The Great Hall of Anmony Academy did not breathe; it hummed. Beneath the vaulted obsidian arches, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and the weight of a thousand legacies. For the elite of the world, the 18th Birthday Ceremony was a coronation. For Ostein, it was a funeral for a future he never had.
"Move, commoner. You're polluting the air of the front line."
Ostein didn't need to turn to recognize the voice. Haisel stood behind him, resplendent in gold-trimmed silk that cost more than Ostein's village earned in a decade. Beside him stood Stella, her silver hair shimmering like moonlight.
She didn't speak; she simply looked through Ostein as if he were a pane of glass—transparent, fragile, and utterly beneath notice.
"Ignore the rat, Haisel," Stella said, her voice like falling ice. "Today, the Stone decides who rules. Why waste breath on a shadow?"
At the center of the hall stood the Awakening Stone, a monolith of pulsating white light. Behind it sat Headmaster Edward, his eyes sharp and judgmental, and his assistant, Sinster, who stood ready with a silver stylus to record the fates of the graduating class.
"The world is built on the pillars of the gifted," Edward's voice boomed, vibrating in the marrow of Ostein's bones. "Today, Anmony Academy offers its newest strength to the world. Step forward and claim your destiny."
The line moved with clinical precision.
"Haisel of House Valerius!" Sinster called out.
Haisel stepped to the stone with the swagger of a conqueror.
As his palm touched the surface, the white light turned a violent, bruised crimson. A shockwave tore through the hall, cracking the floorboards beneath his feet. Haisel's muscles surged, his eyes bleeding into a feral red.
"Ability: Berserker," Sinster announced, his voice tinged with rare excitement. "Rank: S. The pinnacle of physical devastation."
The hall erupted in cheers.
Haisel turned back to the line, catching Ostein's gaze. He raised a hand and slowly dragged a thumb across his throat.
Next was Stella. When she touched the stone, the violence of the red aura was instantly purified. A golden dome expanded from her, soft and unbreakable, radiating a sense of absolute authority and peace.
"Ability: Holy Domain," Sinster's voice trembled. "Rank: SS. The ultimate sanctuary. A goddess is born today."
The applause was deafening. It was the highest rank recorded in a century. " Another great work of Anmony." Smiles Edward.
After many novels tried. " Ability: Sprint Rank-C, Ability: Heal Rank-B" many noticable Ability were announced and given recognition.
Finally, the hall fell into a mocking, expectant silence.
"Ostein," Sinster said, his voice flat, drained of all professional courtesy.
Ostein walked onto the stage. His boots, worn and patched, clicked hollowly against the marble. He felt the weight of Edward's disappointment and Haisel's sneer. He reached out and pressed his hand against the cold, smooth surface of the stone.
The silence stretched. Five seconds. Ten.
The light of the stone did not change. It did not pulse. It did not recognize him.
The silence in the Great Hall was more deafening than any shout. Ostein's hand remained pressed against the Awakening Stone, his fingers trembling, praying for even a spark—a flicker of a F-Rank utility light, a minor twitch of strength. Anything to prove he existed.
But the Stone remained as cold and lifeless as a tombstone.
"Null," Sinster whispered, the word carrying a clinical finality. He didn't even bother to record it with a flourish. He simply tapped a key on his ledger, deleting Ostein's name from the academy's future.
"Wait," Ostein rasped, his voice cracking. "Let me try again. Just once—"
"Step down, rat," Haisel's voice boomed from the front row, dripping with malicious glee. "The Stone doesn't lie. You aren't just a commoner; you're an error. A waste of Anmony's air."
Laughter rippled through the tiers of elite students. Even Stella, who had just been crowned a "Goddess" with her Holy Domain, turned her back to him. To her, Ostein was no longer a person; he was a footnote that had just been erased.
Headmaster Edward stood, his cloak billowing like a shroud. "The ceremony is concluded. Guards, escort the Null to the gates. His scholarship is forfeited. His presence is no longer tolerated."
Ostein didn't wait for the guards. He turned and ran. He ran past the sneering faces of his peers, past the golden statues of heroes, and out into the biting cold of the mountain night. Behind him, the cheers for Haisel and Stella continued, a celebratory roar for the gifted that felt like a whip against his back.
He reached the "Lover's Leap," a jagged cliff edge overlooking the churning, black abyss of the Forbidden Ravine. There was no path forward. There was no home to return to. In a world where Ability was Life, Ostein was already dead.
" At last I am metting such useless end. Might some miracle happen and I can be reincarnated." He murmured to himself. He for the Last time looks at the blue sky.
He stood at the very edge, the wind tearing at his threadbare uniform. He closed his eyes, leaning into the void, ready to let the silence of the ravine swallow the silence of his soul.
If the world has no place for me, he thought, then I will leave it.
He stepped into the empty air....
Chapter ended.....