Elias Graham never considered himself special. Sure, he was a talented engineer, good with his hands, and had a knack for solving problems faster than most. But at the end of the day, he was just another university student, drowning in caffeine and deadlines, spending more time in his workshop than in his classes.
His life had a simple routine—wake up, work on his prototypes, forget to eat, and occasionally remember that sleep was important. He wasn't saving the world. He was just trying to build something worth remembering.
And then, one night, his life ended—or so he thought.
It happened in an instant.
One moment, he was in his cluttered apartment, adjusting the power output of an experimental mana-conductive circuit, a project he had designed as part of his research on sustainable energy sources. The next, a blinding rift of blue light erupted from his device, ripping him from reality.
There was no slow fade, no warning—just a gut-wrenching pull, like being yanked through the eye of a storm.
His last thought before the darkness swallowed him was:
"Well, that's not supposed to happen."
Welcome to Arkanis
When Elias regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the cold, hard stone beneath him. The second was that his head felt like it had been used as a battering ram.
Groaning, he pushed himself up, his vision swimming. He was inside a massive chamber, the walls lined with glowing runes that pulsed like living veins. The air crackled with unfamiliar energy, ancient and potent.
"Okay…" he muttered, rubbing his temples. "Definitely not my workshop."
A circle of robed figures surrounded him. Their faces were shadowed beneath their hoods, their gazes piercing.
One of them, an older man with silver hair and violet eyes, stepped forward. His robes bore intricate golden markings, symbols Elias couldn't recognize.
"It worked," the man said, his deep voice filled with awe. "The prophecy was true."
Elias blinked. "I'm sorry—what?"
Another robed figure whispered, "He does not seem… powerful."
"Perhaps he needs time to awaken his abilities."
"Or perhaps we made a mistake."
Elias exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, first of all—rude. Second, where the hell am I?"
The silver-haired man—clearly the leader—studied him for a long moment before answering. "You have been summoned, outsider, to the realm of Arkanis. This world stands on the brink of destruction. The Demon Scourge has begun its invasion, and we called upon the cosmos for salvation. You were chosen."
Elias processed that for a solid three seconds.
Then, he laughed.
"Oh, you guys really picked the wrong guy," he wheezed. "No offense, but if you were expecting a hero, I think your magic GPS is broken."
The murmurs among the mages grew louder. A few exchanged uneasy glances.
The leader narrowed his eyes. "Tell me, outsider… what power do you wield?"
Elias hesitated. Deep inside, he could feel… something, a faint flicker of energy unlike anything he had experienced before. But when he tried to focus, to draw it out—nothing.
He held up his empty hands. "Uh… well, I can fix a broken circuit in under five minutes? Also, I make a mean cup of coffee."
Silence.
The leader exhaled through his nose, clearly unimpressed.
Another voice muttered, "Is he broken?"
"Maybe he hasn't unlocked his abilities yet."
"Or maybe we wasted a once-in-a-century summoning ritual."
Elias crossed his arms. "Look, I get that I'm not what you expected, but I'm not completely useless."
The leader's gaze sharpened. "Then what do you have?"
Elias took a deep breath. He wasn't a mage. He wasn't a warrior. But he was something else—a builder, an innovator, a creator.
If this world ran on magic, then he would engineer his way to the top.
He met the leader's eyes with a confident smirk.
"I don't have magic," he said. "But I have something better."
The leader raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
Elias dusted himself off, standing a little taller.
"Science."
And with that, his ascension in this strange new world began.