Chapter 1

Greylight Academy arc

Oceans of blood. Smell of iron.

His eyes are burning from the heat, tears running down his cheeks. His right arm shredded like ribbons.

He could do nothing but look down at the oceans of blood underneath him.

He watched as some of his friends looked up. And they scream and scream and never stop screaming.

He could not look up. He dared not.

That “thing” is still there.

—---------------------------------------

Greylight Academy is one of the greatest mage academies in the world. The vast land of the academy is covered by fog 363 days of the year. Only on the first and last day of the year can students and teachers leave or enter the academy.

Hundreds of students are lined up in front of a blue tower that divides the sky into two. The students vary in age, the oldest seems to be in their early 30s, and the youngest in their late teens. As mages can live for easily a thousand years, these new students are but babies in the magic world.

No matter how far up the curious new students looked, the top of the tower could not be seen.

A vast forest surrounds the tower. The trees are so gigantic that elephants look like ants compared to them.

An old man in a plain blue robe appears in the air, without sound, even the wind does not move. The students had blinked and he was there.

The robe is one solid color, without a single embroidery, blue as the sky, and unblemished by anything else.

Despite the wrinkles on his aged face, his hair was black, combed, and tied in a neat fashion.

An image of an ideal eastern mage.

The majority of the students had noticed the man’s sudden appearance.

“Sir Windshear!” Sounds of excited young men and women

“We pay respect to humanity’s strongest!”A group of eastern young people step out and bow their heads.

Suddenly, the grass and flowers start waving in place. The trees seem to sing. A big woman sat atop one of the big tree branches. Almost as if embracing her, the tree branch gently lowered the big woman onto the ground. Her eyes grow unnaturally green.

Students realized that the tree branch was bigger than the average house. And that woman towers over them like parents to a child.

“What…………a giantess…..” one female student had her jaws open while looking up at the giant woman.

“That's Greeneyes Yorah, she is a half-giant. Real giants are at least twice her size. That's the nature magic teacher. Didn't you read the new students' welcome package?” her friend pushed a folder at her.

And then, Heat. Hot.

A sudden overwhelming heat pressed down on the meeting ground.

Every single person felt the hair on their skin almost burn up at the same time, even the two teachers looked uncomfortable.

The eastern man nods to the giant woman. A transparent wind barrier suddenly appears around the students, while the flowers around seem to drink in the heat like water. Hot air could be seen with the naked eye flowing into small flowers on the ground.

A black ball fell from somewhere above the cloud, descending at a speed that is hard to follow with the naked eye.

But the ball comes to an immediate and sudden stop right before hitting the ground.

A flying black creature. Round, big eyes, smooth skin, short and fat tail.

“Gosh, so cute. A baby flying salamander?” a group of girls immediately try to run towards the extremely cute flying creature.

“STOP! Don't touch him without permission. Show some respect to your teacher” the eastern man, Windshear told the students.

The group of girls stopped in their tracks and looked at the folder in their hands.

On the corner of the “staff introduction” page, a picture of the creature with the label “Ruinious Marcerious Arieris, baby dragon (2 years old), combat magic teacher”

The students swallowed hard.

A dragon, the pinnacle of power in this world. Even for a baby dragon, humanity would need at least 10 of someone of the same caliber as Windshear, one of humanity’s strongest, to be able to fight such a creature. And even in such a case, victory is not guaranteed.

In front of the tower, the baby dragon floats around lazily, flying around the students, and looking at them curiously.

The heat has lessened significantly

In the back of the line, a chubby black hair young man stood alone.

“This lineup of teachers is quite intense huh?” A voice came from next to him.

Jace looks over at the red-headed handsome man.

“This guy looks like a jerk.” He thought to himself.

“This guy is the only one that did not react when the dragon came down”, a smile still plastered on his face. Cade thought to himself.

The two young men looked at each other

“I am Cadreal, just call me Cade” Cade introduced himself.

“My name is Jace.” Jace turned his attention back to the new student welcome package.

Cade looked at him, annoyed that he was ignored.

Jace is looking through the staff introduction section. He seems to be looking for someone in particular.

“Are you interested in a specific class?” Cade stood next to him.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Jace looked at him. He was familiar with such people. The type of people that look to build connections with many people and use those connections to their advantage.

“My magic intensity is level 2. It was nice meeting you.” Jace said and looked down at the folder.

Cade looked a little surprised and then smiled.

“What's this? Isn't he interesting?” For the first time since coming to this academy, he felt like his time was not wasted.

Jace finally found who he was looking for. He put the folder in his bag, and then he noticed that Cade was still standing next to him.

“Why is this guy still here?!?” Jace looked up and saw that annoying smiling face.

“Can I help you?” Jace asked him

“Let's be friends” a smile that looked more like a mocking laugh.

—------------------------------------

“The three basic elements that make up a mage, what are they?” A woman inside a classroom said to the students

The circular room looks more like a glass house than a classroom. Transparent mirrors cover the entire room like a dome. If the student looks outside, they can see that the domed, transparent classroom is nestled on top of a tree.

