The results came faster than he expected.
Kai sat on the narrow balcony of their apartment, knees drawn up, staring at the thin white envelope in his hand. He hadn't opened it yet. The early morning breeze caught at the edges, threatening to steal it away. Below, the city still slept, quiet and indifferent.
His mother stood behind him, silent.
"I didn't think I'd pass," he admitted quietly.
"You did," she replied, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You just didn't know it yet."
Kai opened the envelope.
One line.
Congratulations, Kai Kurozawa.
You have been accepted into Korin Academy.
No ceremony. No fanfare.
But he felt the weight of it all the same.
The paper fluttered in his hand, but the words stayed burned into his eyes.
He passed.
Kai turned slowly, looking back at his mother. Hana Kurozawa wasn't the kind to cry, but her eyes shimmered, just for a moment, before she blinked the feeling away and smiled.
"You're really going," she said, her voice soft.
He nodded.
Korin Academy wasn't just another school. It was the school. The place Breakers were made. The place where the strongest, and sometimes the most dangerous, were shaped into weapons for the world.
And he'd be living there, training there. Far from home. Far from this apartment. Far from her.
"I'll visit," he said, though even he didn't know when that would be possible.
"I know," she replied, brushing his unruly white hair down with a hand that lingered. "Just don't come back with a broken arm or leg."
He smirked. "Probably both."
She rolled her eyes and pulled him into a hug. Tight, but not desperate. "Make me proud."
Kai didn't answer. He didn't have to.
—-
Korin Academy loomed.
Its towers rose through low clouds, white banners whipping in the wind, marked with the symbol of the school, a stylized eye set within a mirrored crescent moon.
A shuttle train brought new students from the base city up the winding path, cutting through forest, then mist, until the academy stood like a temple of discipline above it all.
Kai stepped off with the others, bag slung over his shoulder, eyes scanning the other accepted students. Some looked nervous. Some excited. A few, like the blue-haired girl from earlier, who he now knew was named Mizuki Mizushima, looked like they were already planning how to be the best.
A stone courtyard stretched out ahead of them, wide and bright beneath the midday sun. At its center stood a tall man in a dark uniform, arms folded, eyes sharp.
"Welcome to Korin," he said without raising his voice, yet everyone heard him clearly. "I am Instructor Renzou. For the next five years, your life belongs to this academy. Your strength, your time, your failures, and if you're lucky, your victories."
Kai's eyes narrowed, heart beating a little faster.
Everything was about to change.
The tour started at the front courtyard — a massive open space paved in white stone and framed by towering spires that pierced the clouds above. Rows of trees lined the sides, their leaves a faint silver-green, glinting oddly in the sunlight. At the far end, the main gate — still humming faintly with embedded Rin — sealed the academy from the world outside.
The students followed Instructor Renzou in silence.
"This," he began, walking slowly, hands behind his back, "is the Courtyard of Founders. Each of those spires bears the name of the first generation of Breakers, those who helped bring the world back from the brink."
The Brink.
This was the event that marked the beginning of both the Shades and Rin.
Over three hundred years ago, a storm appeared across the entire globe. It wasn't a normal storm, it glowed, pulsating across the skies like a heartbeat.
People began to collapse in the streets, dying for seemingly no reason, and with that, they were born.
A man in mourning, a child alone in the dark, a woman consumed by rage. All dead, but something remained.
And that something crawled back into the world, twisted by whatever had overtaken their souls.
Shades.
The earliest Shades were barely more than monsters. Then came the stronger ones, those with memory, with power, with a will to destroy.
Rin, the energy they fed on, and that soon, humans learned to wield, became both curse and salvation.
Governments fell, cities crumbled, the world's militaries were rendered completely useless against the Shades, nothing more than a distraction while citizens fled.
North America was lost first.
Entire nations were consumed in days. The largest Shade outbreak ever recorded originated in what had once been New York City, a pulsing black storm that spread like a plague, turning everything in its path to ash and shadow.
Nothing ever came back from that storm.
To this day, no one has reclaimed it. The continent remains a dead zone, a cursed land ruled by Shades, their black Cores pulsing like dark stars.
It was during this collapse that the first Breakers emerged, humans who didn't just survive contact with Rin, they mastered it.
Some say they were chosen by Rin itself. Others believe they simply adapted faster than anyone else, driven by the desperate need for warriors.
Whatever the truth, they became humanity's only defense.
Their numbers were few, only a few thousand, compared to the hundreds of thousands of Shades. But they turned the tide.
Over decades, Breakers led the charge to reclaim what had been lost.
Asia was stabilized first, the first Breaker Academies built atop blood-soaked ruins. Africa followed. Then Europe. South America is still contested, as is Australia.
The Breakers may have slowed the fall, but they never reversed it.
And North America remains the Kingdom of Shades, unclaimed, unbroken, and watching.
The longer a Shade is allowed to live, the stronger it tends to become.
No one knows how powerful they may be now. But there is still hope that one day… North America can be reclaimed.
Kai's eyes followed the line of one spire, reaching absurdly high, its shadow long and cold. Beneath it, faintly glowing inscriptions pulsed with Rin.
'It's huge…So this is where I'll be for the next five years? Awesome!'
Looking around, all of the other students were just as mesmerized, the area was amazing.
They passed beneath an archway engraved with flowing script and entered the main complex.
The academy stretched out like a fortress-meets-temple — not just a school, but a sanctuary of power. Pale marble and dark steel. Wide walkways. Massive halls. And above all, presence. A heaviness in the air, as if every stone remembered battle.
