Awakening The Shadow; The Apex Era

The auditorium buzzed with nervous energy as five hundred students packed the tiered seats, their whispers echoing off the vaulted ceiling. At the center of the raised platform stood a crystalline orb the size of a wagon wheel, pulsing with an otherworldly blue light that cast dancing shadows across the walls.

Students of the Celestial Academy were murmuring, laughing and cracking a few jokes.

Kieran Cross sat near the back, his fingers drumming against his worn scholarship robes. Three months. That's how long it had been since the caverns had split open across the continent, spewing forth creatures that belonged in nightmares. Three months since the world had changed, and he'd woken up in this strange new era where magic wasn't fiction but survival.

He was from another world, called earth but found himself in a magical school reading a book related to spells at the library.

He lost his former identity and has to start over again, in a new world.

"Attention, students!" Dean Aldrich's voice boomed across the hall, amplified by a hovering crystal. The elderly man walked in, till he got to the auditorium and stood rigid beside his secretary, a sharp-featured woman clutching a leather-bound ledger.

The hall got silent immediately, waiting for what Dean Aldrich had to say, since he called for the emergency meeting.

"The demonic beast invasion has accelerated our timeline. We must assess your magical capacities immediately. Those with sufficient power will receive advanced combat training. Those without..." He paused meaningfully. "Will be reassigned and their fate would be discussed after"

Kieran's stomach tightened. Reassigned was a polite word for expelled—or worse, sent to the labor camps reinforcing the city walls.

He took a deep breath, with his heartbeat faster than before. He was scared to death.

"First student—Marcus Thorne!" the secretary called out.

A broad-shouldered boy strutted to the platform, placing both hands on the orb. It flared brilliant gold, light flooding the auditorium. Gasps rippled through the crowd.

"Level Seven!" Dean Aldrich announced genuine pleasure in his tone. "Exceptional, Mr. Thorne. You'll be placed in the Alpha combat division."

Marcus grinned, flexing his shoulders as he returned to thunderous applause.

He wasn't expected to have less power, with the magical family background that he had. His family was known to be a powerful one, and he was obvious to continue his family lineage.

One by one, students approached. Most achieved Level Four or Five—respectable ratings that earned approving nods. A few scraped by with Level Three, met with polite silence. Kieran watched the orb flare in shades of gold, silver, and bronze, each burst of light a reminder that he didn't belong here.

He hadn't asked to be transported to this world. Hadn't asked for magic or monsters or any of it but unfortunately, he was transported into the magical world.

"Kieran Cross!"

His name cracked through the air like a whip. The secretary's voice dripped with impatience, as though she'd already called him twice. Kieran stood, his legs unsteady, and made his way down the aisle.

He was trembling but managed to control himself from making it noticeable, though he was sweating despite the cold ventilation.

Hundreds of eyes tracked his movement—the scholarship student in his threadbare robes, so obviously out of place among the noble-born.

"Finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Dean Aldrich's lips curved into a thin smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Come now, we haven't got all day." He was sluggish with his walking.

Kieran approached the orb, its surface swirling with hypnotic patterns. He placed his palms against the cool crystal and waited.

Nothing happened.

The light didn't flare. Didn't pulse. The orb remained its baseline blue, as dormant as if no one had touched it at all.

"Is the device malfunctioning?" Dean Aldrich frowned, tapping the orb's base.

"No, sir." The secretary consulted her ledger, her expression shifting to something like disgust. "It's reading his energy level. It's just... exceptionally low."

“Low?”

"How low?"

"Level Zero-Point-Five, sir."

The auditorium erupted.

"Zero?" someone shouted from the middle rows. "That's not even possible!"

"I've seen corpses with more magical presence!" another voice jeered.

Laughter crashed over Kieran like a wave. His face burned as he stared at the unresponsive orb.

He was shocked to the bone. He might have expected a low energy level but not to the extent of not brightening up at all.

Dean Aldrich raised a hand, silencing the crowd with visible effort. His jaw worked as though chewing on something bitter. "Mr. Cross, this is... unprecedented. Level Zero-Point-Five is barely detectable. Frankly, I'm astounded you made it through our entrance examinations. How did you do it?"

"He probably cheated," someone muttered loudly enough to be heard.

"Scholarship fraud," another agreed. "Bet he bribed someone."

“He needs to be investigated for cheating ‘’

“Yeah!”

"Enough!" The secretary's voice cut through the whispers. She looked at Kieran with unconcealed contempt. "Reading this pathetic means you possess virtually no magical capacity. You're effectively powerless and useless to us"

"Powerless?" A girl in the front row—Elena Ashford, daughter of a prominent magical family—stood, her voice dripping with mock concern. "You mean we've been sharing classes with someone who couldn't light a candle if his life depended on it? How utterly embarrassing for him."

“That's shameful “

"For him? Try to be embarrassing for us!" Marcus called out. "What's next, are we enrolling house cats?"

“Even cats are much better, they could kill rats at least”

The laughter intensified, cruel and sharp.

Dean Aldrich pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Cross, step away from the orb. We'll... discuss your situation after the assembly."

Kieran stumbled backward, his chest tight. The secretary made a notation in her ledger, her pen scratching like claws.

As he retreated toward his seat, the whispers followed him—a chorus of mockery and disdain.

"Zero-Point-Five..."

"Absolutely useless..."

"Waste of space..."

“Waste of scholarship fund”

“Gosh! So irritating “

Kieran sank into his chair, invisible and yet somehow the only person anyone could see.