“Intensity. Control. Mana” a young woman with long black hair and chains wrapped around her arms. The punk rock girl answered.

“Correct! Thank you, Miss Beth. A spell requires the mage to (control) the mana inside their own body, and the amount of (mana) inside a mage’s body dictates how many times or how much of the spell a mage can use.” A handsome woman in her 50s with an air of a strict librarian points to the board behind her, (Basic Magic Theory) written on it.

She waves her hands and letters appear on the board slowly as if someone invisible is writing it.

“But the most important thing is (magic intensity). Why is that?” The female teacher asked the class

“Miss Wanders! While difficult, both control and mana can be enhanced or increased by practice or other means. But magic intensity can not” an eastern girl with a bob haircut answered quickly, glancing at the punk rock girl near her.

“Exactly, thank you, Miss Kim. So today, we will be learning about the nuance of control, mana, and intensity relativity” Miss Wanders said happily to the groans of several students.

Jace seriously took notes of everything Miss Wanders said. Sparks of electricity connect his finger and the pen moving by itself.

He looks to his right and sees the annoyingly handsome guy with his head in his arms. Sleeping in the first class of the year.

Jace looks down at his hands, a few letters float there.

Main Mission

Marked by ??? and protected by the Planet, your fate was forcefully bound to the planet’s soul. Become the first human to ascend to a higher life form to prevent destruction of the planet

Ascension of host 0%

Ascension of monsters 2%

Reward: Wish (1)

Failure: planet’s destruction

Next Quest: 2 hours 25 minutes 7 seconds.

This was his secret.

A sick boy who dreamt about being a mage but was born with a body that rejects mana.

But due to fate or luck, the planet had given him a gift.

Mana Authority

Those who hold dominion over mana are already on the path of Ascension.

The host has complete control over all mana

He believed that to be a hint from the planet, of the path he needed to take to achieve Ascension.

He doesn't know what exactly he needs to do to reach Ascension, but the clue is in this trait. The path of a mage is what he decided on. And this place is the greatest magic academy in the world.

As he expected, perfect control of mana had gotten him accepted into the academy

He concentrated on himself and the screen in front of him changed

Jace Farsea

Race: Human (100%)

Title: Exile, Cosmic Enemy, Doomed Fate

Vitality 5 (5)

Magic: intensity 2 (-??)

Control 10 (+90)

Mana 6 (+94) (-94)

Spell: Scan

Shock

Telekinesis

Trait: Mana Authority

Mana and Aura allergies

Curse of disfigurement

Curse of ?????

Cursed bloodline

Curse of weakness

Doomed

Curse of the uninvited

Curse of insanity

Curse of the void

Blessing: Blessing of the Earth

Planet’s chosen

“Three basic spells. Average vitality and mana. Perfect control. The problem is the sickness…… the blessings are good”

As he thought that, a small screen appeared next to the blessings.

Blessing of the Earth

The Earth itself is protecting this person.

Immune to poison and harsh temperature. Beloved by all in the animal kingdom

Planet’s Chosen

A person chosen by the planet will be guided by the planet

“The planet’s guidance …… Thank you for this chance.” Jace thought about the implication of this information. “I will find a cure here…….” he noticed that Cade was watching him.

“Stop doing that, please. It's creepy” Jace continues to take notes

“That was the 16th time you have looked at your hands since 8 am this morning,” Cade said, his eyes unreadable

“You are creeping me out…..” Jace went back to taking notes.

—---------------------------------

The second class of the day is practical combat magic class.

Every class in this academy is elective, students are allowed to attend or not attend any class they wish.

The magic theory class this morning was a perfect example of this policy since less than 1/10 of the new students attend that class.

Magic combat class is the opposite.

Jace is walking to the gym. Cade followed him with a smile. Jace noticed that aside from the new students, all the upper-class men were also walking in the same direction. The entire student body seems to be attending this class.

The classroom is located in the gym.

The outside seems very ordinary, but the door seems to be elvish. Pale white tree branches and blue gemstones adorn the door, in stark contrast to the gym building that looks extremely ordinary.

Inside, the gym seems to be in a separate space. The ceiling is so high that it's difficult to know if they are indoors or not. The walls can be seen so far away that it feels like they are standing in a vast open space looking at a mountain in the distance.

The new students look around the gym in astonishment.

Jace looked around and noticed that The upperclassmen had grouped and put on their combat gear.

“But it's only 2 years old? Is it even strong enough to be our teacher? Isn't it just a baby?” One second-year girl said

“A dragon’s physiology is different from us. Dragons live forever, as long as they do not die from combat or sickness. You might think that means they mature at a slower pace than humans. But they mature faster. 2 dragon years is equal to about 18 human years. But even by dragon standards, professor Ruin is a genius to receive a teaching certificate at age 2.” Another second-year girl said while looking at her notes.

“Hey, did you just search on the net and act like you knew?” the first girl said, annoyed.

Cade also noticed what the upperclassmen were doing and immediately put on his expensive-looking robe and gloves.

