The Weakest Mage at the World's Greatest Academy

Chapter 3: The Crystal That Knew His Name

The black crystal began to bleed as Awesome watched in growing horror, its polished surface splitting open to release a thick, ink-dark substance that crawled down its sides like living liquid.

Awesome jerked his hand away, but the strange substance clinging to his fingertips refused to fall. It felt colder than ice, and the chill spread beneath his skin until his bones began to ache. Beneath the crystal's surface, golden lines twisted into unfamiliar symbols, forming intricate patterns that vanished whenever he tried to focus on them.

“Get away from it!” Professor Elara Veyne shouted, her voice sharp with an urgency that Awesome had never heard from her before.

She seized him by the shoulder and pulled him backward with enough force to make him stumble, but her warning had come a fraction of a second too late.

The crystal unleashed a deafening pulse of energy that tore through the infirmary, shaking the walls and sending a wave of invisible force crashing into everything around them. Every window in the room shattered simultaneously, and thousands of glittering fragments exploded inward as though an enormous hammer had struck the building.

Awesome slammed against the floor, pain shooting through his back while broken glass rained around him. His ears rang so violently that the world seemed to disappear beneath a high-pitched whine. The lights flickered once before dying completely, plunging the infirmary into darkness.

Somewhere nearby, an instructor screamed as heavy furniture overturned with a thunderous crash. Awesome struggled to push himself up, but his trembling arms barely supported his weight.

Then a voice entered his mind, speaking with a clarity that no sound in the room could possibly explain.

It had not come from the crystal sitting on the bedside table, nor had it risen from the ancient chamber beneath the academy where Awesome had first encountered the strange artifact. Instead, the voice seemed to originate from somewhere deep inside his own consciousness, as though it had been waiting there for years.

[IDENTITY VERIFICATION INCOMPLETE.]

[FIRST AUTHORITY DETECTED.]

[WARNING: MEMORY SEAL REMAINS ACTIVE.]

Awesome clutched his head as the unfamiliar messages burned across his awareness. The words felt less like something he was reading and more like commands being forced directly into his brain.

“What do you want from me?” he demanded, his voice breaking beneath the pressure building inside his skull.

The crystal answered him in a voice identical to his own, except that it carried a strange weight, as though the words belonged to someone who had lived through countless tragedies.

“Remember.”

A sharp pain tore through Awesome's mind, and the infirmary vanished before he could even draw another breath.

For one impossible instant, he found himself standing beneath a black sky divided by enormous golden fractures. Towering pillars rose into the clouds, surrounding a circular platform covered in glowing symbols that resembled dying stars. The air vibrated with an ancient power so overwhelming that Awesome instinctively wanted to fall to his knees.

Thousands of figures knelt before him, their bodies concealed beneath dark robes and their faces hidden behind silver masks. None of them moved, yet Awesome could feel their attention fixed entirely upon him.

Beyond the kneeling crowd stood a boy whose appearance made Awesome's blood run cold.

The stranger possessed the same face, the same eyes, and even the same small scar beneath his left eyebrow. However, unlike Awesome, who had spent his life being treated as a powerless failure, the stranger wore a long black robe embroidered with golden symbols, and his expression carried a terrible weariness that no sixteen-year-old should have possessed.

The boy slowly raised one hand, and the thousands of masked figures immediately lowered their heads.

“Whatever happens,” the stranger said, his voice trembling beneath the weight of an unspoken fear, “never allow them to open the final gate.”

Before Awesome could demand an explanation, something enormous shifted behind the stranger, casting a shadow that swallowed the distant pillars and blotted out the fractured sky.

Awesome tried to turn toward the movement, but his body refused to respond. He could only stare at the boy who wore his face and wonder what kind of creature could frighten someone who appeared to command an entire world.

The stranger turned toward him, looking directly into his eyes with an intensity that made Awesome feel as though the boy could see every failure, every humiliation, and every unanswered question buried inside him.

“They will tell you that you are powerless,” the stranger warned, his expression hardening as the golden fractures above them widened. “They will make you believe that you were born to kneel before people who are beneath you.”

The boy took a step closer, and for the first time, Awesome noticed fear beneath his exhausted expression.

“Don't believe them.”

The entire vision shattered into fragments of golden light, and Awesome was violently dragged back into the infirmary.

He gasped as his body struck the floor again, his muscles trembling uncontrollably while he struggled to recover his breath. Professor Elara Veyne knelt beside him, holding one hand above his forehead as a protective spell flickered between her fingers. The light from her magic illuminated the fear etched across her face.