Inside, the ceiling opened up into a grand atrium. Floating lanterns drifted lazily across the dome, casting soft blue light over the students. Ornate staircases coiled up the walls, leading to classrooms and training wings on the upper levels.
"To your left," Renzou continued, "is the Combat Wing. All sparring, dueling, and field simulations happen there. Reinforced with barrier runes, of course. Expect to bleed there, even if you're careful."
Several students traded uneasy glances.
"And to your right, the Rin Halls — where your theory classes, Rin control, ability development, and history lessons will take place. You'll come to hate the smell of ink and old parchment."
"Already do," muttered someone behind Kai.
He didn't laugh, just kept watching. Taking everything in.
"Further down," Renzou said, leading them through a long glass tunnel that overlooked a waterfall cascading down a distant cliffside, "is the Core Testing Facility. You've been there already. Get used to it. You'll return every time your Core evolves."
Mizuki Mizushima walked just ahead of Kai, silent and composed. Her blue hair shimmered under the light of the waterfall, tied in a loose braid that swayed with each step. She didn't look back, didn't acknowledge him. If anything, she seemed annoyed that the rest of the students even existed.
She was clearly used to walking through halls like these.
A sudden burst of laughter echoed from up ahead.
Two boys had broken from the main group, leaning against the railing that overlooked the massive waterfall outside. One was tall and broad-shouldered, his academy uniform already slightly wrinkled like he didn't care much for polish. The other was thinner, wiry, with sharp eyes and shaggy hair that hadn't seen a brush that morning.
"—I'm just saying," the tall one was saying, "if you're gonna puke after every spar, maybe Rin's not for you."
"Says the guy who broke the dummy and the floor during the strength test," the other shot back. "Seriously, is your Core made of bricks?"
The taller boy grinned and offered his hand as Kai approached. "You look new. I'm Daigo Tsukihara. You might've heard my name already, or my father's. Doesn't matter. Nice to meet you."
He had an easy presence, confident but not arrogant. His Core had shimmered a bright gold during testing, Kai remembered it clearly. A prodigy, definitely, but one who wore it lightly.
The wiry boy beside him gave a quick, awkward nod. "Junpei. Just Junpei. Don't expect much."
"Don't listen to him," Daigo said, clapping Junpei's shoulder hard enough to almost knock him forward. "He's got guts. Passed the physical through sheer willpower and a lot of yelling."
Junpei grunted. "And a pulled hamstring."
Kai cracked a small smile. " My name is Kai. Nice to meet you both."
"Right," Daigo said, "I saw your match. That wave of Rin you fired? Surprised even the instructors."
Kai looked away, embarrassed. "Wasn't really on purpose."
"Doesn't matter," Junpei muttered. "No one cares how you win, just that you win."
Daigo nodded. "He's right. You'll learn that fast here."
The three of them fell in step together as the group moved again, heading toward the residential halls.
Kai felt it before he saw it, a flicker of warmth. Friends. Real ones. Maybe not yet. But the potential was there.
They crossed another archway, this one leading into a courtyard surrounded by stone towers. At its center, a circular path wove around a massive tree, its pale blue leaves drifting gently down, caught in the breeze like falling embers. Dozens of students sat beneath it, some reading, others practicing minor Rin techniques, threads of colored energy spiraling between their fingers.
"Welcome to Korin Academy proper," Renzou announced. "And these—" he gestured to the towers "—are the Dorm Wards. You'll be assigned roommates by Core affinity and compatibility. No, you don't get a say. Yes, you'll survive."
He turned on his heel and started walking away. "You'll receive your room keys and uniforms shortly. Dinner is in the mess hall. Orientation continues at first light."
With that, he was gone.
Kai stared up at the tower in front of them — black stone, narrow windows, and an insignia carved into the doorway. Three concentric rings, half-glowing with dormant Rin.
Daigo grinned. "Looks like we're all in Ward Three. Lucky us."
Junpei sighed. "Lucky him," he muttered, nodding toward Kai.
"Huh?"
"You're about to share a room with quite possibly the loudest guy here." Junpei said dryly.
Before they could continue, a yell was heard from the front of the group.
"Hell yeah!" To no surprise, it was Haruto.
"Okay, maybe the second loudest guy."
The trio chuckled a little, and went into their room.
The door creaked open with a soft hum of activated runes, revealing a modest but comfortable space.
Three beds, each neatly made with dark gray sheets and folded uniforms resting at the foot. A shared desk stretched across the far wall beneath a long, narrow window. Shelves lined with blank journals and basic Rin tools suggested this was as much a study room as a place to sleep.
Above each bed, a softly glowing crystal pulsed with gentle blue light, a Core-stabilizer, Kai guessed. He could already feel the faint resonance in his chest.
"Middle one's mine," Junpei said instantly, throwing his bag on the center bed without hesitation.
"That's fair," Daigo said, setting his down with more care. "I'll take the one near the window."
Kai ran a hand over the frame of the last bed. His. For now, at least.
He sat down slowly, letting the silence settle in.
Junpei was already fiddling with a pocket-sized Rin crystal, muttering something about "minor enhancements," while Daigo unbuttoned his uniform jacket and stretched like he'd been carrying the world on his shoulders.
For the first time since arriving, Kai allowed himself to relax. No more tests. No more instructors watching. Just a room. A place to rest.
He looked around at the two boys beside him. Strangers this morning. Roommates now.
He didn't say anything, just leaned back and looked at the ceiling, where faint patterns of Rin flowed like starlight across the stone.
Tomorrow will bring something new.
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