"Magic is real. But not in the way you think." For Thomas Aldric, life has been a series of disappointments—bounced from foster home to foster home, struggling with nightmares that feel more like premonitions, and dealing with the cruel reality of being just another face in the system. But when a moment of unexplainable power erupts from him, turning an ordinary fight into something much darker, Thomas is thrown into a world far beyond anything he’s ever known. An ancient academy hidden from the world, a society built on magic, and students who have spent their whole lives training in the arcane arts—this is the new reality Thomas must navigate. But power comes with a price, and the deeper he digs into the mysteries surrounding the academy, the more he realizes that nothing is as it seems. With two other newcomers by his side—Mari, a sharp-witted girl with secrets of her own, and Brody, an athlete from a lineage of powerful magic users—Thomas must survive a school unlike any other. Friendships will be forged, rivalries will ignite, and the line between right and wrong will blur as they uncover the truth about their abilities. But the past never stays buried. And some secrets refuse to be forgotten. As whispers of hidden factions, forbidden magic, and an unseen war begin to surface, Thomas and his friends must prepare for a future they never expected—a future where their choices will shape the fate of the magical world itself.
