"We're dealing with illegal magical substance use, multiple deaths, and public property destruction." The judge sighed, flipping through the file. "Even at just seventeen, it's hard to justify sending you to a reformatory."
John's lawyer stood up urgently.
"Your Honor, please! John only awakened his powers recently. He didn't understand what he was doing. It was a magical outburst, not malice."
The judge slammed his gavel.
"Outburst or not, lives were lost. The city demands justice. If we make exceptions, the law becomes a joke."
He turned his cold gaze toward John.
"The sentence is life imprisonment. You'll be transferred to the Maximum Security Prison of the Bermuda Triangle — where not even mana flows. Take him away."
— "Life... in prison...? Forever?" John muttered, stunned.
The cell was cold and suffocating. The cuffs on his wrists blocked all attempts at channeling mana. Alone in the silence, John drowned in guilt… until a voice echoed in his mind.
— "Would you rather rot here, or run and find out the truth about your mother?"
— "Who's talking to me?!"
— "Just answer. Do you want answers, or a slow death between stone walls?"
John closed his eyes tightly.
— "I... I don't know… but I'd rather run than die in here."
— "Good choice. Even if you hesitated... the plan was already in motion with or without your permission."
The shadows on the wall twisted. Suddenly, a woman with long blue hair stepped through the prison wall like mist.
— "AHH! A ghost?!"
— "Shut up, idiot." she smirked.
— "What's going on in there?!" shouted a guard down the corridor.
— "Great. You raised suspicion. Now we'll have to do this the hard way."
With a snap of her fingers, John's cuffs shattered. With another gesture, the cell wall exploded in a brilliant flash of blue.
— "Run, kid. Run for your freedom!"
Far from the prison now, they finally stopped to breathe.
— "John… I'm sorry we had to meet like this." She hugged him. "This might be confusing, but... I'm your sister. My name's Mili."
— "Sister...? I didn't even have a dad until recently, and now I have siblings?"
— "You have seven more. You're the eighth." Mili's smile was bittersweet. "Our father came from a clan obsessed with power. He married different women to create the strongest child. You were the most promising. But your mother didn't want you to have a blood-soaked future. So she severed your mana channels and fled here with you."
— "And now? I don't know how to control my power. I have nowhere to go."
— "The clan is in total chaos. Your seven siblings are fighting each other for leadership. But you have what they don't — surprise. They think you're dead."
— "They've had training. I haven't."
— "True. But I have something they don't — you. I'll train you. Together, we'll shift the balance."
John looked at her, skeptical.
— "What do you get out of this?"
She smirked and placed her finger on his lips.
— "You'll find out when we reach the clan. Let's just say… you owe me one."
John sighed, then gave a faint grin.
— "Fine. I've got nothing better to do."
— "The hero's journey begins now!" Mili shouted with excitement. "ONWARD TO VICTORY!"