The academy was much bigger than Roy had expected.
As he followed one of the academy staff members through the long corridor, he couldn't help but look around.
Everywhere he turned, there was something new.
Large training rooms were built into the sides of the academy, some surrounded by thick glass while others had enormous metal doors. Through one of the windows, Roy could see students practicing their Nexis abilities.
A boy covered his fist in flames before punching a training dummy.
Another student stood several meters away, sending waves of electricity across a metal target.
Further down the hallway, two students were practicing with swords.
Roy slowed down.
The swords caught his attention.
"Keep walking," the staff member said.
Roy looked away from the training room.
"Yeah, yeah."
He continued following.
The academy was nothing like his old school.
His previous school had been normal.
No massive training grounds.
No students carrying weapons.
No people casually using supernatural abilities.
And definitely no principal capable of stopping his Serpent Lightning with a single technique.
Roy rubbed the back of his neck.
"I guess I'm really here now."
They eventually reached another section of the academy.
The staff member stopped in front of a classroom.
Roy looked up.
A large sign was displayed above the entrance.
CLASS 1-A
Roy raised an eyebrow.
"This is my class?"
"Yes."
The staff member nodded.
"Class 1-A is one of the academy's most prestigious first-year classes."
Roy looked through the glass panel on the door.
There were around twenty students inside.
Most were already seated, reading books or discussing something with their classmates.
"What makes it special?"
"The students."
Roy looked at him.
"Meaning?"
"Class 1-A is reserved for first-years who show exceptional academic ability or unusual potential."
Roy smiled slightly.
"So I'm with the smart people."
The staff member chuckled.
"Try not to get yourself expelled on the first day."
Roy opened the door.
"I'll try."
The moment he stepped inside, the entire classroom went silent.
Every student turned toward him.
Roy stopped.
For a few seconds, nobody said anything.
Then the whispers began.
"That's him."
"Is that the new student?"
"That's Roy."
"The guy from earlier?"
"I heard he fought Lee Ching."
"He's the one who almost defeated a second-year?"
"There's no way."
Roy looked around the room.
"So everyone already knows."
He wasn't surprised.
News travelled quickly in an academy like this.
Especially when a new student had just arrived and immediately fought a second-year.
Roy ignored the whispers and walked toward an empty seat.
He dropped his bag beside the desk and sat down.
The murmuring continued.
Roy leaned back.
He wasn't interested in what they thought of him.
At least, that's what he told himself.
A few minutes passed.
Then someone finally approached him.
"Hey."
Roy looked up.
A boy with blond hair stood beside his desk.
He looked around Roy's age and had a friendly expression on his face.
"What are you doing here?"
Roy frowned.
"What do you mean?"
The boy pointed around the classroom.
"You're not supposed to be in this class."
Several students immediately looked toward them.
Roy sighed.
"Why?"
"Because this is Class 1-A."
"I can see that."
"It's for the top first-years."
Roy leaned back.
"And?"
The boy looked slightly confused.
"And you're new."
"So?"
"You don't even have a surname."
The classroom became quieter.
Roy's expression didn't change.
That was something he was already used to.
Because Roy didn't carry the name of one of the Great Families, people often assumed he was nobody.
The boy wasn't necessarily insulting him.
He seemed genuinely curious.
Roy looked around the classroom.
"If you think I'm not supposed to be here, ask me a question."
The boy raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of question?"
"Anything."
Roy folded his arms.
"If I get it wrong, I'll leave."
Several students exchanged looks.
Someone laughed.
"Alright."
A student sitting near the window raised his hand.
"I'll ask."
He looked directly at Roy.
"What is the first rule of a Nexis user?"
The classroom suddenly became silent.
Roy thought about the question.
Then he answered.
"The first rule of a Nexis user is that when your Nexis reserves are completely exhausted, you can use your soul as a replacement."
A few students looked surprised.
Roy continued.
"But doing that increases the chance of death because you're using your life force instead of Nexis."
Silence.
The student who asked the question stared at him.
Roy looked at him.
"Was that wrong?"
The student slowly shook his head.
"No."
Roy shrugged.
"Then I'm staying."
A few students laughed.
The tension in the classroom disappeared slightly.
The blond-haired boy smiled.
"Alright. I guess you belong here."
Roy looked at him.
"Finally."
The boy extended his hand.
"I'm Leo Blaze."
Roy looked at the hand.
Then he shook it.
"Roy."
Leo smiled.
"I'm a Fire user."
Roy nodded.
"I figured."
Leo laughed.
"Can we be friends?"
Roy smiled.
"Sure. Why not?"
They shook hands again before Leo returned to his seat.
Roy looked at him.
"Blaze..."
The surname immediately caught his attention.
Everyone knew the Great Families.
The Blaze family was one of the five.
A family famous for its mastery of Fire.
