Don't fear tomorrow, fear the possibility of tomorrow.

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  You can’t help but think of many things that happen when you live a life of many things. When we reach a new point in life, the only thing we do to re-experience those old days is to look back, seeing in those times a sense of hope and dread for the next days.

  That is pretty much the same spiel that I got myself into, a person only desiring normality above all else, getting into a prestigious school of magic, heckled by his noble and more powerful peers, and possibly accidentally drafted into is a battle festival featuring other magic schools in a bid for ultimate magical status.

  Sounds outlandish? Trust me, when I unravel the life I had living out these crazy school days, you might as well wanna think that what I went through is just an effect of my schizophrenia or something.

  I don’t know how to start, and I don’t want to dump on you a half-assed exposition text wall to begin with. But eh, gotta manage this.

  Growing up in a village close to the city, enraptured by the myriad of stories, real and fictional, of people making changes to a vast and wild world, I had the stupidest dream any normal human being would find embarrassing years later: to become a hero, a protector of innocents.

  That is probably the biggest red flag of my naivete. Yes, people in childhood tend to have big dreams of ideals, then regret making that dream when they grow up, but this is something that I wish I hadn’t thought out of, because come my teenage years… I accidentally got into a magic school.

  Okay, not accidental, just unexpected at best. Long story short, after I awakened to my magic, my parents had this random-ass idea to enter me into a raffle for a chance for free entry to “Aionios Academy”, one of the massive magical institutions in the world, and if I failed, I would just be either homeschooled by a relative who knows magic or enroll me in a smaller, but safer school as a starting ground for my magic.

  Guess what happened to me next.

  Yeah, I was one of the raffle winners, and thus, I had to move to the city that hosted this school, which was wildly enough, not that far from here. However, I kind of had an issue regarding my magic. No, I wasn’t the “weakest” or anything, it’s just I was probably the most average student possible here.

  Not above or below average, just average. Specializing in nothing but enhancement magic, pretty much okay at best in elemental control and everything else, I kind of became a heckling target for fellow, more skilled, and possibly noble students. Sure, the heckling did overblow itself at times, but I was used to that, so it didn’t become that big of an issue to me.

  So where does this leave my story?

  Well, at my dorm room after an admittedly long Sunday. It’s currently in the afternoon, barely transitioning to the evening. I am lazing on the couch, scrolling on my phone while I zone out and listen to the smaller sounds in this very room. The radio playing in the background, the sound of boiling water as I prepare my hot chocolate (yes, I do that as an alternative to coffee), the faint sounds of the air conditioning, and the small sounds of talk over the TV playing the latest news, this is somewhat of a safe place for me, the “normal” in this definitely-not-normal life.

  Everything that I went through so far just…tires me like hell. The first few weeks of the academy went by so fast, the classes that involved so much note-taking, the displays of magic from my classmates, the heckling…

  …Yeah, I’m fine, I promise.

  However, my train of thought momentarily stopped as I noticed something in the corner of my eye: on the TV screen, it showed a headline that for those who study in Aionios, know is an incredibly big deal.

  Stopping whatever I did, I grabbed the TV remote lying on the coffee table and turned up the volume so that I could hear what the news anchor was saying.

  [“Recent excitement in the magical community is drumming up for the awaited “Grand Front”, a decennial event where the major academic institutions choose and draft fifteen students in training, the “Arcsworn”, to compete under their institution’s name for a chance to win their institution the “Archblaze”, the ultimate status symbol for them. Ever since the Fiftieth Iteration of the Grand Front, which contained no victor, spectators and the institutions alike expect heavy competition to claim the throne and prize that is prestige and a ticket to magical innovation.”]

  Oh right…that.

  Okay, time to explain some things here. The Grand Front, or as it was known in ye olde days as the “Trial of Original Fire”, is a massive competition involving the major schools of magic competing for the Archblaze, which isn’t so much a pointless MacGuffin as much as being something ripped straight out of magic’s very origin. Somehow.

  Remember Aionios Academy? You know, the one I won a raffle to and got in? Well, Aionios is one of these major schools that is competing in this competition, among like, eleven other schools, each having their roster of fifteen Arcsworn, competing over a year-and-a-half long-ass competition to claim the Archblaze for their school, marking them the victor.

  Sounds bombastic? Of course, it is. From what I know, this is a very must-watch event, with people all over the world tuning in or flying to the venues to see the spectacle that is the students of the schools with higher social prestige than some multi-million dollar company in some cases battle it out through their chosen Arcsworn, testing their wits, skills, and their magical abilities.

