Five years before Oliver and Nanao enter Kimberly Magic Academy, Alvin Godfrey arrives there carrying the expectations of a mage family despite being unable to cast even a basic spell properly. Mocked as a failure, he begins confronting the school’s dangers, making allies, and discovering that the extraordinary firepower hidden inside him may matter more than his early shortcomings. Side of Fire follows the experiences that transform the uncertain first-year into the student leader later known as Purgatory.