The Weakest Mage at the World's Greatest Academy

Chapter 13: The Voice Beneath My Skin

“Get away from him!” Elara screamed as Awesome collapsed, clutching his chest.

Black veins spread beneath his skin, branching from the mark on his palm toward his neck. Every pulse sent another wave of pain through his body, while the voice buried inside him laughed as though it could feel every wound.

Lyra struggled to rise, but the black symbols covering her arms tightened like invisible chains. The original boy retreated several steps, staring at Awesome with an expression of pure horror.

“No,” he whispered. “It wasn't supposed to wake up yet.”

Awesome forced his eyes open. “What is inside me?”

The boy regarded him with something resembling pity. “The reason our mother was afraid of you.”

A crushing force seized Awesome's throat and lifted him several inches above the floor. His fingers curled against his will, and when he attempted to speak, a different voice emerged from his mouth.

“You have all been so busy deciding which child deserved to live that you forgot to ask what happened to the one you buried.”

The chamber trembled as the entity spoke.

Elara swept her hand through the air, forming a ring of blue light around Awesome. “Whatever you are, release him!”

The entity slowly turned Awesome's head toward her.

“Professor Veyne, you should know better than to threaten something you helped create.”

Elara's hand faltered, and the blue barrier flickered. Even through the agony gripping his body, Awesome noticed her reaction. She recognized that voice, and the fear in her eyes suggested she understood exactly what had awakened.

“You said the academy separated my father's authority,” Awesome managed to say. “You claimed my consciousness emerged from the experiment. What have you been hiding from me?”

Elara lowered her hand, allowing the barrier to weaken slightly.

“Your father possessed an ability that allowed him to impose his will upon magical laws. The academy called it the First Authority, and we believed we could divide that power into separate components so we could study them independently.”

“And did you succeed?”

“For a few minutes,” Elara admitted.

The entity smiled through Awesome's lips. “Tell him what happened next.”

Elara swallowed before continuing. “The experiment produced three consciousness signatures instead of two. One belonged to your father, another represented the fragment that became the First Authority, and the third was an unidentified presence with no recorded origin.”

“Me,” Awesome whispered.

“No.” Elara's eyes filled with dread. “You were the vessel they created afterward. That third presence existed before you were born.”

Awesome felt the entity retreat deeper into his chest, settling inside him as though it had finally returned to a familiar home.

The original boy stepped forward. “It used our father's authority to enter the experiment. When the separation began, it needed a body capable of containing it, so the academy created yours.”

“My body is artificial?”

“Yes, but your consciousness isn't,” the boy replied.

Awesome felt a brief flicker of relief until the boy delivered his next revelation.

“Your consciousness was copied from mine.”

The words struck Awesome with devastating force. He stared at the boy, desperately searching his face for evidence that the accusation was false.

“They used my memories, emotions, and mental patterns to construct a replacement consciousness,” the boy continued. “You were supposed to remain an empty host until the entity could be contained safely. However, something went wrong, and you began thinking independently.”

Lyra finally raised her head.

“Because I changed the procedure,” she whispered.

Everyone turned toward her.

“I couldn't allow them to turn another child into a prison. I gave the replacement a separate consciousness, something capable of growing beyond its original design.”

The original boy's expression hardened. “You gave him my life.”

“I gave him a chance to live!”

“And condemned me to a chamber where I could hear every decision you made about killing me.”

The floor shook as the entity pressed against Elara's barrier, creating cracks in the blue light. Awesome could feel two opposing forces struggling inside his body, one attempting to seize control while the other fought desperately to survive. He finally understood that this conflict was more complicated than a battle between himself and an intruder. It was a war between two versions of a history everyone had tried to bury.

Determined to uncover the truth, Awesome focused on the system.

“Analyze the entity.”

[REQUEST DENIED.]

“Override.”

[REQUEST DENIED.]

“Show me the original experiment.”

The system flickered before granting access.

[ACCESSING RESTRICTED MEMORY.]

