The Morning of Manifestation always smelled like ozone and fancy perfumes. In the Maze Kingdoms capital the air was full of a kind of energy called Mana. The rich kids looked like they were glowing.. Arata Yukihira felt cold and damp like he was standing near a forge.
"Arata if you don't leave now you'll be last in line!" Master Vahn shouted from the workshop.
Arata wiped the grease from his forehead. He looked around the forge one time. His mind was thinking about numbers again. The fire was burning at 1,200 degrees. The air was 42% humid. The main anvil was getting weaker by 0.01% every week. He couldn't stop thinking about these numbers.
"I'm going, Master " Arata said calmly. He put a stone in his pocket like he always did and headed to the Great Plaza.
The Plaza was a place with white marble and golden banners. In the middle was the Great Mana Pillar, a crystal that hummed with energy. Thousands of teenagers stood in rows.
"Ren Takashi!" the High Priest shouted.
A boy with hair stepped forward. Ren was the best of the best in the Maze Kingdom. When he touched the pillar the sky got brighter. A purple book appeared. It had a gold border and lightning around it.
"A 3-Opening Lightning Grimoire!" the Priest cried. "He's a genius!"
Ren took the book. Looked at Arata for a second. Arata felt like he was a background character to Ren.
It was finally Aratas turn. The crowd was getting bored and starting to leave. Arata walked up to the pillar. Felt its cold vibration. He reached out.
The blue light in the plaza went out. It wasn't a flicker; it was completely dark. For miles the energy lamps went out. It was silent. Then a loud sound like a mountain splitting echoed through the city.
CLANG.
A book fell from a tear in the air. It hit the marble at Aratas feet. Shattered the stone. The book was huge. Made of black rusty iron. It had four chains and locks that looked like they were made of shadow. There was no title or decoration a faint purple maze pattern on the cover.
The High Priest held up a meter. The needle didn't move.
"A... A Broken Grimoire," the Priest stuttered, looking pale and disgusted. "Mana level: 0.0. Arata Yukihira you are a Zero-Star. You failed."
The nobles started laughing. Arata didn't hear them; he was staring at the book. His mind was screaming. The book wasn't a book; it was a void a hole in the universe trying to pull his thoughts into its iron pages.
As he reached down to pick it up his hand shook. When his fingers touched the rust a line of text appeared in his mind.
[USER RECOGNIZED: ARATA YUKIHIRA.]
[ESTABLISHING ETHER-LINK...]
[WARNING: NEURAL PATHWAYS UNFIT. 0.0001% CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]
Arata gasped, feeling pain, in his brain. The world didn't just look like numbers; it looked like it was made of glass.