Surprisingly,the journey towards the central academy ground was barely the length of a few days.Lucas have heard about the academy being on the same region as his town but he could hardly guess one of the most renowned academy across the empire has settled this close to his home.

"At least,it would be quick to travel back home during breaks."Lucas thought as he help kul organize the small pit of fire wood and dried branches to start a fire.

There wasn't much to do during the journey so lucas offered his service whenever he can to set up the camp.It wasn't done to get into anyone's favor,but doing nothing and riding in a bumpy wagon was simply too uncomfortable when he had been working most of the week in the past decades.

He also started practiced a technique that kul has taught him,to search inward and find the source of all arcanist's power.The ether orb that reside besides his heart was hard to find at first but now he could barely just made out the outline of it.Soon with progress,kull promised that he will be able to manipulate the ether directly from his own,whatever that means exactly.

"Not bad,you are a fast learner,that will serve you well in the academy."Nearly startled out of his wit from the interruption,Lucas turned wearily to find jade watching him work with her usual stone faced feature,but her gaze shone with interest and is no longer as harsh as before.

"Thank you,Professor jade."He try his best to force a smiles at her,Lucas found it much harder to relax around her than it was around kul,her features generally doesn't betray any emotions she might be hiding and her harsh attitude at the start of the journey remain ingrained in his mind.

Quietly,jade step across the muddy ground and crouch next to him.Lucas can feel his pulse quicken in alarm as she move closer,but what happened next was completely out of his imagination.

"……Don't get me wrong lucas,I don't enjoy being such a terror to you,But trust me when I say this,if there was a better path for you at that moment,I would have never forced you to come along."Lucas can only stare flatly at her,partly in shock,partly because he doesn't know how to respond to that.

"…I…I understand,professor."Finally,he gathered his wit and answered her,only to see her start tracing a foreign symbol on the ground with a dagger.Curiously he watched her work out the finer details around the symbol,rings after rings were drawn,surronding the central sigil like a circular maze.

"Ha,I very much doubt you do.But more importantly,do you know anything about sigil work and how arcanist gain their power?"She smirked,finishing the last few stroke on her work with practiced ease and turned towards Lucas with a serious expression.

"I don't really know anything about that,I am afraid."He honestly answered,there was no reason to pretend he knows anything,being nothing more than a tavren cook for the last decades or so.Jade nodded in understanding as she stood up,brushing dirt and dust away from her pants.

"We are approaching the academy very soon and there are many things that I must discuss with you along with kul……alone.But that won't matter if you can't even conjure your sigil for your exam…here."

Lucas just barely caught the small vial she threw at him,he scrunch his nose in confusion as he looking at the small bottle of transparent violet liquid in his hand,not knowing what he should be doing with it.

"That in your hand is pure distilled liquid ether,whether you believe it or not,you will need to drink it in order to fully awaken the ether in you for a short period of time.And then we can integrate the sigil I just made into you,it is a simple process really,just dont be too careless unless you would fancy having a quirky sigil that could blow up on your face once in a while."

That was all the warning he needed to treat this procedure as seriously as possible.Since he had already decided to do his best in the academy,a broken sigil is the last thing he would want,whatever a sigil is and mean,it sounds far too important.

"I understood,professor.What do I do after I drink it?"his thumb rubbs the wooden stopper on the vail,eager to start the procedure. The idea of gaining the ability to summon fireballs and lightning from a simple two step process made his heart thumps against his ribcage.

"Nothing…I will finished the process for you and you should get pass the academy exam just fine,well not that you can leave even if you fail,so I wouldn't worry,but do be warned that the awakening process is more nasty for some than the others ."Lucas nodded in understanding and pop the stopped off the vial.With a final deep breath.lucas drop all the content in the vial into his mouth.

A few second past in relative calm,with a warmth slowly raising in his body like he just submerged himself in a pool of lukewarm water.It was a pretty comforting experience despite how nervous he felt.

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"Is that it?It wasn't to-"Suddenly it felt as if his body were rejecting itself ,that was as close to describing the experience as he could.The dinner he had last night,swiftly made its way out of his mouth as he doubled over in weakness and nausea.

It remind him of that one time he ate a small jar of expired milk cookie,except this time it felt like he is going to expired as well.His heart raced as he heave and coughs,the warm feeling still persist and race across his limbs in waves,filling his veins and reddening his skin.

After what felt like an eternity but in fact probably just a minute or two,he collapsed on the ground,panting for breath and his life.The world spins in his dimming vision and it felt like there is a church bell ranging vigorously in his head.

"well that was a lot more than I expected…"A smoothing emerald light washed over him along with it's relief and joy."I have got to learn that spell"Lucas thought as he was slowly lifted and dragged into a sitting position against a fallen trunk.

