Whimwood Preacademy buzzed with youthful chatter and the shuffling of leather-bound books. Its curved stone walls hummed softly with protective enchantments, ancient yet comforting. The rge marble-inid hall where the new students had gathered shimmered with arcane sigils, floating mid-air like invisible stars only visible through magic.

  Kagami stood with Iren and Minna, both equally wide-eyed. Iren adjusted the strap of his wooden training sword while Minna clutched her notebook to her chest, curls bouncing.

  “So… this is it,” Minna whispered. “The real deal.”

  “Looks older than I expected,” Iren muttered.

  Before Kagami could reply, the doors to the central hall swung open with a deep, reverberating hum. A tall figure walked in—a woman cd in a long, indigo cloak, silver patterns dancing across the hem like consteltions. Her hair was braided tightly, eyes glowing faintly beneath half-moon spectacles.

  “I am Instructor Lyselle,” she said, voice like wind against gss. “Your guide for the first year in Css Aether-3.”

  She gave them no time to admire her robes or voice.

  “Line up. Now.”

  They scrambled into order. Kagami, sandwiched between Iren and Minna, stole quick gnces at Lyselle. There was something… off. She didn’t blink much. And her mana—Kagami could feel it like static in the air. Refined. Restrained.

  She raised a staff carved with a spiral of moonstones. “Now, let us begin the Mana Aptitude Insight Ceremony.”

  The hall shifted. The light dimmed, repced with a soft blue radiance as the staff began to glow.

  One by one, students were called forward to touch the staff’s crystal tip. A light would appear—color and intensity revealing their elemental affinity and potential.

  When Minna stepped forward, the crystal shimmered with a light blue, radiating lightly outward.

  “Water affinity. Good control,” Lyselle noted. “C+ ranking. Promising.”

  Iren followed. His glow was warm yellow.

  “Wind affinity. Sturdy mana foundation. B- ranking.”

  Then… Kagami.

  As soon as his fingers brushed the crystal, the staff fred. Not just one color—but several. Purple lightning crackled, then blue waves swirled out like a tide. The entire hall gasped as the crystal shimmered with water, fire, and something jagged and fierce—lightning—but twisted, unstable, raw.

  Lyselle’s face did not move, but the way she tightened her grip on the staff was enough.

  “Unusual… Unstable mana composition,” she murmured. “Elemental multiplicity. Dangerous potential.”

  Whispers exploded from the students behind him.

  “Is he a mutant?!”

  “Triple affinity?!”

  Leo Ferrowind, standing a few paces away, crossed his arms, scowling. “Show-off again…”

  Kagami stepped back silently. His heart pounded. That wasn’t just mana, he realized. That was my chakra too… reacting… mixing.

  The test was over, and Css Aether-3 filed into their first cssroom—a circur amphitheater lined with rune-inscribed desks. Lyselle wasted no time.

  “For your first exercise,” she said coldly, “you will levitate the stone provided. A basic test of focus and internal channeling. Magic is not shouting or emotion—it is will in harmony with intent.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Kagami stared at the small stone on his desk. He could feel the mana swirl inside him—but it kept tangling with his chakra pathways, still unfamiliar in this world. He tried again.

  A spark.

  The stone twitched.

  “Come on,” he muttered, focusing harder.

  Suddenly—BOOM!

  A shockwave pulsed from his desk, tossing the stone across the room. A few kids yelped and ducked. Smoke curled in the air.

  Instructor Lyselle didn’t even flinch. She turned to Kagami, eyes narrowing.

  “Unstable channeling. Mana saturation overpped with… foreign source.”

  She stared long and hard, as if seeing past his skin.

  “I will monitor you closely, boy.”

  As the lesson ended and students filtered out for their midday meal, Minna giggled beside Kagami.

  “You really know how to cause a scene.”

  Iren grinned. “That stone nearly hit Leo. If it had, you'd be my hero forever.”

  Kagami sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Didn’t mean to…”

  But inside, he was thinking hard.

  Chakra and mana… they’re starting to react more easily. I’m getting closer.

  From the corridor shadows, a different pair of eyes watched the trio walk off—glinting, curious, and calcuting.

  Someone else had noticed Kagami’s unusual power.

  And the secrets were just beginning to unravel.

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