  How do these schools choose their oh-so-greatest? Well, by holding the “Selection Ceremony”, an event that all the schools participating in the Grand Front must hold on the same day simultaneously, where every student sees the “chosen ones” be drafted and undergo training for the first stage of the Grand Front.

  That day is tomorrow…

  Sighing from the thought of time moving far too fast, I turned down the TV’s volume as I laid back deeper into the couch, lazily staring at the currently-off-ceiling fan looming over the dormitory living room.

  I could just spout off more meaningless verbose stuff, but man, time flies so fast. Despite my first day at Aionios being a couple of weeks back, it still felt like yesterday…in a good and bad way, and just tomorrow will be the destined day for the chosen ones to enter the Grand Front for the glory of the school.

  Well, thank god I’m practically inconspicuous.

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  Compared to other possible candidates during the Selection Ceremony, I am perfectly confident that someone like me compared to other visionaries in the academy, I am practically trash. I never really learned magic just soon after my awakening, aside from Enhancement Magic, which is the one I only truly know, but even then, with my mediocre magic power pool and control, I can’t keep it up for longer than a minute.

  Okay, rant over, time to prepare dinner.

  Getting off the couch, I walked over to the radio, turning up the volume a little to liven up this dorm a little. After that, I walked to the kitchen and started to prepare a simple dinner of fried chicken and rice, all while drinking my perfectly fine cup of hot chocolate, because I swore to not drink coffee till I was of drinking age…which is just me in the next two years.

  I didn’t say much, just enjoying the peace this life gave me compared to the life school gave me, probably more than me in middle school, which was already wild.

  After eating the crispy chicken legs and neat fried rice, I washed the dishes, took a bath, changed clothes, and went off to bed…not before scrolling through social media again. Yeah, I do that sometimes, but I am more of a viewer than a poster. I’m not that stupid.

  As usual, most of the posts that I see scrolling by are regarding excitement with the Grand Front, with even the official accounts of the institutions giving “good luck” statements to those that will be chosen in the Selection Ceremony tomorrow, which will not be me, I guarantee you, dear readers.

  This lasted for about like, five minutes before I decided to get off the screen and head off to sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a little wild, I’m sure.

  —THE NEXT DAY - 7:51 PM, 2025—

  A looming castle-like structure with spires of obsidian reaching the heavens guarding the main building. It is in very essence old-schooled yet modern at the same time due to the hints of modern building material on the outside and inside of the building. On its highest spire, near the center of the castle it bears the crest of a stylized rendition of a four-point star. That is the campus building of Aionios Academy, and god damn did it look cool, but that’s kind of to be expected of one of the top magical institutions globally.

  Here I stand, on the outskirts of the campus of Aionios Academy, all ready after a quick morning preparation.

  The uniform I am wearing right now is the usual formal wear for male students in the school: a black jacket with cobalt highlights at the sleeves sporting small silver pauldron-like armor on the shoulders, grey pants with black shoes and socks, topped off with a cobalt cloak worn over the shoulders bearing the insignia of Aionios Academy: a four-point star surrounded by two rings crossing over each other enclosed in a diamond border trimmed with gold and blue. On my right shoulder is the usual school bag for all students in the academy.

  Now, while it is formal wear for academic days at Aionios unless it’s for formal ceremonies, the school board would normally be incredibly liberal about the dress code, allowing students to customize their attire as long as they have the base clothes with them. However, since later today is the Selection Ceremony, an incredibly formal and large ceremony, all students have to wear formal attire whether they like it or not.

  As I gazed that is the building that holds, to people in the world of magic, a place to hone their knowledge of the arts, building the pathways to innovation, and somehow having more social power than a major global corporation, my mind wandered back to the first time I stepped foot on this campus…which was honestly not the strongest of starts.

  If you were in my shoes on the first day of Aionios Academy’s newest school year, fresh off the shock of receiving the prize invitation to Aionios just days before, you’d probably feel a lot of sweat and fear running down your whole body, to the point where your heartbeat could be heard among the lively chatters of excited students and constantly think of the worst possible ways your day can start.

  Yeah, that’s how nervous I felt when the first day rolled around.

