Rain lashed against the windows of the Academy of Arka. Gray. Everything was gray — the clouds, the stone walls, even the face of the boy sitting at the very back of the assembly hall. No one looked at him. No greetings, no smiles. Just whispers.
"There he is again…"
"The Hollow one."
"He'll never be a legend. Never."
His name was Kael. At least that's what the teachers called him. He wasn't sure if the name really belonged to him, or if it had simply been tossed his way — like an old book no one wanted to read anymore.
Kael had no Chi.
Not the golden Chi that slumbered in all people — that light which gave them the power to control the elements. Everyone was born with one:
Fire — the most common, found in nearly two out of three people.
Water, Earth, Wind — the so-called Middle Three, rare but known.
Light and Shadow — rare gifts, barely one student per year bears them.
Lightning — the rarest of all. Only about fifteen people in history had ever carried it.
Some of them became legends.
A legend is more than a warrior. A legend is one who protects the world from the creatures — the nameless beings from the void beyond the known realms. Only those who master their Chi, evolve it, and shatter all limits can rise to that level. It is the highest calling. A symbol of hope. Of strength. Of the unbreakable.
Kael would never be one of them.
At least, that's what everyone said. Since he was six years old, the teachers had waited for his awakening. Now he was fifteen, and no one believed anymore. No spark. No sign. Only emptiness.
Today was the Ceremony of Flame. The golden Chi Masters had come to test the new talents. Kael stood, as always, at the back. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. The silence was easier to bear back there.
"Why are you even here?" whispered Maren, the most popular girl in class, loudly enough for all to hear. "Hoping to see legends being born? You'll never be one, Hollow."
Kael said nothing.
He knew those words. Had heard them a thousand times. Hollow. Worthless. Useless.
But deep within him, in a place even he didn't understand, there was something. No light. No fire. But sometimes, in dreams, he felt a tremor. As if something slept inside him. Something that wasn't golden. Something without a name.
"Kael, you're the last." The master's voice pulled him from the haze. Everyone else had already been tested. One by one — wind, earth, fire, water, light, shadow. Not a single one had shown signs of lightning. Only one had felt shadow. That was rare enough.
Kael stepped forward.
He placed his hands on the Chi Tablet. Nothing happened.
Silence.
"As expected," someone whispered.
Kael turned and walked away. No one called him back. No one comforted him. No one laughed. Not today. Because the silence was worse.
Kael walked alone into the rain. He looked up at the sky and wondered if there was anything out there that knew him. That knew he existed.
He didn't know.
Not yet.