Ahhh shit! What the hell have I gotten into? Nito thought as he rested his head on his new dorm bed.
The partially spacious and empty room he found himself in is surprisingly well-maintained and clean. He should have known the dorm's rent was cheaper than he thought. He would have taken the train to his home if his wallet had burned a hole.
The fact that he enrolled himself in a school with no freaking idea of what it actually is made him so freaking anxious.
Why did I trust my older cousin in my enrollment? He didn't even tell me the proper details except that it's a school he recommended to his friend! Relix? Weapons that come out of their freaking body? What the hell is that? Nito thought more as he looked at his phone.
He tapped on his phone, revealing a few game message notifications, and cleared it.
Going through his contact info, he checked the recent calls and messages.
------------
Paul T. Lesco
Contact number: +00xxxxxxxx
-----------------
He tapped on the call button and placed his phone beside his ear.
Muffled ringing noises...
..
...
...
Ringing noises...
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP
His phone didn't even pick up.
He attempted to call him again.
...
...
The person you are calling cannot be reached. Please try again later.
Tsk...
Nito sighed as he stood up and took himself a bath.
Fshhhhh!
Continuous drops of water sprinkles down to the floor.
After taking a bath, he glanced at himself in the mirror.
He smiled as he checked every part of his body in his reflection.
"I kind of lost a bit of weight since last year," Nito admired his bulky body as he switched sides.
He looked down at his soft belly as it wobbled at every step.
As he exited the bathroom and got himself a pair of fresh clothes, he lay on the bed again.
He checked the current time:
9:32 pm
Nito sighed as he stared at the white ceiling from his bed.
...
...
...
"What am I doing?" He asked himself.
First, I attended Ares Academy without any knowledge whatsoever. I thought this would be a regular school for high school students like me. I'm going to be stuck here with people waving their weapons. I just wanted to become a better student and graduate peacefully.
Should I leave?
"When you return to school, you'll stay there until you graduate. No excuses!" A flashback of a voice a male voice came to his head.
No, I can't.
He clenched his fist.
...
Relix...
Maybe, I can summon it on my own right now. I just don't know it yet.
Nito held his right arm up to the ceiling.
Just like earlier...
A weapon... Something that I have to wield.
He imagined what it feels like to hold a weapon...
A stick... Maybe, a blade... I... never touched a weapon before... Just a stick, I guess...
He imagined the sturdy wooden stick instead...
The weight of that stick, the simple rigid cylindrical structure, and the slightly rough texture with tiny twigs slightly sticking out of its end.
Grrr...
He pictures what it feels to swing a blunt weapon and the encumbering weight of a meter-long stick.
Nito opens his eyes.
Nothing...
There is nothing but his hand sticking out on the ceiling.
Damn...
Maybe tomorrow, I could get some help.
I just don't want to be bullied again...
AA's Training Center
"Alright, you rookie maggots! Your squirmy little twerps will be working now with each other. I have assigned each one of you to be part of a team of four,"
The rookies looked at each other as if not too long ago; they were just sparring against each other.
"Now, don't worry. To keep this balanced, your performance yesterday won't affect your groupings. What matters now is how you'll team up with other rookies. You will be teleported away from the center, and you'll have to fight our Hunter,"
"What. What's a Hunter?"
"You'll find that beast soon. Gather together with your team, and you'll be teleported to a designated place,"
A large blue window pop-up appeared in each and everyone's face revealing who they were grouped with.
Nito looked out his window...
'Millie Ming'
'Jack Bennie'
'Brock Barrel'
'Nito Trover'
Each name has a front-facing half-body picture, making it easier to identify them.
As Nito squints his eyes, there's one guy he is familiar. That thick-headed guy with a buzz cut and thick protruding eyebrows.
He looked across the group of freshmen; as he approached each circle, he searched from every nook and cranny, finding the same people from the panel they gave.
He soon finds them as the three seem to get together.
One had green hair and a slightly short stature. He looks a bit timid. Another has long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and a medium chest, about the same height as the green-haired guy. The tall-looking, hot-tempered guy, no other than Brock, crosses his arms and seems slightly irritated.
