Bellcrest Academy sounded bougie on the brochure, but in real life it was just a glorified prison with homework… except everyone here could do magic.
Morning sunlight sprawled across the courtyard like a lazy cat, glittering off spell orbs and floating textbooks. Everyone flexed their power — fireballs, wind bursts, shapeshifting — all that "look at me" energy. And right in the middle of the chaos stood Kai Velorien, hoodie up, eyes down, doing everything possible to not stand out.
He hated this school. He hated magic. He hated attention more than unripe plantain.
But fate has terrible aim.
Kai wasn't just any student. He was the kid from the old prophecy — the one destined to either save or destroy the magical world. Too bad nobody told him directly; the prophecy just floated around like a rumor, and everyone kept side-eyeing anyone remotely mysterious.
He was trying to blend into the cafeteria line when BOOM!
A spell duel erupted nearby — two ego-inflated seniors fighting over who had the best elemental affinity. Tables shook. Ceiling cracked. People screamed. The teachers were too slow.
Reflex kicked in. Kai raised one hand, not even thinking. A wave of pure, silver energy blasted out — soundless, effortless — freezing the entire explosion like time was paused.
Silence swallowed the hall.
Every student stared. Forks mid-air. Eyes popped. Someone dropped their juice and didn't pick it up.
Kai swallowed hard.
"Great," he muttered. "So much for staying low-key."
Before he could dip, the headmistress stormed in — robes blacker than midnight, eyes sparkling like she already knew something.
"Kai Velorien," she said, voice echoing. "My office. Now."
And just like that, every rumor turned into certainty.
The chosen one had just revealed himself…
and Kai wished the ground would open and swallow him whole.
CHAPTER 1-PART 2
Kai followed the Headmistress through the hallway like he was walking toward his own funeral. Students pressed against lockers, whispering with messy excitement.
"Did you see it?"
"He didn't even chant!"
"That wasn't elemental magic… what was it?"
"He looked possessed."
"No, he looked cool!"
"Shhh, he's coming!"
Eyes everywhere. Phones everywhere.
Hashtags brewing at the speed of gossip.
Kai kept his head down, but inside he was a blender of panic, confusion, and a sprinkle of hunger because he still hadn't finished that sandwich.
They passed the courtyard — the floating training dummies twisted their heads to follow him. Even inanimate objects were nosy today.
Finally, they reached the Arcane Tower, a building shaped like it wanted to look magical so badly it was embarrassing. Runes glowed on every brick like neon graffiti.
The Headmistress stopped at the bottom of the spiral staircase.
"Up," she said.
"Up where exactly?" Kai asked.
She pointed to the highest floor.
"Is there… an elevator?" he tried.
She stared like he just insulted her ancestors.
"Right. Stairs it is."
They climbed. And climbed. And climbed.
Kai's lungs filled with regrets. Did chosen ones get free cardio? Apparently yes.
Halfway up, the Headmistress finally spoke.
"You handled the spell burst well."
"It wasn't me," Kai said automatically.
She didn't argue. That was somehow worse.
"It was Primordial Magic," she continued. "Raw, instinctive, ancient. It surfaces under survival reflex."
"I didn't want it."
She paused on the stairs. Her violet eyes softened — barely.
"Power doesn't care what you want, Kai. It only cares that you survive."
That sentence felt heavy, like it wasn't meant just for today. Like she knew something he didn't.
They continued climbing.
When they reached the top floor, the Headmistress opened a door with a snap of her fingers. Inside wasn't an office — it was more like a museum of danger:
artifacts in glass cases
floating books chained shut
a staff humming with energy as if humming for trouble
Kai stepped inside carefully, in case anything decided to jump him.
"Have a seat," she said.
The chair floated to him like a waiter, which was both impressive and mildly terrifying. He sat. It was comfier than his mattress at home.
The Headmistress sat across from him, hands folded.
"Tell me how long you've been hiding this power."
"I'm not hiding anything. I don't even know what that was."