Roy looked at Leo again.
Leo noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Roy turned away.
He wasn't going to ask.
At least not yet.
---
The classroom door suddenly opened.
A man wearing an entirely black uniform walked inside.
The entire class immediately stood.
"Good morning, students."
"Good morning, sir."
The teacher placed a few books on his desk.
"You may sit."
Everyone sat down.
The teacher looked around the room.
"As you can see, we have a new student joining Class 1-A."
Everyone looked toward Roy again.
Roy sighed quietly.
The teacher continued.
"Roy, please come to the front and introduce yourself."
Roy stood.
He walked toward the front of the classroom.
The teacher nodded.
"You may display your Nexis information."
Roy raised his hand.
"Display."
A translucent screen appeared in front of him.
Several students immediately leaned forward.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NEXIS
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Roy
Level: Awakened Level 37
Ability: Lightning
SP: 140
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The classroom became quiet.
"Awakened Level 37?"
"That's pretty high."
"That's the guy who fought Lee Ching?"
"I heard Lee was Intermediate Level 41."
Roy noticed the whispers.
He ignored them.
The teacher looked at the display for several seconds before turning toward Roy.
"Alright. Thank you."
Roy nodded and returned to his seat.
The teacher picked up his book.
"My name is Adrian. I'll be teaching you Nexis Theory this year."
Roy sat down beside Leo.
Leo whispered.
"You're actually Level 37?"
"Apparently."
"How did you get that high?"
Roy shrugged.
"Training."
Leo looked at him suspiciously.
"That's it?"
"Pretty much."
Leo shook his head.
"You're weird."
Roy smiled.
"So I've been told."
---
The lesson began.
Mr. Adrian started explaining the fundamentals of Nexis.
Roy listened carefully.
Although he wasn't particularly interested in sitting through long lectures, he knew the information could become useful.
"Nexis is more than simply an energy source," Adrian explained.
"It is connected to the body, the mind and, to a certain extent, the user's natural affinity."
He wrote several words on the board.
Control.
Output.
Efficiency.
Mastery.
"Power isn't determined by how much Nexis you possess."
He turned toward the class.
"A student with enormous Nexis reserves can still lose to someone with less energy if they lack control."
Roy nodded slightly.
That made sense.
His own fighting style had always relied on speed and precision.
He didn't like wasting energy.
Adrian continued teaching.
Every once in a while, he asked questions.
Roy answered some of them.
At one point, Adrian asked a difficult question about Nexis circulation.
Nobody raised their hand.
Roy eventually answered.
"Correct."
Several students turned toward him.
Leo whispered.
"You're actually smart."
Roy looked at him.
"Did you think I wasn't?"
"I wasn't sure."
Roy smiled.
"Fair enough."
---
After the lesson ended, the bell rang.
Students immediately began packing their things.
Leo stood.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"I'm going to show you around."
Roy grabbed his bag.
"Alright."
The two walked through the academy.
Leo pointed toward different areas.
"That's the main training ground."
Roy looked over.
Students were fighting there.
"And that's the weapon hall."
Roy's eyes immediately went toward it.
"What happens there?"
"Students train with weapons."
Roy looked interested.
"And that building?"
"Beast training."
Roy stared.
"Beast training?"
"Yeah."
"You actually have beasts here?"
Leo laughed.
"Of course."
They continued walking.
Eventually, they reached a large section of the academy filled with different buildings.
Roy looked around.
"What is this place?"
"The club area."
"Clubs?"
Leo nodded.
"Every student is expected to join at least one."
Roy looked at the buildings.
"What clubs are there?"
Leo pointed.
"Combat Club."
"Weapon Club."
"Beast Club."
"And Smithing Club."
Roy looked toward the last building.
"Smithing?"
"Yeah. They make weapons and equipment."
Roy nodded.
"Interesting."
Leo looked at him.
"Which one are you joining?"
Roy thought about it.
"I don't know."
"You should join Combat Club."
"Why?"
"Because I saw your fight."
Leo smiled.
"You're clearly a fighter."
Roy looked toward the Combat Club building.
Students could be seen training inside.
He smiled.
"Maybe."
---
Later that evening, Roy returned to his dormitory.
He placed his bag beside the bed and sat down.
For the first time since arriving, the academy was quiet.
Roy looked at his hands.
He remembered the fight with Lee.
More specifically...
Serpent Lightning.
Kenneth had called it forbidden.
Roy had used it without thinking.
He didn't know where he had learned it.
He didn't even remember being taught it.
Yet somehow, when he needed it...
His body knew exactly what to do.
Roy frowned.
"What exactly is going on with me?"
He lay back on the bed.
He decided not to worry about it.
Not tonight.
Tomorrow was another day.
And for the first time in a long time, Roy felt like his life was about to become interesting.
He just didn't know how much it was about to change.