Chapter 1: Taken Away
The morning started quiet, just like every other day in the orphanage.
Astren sat on the edge of his small bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. The room was cold, the kind of cold that sneaks into your bones. Seventeen years old, still stuck in the same place, wearing the same tired clothes, feeling like the same weak boy everyone believed he was.
He stood up slowly, stretching his stiff arms. His magic—if it could even be called magic—felt like a tiny spark somewhere deep inside him. It never listened when he tried to use it. It never grew. It just sat there.
Maybe today will be normal, he thought.
Then the knocking started.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The door downstairs shook with each hit.
Kids woke up instantly. Some hid under their blankets. Some peeked over the rails of the top bunks. The caretaker, Mira, hurried toward the entrance, her face already worried.
Astren's heart dropped.
Everyone in the orphanage knew that kind of knock.
Government agents.
And government agents never visited for good reasons.
Mira cracked the door open. "C-can I help you?"
The door was pushed wide, and three men stepped inside. Tall, cold-looking, wearing black coats marked with glowing silver symbols. The symbol of the Celestial Council.
One stepped forward and said in a deep voice:
"We are here for Astren Veyra."
The room fell silent.
Some kids gasped. Others whispered.
"Astren?"
"The weakest one?"
"Why him?"
Mira turned slowly, eyes full of worry. "Astren… come forward."
Astren felt his legs shake. He wanted to run, but his body didn't move. Still, he forced himself to walk toward the agents, each step heavy like he was moving through water.
When he reached them, one agent grabbed his arm. Hard. Astren winced.
"No need to resist," the man said. "You have been summoned."
"For what?" Astren asked, voice trembling.
"You will be informed."
That meant they weren't going to tell him.
They marched him out of the orphanage. People on the street stared as he was pulled along.
"That boy?"
"What did he do?"
"Orphans don't come back from summons…"
Astren lowered his head.
He had always been the weak one.
He had never expected anything different.
But being taken like this… it felt like his life was no longer his.
They brought him to a floating carriage powered by star crystals. The air around it shimmered softly.
"Inside," an agent ordered.
Astren climbed in. The door slammed shut.
The carriage glided smoothly, rising above the old town. Astren pressed his hand against the window. Houses grew smaller beneath him. The orphanage roof. The dusty streets. Everything he knew.
Is this the last time I'll see it?
He didn't know.
The carriage eventually stopped at a massive complex—towers of stone and crystal shining under the morning sun. The place felt too big, too important for someone like him.
Inside, the halls were wide, echoing every footstep. The agents led him to a chamber where an official in star-patterned robes waited.
The man looked Astren up and down.
"Astren Veyra. Age seventeen. Orphan. Weak magical output."
Astren flinched. Hearing it out loud hurt more.
"And yet," the official said, "you have been summoned because even the weakest must face their fate."
Astren swallowed. "Why me? I… I'm not special."
The official stared at him with unreadable eyes.
"That is what makes you interesting."
Before Astren could ask anything else, a guard placed a glowing band around his wrist. It hummed with soft light.
"This marks you," the official said. "You are now bound for transport to the Ascension Grounds."
Astren's stomach twisted. The Ascension Grounds… the place where chosen youths trained. The place where some never came back.
As he was escorted toward a large lift, a strange feeling tingled in his chest. Soft. Light. Like something calling to him.
He paused. The air around him shimmered faintly—tiny sparkles of light swirling for just a moment before fading.
No one else noticed.
Astren frown
ed. What was that?
He didn't know.
But something inside him whispered…
that his life was about to change.
A/N: shameless author here, this is my first webnovel, please support me with power stones