“Awesome! Look at me!” she commanded, gripping his shoulder when his unfocused eyes drifted toward the darkness.

He blinked several times before he could distinguish her face from the shadows surrounding them.

“What was that?” he whispered, his throat painfully dry.

Elara leaned closer, studying him as though she were searching for signs of something that should never have awakened.

“Tell me exactly what you saw,” she demanded, trying to keep her voice steady despite the destruction around them.

Awesome swallowed, struggling to organize the images that continued flashing through his mind. “A chamber with black pillars, thousands of people wearing masks, and a boy who looked exactly like me.”

The moment he mentioned the boy, Elara went completely still.

Awesome noticed the sudden tension in her shoulders and the way her fingers tightened around the spell she was maintaining. Her gaze darted toward the black crystal, and for a brief moment, she looked more frightened of what he might say next than of the shattered windows and ruined furniture surrounding them.

“You know something,” Awesome whispered, searching her face for an explanation. “You recognized what I saw, didn't you?”

Elara opened her mouth, but before she could answer, the infirmary doors burst inward with a violent crash.

“Professor Veyne! Step away from the student immediately!”

Six armed security officers stormed into the room, their enchanted weapons already activated and glowing with concentrated mana. Behind them marched Deputy Headmaster Corvin Malachi, whose silver staff radiated enough magical energy to make the remaining fragments of glass tremble against the floor.

Corvin surveyed the destruction with a grim expression before his gaze settled on the black crystal resting beside the bed.

For the first time since Awesome had met him, the deputy headmaster appeared genuinely terrified.

“Who activated it?” Corvin demanded, his voice echoing through the damaged infirmary.

Nobody answered, and the silence only seemed to deepen his anger.

His eyes eventually settled on Awesome, who was still struggling to rise from the floor.

“You touched the crystal,” Corvin stated, making it clear that he was not asking a question.

Awesome pushed himself upright, wincing as pain travelled through his ribs. “You told me to examine it.”

“And what happened after you touched it?”

“The crystal showed me something.”

Corvin's expression darkened, and his grip tightened around his silver staff. “What exactly did you see?”

Awesome hesitated, uncertain whether revealing everything would make his situation worse, but the deputy headmaster's threatening presence left him with little room to avoid the question.

“I saw a place beneath the academy, a boy who looked like me, and a warning about something called the final gate.”

Corvin's staff struck the floor with a sharp metallic crack, releasing a wave of silver energy that spread outward in a perfect circle.

A formation of silver runes appeared beneath his feet before racing across the infirmary floor, climbing the walls and sealing the doors with a thunderous clang. The magical barriers glimmered with enough intensity to make Awesome's skin prickle.

Elara immediately rose to her feet and placed herself between Corvin and the injured student.

“Corvin, whatever you're planning, don't do this,” she warned, her voice hardening as the formation continued to spread.

“You have no authority to interfere with a security investigation,” Corvin replied coldly.

“I'm his attending professor, and I will not stand here while you endanger a student under my care!”

“Your personal concern is irrelevant,” Corvin snapped. “This boy may be responsible for a security breach capable of destroying the entire academy.”

He turned toward the six officers, who had already begun spreading out around the room.

“Activate the suppression formation immediately. Nobody leaves this infirmary until I understand what that crystal has revealed.”

The guards moved into position, their weapons humming as the magical formation responded to their presence.

Awesome's stomach tightened while he looked from one armed officer to another. He had spent his entire life being told that he was useless because he couldn't cast a proper spell, and he had endured enough humiliation to understand that powerful people rarely needed an excuse to mistreat someone they considered inferior.

Yet the situation surrounding him had changed so suddenly that he could barely comprehend it.

Only minutes earlier, he had been an ordinary student trying to understand an artifact that had baffled the academy's instructors. Now, armed officers surrounded him, senior personnel regarded him with suspicion, and the deputy headmaster seemed convinced that he was concealing a dangerous secret.

The most infuriating part was that Awesome had never asked for any of it.

He had not chosen to be born without the ability to cast conventional spells, nor had he asked the mysterious crystal to recognize him. He certainly had not requested a voice in his head or a terrifying vision of a stranger wearing his face.

“Why are you so afraid of me?” Awesome demanded, forcing himself to meet Corvin's gaze despite the fear twisting inside his chest.

The deputy headmaster regarded him with an expression of practiced indifference.

“I'm not afraid of you.”

“Then why are you trying to lock me up when you haven't even explained what I did wrong?”

“Because I don't know what you are.”

