The Grand Hall of Arcanum Academy was alive with sound.
Mana flared like flickering flames above polished stone platforms, glowing crystals resonated with elemental light, and the air itself thrummed faintly with power. Today was the Annual Mana Aptitude Examination, the most important day for first- and second-year students.
For many, it was a day of pride. For others, it was a day of quiet dread.
Kael Ashborne stood at the very back of the hall, his back straight, hands clasped behind him and his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
He didn't need to look up to know what was happening.
He could literally feel it.
Each time a student stepped onto the testing platform, the Aetherium Crystal responded, bursting into bright colorful light, and elemental resonance. Gasps followed and then, applause followed. Names were being called out loud with obvious admiration.
"Fire affinity, grade high!"
"Wind-element resonance, exceptional purity!"
"Triple-element compatibility, so remarkable!"
Kael listened in silence. This was his third year standing here and he already knew the outcome.
"Next," the examiner announced, his voice magnified by a spell array embedded in the ceiling.
"Lucien Varex."
A tall boy with silver-trimmed robes strode forward confidently. The crystal flared bright gold the moment his palm touched it, runes spinning rapidly in response.
The hall instantly erupted as all the students gasped in awe.
"Light-element dominance!"
"His mana circulation is so flawless!"
"He'll definitely be recommended to the inner tower!"
Kael's fingers curled slightly.
Lucien Varex was a noble-born who was gifted and greatly admired by most students. He was everything Kael was not.
Lucien withdrew his hand and cast a slow, brief and maybe intentional glance toward the back of the hall. His gaze lingered on Kael for just a moment before he smiled faintly and turned away.
His gaze somehow wasn't mockery but it could be considered condescending and it made Kael feel even worse.
"Next," the examiner said.
"…Kael Ashborne."
The hall became instantly quiet. Though not completely, there were murmurs, whispers and even soft chuckles but the excitement faded and was replaced by expectations of disappointment.
Kael inhaled slowly and stepped forward. Each footstep echoed louder than it should have.
He felt hundreds of eyes on his back. Some bored, some amused and some openly contemptuous. Servants, low-borns, and students with no backing always stood out at Arcanum Academy but Kael Ashborne stood out most of all.
He climbed the steps onto the platform and stopped before the Aetherium Crystal. Up close, it was larger than it looked from a distance, floating slightly above its pedestal, translucent and alive with faint internal motion.
He had touched it before... Twice and the result had been the same.
Kael gently raised his hand. For a brief moment, his chest tightened. A dull pressure spread outward from his heart, it was faint but unmistakable, like something deep within him was stirring, then retreating.
He pressed his palm to the crystal.
Nothing happened.
One breath.
Two.
The crystal remained dull, colorless and absolutely silent.
Murmurs rapidly began to spread through the entire hall.
"…Again?"
"Three years and still nothing?"
"How is he still allowed here?"
"He's not even fit to be a servant mage."
The examiner frowned and tapped the crystal lightly with his staff. The runes flared briefly, then died the moment Kael's hand remained in contact.
The man sighed and gently shaked his head disapprovingly.
"Mana resonance: zero," he announced flatly.
"Elemental affinity: none detected."
"Mana circulation: inactive."
The words struck harder than any blow as Kael withdrew his hand slowly.
"Kael Ashborne," the examiner continued, his tone cold and practiced, "you have attended Arcanum Academy for three years. In that time, you have shown no measurable progress in mana sensitivity, spell formation, or theoretical application."
He paused briefly before continuing again.
"This examination marks your final assessment."
Kael's heart skipped.
"If no improvement is demonstrated by the end of this term," the examiner said, "you will be expelled."
The whispers immediately turned into silent laughter.
Kael bowed stiffly.
"Yes, Instructor."
He quietly stepped down from the platform. As he walked past the rows of students, he kept his gaze forward, his expression carefully neutral. Years of quiet endurance had taught him this much, never show weakness where others could see it.
But inside, something twisted.
'Talentless'.
The word echoed endlessly in his mind.
He had tried everything, meditation, breathing exercises, mana circulation drills, he even studied late into the night until his vision blurred. He had followed every instruction, memorized every theory, endured every sneer. Yet, nothing had changed.
'Why...?' He thought to himself in agony.
As Kael reached the edge of the hall, a sharp pain suddenly stabbed through his chest. He staggered and his vision instantly blurred, the polished stone floor tilting beneath his feet. A strange heat surged from deep within his body, followed by a sensation like invisible chains tightening around his heart. He started gasping almost immediately. But no one noticed or rather... no one cared.
Kael managed to steady himself and stumbled out of the hall, down a quiet corridor seldom used by students. His breathing grew ragged. Each heartbeat sent another wave of pain through him, sharper than before.
"What… is this…?" he whispered.
Before he realized what was happening, the pressure intensified and then... something broke.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
The corridor floor vanished beneath his feet and Kael fell as darkness swallowed him.
~~~
Kael awoke to silence, cold stones pressing against his back. The air smelled old, dusty, stagnant and untouched for centuries.
Kael groaned and pushed himself upright.
"…I'm alive?"
Faint light flickered along the walls of the small underground chamber. Strange runes were carved into the stone, worn and incomplete, yet still faintly active.
This place was not part of the academy's known structures. At the center of the chamber stood a low stone altar.
And resting upon it was a simple, blackened ring. The moment Kael's eyes fell upon it, the pain in his chest surged violently.
A whisper echoed in the depths of his mind.
"Innate compatibility detected…"
Kael froze, His heart pounding frantically.
"Who's there?" he demanded, his voice hoarse.
The ring trembled slightly as silver cracks across its surface pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat answering it's own call.
"Qi pathways… sealed."
"Mana heart… suppressed."
"Dual potential… confirmed."
Kael staggered back.
"Dual… potential?"
The whisper deepened, growing clearer, heavier and ancient.
"At last."
The runes along the chamber walls ignited dimly.
"A vessel born not to choose."
Kael stared at the ring, fear and awe twisting together in his chest.
"What… are you?"
The ring lifted slowly from the altar, hovering before him.
"I am the remnant of a path erased."
"The witness to Dual Ascension."
The pressure in Kael's chest became unbearable.
"And you, Kael Ashborne…"
The ring drifted closer.
"…are the only one in this age capable of walking it."