The Prank of a False Reading

Binary opposites.

A theory put forward by Claude Lévi-Strauss of the Structuralist school of thought.

The theory suggests that human understanding is built on contrast. That the world we live in defines things not just by what they are, but by what they are not.

In other words, for light to be understood, darkness must exist.

If there are heroes, there must be villains. Where truth thrives, lies linger in the shadows.

If life has meaning, so must death.

And ultimately, if the possible exists, then the impossible must, by extension, have a place too.

Astrovia was a world where the line between what is possible and what is normally deemed impossible for humans had long since been blurred.

Where the laws that bound Earth's reality were no more than flexible suggestions. Gravity lost is crushing pressure and bent for the gifted.

Time slowed for those who were extraordinary. Weapons were mere toys against these individuals, and at their hands, tools that could become bringers of catastrophes.

Yet even here, even in this world bathed with anomalies and miracles, there were still boundaries. There were phenomena so rare, so illogical, they were categorized under one word that almost didn't apply to their world—impossible.

As Reinhart had explained earlier during his first meeting with them that day, one such impossibility was the coexistence of mana and ki within a single body.

Mana—flowing in the atmosphere basically part of the very ear they breathed everyday—was wielded by those with a special core, a crystalline spiritual organ embedded deep within a person's being from birth and slowly developed till it becomes noticeable.

Ki on the other hand was raw, physical, primal. Unlike mana, it was primarily Internal, and existed in every living being. It was channeled from every fiber of muscle and spirit, stored in the very body it empowered.

Both were mighty in their own domains. Both granted power enough to bend the laws of nature. But together, they were toxic to a person's soul.

The body and soul, already fragile under the strain of one, would rupture under the pressure of both.

At best, cells would break down from overload. At worst, the bearer would either explode, or be reduced to ash in moments. And all of these would take place accompanied with unimaginable pain.

Which is why, throughout Astrovia's history, no record of a dual-bearer had ever been confirmed.

Not even for the incredible Zenon and Emilia.

It was an unshakable rule. One of the pillars of science in their world.

A truth so stable it was used to classify children before their first spells or strikes.

But that truth was now quietly being shattered like a glass cracking slowly under pressure.

Right there, on an imaginary red carpet laid before the Mana Testing Chamber, where Levi sat in stunned silence, the boundary between possible and impossible began to fracture further again.

"M... M... M—Mana core detected?" the guy in goggles stuttered, his voice shaking along with the rest of his body.

His mouth opened and closed like he couldn't decide if he should be amazed or horrified.

"No... wait..." said the man who had just retrieved the ki orb from Levi, squinting at the chamber like the equipment had suddenly developed a sense of humor. "That... that shouldn't be possible...

"Right?" He looked at Kyle and Violet as if the answers were written on their faces

Across the small crowd, Violet grabbed Kyle's arm without realizing it. Her voice was almost a whisper. "Kyle... tell me I didn't just hear what I think I did."

"It's not just you, Violet," Kyle replied, eyes wide and glued to the chamber. "Either we're under a powerful illusion spell... or the guys are playing a prank."

Inside the chamber, Levi blinked slowly, the words still echoing in his head. Mana core detected.

He remembered Reinhart's explanation, he couldn't have forgotten any part of it that quick. Ki and Mana were never meant to share a home in one body. It wasn't just forbidden, it was just lethally impossible. So how...?

One question barely had time to form before another replaced it. A riddle for every answer. A new dilemma for every thought.

Normally, people would be cheering. Something like this, some phenomenon that rewrote what was known would be hailed as a miracle.

A breakthrough of some sorts or a miracle from the stars.

But it wasn't celebration that broke through the silence.

It was a sharp and quiet whisper.

"This little freak of nature..."

The words slipped from the guy in goggles, almost too quiet to catch, but Levi heard them. Every syllable sank deeper than it should have.

Levi slowly raised his head. "...What?"

