The Weakest Mage at the World's Greatest Academy

The fireball was only seconds away from burning Awesome alive when Damian Voss smiled and ordered him to kneel.

“Do it,” Damian said, tightening his fingers around the blazing sphere hovering above his palm. “Kneel, apologize for wasting everyone's time, and perhaps I'll let you crawl out of this arena with whatever remains of your dignity.”

Awesome struggled to rise from one knee, fighting through the pain that had settled into every part of his body. Blood trickled from his lower lip, while his right arm throbbed from the impact of Damian's previous attack. Around them, hundreds of students watched from the tiered stands of the Global Academy of Higher Magic, their faces reflecting a mixture of amusement, pity, and anticipation.

Not a single person stepped forward to help him.

Why would they? Awesome possessed zero mana, had never awakened an elemental ability, and came from a family with neither wealth nor influence. In a world where magical strength determined everything from social status to career opportunities, he was considered less valuable than a broken training crystal. Damian had spent the past three months making certain that everyone understood exactly where Awesome belonged.

“I'm waiting,” Damian reminded him, allowing the flames to dance between his fingers.

Awesome spat blood onto the stone floor and slowly lifted his head. “You talk too much for someone who needs an audience to feel powerful.”

A few students gasped at his response, while others exchanged surprised glances. Damian's mocking smile disappeared, replaced by an expression of genuine irritation.

“You really don't know when to shut your mouth, do you?”

“Funny,” Awesome replied, forcing himself to stand despite the pain in his legs. “I was about to say the same thing.”

Damian's eyes narrowed as he raised his hand, and the fireball above his palm suddenly doubled in size. The heat rolling from the sphere made the air shimmer, warning everyone nearby that the next attack would be far more dangerous than the previous ones.

“Then burn with it.”

He hurled the spell.

Awesome threw himself sideways just as the blazing sphere crashed into the ground where he had been standing. The explosion sent a wave of scorching heat across his back, cracked the stone beneath his feet, and filled the arena with thick clouds of smoke. A terrified scream rose from the stands as fragments of heated stone scattered across the combat floor.

The force of his landing knocked the air from Awesome's lungs, leaving him gasping as he struggled to move.

“Damian!” Instructor Garrick's voice thundered across the arena. “That attack exceeded the permitted output!”

Damian barely glanced at him before turning his attention back to Awesome.

“Then perhaps you should have stopped me sooner, Instructor.”

Garrick's jaw tightened, but he made no immediate response. Instead, he watched Awesome struggle to pull his legs beneath him, his expression revealing a mixture of frustration and reluctant concern.

“Student Awesome,” he called, “do you concede?”

Awesome looked at the scorched ground surrounding him, then lifted his gaze toward the students watching with expressions ranging from pity to open amusement.

Twenty-five years had passed since magic descended upon Earth, transforming humanity into something almost unrecognizable. Magical cities now rose above the clouds, ancient monsters prowled beyond fortified settlements, and ordinary people awakened abilities that could reshape the world around them. Those blessed with extraordinary talent enjoyed wealth, influence, and respect, while the weak were often treated as though their lives mattered less.

At eighteen, Awesome had entered the Global Academy believing determination and hard work might compensate for his lack of magical talent. He had studied every textbook he could obtain, memorized the principles of elemental casting, and spent countless nights attempting to awaken even the smallest spark of mana.

Three months later, he remained the academy's greatest joke.

Nevertheless, he planted one foot beneath himself and forced his battered body upright.

“No,” he answered.

A murmur rippled through the stands as several students shook their heads in disbelief. Garrick frowned, apparently struggling to understand why someone in Awesome's condition would refuse to surrender.

“You can barely stand,” the instructor warned.

“Then it shouldn't take much to finish me.”

Damian laughed, although something unpleasant flickered in his eyes as he studied his opponent. “You think this is courage? You're only embarrassing yourself.”

Awesome straightened his shoulders, refusing to look away. “Then why are you the one who looks nervous?”

The remark struck deeper than Damian expected. His expression twisted with anger, and he thrust both hands forward, gathering the flames into a long, spear-shaped projectile that burned brighter with every passing second.

Garrick immediately stepped into the arena, recognizing that the duel had crossed a dangerous line.

“Enough! Voss, release the spell!”

Damian ignored the command and launched the fiery spear directly at Awesome's chest.

For one impossible instant, the world stopped making sense.

The blazing projectile no longer appeared to Awesome as a mass of burning energy. Instead, thin golden lines stretched through its fiery surface, twisting around one another in an intricate arrangement that resembled the hidden machinery of the universe. Each line connected to another, forming a complex structure that Awesome somehow understood despite having never seen anything like it before.

He could see where the spell began, where its energy gathered, and how the different components worked together to maintain its shape. More importantly, he noticed a tiny fracture running through the central connection, almost invisible beneath the brilliant flames.

A strange whisper stirred inside his skull, carrying a certainty that felt older than anything he had ever known.

Every spell has a beginning.

Awesome froze as the spear continued racing toward him, its burning tip now dangerously close to his chest.

