"The Academy teaches spells, not truth. Power, not purpose. But the old creatures still remember why we were chosen."
**Entry One: Survivors and Classes**
Only a handful had survived the brutal trials so far. The maze and chamber had claimed many before this moment. Now, the survivors gathered inside the towering walls of the academy — an ancient fortress pulsing with magic older than any living memory.
I was the only E-Class among them.
The academy was divided strictly by class — First Years like me, still raw and untrained; Second Years who had shown some mastery over their powers; and the elite Third Years, the closest to becoming legends.
Each class had a leader — a Second Year who commanded their peers with authority and power.
The Second Years showed off their abilities with effortless confidence, their powers glowing like trophies. Flames, light bending, healing — each demonstration louder than the last.
At the pinnacle of it all stood Kael.
Everyone knew his name. The academy's golden boy. The prodigy. The one whose mastery over blue flames was unmatched.
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**Entry Two: Weak First Years and New Bonds**
Among the crowd of First Years, two girls caught my attention.
Lyra, fierce-eyed and sharp-tongued, had no powers yet. She flicked her fingers nervously, trying to mimic the light bending she'd heard about but couldn't produce. Nia, soft-spoken and gentle, trembled as she tried to heal a small scratch on her arm. Her magic was weak — a flicker that vanished almost as soon as it appeared.
They were like me — beginners with nothing but hope.
When they approached me, their smiles were warm despite the uncertainty in their eyes.
"You look out of place," Lyra said with a half-smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Maybe I am," I answered, trying to sound braver than I felt.
Nia nodded gently. "We're just starting. None of us have powers yet. But we'll get there."
I found comfort in their honesty.
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**Entry Three: Classes and Leaders**
Our First Year class had its own leader — a boy named Joren.
Tall and steady, with a quiet confidence, Joren wasn't flashy like the Second Years, but there was something about him that made people listen.
He had a crush on me, though he'd never say it out loud. Still, his eyes softened when they found me in a crowd, and he was quick to stand up for me when others sneered at my E-Class status.
Joren was captain of our class, the one who organized training sessions and tried to keep us united.
The Second Year leaders, meanwhile, ruled their classes with strength and power. They were the ones who really held the academy together — fierce, practiced, and sometimes ruthless.
Kael, of course, was the undisputed leader of the elite Third Year class. His mastery over fire was legendary, and even the teachers treated him with a mixture of respect and awe.
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**Entry Four: Kael's Distance**
Kael never approached the First Years. He watched from afar, a blazing king in his own kingdom.
One time, his eyes briefly met mine. In that moment, I felt something shift — a spark of recognition, maybe, or curiosity.
But then he looked away, disappearing into the crowd like a flame swallowed by the night.
It was clear — he belonged to a world far beyond mine.
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**Entry Five: The Ancient Book**
Later, I slipped away from the noise and found a quiet corner of the academy's vast library.
There, hidden among dusty shelves, I pulled out a tattered, leather-bound book I had smuggled from the restricted section — a collection of ancient myths and forgotten stories.
My mother and sister had whispered these tales to me as a child, stories no one else seemed to believe.
I flipped through the pages, tracing the names of creatures thought extinct or mythical — monsters from old Greek legends that no one dared mention aloud.
The savage **Erymanthian Boar**, the seductive and deadly **Empusa**, the colossal underground guardians called **Myrmekes** — beings that were supposed to exist only in stories, but which I now feared might be real.
The descriptions sent a shiver down my spine.
No one else at the academy cared about these legends. The professors ignored them. The students scoffed.
But I had grown up hearing the truth.
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**Entry Six: The Shadow's Whisper**
Closing the book, I felt a strange warmth beneath my skin.
The shadows in the dim light seemed to flicker and move unnaturally, curling like living things around my fingers.
My heart quickened.
I didn't understand what it meant yet.
What I didn't know was that I was the only one who could truly manipulate shadows — a power so rare it was almost a myth.
But it was there, inside me. Waiting.
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**Entry Seven: New Friends and New Challenges**
Back with the First Years, Lyra and Nia stuck close to me.
"We're weak now," Lyra admitted, "but Joren believes in us. We'll get stronger."
Nia smiled softly, hope bright in her eyes. "This is just the beginning."
Joren caught my eye and gave a small nod — steady and encouraging.
Kael, watching from his place with the Third Years, seemed like a distant sun — untouchable, but always burning.
As the sun set behind the academy's ancient towers, a quiet promise filled the air.
The powers, the classes, the old myths — everything was stirring beneath the surface.
And I was standing at the center of it all.
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