The morning sun bled through the reinforced glass of the classroom, casting long shadows over the rows of high-tech desks. While the rest of the class was still buzzing with theories about the "Zenith Destroyer," Yui Seong was in her own world.
She stared down at her notebook, her hand moving in a rhythmic, absent-minded motion. She wasn't taking notes on Mana-Circuitry or Bio-Mechanical Engineering. She was simply drawing small, empty circles—countless O's that filled the page, a perfect representation of the "Null" status the school had given her.
Circle... circle... stay quiet... stay invisible...
Suddenly, a shadow fell over her desk. The temperature in the immediate area dropped, and a faint frost began to creep across the corner of her notebook.
"Look at this," a sharp, melodic voice mocked. "The little Null is busy doing... nothing. How fitting."
Yui didn't look up, but she felt the prickle of cold air on her skin. Standing over her was Opia, the scion of a high-ranking noble family and one of the academy's top-tier prodigies. Opia's hair was a shimmering, crystalline blue, and her eyes held the cold indifference of an arctic winter. She was a Master of Cryomancy, famous for her ability to sculpt ice into lethal weapons with a mere thought.
"Why are you even here, Yui?" Opia sneered, her fingers tracing a line of frost along the edge of Yui's desk. "This is an academy for those who will shape the future. You're just... a waste of a chair."
Yui kept her head down, clutching her pencil tighter. "I'm just... trying to study, Opia."
"Study? Study what? How to be a commoner?" Opia laughed, and several students nearby joined in. With a swift, fluid motion, Opia snatched the pencil right out of Yui's hand. "Maybe I should help you. This pencil is too 'warm' for someone as dull as you."
As Opia held the pencil aloft, thin shards of ice began to wrap around the wood, encasing it in a jagged, frozen shell.
"Give it back, please," Yui said softly, her voice small. She reached out, her hand trembling—not from fear, but from the immense effort it took to suppress the urge to simply tap the desk and send Opia flying through the ceiling.
"Come and get it, Null," Opia taunted, stepping back as she began to mold the ice around the pencil into the shape of a frozen butterfly, spinning it mockingly between her fingers.
Yui stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. For a split second, the air in the room seemed to grow heavy, a strange pressure that made the mana-lights flicker. But before the situation could escalate, the heavy sliding door of the classroom hissed open.
"Everyone, take your seats," a stern voice commanded.
The pressure vanished instantly. Yui slumped back into her seat, her eyes fixed on her empty desk, while Opia gave a final, icy smirk before gliding back to her seat in the front row, still clutching Yui's frozen pencil like a trophy.
The heavy, metallic thud of boots against the floor signaled the arrival of a man who didn't need a microphone to command attention. As the door hissed shut, the room fell into a suffocating silence. Even Opia, usually arrogant and cold, straightened her back and hid the frozen pencil beneath her desk.
Standing at the front of the room was Mr. Kradia.
He didn't look like a typical scholar. His frame was thick with scarred muscle, and his eyes had the predatory stillness of a veteran who had survived a thousand battlefields. Mr. Kradia was a legend among the Rank-A elites, occasionally touching the realm of SS-Rank during active combat. His signature ability, [Fearless], was a terrifying buff-type magic. It allowed him to forcefully ignore the natural limits of the human body, granting him god-like strength and speed, while a passive sub-skill provided near-instant cellular regeneration. He was a man who could run through a storm of fire and come out without a scratch.
"Seats," Mr. Kradia barked. His voice felt like a physical weight pressing down on the students' chests.
Yui kept her head down, her heart fluttering—not out of fear of his power, but fear of his instincts. People like Mr. Kradia could 'smell' strength. They were trained to spot the apex predator in any room.
Mr. Kradia scanned the classroom, his gaze lingering for a fraction of a second longer on the back row where Yui sat. He narrowed his eyes, sensing a strange ripple in the gravitational flow around the girl, but the "Shroud" placed by Ms. Raty held firm, masking Yui as a complete void of mana.
"Yesterday," Kradia began, leaning his heavy arms on the podium, "a Class-S threat was erased from existence in Sector 7. The military is calling it a miracle. I call it a security failure."
