God felt emptiness—so He created a world.

That world needed life, so He granted it rivers and trees.

But the world should be more vibrant, and thus, God created the races...

The Celestials, who proclaimed themselves God's apostles, ruled the heavens and carried legends of a kingdom in the sky.

Small in stature but great intellect, the Hobbits built an invincible mechanical empire.

The Elves, who accumulated the wisdom of hundreds of thousands of years, possessed a civilisation that would never decay—masters of intellect, with legends claiming they could foresee the entire world's fate.

The Undead, warriors who traded their lives for immortality.

The Demons, actual monsters of the age, wielding the power to destroy all things—creatures who lived purely by their own nature.

The Dragons, colossal beings of overwhelming might—existences none could dare violate.

The Merfolk, rulers of the seas, are invincible within the ocean's depths.

And the Humans, the diligent honeybees of the world, endowed with an unending capacity for learning—destined to advance their own era eternally.

In the beginning, the Demons dominated the continent with their overwhelming power, sweeping across the lands, destroying whatever could be destroyed, devouring whatever could be eaten. Until the Elves emerged—wielding wisdom and strength—to drive the Demons back. Yet peace was short-lived, for the Undead appeared: immortal warriors of the battlefield. The Elves were forced to retreat deep into the forests, where they built their fortress.

Meanwhile, beneath the waves, the Merfolk stirred with restless tides—they were no longer content to remain buried under the sea.

But before they could even raise a storm, the Dragons suddenly rose, dominating vast seas and lands alike; even the skies could not escape their wings.

When it seemed that history would be rewritten and the reign of the Undead erased, the Dragons mysteriously declined—vanishing from the continent without a trace.

On land, light and shadow entwined in chaos. Endless wars and uprisings broke out, and the Demons began to rebuild their strength, while the Humans remained powerless and the Elves remained silent within their forests.

Until the Hobbits appeared—small beings who forged grand history. Their war machines emerged without end, and neither the curses nor the deadly poisons of the Undead could withstand their mechanical might.

The Hobbits drove the Undead civilisation to extinction, and from their rise emerged a mechanical empire so advanced it surpassed its own age.

Then, one day, their king suddenly vanished. A great wall rose not long after, dividing the continent in two—as though drawing a boundary between the races.

Below lay the lands of the Demons and Undead; above, the domains of the Elves and Humans—what people today call the Land of Darkness and the Land of Light.

But as for the Hobbits, they completely vanished—leaving only traces that could never be erased: the great wall dividing the continent, the sealed lands with no way out, and the remnants of their underground mechanical cities that no one can fully explore.

To this day, only a few beings are believed to be their descendants—small in stature, less gifted than the Hobbits, yet still regarded as symbols of intelligence. These beings are known as the Dwarves.

As for Humanity, after the greatest wars among the mightiest races, they took advantage of the peace that followed to continuously build, expand, and prosper—ruling over the vast, fertile plains of the midlands and growing ever stronger.

With the Elves' help, they learned and developed their own form of magic. From the remnants of Hobbit ruins and the Dwarves' contributions, they created machines and tools that improved their way of life.

Because their history had been bathed in blood and tears, humans came to loathe—no, to hate—all creatures of darkness. They would destroy any dark being that appeared on the Land of Light. They revered light, and they pursued it above all else...

"Only those capable of igniting the light have the right to participate in the new student selection of The Lumina Magic Academy!"

It was the annual selection season for The Lumina Magic Academy—an academy with branches across the entire continent, dedicated to nurturing promising young talents who would one day become the bulwark against the darkness, should it ever invade from the Land of Darkness.

And here was the capital region of Luminous, heart of the Land of Light.

The instructor's voice echoed across the vast square—

a square so large it could hold more than ten football fields.

At that moment, the plaza was crowded with people. Ten smaller platforms floated in the air at various points, each bearing a young mage standing beside a radiant white orb that emitted a mysterious golden glow.

Below them, densely packed across the plaza, stood countless children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. Among them were noble-born youths who had been exposed to magic since childhood and those from poor families who dreamed of awakening their magical talent to carve out a better life for themselves and their loved ones.

Of course, some children came for no other reason than a pure, burning desire to become strong—to become the wings that would protect this beautiful continent from the encroaching darkness.

Silvanus was one of them. From the moment he was born, he had always believed he was destined to become a mighty warrior—an invincible mage!

And finally, that day had arrived. He was fourteen years old, and this was the moment for him to shine!

"Hey, you bastard! Don't you have eyes?!"

At that instant, a loud voice, dripping with arrogance and anger, suddenly rang out.

A tall boy—towering over most of the others, easily close to two meters in height—stood there, muscles bulging in a way no ordinary person could achieve. His chin was raised high as he shoved another boy backwards with force. He was dressed in silk, a sharp contrast to the shabby clothes most around him wore.

The boy yelled at stumbled back, not daring to say a word. The others fell silent as well. Most of them recognised the tall youth—Thora, the youngest son of the Adonis family. Despite his age, he had already awakened a powerful Fire affinity and was considered the top contender in this year's student selection.

However, Thora didn't seem like he intended to let the other boy go. "Why aren't you saying anything? You mute or something? Or do you think you're better than me?!"

The boy—Matthew—quickly shook his head. "No… and clearly you bumped into me just now."

Thora's eyes widened in fury. "Are you saying I'm wrong?!"

The moment he finished, he lunged forward, his massive fist—nearly the size of Matthew's head—swung down with crushing force, as if it would shatter the boy's skull the moment it landed.

Around them, some faces showed concern, others were filled with eager curiosity, and a few turned away, unable to watch what was about to happen. After all, most of them were still just children.

Matthew's eyes went wide, his face pale. Thora's speed was too fast—he couldn't react. All he could do was squeeze his eyes shut, bracing himself for the inevitable pain.

But… the pain he expected never came.