Chapter—The Weight of a Average
At Aokiyama College, worth was not measured by grades, effort, or integrity.
It was by Aura category.
A translucent panel—cold, merciless—displayed a words that defined your category can be seen by Luke.
He moved through the hallways like a ghost drifting between solid lives. Students with four or five stars walked with confidence, laughter orbiting them like satellites. Conversations paused when they passed. Respect followed them naturally, effortlessly.
Luke received none of that.
He was the Average 1star Student.
A background figure.
A placeholder in attendance sheets.
And strangely… he didn't hate it.
After nights spent as Auron, stitching the city together with golden aura—healing the wounded, holding collapsing bridges in place, silencing disasters before dawn—the monotony of a Political Science lecture was the only peace he had left.
The scratch of pen on paper.
The low hum of voices.
The illusion of normalcy.
"You're fading again, Luke," Auru's voice echoed gently within his mind.
Luke's pen slowed, dragging across his notebook.
Power and Governance: Foundations of Political Authority.
"I'm just tired," he replied silently. "Being a auramaster is heavy."
Auru hesitated. "The balance is shifting. Your aura is stable… but your heart is fraying."
Luke did not say anything.
---
While Luke drifted in quiet isolation, the world around him burned brightly.
In the Hoshinori University, Shuri and Liod had become a familiar sight. They sat together near the front—Shuri energetic and expressive, Liod calm and precise. Their synergy was effortless, almost magnetic.
"You're overcomplicating the flow here," Liod would say softly, leaning over to adjust a diagram in Shuri's notes.
His fingers would brush hers.
And every time, Shuri's heart would stumble.
It confused her.
She had survived dungeons, monsters.Yet this—this simple, unassuming kindness—made her pulse race far more than any battlefield ever had.
She wasn't falling for Liod's power.
She was falling for his steadiness.
---
Marin, meanwhile, was a Queen without a throne.
Suspended from Aurafiest, stripped of her right to fight, yet her reputation followed her everywhere. The One Who Entered Alone. Students whispered when she passed. Clubs extended invitations
She never accepted.
Her beauty, her sharp intelligence, and the weight of her category commanded the attention of every student—no eyes could look away.
She walked with quiet dignity, eyes forward, hands empty.
Counting days.
Counting minutes.
Waiting for the moment she could hold a blade again.
---
Chika and Uno treated college like another training ground. Every lecture was preparation. Every assignment was a step closer to the next guild mission. Their focus never wavered.
They trusted Luke completely.
They assumed his one-star status meant he was finally enjoying peace.
They had no idea that behind a person reside a deep mask.
---
The night before, a bridge in the lower district had begun to collapse. Auron—had spent six relentless hours holding the structure together with aura while rescue teams evacuated civilians.
Six hours of strain.
Six hours of restraint.
He returned home at 5:00 AM, collapsing into shallow, broken sleep.
When the alarm rang, his body moved but his mind didn't.
And in that haze, he forgot his bento box.
By noon, hunger gnawed at him sharply.
For the first time since enrolling at Aokiyama, Luke entered the Main Canteen.
The air inside was loud, crowded—and hostile.
Unspoken laws governed the space. Tables arranged themselves by rank without signs or enforcement. Everyone simply knew where they belonged.
Luke stood in line, his one-star panel flickering weakly above his head.
Eyes followed him.
Some curious.
Most dismissive.
He bought the simplest meal available—a bowl of rice—and scanned the room.
He sat on a far corner sat a single empty table.
Too tired to care, Luke walked over and sat down.
The silence was immediate.
"Hey."
The voice hit like pressure—low, dominant.
Luke took a bite of rice without looking up.
"I'm talking to you, one-star."
He sighed and raised his head.
Kael.
The Auradestroyer.
A four-star combatant built like a siege engine. His aura simmered aggressively beneath his skin. Behind him stood three others, all wearing the same grin—hungry, eager, cruel.
Kael arrogantly asked "Who are you?"
"I'm Luke. Political Science Department ," Luke said calmly.
"Political Science?" Kael laughed loudly, turning to his group. "What—you gonna write a thesis on how much You about to help other?"
Luke remained seated.
"You're sitting at my table."
"The table was empty," Luke replied. "There's room. You can sit with me."
A gasp rippled through the canteen.
You didn't invite a four-star to sit with a one-star.
It was insulting.
Kael's face twisted. His aura flared—dark red, crackling like burnt ozone.
"Sit with you?" he sneered. "A system error? A bottom-feeder?"
He leaned closer.
"I don't sit with trash," he whispered. "I step on it."
"I got into this college on merit," Luke said quietly, a flicker of something dangerous in his eyes. "My category doesn't define my right to eat."
Kael didn't argue.
He acted.
His arm swept across the table.
The tray flew.
The bowl shattered.
Rice and sauce splashed across the floor—and Luke's shoes.
"There," Kael said, pointing. "That's where a one-star belongs. On the floor. Picking up scraps."
Laughter exploded around them.
.
Luke stared at the mess.
His hands trembled—not with fear, but with the unbearable effort of holding back power capable of flattening the building.
"Fo not leave them," a whisper rose inside him.
It wasn't Auru.
"Luke, don't," Auru pleaded. "Control it."
Luke knelt.
In front of a hundred watching eyes, the city's silent guardian picked up the shards of his broken bowl.
He salvaged a sealed juice box.
Stood.
And walked away.
---
In the third-floor restroom, Luke locked himself inside a stall.
"Your negative aura is spiking," Auru said urgently. "If this continues, it will unleash your aura. These will reveal your identity."
Luke pressed his forehead against the cold tile.
"I save them," he whispered. "Every night."
His hands were still stained.
"I bleed for them."
His voice cracked.
"And this is what they see?"
Auru's voice softened. "They are ignorant. Slaves to the stars above their heads."
Luke closed his eyes.
"Then why does it hurt so much?"
He stayed there for for while.
Breathing.
Suppressing.
Burying rage until it became stone.
Luke control himself and his negative aura.After all his lecture he went home. With no expressions. He neither talk to parents nor to any of his friend.
That night, Luke returned to the streets—but something was different.
At night,
He became Auron and
He healed.
He saved.
But he didn't smile.
And his golden aura carried a faint shadow.
Luke thought, the worst was over.
But he was wrong.
And this time—
A broken bowl wouldn't be enough.
---
End of Chapter.