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.
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.
************************************************
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.
The Ashes of Aethria by New Generation Studio In a world where time fractures and magic is memory, a lost empire stirs beneath the ashes. Kaelin Deyne is a thief-cunning, drifting, and haunted by dreams not his own. When a mysterious relic known as the Eye awakens in his blood, Kaelin finds himself hunted by forces older than kingdoms, older than the stars themselves. He is the last ember of a forgotten age... and the key to a war that never truly ended. As ancient powers rise-gods unburied, cities torn from time, and a Gate that should never open-Kaelin and a band of unlikely companions must cross shattered lands, face immortal betrayals, and uncover the truth of what broke the world long ago. But Kaelin's greatest enemy may not be the First Forsaken, the Revenants, or the fire beyond the Gate. It may be himself. Because some flames were never meant to burn again. Epic in scale, poetic in soul, The Ashes of Aethria is a sweeping saga of destiny, sacrifice, and the ruins we carry.
On her wedding day, Khloe’s sister connived with her groom, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. She was sentenced to three years in prison, where she endured much suffering. When Khloe was finally released, her evil sister used their mother to coerce Khloe into an indecent liaison with an elderly man. As fate would have it, Khloe crossed paths with Henrik, the dashing yet ruthless mobster who sought to alter the course of her life. Despite Henrik’s cold exterior, he cherished Khloe like no other. He helped her take retribution from her tormentors and kept her from being bullied again.
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
“You need a bride, I need a groom. Why don’t we get married?” Both abandoned at the altar, Elyse decided to tie the knot with the disabled stranger from the venue next door. Pitying his state, she vowed to spoil him once they were married. Little did she know that he was actually a powerful tycoon. Jayden thought Elyse only married him for his money, and planned to divorce her when she was no longer of use to him. But after becoming her husband, he was faced with a new dilemma. “She keeps asking for a divorce, but I don’t want that! What should I do?”
Five years ago, Alessia La Rosa's life took a drastic turn when, suffering from memory loss, she wed to Dominic Carter under her grandfather's mysterious arrangement. But their marriage was a facade, bringing her only humiliation and heartache as Dominic showed no love, and she couldn't conceive. Upon discovering Dominic's infidelity, Alessia sought liberation through divorce. Yet, fate had more in store for her. Five years later, spurred by an anonymous email hinting at her lost child's whereabouts, she returns to the city with her twin babies in tow, determined to uncover the truth. As she navigates the tangled web of her past, a surprising twist awaits. Dominic, upon meeting her again, finds himself drawn to the woman she has become, unaware of her true identity as his former wife. Little does he know, the woman he's falling for is not only his ex-wife but also a powerful Doctor and Master Hacker.