Every beginning has a flaw.

Before he could question the voice or understand what was happening, his hand moved instinctively toward the fracture he could see within the spell's structure.

The fire vanished.

There was no explosion, no burst of smoke, and not even a fading ember to mark its disappearance. One moment, a lethal spear of fire was hurtling toward Awesome, and the next, the space before him was empty.

Awesome remained motionless, his fingers extended as he stared at the place where the attack had been.

The arena fell into a silence so complete that the distant hum of the magical lamps became suddenly noticeable.

Damian looked down at his empty hands, then back at Awesome, his face drained of color.

“What just happened?” he whispered.

Awesome slowly lowered his arm, struggling to understand the impossible event he had witnessed. “I don't know.”

“Liar!” Damian shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief. “What did you use?”

“Nothing.”

“You must have used something! Nobody can disrupt a spell without mana!”

Instructor Garrick hurried between them before Damian could launch another attack. He examined Awesome's hands, searched his uniform for concealed artifacts, and finally turned toward the examination crystal mounted beside the arena.

“Record the results,” he ordered.

The crystal glowed blue as it scanned Awesome's magical signature, displaying the result in clear letters.

MANA OUTPUT: 0.00

Garrick's brow furrowed, and he ordered the examination to be repeated. The crystal flashed again, but the result remained unchanged.

MANA OUTPUT: 0.00

A third line appeared beneath the reading, causing the instructor to step closer with visible confusion.

SPELL DISRUPTION: UNCLASSIFIED

“That's impossible,” Garrick muttered.

Awesome stared at the words, feeling an unfamiliar mixture of disbelief and apprehension. He had spent his entire life wishing the magical system would recognize something in him besides weakness, yet now it had produced a result that seemed to unsettle even an experienced instructor.

Damian stumbled backward, shaking his head as though refusing to accept what he had witnessed.

“No! Run it again! He has no mana, so he can't disrupt a spell!”

“Quiet, Voss,” Garrick snapped.

Damian ignored him and pointed a trembling finger at Awesome. “He cheated! Whatever he did, it was illegal!”

Awesome almost laughed at the accusation, although the pain spreading through his body left little room for amusement. He had no idea how he had stopped the fireball, but one thing had become painfully clear: Damian was no longer merely angry. He was frightened.

For the first time, Awesome wondered whether the incident had revealed something his rival understood better than he did.

Before he could pursue the thought, the examination crystal began to flicker. Its blue light shifted to white, growing so bright that several students shielded their eyes. Without warning, every magical lamp in the arena went dark, plunging the stands into sudden confusion.

A low vibration rose from beneath the floor, rattling the metal railings and shaking dust from the arena walls. Students cried out as the tremor intensified, while instructors hurried to maintain order.

“Everyone remain calm!” Garrick shouted, turning toward the exits. “Instructors, secure the perimeter and keep the students away from the arena floor!”

Another tremor struck before anyone could respond.

The examination crystal cracked from top to bottom, producing a sharp sound that echoed through the darkness. Awesome staggered as a stabbing pain erupted behind his eyes, forcing him to clutch his head while struggling to remain conscious.

Then he saw them.

Golden lines spread beneath the arena floor, racing away through the academy's foundations like veins carrying living light. They passed through the stone walls, descended into forgotten tunnels, and converged somewhere deep underground, where an enormous concentration of energy seemed to pulse in response to his presence.

Something beneath the academy had noticed him.

The vision disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving Awesome gasping in the darkness. When the magical lamps finally returned, students stumbled over one another while instructors rushed to restore order. Garrick ordered Awesome taken to the infirmary, but Damian remained rooted to the spot, staring at the shattered examination crystal as though it had revealed something far more terrifying than a failed reading.

Amid the confusion, a small black mark appeared on Awesome's palm.

Nobody noticed it at first, but Awesome felt a strange tingling sensation and looked down at his hand. The mark resembled a circle divided by three intersecting lines, and its darkness seemed to absorb the light surrounding it rather than reflect it.

He rubbed his thumb across the symbol, hoping it would disappear, but the mark remained firmly embedded in his skin.

Before he could examine it further, his knees buckled beneath him. Garrick shouted his name as the arena tilted around him, and Awesome felt himself falling into darkness.

The last thing he heard was the instructor calling desperately for a medical team before consciousness slipped away.

Far beneath the Global Academy, beyond its foundations and the ancient tunnels abandoned before the first magical awakening, a sealed chamber stirred for the first time in twenty-five years.

Its walls were covered in symbols belonging to no modern magical language, while massive chains stretched from the ceiling to a black stone suspended above a circular platform. Each chain pulsed with faint silver light, maintaining a seal that had survived wars, disasters, and generations of powerful mages.

At the center of the black stone, a thin silver line suddenly appeared.

One chain trembled, followed by another, and a symbol illuminated the floor beneath the platform.

UNREGISTERED AUTHORITY DETECTED.

The chamber's ancient system activated, sending waves of energy through the surrounding walls as it began analyzing the mysterious signature.