"You've never lost control before? No strange bursts? No unexplained phenomena?"
Kai hesitated — and she noticed.
Flashback hit him hard:
cracked glowing lines appearing on his bedroom wall when he got angry at his dad
his window shattering without wind during a nightmare
a mirror bending like soft metal when he touched it while stressed
But he wasn't about to confess that to the most powerful woman in school.
"No," he lied.
She locked eyes with him — silent lie detector mode.
Before she could say anything else, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Fast footsteps.
Urgent, dramatic footsteps.
BANG!
The door flew open like someone owed it money.
And in marched the school's Council of Prefects — five students who looked like they woke up every morning and chose intimidation. Their cloaks were long, their badges shined, their confidence was annoying.
The leader, Dorian Hale, pointed at Kai as if accusing him of tax fraud.
"We demand to witness the interrogation," he declared.
"This is not an interrogation," the Headmistress snapped. "And you were not invited."
"The entire Academy saw what happened," Dorian insisted. "A magic surge of that scale threatens regional balance. Regulation mandates oversight."
Kai blinked. "Regional what now—?"
A girl prefect with ice-white hair cut him off.
"Who are you? What are you?"
Kai raised his hands. "A hungry kid who wants to go home, please."
No one laughed except him.
The Headmistress stood, voice suddenly sharper than a blade.
"Prefects have no jurisdiction over Primordial matters."
Every prefect froze.
Then whispered at the same time:
"PRIMORDIAL?!"
Dorian's face drained of color.
The ice-hair girl stepped back like Kai had become a rabid squirrel in a hoodie.
Kai didn't know what Primordial meant but judging by reactions, it wasn't "congrats, here's a trophy."
It was more "uh oh, you're a walking apocalypse."
The Headmistress continued:
"Leave. This conversation is classified."
The Prefects hesitated only a second before backing out — except Dorian, who looked at Kai with genuine fear.
"Velorien… if you lose control again, people will die."
The door slammed shut.
Kai whispered through clenched teeth:
"I don't want any of this."
The Headmistress's voice softened, almost motherly.
"No chosen one ever does."
She raised her hand — not to attack, but to conjure something. A scroll wrapped in golden thread floated into her palm.
It pulsed faintly.
She didn't open it.
Not yet.
"Before we continue," she said, "you deserve to know the truth of what you are."
The air thickened — like the world was holding its breath.
Before she could unseal the scroll…
A thunderous boom shook the tower.
Alarms blared.
Someone screamed from the courtyard below:
"The creatures got through the barrier!"
And everything turned chaotic — again.
Kai's life had officially been hijacked.
—End of Chapter 1 Part 2—
CHAPTER 1-PART 3
The floor trembled like the tower was trying to moonwalk. Candle flames flickered wildly, and even the floating books seemed to panic.
The Headmistress snapped her fingers. A glowing circle hovered in front of her — a live feed of the courtyard below.
Students screamed and sprinted in every direction. Teachers conjured shimmering barriers. Training dummies came to life and tried to defend people — terribly.
And the enemy?
Shadowbeasts.
Creatures made of smoke and nightmares, shaped like wolves but glitching like a bad animation. Their eyes shone a sick neon purple.
Kai's stomach dropped.
Nothing about this was normal.
The Headmistress muttered, "The barrier should have held. Some force is pushing them through."
Kai swallowed. "Are those things here for me?"
She didn't answer.
Which was basically a yes.
He stumbled back.
"I didn't do anything. I don't want to be a target! They can pick someone else — I vote someone popular!"
"You can't vote fate away," she said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're safer with me."
Another explosion boomed — closer this time. Dust rained from the ceiling. A chilling growl echoed up the stairway.
The beasts were climbing.
"Nope," Kai said. "Nope nope nope."
The Headmistress surged forward, pulling a silver staff from thin air. The runes along the walls lit up like someone turned on Reality's LED strip lights.
"We move," she ordered.
Kai stuck to her side like glue.
Brave? Absolutely not.
Survival? Always.
