Chapter 1 – The Magic Academy on the Island

The continent was engulfed in the flames of war, and the scent of blood permeated the vast plains. Shattered armor and fragments of magic crystals lay scattered across the ground, glinting in the fading light of dusk.

On the battlefield, only a squadron of heavy cavalry and a single mage remained. The cavalrymen surrounded a black-haired nobleman who, thanks to their protection, remained unscathed.

The mage had long, dark golden hair and eyes. His pristine white magic robe was spotless, as if he had never tread upon the sea of blood. He stood with a straight back, exuding an indescribable sense of desolation.

The two men stared at each other in silence. The nobleman hesitated to give the order, and the mage hesitated to begin his incantation.

A faint smile appeared on the nobleman’s pale face. “Duan Yu, you’ve finally decided not to strike.”

The mage replied, “What about the Empire?”

“I don’t know… but I’ve long regretted it myself,” the nobleman sighed softly.

The sky grew darker as the earth swallowed the burning sun. The horizon shifted from a glorious orange-gold to a subdued gray-blue.

Suddenly, a golden light burst forth from the center of the battlefield, spreading out in all directions. The world fell into silence.

—

The words “I’ve regretted it” still echoed in his ears. Fifteen-year-old Lin Wei closed his eyes, faintly recalling the battlefield at dusk, the glinting armor and crystals, and the mage’s dark golden eyes.

Among the imperial family’s treasured possessions were three forbidden scrolls. One had been used to destroy the capital of the Magic World, igniting a grand war that lasted five years. Another was tightly held by the ruler of the Empire as a contingency. The final scroll, named “Molten Gold,” had been bestowed upon Duke Tidis, who commanded the Empire’s army and mage corps—Lin Wei Tidis. At the war’s end, it was unleashed, resulting in the mutual destruction of Lin Wei and Duan Yu, the leader of the Magic World.

When Lin Wei opened his eyes again, he found himself back at the age of fifteen.

At this time, the Empire and the Magic World still maintained a cold and delicate peace. The Magic World’s central city, Kalaway—known to mages as the Floating Sky Capital—still hovered majestically above the Imperial Capital. The ambitious and iron-fisted emperor had not yet ascended the throne, but ministers and nobles who had already sensed the looming danger had quietly hidden their children’s magical talents to avoid awkward situations when the war inevitably broke out. Lin Wei was one of these children.

The Magic Association had established a Magic Academy on an island far from the mainland, where it was overseen by archmages.

Article II of the treaty between the Empire and the Magic Association stated: All Empire citizens must undergo a magic aptitude test upon turning fifteen, and no one may refuse for any reason.

Article III: Those with magical aptitude automatically forfeit their Empire citizenship and must enter the Magic Academy for study. No one may refuse for any reason.

The primary reason this system was successfully implemented was the rarity of children with magical talent. If their innate potential to sense magical elements was not awakened and nurtured, their lifespans would be less than half that of ordinary people. However, after studying magic, their lifespans would extend with their growing abilities, and the most exceptional mages could live far longer than ordinary people.

Yet, the Magic Academy, which had existed since the earliest days of the Empire, had been operating for so long that its methods of teaching magic could no longer be kept secret. Over time, the Empire developed its own methods of training mages and established its elite mage corps, steadily accumulating strength for the future. The Empire’s nobles, well-versed in the situation, sought out ways to conceal their children’s magical talents to keep them within the Empire.

Lin Wei reached for his neck, where a delicate silver chain held a beautiful pendant. The pendant was snow-white and shimmered faintly with a five-colored halo in the sunlight—this was the Five-Colored Cloud Stone, one of the rarest materials on the continent capable of masking magical aptitude and elemental fluctuations.

Almost without hesitation, Lin Wei removed it.

He looked at the Tidis family crest on the wall—an ancient, understated pattern with a solid, heavy texture, depicting a longsword entwined with flames. The Tidis family’s ancestors had earned their noble title through military achievements, and subsequent heads of the family had either achieved great feats in battle or demonstrated exceptional strategic prowess, making them the foremost military family in the Imperial Capital.

“I just want to live a good life,” Lin Wei murmured to himself. “To hell with the Empire!”

Here, only he knew how devastating the cost of war would be, how irredeemably obsessed that emperor would become, and how difficult it would be to achieve his own desires.

The eldest son of the Tidis family, who would play a pivotal role in the future “Twilight War,” set down the family crest and made a crucial decision for his second life: to leave the Imperial Capital, as far away as possible!

A few days later, at the official testing site of the Magic Association.

