The words hung in the air before Zack, glowing a sickly, unforgiving red. His eyes widened in pure, uncomprehending shock. His mind blanked, refusing to process the message.
Everywhere became dead silent. The kind of silence that was heavy and thick, where the drop of a pin would sound like a thunderclap. Every student, every teacher, every honored guest was frozen, their stares locked onto the bold, brutal words on the holographic screen.
No Ability.
Director Cromwell's face went slack. The confident smile he'd worn moments before melted into an expression of profound, personal shock. He stared, his mind rejecting the visual data before him.
On the podium, Zack's world crumbled in slow motion. This wasn't just failure; it was an impossibility. A null result. An error in the story of his life.
"No.... No...this can't be real, right? What does it mean… no ability?" His voice was a thin, fragile thing, cracking under the weight of the verdict. He refused to believe it. With trembling hands, he pulled them away from the crystal orb, stared at his empty palms, and then pressed them back against the cool surface with desperate force. The same red error message flickered persistently, a cruel, digital heartbeat. His hands shook uncontrollably, a violent tremor that betrayed the earthquake happening inside him.
In the canopy, Mr. Cromwell was lost, his earlier boasting now ashes in his mouth. "I refuse to believe this; how can this be happening?" he muttered, a quiet mantra against the unacceptable truth.
"Cromwell, you better believe it," the woman from Crystal Field Academy said, her voice cold and sharp with disdain. "He has no ability. The awakening device can't lie. What I see is a waste of resources."
"I don't know why you praised this kid so much. In the end, even with a diamond talent, he's worthless," another guest spat, his voice laden with displeasure.
"I guess this must be the reason he is not with the Lyons. They must have already seen he was worthless trash and decided to kick him out," another added, the speculation a twisting knife.
The military officer turned, his brow furrowed. "Cromwell, are you sure he has a diamond talent? Was there any mistake?"
But Cromwell was speechless, his thoughts a chaotic whirlpool of fury and humiliation.
Among the crowd, Alex and Mia stood utterly still. The celebratory joy that had lit Alex's face just minutes ago was extinguished, replaced by a pallor of absolute shock. Mia's hands had flown to her mouth, her eyes wide with a dawning horror that was more for her friend than for the strange event itself.
"This can't be happening, right?" Alex whispered, the question a plea to the universe.
"It…it can't…be right," Mia stammered, the words shuddering out of her. The reality was a physical blow.
Zack, still on the podium, was drowning in a sea of static. (Tell me this is a dream, please. This can't be happening to me.) The thought screamed in the void of his mind. This wasn't failure; it was erasure.
"Please, I will need you to step off the podium now. Many others are still waiting for their awakening." The officiant's voice was flat, devoid of all emotion.
Zack nodded dumbly, unable to look at the man. He turned and descended the steps, his legs moving like blocks of wood. His mind was a white-noise roar of confusion and despair. How would he face his mom? He had failed every expectation, his family's, his friends', his own. The weight of it was a stone in his chest, dragging him down. He felt the heat of a thousand eyes upon him pity, curiosity, and the sharp, gathering glee of mockery.
He walked towards where his friends stood, each step an eternity. Alex and Mia broke from their stupor and ran to him just as his knees gave way, buckling under the colossal weight of his new reality.
"Bro, take a breath. Just calm down," Alex urged, kneeling beside him, a hand on his shoulder, his own voice tight with shared distress.
"Everything… I have…. dreamed of… ju…just gone in a flash," Zack choked out, looking at his own trembling hands as if they belonged to a stranger. A hot, shameful pressure built behind his eyes.
"We are still here for you," Mia said, the words heartfelt but feeling desperately inadequate against the catastrophe.
"Zoe, your help here would be appreciated, please!" Alex called out, looking past Zack towards the blonde girl, a lifeline in his mind.
The response was a cold splash of water.
"What sort of help are you talking about? Hello, who is he?"
Zoe's voice was no longer sweet. It was harsh, laced with a disdain so potent it froze the very air. Zack, Alex, and Mia turned to her, their faces etched with shock.
"Zoe, what do you mean by that? He is Zack! Who else? Your 'heart's content,' as you always said!" Alex's words were a mixture of confusion and rising anger.
"Zoe, if this is a joke, you better cut it out. What do you mean, 'who am I?'" Zack asked, the betrayal cutting through his numbness, sharp and fresh.
"Have you gone deaf, you loser? Or have you gone nuts from finding out you have no ability?" Zoe spoke with a brutal, dismissive rudeness.
Boom.
It was as if a bomb had detonated in Zack's soul. He was stunned into a deeper, more profound silence. This 180-degree turn was more shocking than the system error. This, he had never dreamed of.
"Zoe, what's wrong with you!!" Mia cried out, aghast.