"Oh, I think that's him," The girl pointed in Nito's direction, approaching him.
"Can my day not get any worse?" Brock turned his head.
Nito waved at the bunch, walking towards the assigned group as they waited for further instructions.
"You're that guy that's with the prof! He really gave you a tough time with you in that session,"
"Y-yeah... He has a giant-looking scythe. He might as well be a Grim Reaper, hahaha. You're Millie Ming, right?"
"You got that right, pal? Say, what's your Relix?"
"Relix?" Nito repeated.
"Yeah. You didn't even show what Relix you have; I mean, you looked like a giant hippo running from a coyote without any weapon."
"Y-Yeah... About that,"
"We need to know so we can create the best plan, right Jackie?" She glanced at Jack, who seemed to be a bit startled when she turned her head towards him.
"U-Uh... yes?" Jack hesitantly nodded, his eyes looking the other way.
"I'll tell you when we get there,"
"Aw, come on, I'll tell you my Relix, so we'll be even, alright?"
She turned around, placing one of her hands behind her head and the other stretched to her back as if attempting to hold a long weapon.
Light particles gather behind her as she takes a somehow suggestive pose.
A long spear appeared, the length of at least her height and a quarter. Its tip is marked with red fabric, hanging freely on the end. It looked like a modern-bastardized version of the Chinese Qiang spear.
She raised her spear and pointed in Nito's direction.
"That's a freaking... cool pointy stick," Nito complimented
"Now it's your turn to show yours. We can't just hide our strength now if we're a team,"
"Leave it, Millie, that guy's just dead weight. I saw his filthy ass get manhandled by the prof. No way he would show it if he didn't have one,"
"But what if he didn't have time to react?"
"The prof is not the type to be that brutal to his students unless he really meant that. I heard some students enter this school without a Relix, but they become rarer, and if they did, they left school without return,
"R-really? How could they even fight if they don't have even a portion of mana?"
"Tsk, you should be asking that same guy over there,"
"Umm... Guys, can we just set up the plan already?" Jack's androgynous voice interrupted Millie and Brock.
"Heh. Right,"
"Here's how it goes; I'm at the front of this fight of this 'beast,' and I'll be zoning that enemy with my Relix. Brock will give us time if things go south while we prepare for Jack's attack. Simple tactics, but effective against monsters,"
"Right, I guess that would do," Brock nodded as the three dismissed the group.
"H-hey, what about me!?" Nito asked.
Brock glanced over at him.
"You just take care of our rear,"
"A-Alright!" Nito raised his fist with excitement.
Each group cooped together in a sizeable hexagon-like tile as they gathered before the stage.
Lab managers confirmed each group through a checklist, and they pushed a button in their floating hologram.
These freshmen step on the tile, and a line of blue particles in them slightly shows up, and the group fades.
As Nito and his group waited for their turn, he watched as his 'fellowmen' had just disappeared.
He clenched his fist at the unique technology he had witnessed.
"The school even has the budget to buy our fastest transportation! Imagine if they use it to teleport me home without costing an entire fortune," Millie tip-toed as she held her arms in excitement.
"Shit, are those things really safe?" Brock hesitantly looks at Millie as her face flushes at the device she's about to enter.
"Don't worry, that thing's perfectly safe; there are some side effects when you ride through that,"
"You rode that one before?"
"I rode that thing from Beijing to here," she glanced at Brock with raised eyebrows.
"I... I don't know, will that thing leave my guts from here and my other parts on the other side?" Brock's bead of sweat drops from his forehead.
"Relax, you got nothing to worry about. Besides, look..." She slightly nudged Brock and pointed the other two, and giggled
Nito shivers a bit too much at this new technology he hasn't seen.
Jack, despite being shy, looked more indifferent than when he talked to Millie earlier.
"W-where did they get the budget to even afford this?"
"You're talking to the students of a prestigious school made for elite fighters; what do you mean budget? We're literally funded by the world's government,"
Nito, oblivious to that statement, looked at Millie with his head tilted.
