In an exotic room in the prestigious academy of Dana, an alarm suddenly started ringing.

*RING* *RI-BANG*

“I’m up.”

Damian didn’t wait for the second ring before jumping out of bed and running into the bathroom. Once he was done in the bathroom, he put on the academy’s training suit and immediately ran out of his room. Looking into the sky, he could see that the sun hadn’t risen.

‘Time is running out. I need to figure out what my source is before I get kicked out’

It has been two months since he got admitted into the academy so he has only one month before he is considered a dud. An Absorber whose source is too rare to be absorbed frequently enough to be utilised.

‘ I was certain when I first came into the academy that I could feel a little surge of power whenever I walked down the hallway, but recently, I don’t feel it anymore. Maybe it was my bubbling ego getting the better of me.’

Damian got to the testing centre and immediately paid the token of ten academy coins. Everyone in the class S got a monthly allowance of a thousand academy coins. Having a universal element affinity and the rarest of the three source types automatically earned him a spot in the S class.

‘They told me I had three months to figure this out. Once the time is up, I’ll probably be kicked out, right?’

Damian imagined a scenario where he’s taken as a slave in order to pay for all the resources that he was given and couldn’t help but shudder.

‘Even if they only kick me out, it’s not like my life back home is a pretty one.’

Damian has had to live alone since his dad died when he was twelve. His dad was a transcended warrior with augmented strength, so they lived quite comfortably, but sadly, he died while fighting monsters from a dungeon break that appeared in town.

His mom, on the other hand, is an awakened grass mage. That right, you didn’t read it wrong. Not plants, grass. With an affinity like that, the best job she could get was to work as an assistant Gardner. Damian hardly saw her because she lives in the workers’ quarters in the mansion she works.

“Well, time for experiment 116.” With that, Damian stepped into the testing pod.

-----

*Chhiiii*

The pod slowly opened to reveal a very anxious Damian.

‘I’m becoming sick of this. I’ve tried everything. Nothing works.’ Looking at his watch, Damian started moving towards the exit. ‘I need to hurry back before the morning bell rings’

Walking out of the centre, Damian looked up to see his brown-haired friend standing against the wall with his arms crossed, dressed in the academy’s special uniform for S class students. The sun was already rising.

“I knew you’d be here.” James said in a worried tone.

“Well, I don’t have much time left and I’ve tested almost everything I can think of. Fire, water, kinetic energy, even acid. Nothing works!” Damian said, beginning to walk past him.

After thinking for a while, James finally spoke, ”You once told me about feeling a surge of power while walking down the hallway right."

“Yeah. Don’t remind me.” Damian whispered, putting a hand over his face in embarrassment.

“No, what I’m saying is... What if it wasn’t just your imagination? What if you were actually filling your mana storage?” James whispered.

Immediately looking around to see if anyone was within earshot. Damian quickly dragged James into the closest alleyway.

“Do you realise what you’re implying? That what I get more power, the bigger my ego is. You do realise that it is literally the power of one of the seven deadly sins? You know, the most wanted people in the entire kingdom.” Damian hissed.

“I know how absurd it sounds, but I’ve been thinking about it. Since you have tried all these tests and haven’t received any reaction, then it means you’re not a dud. After all, the machine can only test with physical factors. Nothing else.”

‘This can only mean one thing. My source doesn’t feed on something physical. It feeds on something else. Something that can be felt but not touched. Emotions.’ Damian started to entertain the possibility.

“Anyway, I can think of this later. For now, I need to go change into uniform before class starts.” Damian said, walking out of the alley. He could already see students moving around.

“Well, look what we have here. The lightning emitter and the gravity absorber. Two of the future’s brightest.” Damian and James suddenly heard an annoying voice come from behind.

“I don’t have time for this John” Damian snapped back, turning to look at his red-haired tormentor who was also wearing the S class uniform.

John made a shocked face. “You mean to say a dud like you has something to do in this elite academy? You know, where POWERFUL people learn and polish their skills?”

“That’s enough John.” James finally spoke.

“I still don’t know why the strongest 1st year hangs around such a loser. Well, I won’t disturb your charity work, Mr number 1. Ciao.” John said, walking past them.

“No matter how many times I put him in his place, the fool still retains all that pride.” James said with a frown while watching the redhead’s fading figure.

“His right, you know. You shouldn’t be hanging around with me.” Damian said in a downcast tone.

“What are you talking about? I told you I don’t care about that ‘strong rule over the weak’ nonsense. Besides, if I leave you alone, who’ll make me those killer noodles you make?” James said, patting him on the back."Now go change before the bell rings. We have survival class first and you don’t want to piss off Mr Drewsbury."

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” Damian said, sprinting for his room.

Getting to his room, Damian took a quick shower, then changed into the academy S class uniform and then sprinted out of his room. It was almost time for the bell to ring, so the dormitory seemed empty. At the exit, Damian saw a peculiar sight. A wounded feline creature.

“Probably belongs to a beast emitter. Someone who creates beasts from mana,” Damian said while moving towards the beast.

“The person probably failed the creation and just abandoned the beast. The bas-. Wha-” Damian couldn’t finish his sentence.

‘I just felt it again.’ Damian thought, looking at the little feline creature which was trembling while looking back at him.

“It can’t be,” Damian said while stretching his hand towards the creature, only to pull it back when the creature flinched.

‘ It was incredibly small, but I felt it. The boost in power.’ Damian said while looking at his hand, ‘Could it be that James was right? I draw my power from an emotion? Not just any emotion at that, but an emotion that anyone has when they see someone stronger than them?’

Damian suddenly clenched his fist with the widest smile on his face, uncaring of the bell ringing in the distance, “FEAR!"

aceasin

I want to apologise in advance. I'm sorry but I won't be able to on the exact same day at the exact same time everyweek. I live in a country where electricity is unstable and there's also the fact that I'm a university student so I'm actually quite busy most of the time so please try to understand.