[ONE YEAR LATER — AGE 6]
The Luminaris Academy stood like a monument to divine power.
Seven crystalline towers spiraled into the sky, each one representing a Circle of the Arcanum. At the center, the Grand Spire—reserved for the Headmaster and the Seventh Circle Saints—pierced the clouds like a sword aimed at the heavens.
Thousands of students walked the marble pathways, their robes color-coded by their Circle: white for Initiates, blue for Adepts, green for Scholars.
This was the most prestigious magical institution in the world.
And I was about to walk through its gates like I owned the place.
---
"Rin." Father's voice was stern as our carriage rolled to a stop at the academy entrance. "Listen to me carefully."
I glanced at him, sprawled lazily across the velvet seat with my hands behind my head.
"I'm listening."
"You need to keep a low profile."
"Sure."
"I'm serious. No showing off. No antagonizing the instructors. No—"
"Making enemies of powerful people who could kill me?" I grinned. "Too late for that, don't you think?"
His jaw tightened. "Rin."
I sat up, stretching. "Relax, Father. I'll be fine."
"The Church has eyes everywhere in this academy. If you draw too much attention—"
"They'll what? Send more priests to threaten me?" I opened the carriage door and hopped out. "Let them. I could use the entertainment."
"Rin—"
I turned back, and for just a moment, let the grin fade.
"I know what I'm doing."
He stared at me—this six-year-old boy with white hair and blue eyes that saw too much—and said nothing.
Because we both knew the truth.
I was already beyond his protection.
---
[THE ENTRANCE EXAM]
The entrance courtyard was packed with children—most of them between eight and twelve years old, all dressed in fine clothes, their families watching from the sidelines.
I stood out immediately.
Not just because I was younger than everyone else.
But because I looked bored.
A woman in silver robes—Third Circle, I noted automatically—stepped onto the raised platform at the center of the courtyard.
"Welcome, candidates, to Luminaris Academy." Her voice carried across the space with magical amplification. "I am Instructor Maelis. Today, you will undergo the Mana Evaluation—a test to measure the strength and purity of your Core."
She gestured toward a massive crystal sphere floating behind her, easily three meters tall, pulsing with soft white light.
"Place your hand on the Resonance Orb. It will measure your affinity, your Circle potential, and your divine blessing."
Divine blessing.Right.
The thing I didn't have.
This was going to be fun.
---
One by one, children approached the orb.
Each time someone touched it, the crystal flared with color—red for fire, blue for water, green for nature. Some glowed brighter than others, indicating stronger mana reserves.
The crowd murmured with each result.
"Second Circle potential!"
"Look at that girl—Third Circle at least!"
"House Solivane truly breeds prodigies..."
I yawned.
Boring.
Finally, Instructor Maelis's eyes landed on me.
"You. White-haired boy. Step forward."
Every head turned.
I felt their stares—curious, judgmental, confused.
Why is a child that young here?
Is he from a noble house?
Look at his eyes...
I walked toward the platform with my hands in my pockets, ignoring the whispers.
Instructor Maelis frowned slightly. "Name?"
"Rin Valdris."
Her expression shifted—just barely. Recognition. And something else.
Wariness.
"House Valdris..." she repeated slowly. "The Null child."
The whispers exploded.
"Null? He has no Core?"
"Then why is he here?"
"This is a waste of time—"
I stopped in front of the Resonance Orb and tilted my head, studying it.
Crystallized mana construct. Divine resonance frequency: 432 Hz. Energy density: moderate. Structural integrity: average.
"Well?" Instructor Maelis's voice was clipped. "Place your hand on the orb."
I looked at her. Then at the orb. Then back at her.
"You sure you want me to do that?"
Her frown deepened. "Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying—this thing looks kind of fragile."
"It's reinforced with Fifth Circle enchantments. It can withstand—"
"Yeah, yeah." I waved dismissively and placed my hand on the surface.
---
[SILENCE]
The orb didn't glow.
It didn't pulse.
It didn't react at all.
Just... nothing.
The courtyard went silent.
Instructor Maelis stared. "I... this is..."
"Yeah." I pulled my hand back. "No Core, remember? Can't exactly resonate with something I don't have."
