The morning was bright and loud in a small town square.
Hundreds of families were crowded inside the Town Chapel under its vaulted white-stone ceiling, murmuring with nervous excitement as children moved toward the altar in a crooked line.
Today was the annual Day of Awakening.
A brilliant pillar of light suddenly shot toward the sky from the stained glass dome of the chapel.
Several young children looking dramatically above at the dome while others maintained their focus at the alter.
Near the front, the Priest adjusted the brass monocle over his left eye and lowered a thin crystal vial above a trembling girl’s palm.
The glowing liquid inside the vial slowly rose and settled near the rim after a few seconds.
“Water Magic,” the Priest announced, offering a practiced, benevolent smile.
“Ninety-one mana.
The heavens smile upon you, young child.”
The teenager girl gasped.
Her parents immediately came forward and embraced her as tears of joy filled their eyes, and they left moments later, overwhelmed with joy.
Nearby, a fourteen-year-old boy silently watched the scene with a sorrow on his face.
His name was Shinazu.
With his messy black hair and old, heavily patched clothes, he looked completely out of place among the excited children around him.
Still, he waited patiently for his turn.
Another boy stepped forward.
The light pillar shot up again and the Priest repeated the same process and this time, the liquid shot upward much faster, making the few people at the front lean forward.
“One hundred and fifty mana,” the Priest announced, raising his voice so the entire hall could hear.
“Lightning Magic!”
The chapel exploded with excitement.
“Lightning Magic!”
The boy’s parents nearly cried looking at each other.
“The Goddess has blessed our son!”
Just beside the Priest, a man dressed in the elegant attire of a town lord approached the family personally with a smile.
His name was Kaizel.
“I am very delighted to see that such a prodigy has appeared in my town,” he said warmly.
“I would like to offer a personal recommendation to one of the finest magic academy in the world.”
The family looked overwhelmed by the honor and eagerly followed him toward a private room.
Shinazu quietly watched everything, noticing how the Priest didn’t let the liquid in the vial stop before announcing the results beforehand.
How he exchanged subtle gestures with Kaizel and how Kaizel immediately came forward with the recommendation and a plastic smile.
None of it sat well with him.
Perhaps he was imagining things or perhaps not but something felt wrong to him.
Several more awakenings passed.
Eventually, it became Shinazu’s turn.
His palms were slick with sweat due to nervousness.
He stepped onto the altar dais and stood before a white stone pedestal where on top of it rested the awakening artifact: a heavy, circular artifact built from concentric bronze rings, with four large engraved outer plates and four pointed cardinal extensions set with small blue crystals.
At its center sat a large, faceted blue crystal recessed into a metal socket, surrounded by layers of rune-etched rings.
Shinazu took a steady breath and placed his bare palm against the cool surface of the center crystal.
The moment his skin touched the the stone…
light erupted.
A pillar of radiance pierced the heavens as before.
Yet inside that radiance, the chapel vanished from Shinazu’s senses as he found himself drifting in an absolute silent, dark and endless abyss surrounded by distant shimmering stars.
A strange, heavy presence brushed against his soul, lingering for only a heartbeat before snapping like a thread.
He felt as though he had left the world behind.
The next second everything vanished, he was back in the chapel.
The light pillar disappeared and the crowd stared at him for his results though not expecting much seeing his old patched clothes and bare feet conditions.
It took Shinazu a few seconds to process the mystery but the Priest had already lifted the glass vial onto Shinazu’s hand, peering through his brass monocle.
As the liquid climbed, the old man’s expression stiffened.
He cast a quick, silent hand gesture toward Kaizel, the same gesture Shinazu had seen earlier, directed toward Kaizel.
A cold prickle of warning crawled up Shinazu’s neck.
“Kid,” Kaizel said as he approached with a smile, “aren’t you a little young?
Where are your parents?”
Shinazu lowered his eyes.
“I don’t have any.”
For a moment, Kaizel looked sympathetic.
“An orphan?”
Shinazu nodded.
“I see.” The town lord placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Then Heaven has truly blessed you.” The Priest said with the same plastic smile.
“You possess Light Magic and your future is boundless.”
Envious whispers rippled through the surrounding crowd.
Light Magic was exceptionally rare.
Shinazu forced a smile.
“Thank you.” Then he turned and tried to leave as quickly as possible but a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and he froze at the spot.
“You’ll need to come with us,” Kaizel said.
Shinazu looked up.
“Why?”
“Don’t you want a recommendation?
Also I will provide you with necessary accommodations and you won’t have to…”
“I’m fine on my own.” Shinazu cut him in the middle.
The smile on Kaizel’s face never changed.
“Even so, we have to complete a report especially for those who awaken rare magic such as yours.”
Shinazu’s instincts screamed at him to run but refusing was not an option.
“Just ten minutes,” Kaizel assured him.
“You’ll be free to go afterward.”
Kaizel gestured to an armored guard waiting by the side door.
Knowing he could not fight his way through a room full of soldiers, Shinazu reluctantly walked forward.
The guard held his hand and led him down a cold stone corridor into a private receiving room, closing and bolting the heavy oak door behind them.
The moment the door shut behind him, Shinazu felt a knot form in his stomach as the room was strangely too quiet.
The guard smiled reassuringly.
“Relax, child.
You’re perfectly safe here.”
