POV: Kai Mizushino
Place: Village School, Forest of Withered Stars
Date: August 29, 2214 (17 Years Before the Fall)
The morning had started with blood and fear. Just hours ago, goblins had swarmed the forest path on the way to school. Kai, Akito, and Touya would have been killed—if not for her.
Saki Yamada.
The girl who'd appeared like a gust of starlight, a wand in her hand and a storm in her eyes. Her spells tore through the goblins like fire through paper, elegant and devastating. And now, just a few hours later, Kai sat in his wooden seat at the back of the classroom, as if nothing had happened.
The classroom buzzed with energy, but not because of the earlier danger. It was because today—August 29, 2214—was the day of the magic aptitude test.
In this world, children were expected to manifest magic by the age of five. Today, they would demonstrate what they had learned. Today, each child would step to the front of the class and show who they were becoming.
But Kai… Kai still had no mana.
He stared down at his trembling hands, small fists resting on his desk. The room was lit by morning sunlight filtering through the windows, casting golden lines across the floor, but he couldn't feel its warmth. He was cold.
"All right, children," said Professor Miran, a kind but sharp-eyed mage who had been teaching at the village school for years. "When I call your name, step forward and conjure a simple spell. Any spell you've practiced is fine."
The first child went up—light formed in their palms. The second summoned a breeze. A third, flames. One by one, they all displayed magic. Some messy, some controlled. But all of them had mana.
Then the professor called: "Kai Mizushino."
The room stilled.
Kai's heartbeat pounded in his ears. Slowly, he rose from his seat. Whispers erupted before he'd taken even a step forward.
"That's the kid who can't use magic, right?"
"I heard he doesn't have any mana at all."
"Why's he even in this school?"
He walked past the judging stares, past the kids who mocked him behind cupped hands. Even after the goblin attack—even after being saved by a magician his age—they still only saw the weak, quiet boy from the forest.
Akito and Touya looked at him with quiet support. Akito gave him a thumbs-up and whispered, "You got this." Touya simply nodded, eyes steady. Saki said nothing, but her gaze—cool, unreadable—rested on him. Not mocking. Not amused. Just… watching.
Kai stood in front of the class.
He closed his eyes and reached deep inside himself. He called out, like his mother had taught him, reaching for something—anything—that would answer.
But there was nothing.
No warmth. No spark. No pull of mana.
Just silence.
He opened his eyes, and silence followed him there too. The class stared. Professor Miran's expression didn't change, but the weight in the room shifted.
Then came the laughter.
"He really doesn't have any!"
"Haha! How embarrassing!"
"Even toddlers can do basic magic!"
Kai's hands trembled. His breath caught in his throat. The sting of humiliation clawed at his chest. But he didn't cry. He didn't shout.
He just stood there—silent, still, and broken.
"Enough," Professor Miran said, his voice sharp as a blade. The laughter died instantly. "Magic is not the only strength. Mana is not the only path."
He turned to Kai and spoke gently. "You may sit, Kai. Thank you for trying."
Kai nodded numbly and returned to his seat, eyes on the floor.
Akito leaned in. "Hey. That was still cool. You stood your ground."
Touya said, "You didn't run. That's what matters."
Saki, from the next row over, looked at him. "They all cast magic, sure. But none of them stood in front of goblins today."
Kai looked up at her, surprised.
"You survived that," she said simply. "I'd take that over a spark any day."
Those words stayed with him through the rest of the day.
And long into the night.
Because even though the world saw him as the boy without mana…
Maybe, just maybe, that wasn't the end of his story.
It was the beginning.
To be continued
[End of Chapter 8: The Boy Without Mana]