The Great Hall of Astra Mage Academy had never felt so suffocating.
Rows upon rows of students stood beneath the towering crystal chandeliers, their faces glowing with excitement, fear, and anticipation. Golden runes shimmered across the marble floor, converging toward the centre of the chamber where the Awakening Crystal stood like a silent judge.
It was enormous.
A pillar of translucent stone taller than three men, glowing with ever-shifting lights—red, blue, white, violet, silver, and gold.
Each colour represented an elemental affinity.
Each light represented a future.
For everyone in the hall, this was a day of hope.
For Lucian, it felt like a final trial.
His fingers brushed against the pendant hidden inside his uniform pocket.
The metal was warm.
Not burning.
Just… alive.
A faint pulse moved through it every few seconds, as if something within was waiting.
Professor Elric stepped onto the raised platform, his silver robes flowing behind him.
His voice boomed across the chamber.
"Students of Astra Academy, today marks the beginning of your true path as mages."
The hall fell silent.
"An affinity is more than power. It is your identity, your destiny, and your bond with the world itself."
Lucian stood at the back of the line, shoulders tense.
Rudra Stormvale, standing a few places ahead, glanced back with a smirk.
"Don't worry, Lucian," he whispered loud enough for others to hear. "At least expulsion will save us from seeing your face every day."
A few nearby students snickered.
Lucian ignored them.
His gaze remained fixed on the crystal.
Professor Elric raised one hand.
"The ceremony will begin."
One by one, students stepped forward.
Each placed their hand against the crystal.
The results came swiftly.
"Earth Affinity."
A warm brown glow.
Applause.
"Frost Affinity."
A pale silver-blue light.
Cheers.
"Wind Affinity."
Soft green currents swirled around the student.
The hall buzzed with excitement.
Lucian watched in silence.
For a moment, his mind drifted back to the conversation he had overheard.
His sisters.
The clans are searching.
We cannot let them find him.
His chest tightened.
Questions stormed through him.
Who were his sisters?
Why were his parents hiding everything?
And why had the pendant felt as though it had been waiting for him?
The line moved forward.
Then it was Rudra's turn.
He stepped onto the platform with effortless confidence.
His silver-trimmed uniform gleamed beneath the crystal light.
The moment his palm touched the stone, violet lightning erupted through the chamber.
A loud crack split the air.
Students gasped.
Bolts of purple electricity spiralled around Rudra like serpents.
Professor Elric's stern face softened with approval.
"High-Tier Volt Affinity."
The hall erupted into applause.
Rudra turned, his arrogant smile widening as his eyes found Lucian.
"Try not to embarrass yourself too badly."
Lucian said nothing.
But deep inside, something cold settled into place.
His turn had come.
Professor Elric's voice echoed once more.
"Lucian Vale."
The murmurs began immediately.
"He's really doing it?"
"What if nothing happens again?"
"Can someone even fail twice?"
Lucian stepped forward.
Every footstep felt heavier than the last.
The entire academy was watching.
Teachers.
Students.
Rudra.
And somewhere beyond the walls, perhaps fate itself.
He reached the crystal.
For a moment, he hesitated.
His hand trembled.
The pendant pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Silence.
Lucian placed his palm against the crystal.
Nothing happened.
A murmur swept across the hall.
Then suddenly—
A deep blue light burst from the crystal.
Water-like energy spiralled upward, flowing around Lucian in shimmering ribbons.
The hall gasped.
Professor Elric's eyes widened.
"Aqua Affinity."
For one breathless second, Lucian stood frozen.
He had awakened.
He had actually awakened.
A strange relief flooded through him.
But it lasted only a moment.
Then the whispers began.
"Aqua?"
"That's it?"
"All that waiting for water?"
Rudra laughed openly.
The sound cut through the hall like a blade.
"All this drama for a common Aqua affinity?"
The laughter spread.
Lucian clenched his fists.
His chest tightened again.
But this time, beneath the humiliation, he felt something else.
The pendant.
It was burning hot.
Not painfully.
Urgently.
His heartbeat accelerated.
The blue light around him flickered.
For a brief moment—
A second colour flashed.
Black.
Then violet.
Gone so quickly that no one else seemed to notice.
But Lucian saw it.
And so did Professor Elric.
The professor's eyes narrowed.
As Lucian stepped away from the crystal, a strange dizziness washed over him.
A whisper brushed against his mind.
Not yet…
He stopped.
The voice had not come from anyone in the hall.
It had come from within.
The pendant.
His fingers instinctively moved toward his pocket.
Warm.
Pulsing.
Alive.
Professor Elric's gaze lingered on him.
"Return to your place."
Lucian obeyed.
But the unease only grew.
The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur.
Names.
Affinities.
Applause.
None of it truly reached him.
His thoughts remained fixed on that moment.
The black flash.
The whisper.
Not yet…
When the ceremony ended, students flooded out of the hall.
Rudra intercepted him almost immediately.
His smile was cruel.
"So after all this time, you finally awakened… and it's water?"
His friends laughed.
Rudra leaned closer.
"I expected disappointment, Lucian. But this?"
He clicked his tongue.
"This is pathetic."
Lucian met his eyes.
For once, he did not look away.
Something in that stare made Rudra's expression shift.
Just slightly.
"You should be grateful," Rudra said coldly. "At least now you'll be useful for washing the training grounds."
Laughter followed.
Lucian brushed past him.
But as he did, the pendant pulsed again.
A voice.
Faint.
Female.
Interesting…
Lucian's breath caught.
He hurried out of the academy grounds.
By the time he reached home, the sun had begun to set.
His parents were in the living room.
The moment his mother saw him, she stood.
"Well?"
Lucian's voice was quiet.
"Aqua."
A complicated expression crossed both their faces.
Relief.
Worry.
And something else.
His father's gaze shifted toward the pendant chain faintly visible beneath Lucian's collar.
For a moment, his face changed.
Shock.
"Where did you get that?"
Lucian froze.
"The pendant?"
His father stood so suddenly that the chair scraped harshly against the floor.
"Lucian. Where did you get it?"
The tension in his voice was unlike anything Lucian had ever heard.
"At the antique market."
Silence.
His mother's face went pale.
His father's jaw tightened.
Then he said quietly—
"Go to your room."
Lucian stared.
"Why?"
His mother stepped forward, her voice trembling.
"Please."
The fear in their eyes made his chest tighten.
He turned and slowly climbed the stairs.
But the moment he entered his room and closed the door—
The pendant exploded with light.
Blue.
Black.
Violet.
A circle of runes spread across the floor.
The room vanished.
Lucian's world collapsed into darkness.
Then—
Stars.
A vast, endless void stretched around him.
And in the distance, two figures slowly stepped out of the shadows.
One male.
One female.
Their eyes locked onto him.
The male spoke first.
His voice was deep and ancient.
"So… the Origin Core has finally awakened."
The female's gaze fell upon him, sharp and unreadable.
"And he carries death within him."
Lucian's heart thundered.
The void around him trembled.
The man smiled faintly.
"Welcome, child."
The woman's lips curved into the smallest hint of amusement.
"To the beginning of your true destiny."