- Some time in the past

After the mysterious death of the Arcane King, the world was in chaos. It was the final event that eventually led to an all-out arcane war. A war that threatened the existence of humanity itself. No matter how small or large, every power was fighting for survival; not even the largest empires were safe from getting their existence erased from history. After years of fighting and countless battles, uncountable casualties, and the total destruction of countless habitats, it finally came to an end.

The battlefield was covered with the blood of the warriors that took part in the war; there were thousands of dead bodies lying there without a proper send-off. Amidst all this, a middle-aged man was walking with the support of his spear.

His Scarlett eyes looked around the scene with the sight of sorrow for the ones who died in this war. He then looked towards the sky. Dark clouds were covering the sky and blocking almost all of the light.

“It looks like it’s finally over. The losses from this conflict are immeasurable, but I shouldn’t complain. It is a miracle that this fragile world survived the conflict.”

He then looked around for any surviving warriors who might need help. After a while, he suddenly stopped after hearing a weird sound.

‘What is that sound? It looks like it’s quite far from here.’

He quickly rushed towards the place where the sound came from.

The sound kept getting louder and clearer as he approached the source. As a result, he kept getting more and more worried.

‘There’s no doubt…. This sound is.’

Soon, he reached the source of the sound. There was a child; it looked like it hadn’t even been a month since he was born.

“It was this child’s cries that I was hearing. But what in the world is a child this young doing on battlefields? More importantly, it is a miracle that he survived a battle this fierce.”

He then looked around for possible survivors who might be related to the child. After looking for a while, he didn’t find any survivors in the area.

“As I feared, everyone in this area is already dead. But from the way they died, it seems that they were trying to protect something. Could they have been trying to protect this child?”

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He then looked towards the child and thought for some time.

“Regardless of the reason, I cannot let their death be in vain. After all, they sacrificed their lives in order to protect him. As an Arcane mage, it is now my responsibility to protect this child. After all, I won’t have anything else to do in the meantime.”

He then gently picked up the child, and suddenly he stopped crying and smiled towards the man. The warrior then looked towards the nearby dead bodies.

“Though I cannot promise how the child might turn out to be, I vow to protect him till he is grown. I do not know a way to find his real name, so I hope you will allow me to name him myself.”

He then looked towards the child with a gentle smile.

“Tenshin, I have decided to name this child Tenshin Kurayami.”

The warrior then took the child with him.

- Present day

It is a beautiful morning in a village outside of any kingdoms or empires. A young boy is sleeping inside a small house. He opens his eyes slowly.

“What.. It’s morning already? I hoped to get more sleep, especially today. But I guess sleeping after that dream would be hard for anyone.” He says this with a cold and slightly disappointed expression on his face.

Suddenly, he hears a voice from another room in the same house.

“Tenshin, are you awake? You have received a letter.”

“Yes, I will get there in a minute.”

He then quickly gets ready and goes to the room where the sound came from. There is an old man with crimson hair and Scarlett eyes sitting there. He seems to be reading some books.

Tenshin then sincerely kneels before the old man, showing his respect.

“Good morning, master Tetsuo,” he said with a facial expression showing his sincere respect and love for the old man.

“Good morning, Tenshin. Also, I told you that you should call me grandfather when we’re not training.” He then stopped reading the books and smiled towards Tenshin.

“Yes grandfather. How is your morning?” Tenshin then sits near Tetsuo and grabs the letter that he mentioned before.

“It is good as usual, but I think our time together might have come to an end.” He replied with a slightly sad expression on his face.

Tenshin then reads the letter; it was from the magical academy that he had applied to for his studies.

“Yes, it seems like the letter is from the Magical Academy of Stygian. They have invited me to the capital city for upcoming entrance exams.” He said it without any expression on his face.

“It appears that the exam is due in 2 weeks. The Empire of Stygian's magical academy is famous for only inviting students with exceptional abilities. I am surprised that they would accept the application of someone from a small village that too from outside the empire.”

“Hmm, it is indeed a dream of thousands of students around the world to study at this academy.”

He then looks towards Tenshin.

“Are you not excited to be invited?”

“Of course I am excited; after all, as you said, this is a dream academy of thousands of students.” He replied with the same expressionless face.

“Ah! I see. It indeed is a precious academy, and many make it their dream to study here. But it seems it is only a small step towards your ambition, is it not?” He replied with a gentle smile.

“Indeed, after all, becoming the Arcane King is something that I want to achieve some day.”

After hearing tenshin's words Tetsuo smiled with confidence and replied "That, you will achieve. I have no doubts."

They both then continued their conversation for a while.