Jace however had no combat gear or fancy robe. He crouches down and tries to find a stone or sticks or anything to use. Unfortunately, no such thing exists in this pristine gym.

After looking around and finding nothing. He notices Cade is looking at him again

“Are you looking for a weapon? I can lend you a knife if you don't have one” Cade handed him an ordinary knife

“Thank you…..” Jace gives him an awkward smile.

Before he could continue the awkward conversation, the students felt that heat again.

Upperclassmen students immediately deployed a transparent dome made from water.

The first year scattered and ran as far away as possible.

A black ball fell from the sky, then the temperature got a little better.

A cute, small, round, black flying lizard-like creature is floating in the middle of the gym.

“Holy crap, the new teacher is a baby dragon.” A second-year male student with round glasses said

Jace felt it in his body. Mana Authority told him that the amount of mana in that little body was more than anything he had ever seen in a human. If Sir Windshear’s mana is like a huge lake, the mana in that baby dragon’s body is like an ocean. The ocean is not limitless, but it is so vast that it might as well be.

The baby dragon made chirping noises like a bird. A blue glass-like dome surrounds the floating baby.

Baby Ruin's short finger can be seen beckoning at the students.

Side Quest

Look at me!

Stand out in class and draw the attention of the dragon

Reward: dragon’s curiosity

Failure: dragon’s quest locks out

“Damn, how am I supposed to do this?” Jace thought

“What is it doing?” One student looks at the baby dragon questioningly

“I think we are meant to attack his barrier,” Jace said

While the freshmen were looking at each other. The upperclassmen all launched various basic attack magics at the baby dragon.

But the various magic did not even seem to touch his barrier. Every spell seems to get shattered instead

Jace noticed it with his trait. Every spell that collided with that barrier did not simply shatter like throwing a glass at a rock. No, the mana itself evaporates the spells before they collide.

The Dragonic mana contains inherent heat that incinerates normal mana like intense heat evaporating water.

The dragon let out squeaking and chirping noises like a bird as if enjoying the show.

A few of the seniors stood in the back and watched. They only smiled and said nothing while the attack was ongoing. One of the female seniors whispered to the other people, and the entire senior class stopped attacking.

The first year also tried to attack, but this time the attacks were so much weaker that it wasn't even amusing for the dragon.

Jace stood behind everyone else and watched. He did not know any attack spells.

“Oh, that guy is good. Already at this level as a freshman?” A few excited noises can be heard

After realizing that all of his elemental magics were ineffective. Cade had twisted and compressed a stack of freshmen welcome folders into a small hardened bullet, no larger than a pencil, and launched it at the barrier.

Even Ruin looked a little impressed, chirping happily at that particular magic. But not a dent can be seen on the barrier.

Eventually, the baby dragon looked bored and Cade threw a book at him in frustration.

Jace looked at the barrier for a while and got an idea. He tapped Cade on the shoulder and whispered something to him. Cade started laughing

“See! That's why I wanted to be your friend” Cade had a proud smile like a child who had just picked up a four-leaf clover

Jace slowly walked to the barrier, placing his hands on it.

The dragon looked at him with interest. This was the only freshman student who did not attack him and only watched in the back.

Jace starts to pull on the mana of the barrier, and then slowly removes the mana from the barrier itself.

“hmm, that's clever,” A silver hair senior girl said

They felt it, the unusual movement of the mana. This was no simple task. How difficult would it be to unravel a ball of yarn that has been purposefully knitted together with millions of threads?

But Jace did not intend to do that. He was draining the mana of the barrier in one very specific area. A very small point, only as big as a pencil.

Cade saw that and smiled. He compresses the leftover folders into a small hardened bullet once more and launches it right at that small dot

The mana intensity was such that a massive wind blew through the students standing near Cade, knocking down several students.

A sound of glass breaking, the bullet shattered the weakened spot on the barrier. The students cheer from excitement but visible concern for the dragon can be seen in some senior students.

Ruin, floating inside the barrier, had a reptilian smile. The bullet reached his body and stopped. Like an egg smashing into a wall, the pencil-like bullet was smashed flat into almost a coin shape.

“Dragon scale……..wow……that is serious” Cade had lost the smile on his face for the first time since Jace had met him.

The baby dragon made a chirping noise and flew to Jace, smelling him for a while, then stood atop his head. A group of girls had surrounded him trying to touch the dragon only to have their hands slapped away by his tail.

“Ah, Beloved by all in the animal kingdom. Dragons are animals? They are not monsters? The world classifies them as monsters even now” Jace thought to himself

Unlike monsters, animals are creatures of nature, born by the planet. Jace recalled an old legend taught to children in his hometown.

Dragons are magic. Just as trees produce air for humans to breathe, a dragon’s existence itself produces mana into the world.

For 4 hours, Ruin sent barrage after barrage of magic at the students from the top of Jace’s head.

That was the combat magic class, survive the dragon’s attacks and try to break his barrier.

A few students try to copy the method of Jace after that, but the dragon’s magic does not allow anyone else near his barrier.

Quest complete!

—------------------------------