A vision unfolded, transporting Awesome into the academy's original laboratory. His father lay restrained on a metal platform, golden symbols carved into his skin, while Lyra operated the controls beside several masked researchers. A younger Elara watched anxiously from behind reinforced glass.

When the experiment began, golden light tore through the chamber, and three shadows emerged above the platform. One resembled his father, while another looked like the original boy.

The third shadow had no face.

It turned toward the observation glass, directing its invisible gaze straight at Awesome.

Even within the memory, he felt its attention settle upon him.

The faceless figure reached toward the glass and whispered, I remember you.

The vision shattered.

Awesome gasped as the entity tightened its grip around his heart.

“You were there before I existed,” he whispered.

“Before any of you existed,” the voice replied. “Your father discovered me beneath the first magical ruin. He believed he could control me, so he carried me into the academy and gave me a name.”

“What name?”

The entity smiled through Awesome's mouth.

“The First Witness.”

Every symbol on the chamber walls turned black, and ancient inscriptions appeared above the sealed doors. Elara stared at them in disbelief.

“The First Witness is a myth,” she murmured. “The records claimed it was the source from which all magical laws emerged.”

“Your records were written by people who were afraid to remember the truth.”

The entity's voice deepened until the entire chamber vibrated.

“Magic did not appear in your world twenty-five years ago. It returned because I opened my eyes.”

Awesome's stomach twisted as he considered what the revelation meant. The arrival of magic, the academy's founding, and his own existence were all connected to an ancient being that had been waiting beneath the world.

“How do I get you out of my body?” he demanded.

The entity's smile vanished.

“You cannot remove me without destroying the laws that hold your world together.”

“Then I'll find another way.”

For the first time, the entity sounded genuinely interested.

“Just like your father.”

The original boy grabbed Awesome's arm, disrupting the entity's control long enough for him to fall to the floor. Elara immediately pulled him behind the protective barrier.

“Can you suppress it?” Awesome asked.

“No, but I might be able to separate you from the system,” she replied.

“Do it.”

Elara rushed to the console and began entering commands. As the barrier tightened, the black veins slowly withdrew from Awesome's throat, but the entity's scream shook the chamber.

Every screen flashed red.

[EXTERNAL AUTHORITY DETECTED.]

[INCOMING CONNECTION: GLOBAL MAGIC NETWORK.]

Elara stopped typing.

“That isn't possible,” she whispered.

“What is happening?” Awesome demanded.

“The academy's network connects to every registered magical facility worldwide. If the entity gains access, it could control every active spell.”

“Then destroy the network,” the original boy urged.

“We can't! The network stabilizes magical barriers protecting millions of people.”

The entity's laughter returned as Awesome realized the truth. It had never been content to remain inside him; it had been waiting for someone to reactivate the system and reconnect it to the world.

Now, he had unknowingly opened the door.

[GLOBAL AUTHORITY ACCESS: 1%.]

The percentage began climbing.

Awesome forced himself upright. “How do I stop it?”

Elara looked at him with an expression that made his blood run cold.

“You must enter the original memory core and confront the First Witness where it was first contained.”

“Where is that?”

Before Elara could answer, the original boy stared toward the far end of the chamber.

“The first magical ruin,” he whispered. “That's where our father found it.”

A new message appeared in Awesome's vision.

[DESTINATION IDENTIFIED.]

[THE FIRST RUIN: LOCATED BENEATH THE ACADEMY.]

[WARNING: ORIGINAL CONTAINMENT SUBJECT STILL ACTIVE.]

Suddenly, something struck the sealed door at the far end of the chamber.

The first impact rattled its metal frame, and a second blow shook dust from the ceiling. Everyone turned toward the door as a familiar voice came from the other side.

“Awesome, open the door.”

Awesome's heart lurched.

His father had returned, but the desperation in that familiar voice frightened him more than the entity's threats.

“Please,” his father begged. “Before it finds me.”