Before Shinazu could respond, from the shadow of an adjoining doorway, a small figure dragged itself across the floorboards, leaving a trail of dark crimson blood behind.
The boy’s right arm was gone, his torso covered in deep blade slashes, his face as pale as chalk as if already dead.
Shinazu immediately recognized him.
It was the boy who had awakened Lightning Magic, the same prodigy everyone had been celebrating moments ago.
The dying boy pushed his head up with the last of his strength, his bloodshot eyes locking onto Shinazu.
“Run…”
Those were his final words before a broadsword sliced down through the darkness, piercing through the boy’s spine and into the wood.
The boy’s body collapsed.
Dead.
For a moment, Shinazu’s mind went blank, his whole body frozen as he struggled to breathe, think, or move.
A second guard stepped into the light, wiping a bloodstained blade against his leather breeches.
“What the hell are you doing?” the first guard barked in an angry whisper.
The killer lowered his head, annoyed.
“The parents got in the way.
Curse them, they would not let go of me.”
Shinazu peered past the doorway into the inner room.
Slumped over an overturned table were two more hacked bodies, their clothes soaked in red.
They were the dead boy’s mother and father.
“Quit whining and finish this one,” the first guard snapped, his fingers digging into Shinazu’s shirt collar like an iron vice.
“If a single one of these wretched Dark Magic brats escapes, it will be our heads Lord Kaizel takes instead.”
A wave of pure terror flooded Shinazu’s chest.
Dark Magic?
“Don’t worry.
I’ll take care of this one with ease.” The second guard glanced toward him with a cruel smile that made Shinazu’s blood run cold.
At that moment, everything clicked together in Shinazu’s mind.
Light Magic was a lie.
I awakened Dark Magic.
Horror twisted his face as he looked at the dead boy beside him.
They are going to kill me as well!
Panic washed over Shinazu as cold sweat broke across his skin.
His eyes darted toward the door.
Run.
The word echoed inside his head.
Run.
Run.
RUN.
Before he could move, the first guard noticed his panicked expression and seized him.
A heavy hand clamped over his mouth while the other lifted him into the air, keeping his feet from touching the floorboards.
“Easy now,” the first guard muttered, irritated by Shinazu’s thrashing.
“Don’t worry, I will finish you quickly,” the second guard said as he approached, sword in hand, his eyes shining with anticipation.
“Don’t kill him here, idiot.
It’ll stain my armor, and I have to stand escort for the next batch outside.
Take him into the side room and make it quick.”
The second guard sheathed his sword and reached forward to take Shinazu.
Terror flared through Shinazu.
No, no, no, I’m not dying here.
Not like this.
As the exchange happened, Shinazu struck.
He stopped thrashing and swung his leg back with everything he had, driving his heel squarely between the first guard’s thighs.
The guard let out a choked wheeze, his face contorting in agony and his eyes rolling back as he crumpled to his knees, losing his grip entirely.
The second guard lunged forward to grab him, but Shinazu reacted faster.
He threw his weight forward and sank his teeth straight into the sword guard’s wrist, biting down until his jaws locked against bone.
Crunch!
“AARGH!” The sword guard let out an agonizing howl, stumbling backward in shock.
In that exact fraction of a second, Shinazu broke free and bolted toward the door.
As he yanked it open and got out, he heard metal clanking and saw two more guards rushing down the corridor, drawn by the loud shriek.
“You little bastard!” the guards barked, charging forward.
Shinazu turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction.
But as he rounded the corner, his feet skidded to a halt.
It was a dead end.
He spotted a door on the right wall and threw his weight against it, but the handle refused to turn.
It was locked solid.
“Stop right there, you vermin!” the guards yelled, turning the corner behind him.
Shinazu looked around in sheer desperation.
The exit was blocked, the guards were closing in, and the door was locked.
If they catch me, I am dead His face agonized, but then his eyes fell upon a heavy decorative vase resting beneath a tall stained glass window of the corridor.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the ceramic vase with both of his hands and hurled it with all his strength.
Crash!
The colored glass shattered outward, and bright sunlight flooded the corridor.
Shinazu leaped through the opening without a second thought.
…
In the main hall, the crowd gasped at the sound of the violent crash, coming right after the muffled scream earlier.
Kaizel quickly rushed toward the commotion.
His eyes widened as he arrived at the shattered window, finding two of his guards hesitating on the ledge, terrified of cutting themselves on the jagged glass.
Behind them, one guard was clutching his groin in agony, while the other held a mangled, bleeding wrist.
“WHAT HAPPENED?” Kaizel roared at them.
“Town Lord, the brat was too shrewd!
He kicked his groin, bit my hand, and broke the window to esc…”
Before the guard could finish his sentence, a crescent of sharp green energy tore through the air.
The blade severed the heads of both the guards in a single stroke, spraying blood across the walls as the vibrant green aura faded from Kaizel’s sword.
A vein throbbed violently on Kaizel’s forehead as more guards flooded the corridor behind him.
“Capture that Devil Spawn at all costs!” Kaizel roared.
He kicked the two hesitant guards out of the window frame and dropped into the street below.
Within moments, dozens of mounted knights and mages on horseback surged through the city streets alongside Kaizel, scouring the alleys in a relentless hunt for the fourteen-year-old orphan fleeing for his life.