He slammed a hand on the desk, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "While you children are busy playing with ice butterflies and dreaming of fame, there is a monster out there—or perhaps a human—whose single strike can displace reality. If that 'Zenith Destroyer' decided to turn their fist toward this academy, not a single one of your fancy spells would save you."
Yui swallowed hard, her hand instinctively clutching the edge of her seat. Please don't look at me, please don't look at me, she prayed inwardly.
"Today's lesson isn't about theory," Kradia continued, a sharp, dangerous smile tugging at his lips. "It's about survival. We are heading to the Combat Simulation Hall. I want to see how your 'special' talents hold up when the limits are pushed."
Opia glanced back at Yui with a smirk that promised cruelty. For Opia, the simulation was a chance to shine. For Yui, it was a minefield where one wrong move—one punch thrown too hard—could break her secret, and the world along with it.
The class of thirty students marched through the sterile, white corridors of the academy, the sound of their synchronized footsteps echoing against the reinforced walls. At the front, Mr. Kradia walked with a purposeful stride, his cloak billowing behind him.
But behind his stoic expression, Kradia's mind was racing. He hadn't told anyone—not even the Headmaster—about his true objective. The military's forensic mages had spent all night analyzing the impact site in Sector 7, and their conclusion was chilling: the strike was executed from a height of approximately 140 centimeters.
A child, Kradia thought, his eyes narrowing. A student.
He knew every registered Hunter in the country. None of them possessed the raw, unfiltered physical force that could vaporize mana-steel without using a single spell-circle. If the "Zenith" was an unregistered entity, they were likely hiding in the one place where "potential" was expected but "excessive power" could be masked: Aetheria Academy.
They entered the Combat Simulation Hall, a massive dome filled with holographic emitters and sensory plates that could track even the slightest flicker of mana.
"Listen up!" Kradia shouted, his voice booming as the thirty students lined up. "Today's exercise is a 'Pressure Test.' You will each face a Level 4 Combat Droid. I don't care about your technique. I want to see your output. I want to see you push your limits until your mana-veins scream."
He paced back and forth in front of the line like a wolf stalking its prey. His [Fearless] aura was subconsciously leaking, creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere that made many students break into a cold sweat.
"If any of you are holding back," Kradia said, stopping directly in front of Yui, "I will know. My eyes can see through any deception, and my instincts never lie."
Yui stared at his boots, her breath shallow. She could feel the "Gravity Shroud" from Ms. Raty vibrating under the pressure of Kradia's gaze. He was looking for a spark, a hint of that world-breaking strength.
Beside her, Opia stepped forward, her eyes glowing with icy confidence. "Mr. Kradia, I'll go first. I'll show you what true 'output' looks like."
Kradia gestured toward the center of the arena. "Go ahead, Opia. Let's see if your ice is as sharp as your mouth."
As Opia walked to the center, Yui took a slow, silent breath. She had to be careful. If she hit the droid too lightly, it would look suspicious for a student in this elite academy. If she hit it too hard... she would be heading straight to a high-security military laboratory.
Just a tap, Yui, she whispered to herself. Just act like a weak, clumsy Null.
The arena was a storm of elemental fury.
Opia stood at the center, her eyes glowing with a freezing brilliance. She didn't just summon ice; she compressed it until it turned a deep, lethal sapphire blue. With a flick of her wrist, a jagged lance of Blue Ice streaked through the air, piercing the Level 4 Droid's chest and freezing its internal circuits in a split second. The class erupted in cheers as the robot shattered into frozen shards.
Then came the others. Rick was a blur of motion, his hands vibrating at such high frequencies that they functioned like sonic saws, slicing the droid into neat pieces. Roi followed, his palms emitting a concentrated Mana Beam that melted a hole straight through the robot's titanium plating. Yoki was more surgical, using her [One-Spot] magic to find the single structural weakness in the droid's frame before tapping it and watching the entire machine collapse like a house of cards.