"How the hell am I supposed to know this?"
At this point, Nito's group is now positioned beside the teleportation device.
They approached two assistants, both wearing a long lab coat, one raising its checklist in front as she looked at the group.
"State your names,"
Each one of them called out their name, together with a sound of scribbling in the list.
The assistant nodded and turned her head to the other assistant as he rested his hand on the holographic screen.
He taps on the screen with a few confirmations, and the device lights up.
"Good luck, and don't get killed,"
The whole group held the iron bar right beside them as they braced for something they did not know. Millie, however, felt relaxed as she just leaned her back to the bar with her eyes closed and grinned.
Blue long light particles start appearing from around the device.
Jack looked at the orb of light particles in awe as his jaw was left open, admired by the beautiful tiny small orbs.
He raises his hand to touch it, but as he does so, the hand that he is currently looking at slowly starts to fade away.
Jack, caught by surprise, waved his hand out, but no matter what, his hand continually faded.
"Ahhh, I'm gonna die!" He shakes in fear as he watches as his legs and torso starts to disappear as well.
"Quit your freaking assumption; that's part of the ride," Millie smiled as she raised his head.
FWOOOOOOOMP!
The entire place is surrounded by blue light orb particles moving at one directional speed.
It's like a beam of light that leads towards the unknowing path.
The Valley
"Hmm... It's not that bad," Brock looked around as he felt nothing had happened to him during the teleportation.
"Yeah, I guess it all just happened in an instant," Jack nodded as he stepped on the green grass, inhaling the slight smell of-
"AEURGH~!" The gags and vomits echo across the open field.
"W-what the hell! Nito!" Brock stepped away as he reacted from his left, a big guy puking his guts out.
"I told you there are freaking side effects; you shouldn't have eaten a heavy breakfast, Nito," Ming patted his back while looking away.
"Uhh... Why the hell does it affect me and not you guys."
"Tsk. Come on, let's freaking go,"
"Check the map first..."
"What map?"
A hologram revealed a part of the surrounding area. It shows four green dots right at the center, while Jack panned out the entire area with his two fingers.
As he zooms out the map, he swipes with his finger as he peers in the information.
"So... Where is it?"
"Hold it, it's right somewhere here..."
Bleeep...
"What was that?"
Bleeep...
A red dot appears and fades in one second.
"That thing..." Brock pointed out the said red dot.
"That might be the 'Hunter' the instructor's talking about,"
"Quick... We're heading north then,"
"Alright, let's go!" Jack closed the map, zooming out back to his phone.
The three readied their legs and dashed through the valley.
"Hey... Don't freaking leave me here!" Nito attempts to catch up with the three as they continue to run directly north of the valley.
----
Five minutes have passed.
The entire group has entered a nearby forest.
Jack jumps across every tree branch as he takes every step and swings to the other side. He has some incredible acrobatics, as he even performed a backflip while perfectly landing on the unbalanced structure of the tree.
The rest continued running through the path.
Nito has already been sweating profusely as he tries to catch his breath. With every step he takes, he can feel his leg cramp.
"How... pant... How long are we going to get there," Nito huffed as he tried to catch up with the same pace of the team.
"Fifteen minutes if we keep up at this pace," Jack dashed forward with his body leaning ahead.
"At this pace!? Huff... Got it," Nito nodded viciously. With every step he took, he breathed heavier than the last one.
I freaking hate cardio, and this is normal for them to actually run a hundred meters without any breaks? How are they able to get this athletic?
He couldn't even try to get on their pace; every time he did, he would slow down further.
Brock looked behind as he saw the big guy about to give out.
"Oh, for God's sake, can you even just keep up with us?" Brock, irritated by his heavy panting from behind. It even echoes across the forest, scaring the birds away as a flock of them in every row of trees flies like a wave.
"Can we... huff... take a break?" Nito is already at his limit; his face is turning red, his shirt is drenched on his legs, his feet getting shaky, and if he probably takes one more step, he might fall.
"Alright... FINE!" Brock shouted, interrupting the entire journey.
