In Fraxen,
Dreams were measured in strength.
Children awakened Nexas before they reached teenage.
Teens trained until their bodies screamed.
Adults carved their names into history using abilities that bent nature itself.
And the powerless?
They survived quietly… or broke loudly.
Raze Arcwell belonged to neither group.
He stood somewhere in the middle—too weak to rise, too stubborn to fall.
And that stubbornness would shape everything.
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The Road to Lionel Academy
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The Arcwell estate had witnessed many arguments.
But none louder—or more desperate—than the ones Raze had with his parents.
"Raze, sweetheart…" his mother Rose whispered, brushing his bangs aside.
"Lionel Academy isn't a school. It's a battlefield."
Raze clenched his fists.
"Then I'll walk in stronger than they expect."
His father Roland sighed, placing a large, steady hand on his son's shoulder.
"You don't have to prove yourself to the world. You're already enough."
"But I want to prove it to myself."
There it was.
The truth neither parent could argue with.
Every morning, Raze trained his body until sweat dripped onto the marble floor.
Every night, he studied until the sun rose outside his window.
He endured.
He persisted.
He refused to break.
Eventually, Roland exhaled slowly.
Rose wiped her eyes.
"…Alright."
"If this is truly your path…"
"We won't stop you."
But the hardest battle wasn't against his parents.
It was against her—
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Luna Arcwell's Warning
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Luna didn't shout.
Luna didn't argue.
She simply stood there—tall, composed, frighteningly powerful—and stared at her younger brother.
"Raze," she said quietly, "do you know what you're asking for?"
Raze held her gaze.
"Yes."
"No," Luna whispered. "You don't."
She looked away—something she almost never did.
"I've seen students humiliated until they quit.
I've seen power crush people from the inside.
Even I was… targeted."
Raze blinked.
Luna? Targeted?
She continued:
"If they treated me harshly—"
She gestured at herself, at the power radiating around her.
"—what will they do to someone with no Nexas at all?"
Silence.
Then Raze stepped closer.
"I know the dangers, Luna."
"Then why?" she pressed. "Why choose the hardest road?"
Raze smiled faintly.
"Because it's the only road that leads me forward."
Luna froze.
For the first time, she looked less like a prodigy…
and more like a worried sister.
Finally, she sighed.
"…Fine. But listen carefully."
She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his.
"If anyone hurts you… I'll tear down the academy myself."
Raze chuckled softly.
"I'll be fine, sis."
He wasn't sure if he believed that.
But he wanted her to.
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Entrance Exam Day — A Quiet War Begins
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Lionel Academy tested everything:
Strength.
Endurance.
Dexterity.
Power.
Control.
But the entrance exam? Only one thing mattered—
**Theory.**
And that was Raze's battlefield.
He flew through questions with surgical precision:
Combat strategy.
Hero ethics.
Villain psychology.
Historical crises.
Tactical simulations.
By the time he finished, some proctors whispered among themselves:
"Is he really Nexasless?"
"His thinking speed is unreal."
"He's answering faster than prodigies…"
A week later, the results were posted.
And at the top of the list:
1st Place — Raze Arcwell (Score: 100%)
Students swarmed the display.
"This has to be rigged."
"He must've cheated."
"The Arcwells bought the ranking!"
"No way a powerless kid aced it!"
But the whispers never left a safe distance.
Because everyone knew:
"Luna Arcwell walked these halls."
And nobody wanted to die early.
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The Valedictorian Speech
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At the opening ceremony, the principal called:
"Raze Arcwell. Valedictorian of the incoming first-year class."
Gasps. Shock. Annoyance. Curiosity.
Raze stepped onto the stage.
Thousands of eyes locked onto him.
His palms shook—but he lifted his chin anyway.
"I know many of you doubt me."
The hall fell silent.
"You think I don't belong here.
That without a Nexas… I'm already defeated."
Some smirked.
Some crossed their arms.
Raze placed a hand over his heart.
"But hear this."
He exhaled.
"Power does not make a hero."
A few students blinked.
"Heart does.
Will does."
"And I will prove it—
with or without Nexas."
Gasps rippled.
A few scoffed.
Many stared in disbelief.
Luna, watching from the audience, smiled like a proud, dangerous lioness.
Instructors exchanged glances.
Who was this boy?
Why did his voice sound like a promise written into fate?
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The Declaration
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That day, the Nexasless boy made a vow.
Not a whisper.
Not a thought.
A vow the entire academy heard:
**"I will rise.
I will stand.
And I will become a hero."**
He didn't know how.
He didn't know when.
But he believed it.
And belief was the beginning.
The name "Raze Arcwell," once pitied and mocked, began spreading through the academy—
as a spark,
as a challenge,
as the birth of a legend.
One that would one day ignite an inferno.