[Desmond Adhira's POV]

Before meeting Mr Jenkins, my life was pretty much a living hell where I was barely surviving. Having shared the same last name as the school's headmaster as well as generations of genius, I was a mage who couldn't even launch a simple fireball all due to my weak body. Everywhere I went, the prestigious title known as 'Adhira' would ve labelled on me. Unlike my family members who held their heads high when the names were used to announce their accomplishments, for me... it was a constant reminder that beyond the wall, which was my sister, there are another layer of larger walls behind her, which I will never be able to break through. Because of that, I was known to be the black sheep of the Adhiras. It was a cruel scene as my father, who has one of the largest influences in the Ministry of Magic, stopped talking to me.

The Ministry of Magic is a place of interest that governs the existence of Mundi magicae. Within it is a government structure that establishes different departments to safeguard the sovereignty of the world.

Several examples of departments are as follows:

1. Department of Magical Law and Restriction. (A department where the practice of law and justice is held)

2. Enforcer's Headquarters. (Enforcers are special units that are tasked to hunt down corrupted mages)

3. Department of magical creature control and studies.

4. Department of Specialisation of Non-Mage.

5. Department of Accident and Catastrophe.

6. Department of Magical Research and Spells Regulation.

7. Department of Magical Schools and Education.

8. Department of Media Control and Distribution 

9. The silence (Nothing is known about this department)

These are a few examples of more prominent departments known to the public. There exist a lot of other branched-out departments that made up the entirety of the Ministry of Magic.

My father is a well-known judge from the Department of magical law and Restriction, he has generated countless respect and admiration from the public due to how efficient he was in his work. But at the same time, he made a few enemies in the process.

The son of one of the criminals that my father sentenced to prison ended up coming for me, and that's where my hell began.

He blamed it on me that I was born under the man who sentenced his father to prison, and from there, more and more students whose family members who was judged by my father all started coming for me.

However, I endured all the pain and suffering I received as I believed in the justice system my father practised. 

That is until I overheard these words from my own father's mouth.

"Bullied? That's all because he was weak. As an Adhira, he's a disgrace."

My sister tried arguing against my father about it, but I heard enough. I have never returned to the house of Adhira ever since then.

I cut off contact with all my relatives, including my sister, who has been desperately trying to protect me. All because I was weak.

The only person I had talked to from time to time was Grandfather.

My life of constant bullying continued until... I met the outsider who wore the strange mask.

Mr. Jenkins. (Which we suspect is not his real name)

It was during the match against the school's deputy head known to us students as the school's demon. He was amazing, combining both magic and martial arts to fight against one of the stronger mages known on the continent, and he survived.

At the end of the match, it was confirmed that the masked man was the school's new combat instructor.

I contemplated hard whether should I register for the new instructor's class as I walked in circles outside the faculty room. That was when my sister, whom I had not had a conversation with for a long time, passed by and saw my application form.

"Go for it. He's strong."

These were the first few words I have heard from her in months, and with that final push from her, I went into the room to submit my application form and... I have not regretted it ever since.

The man was able to help me finally take the courage to take a step forward in just 2 to 3 months. Though the journey to get to where I am today was incredibly tough. I'm proud of myself for being able to survive until now.

Then, the school was attacked during the Magicae Festival. A lone mage and his accomplice were able to infiltrate the school ground with their goal being Eve as they struck their attack right when she was most vulnerable. The attack came from nowhere, as everyone was immobilised instantly. not being able to lift a finger. They would also have successfully gotten away if it hasn't been Mr. Jenkins's interference. I stood there helpless while watching the sight of my friends getting kidnapped, yet I wasn't feeling scared. The sight of the mask Mr Jenkins wore was more a symbol of hope that everything was going to be ok. And it did.

Just as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, he vanished the next moment.

At the same time, the entire school was shut down temporarily due to the incident, prompting all the students to head back to their homes for safety while the investigation is still ongoing.

I opted not to return home since I had no intention of heading back, and with my grandfather as the headmaster, the approval was fairly easy to obtain.

Although it was said that nothing could be done in that situation, the feeling of being helpless when one of your important people was taken was still a traumatic one. Because of that, I continued the training schedule that Mr Jenkins had set out for me and diligently continued my training in isolation. 

The training program was overseen by a golem that was created by Mr Jenkins, where the intensity of the training would be adjusted to our level.

There are three options available:

Light, Moderate and Heavy.

During our usual training period in the lesson, the difficulty of the training was set to light so that we would be able to at least carry on with the rest of the day without passing out from exhaustion.

Moderate training would be too much for us at our current level and on the heavy difficulty, there was a chance we would die from it, according to Mr Jenkins.

As I prepare to start my training. I stopped and stared at the options for the difficulty of training once again.

The instruction was that we should never fiddle with the difficulty in case of someone dying due to the machines, but there's no one here, right? 

I do need to be stronger so I can protect my friends and family, so for now, wouldn't the fastest way to obtain strength through the highest difficulty?

Swallowing saliva down my throat, I turn the knob changing the setting from light to heavy. The Golem then reacted as its eyes started glowing in bright red light as it stared at me menacingly.