"What is the meaning of this display?" Zack asked, his voice hollow.
"Well, Zack, there is no meaning to this, for I owe you no damn explanation," Zoe said, coolly adjusting her hair. "In the first place, the reason I got this close to you was because I thought by being close to the shining star of the academy, the one with a diamond talent, the one with a bright future, I could be part of it and its benefits. And secondly, it was for the resources you had access to. You were the academy's top priority, handed things someone like me could never have. I decided to stick to you. But in the end, you are just a pathetic loser with no ability." She finished, looking at him with utter disgust.
"Zoe, what is the meaning of this!!!" Alex lashed out, stepping forward.
"Nothing. Just separating myself from trash." She scoffed.
Like a mirror dropped onto stone, Zack shattered completely. The ache in his heart was a physical pain, a squeezing vice. He had never expected this from her. Hot tears welled, blurring his vision, but he refused to let them fall. He could only clench his fists until his nails bit into his palms, the pain a feeble anchor. His gaze shifted to Ben, and he saw the same cold, prepared look. It was a coordinated betrayal.
"What's with the look, loser? Do I look like the cause of your misfortune? I was only close to you for the benefits, bro," Ben spoke, his tone flat and unfamiliar, all pretense of camaraderie gone.
"Ben… even you?" Alex's voice was thick with hurt.
"So, if it was just for the benefits, why this pain then?" Zack managed to ask, the question a raw wound.
"Why do you talk so much, you loser? Don't you see the way things are now? You are nothing because you have no ability. I don't need you anymore. I wonder how a beautiful girl like me ended up with a failure like you." Zoe's mockery was a masterclass in cruelty.
"Next up, Zoe Blake!"
"I have to go now; I have an ability to awaken," Zoe said, sweeping her hair back and placing a hand on her waist. She walked toward the podium with a stylish, dismissive sway, leaving the wreckage behind.
Zack was plunged into utter shock and disbelief. The true colors of the people he'd called friends were revealed wolves in sheep's clothing. He had expected words of encouragement in his darkest moment. Instead, he received words laced with mockery, hatred, and pure disdain. The betrayal was a deeper, more intimate failure than the awakening itself.
Alex and Mia were still reeling, struggling to process the emotional whiplash.
Zoe awakened an A-rank Lightning Manipulation. As she turned, she looked directly at Zack, but her smile was not angelic. It was twisted, filled with a triumphant mockery that reached her eyes. In that moment, Zack understood. She was pretentious, deceitful, and a ticking time bomb.
she had with the face of an angel and the heart of a devil.
"Next, Ben Kenneth!"
Ben paused as he passed Zack. "You know, right from the beginning, I never really liked you. You stole my spotlight. You got the attention, the resources that should have been mine. I always wanted to crush you beneath my feet. But now, I guess I don't have to anymore. But it seems fate did the job for me." He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a venomous whisper meant only for Zack. "Now you're nothing. A failure."
Ben awakened an S-rank Ki Energy Manipulation. The crowd gasped.
"You see that, Zack? That's how you awaken an ability!" Ben called out loudly, rubbing salt in the wound.
The military officer from Lion's Gate Academy appeared in a flash, the ground cracking under his feet, and made an offer on the spot. Ben accepted with visible pride.
Zack was in total disarray. The sudden, vicious turn of those he'd trusted was a devastation that dwarfed his public shame. His world had not just ended; it had been stolen and defiled.
"I can't believe they turned out like this," Alex whispered, his fists clenched in helpless anger.
"Bro, get up. Let's find a place for you to cool off," Alex said gently, helping Zack to his feet.
"I'll join you guys once I'm done," Mia said softly as her name was called next.
In the canopy, the old man with snow-white hair watched Zack's retreat with his assistant. His deep blue eyes held a complex emotion. "Lloyd," he murmured to himself with a sigh of helplessness, "you better be sure of what you said to me."
A Few Streets Away from the Academy
The district was a portrait of normalcy, a vibrant contrast to the drama at the school. Life buzzed peacefully shops lined the roads, vehicles hummed by, people laughed and chatted, moving with the simple purpose of a calm day.
High above the central road, the air wavered.
It was a subtle distortion, like heat rising from asphalt, but there was no heat source. Then, a sound a faint, high-pitched ping, like a single strand of crystal being stressed.
People below glanced up, curious.
The distortion intensified, warping the light from the buildings behind it. Then, with a sudden, terrifying crack a sound of reality tearing a jagged line of black etched itself across the blue sky. Violet energy, malevolent and pulsating, sparked along its edges.
The crack hung there for a suspended second, a silent scar in the world.
Then, it began to widen.
With a deep, groaning roar that vibrated in the chests of everyone below, the spatial crack ripped open, tearing a gateway of impenetrable darkness into the heart of the sunny day.