MakotoThe

In a world where magical power determines status, one boy possesses the weakest possible ability—Blink, a 3-meter teleport. But through intelligence, determination, and strategy, he sets out to become the greatest magician in the world.


main character 
kael vayen(ireth)

Blink!

Chapter 5 – The Weight of Potential

The first official lecture week began not with magic—but with mathematics.

Kael sat in the second row of Professor Elgrave's Foundations of Magical Calculus class, eyes focused, fingers flipping pages of a dense workbook filled with arcane equations. Around him, most students looked half-dead already.

Juno leaned in and whispered, "What fresh hell is this?"

"Mana equations," Kael muttered back. "If you want to shorten spell cooldowns or adjust casting latency, you need to understand how to manipulate magical constants."

Juno stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You enjoy this?"

A flash of wind flicked the pages of his notebook. Kael glanced over his shoulder and spotted Elith, seated a few rows back, head down and scribbling silently. She didn't look up, but Kael could've sworn he saw the faintest twitch of her lips.

Instructor Verdan, a former military battlemage with a missing eye and voice like thunder, barked commands as students paired off to spar.

"Pair with someone new today! Learn unpredictability! Magic is not just power—it's strategy!"

Kael found himself paired with Juno this time.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Juno grinned, cracking his knuckles. "My Earth Armor's gotten better. I might actually break your ribs this time."

Juno surged forward, stone plating crawling over his arms like gauntlets. He threw a punch—

Juno spun, swinging with a plated elbow—

Kael ducked. Blink again—behind. Too close.

No strike. Instead, Kael stepped back.

He was testing timing, not attacking. Learning how many seconds it took to Blink, recover, reposition.

Juno blinked. "You're not fighting."

Then Juno grinned. "…That's terrifying."

After class, Kael walked alone beneath the academy's enchanted sky garden—floating platforms above the courtyard, glowing with artificial moonlight.

He leaned on the railing, lost in thought.

Blink. Three meters. One second cast time. Two second cooldown.

Useless in direct battle. Too short to flee. Too slow to dodge.

But if he could chain it, reduce cooldown with micro-casting, maybe integrate it with terrain advantage—

Kael turned. Lyra. She had a bottle of lemon soda in each hand, holding one out.

"You looked like a brooding tragic prince," she said, taking a seat beside him.

Kael took the soda, nodding in thanks.

"I'm trying to understand how to break the rules of a fixed spell," he admitted. "If everyone treats Blink as useless, there must be a flaw in their logic."

Lyra leaned back, eyes on the stars. "You're the only one who doesn't care about being flashy. You want to win without showing off."

"That too," she said quietly. "You're planning for something no one else is ready for."

In a high balcony chamber of the royal tower, Princess Selene stood at a crystal observation mirror.

She watched Kael spar again and again—losing sometimes, escaping often, but always learning.

"Your Highness. You're watching him again."

Selene didn't flinch. "He's unusual. That spell of his… it shouldn't be improving like this."

Her attendant tilted her head. "He's clever. But still weak."

"He's dangerous because he knows he's weak."

"And people like that are the hardest to control."