Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
Chapter 1
World Turned Upside Down
The droning hum of cicadas outside the window was abruptly shattered by a sharp, deafening slap against wood.
Lin Feng jolted awake. His forehead clipped the edge of the weathered wooden desk, banishing the remnants of sleep in an instant. Blinking against the glare, the familiar classroom podium of Feng Lan Magic High School swam into focus. Harsh midday sunlight filtered through pale green curtains, illuminating specks of dust dancing languidly in the stagnant air.
“Lin Feng! Sleeping in my class again?!”
A shrill voice pierced his eardrums from the lectern. Standing there was not his usual balding physics teacher, but a stern-looking woman in her forties. Her hair was pulled tightly into a high bun, sharp gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. In her right hand, she gripped a pale-blue metallic pointer that pulsed with faint, rhythmic ripples of light.
Lin Feng instinctively rubbed his eyes and looked up at the blackboard.
Yet on that dark-green surface, the usual Newtonian mechanics, universal gravitation equations, and organic chemical reactions were completely gone. In their place were neat, chalk-white strokes that made his head throb with sheer disbelief:
“Introduction to Elemental Magic – Lecture 3: The Concept of Stardust and Star Cores in the Human Sea of Consciousness.”
“Branching Laws of Natural Elements: Fire, Lightning, Ice, Wind, Earth, Water, and Light. The prerequisite to communicate with the natural elements requires passing the Magic Awakening Ceremony at age sixteen.”
What in the hell is this?
Lin Feng blinked three times in rapid succession. Looking down, his eyes fell upon the thick textbook resting on his desk. Printed across the cover was an imposing magical spire rising into a starlit night sky, beneath which bold letters declared: Foundational Magic Coursebook. He quickly flipped through a few pages. Inside were anatomical diagrams of spiritual systems, methods for counting Star Cores, and stern, bolded warnings regarding defensive protocols against beast strikes beyond the city walls.
“Lin Feng! Are you still daydreaming? Stand up and answer the question!” The teacher struck her pointer against the podium, her piercing gaze sweeping across the rows of desks. “Explain to the entire class: why must every novice mage undergo the stage of Meditation after Awakening before attempting to link their Star Cores?”
Suppressed snickers rippled through the classroom.
Two rows over, a youth wearing a pristinely pressed collared shirt and a silver-gemmed mana wristwatch curled his lips in open contempt. That was Ling Bai, a scion of a branch lineage from the notorious Ling Clan of Bo’an City. Beside him, his lackey Li Peng chimed in, pitching his voice so the entire room could hear:
“Teacher, our young master Lin is probably still dreaming about following in his father’s footsteps—driving heavy-duty magic transport trucks after graduation. Asking him about Star Cores and noble magic, aren’t you making things a bit too hard on him?”
A burst of laughter erupted across the room.
Lin Feng tightened his grip on the edge of the desk. His mind was in a violent state of turmoil. An influx of memories—alien yet unmistakably real—surged into his consciousness like an uncontainable tide.
He was still Lin Feng. This school was still Feng Lan Magic High School of Bo’an City. His classmates and teachers still bore the very same names.
Yet the foundational bedrock of this world had veered down an entirely different path!
Here, there was no technology driven by fossil fuels or electrical grids. The totality of human civilization was founded and sustained by Magic!
Beyond the bustling cities sheltered under massive Great Elemental Defense Barriers lay no tranquil pastoral countryside, but a boundless, savage wilderness crawling with Monsters and Beasts. Bloodthirsty, ferocious abominations with hides thick enough to turn away sharp steel prowled day and night, waiting for the slightest opening to tear through city ramparts and devour humanity.
To survive, humans were forced to awaken magic, becoming Mages who commanded the terrifying powers of flame, lightning, frost, or tempest. Mages occupied the pinnacle of society, holding absolute power, wealth, and reverence. Conversely, those incapable of awakening magic were relegated to the lowest rungs of society—toiling as expendable laborers in mana-ore excavation quarries or risking their lives driving freight convoys through perilous transport routes.
