Ember Ascension: Rise of the broken mage

Chapter 3

The days slowly turned into weeks, and before Mike could even realize how much time had passed, those weeks became months, and just like that, he had already spent an entire year at Kite Magical University.

However, things were no longer the same as they had been when he first arrived.

After learning the fire enchantment on his very first try, Mike quickly became the talk of the entire school. His name spread from one class to another, and soon, almost everyone knew who he was. Students who had once ignored him now rushed to stand beside him, eager to call him their friend, and even the professors treated him with a level of attention and care that most students could only dream of.

Everywhere he went, people greeted him.

Everywhere he went, people watched him.

And the more he trained, the faster he improved.

Mike advanced at a speed that left everyone around him in shock. Skills that took others months to understand would take him only days, sometimes even hours, and each time he succeeded, the whispers about him only grew louder.

Some called him a genius.

Others called him a miracle.

But no one could deny that he was different.

For a while, everything seemed perfect.

Yet, those good days did not last forever.

At first, the change was so small that even Mike did not notice it himself. It came quietly, like a shadow slowly creeping closer without making a sound.

It was not until one afternoon, when a professor asked him to stay behind after class, that things began to feel different.

“Guys, the professor said he wants to talk to me,” Mike said as he picked up his books and turned to his friends who were already heading out. “I’ll catch up with you all later.”

One of them turned back and gave him a small wave.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said casually. “Take your time. It must be important if the professor wants to see you.”

Mike blinked in surprise.

He had expected at least a little complaint, or maybe a joke about leaving them behind, but instead, they all agreed so easily.

Too easily.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw something strange in their expressions.

Relief.

The thought made him pause.

“…That’s weird,” he murmured to himself.

But just as quickly as the thought came, he shook his head and dismissed it.

He was probably overthinking things.

After all, there was no real reason for them to act any differently, and it was possible that he was simply imagining it.

Letting out a small breath, Mike turned around and faced the professor, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind as he prepared to listen.

The classroom was now empty, and the quiet made the atmosphere feel heavier than usual.

The professor stepped closer, his expression serious in a way Mike had never seen before.

“Mike,” he said, his voice calm but firm, “I am not going to beat around the bush. I feel that this is something you need to know.”

Mike felt his heart begin to race.

Usually, whenever a professor called him aside, it was to praise him, to remind him how exceptional he was, or to encourage him to keep going, but this time, something felt very different, because the air around them was so heavy with tension that it almost felt like it could be cut with a knife.

“Over the past few weeks, you have excelled more than any student in this university,” the professor began, her voice calm but carrying a weight that made Mike uneasy, “and you have made all of your professors extremely proud.”

Mike swallowed slowly.

He wanted to speak, to ask what was wrong, but he held himself back and simply nodded, allowing her to continue while his fingers tapped lightly against his lap, trying to release the nervous energy building inside him.

“Your fireball enchantments are truly remarkable,” she went on, her eyes fixed on him, “and they have amazed all of us, but at the pace you were going, you should have already mastered several other enchantments by now, something that would normally take your classmates at least a year to achieve.”

Mike’s brows slowly pulled together.

The words did not sound like praise anymore.

They sounded like something else.

Something he did not want to hear.

“I’m sorry, ma,” he finally said, unable to hold himself back any longer, his voice slightly shaky despite his effort to stay calm, “I don’t mean to be rude, but you are making me really anxious right now. If there is something you want to say, could you just say it directly, because at this rate, I might actually faint from the suspense…”

The professor looked at him for a moment, and then she slowly shook her head, her expression softening with something that looked like pity.

“I truly wish I did not have to tell you this, Mike,” she said quietly.

There was a brief pause.

One that felt far too long.

Then she spoke again.

“I think… you have reached your limit.”

It felt as if the ground beneath Mike had suddenly shattered into pieces, and even though he was still sitting, his legs trembled as if he were about to fall into a deep, endless hole.

“P-professor… w-what do you mean by that?” he asked, his voice breaking as fear slowly took over his thoughts. “My limit? I don’t understand…”

The words came out uneven, his usual confidence nowhere to be found.

The professor sighed softly, and the pity in her eyes became even clearer.

“Mike, all the professors in charge of your training, including myself, held a meeting,” she said carefully, choosing each word as if it carried weight, “and we came to the conclusion that your growth has come to a standstill for quite some time now… longer than it should.”

The room suddenly felt smaller.

The air felt heavier.

Mike struggled to breathe properly as her words echoed in his mind.

“Th-this can’t be!” he burst out, his voice rising as disbelief took over. “This is only my first year. I haven’t even spent a full year here. How can I already be at my limit?!”

He shot up from his seat, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, his entire body shaking with emotion.

“I’m sorry, but I think you and the other professors are wrong,” he said, forcing his voice to stay firm even though it trembled underneath. “I’m going to get better, and I will become the greatest wizard in history. I’ll show all of you!”

The professor did not stop him.

She only watched him quietly as he turned and walked away, carrying with him a storm of determination mixed with fear.

After that day, everything changed again.

Mike pushed himself harder than ever before.

He trained until his body ached, studied until his eyes burned, and spent countless hours trying to force his magic to grow beyond what it had become, refusing to accept the idea that he had already reached his limit.

Day turned into night, and night into day, yet he kept going.

He canceled plans with his friends again and again, always telling himself that he would make it up to them later, but what began to feel strange was that none of them ever complained.

Not even once.

At first, he thought they were just being understanding.

But slowly, something else became clear.

They did not seem to care.

As time passed, they stopped greeting him altogether.

Whenever he walked past them, they would simply move on as if he were not even there, as if he were someone they had never known.

At first, Mike tried to make excuses for them.

“Maybe they’re upset because I keep canceling,” he told himself.

“Maybe I just need to talk to them properly.”

So one day, when he saw them heading toward the dining hall for lunch, he quickly followed after them, his steps hurried but hopeful.

“Hey guys, it’s been a long time, what’s up?” he called out, trying to sound casual.

No one answered.

They kept walking, their conversation continuing as if his voice had never reached them.

Mike slowed down for a second, confused, then forced a small smile and hurried after them again.

“Guys, I said what’s up?!” he called out louder this time.

One of the girls in the group suddenly stopped and looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “Or is it just me?”

The tallest boy in their group nodded slowly, a smirk forming on his face.

“Yeah, I hear it too,” he said. “Sounds like a fly that doesn’t know when to go away.”

“Are you sure?” another boy asked, pretending to listen more carefully.

“Oh yeah,” he replied with a chuckle. “Now I hear it clearly. It sounds like an arrogant fly that thought it was better than everyone else just because it got a head start… but now it’s fallen behind in the race.”

Laughter followed.

Mike stood there, frozen.

The words hit him harder than anything he had faced before.

These were the same people who used to stand beside him.

The same people who called him their friend.

And now…

They could not even say his name.

Shock slowly turned into something heavier inside him, something he could not easily push away.

As time went on and no matter how hard he tried, Mike was unable to learn any new enchantments, the truth became impossible to ignore.

The “wonder student” of Kite Magical University slowly faded away.

In his place, people began to see something else.

A disappointment.

A joke.

And soon enough, the same voices that once praised him were the ones that laughed at him the loudest.