The entire squad took a halt as they rested beside the tree.
Jack sits by the branch as he watches the group do their thing.
Millie sits as she cools herself off and, at the same time, watches the entire surrounding just in case there might be threats.
Brock leaned his back as well on the branch and crossed his arms.
"Five minutes... That's all I need," Nito, already on his knees, wheezes like a dying horse.
"How'd you even get here with that stamina?" Millie asked as she approached Nito, already lying on the grass
"I... I really don't know,"
"I knew this guy would be a problem. Should've just run on my own than waiting in this place,"
"Wait! The red blip in the map!" Jack interrupted.
Bleep...
"What? Did that 'Hunter' get away this time?" Brock raised his head to the branch where Jack was standing.
"No... It's nearer,"
Brock sighed in relief, relaxing his shoulders.
"Wait! That thing is heading our direction!"
"Great, now we can deal with this quickly." Millie cracked her fingers and grinned.
Rustle...
"W-What is that?"
The bushes behind her continue to sway...
Rustle...
Swoosh...
Rustle...
Millie and Brock glanced at where the sound came from.
Brock readied his gauntlets as his fists clenched.
Millie reached her hand from behind as the spear formed on her palm.
Rustle...
Swish...
"Get ready. It might jump at us,"
Swi-
They stare at the bush while waiting for the monster to arrive, heartbeats racing, eyes glued to anything that cues slight movements.
Swishhhh!
An animal's foot shows up, revealing its furry leg, then jumps out, revealing its twitchy nose, long ears, red eyes, and a fluffy but small tail.
It hopped out like it was nothing, looked at the humans while its ears raised up, nose continuously sniffing the air, then stupidly stared at the bush.
"Aww, that was just a cute bunny," Millie, sophisticated by the bunny, lowered her weapon.
"Pfft... Scared me for nothing; Hey Jack, you sure that beas-"
RAAAAAAAAAA...
The bunny screeched more like a human, its form slowly becoming uncanny, and the bush behind that creature formed itself.
Its silhouette appears, saliva dripping from its sharp jaws, its eyes locked unto its new prey. Some form of a mutated wolf. Its fur stretched across its entire body.
Blood dripping from its previous prey, an actual bunny spitted its prey and had its tail morph from a rabbit to a... disfigured human.
This monster continuously shapeshifts its tail to its prey to fake them, but because it failed to attempt, the human it tried to replicate looked nothing more than a slosh of skin-colored meat bag.
"Jesus Christ, what in the actual fuck is that?"
Its tail slightly adjusted its voice to a human, but it failed to replicate its wordings, so it sounded more like a garbled-up animal that tried to understand what a human sounds like.
Millie's hand trembles as she points her spear at the creature.
"B-b-back off!" She threatens the creature but slowly backs off as she inches away from this monster.
"Oi, Millie. We stick to the plan like you said!" Brock attempted to shake Millie's fear off.
From the way how she shivers, profusely sweating and her shaky fingers barely holding her weapon, she looks like she can't even move.
"Cut it out! Prepare to attack while we wait for~"
Jack is nowhere to be seen, but his voice echoes across the forest.
A small portion of his foot slides away as the monster's tail turns into a tentacle, grabbing Jack's leg away.
"Help!"
Nito watched as his squad, one by one, already started to disintegrate.
Fuck, fuck, what do I do? Nito thought as his legs also started to tremble, his heartbeat racing.
Brock attempts to fend off the beast, raising his fist as his gauntlets fire up. He punches the monster but is quickly disengaged with one swoop from its paw.
Millie saw Brock flying in the air, and her shivering continued. She looked back at the beast as its eyes locked towards her.
The beast slowly approaches her, its mouth salivating from its next delicious meal.
Her heart races, but she attempts to thrust her spear at this beast, but when it makes contact, it merely just slapped it away, throwing the spear away from her hands.
She felt its drool as she continues to back off...
"AAHHHHHHH!" she screamed in fear.
This beast's tail morphed itself into a semi-skin-colored human and attempted its scream, almost replicating her voice.
