They buried the demon beneath the school. They thought locking the Vault would keep it quiet. But on my first day at Infinito Academy, I heard it whisper my name. My father tried to stop it. He died screaming. Now I wear the mark. I bear the curse. And if I open that last Gate- I won't just unleash a god. I'll become one. Seven riddles. Six traitors. Five factions. Four deaths. Three awakenings. Two bloodlines. One war. Welcome to Infinito. Hope you brought your soul.
Chapter 1 the Boy With No Banner
Prologue:The Key and the Cage
Before the school. Before the whispered legends. Before I knew who I was-or what I was destined to become-there was only a door.
It stood at the edge of the world, carved into obsidian rock, wrapped in runes older than time itself. No hinges. No handle. Just silence. But behind it? A heartbeat.
Thump. Thump.
The elders called it The Holo. Others dared not name it at all.
They said once the heartbeat stopped, the end would begin.
So, they built a prison. A fortress of minds, spells, and blood. A school above the cage. They called it Infinito-where knowledge never ends, and secrets never sleep. Students from every magical faction across the Realms came to learn. To be protected. To forget.
But I-Aaron Thorne-I was never meant to forget. I was born to remember.
And Infinito was waiting for me.
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Chapter One:The Boy With No Banner
The train didn't stop for long.
It hissed to a halt in the middle of a fog-soaked forest, lit by strange floating lanterns that flickered like watching eyes. We weren't told where we were. Only that the ride was over-and the walk would begin.
So, I stepped off the train.
That's when I saw it: Infinito.
It looked less like a school and more like a castle carved from living crystal, stretching far into the clouds. The towers shimmered in shifting colors-gold, black, indigo-as though the building itself couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
Magic hung in the air, thick and sharp. It buzzed against my skin like static.
There were others, of course. Dozens of them. All first-years like me, their uniforms freshly pressed, their eyes wide with wonder-or fear. They came in packs. Banshee-born with hair like smoke. Vampyric royals in coats stitched with blood threads. Shapeshifters. Spellcrafters. A boy with serpent eyes. A girl whose shadow moved before she did.
And then there was me.
Human.
No house, no heritage, no faction. Just a name and a note sealed in my pocket:
"Trust no one. Not even yourself."
They stared at me before we even reached the gates.
I knew the stories. Whispers of a Thorne entering Infinito again after nearly a hundred years. Most thought our bloodline was cursed. Some thought it was extinct.
The gates of Infinito opened with a hum that rang through my bones. Every student froze as Headmistress Alara stepped out onto the stairs. She wore robes made of something that looked like starlight and iron. Her eyes were white-hot silver. And when she spoke, her voice sounded inside my skull.
> "Welcome, first-years. You walk into eternity now."
Then her gaze locked onto me.
Only me.
Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
> "Especially you, Mr. Thorne."
---
Inside was worse.
The halls twisted and moved behind our backs. Paintings whispered. Books flapped. The ceiling changed with our moods. But none of that compared to the Sorting.
It wasn't like the stories I'd heard from other schools. There was no hat. No stone. No test.
Here, they used the Well of True Names.
A black pool. Still. Cold. It saw everything.
When your name was called, you stepped up, knelt by the water, and stared into it. It would show your truth, and then it would assign you to a House: Umbra (the shadow-bound), Lumen (light-bearers), Velox (the storm-chained), or Vitae (lifeweavers).
They called my name last.
"Aaron Thorne."
I stepped forward. Alone. The entire hall went silent.
The Headmistress's gaze pinned me like a dagger.
I knelt.
The moment my eyes met the black surface, a scream tore through my head-not my own. Something ancient. Angry. Familiar.
The pool shimmered.
No House sigil appeared.
The Well rejected me.
Gasps echoed. Someone whispered, "He's Unsorted..."
Worse than a curse.
I stood slowly. My hands shook. My legs wanted to run.
Then the Well pulsed-once. A single ripple spread out, glowing faint gold. Not enough to name me. Just enough to warn them.
I turned to face the watching crowd. Their eyes were wide. Fearful.
It hit me then-they were afraid of me.
Not because of anything I'd done.
But because of who I was.
---
That night, they gave me a room far from the rest. No House colors. No roommates. Just walls of stone and a single window overlooking the forest.
I lay awake, clutching the note in my pocket like it could explain the weight in my chest.
Trust no one. Not even yourself.
I didn't know it then, but something beneath Infinito had stirred when I touched the Well.
A faint heartbeat, deep below the school.
Thump. Thump.
And it knew I was here.