[Gezegend Academic New Student Admission Test Results]
"You failed again for the third time, Foger." Markius' heavy, soft voice echoed in the small stadium-like room.
Laughter broke out in the predominantly black and red room.
"I expected it! Foger will be eliminated!"
"He's pathetic!"
Some magus, who had graduated when Foger enrolled three years ago, joined in the sneering.
"He's so stubborn! How often must he take the entrance examination to realize he's not talented? He won't pass until he dies."
"You're right. You don't have what it takes to be a Magus. She can't even control her Mana. She'd better stop pushing herself because she's only exposing her stupidity in front of many people."
Foger, the eighteen-year-old and golden-haired youth, only looked down in shame and sadness.
"You have to repeat it in three years. Therefore, practice harder." Markius, the Headmaster of Magus Academic School, looked at him with concern.
"Thank you, Master." Foger stepped down from the pulpit and sat in his place, feeling disappointed.
"Give it up, loser! Until you die, you'll never be a magus!" Jason, a stocky young man sitting next to Foger, swore at him.
"Jason, don't sit close to Foger. If not, his stupidity will rub off on you." Mariana, Jason's friend, laughed mockingly.
There were whispers from the rookie Magus, who passed the selection.
"He's a strange wizard who can't control his Mana."
"Is he a descendant of a witch?"
"No. Foger is just a useless piece of trash."
Foger remained silent, not replying to them.
After the event ended in the afternoon, Foger returned to his shanty house in the middle of the forest feeling disappointed. However, he refused to give up.
BRUG!
CRASH!
"I'm not a loser! I'm going to prove them wrong!" Foger continued to smash the rock with his fire stance, but the rock did not break. It only eroded.
"Tsk! Why isn't the stone breaking?! I've put in all my Mana!"
Foger panted while staring at his hand, which was covered in scratches. "What's wrong with my Mana?"
The teacher who supervised the exam at the Gezegend academy this morning said that Foger's Mana was too weak to become a Magus. That made him fail to step into the next round.
The weakness was fatal—namely, the difficulty in releasing Mana. Until now, he had been unable to find a solution. His Mana has stayed the same, and it has not increased despite practicing for a dozen years.
"What should I do? If I continue to be weak, then I will-"
"Let's eat." Foger's mother, Eliora, approached her eldest son, who was training in the middle of the forest near home. "You can't keep pushing yourself. If you don't rest, you'll get sick."
"I'm not hungry!" Foger returned to training, but his body rejected him until he fell. "Shit!" His energy and Mana had been drained, even though he had only practiced for an hour. He clenched his fists tightly in frustration and anger.
Foger hated himself and his fate. However, Mana was first and foremost required to become an actual witch, but the goddess did not bestow that talent.
"Damn it! Even I can't bring it out to its full potential!"
Seeing Foger looking despondent, Eliora rubbed his shoulders. "You're not weak, Dear. You're strong." She smiled softly, trying to comfort him.
Foger reflexively brushed off his mother's hand. "You a liar! I always fail! Even I can't pass the selection test! If I am always weak, I will... " He suddenly fell silent, unable to continue. His chest was tight, and his voice trembled with tears.
Eliora was hurt to see Foger frustrated.
"... I will lose you forever." Foger's voice sounded soft.
The red-haired woman was stunned for a moment, then smiled gently. "You don't have to feel guilty about the events of the past, dear. It was our destiny."
"You're wrong, Mom! I could have saved Father if I had been stronger! But instead, I left him alone to fight that Dark Magus."
Foger grabbed his hair, remembering that dark tragedy. The memory of corpses lying on the ground and blood pooling everywhere always haunted him.
As a descendant of a king, Foger considered himself very weak. Meanwhile, Ramos of King Perrath, his father, were the greatest Magis in the land. He had even become a B-rank Magus when he was Foger's age, but why was it different with him?'
That bitter reality made it difficult for Foger to forget the dark events of nine years ago.
"I hate myself! I'm sick of it!" Foger immediately ran into the forest while roaring bitterly. He didn't want Eliora to see him cry or make him feel like he had failed to raise Foger as a tough young man.
After all, it was Eliora who suffered the most in the incident, as she had to become a widow in a foreign land and struggle to support her family.
"Foger! Wait! Don't go!"
Eliora watched Foger's departure sadly, allowing her son to calm down.
"Did you fight with Foger again, Mom?" A little girl approached Eliora using a cane because of her lame leg. "He's been very emotional lately. I'm worried about him because he looks sad and disappointed." Her emerald eyes glazed over.
"Your older brother is fine, Dear. You don't have to worry." Eliora hugged Aurea, her youngest daughter.
However, she could not lie to herself if she was anxious to see her eldest son slumping further. As his mother, she strongly supported Foger's determination to be strong, but on the other hand, she did not want her son to be depressed.
However, she could not forbid Foger from achieving his goals. Let alone remove the trauma of the incident from his eldest son's heart.
The year was a tragedy that she would never forget as her husband, Ramos of King Perrath, died in battle along with the rest of his people.
Only they and a handful of people managed to save themselves when the Dark Magus attacked them suddenly because King Ramos was desperate to fight against him and thus managed to buy time to escape, even though Ramos knew he would lose.
Dark Magus was the nickname the people gave him. He scorched the land of Perrath with his eternal fire, leaving it barren and uninhabited.
He was a terrifying terror to the entire land because he attacked without any sign. He was like a passing wind because his arrival could never be predicted, causing great misfortune. After all, the people had no chance to prepare themselves.
According to legends that have circulated for hundreds of years, some people believe that he is one of the unconsidered Magus Gods of the Five Magus Gods because his magic power surpasses all Magus Gods that have ever existed.
However, the truth could have been more accurate, as there was no evidence to corroborate it. Moreover, for millions of years, all Magus in the world only recognized five Magus Gods, namely Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Earth, as their ancestors.
***
Foger ran into the forest.
'You're weak! You're useless!' The eighteen-year-old was very disappointed in his abilities.
His dream of becoming a Grand Magus had been dashed. From nine until now, he had repeatedly failed the magus test held every three years at the Academic Gezegend.
He stood at the edge of a steep ravine as looking up at the sky.
"Life is so sickening!"
"If only there were a cheat ability that the Master couldn't detect, I would DO IT!" Foger shouted, venting his frustration.
His voice echoed throughout the forest and made the birds in the trees flee in fear.
[New player detected]
Foger stiffened when he heard the cold female voice nearby. He immediately looked around him in alarm.
"Whose voice is that?"