. It was safer that way.
The academy's courtyard pulsed with students practicing magic: one student summoned streams of blue fire into elegant shapes, another floated stones in perfect circles, while a third carved the air itself into ribbons of wind. Every movement hummed with power every movement reminded him what he lacked.
"Look, it's the Null again," someone muttered.
Jin ignored them.
He'd heard worse.
He reached the training hall, slipped into the back, and sat alone as the instructor entered.
"Today," the man said, "we'll continue with mana resonance tests. Those who reached the second stage yesterday, congratulations. Those who haven't—try not to waste everyone's time." His eyes swept over the room, landing briefly on Jin before moving on.
The same look. The same sigh.
Jin stared at his desk. His hands were scarred from years of practice,useless, unrecognized, but his own proof that he hadn't given up.
When the instructor called his name, a few students snickered. He walked to the center of the testing circle, the rune beneath his feet glowing faintly as the instructor activated the crystal device.
"Place your hand here."
Jin obeyed. The device vibrated softly, scanning for resonance.
Nothing happened.
Seconds passed. Then the light faded, dull and gray.
"No mana detected," the instructor said flatly. "Next."
Jin turned and walked back to his seat. He'd felt nothing,not even the faint warmth others described.
He never did.
---
After class, he lingered on the rooftop. Hanseong's skyline stretched beyond the academy walls,towers pulsing with magic-infused lights, aerial platforms gliding like silver fish. In a world built on mana, every machine, every job, every dream required it.
For someone like him, the world had already decided his worth.
He'd trained anyway. Physical conditioning, sword drills, mana theory,everything he could study without actually using magic. It didn't matter. The hierarchy was absolute.
"Jin!"
A voice behind him soft, familiar. He turned to see Min Seo, a girl from his class, her auburn hair tied back, eyes bright with sympathy. She was one of the few who still talked to him.
"You shouldn't skip lunch," she said, holding out a wrapped sandwich.
"I'm not hungry."
"You're a bad liar."
He hesitated, then took it. "Thanks."
They sat together for a while, the wind tugging at their uniforms.
"Didn't awaken again?" she asked quietly.
Jin didn't answer.
She sighed. "You know… some people awaken late. Maybe you just need the right trigger."
"Or maybe I'm just what they say," he muttered. "A Null."
Min Seo looked at him, frowning. "You're more than that."
He didn't reply. But her words lingered longer than he expected.
That night, he stayed at the training grounds long after everyone else had gone.
The moon hung low, pale and heavy. The air was cold enough to bite.
He went through the motions of sword drills again and again, his breath ragged, muscles burning. The metal training blade felt heavy in his hand,not because of its weight, but because of the futility.
He struck until his arms trembled, until sweat mixed with blood on his palms.
"Why…" he breathed. "Why can't I—"
A sudden pulse of pain ripped through his skull. He dropped the blade, clutching his head.
It felt like the air itself had cracked.
The mana in the atmosphere normally invisible to him,suddenly screamed. Not audibly, but as a pressure, a vibration deep inside his bones. His vision blurred, edges fracturing like broken glass.
He staggered back, gasping.
And then he saw it.
The rune-marked pillars around the field, each a conduit of pure magic began to distort. Their glow flickered, warped, then collapsed. The mana around them bled away, drained into nothingness.
"What…?" Jin whispered.
The ground beneath him cracked, not from heat or force, but absence. The light itself seemed to recoil from him.
He reached out instinctively, trying to touch the faint shimmer before him and the moment his hand brushed the air, the glow died.
The entire training field fell dark.
The sound of his own heartbeat thundered in the silence.
Then the pain stopped.
He fell to his knees, breathing hard. His hands trembled but not from exhaustion. They felt cold, like the warmth of the world had been stolen from them.
He stared at the nearest rune pillar. It was dead. Every trace of mana inside it had been erased.
"What… did I just do?"
For a long moment, he just knelt there.
Then, faintly, from the far side of the field, he heard voices. Guards.
Jin forced himself up, his body shaking. He didn't understand it,didn't even want to. But instinct screamed one thing: run.
He slipped into the shadows behind the storage sheds, his breath uneven. Through the gaps, he saw the instructors arrive, their robes glowing faintly as they examined the wreckage.
"Mana nullification," one whispered. "Impossible. Nothing like this should exist outside of forbidden theory."
"Who was training here?"
Jin's heart stopped.
He backed away slowly, trying not to make a sound.
The voices grew sharper. "Check the attendance logs. If someone caused this, they're dangerous."
He turned and ran.
He didn't remember how long he ran,only that when he stopped, he was in the old district, where the city's lights barely reached. Crumbling buildings. Abandoned shops. No mana conduits humming in the walls.
For the first time, he felt… something.
Not magic. Not warmth. But clarity.
The world around him was silent. Empty. Yet, somehow, peaceful.
He sat on the cracked pavement, staring at his hands.
The faint shimmer from before still lingered on his skin, black and violet, shifting like smoke. When he tried to will it away, it vanished instantly.
A chill ran down his spine.
He remembered what the instructor had said: no mana detected.
He laughed weakly. "Guess you were right."
Somewhere deep inside, something responded.
A flicker, cold, silent, endless.
The void.
And for the first time in his life, Jin Hyeon felt alive.
Far above, in the upper districts, alarms began to ring through the city's magical networks. Reports flooded the arcane channels: "Anomalous anti-mana event detected. Source unknown."
In the heart of the Mage Bureau, a masked woman turned from the console and said quietly,
"Find him. Before the others do."
To be continued…