They rushed down the stairs — but halfway, the entire tower lurched. Part of the stair spiraled away into darkness like it was erased.
Kai skidded to a stop at the edge.
"That's illegal!" he yelled into the void.
Shadowbeasts leapt up the spiral toward them, claws scraping stone, eyes locked on Kai like he was a glowing snack.
The Headmistress slammed her staff into the ground — vines of radiant light burst out, wrapping around the beasts. They snarled, trapped but still writhing.
"Hurry!" she said.
"But the stairs just ghosted!!" Kai shouted.
"Jump," she replied.
"I don't have a license for that!"
She didn't wait — she pushed off and floated gracefully down using air magic.
Kai stared.
Air magic? He barely had grip magic!
The Shadowbeasts snapped the glowing vines like spaghetti.
Kai inhaled sharply.
"You just had to be special, Kai," he muttered to himself.
"You couldn't just have boring magic and a boring life—"
A beast lunged.
Kai panicked.
His hand shot out.
The silver energy returned — brighter, louder, angrier.
It burst from his palm like a silent roar, bending the air, warping the stone, freezing the Shadowbeast in mid-air like a glitch paused.
Then the power yanked him forward — and he flew.
No thought. No spell. No physics.
Just raw force.
He floated — then dropped — then landed hard in a bush.
"Ow," he groaned, covered in leaves and regrets.
The Headmistress landed beside him, eyes wide.
"That was instinctive flight. Primordials are energy itself."
"I don't like being energy," Kai wheezed. "I want to be a normal, squishy boy again."
There was no time to argue.
The courtyard had turned into war lite.
Teachers defended terrified students.
Spells lit up the sky like fireworks having a meltdown.
And at the center of it all — a larger Shadowbeast, twice the size of the others, prowled toward a group of first-years huddled by the fountain.
Its purple eyes burned with intelligence… and hunger.
The Headmistress took a defensive stance — staff charged with star-like light.
"Kai — stay behind me."
Kai wanted to stay behind her. He really did.
But those first-years stared at him — pleading, scared, vulnerable.
He saw himself in their eyes.
A kid just trying to survive another school day.
The giant Shadowbeast lunged.
Kai didn't think.
Again.
The silver energy erupted — but different this time.
It flowed calmly, like it had finally introduced itself properly.
A sphere of shimmering light expanded around Kai and the students — a protective dome.
The beast slammed into it and bounced back like it hit a trampoline made of pure nope.
Gasps rippled around him.
Teachers paused mid-spell, watching.
Power pulsed through Kai like a second heartbeat.
Warm, ancient, terrifying… and somehow comforting.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was saving people.
The beast roared and charged again — the dome flared — and this time the silver light surged outward, launching the monster across the courtyard like a yeeted ragdoll.
The beast dissolved into smoke.
Every other Shadowbeast screeched — dissolving with it, as if their boss just rage-quit the battle.
Silence fell.
Slowly, cautiously, applause began.
Small at first. Then bigger.
Students and teachers surrounded Kai — not too close — but close enough to show respect.
The Headmistress spoke, staff lowering.
"Primordial Magic… a protector's aura. Rarer than rare."
Kai stared at his hands like they were strangers.
"I don't want this," he whispered.
The Headmistress gave him a sad smile.
"Sometimes the people who least want power are the ones who deserve it most."
Students whispered again — but this time it wasn't fear.
It was hope. Wonder. Recognition.
"Who are you?" someone asked.
Kai wanted to say: No one. Just a kid. Please ignore me forever.
But destiny was a terrible listener.
The Headmistress placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Everyone… meet Kai Velorien — the one who will change everything."
Kai's heart pounded a nervous rhythm.
The moment was too big.
Too bright.
Too much.
He didn't want to be a symbol.
He didn't want eyes on him.
Yet…
Tonight every student would sleep safer because of him.
And the world — somewhere out there — had just taken notice.
He whispered to himself:
"I'm so dead."
Fade to black.
— End of Chapter 1 —