The morning sun streamed into the Kaito apartment, but Junior Kaito was too busy drowning in textbooks to notice the "promise of summer."
At fifteen, Junior was a six-foot-tall disaster of disheveled black hair and rumpled school uniforms. He looked more like he'd been dragged through a hedge than a student at the prestigious Veridia Academy.
"Morning, Junior! Big magic day, right?" his father, Darius, chirped while flipping pancakes. Darius was the best—supportive, loving, and completely oblivious to the fact that his son was the school's laughingstock.
"It's not 'big magic,' Dad," Junior grumbled, poking at a pancake. "It's just basic incantations. Pretty sure my elemental affinity is 'disappointment.'"
His older brother, Filis, sat across from him looking like a literal god. Sharp uniform. Perfect hair. Gold-ranked.
"Don't burn the toast, Junior," Filis teased with a smirk. "Or the kitchen."
Very funny, Filis, Junior thought. Not everyone is a natural-born genius.
Later that morning, the grand, glamour-hidden walls of Veridia Academy loomed over him.
The hallway was a battlefield of social ranks. Platinum-ranked students like the Ice Queen, Irina Volkov, glided past like they owned the air. Then there was Alex Ferguson—Diamond-ranked, arrogant, and currently flaunting a lightning-conducted bird to get Jenny Sakura's attention.
Jenny was the girl of everyone's dreams. Platinum-ranked, triple-elementalist, and daughter of a literal Grandmaster.
Junior tried to shrink into his best friend Jason's shadow as they walked by. He didn't see the tiny, fond smile Jenny sent his way. He was too busy looking at his shoes, praying no one would notice the "Bronze Rank" badge on his chest.
Professor Eldrin's Elemental Incantation class felt like a death trap.
"Focus, class!" Eldrin barked. "Aether is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. It's subtle, but it'll rip you apart if you're sloppy."
Alex Ferguson went first. Naturally, he produced a perfect orange flame. Show-off.
Then came Jenny. She didn't just make fire; she turned it into a floating sphere of water, then a wisp of air. The class was silent. She was a league of her own.
"Kaito. Your turn," Eldrin sighed.
Junior shuffled forward. He took a breath, muttered the incantation, and... pffft.
A weak puff of grey smoke emerged. It smelled like burnt ozone and failure. The class erupted in snickers. Alex Ferguson scoffed, shaking his head.
"Kaito," Eldrin rubbed his temples. "Focus your intent. Or at least try not to be a mundane."
Junior spent the rest of the day in a fog of defeat. But as the clock ticked toward the end of class, the celestial alignment outside intensified.
The air didn't just feel tense—it felt like it was about to explode.
"Junior, you okay?" Jason whispered.
Junior didn't answer. A massive pressure was building in his chest. It wasn't just magic; it felt like his bones were vibrating at a million miles per hour. His hand went perfectly still. Then, it started to glow with a dull, terrifying, multi-colored light.
"Kaito! Your readings are spiking!" Eldrin screamed, his desk monitors wailing like a siren.
Junior couldn't stop. The Aether wasn't a concept anymore—it was a living thing inside him, and it wanted out.
"What is he doing?!" Alex yelled, backing away.
Jenny's face went pale. "That's too much power! Get down!"
With a guttural scream, Junior threw his hand forward.
BOOM!!!
A blinding flash of raw, multi-elemental light erupted. It wasn't just fire or air—it was everything, all at once. Glass shattered. Metal groaned. Shadows lashed out from the light, tearing through desks like they were paper.
Through the chaos, Junior felt something cold and ancient wake up in his soul. He wasn't a Bronze user. He wasn't even a Master.
He was the Monarch.
High above the city, Director Kaido sat at his desk. Suddenly, his tea cup shattered. CRACK.
His eyes snapped open, fixed on the magical array throbbing with a chaotic, angry red light over the academy.
"Impossible," he whispered. "An uncontrolled awakening... of that scale? It's been centuries."
The storm hadn't just arrived. It had found its King.