Chapter 1: The Invisible Boy
The corridors of Daesan Academy buzzed with energy. Spells flickered in the air like fireflies, scrolls unrolled themselves with whispering parchment, and enchanted footsteps echoed down marble hallways that curved like rivers through the school. Students rushed from one class to the next ,capes billowing, wands tucked into belts, talismans glowing at their wrists.Sung Min walked in silence.
No one noticed him. They never did.
His books were clutched tightly to his chest, his eyes low to avoid meeting anyone else's. He knew the routine: walk fast, speak little, and hope the day ended quietly.
"Watch it, Minless," someone sneered as a shoulder slammed into his.
His books spilled across the floor. Laughter rang behind him.Sung Min knelt without a word, gathering his things.
Kim jing-woo,the school bully,stuck like a thorn. It started in the first week, when it became clear that Sung Min had no visible talent. No flame magic. No water shaping. No beast calling. Not even spark-sight , the ability to glimpse magic threads.He was a Void, or so they said.
"Still pretending you belong here?" another voice laughed.
He didn't respond. He never did. It only made things worse.
....
Instructors barely looked at him. In group tasks, he was the one left behind. At lunch, he sat alone beneath the weeping cinder trees, listening to the wind rustle the ember-colored leaves. Sometimes, he imagined the trees were talking to him ,but that was probably just loneliness echoing back.
That day, though, something felt off.
It began in Incantations Class. Professor Yulin had just begun her usual floating-script demonstration when the candle flames in the room flickered, dimmed, then flared blue.
The room fell silent.
Blue flame was wildfire , uncontrolled, ancient, dangerous. Only the highest-level mages could even summon it in controlled chambers.
Professor Yulin spun around. "Who did that?"
No one answered. All eyes turned to Sung Min.
He was at the back, hands still on his blank parchment, but every candle near him was burning blue.
"I,, i didn't," he stammered.
The professor's gaze narrowed. She waved her hand. The flames died.
"Stay after class," she said sharply.
Snickers followed him like flies.
After class, Sung Min stood alone as the other students filed out.
Professor Yulin approached him slowly, studying his face. "That kind of reaction doesn't come from nowhere. Do you know what wildfire responds to?"
He shook his head.
"Emotion," she said. "Unfiltered, uncontrolled, dangerous emotion."
Sung Min felt his ears burn.
"I don't know what you are, boy," the professor murmured, almost to herself. "But you're not Void."
Then she left him standing there, stunned.
...
That night, Sung Min couldn't sleep. He lay awake in his dormitory, listening to the sounds of snoring and distant laughter. His roommate , a loud, arrogant second-year named Baek Joon ,had left with friends hours ago. Sung Min didn't mind. The quiet was better.He turned over, staring at the ceiling.
Then > he heard it.
A whisper.
"Min… Min…"
He sat up, heart pounding. The voice was soft, like wind between trees. He looked around the room , no one.
The whisper came again. "Come."
His legs moved before he could think. He grabbed a coat, slipped on his shoes, and stepped into the night.
The halls were dark, but the school grounds shimmered under a silver moon. He followed the voice , past the garden of echoing stones, beyond the enchanted gate that usually stayed locked after sunset.
But tonight, it creaked open at his touch.
---
He walked for what felt like hours. The voice led him through forest paths he'd never seen before ,until he reached a clearing.
There, in the center, stood a black stone pillar, old and cracked, with strange glyphs spiraling up its surface.
As he stepped closer, the glyphs began to glow.Blue.
His hands trembled. The stone pulsed with heat — not burning, but alive. His chest tightened. It was like something deep inside him was waking up.
His fingers brushed the stone.
In that moment, visions exploded in his mind: fire and shadow, ancient battles, a circle of five figures, one of them standing apart — holding a flame in one hand and a world in the other.
And a voice , stronger now ,echoed in his bones:
"You are the last. The Fifth has returned."
Sung Min collapsed to his knees, gasping.
When he looked up, the blue flame danced at his fingertips.