In the modern world, qi is money.

The days of traveling martial artists and mountaintop masters are over. Power is controlled by corporations, modernized martial arts sects, and governments. Those at the bottom of society struggle as second class citizens in a world in which power is a commodity.

Rick is a young fighter in this world. He doesn't dream of immortality or becoming the strongest, just of building a better life for himself and his sister, who suffers from a spiritual illness. Unfortunately, life isn't that easy...

Evan never thought he was going to be special. As the adopted son of a tailor, he had always expected to manage the shop after his father passed. But when his Aura awakens, he finds himself entering Yesgol Academy of Magic, a place filled with the children of elite mages and nobles, all of whom have had magical education from the time they could walk. Among such prestigious company, Evan will have to learn fast or be left in the dust and in debt.

At Yesgol, he studies the arts of enchanting and divination, but all is not as it seems. As Evan pushes forwards his skills as a mage to catch up with his peers, he finds himself entangled with a secret society for the reformation of magic, deals with the occasional extraplanar horror appearing in the shadows of the school, and catches the eye of a charming young noble who's been excommunicated from his family.