The Unorthodox Mage

Ashura is the third son of General A Fengtian, commander of the Mountain-Shattering Army in the minor vassal state of Olei Kingdom within the Valencian Empire. Despite possessing exceptional intelligence and a photographic memory, Ashura spends his youth playing pranks and avoiding training, earning him the reputation of a problem child. His family, however, is exemplary: his eldest brother Anaga is a strategic genius, his second brother Asubo is a martial prodigy, and his youngest sister Azhiya is a talented mage. Ashura secretly harbors a rare lightning-element magic aptitude but conceals it to avoid the pressure of rigorous study. After accidentally destroying his grandfather’s alchemy furnace, he is beaten and ordered to copy medical texts as punishment.

The family’s stability shatters when Sang Kun, the arrogant heir of the powerful Black Water clan, attacks Anaga. Seeking to force Anaga’s fiancée into marrying him, Sang Kun brutally cripples the eldest brother by gouging out his kneecaps, leaving him unable to walk. The Black Water clan’s influence is so great that even the kingdom’s king must tread carefully around them. Ashura, who had previously been content to remain idle, is consumed by rage and guilt over his inability to protect his brother. He vows to destroy the Black Water clan within ten years and decides to leave home to seek power.

With the Black Water clan monitoring all routes to the prestigious August Academy, Ashura chooses the distant Saint Gobban Academy as his destination. His father teaches him the family’s secret blue-tier martial art, Thunderclap Fist, which Ashura masters in a single day due to his innate talent. Before departing, his family gifts him weapons, medicinal pills, and a storage belt bestowed by his grandfather. Ashura escapes the city by orchestrating a stampede, avoiding the clan’s spies, and begins a grueling journey across the continent.

During his travels, Ashura encounters a dwarven caravan ambushed by members of a sinister organization called Blood Dawn. The cultists use a Ghost-Locking Array to capture the dwarves and force them into slavery. Ashura secretly sabotages the array’s formation eye, allowing the dwarven captain, Kasa, to defeat the attackers. In gratitude, Kasa shares War God Wine with Ashura, which inadvertently triggers a breakthrough to Warrior Stage 3, meeting the academy’s entry requirement. Ashura also learns that Blood Dawn is targeting dwarven clans across the region, hinting at a larger conspiracy.

Upon arriving at Saint Gobban Academy, Ashura discovers that the standard enrollment quota for his cultivation level has already been filled. Just as he faces rejection, a silver-haired girl of noble birth arrives and demonstrates a rare lightning-element magic aptitude, securing immediate admission through the genius quota. Ashura watches her success, realizing that the path to power is fraught with competition and that he must rely on his own wits and hidden talents to survive. The story concludes with Ashura standing at the threshold of his new life, determined to grow strong enough to avenge his brother and protect his family.