"Indeed,prehaps…Well no matters."Slowly he regained his bearing and saw the two professor chating quietly infront of him.After making sure no more of his food is going out for a picnic and all his limbs is still working,he slowly stood back up.

"Ha!Feeling eager aren't you,boy?We are getting to the last part,don't worry the sigil won't go anywhere."Kul close the distance and ease the anxious boy to sit back down.With a nod,jade point point her gloved hand towards the drawn sigil.

"Axiea(call sigil)"With a short chant,arcs of grey energy started to crept along the lines and structure of the symbol with increasing intensity.Lucas curiously observed the process as he tried to relax,but he did noticed the slight frown on both professor's face.

"Is something going wrong?"He thought but withhold the question,not wanting to disturb her from the important procedures.Slowly,jade raise her hand above the sigil,Lucas was awed as he saw a shinning grey sigil with the same form and structure raise out of its mold on the ground.

"Alrite,just relax yourself and do not to move."Lucas nod at her as he swallowed a lump of nervousness as he try to relax with deep breaths.Readying himself as a myriad of imagined discomfort assault his mind.

The sigil itch closer and soon slowly submerge into his chest,ignoring the thin layer of shirt. Despite all his fears and worries,he barely felt more than a light sting as the sigil mark itself on his chest.

Just in case, he waited for a few moment to make sure nothing else is going to happen,but soon he realized the process was already finished as jade smiles in satisfaction.He pulls his shirt to peer at the spot where the sigil was marked but all he saw was normal unmarked skin.

"Alrite,well done.Now try to now call your sigil out with the chant Axiea(call sigil),let's see what kind of element you will bear for the rest of your life."Kul rubs his hands together,eager to find out whatever element Lucas can control.

When Lucas stare at him in confusion,kul chuckled as he started to explain the meaning behind sigil and elements."All arcanist were granted power to wraps reality through the mythical ability of sigils.In any case,a arcanist that has awaken his sigil will bear one and only one element that defines the aspect of reality he or she can manipulate with the help of their sigils,now give it a try."

Now that he understand how arcanist were given their power,he couldn't help but felt both lucky and excited that he was given the chance to awaken his own sigil.Eagerly,he forcus on the spot in chest where his sigil were submerged in and chanted the short incantation.

As he watch with wonder and awe,a grey coloured symbol vaguely shaped like some form of winged beast slowly flickered into being infront of his chest,his very own sigil."It's beautiful."He couldn't help it,this small symbol of flickering light seems to hold all the promise and hopes in the world for him at that moment.

"……hmm,that might be a bit problematic."The words came like a bucket of iced water on his flaming excitement,Lucas look at jade with dread in his eyes."Did I messed up the procedure somehow??"The thought rang like the bell that herald calamities in his head.

"Oh,don't get me wrong child,this is alsolutely normal.You didn't made a mistake at all,it's just…"With hope renewed in his eyes,he looked at her for further explanation.Jade sighed as she nudged the burly man at her side,only now did Lucas saw how stunned and silent kul has become.

He quickly recovered when he saw Lucas staring at him and cleared his throat."As jade said,this isn't necessarily a problem or a bad thing,you have gotten the element of null in your sigil,a bit on the rare side but it does occur sometimes."Now Lucas is just confused,if it's just a rare element but without any bad side effect,why did the professor both seems troubled by it?

"Now kid,I understand you are confused that we made it sounds so ominous. But here is a tip for your own benefit,the null element is unfortunately one of the least…appreciated of the bunch.It will allow you you to effectively channel ether throughout your body to strengthen it,sometimes to unbelievable degree."

"oh…I see."The anxiousness fade away as he understood more about the potential of the power he wield.It doesn't sounds anywhere as bad as he imagined,if he could break Boulders in half with his bare hand,not being able to fling fireballs and lightning at his adversaries isn't too bad of a trade.

"But in the central academy,a school ruled mostly by elitist noblities who has their brain filled with the stories of how the mightiest arcanist was never a null,a low born having null as an element simply means he or she will likely be at the bottom of social ladder for their entire stay."Rodney said as he strolls towards the group of three,frowning as he give lucas the last piece of the puzzle.

"I see…well it can't be helped,I will manage."All three of them looked at lucas with various shades of emotions at that declaration."Percy…my dad always said It doesn't matter where we started as,it's where we end up that matters at the end."Lucas grinned as the hope for a better future for him and his family started to take shapes.

Regardless of how hard it will be,a rare chance to change his and his loved ones life and save his sister has fell onto his laps and he will be a fool to not take advantage of it because of some minor inconvenience like social status.