She opened her mouth to respond—
And the orb shattered.
---
Not violently. Not explosively.
It just... came apart.
The crystal fractured into a thousand perfect pieces, each one hovering in the air for a heartbeat before dissolving into light.
The crowd gasped.
Instructor Maelis stumbled backward, her face pale.
"What—what did you—"
I blinked innocently. "I didn't do anything. I just touched it."
"That's *impossible.That orb was—"
"Flawed." I shrugged. "The resonance frequency was unstable. When it tried to scan me, it found something it couldn't process, so it collapsed."
She stared at me like I'd just spoken in tongues.
"How... how do you know that?"
I tapped the side of my head and grinned.
"I see things other people don't."
---
[LAYER ONE: PERCEPTION LIMIT]
The whispers erupted again—louder this time.
"Did he just destroy the Resonance Orb?"
"He's dangerous—"
"They shouldn't have let him in—"
I felt their fear. Their confusion. Their fascination.
And beneath it all, I felt the cold weight of isolation settling over me again.
This is how it starts,I thought distantly. They look at you like you're a monster. And eventually, you start to believe it.
But I didn't let it show.
Instead, I smiled—lazy, cocky, untouchable—and turned to face the crowd.
"Anyone else wanna test me? Or can we skip the formalities and get to the fun part?"
---
Instructor Maelis composed herself quickly, though I could still see the tension in her shoulders.
"You will... proceed to the second evaluation." Her voice was tight. "Follow me."
As I walked past the other candidates, I felt their stares burning into my back.
One boy—older, maybe twelve, with golden hair and arrogant eyes—stepped into my path.
"You think you're special?" he sneered. "Just because you broke a crystal?"
I stopped and looked up at him.
Third Circle potential. Fire affinity. Overconfident. Daddy's money bought him the best tutors.
"No," I said simply. "I *know* I'm special."
His face flushed with anger. "You're nothing but a defect—"
I didn't let him finish.
In one smooth motion, I stepped around him—close enough that our shoulders almost touched.
And as I passed, I whispered:
"You should work on your mana control. Your Core's leaking energy like a sieve. At this rate, you'll burn out before you hit Fourth Circle."
He froze.
Because I was right.
I could see it—the micro-fractures in his mana pathways, the inefficient flow, the strain on his Core from forced advancement.
He's been pushing too hard. Trying to keep up with expectations.
I kept walking, leaving him standing there, pale and speechless.
---
[THE COMBAT EVALUATION]
The second test took place in the Grand Arena—a massive circular platform surrounded by protective barriers.
Instructor Maelis stood at the edge, arms crossed.
"The Combat Evaluation is simple," she announced. "You will face a summoned elemental. Survive for three minutes, and you pass."
Survive.
Not defeat. Just survive.
Low expectations.
One by one, candidates stepped onto the platform.
Fire elementals. Water constructs. Earth golems.
Most students lasted thirty seconds before yielding. A few made it to a minute. The talented ones—the prodigies from noble houses—managed two minutes.
And then it was my turn.
---
I walked onto the platform, hands still in my pockets.
The crowd murmured again.
"The Null boy?"
"This should be quick..."
"He can't even use magic—"
Instructor Maelis raised her hand, and a magic circle bloomed in the air above the arena.
"For Candidate Rin Valdris..." She paused, her expression unreadable. "A Third Circle elemental."
The crowd gasped.
"Third Circle? For a six-year-old?"
"That's excessive—"
"She's trying to eliminate him—"
I just smiled.
"Make it Fourth Circle," I called out. "Third's too easy."
Dead silence.
Even Instructor Maelis looked stunned.
"You... don't have magic," she said slowly. "You cannot—"
"I know what I can do." I finally pulled my hands from my pockets and cracked my knuckles. "So unless you want this to be over in ten seconds, I suggest you give me something worth fighting."
Her eyes narrowed.
Then she nodded curtly.
"So be it."
The magic circle shifted—growing larger, more complex.
And from it emerged a Storm Warden—a Fourth Circle lightning elemental, crackling with raw power, its form vaguely humanoid but constantly shifting between solid and energy.
The protective barriers around the arena doubled.
The crowd went silent.
This wasn't a test anymore.
This was an execution.