The guy hadn't meant it cruelly. His tone was full of awe, even fascination. But that didn't matter. Not to Levi. Not with the weight that one phrase carried.

Because admiration wasn't what people saw in anomalies.

Not first. First, they saw what didn't fit. They saw danger.

And Levi could already feel it starting through narrowed eyes, and whispers building behind his back like smoke.

Whatever had just happened. He wasn't going to be seen as special. He'd first be seen as a potential problem.

"Enough with the unnecessary commotion."

Reinhart's voice traveled across the room like slow thunder. It was deep, lazy, but impossible to ignore.

Every head turned as he walked forward, hands in his pockets, gaze steady on the chamber.

He stopped a few steps away, eyes locking with Levi's. "Get in. Properly."

"Huh?" Levi blinked, his mind still tangled in everything that just happened.

"I won't repeat myself," Reinhart said.

"Right—yeah, okay." Levi quickly stood, brushing himself off as he adjusted his footing and stepped fully into the center of the chamber, facing forward.

Reinhart reached forward and pulled the glass door shut with a quiet click.

Three seconds passed and the sound of a buzz erupted in the room.

"Mana core not detected," the artificial voice stated plainly.

Reinhart sighed and turned away from the machine. "Don't waste everyone's time with a false reading. Conduct your tests properly, Aaron."

The guy in goggles—Aaron—snapped to attention, nearly tripping over himself as he shuffled forward.

"S-sorry, sir! I forgot to shut the door at first, and the system must've picked up stray mana from outside—and he just kind of fell in..."

"I didn't think to recalibrate—and then when the number showed up on the orb I panicked a bit and—"

"That's enough," Reinhart said sharply, lifting a hand without turning back. "We're past that now."

Aaron shut his mouth instantly, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He gave Levi a quick, awkward glance, then focused on resetting the test panel, mumbling something under his breath about recalibration and protocol.

Meanwhile, Levi stood frozen in the chamber, heart still beating a little too fast.

If was just a mere false reading.

So he wasn't a Mana user after all. Then what cruel prank did the world just try to play on him? The system was already one problem for him, and then there's the shadow with red eyes his friends told him about earlier. Adding this to his list of problems was not on his planned agenda.

"Anyway, all students, gather up."

Reinhart's voice wasn't loud, but the weight of its calmness and deepness never seized to run through the chamber like thunder in a quiet room.

It echoed slightly off the walls, pulling everyone's attention as if gravity itself had shifted.

The students slowly moved toward the test area, clustering near the mana chamber. Levi stepped out, still a little dazed.

"That was freaking close, man," Kyle said, offering his hand and helping Levi down the short step. "You almost caused an uproar no one here would ever recover from."

"At least not anytime soon..."

"It would've been awesome, though," Violet added, letting out a light chuckle. "Imagine how powerful..."

Before she could finish the thought, a faint light flashed in front of Levi's eyes and the system's blue screen appeared.

[Bearer Classification: Test 1 Complete (1/2)]

[Awaiting Secondary Assessment]

As he read the notification, he let out a sigh of relief. He was right, the bearer test the system referred to was the one he had just somehow gone through.

But then there was yet again another thing that bothered him. An ordeal he was now used to getting each time the screen appreciate.

"One?" Levi's thought. "There's another one? But Reinhart never said anything about—"

His thoughts were cut off by a clap.

The sound was sharp, cutting clean through the murmuring crowd.

"Enough," Reinhart said, glancing at his watch. "Due to some rather inconvenient…" he paused, eyes narrowing slightly, "and unforeseen circumstances, I have to leave now."

He tucked his hands into his white coat again and turned to face them all.

"As you know, your schedule included physical training today. Fortunately, your martial arts—"

"There's no need for the introduction!" a loud, booming voice exploded from the entrance, interrupting him mid-sentence.

The doors slid open fast open as a tall figure stepped into view with energetic flair, arms wide, and his grin wider.

"Who's ready to shed some manly sweat and blood?!"