The courtyard funneled them forward, students packed shoulder to shoulder, eyes wide and voices low as they passed under the looming black gates of Drexis Academy. Each step echoed against stone walls, their boots tracing old lines carved into the floor—runes that pulsed faintly as they walked, like veins of light beneath the surface.
No one spoke to Marek.
He didn't mind.
Better silence than the looks.
He kept his head low as they entered the Coliseum of Weighing, a vast, circular arena sunken deep into the earth. The walls curved high above them, tiered with stone seating. Floating lanterns drifted in slow orbit, glowing with suspended mana.
In the center stood the Awakening Ring: a silver circle etched with twelve elemental paths, each radiating outward from a central platform shaped like a compass. At its edge stood a man cloaked in dark blue robes, tall, stiff-backed, and unblinking.
Chancellor Eltrane.
His voice cut through the space like the clash of steel.
"Silence."
Hundreds of students fell quiet instantly.
"You now stand at the threshold between obscurity and significance," he continued. "Today, the Arcane System will weigh your essence, define your strength, and place you where you belong."
The Chancellor turned toward a glowing pillar of crystal behind him.
"This system does not make mistakes. It does not care for bloodlines or family prestige. It sees only truth."
Liar.
The word slipped into Marek's thoughts unbidden, like a memory he hadn't lived.
Eltrane raised one long hand. "Step forward in sequence. You will enter the ring. You will be Awakened." A soft hum began to build, low and ancient. The platform glowed to life.
The first student stepped into the ring.
Gasps followed.
A flaming sigil erupted from the crystal pillar: "FIRE – RANK #34."
Cheers broke out in the upper tiers.
The next few followed quickly, each student stepping forward, standing still as their affinity and rank were revealed.
"WIND – RANK #112."
"EARTH – RANK #70."
"LIGHTNING – RANK #5."
That one drew a roar of applause.
Marek looked up and saw him, Kaelen Dros, tall and cruel-smiled, arms folded as his sigil hovered like a crown above his head. His lightning danced lazily across his skin, as though even magic bowed to his will.
Then silence again.
The next name called made Marek freeze.
"Marek Vales."
For a moment, he didn't move. The stone under his boots felt heavier than before. He walked slowly, each step toward the ring echoing louder than the last. Whispers followed.
"Is that the Null?"
"No crest…"
"He doesn't even have a sigil band."
He stepped into the center.
The runes should have activated.
But they didn't.
The humming stopped. The pillar dimmed.
A flicker of something, panic? passed over Eltrane's face.
The Chancellor frowned. "Remain still."
Marek obeyed. His hands were at his sides, his breathing slow. Inside, something ancient stirred like static building beneath his skin.
The system tried again. The crystal flared… then darkened completely.
No sigil appeared.
No element.
No rank.
The silence was deafening.
"He's broken," someone said from the crowd.
Another voice, louder: "Or the system is."
Eltrane's tone sharpened. "That will be enough."
But the damage was done.
Marek stepped back from the ring, face blank, shoulders squared even though every part of him wanted to vanish.
He didn't feel shame. Not exactly.
More like… rejection.
From a world that had no place for him. Eltrane addressed him quietly, but Marek caught every word. "You will be placed in Dormitory West Wing. Meals and training provisions restricted pending evaluation."
Marek nodded once.
Then turned to leave.
Before the next student was called, he glanced back once at the silver platform.
It didn't glow.
But when his boot stepped past the threshold, just for a second, the stone beneath it flickered dark.
As if something had reacted.
Something the system couldn't read.
Couldn't understand.
Couldn't rank….