“Time is up. Sit down!” The teacher let out an exasperated sigh, her eyes fixed on Lin Feng with thinly veiled disappointment and chill. “Lin Feng, tomorrow is the school-wide Magic Awakening Ceremony. If you keep up this careless attitude, even if you are lucky enough to awaken an element, you will be kicked out of the elite experimental class before you know it!”
The chime signaling the end of class rang out, rescuing Lin Feng from the suffocating atmosphere.
Students swarmed out of the classroom in an excited blur, animatedly chattering about tomorrow’s ceremony. Everyone harbored grand aspirations of awakening the ferocious Fire element, the elegant Ice element, or even the wild fantasy of the Lightning element—a one-in-a-thousand rarity.
“Brother Feng! What happened to you? Catch a chill or something?”
A chubby hand slapped Lin Feng’s shoulder with hefty warmth. The one approaching was Zhang Hu, nicknamed Chubby Hu, his childhood friend. The boy was built like a sturdy barrel, boasting a chubby, genial face that seemed permanently fixed in a cheerful grin.
“I’m fine. Just woke up with a bit of a spinning head,” Lin Feng replied, packing his textbooks while gazing out past the corridor railing.
Through the third-floor window, the panorama of Bo’an City unfolded before him, surreal and breathtaking.
Reinforced concrete high-rises still pierced the skyline, but atop every rooftop stood a gleaming mana-conductive spire, pulsing with ethereal luminescence as it absorbed atmospheric energy. Down on the asphalt avenues, buses glided forward in absolute silence without a trace of exhaust fumes, propelled instead by azure Mana Crystal stones embedded within their wheel axles.
Far off on the northern horizon rose an imposing limestone mountain range shrouded in misty haze—Cang Lei Ridge. Suspended high above its towering peaks, a pale golden canopy stretched across the sky as far as the eye could see, resembling an inverted celestial dome sheltering the entire city. That was the Great Elemental Defense Barrier of Bo’an City.
“Tomorrow is the Awakening Ceremony, Brother Feng,” Chubby Hu sighed, a flicker of anxiety creeping across his round face. “Word is that the awakening stones imported by the school this year came straight from the capital, with top-tier resonance sensitivity. I’m just praying to all the gods that I awaken Earth or Water. At least then, after graduation, I can sign on as a guard for the mining syndicates and earn decent coin to support my mother. I just dread... getting saddled with Light. Weak in early combat, brutal to advance, and Ling Bai’s pack of bastards would laugh their heads off.”
“Stay calm. Nothing is set in stone until we try,” Lin Feng said, patting his friend’s shoulder. His gaze drifted once more toward the distant silhouette of Cang Lei Ridge.
Parting ways with Chubby Hu at the school gates, Lin Feng pedaled his rickety bicycle toward South Street—the impoverished district hugging the base of Bo’an City’s southern ramparts.
Far removed from the glittering opulence of the central district where the Ling Clan held court, South Street was a sanctuary for the working poor. Narrow, damp alleyways crisscrossed under tangled webs of jerry-rigged mana cables, lined with dilapidated single-story brick homes with peeling, stained plaster.
Lin Feng pulled up before a small yard enclosed by rusty chain-link fencing. Parked at an angle inside was an old, heavy-duty magic transport truck. Underneath the chassis, a middle-aged man clad in grease-stained work coveralls was painstakingly tightening bolts on the mana-transmission engine.
That was Lin Feng’s father—Lin Hai.
“Dad, I’m back,” Lin Feng called out.
Startled, the man slid out from beneath the truck. His weathered face, baked dark by sun and wind and etched with deep crow’s feet around his eyes, made him look far older than his forty years. Seeing his son, a gentle smile instantly spread across his tired features.
