"Everyone thinks I'm just an orphan. But the truth is… I was never born."
The morning air felt different—crisp, electric, almost alive.
As the gates of Arkaelion University of Magic and Science opened before me, I could feel it: something inside me shifting. The world around me thrummed with unseen energy, like the wind was whispering secrets I hadn't heard before.
Three seconds. That's all it takes for the truth to flash.
The forest was glowing. Not with sunlight, but with existence. Fire flickered from tree bark, rivers ran in reverse, the sky swirled with galaxies. I wasn't born—I was formed. Light wrapped around me like a blanket, and the Earth rose to catch me. Air filled my lungs before I had a body. Fire danced in my chest, water flowed through my veins, and the sky gave me breath. In silence, I opened my eyes to the world.
And ever since... I've never belonged to it. But I live like I do.
The voice in my head snapped back to the present as the loudspeakers crackled.
"All applicants, report to the entrance ground. Your test begins in ten minutes."
I adjusted my bag and walked toward the crowd. Hundreds of students were gathered—some wide-eyed, some already throwing sparks or floating above the ground to show off. I kept my power quiet.
Because that's what I do best: hide in plain sight.
Even though I can control every element that made me, even though I can talk to animals, whisper to rocks, hear the thoughts of rivers and fire... I stay silent. I observe.
"Name?"
"Shiva."
"Background?"
"Orphan. Village-born. Specialization: Science."
"Science?" The examiner raised a brow.
"All of it." I smiled. "Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, Neuroscience, Astronomy, Botany, Zoology, Ecology, Geology… I live and breathe it."
He blinked. "You'll need it. The test is both mental and magical. Survive both."
The test grounds looked like a ruined city floating above water and fire. Machines roared on one side. Magical portals swirled on the other. The rules were simple: solve the riddles, survive the traps, and don't die.
Easy. For someone like me.
The voice of fire spoke first.
"Burn the illusion."
I breathed once, focused, and the fire bent to my will. The illusion shattered, revealing the real path.
The voice of water followed.
"Flow, don't fight."
I slid through a maze of shifting rooms made of liquid mirrors.
Earth steadied me, air lifted me, light guided me, and the sky… watched silently.
By the end, I was the only one standing from my group.
They stared. Some in awe, some in fear.
But none of them knew the truth.
I am not a magician. I am not a scientist. I am a force born of the universe's first breath.
And now, I've entered a world that might finally understand what I am… or destroy me trying.
To be continued...