Brock, dizzy after that hit, stood up, his gauntlet's fire slowly losing its aura, and saw Millie push the beast away from her as it continued inching close to her.
"Millie!" He ran towards her, approaching Millie.
Someone, however, ran faster than him.
"Huh?" He exclaimed, confused, but ran nonetheless.
Shit, I'll save Millie first... Fuck! Brock thought as he approached her and, at the same time, figured out who was running faster than him.
His silhouette is vast, but it doesn't matter.
This big person struck the beast's head with a big rock, breaking that same material into pieces, and staggering the beast.
Brock grabbed Millie as he ran away and placed her far away enough to not be seen by the beast.
"Now, Jack!"
Now covered in goo, Jack raised his Relix, a large bow with a strange fantasy-like design, combining both elvish and semi-modern design. He got out of that sticky situation alive, thanks to Nito.
He pulled the string as it glowed bright cyan, aiming its arrow directly at the Hunter.
He released the string, evoking a large whistling noise.
Whoooosh!
The arrow spins like a rifled bullet, but its speed is not comparable to a gun's velocity.
The arrow reached the beast, but it didn't hit anything vital. It only pierced its arm.
This beast growled, then glanced its furry head to Nito.
"O-Oh shit!" Nito, without any weapon, stood in the open, looking for every possible way to get out of this monster's sight. He found a large stick in the middle of the forest. He crouched down and attempted to grab it.
This beast lowered its legs and pounced on him.
"AAHHH! Jack, do something!" Nito called Jack while he attempted to push off this wolf-like beast, while its bite almost dug through his arm. Without that stick, he would have turned in to food.
"I'm trying! His hide is deflecting my arrows,"
"Fuck," Nito lost his grip as he pushed the head of the beast, but the tail of this beast morphed into a snake and hissed at Nito.
"You fucking bitch!" Another voice shouted.
WHAM!
The beast staggered from a strike.
Brock recovered after that one Superman Punch he did, but the monster recovered quickly.
Jack jumped down from the tree and ran towards Brock and Nito while he still lays on the floor.
"Where's Millie?" Jack asked.
"She's still recovering from the shock,"
"S-so much for being a spearwoman,"
"I'm here, you stupid!"
Everyone looked behind as they saw Millie raising her spear behind her back.
"Let's freaking end this already," she smiled as she raised her fist.
"Get up, Nito!" Brock placed his hand in front of the big guy.
Nito looked at Brock; despite this guy being a bit of a grumpy type, he gave his hand to him.
Nito took his hand...
"Argh!!! Heavy!" Brock regretted that decision as he pulled him with his full strength.
"Thanks, man," he smiled.
The entire group got together as they stared down at the beast, though at its guard, as it lowered its legs again, but in a cautious manner.
"Let's end this then!" Nito raised his fist towards the beast, smiling as he dashed forward.
"WA-WAIT, NO! NITO,"
Nito runs forward, smiling as he gets closer.
"Don't fucking rush by yourself!"
The closer and closer he gets, his ecstasy also rises.
He takes a swing with his fist...
WHAM!
....
..
...
Nito lays on the ground, his arms slightly twitching.
"He's breathing. He's alright,"
"Is he gonna be okay?"
"Tch, I told him to stop; we could've defeated that beast faster,"
Ughh... My head is spinning.
"Faster? Someone is injured, and you said we could finish fighting that monster if we only leave him there?"
"I'm saying that Millie, because that's what should have happened if he didn't rush in!"
"Rush in? None of our plan happened during the entire time! You were scared shitless as soon as you saw that thing,"
"Enough, kids! Tch... You have failed to protect your freshman in that situation. Now let me try to wake this guy up!" A baritone voice evoked, silencing them.
"Fine? He was twitching a bit when he flew all the way to the tree!"
"He's lucky that he didn't hit his head directly after impact,"
Why is everyone talking?
"He's waking up!"
Nito opens his eyes.
His vision is still blurry as he can't make out what he is currently looking at.
His vision slowly becomes clear, and he blinks his eyes rapidly.
