The Grand Assessment Hall of Ravencrest Academy was packed to the brim.
Silver-trimmed uniforms filled every row as hundreds of students waited in anxious silence, their faces a mix of pure nerve and raw ambition.
Right in the middle of the vast room sat the Crystal of Origin.
It was a massive, pitch-black monolith carved from ancient obsidian, capable of reading a person’s magical lineage the second living skin touched stone.
Sera stood at the very back of the line, shoving her cold hands deep into her frayed sleeves.
Everyone else wore their house crests with pride, but Sera’s uniform only had a torn, faded patch—the exact spot where the House Voss emblem used to be before her stepmother stripped her of the family name months ago.
”Look, isn’t that her?” a boy murmured to his friend nearby, barely bothering to keep his voice down.
”Yeah, the cursed one,” a girl giggled softly.
“Word is, she doesn’t have a single drop of magic in her veins.” Sera kept her eyes glued to the cold marble floor ahead.
She’d spent enough time at this academy to know that making eye contact only invited more cruelty.
Up front, Princess Livia stood bathed in the radiant light streaming through the tall stained-glass windows.
Sunlight caught her golden hair, making her look completely flawless.
A thin, mean smile tugged at her lips as she glanced back at Sera standing all by herself in the shadows.
”Sera Voss!” the head instructor called out, his heavy voice echoing off the stone walls.
The entire hall went dead quiet.
Sera sucked in a breath and stepped forward.
The heavy thud of her worn boots echoed loudly in the silence.
She could feel every single eye in the room burning into her back like needles as she reached the crystal and laid her trembling palm against the freezing surface.
Nothing happened.
She pressed down harder, her pulse racing wildly against her ribs.
Come on…
just one spark.
Anything to prove I’m not the useless disappointment they think I am.
The ancient stone stayed completely dead and dark.
Then, faint silver numbers materialized in the air above it, clear enough for everyone to see.
Mana Affinity: 0 The hall stayed dead silent for a single heartbeat before tearing open into wild, mocking laughter and chaotic chatter.
”Zero?
Seriously?
Zero?!” ”Told you!
A total disgrace to the Voss name.” ”Can’t believe she’s related to Queen Isolde’s side.” Livia’s laugh cut through the noise, sharp and clear.
She stepped forward, her silk dress rustling as she walked toward the stage.
“Oh, Sera…” she said softly, though her voice carried across the quiet room.
“I told you not to embarrass yourself like this in front of the whole academy.
Have you no self-respect left?” Sera kept her palm stuck to the stone.
If she let go now, everyone would see how violently her hands were shaking.
”Zero,” Livia added, tilting her head patronizingly.
“Even the palace servants’ children score higher than that.
Looks like Father had every right to cast you aside and forget you ever existed.” The words stung deeper than any physical hit, but Sera ground her teeth and held back her tears.
She refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her break.
”Moving on,” Instructor Halden cut in flatly, flipping his parchment without care.
“Next student, step forward.” Sera pulled her hand back and backed away, keeping her spine straight while whispers followed her like smoke.
She slipped into the shadow of a heavy pillar near the side exit, staring blankly into the distance.
Zero.
She knew it was coming, but seeing that floating number still hit like a solid wall.
Across the room, standing partly hidden behind another grand stone pillar, a young man with silver hair and sharp violet eyes watched her without blinking.
Riven Ashford rarely cared about academy nonsense.
He’d finished his own evaluation minutes ago with a perfect score that had left the instructors stunned, and usually, he would have walked out right then out of pure boredom.
But he stayed.
His deep violet gaze remained locked on the silver-haired girl standing alone in the shadows.
He had felt something.
The exact second that zero popped up, a tiny, almost unnoticeable shudder had passed deep beneath the floorboards—like something massive and ancient taking a quiet breath beneath the stone.
Nobody else in the room had caught it.
They were too busy laughing at the floating number.
But Riven had spent his entire life around magic, and whatever just pulsed through the ground…
was not normal mana.
That felt like something buried a long, long time ago, he thought to himself.
A faint trace of an intrigued smile touched Riven’s lips as Sera walked out toward the exit, her head held high despite the sneers crawling over her.
Fascinating, Riven thought silently, making a firm mental note to keep a close eye on this discarded daughter.
Outside, the cool evening wind rustled through the ancient oak trees in the courtyard.
Sera leaned her back against the rough stone wall, finally letting out the long breath she’d been holding inside her chest.
Her hand was still slightly numb from the crystal’s freezing touch.
Just wishful thinking, she told herself, staring down at her bare palm.
Stop inventing foolish hope.
She didn’t see the faint golden mark—shaped like a detailed dragon scale—flicker right beneath her skin for a split second before sinking deep into her flesh and fading away.
”Look at you, pathetic as always,” a sweet, cruel voice called out from the shadows of the walkway.
Sera snapped her head up.
Livia was walking over, flanked by two of her usual arrogant lackeys.
The polite mask she wore in public was completely gone, replaced by pure disdain.
”I thought I’d find you hiding out here in a corner,” Livia sneered, stepping closer.
“Always playing the helpless victim.” Sera clenched her hands into tight fists.
Livia raised her right hand, bright red embers of fire magic beginning to crackle and dance violently across her fingertips.
Sera froze—she realized a second too late what was about to happen.
Livia was actually going to throw a spell at her right here in broad daylight!
Livia raised her hand, red sparks of fire magic beginning to crackle across her fingers.
Sera froze—Livia was actually going to throw a spell at her right here in the cocourtyarcourt