---
[SPATIAL LIMIT: ACTIVE]
The Storm Warden didn't wait.
It lunged—crossing twenty meters in a heartbeat, lightning trailing from its fists.
Speed: 47 meters per second. Attack trajectory: linear. Energy output: 340,000 volts. Fatal on contact.
I didn't move.
The elemental's fist came within centimeters of my face—
And stopped.
Not because it chose to.
Because space itself refused to let it touch me.
---
The air between us shimmered, distorted, like looking through warped glass.
The Storm Warden's fist pressed against an invisible barrier—a wall of compressed space that existed in the infinitely small gap between us.
Infinity.
The elemental roared—a sound like thunder splitting the sky—and unleashed a torrent of lightning.
Bolts of pure energy slammed into me from every direction.
And every single one stopped before reaching my skin.
The barrier didn't flicker. Didn't crack.
It was absolute.
The crowd stared in shock.
"What... what is that?"
"He's not even moving—"
"How is he blocking Fourth Circle magic without casting a spell?"
---
I yawned and scratched the back of my head.
"Is that all?"
The Storm Warden shrieked and charged again—faster this time, more desperate.
I sighed.
"Guess not."
I raised one hand lazily.
Spatial Limit: Expansion.
---
The space around the elemental inverted.
Not crushed. Not compressed.
Stretched.
The distance between the elemental and me—three meters—suddenly became infinite.
It ran toward me at full speed, lightning crackling, fists swinging—
But it never got closer.
No matter how fast it moved, the space between us expanded faster.
It was like watching someone run on a treadmill—all motion, no progress.
The crowd watched in stunned silence as the Storm Warden exhausted itself, flickering, destabilizing.
And then I snapped my fingers.
Spatial Limit: Collapse.
---
The infinite distance snapped back to zero in an instant.
The sudden compression of space hit the elemental like a physical force—and it shattered, dissolving into harmless sparks that faded into nothing.
Silence.
Complete, absolute silence.
I lowered my hand and looked at Instructor Maelis.
"Three minutes, right? I think I did it in thirty seconds. Do I get extra credit?"
---
She didn't answer.
She just stared—along with every other person in that arena.
Because they'd just witnessed something impossible.
A six-year-old boy with no Mana Core, no divine blessing, no magic at all—
Had just defeated a Fourth Circle elemental without moving.
Without casting a spell.
Without even trying.
---
One boy in the crowd—a thin kid with messy brown hair and nervous eyes—whispered:
"What... is he?"
And someone answered quietly:
"A monster."
---
I heard it.
I always heard it.
And for just a moment—just one fleeting second—I felt the weight of those words settle into my chest like a stone.
Monster.
Anomaly.
Defect.
But then I smiled, wide and cocky, and shoved the feeling down where no one could see it.
"Alright!" I called out cheerfully. "Who's next?"
---
[THAT NIGHT — THE DORMITORY]
They gave me my own room.
Not because I was special.
Because no one wanted to share with me.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window at the seven towers glowing against the night sky.
The Infinite Mirror flickered in my mind.
A reflection stepped forward—this one younger, maybe fourteen, with tired eyes.
> "You're scaring them," he said quietly.
I know.
> "You're isolating yourself."
I know.
>"If you keep this up, you'll end up like me."
And how did you end up?
The reflection smiled sadly.
> "Alone. At the top of the world. With no one left who could understand me."
The mirror faded.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
Is this what you wanted, Mom?
For me to be reborn... just to be alone again?
But there was no answer.
There never was.
---
[THE NEXT MORNING]
I woke to a knock on the door.
When I opened it, I found a girl standing there—maybe eight years old, with silver hair tied in twin braids and bright purple eyes.
She stared at me for a long moment.
Then she smiled—genuinely, without fear.
"You're Rin, right? The boy who broke the orb?"
I blinked. "...Yeah?"
"I'm Selis." She held out her hand. "Wanna be friends?"
I stared at her hand.
Friends.
When was the last time someone asked me that?
Slowly, carefully, I reached out and shook it.
"...Sure."
Her smile widened.
"Great! Come on—I'll show you around before classes start."
And just like that, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the hallway.
For the first time since I'd arrived at this academy—