He saw Jack, Millie, Brock, and... Professor Jonathan as he continued snapping his finger.
"Hey... hey! Can you hear me, freshman,"
"W-what? Where am I?"
"He can talk... He's good," Professor Jonathan
"Alright, you freshmen will be evaluated later. Your current trial is done; we'll bring you back to school. Once we arrived there, you can see your placements. It will also determine what class you are and who you'll be with," Jonathan said as he prepared to leave, as he walked towards a two-wheeled vehicle.
He placed his feet on the motorbike as he started up the vehicle.
It emitted a sound wave of a lightly propelled engine
Vroooooooooom!
The motorbike leaves with a trail of dust as it accelerates away from everyone's field.
The group looked at each other and at Nito, who still is on the floor.
"S-so... how do we reach back to school?"
"We can't teleport back..."
"Right. It's a one-way transportation,"
The scenery of the AA Academy gate is displayed in the middle of the afternoon.
A futuristic but yellow public transport vehicle leaves the road as the group enters the school premises.
As they entered the school, they were greeted by a gathering of students in front of a tall billboard.
Nito approached the billboard, as a large text is displayed on top of it.
'AA'S FRESHMEN INITIAL RANKS'
Nito looks over the billboard as there is a list of names with their current rankings written numerically.
"Damn, I'm 65th in this. How about you?"
"Shit, I'm 78th,"
Nito overheard the other freshmen's ranking as he walked through the billboards.
Going from left to right, the students' lists are arranged by rank.
Nito curiously looked at the left and saw two names he remembered.
Lina Remilla # 1
Dosanko Keisuke #2
---------- #3
----------- #4
----------------
As he walked to the right, he saw also a few other names that he remembered.
Alice Fontaine # 15
-------- # 16
He continued walking to the right...
Though he doesn't know the rest in the few batches in between so, he skipped, but at the same time looked for what rankings he might be.
Jack Benni # 68
-----
-----
Millie Ming # 70
Brock Barrel # 75
Nito's heart races as he continues to search for his name.
Where's my name? I'm supposed to be on par with them!
By the time he reached the last board, at the last row. He stopped and stared at his name from the list.
Nito Trover # 98
These are the current rankings of AA's current Freshmen. Nothing else after this.
...
Dead last.
He looked at the rest of the students as some were excited, and a few looked a bit embarrassed. Though their reactions are mixed, there is still a positive vibe between them.
Nito, however, continuously stares at his own name and blankly watches as his own peers get together and leave.
"Mr. Trover," A feminine voice called out.
"Y-yes! Who's there?" Nito glanced at where the voice came from.
As he looked to his right, he saw a woman, though looked familiar, looked more like she was in her early thirties. That same office outfit, long brown hair tied to a bun, and circular glasses, and that same yellow clipboard she holds.
"You should come to my office right now," She stated as she turned around.
Nito, without a choice, followed her to the school hallways.
By the time they reached to the office door, she twisted the doorknob and waited for Nito to enter.
"Have a seat," she guided him to the chair in front of her desk.
Nito complied.
He looked at the surrounding room, all filled with lockers and a few more documents scattered on her desk.
He glanced at the nameplate right in front of him.
Professor Diana Kinoshita
As her high heels continued tapping on the floor, echoing in her office, she sat right behind her desk and opened a file.
"Mr. Trover, as early as it can be, I have something that you just need to hear,"
"Y-yeah? What is it?" Nito asked.
"Among your peers in this current batch, you are the only one enrolled this year with no certain talents or abilities that you could have offered during the recent training,"
"Yeah? I'm actually trying to find out if, like those guys, I might have a Relix as well. I probably just don't know it yet, or... I have yet to get my own, as everyone has it,"
"You fool. Those Relix are a manifestation of your own soul. It cannot be attained, nor is it given directly to you. Commoners like you should know that these are talents given to the elite, and those who have the talent to manifest them can turn them into weapons,"
"Actually, I've been trying to meditate earlier if I can get my own weapon through imagination. It didn't work,"
"Of course, it doesn't. That's not how you're supposed to attain one's Relix."
