Exiled To Stone

The faculty building stood tall and wide, built out of the same white granite as the spire in the middle of the academy.

Twin lion statues flanked the entrance, each snarling in silence as new students filed through the high arched doors. 

Ivy curled around the columns. A crest of the Royal Academy, a lion devouring a serpent, was etched above the main archway in pure gold.

Inside, the building opened into a vast hall filled with long lines of students, with staff guiding them towards the rows of registration desks. 

It wasn't just the new students, but even the other students were there.

Noah had learnt that the school was designed for Mages to study for three years before graduating.

He looked up at the ceiling above. Hung over the high ceiling were banners that displayed each tier.

Noah entered quietly with the rest of his classmates. The group of twenty summoned students had drawn stares since stepping foot on campus, but now that they were in the heart of administration, all eyes were undoubtedly on them. 

The staff moved like a well oiled machine, calm and impersonal. Not a single person smiled as they directed students into the proper queues.

"First years! This line is for initial tier placement." A clerk called out from behind a desk. "Step forward for your placements."

Noah stood at the end of his group, watching his classmates file forward with excitement and pride. 

Each of them practically buzzed with anticipation, faces glowing as they imagined which tier they'd be assigned. Most didn't even consider the possibility of disappointment.

Ben Stanley, naturally, was the first.

He sauntered up to the desk, wearing the same smug grin he had perfected since middle school. He didn't need to be told to be confident. Confidence was all he knew.

"Name?" The clerk asked.

"Ben Stanley. S rank potential. Vampire. Blood, Shadow, and Time affinities. Just give me the gold plate and save us both the trouble."

The clerk checked the scroll. Her expression remained blank, but her hands moved quickly. She reached into a compartment and retrieved a small golden nameplate.

"Gold Tier." She confirmed. "Welcome to the academy. Your assigned mentor will meet you this afternoon. Instructions are in this scroll."

Ben gave a cocky nod, turned, and held up his plate for the others to see. A few of the other students clapped softly. A few looked annoyed. He soaked it in like applause.

One after another, Noah's classmates stepped forward. 

Julia Kim. A rank. Gold. 

Carlos Minh. A rank. Gold. 

Chloe Davis. S rank. Gold.

Even the B rank students were rewarded with Silver tier placements and instructor assignments.

Their scrolls were heavier, packed with spell tokens, dining privileges, and private practice permits.

For Noah, it felt like standing at the bottom of a staircase that everyone else was being lifted up. Door after door opened for them. All he could do was watch.

Finally, the moment came.

"Next." The clerk called.

Noah stepped forward.

"Name?"

"Noah Webb."

The clerk glanced at her list, expecting another A or B rank from the last of the summoned. But her expression froze. Her lips moved as she reread the entry. Once. Twice. A third time.

She frowned, confused.

"Wait... this can't be right." She muttered.

Another clerk leaned over. "What's wrong?"

"It says here his potential is... FFF rank."

The sound wasn't loud, but it traveled like thunder. The line behind Noah went silent. Then came the murmurs.

"Did she say FFF rank?"

"That's the hero everyone was talking about. The one with the worst rank."

"FFF rank potential? Wow. Everybody start there... but they definitely don't stay there forever."

"You can work yourself to the bone, but your limit's already set. You can't rise past your potential."

The desk clerk hesitated, then forced a thin smile. Her movements slowed.

She reached under the counter and retrieved a dull grey nameplate, square and heavy. The stone was chipped on one corner, as if it had already been dropped and stepped on.

"Stone Tier." She said quietly. "Welcome to the Royal Academy."

She handed him a plain scroll, much thinner than the others. Inside was a single piece of parchment with basic directions. No mentor. No tokens. No schedule. No welcome message.

Noah took it without blinking. He gave a small nod and stepped away.

Behind him, the whispers didn't stop.

"Poor guy."

"He won't last a month."

"Stone Tier? They should've created a Dust tier for him."

"Even that is too high a tier for him. He might as well drop out now."

"A hero with FFF rank potential... what a joke."

Noah walked out of the building alone.

He didn't slow down. He didn't look back.

The academy was beautiful, but not for people like him. The dorms for Gold and Silver were impossible to miss. 

Tall buildings with polished glass windows, and floating lifts that carried students between levels. Small gardens surrounded each one, their fragrance soothing.

His path led him far from them. Down a slope behind a quiet courtyard. Past a row of unused training grounds. Through an archway with moss crawling up the edges.

The dorm building he found was old. Tired.

A brick rectangle that looked like it had once been useful, now standing in the shadow of its newer cousins. 

The hedges around it were overgrown, and the fountain nearby had cracked in half, its statue missing a head. The front door hung slightly off its hinge.

Noah stepped inside.

The air was dry and stale. The walls smelled like dust, and the wooden floor creaked under his weight.

A single staircase twisted up the right wall. Noah climbed it slowly, each step groaning under his boots.

At the second floor, he counted down the doors until he reached the number on his scroll.

Room 207.

He turned the handle.

The door groaned open.

The room was even smaller than he expected.

A single narrow window let in slanted light. The walls were bare stone. 

A straw mattress rested on a thin frame bolted into the floor. A small desk sat against the corner, chipped and warped with age. A flickering lantern hung overhead, its light dim and uneven.

A stack of folded uniforms lay on the bed, black fabric, simple and rough to the touch. A trunk beside it held the materials he would be needing. 

Two ink bottles, a few scrolls, and his first year handbook, already bent at the edges.

Noah stepped in and closed the door behind him.

He didn't say anything.

He just stood there.

This was what they thought he deserved.

Stone Tier.

No instructor. No welcome. No comfort. No guidance.

Just a cell.

He could hear the message they were trying to tell him loud and clear.

That he didn't belong there.

Noah crossed the room, pushed open the window, and stared out.

The academy stretched out before him in golden sunlight. 

Tall spires. Floating bridges. Students laughing as they moved along the paths. 

This was a world made for those that had already been chosen.

A world that had already written him off.

He stared at it, silent.

Then he let the anger rise.

It burned steadily in his chest.

A slow but deep burning.

Not wildfire.

Dragon fire.

His fingers tightened around the cold stone nameplate.

Let them mock him. Let them lock him away. Let them think he had no power.

Stone was the bottom, but they'd forgotten one simple fact.

Stone could be broken.

Noah turned from the window, set down his belongings, and began to unpack.

He wasn't here to prove them wrong.

He was here to rise.

And one day, they would regret ever placing him in Stone.

As if on cue, there was a knock on his door.