'Shit, did I make a mistake?"

The moment he activated, the golem started attacking me without warning with strength that can level a city with no difficulty.

The attack continued for 5 hours without warning, and I was forced to hide and retaliate stealthily. The golem had a Mana shield installed on it, causing none of my attacks to land successfully. One of the golem's attacks did end up landing on me as it sent me flying a few blocks away, almost killing me in the process. That concludes day 1 of my training, where I fainted on the spot straight away. Since then, the routine for the training has been similar the entire time. On top of trying to survive against the killer golem, I had to continue my daily set of endurance exercises and strength training.

Because of this, by the time I finished my training, I would end up falling asleep on the floor of the training ground, only to wake up and continue training immediately after eating and refreshing myself.

I continued this hellish routine alone for 3 weeks straight without a proper break, finishing it just in time before school started. 

On the last day before school started, with one final push-up, I retreated to the showers after eating and headed straight to bed. After finishing that kind of training, not even the end of the world would be able to wake me from sleeping peacefully.

Then today, the school finally started.

With my entire body still sore from the training, I dragged myself to the closet, grabbing my uniform to change, only to find the uniform smaller than I thought. 

"Did I shrink the uniform when I was washing it previously?"

I thought about it curiously before grabbing my wand and adjusting the uniform back to a size I was able to fit in. Nothing a little magic can't solve.

With that out of the way, I started making my way to the cafeteria to grab my breakfast. For some reason, more people were staring at me than usual. Not that it matters since I was made well-known publicly when the school bullies openly bullied me for everyone to see. 

I headed to the utensil area, prepared to struggle to grab the plate due to it being a head taller than I was. But, I was able to grab it fine without any issues. Maybe it was placed somewhere lower?

Just then, Curt (my bully cousin) came through the cafeteria. I stayed silent, quietly bracing myself to be hit by him. But... he just walked past me without even noticing me. Am I being extremely lucky today or what? 

Just then, Senior Zenith walked into the cafeteria to grab his food. I waved at him to urge him to sit beside me, but he just stared at me in silence and ignored me.

That was rather... cold of him to do that. Did I do something wrong to offend him?

With a heavy sigh, I finished my breakfast alone and headed to class. Yet as I walked down the halls, I could feel gazes being laid on me as though they were sharp enough to pierce through my body. Is there something wrong with what I wear? I stared around my body curiously before heading to class.

As I walked into my class, a female classmate of mine was sitting at my seat as she continued gossiping with her friends. That classmate's name is Liz Allan, who previously picked on me as well, due to my inability to produce magic.

I took a deep breath and reassured myself:

This is to a new me. I will ask her to move away from my seat.

With new resolve, I headed straight to her closely and stared at her.

"Huh. who are yo___??"

Looking straight at her from above, I don't remember her being this small. Is this what it feels like to be the courageous one?

"...H...How can I help you?"

Liz spoke while turning her head to the side, not giving me proper eye contact.

Hais, what did I expect to happen? There was no way in three weeks that I could scare my bully like this. She probably just couldn't care less.

"You're in my seat. Move." I said to her calmly.

Was that too harsh? I wondered to myself as I braced for impact, which is the outburst coming out of her mouth.

But to my surprise, she nodded her head gently and left. What the hell is going on? As I sat down quietly to settle myself, everyone who was in the class had their eyes on me. Not due to pity, but because they are watching with eyes of curiosity. 

What the heck are they all watching me for?

Suddenly, Senior Zenith ran into my classroom.

"Desmond! Desmond! Where are you?"

He was looking for me frantically, yet I was sitting right in front of him the entire time.

As Senior Zenith continued shouting my name, I raised my hand slowly and spoke softly: "I'm here the entire time, though.

Zenith paused and stared at me curiously along with the rest of my classmates.

"Huh?"

"Huh??"

I got up from my seat and rushed straight to the male bathroom. 

What the hell is happening? Is there something wrong with my face or something? As I ran through the hallway, I accidentally bumped into someone and the person let out a shriek while he or she fell.

"I'm so sorry, I am in a rush to___," I said as I reached my hand, hoping to help the person I knocked down.

"There's no worries. It was also my fault that I wasn't looking...."

The girl's face turned red the moment she saw my face as she tried facing her head in another direction.

Upon closer inspection, I realised who this lady was.

It was Eralia Winters, one of the beauties of our school who I beat back in the magicae tournament. Her face was now completely red as she stares at my face blankly.

"Oh hi, Senior Eralia."

"You know me... me?"

"Of course I do. It's me, Desmond Adhira."

"Des...mond? Desmond Adhira?? There's no way that's true?!"

As she spoke out loud in shock, I was brought back to the reason why I was rushing into the hallway and immediately excused myself.

"Sorry, senior, I have to leave."

"Wait!"

I left Eralia alone as I rushed straight into the washroom to see what was going on.

Looking in the mirror was the face of a handsome man. I touched my face, tracing it with the mirror to confirm that it was my face and I wasn't dreaming.

It was true. This handsome man's face belonged to me.

"What the hell happened to me."