“Xiao Feng, you’re back? Go wash your hands and head inside; Xiao Mo just finished making dinner. I wrapped up a freight haul of raw mana ore at the transfer depot today, and they tossed in a little bonus. I managed to pick up half a roast duck for you two.”
Lin Feng looked at his father’s calloused hands. Across the back of one hand was a jagged, unhealed scar left by a razor-sharp shard of mana ore. His chest tightened with a dull ache.
Whether in his previous life or in this world of magic, his father had always been a tireless, worn-down man who sacrificed everything to shield his children. To secure him a spot in Feng Lan’s elite experimental class, this very father had bowed his head and pleaded with the Ling Clan’s head steward last year, taking on the deadliest nighttime transport routes across the fringes of Cang Lei Ridge.
Stepping into the modest thirty-square-meter home, the sweet fragrance of steaming jasmine rice mingled with the savory aroma of roast duck, filling the cramped quarters with warmth.
Beside a small wooden table, a young girl of about fifteen sat in a skillfully crafted wooden wheelchair. She had porcelain skin, wide, glistening eyes as clear as autumn waters, and silky black hair cascading softly over her shoulders. Catching sight of Lin Feng, her eyes crinkled into radiant crescents.
“Big Brother! Perfect timing—the rice is piping hot!”
This was Lin Xiaomo, Lin Feng’s adopted sister.
Five years ago, a pack of mutated Abyssal Hounds breached the border defense barrier and assaulted the city outskirts, claiming the lives of her parents. Lin Feng’s father had driven his transport truck straight into the fray, risking life and limb to pull her from the jaws of the monsters. However, the beasts’ venomous claws had shredded the motor nerves in Xiaomo’s legs, permanently robbing her of the ability to walk. From that day forth, he adopted Xiaomo as his daughter, and Lin Feng had cherished her as his own flesh and blood.
“Did your legs ache today with the weather turning?” Lin Feng walked over, gently ruffling her hair before crouching down to adjust the thin blanket draped over her lap.
“Not at all, it’s plenty warm,” Xiaomo beamed, nudging a bowl piled high with succulent roast duck toward him. “Lately, the meridians in my legs have felt a little tingly, kind of like a warm stream flowing through. Eat up, Brother! Tomorrow is your Awakening Ceremony. You’re definitely going to awaken the most powerful element of them all!”
“Yeah, I will,” Lin Feng nodded, a resolute flame igniting within the depths of his eyes.
The simple family meal unfolded amidst warm, quiet laughter. Lin Hai repeatedly urged his son to stay relaxed tomorrow on the awakening platform, telling him not to stress. He said that no matter which element awakened, as long as his son was healthy and safe, taking on a few extra night-shift freight runs would never be a hardship.
Late into the night.
Bo’an City sank into tranquil slumber. Occasionally, from the distant expanse of Cang Lei Ridge, the low, guttural howl of a direwolf echoed through the darkness, causing the residents living near the outer ramparts to shudder in their dreams.
Lin Feng lay on the creaky single cot inside his small attic room, unable to sleep.
Reaching inside his collar, his fingers brushed against a coarse, solid object resting against his chest.
It was an ash-black pendant carved into the likeness of a coiled primordial dragon. Its surface was unpolished and rugged, devoid of the lustrous sheen typically found on precious gemstones. This was an heirloom left to him by his late grandfather, who had instructed him never to take it off, to wear it always as a talisman of protection.
Curiously, ever since his past-life memories awakened at noon, whenever his fingers brushed against this pendant, a subtle, pulsing warmth seeped into his chest—as though an ancient heart were slowly beating within the archaic stone.
Lin Feng stared at the timber ceiling, tightening his grip around the black dragon pendant.
This world was a hundred times more brutal than anything he had known. Without strength, the poor were nothing more than fodder for beasts, insects crushed beneath the heels of powerful clans like the Lings.
Tomorrow, upon the Awakening Platform of Feng Lan Magic High School, his destiny would be decided!