The answer struck Awesome harder than he expected, leaving him momentarily unable to respond. For sixteen years, people had judged him by what he could not do, but hearing the deputy headmaster question his very identity made him feel as though he had become something less than human in the eyes of the academy.

He lowered his gaze toward the black crystal, hoping that the artifact might offer some explanation for the nightmare unfolding around him.

Its surface had changed again.

The golden symbols had disappeared, replaced by a single line of glowing text that seemed to exist only for his eyes.

[WARNING: HOSTILE AUTHORITY DETECTED.]

Awesome's breath caught as the message flickered and changed.

[SUPPRESSION FORMATION: ACTIVE.]

[PRIMARY COMMAND SOURCE: CORVIN, MALACHI.]

A third message appeared beneath the others, and the words made his pulse quicken.

[COMMAND SOURCE CONFLICTS WITH ORIGINAL AUTHORITY.]

Awesome stared at the crystal, trying to understand the meaning of the warning.

Original authority.

The artifact was not merely identifying him or reacting to his presence. It appeared to be comparing Corvin's commands against another source of authority, one that it considered more important than the deputy headmaster's magical power.

And somehow, that original authority seemed to be connected to Awesome himself.

He slowly raised his eyes toward Corvin, who was watching him with growing impatience.

“What happens if I refuse to go with you?” Awesome asked, forcing his voice to remain steady.

Corvin's expression hardened. “Then I will have you restrained by force.”

“Even if your formation hurts me?”

“If that becomes necessary.”

Before Awesome could respond, Elara stepped between them again, her protective spell brightening around her hand.

“Malachi, stop this immediately. You have no idea what the formation might do to him!”

Corvin narrowed his eyes at her, and his attention shifted from Awesome to the professor who had repeatedly attempted to protect him.

“You seem remarkably certain that restraining this student would be dangerous,” he observed. “Perhaps you would care to explain why.”

Elara's jaw tightened as she struggled to maintain her composure.

“Because we have already witnessed what happens when his abilities interact with the academy's magical systems!” she exclaimed, her voice carrying enough urgency to make the nearest officer glance at her.

Corvin studied her for several seconds before speaking again.

“Or perhaps you are protecting him because you already know precisely what he is.”

The accusation hung between them, and the atmosphere inside the infirmary grew so tense that Awesome could hear the faint hum of the suppression formation beneath his feet.

He turned toward Elara, desperately searching her expression for reassurance, but she refused to meet his gaze.

“Professor?” he asked quietly.

Elara closed her eyes for a moment, and when she finally looked at him, her expression revealed a mixture of guilt and fear.

“Awesome, I need you to trust me.”

“Then tell me the truth,” he replied, his voice growing sharper. “Why does that crystal recognize me, and why are you acting as though you already know the answers?”

“I can't explain everything here.”

“Why not?”

“Because this room is no longer safe.”

Awesome stared at her, feeling the last of his patience begin to crumble. “You keep telling me to trust you, but every time I ask a question, you give me another reason not to.”

Before Elara could answer, the suppression formation brightened beneath their feet.

A crushing pressure descended upon Awesome's chest, forcing the air from his lungs. He stumbled forward, struggling to breathe as the silver runes surrounding the room began drawing magical energy toward themselves.

The nearest officer examined the formation before raising his weapon toward Awesome.

“Formation stabilized, sir,” he reported.

Corvin nodded once, apparently satisfied that the restraints were functioning as intended.

“Proceed with the transfer.”

One of the guards stepped forward carrying a restraint device larger than the one Awesome had seen earlier. Multiple layers of enchanted metal covered its surface, and tiny runes glowed along the locking mechanism.

Awesome instinctively retreated until his back nearly touched the bedside table.

“Don't touch me,” he warned, raising his hands as the officer approached.

“Stand still and cooperate,” the guard ordered, ignoring his warning as he lunged forward.

Awesome had no time to think, and every instinct in his body screamed that he could not allow the man to put those restraints on him.

He raised his hand.

The black symbol beneath his palm ignited with a brilliant flash, releasing a wave of power that swept across the infirmary before anyone could react.

Every rune in the suppression formation went dark simultaneously.

The officer froze halfway through his movement as the restraint device split down the middle. The enchanted metal shattered in his hands, scattering fragments across the floor while the magical energy surrounding his weapon vanished without a trace.

A terrible vibration rolled through the academy, shaking the infirmary walls so violently that cracks spread across the ceiling.

Awesome stared at his raised hand, unable to understand what he had just done.

Then something answered from far beneath their feet.