The expressionless tester, a smooth, transparent crystal ball, and the scheming eldest son of the Tidis family.

The Duchess of Tidis had beautiful black hair and captivating violet eyes. With the Duke temporarily absent from the Imperial Capital, she, as a direct family member, brought Lin Wei to the magic aptitude test.

Before the test began, the Duchess glanced at Lin Wei with concern, but she clearly had great confidence in the Five-Colored Cloud Stone. After that glance, she made no further moves, instead brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear and leading Lin Wei into the room with a proud and elegant demeanor.

The mage conducting the test wore a light blue robe and held a crystal-clear orb in his hand. Inside the orb, five-colored trails slowly rotated—Lin Wei knew these were traces of magical elements.

From the moment he entered the room, the rotation of the five-colored trails accelerated. The tester looked up in surprise. He had almost given up hope of finding someone with magical aptitude, given its rarity, but this scene indicated that the child before him was likely a talent. The crystal ball, filled with dense magical elements, reacted strongly to the presence of someone who could communicate with them.

The Duchess’s expression remained unchanged. As an ordinary person, she couldn’t see the activity inside the crystal ball. But Lin Wei saw that as he approached, the elemental fluctuations within became increasingly pronounced.

Seeing this, the tester was confident. He set aside his previous indifference and smiled as he handed the crystal ball to Lin Wei. However, when it came into contact with Lin Wei’s hand, nothing unusual happened.

The tester’s expression didn’t change. He put away the first crystal ball and took out another, handing it to Lin Wei. “Focus on its center,” he said.

This crystal ball was pitch black. Under normal circumstances, one could only see its surface, but when Lin Wei concentrated on it, the blackness suddenly became layered and textured, as if it could be penetrated. His gaze extended into its depths, and when it reached the center, the crystal ball emitted a soft, glowing light.

By now, the Duchess had realized something was wrong. Her face paled as the tester put away the crystal ball and said to Lin Wei, “You possess a rare type of magical aptitude. You cannot communicate with magical elements, but you have a strong talent for spiritual power. This talent could allow you to become a summoner or an alchemist.”

The Duchess’s heart raced. The words “It’s impossible” almost escaped her lips. The Five-Colored Cloud Stone had worked as intended on three other noble children. Why had Lin Wei’s magical talent still been discovered?

Seeing his mother’s pale face, Lin Wei couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. But he also knew that even if he didn’t go to the Magic Academy, he would still have to leave home and join the Empire’s mage corps. And in the war that would come a decade later, the glorious Tidis estate and the lives of his parents would be reduced to ashes, along with most of the Imperial Capital, in the counterattack of the mages who had lost their homeland.

He didn’t want to repeat the path of his previous life, not only out of disgust for that fate but also with a glimmer of hope that he might find a way to change it.

Despite the Tidis family’s disbelief, the results of Lin Wei’s test determined that he would soon enter the Magic Academy.

When they returned home, the Duchess no longer had to maintain her noble composure to hide her emotions. Tears welled up in her eyes as she murmured, “You’re leaving us… How will I explain this to your father?”

Lin Wei lowered his head and comforted her, “Don’t blame yourself. The Magic Academy isn’t such a bad place. When I leave there, I’ll visit often.”

Such comfort did little to console the Duchess, who was about to be separated from her son. Lin Wei sighed, suppressing his guilt, and stepped forward to embrace his mother.

The days of waiting passed quickly. A few days later, the Tidis family carriage arrived at Siren Bay, the easternmost port on the continent. Here, Lin Wei would board a magic ship bound for Siren Island and become a member of the Magic World.

However, due to the Duchess’s reluctance to part with her son, Lin Wei didn’t board the ship until evening.

Lin Wei smiled as he bid his mother farewell. “Siren Bay is the home of mermaids. When I return, I’ll bring you the most beautiful pearls.”

The Duchess smiled helplessly, her eyes full of tenderness and sorrow as she watched Lin Wei walk away.

The tester from that day was waiting at the port. When he saw Lin Wei, he smiled and waved him over. He didn’t spare a glance for the Duchess. Mages paid no heed to the rules of the ordinary world; to them, nobles and commoners were no different.

Lin Wei apologized, “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

The tester led him onto the ship, saying, “It’s no problem. You’re not the last to arrive.”

Lin Wei scratched his nose sheepishly, silently recalling the mages he had known in his previous life. Those who were around his age were probably all on this ship.

This recollection made Lin Wei’s heart skip a beat as he remembered something significant.

That future leader of the Magic World, the archmage who had fought him to a standstill on the battlefield, was… about his age, wasn’t he?