  What makes it worse is that I probably don’t deserve to be here. I got into a prestigious magical academy, sure, but I’m not a noble student or prodigy of the hottest magic bloodline of the new century, I am a raffle winner who somehow awakened to magic but can’t keep up their own Enhancement Magic longer for a minute at best!

  Unfortunately, some people caught on, and some students of my class (i.e, snobby nobles) picked on me for the absolute irregularity and mistake that is me, calling me some flattering names such as “mistake among the honored”, “Worthless One”, or “scum from common man”. But what do you expect from them anyway? They’re talented, know more magic than I do, got in here by recognition or money splurging, and are destined to be the next Arcsworn the world will revere.

  I dealt with those words, as I have been called worse before…but I couldn’t refute their words. I am a common man, someone undeserving of the uniform and honor to study here, not because I am the weakest (because that would be the plot for a stupid power fantasy), but because I wasn’t supposed to be here by normal means, just somehow getting in through a raffle.

  It doesn’t help my self-esteem is in the rubbage already…

  …Anyway, moving on.

  Exhaling to calm my nerves, I walked into the large campus building, ready for a new day that was soon to turn wild once the Selection Ceremony happened.

  The inside of the large building is practically as big as what is seen on the outside. Ornate designs harkening to the days of old, the runes of what is an old language in the air from students doing whatever until the day starts, the air of magical power emitting throughout the premises, the chatter of students, staff, and teachers as they stroll down the halls, this is the life inside Aionios.

  From what I could tell from the small chatters I could hear, the atmosphere around here is a little more excited than usual. I mean, who could blame them? The Selection Ceremony is today, where the fifteen Arcsworn among us will be chosen as competitors under us in the Grand Front. Some are hoping it’s some other person, sometimes they’re wishing for themselves to be let in, and some are just speculating on who will precisely get in. These maniacs, I tell you…

  Me? I am just minding my own business, walking down the gigantic halls, marveling at the architecture as if I just first got here, and just blended in with the hundreds upon hundreds of people in the school doing their own thing before class starts.

  Eventually, after a while of walking, I found my way to the lecture hall of my designated class, First Alpha (it is fancy speak for “Class 1-A”). Each yearly batch is split up into three sections, and yes, that is a lot of students, but that’s probably a perk for being one of the more accessible major magic schools out there, and the explanation why there is an absolute crapton of students at once in Aionios.

  Taking my seat among the aloft rows of the lecture hall, I faintly hear the conversations among my classmates of varying backgrounds I can tell from their mannerisms.

  “Dude! Did you hear lately about the Grand Front?”

  “Well, it’s happening, duh. So what’s the issue about?”

  “No not that! I’m trying to say they’re gonna be the biggest yet! Big names for sponsors and endorsements, arenas chock full of theatrics, it’s probably gonna be as big as the fiftieth!”

  Oh yeah, the Fiftieth Grand Front. It’s probably once before, but I’m going to mention it again. From what I know, since I was barely three years old when it happened, the Fiftieth Grand Front, the five hundredth anniversary of this tradition implemented since those archaic days, is considered to be the best yet, with big names new and old participating for the Archblaze.

  However, due to what the mass media calls the “unexpected incident”, no school has crowned the victory, and for the first time in one hundred and fifty years, the Archblaze was never claimed. The said “unexpected incident” supposedly caused a few deaths, with some being hailed as some of the best of the best, the Arcsworn that were destined to lead the future of magic, but were culled from life after unexpected circumstances.

  A large memorial was held and people grieved, of course (mostly), but that one part the incident brought, the fact that the Archblaze is unclaimed for the next ten years…now that got the schools heated up.

  I’m going to end that topic here for the sake of it not being some kind of exposition dump, but from what I told you, I think you know why that fellow over there mentioned that last statement.

  Back to that conversation, I faintly heard someone, possibly a nobleman, scoff.

  “Of course, it will be as large. That prize is looking more juicy than ever.”

  “Nah man, I think it’s gonna be even larger! Just think about it! People know of the Fiftieth Grand Front having no school as its victor, so why not up the stakes even more for that matter? Gonna make claiming the Archblaze even tastier than ever!”

  “You really like to use those food-related statements for some reason…”

  “Because I’m hungry, dammit!”

  “Language!”

  The school bell rang and abruptly stopped that conversation. However, I could see for a little bit that noble looking at me with a disgusted gaze. Eh, seen those gazes for a while, so nothing new to me. I feel like with me probably the most inconspicuous one here, I feel like I could get through this day, with no gossip at all.

  …But why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?