The crowd buzzed like a hornet's nest.
"Is that… the guy who stopped Androda Ban in the cafeteria back then?"
"What's his na again? Khael? Khael Corzedar?"
"Corzedar family… aren't they nobles?"
Khael felt a chill run down his back.
(Oh shit… I reacted without thinking. Now everyone's gonna be curious about .)
"I heard the Corzedars are an Earl-ranked noble house… long history of military service."
"But not that impressive these days."
"Still… who just steps up to soone like her?"
Sensei Shun, calm as ever, nodded once.
"Okay. You may now return to the bleachers, Khael."
Khael gave a respectful nod. "Yes, Sensei."
He turned away as whispers trailed behind him like smoke.
(Oh for goodness' sake...)
In the audience, Kaen Suro stared at him.
(That guy… he was the one who helped back then. When Ban cornered … this guy really helps people without hesitation.)
Kaen smiled quietly.
…
Above,
Their leader, Master Isen, stood at the center. He watched Khael intently… and then chuckled. "He's got guts."
To his right, Zeke Kurosawa scowled.
"We should've stepped in sooner. "
Amane Hoshigaki, graceful and smirking, twirled a deadly rose vine around her fingers.
"Mmm. It's necessary. Baek needed a little humility fertilizer."
Gorou Kanzaki, the stone monk, placed a palm to his heart.
"Sotis the blade teaches where the word cannot."
Raiden Kurogami, lounging with a thunderbolt crackling lazily above his palm, yawned.
"Interesting reaction from that Khael kid…"
Yui Fushiguro stood at the far corner, arms crossed. She didn't speak. Her shadow flickered unnaturally.
And finally—
Kaito Yagami, the Wave tactician, murmured,
"A child who steps between fury and pride… must either be foolish, or formidable."
Isen smiled wider.
"Let's watch. Perhaps the world's about to beco interesting again."
…
An hour passed.
One long hour of watching matches. So between key characters, nas that rang familiar from the original manga. Others? Naless faces—but with potential. It was a mixed bag.
So fought with passion.
So relied too heavily on their affinities.
So tried to act cool.
So just panicked.
(This isn't a battlefield yet... but it's starting to feel like one.)
I leaned forward slightly as my na echoed across the arena.
"Khael Corzedar vs. Shigeo Moto."
So, it's finally my turn.
I stepped out from the bleachers . Across from stood a boy with dull gray eyes, slouched posture, and a neutral expression like he just rolled out of bed.
Shigeo Moto.
One of the manga's essential characters. Not flashy. Not loud. Just… there.
Nicknad "Static," not for his lightning—but for his energy level.
Always calm. Always slow.
But not weak.
(He's not lazy. He just hates complexity.)
I could already hear his muttered line coming—like clockwork.
"What a complicated world…" he sighed, fingers already crackling faintly with static arcs.
And there it is.
I cracked my neck. My stance low, focused. I could feel the hum of affinity building in the air between us. He didn't raise his hands like a fighter. No, Shigeo always fought like he was folding laundry. Casual. Relaxed.
But I knew better.
(Lightning Affinity... or more accurately, sub-affinity of Storm.)
Let explain sothing real quick.
People in this world talk about affinities like they're one solid thing. But they're not. They're categories. Trees, with branches.
The Origin Affinities the roots are:
Storm
Wave
Fire
Bloom
Stone
Shade
From them, you get Sub-Affinities.
Magma? Cos from Fire.
Ice? A refined form of Wave.
Lightning? Part of Storm.
Also, the Bloom too.
In short, people get caught up in the flash without understanding the source.
(And ? I understand the source.)
The crowd murmured as our nas were officially announced. I didn't let it distract . I kept my gaze locked on Shigeo, who despite his disinterest was already radiating a low voltage field.
The referee hadn't even raised the signal yet.
We stood there, just a few paces apart, but Shigeo already looked like he was half-asleep. His hands were in his pockets, his stance wasn't ready, and his eyes… they weren't focused on .
They were distant.
Like he was sowhere else entirely.
I narrowed my gaze and finally said it.
"Wait… you don't want to fight , do you?"
Shigeo scratched the back of his head, letting out a sigh that buzzed with faint static.
"Well..." he drawled. "After I saw my dumbass friend fight earlier… now she wants to push myself and evolve or whatever. Which is—ugh—complicated. I'd rather sleep peacefully than deal with that kind of ss."
There it was again. That word.
Complicated.
The sa word he used to hide behind. To drift through life.
But to , it just sounded like an excuse.
I took a step forward, voice firm.
"I get it. You only say those words because you don't have motivation. Like… you don't know your purpose yet."
For the first ti…
He looked directly at .
His dull eyes narrowed slightly.
"...The way you said that…" he muttered, static crawling faintly across his shoulder,
"...irks ."
I smirked.
"Good. If it irks you, maybe you'll actually start trying."
The space between us began to hum.
The static grew louder.
And sothing flickered deep in his eyes.
Not anger. Not irritation.
But maybe, just maybe…
Curiosity.
Sensei Shun raised his hand.
"Start!"
The mont the words left his lips, a gust of energy rippled through the air.
But Shigeo?
Still motionless.
Hands in his pockets. Head slightly tilted. As if the world moved too fast and he simply couldn't be bothered to keep up.
I didn't rush in.
I stood still too—watching him.
Observing.
Because there's one thing everyone watching this match didn't know.
(One thing everyone should know... why Shigeo is like that…)
(...It's because he's a genius. With an IQ over 200.)
That lazy posture? A lie.
That sleepy look? A mask.
He's not slow.
He's always ten steps ahead.
(He doesn't act because he doesn't need to. He sees the end before it begins.)
A spark flickered around his feet.
Barely visible.
Barely there.
But I caught it.
(Storm Affinity users are loud—explosive, chaotic. But Shigeo? He's Lightning refined. Precision over power. Efficiency over effort.)
He let out a soft yawn.
"So... you're not going to charge in?"
"No," I replied calmly, sliding into my stance. "Because you already calculated every angle I could take, didn't you?"
He opened one eye just one.
And smiled.
"Not every angle. Only the ones that make sense. The others are... well..."
"..plicated."
Crack—
Lightning danced around his legs like chains uncoiling.
He vanished from sight.
To be continue
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