Today marked the first day of advanced magic lessons. Up until now, we had been honing our ability to sense the spark in the air.

"Magic is a powerful ability that no one should take for granted," Professor Malinda Voidheart exclaimed.

Professor Voidheart, a tall woman in her fifties with a strong Russian accent and an intimidating aura, had a long face, high cheekbones, and a small, sharp nose. Her piercing black eyes seemed to see through everything, and her long black hair, streaked with faint hints of gray, went down her back. She commanded attention with her straight posture and unwavering gaze, with one look you could tell she had authority and experience.

"Now, out with your wands," she ordered.

They were about 79 students in the orphanage, but only about 20 could sense or slightly manipulate spark

We stood in the orphanage's large backyard, lined up in a straight row, fumbling to retrieve our wands from our pockets.

"Lesson one spark exists naturally in this world. It surrounds us. To manipulate it, you must feel it around yourself, draw it closer, and imagine it changing forms—twisting and folding over itself—until it creates what you desire. Today, each of you hone this spark and make it bend to your will."

"Understand that we do not know much about the origin of this gift we harness, so treat it with respect and learn," she said, pausing for a moment. "So that when you are grown, you too can help those who come after to understand."

I was the only one who seemed to notice her pause. The other students couldn’t be blamed—they didn’t know what I knew. Milinda glanced in my direction, catching me staring. I quickly looked away, my heart racing in a panic.

I hadn’t even considered how much the teachers might know about this. Was Milinda in the loop? Was she aware of the slaughter taking place here?

Everyone began to focus, closing their eyes and breathing deeply, trying to sense the mana around them. A faint white glow emitted from thire wands. They visualized the spark . Some caught on quickly; the first to succeed was a girl named Bethany. In an instant, a large sphere of water appeared in front of her, glistening against the sunlight—a transparent, wobbly body of water floating in the air, dripping onto the ground. One by one, each of us managed to conjure it some conjured fire while others conjured big round bouldersof stone and others strong ghusts of wind all managed to get a hang of it all except me.......every single one except for me.

I have these dark black lines of runes on my hands they have been there for as long as I can remember black and gray symbols scribbled all along my arms and palms I'm not sure where they initially came from or what purpose they serve all I know is that in this moment when I tried with all my might to summon anything,a faint warm sensation would linger over theses runes.

"Hurry now, boy," Malinda exclaimed. "We do not have all day."

I kept trying, but nothing happened. I could feel the spark around me, but I couldn't manipulate it.

Malinda looked at me and squinted her eyes before she said.

"Boy, try to absorb the mana around you as if you are letting it gravitate towards the center of your body, absorb it into you instead, she ordered

"Now, remember this carefully. Imagine your spark flowing through veins in your body, like how blood is transported. You will now pump out the spark and guide it down your veins all the way through your arms to the tips of your fingers, then into your wand, releasing it outwards."

Milinda could see I was struggling but honestly this seemed so different from what we had been taught so far what was all this about spark coming from inside my body wasn't the spark in the air around us how could I do that confused I decided to just try

I focused hard, pacing my breathing carefully and adjusting my posture. I felt a strange warm sensation at the center of my cest this warm sensation began flowing through my body, down my legs, and into the ground.

I opened my eyes and could feel the runes on my arms radiat this warm heat it was strange it felt hot but not painful the rune symbols had these orange red-ish glow to them this had never happened before

Yes just like that boy she said smiling

The tricky part is concentrating the spark to flow only in the direction you wanted—through your arms. She added

Breath after breath, I focused on channeling the flow, visualizing the spark shooting out of my wand. Finally, I opened my eyes again and saw a large ball of water in front of me.

"Good... boy. Now keep concentrating," Professor Voidheart shouted, pleased with my progress. "Don't lose focus."

My body began to feel tingly a sensation I'd only felt in my fingers up till now

I tried to slow the flow of spark to a steady pace, but it continued pumping into the ball, causing it to grow larger. The spark felt as if it was coming from every part of my body not only my arms I dropped the wand but nothing stopped the ball just got larger.

"Stop now, boy! That's enough!" Malinda shouted.

"I'm trying!" I said as it continued expanding.

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At this point, it was almost as large as me, engulfing me and sucking me into its watery mass. I opened my eyes and saw Ola and Ren shouting something at me, but I couldn't hear them over the rush of water engulfing me, filling my nose and throat. The ball was about three times my body size, and I felt like I was drowning until suddenly, it went rock solid. A chill overcame my whole body before I passed out, the thing i heard was the sound of shattering and everything went black

"Hey, Madoxx," a voice called.

"It's... it's you," I responded, my eyes struggling to adjust to the bright white room.

A girl stood crouched, her head resting in her palms. I couldn't mistake that blinding white hair blowing in the wind, and those piercing blue eyes.

"It's you," I repeated, "Who are you?" I asked.

"You can trust Malinda" she smiled, locking eyes with me. "You're doing well, Madoxx. We will be seeing each other soon," she said before suddenly exploding into a puff of white clouds.

"Wake up, Maddox, wake up! Why isn't he waking up?" I heard Ola say as I took a deep breath.

"Thank God, I can't have you dying under my supervision, boy," Malinda said, taking a deep breath herself.

"Wow, dude, you really had to show off, huh?" Ren said, grinning.