Three enormous knocks reverberated through the building, each one carrying a force that seemed to originate from the deepest foundations of the academy.

The first knock shook dust from the ceiling and sent loose fragments of plaster tumbling around them.

The second cracked the tiles beneath Corvin's feet, forcing the deputy headmaster to stagger backward as his silver staff flickered uncertainly.

When the third knock sounded, every magical instrument in the infirmary fell silent, and the enchanted weapons held by the security officers lost their glow.

Awesome's heart hammered against his ribs as he looked down at his palm.

He had not consciously cast a spell, nor had he understood the strange power that had just erupted from his body. He had simply refused to let the officer restrain him, and somehow, the entire academy's magical system had responded to his refusal.

It was as though the building itself had obeyed him.

Corvin stumbled backward, the colour draining from his face as he stared at the dead runes surrounding the infirmary.

“No,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “The authority was supposed to be sealed.”

Awesome immediately turned toward him.

“What did you just say?”

Corvin's expression changed as he realized he had spoken aloud. He quickly recovered his composure, raised his silver staff, and pointed toward the doors.

“Everyone, withdraw from the infirmary immediately!”

The officers hesitated, exchanging uncertain glances as the protective runes around the room began changing colour.

“Now!” Corvin shouted, his voice cracking beneath the strain.

The guards scrambled toward the doors, abandoning their shattered equipment as the walls groaned around them. Elara seized Awesome by the arm and pulled him away from the bedside, her grip surprisingly strong.

“We have to leave this place,” she insisted.

Awesome resisted her pull, his frustration finally overpowering his fear.

“I'm not going anywhere until somebody explains what is happening to me!”

Elara turned toward him, and for the first time, he saw genuine desperation in her eyes.

“Awesome, listen carefully. If the third seal has responded to you, the people coming here will not be interested in examining you or asking you questions.”

Awesome felt a chill creep down his spine.

“Then what will they want?”

Elara glanced toward the floor, as though she expected something to emerge from beneath it.

“They will want the person who was sealed away.”

Before Awesome could demand an explanation, a deafening alarm erupted throughout the academy, drowning out every other sound in the infirmary.

Red symbols appeared across the walls, displaying a warning that repeated itself in enormous, glowing letters.

ANCIENT SEAL BREACH DETECTED.

UNAUTHORIZED AUTHORITY RESTORED.

ALL PERSONNEL: EVACUATE THE EASTERN WING.

Corvin stared at the warning as though he had just witnessed his worst nightmare becoming reality. His silver staff trembled in his hand, and for several seconds, he seemed incapable of issuing another command.

Then a new message appeared before Awesome's eyes.

Unlike the emergency warning displayed across the walls, this one remained invisible to everyone else in the room.

[MEMORY SEAL: 1% RESTORED.]

Awesome's vision blurred as an unfamiliar warmth spread through his mind, bringing with it a sudden ache that felt strangely similar to homesickness.

A whisper brushed against his consciousness, carrying a familiarity so deep that his heart tightened before he could understand why.

You took longer than I expected.

Awesome stopped breathing.

He recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to the boy from his vision, the stranger who had worn his face and warned him about the final gate.

Listen carefully, Awesome. Corvin isn't the one you need to fear.

The voice paused, and Awesome felt the presence behind it grow heavier, as though the speaker were struggling to reach him from somewhere impossibly distant.

It's the person standing beside him.

Awesome slowly turned his head.

Professor Elara Veyne stood at his side, her face pale and her hands trembling as the red emergency lights washed over her uniform.

At first, he could not understand what he was seeing. Then he noticed the faint glow beneath the collar of her uniform, where a black symbol had begun to burn through the fabric.

The mark was identical to the one that had appeared beneath his own palm.

Elara followed his gaze and immediately pulled her collar closed, but the movement came too late to hide the truth.

For several heartbeats, neither of them moved. Awesome stared at the woman who had repeatedly protected him, while she looked back at him with an expression filled with guilt and a fear that seemed far older than their encounter.

“Professor,” he whispered, his voice trembling as the implications began to take shape. “What is that mark?”

Elara's lips parted, but no explanation came. She glanced toward Corvin, who was watching them with a strange mixture of anger and grim recognition.

Then she looked back at Awesome, and something inside her seemed to break.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. “I wanted you to have more time before you discovered the truth.”

Awesome felt the world shifting beneath his feet.

“What truth?”

Elara lowered her head, unable to escape the accusation in his eyes.

When she finally spoke, her voice was so quiet that he almost failed to hear her over the continuing alarm.

“I'm the one who sealed you.”