But the most unsettling display came from Klein. He didn't dodge. He let the droid strike him, his bones breaking and healing instantly in a gruesome display of his [Infinite Heal] ability. He had conditioned his body to the point where his cells were as dense as diamonds. With a single, brutal headbutt, he pulverized the droid's head.
The students were breathless, convinced they had seen the peak of human potential. But Mr. Kradia remained unimpressed. He watched the mana-readings on his tablet with a frown.
Impressive... but not it, Kradia thought. Opia is powerful, Klein is a monster, but their energy is still... human. It follows the laws of mana. None of them have the 'Reality Displacement' signature I saw in Sector 7.
He looked down at his list. There was only one student left.
"Next," Kradia's voice echoed, colder than Opia's ice. "Yui Seong. Step forward."
The room went quiet. A few students began to whisper.
"The Null?"
"Is she even going to scratch it?"
"This is going to be embarrassing. Someone should tell her to just forfeit."
Yui walked toward the center of the arena, her sneakers squeaking on the polished floor. She looked tiny standing in the cratered battlefield left by Klein and Opia. Across from her, a new Level 4 Droid hissed to life, its red optical sensor locking onto her small frame. It raised its hydraulic fists, prepared to engage.
Yui could feel Mr. Kradia's eyes burning into her back. He wasn't just watching; he was analyzing her every breath, her every muscle twitch. He was waiting for the mask to slip.
Just act like it's heavy, Yui, she told herself, her heart thumping. Make it look like you're struggling. Don't break the floor. Whatever you do, DO NOT break the floor.
She took a clumsy, amateurish stance, her knees shaking slightly—half out of nerves, and half as a performance. She pulled back her small, gloveless fist, pretending to gather all the strength her 'mana-less' body could muster.
"Begin!" Kradia barked.
The droid lunged, its massive metal fist swinging toward her with enough force to crack concrete. Yui closed her eyes for a split second, praying she could control the monster dwelling inside her knuckles.
The droid moved like a thunderbolt, its hydraulic fist tearing through the air with a terrifying hiss. The students held their breath, some even looking away, expecting the "Null" girl to be sent flying across the room.
Yui panicked. As the massive metal arm swung toward her, her instincts took over. She didn't even throw a punch. In a clumsy attempt to "shoo" the robot away, her index finger accidentally grazed the side of the droid's incoming fist.
THUD—CRACK-BOOM!
It wasn't a fight; it was an erasure.
The moment her fingertip touched the titanium alloy, a silent shockwave rippled through the machine's entire structure. The Level 4 Droid didn't just break—it disintegrated. Its heavy armor plates turned into fine metallic sand, and its reinforced internal skeleton snapped like dry twigs, collapsing into a heap of useless dust and sparks in less than a second.
The silence that followed was deafening. No one cheered. No one spoke. The students stared at the pile of dust where a formidable combat machine had been standing a moment ago.
"Oh no... oh no, oh no, oh no!" Yui's internal monologue was screaming at a frequency that could shatter glass. "I just touched it! I barely even moved my finger! I'm dead! Ms. Raty is going to kill me! The military is going to dissect me!"
Her face went pale, and she began to tremble, looking down at her finger as if it were a ticking time bomb. "I... I... the robot... it must have been old?" she squeaked, her voice barely a whisper. "Maybe it had a... a loose screw?"
In the silence, a slow, rhythmic clapping began to echo through the hall.
Yui turned slowly, her heart sinking into her stomach. Mr. Kradia was walking toward her, his heavy boots crunching on the debris. He wasn't angry. He wasn't confused. Instead, a wide, dangerous smile was spreading across his scarred face—a look of pure, predatory satisfaction.
"A loose screw?" Kradia laughed, the sound booming through the dome. He stopped just inches from her, his [Fearless] aura swirling around him like a cyclone, yet Yui didn't even budge under the pressure.
He leaned down, his eyes locking onto hers with terrifying intensity. "I've spent twenty years fighting monsters, kid. I know the difference between a mechanical failure and a strike that ignores the laws of durability."
He stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest. "I found you," he whispered, loud enough for only her to hear. Then, he looked at the entire class, his voice becoming a roar of triumph.
"So, it was you all along... the little innocent girl in the back row."