Chapter 1 - A new journey

My name is Alexander Nihil, my features are normal but not ugly, my hair is deep black and my eyes are blood red and my skin is fair as I have never left the place where I grew up and even though Nihil is not really my last name but the name given to abandoned children, I was abandoned at the gates of the great royal academy of magic, the largest and most prestigious school of magic in the whole kingdom.

Anyone would think that I am a very unfortunate person since not even my own parents wanted me, but I am sure that I could not have better luck in the world.

Since the person who took me in as his son, he is the current archduke and librarian of the great royal academy of magic Cornelius Volkner who is a middle aged man, pale blonde hair, 6 ft tall, piercing blue eyes and someone of very few words, in spite of that the first 3 years of my life were very quiet, all I did was walk the halls and floors of the immense library and appreciate its beautiful polished stone structure and magical stone lamps that bright on each of the 50 subway floors that compose it.

Because Mr. Cornelius does not have a wife and children all his attention and dedication was focused on me, teaching me to read and write long before I was 5 years old and I am really thankful for that because not knowing how to read living inside a library was sad and borring.

By my 8th birthday I had already managed to finish reading a little more than 15 complete floors, after seeing such an achievement Mr. Cornelius told me that he would like to show me something, so he took me near to a very elegant table that was at the end of the first floor in the area that he never allowed me to go in, when we approached to the table I could notice a name engraved on it "Table of truth" and just before I could ask anything Mr. Cornelius said with a calm voice.

—This table project the complete status of a person by simply placing your hand on the square on the surface and imbuing some mana into it and then engraving it on the back of your hand so that you can check it whenever you wish— 

After that explanation I could not stop thinking what would be my state, or better yet what would be the state of Mr. Cornelius, not even 2 seconds after having that thought when Mr. Cornelius stretched out his fist and said.

—Status— Without changing his tone of voice or his calm expression.

And almost instantly a screen of light unfolded over his hand:

Just by seeing those numbers I could tell that Mr. Cornelius was very strong but I could not tell how strong I was compared to the others, a few seconds later the screen disappeared and Mr. Cornelius pointed with his left hand to the table as if saying "your turn", after that presentation he was even more anxious to know how strong I was, so I approached the table and placed my right hand on the table, but nothing happened, then I heard the voice of Mr. Cornelius saying.

—Take a deep breath and imagine how the energy flows through your body and try to channel it into your hand—

After Mr. Cornelius' explanation I tried to focus the energy of my body in my hand and little by little I could feel how something was accumulating under the palm of my hand and after a few seconds the upper part of my hand started to glow and a screen unfolded in front of me.

Seeing my status displayed in front of me I can say that compared to Mr. Cornelius I am very weak, his level was 675, but still two of my stats caught my attention, my luck is ridiculously high and my intelligence is on par with Mr. Cornelius despite the big difference in levels, after seeing those numbers I imagined I would be a prodigy but I could not be more wrong, my magical affinity was null so I could never use magic in my life.

Seeing my future destroyed in front of my eyes hit me hard, so much that I failed to notice when tears began to flow from my eyes, when I was about to run away I felt Mr. Cornelius' hand resting on my shoulder and by reflex I turned my head in his direction expecting a face of rejection or anger, but instead I could see a slight smile on his face and eyes full of astonishment, then he looked me straight in the eyes and said.

—I have never seen a status like this before, you could be the greatest genius that ever lived—

I couldn't believe my ears, after hearing those words I started to wipe the tears from my eyes with my hands and asked him with a trembling voice.

— Really? —

Mr. Cornelius' face returned to normal and shortly after he said calmly.

—Alexander, how about if I teach you magic? —

I couldn't contain my excitement after hearing his words and I answered loudly and noisily.

-Of course! - while I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

And so began my years of magical training with Mr. Cornelius.