"Such a dumbass," Ola added, wiping away a tear from her eye.

"I've never seen someone get attacked by their own spell " Ren chuckled softly.

I looked behind me and saw shaterd pieces of ice alll over the floor.

"What happened?" I said, confused.

"We aren't sure. This has never happened before," Malinda replied.

She explained that a mage has an affinity for one of the elements—fire, wind, water, or earth—and gains the ability to control it. This exercise was designed to reveal each student's affinity; those with a water affinity would conjure water, and similarly for fire, wind, and earth.

Yet, I was not only capable of conjuring water but also freezing it, something unprecedented.

I looked into Malinda's eyes, which seemed to catch her off guard.

"Off with all of you," Malinda exclaimed. "Maddox, come with me."

"Children, you are to say nothing of the events that took place here," she added. "Yes, ma'am," the children said in unison.

"Come sit here, boy," she said, gesturing to a nearby bench.

"Only one who has seen true death has those eyes. Now, I will not ask how you came about this, but listen to me. There is much you do not know about this world and the true evil that inhabits it. We who came before have already been punished for our sins, yet those who cannot accept the judgment bestowed by fate try to change what cannot be... what should not be. I have watched for too long the atrocities committed here and cannot bear to see more innocent lives lost."

Did she just admit to knowing about all of this?

Her words made my heart skip a beat. Did she know about what happened with Eliza last night?

"I have little power, boy, and cannot change anything, but your eyes remind me of a younger me. I know this is selfish, but I will burden you with this responsibility. I will help you help these children."

It was true; besides Magnus, I'd never seen any of the teachers use magic. I'd always found it strange but had never questioned it.

"Become strong enough to protect what is important to you, and only then can you win this."

"I don't understand, Professor. Why is this happening?"

"Even with a thousand years, it would be hard to explain why anything happens. For now, I will help you how I can. Do not speak of this to anyone, not even those you trust. This conversation must remain between us for now. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do," I replied.

I'm not sure why the girl with white hair said what she said but for some reason I felt I could trust Malinda too.

"Good. Now, go on, get out of here."

Later in the dorms~

The dorms could house six people. The small room was cramped with three old bunk beds, an antique chest filled with clothes, and a window on the far side with a view of the backyard. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, and the ceiling had an old, wonky fan with only two of its three blades still mounted. I shared the room with Ren, Ola, Eliza, Bethany, and Isaac.

Bethany was your average nerdy bookworm, soft-spoken and mostly kept to herself. She had frizzy long brown hair with bangs and freckles all over her face, and she wore big rounded glasses. Once you got to know her, you’d find she had a kind, warm personality.

Isaac was her brother, and he was almost the opposite in many ways. Outgoing and confident, Isaac had short, neatly trimmed hair. He was often seen laughing with friends or participating in various sports activities. Despite their differences, Isaac and Bethany shared a close bond. Isaac admired Bethany's intelligence and kindness, while Bethany appreciated Isaac's boldness and charisma. Their mutual respect and love for each other. Isaac was the most promising wizard after Ethan and was next in line to go to Lux.

The six of us were like a mini family in this orphanage, having formed a bond over the years. We had known each other since birth, after all.

"So, what happened to you guys last night?" Bethany asked. "Yeah, we were worried," Isaac added, "but none of the caretakers noticed, so you're good."

I hesitated to tell them, but I knew it needed to be done. Eliza and I explained everything we had seen. I could see the shock and heartbreak on their faces when I told them what had happened to Ethan and the rest.

"We need to keep this between us for now," I explained.

"What? No, we need to do something! We can't let them get away with this. It's inhumane—they strung him up and executed him!" Isaac cried out.

"Yeah, we all feel that way," Ola said, breaking into tears, "but we need to be smart about it. We can't just be reckless. Everyone's lives are in danger, not just ours."

Isaac hesitated for a moment, but I could tell he understood.

"So what do we do now?" Bethany asked.

"The closest town is too far away for one of us to reach undetected, so if we leave, we all need to leave," I explained.

"This is crazy," Isaac muttered to himself. "You can't let them take me, Madoxx, please," he said, shaking.

In that moment, I didn’t know what to say. It was all happening too quickly. The nice, average life we'd lived until now was flipped upside down.

Magnus's office ~

"Oh young Isaac, how can I help you this evening?" Magnus asked.

"S-sorry to disturb you, sir. It's just that I... I know I'm the next candidate to leave the orphanage," Isaac stammered.

"Yes, boy. You've done well, and your magic is exceptional. With more hard work, you'll do wonderful things at Lux," Magnus replied.

"Well, that's the thing, sir. I don't want to become a wizard anymore. I'm ready to set out, do my own thing, and explore the world," Isaac declared.

Magnus's face changed from its calm demeanor for a moment.

"I see, boy. That is your choice, and I have no objections. But may I ask what made you come to this decision?" he asked.

"I'm just not interested in the magical arts anymore, sir."

"I see. Well, you are free to go," Magnus said with a hint of anger in his voice.

The Dorms~

A white light lit up the night sky. A wave of strange light traveled through the room, and just as quickly, it disappeared.

"What was that?" Ola asked.

"I'm not sure. I saw it too," I replied.

"Same here," Ren said.

Bethany was fast asleep and didn't respond.