The Manipulator: Strings of Fate

Rain poured over the city of Valmere like it was washing away sins. The streets shimmered with reflections of neon lights, but in the alley behind the old academy, everything was silent—except for him. Tesjjuak stood there, his silver eyes glowing faintly beneath his hood. The boy everyone ignored. The boy no one dared to understand. He raised his hand toward a thug who had tried to rob him. The man froze mid-swing, his knife trembling in the air as if held by invisible strings. “Fear,” Tesjjuak whispered softly. And the man dropped to his knees, screaming, clutching his head as if his own thoughts were tearing him apart. Tesjjuak’s eyes dimmed. The glow vanished. He hated this power. The ability to reach into someone’s mind, twist it, change it. They called him the manipulator—but he never asked for it. As thunder rolled in the distance, Tesjjuak turned and walked toward the academy gates. Tomorrow, he would begin his new life at Aethern Academy, where the most powerful magic users in the world trained. But he didn’t know that inside those gates waited something darker than any mind he had ever controlled—someone who could manipulate him.