"Then what can I do to get one? It sucks for a student of AA to not have something that everyone has, and how do you know I may not have the ability to have this thing called mana?"
She looked at Nito, dumbfounded by his question.
"Mana is the embodiment of energy within us humans. Some are unlucky to have it, and the majority of the world has yet to wield this, but there are only a select few who researches and uses it to learn its nature and power. You are supposed to know this since you are attending this Academy, have you not?"
Nito looked the other way and kept his mouth shut.
"I'll take that as a no. How could you even enroll in this Academy in the first place with no knowledge?"
"Look, I let my older cousin do the paperwork, and I got myself enrolled by him,"
"Hmph... Trover... Trover," she looked through the documents.
"Oh, uh, that's his maiden name. His last name is Lesco,"
"Lesco..." She looked through the documents as she slid her finger through the alphabet of the documents.
She dug her finger through the paper as she finds the name arranged alphabetically as well
"There is no one with that name enrolled here before,"
"Oh, you're asking that? My older cousin said his friend recommended it for me,"
"What's his name!?"
"I don't know,"
"Tsk... All that for nothing,"
"Yeah, I can't even contact him,"
"You... sigh... Let me get this straight. I advise you to leave this Academy as early as possible. You lack the talent or skill to confront such trials. Though I will not force you to leave directly, you will-
"Wait, you haven't answered if I have the mana within me,"
"Tsk. R-right..."
A hologram popped up, revealing different diagrams related to data. She tapped through a few tabs revealing a few footage of certain students.
"Mana can be easily identified in one's body, as you can see through here,"
She presented a visual image of a human with a few glowing vein-like roots protruding through the human body, similar to that of the nervous system.
"Each and everyone's mana is different, and they all vary from one to another,"
She shows a few xray diagrams of humans with varying colors of mana in their body parts.
"These, however, are from a select few, which are mostly coming from AA Academy. They are incredibly rare outside of this place. You are just no other than the rest of the commoners outside this school,"
"W-What about mine?"
She showed footage of the previous training. A small footage of him running away from Professor Jonathan with his head looking behind and an expression of a scared cat.
"This, as you can see,"
She taps one panel and zoomed through his body. What is shown is nothing other than himself. An ordinary diagram but no sign of mana or any glowing light at all within him.
"You have no innate way to produce mana. There are no growing roots or signs of it growing within you. I don't even think anything is suppressing you. You just don't have the innate ability within you. Nada... Therefore, you cannot wield the Relix. So enough having your hopes up,"
Nito stared at his own image in silence.
"Mr. Trover,"
Nito still looking at the visual representation of him with no mana.
"Tsk... "
"I guess that makes sense, Miss Diana... I... don't think I'll leave, though. I can still graduate without one, right?"
"H-Huh? Y-You... You do not think that's a smart choice, don't you?"
"What? I mean, I got in without one; I can get out of this school without magic or Relix either, right?"
"Your current standing in this school right now says otherwise. What makes you think you can be on par with the other students, especially for a non-Relix user like you?"
"If there is... I... I'll find a way," Nito looked at Miss Diana in the eye.
"Mr. Trover... I advise you to choose the other option. I'll have to say this between you and me. You... are a non-Relix user. A boy with no mana. We have students who entered this academy like you. However, they gradually decrease by the years. They dropped from this Academy whenever they hit a plateau. Do you know what's the rate of AA graduates that are non-Relix users?"
"What?"
"Close. To. Zero. Percent!" She emphasized every single word she uttered.
"Does that mean-?"
"Yes, you have no chance at all... The Academy is on its way to implementing a new rule where those who will enroll must be innately gifted. Best of luck, non-Relix user; you may leave the office,"
"But-"
"This is non-negotiable. You can stay here in this academy long as you like, but know that if you are lagging behind, I will be the first candidate to vote for your expulsion,"
Nito left the office in silence. As the door is closed, he walks to the hallway alone.
Close to zero...
I meant to say there's still a chance!
Thanks for the chapter