ANALYZING SUBJECT...

For several seconds, the chamber remained still, and the silver chains continued to glow faintly beneath the strain of the awakening system. Then the entire structure shuddered as a new message appeared across the illuminated floor.

AUTHORITY SIGNATURE CONFIRMED.

IDENTITY: AWESOME.

The chains began breaking one after another, their metallic screams echoing through the sealed chamber. From behind the black stone came the sound of something shifting, followed by a voice roughened by twenty-five years of silence.

“So, you've finally come.”

A deep crack spread across the stone, and something moved within the darkness behind it.

Awesome woke to the sharp smell of antiseptic herbs and the faint humming of a healing crystal suspended above his bed. For several moments, he struggled to remember where he was, his thoughts clouded by the pain throbbing through his skull and the heavy bandage wrapped around his right arm.

The curtains surrounding his bed concealed most of the infirmary, leaving only a narrow view of the pale light filtering through the windows. When he attempted to sit up, a sudden surge of pain forced him back against the pillow.

“Don't move,” a woman instructed.

Awesome turned his head and found a researcher standing beside his bed. She wore silver-trimmed robes that identified her as a senior member of the academy's research department, and her dark hair was tied neatly behind her head. Her sharp eyes examined him with an intensity that made him feel as though she were searching for something hidden beneath his skin.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Professor Elara Veyne. The academy requested that I examine you after the incident in the arena.”

Awesome swallowed, his throat painfully dry. “Am I dying?”

“Not according to the medical instruments.”

“That's reassuring.”

Elara showed no sign of amusement, and her serious expression made Awesome regret attempting the joke.

“Tell me exactly what happened during the examination,” she demanded.

Awesome described the duel, Damian's increasingly dangerous attacks, and the strange golden lines he had seen inside the fireball. He explained how he had reached toward a fracture in the spell's structure and watched the entire projectile disappear, although he deliberately omitted the whisper that had spoken inside his head.

He wasn't certain the voice had been real, and he feared that mentioning it would only convince the researchers that something was wrong with him.

When he finished, Elara studied him for several seconds before producing a small diagnostic crystal from her robes.

“Place your hand on this,” she instructed.

Awesome obeyed, resting his palm against the cool surface as the crystal began to glow blue. The light gradually intensified before turning white, and Elara's expression changed as unfamiliar symbols appeared across the device.

“Interesting,” she murmured.

“That's what everyone keeps saying,” Awesome replied. “Nobody seems willing to explain what it means.”

Elara ignored his complaint and rotated the crystal, examining the reading from several angles. As she worked, Awesome noticed a thin line near the base of the instrument flickering out of rhythm with the other symbols.

“Your crystal is damaged,” he observed.

Elara looked up sharply. “What did you say?”

“The line on the left side is flickering. It looks like it's interrupting the energy flow.”

“That is impossible. This instrument was calibrated yesterday.”

“Perhaps it was damaged today,” Awesome suggested.

Elara stared at him before retrieving a magnifying lens from her pocket. She examined the indicated channel carefully, and the confident expression on her face gradually disappeared as she discovered a fracture running through the exact line Awesome had identified.

For the first time since entering the room, she appeared genuinely afraid.

It wasn't confusion or professional suspicion that had changed her expression. It was the unmistakable fear of someone who had just witnessed something that challenged everything she believed about the world.

Elara immediately turned toward the infirmary door and locked it.

“Awesome,” she said quietly, lowering the diagnostic crystal, “I need you to answer another question, and I need you to be completely honest with me.”

He swallowed nervously. “Go ahead.”

“Before today, had you ever seen the internal structure of a magical spell?”

“No,” he answered, although the golden lines from the arena remained vivid in his memory.

Elara held his gaze. “Have you ever heard a voice while using magic?”

Awesome hesitated, and the brief pause was enough to draw her attention.

“Tell me the truth,” she insisted.

Before he could answer, the diagnostic crystal in her hand began flashing red. A warning appeared across its surface, and the device emitted a series of sharp tones that made Elara's shoulders stiffen.

RESTRICTED ANOMALY DETECTED.

REPORT TO THE HIGH COUNCIL IMMEDIATELY.

Elara's face drained of color as another message replaced the first.

IF THE SUBJECT IS CONFIRMED, DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO REACH THE FOUNDATION.

Awesome stared at the warning, his heart beginning to pound.

“The foundation?” he whispered. “What's beneath this academy?”

Elara remained silent, gripping the crystal so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The way she looked at him suggested that he had become something far more dangerous than an ordinary student with an unusual ability.

Before Awesome could demand an explanation, three heavy knocks echoed through the infirmary floor, each impact sending a faint tremor through the bed beneath him.

Elara turned toward the floor, her eyes widening as she recognized the sound.

The healing crystal suspended above Awesome's bed suddenly shattered, scattering fragments of glowing glass across the sheets.

Then a voice whispered directly into Awesome's mind, carrying a strange familiarity that made the hair rise along his arms.

“We have been waiting for you, Awesome.”