Kairo was still getting used to his new reality and the rave of Academy life.
This was an alien world to him, a world that he was not used to.
From the instructors to the Professors, to the classes, and his classmates, all 50 of them in Class 1A, Kairo felt overwheld.
The theory classes truly tested his patience, he had never felt dumber in his whole life. The only thing that gave him solace was the fact that he didn’t seem to be the only person struggling to understand the theoretical classes.
In hindsight, it was not too surprising.
This was a world of mana and special abilities. What most students cared about was power and the fa of being at the top, the thrill of combat, most didn’t care about the process, the theory that was required. To them, it was boring.
Once Kairo realized that he was not alone in struggling with the theory class, he felt better and the pressure lessened from his shoulders.
Another reason why he was not overwheld by the rave of the Academy was his acquaintances, the 13 other applicants who got the scholarship and like him, were now students of Nexus Academy, all in class 1A.
It was just the first day of lessons, but a clear divide was already being created in the class.
Majority of the students in Class 1A, most of them being nobles already ford a faction in class with the Monster Trio at the center.
Most students fawned over the three prodigies when Professors were not in class. To Kairo, it was almost disgusting at tis.
But while most of the students flocked around the Monster Trio, ostracizing the others, instinctively, to not feel left out, the others who were mostly the scholarship students were also forming their own faction.
It was an unspoken agreent but they instinctively leaned towards Kairo as their defacto leader, and he didn’t object.
With them, Kairo felt that the Academy was no longer as suffocating.
They went through hell to get the scholarship into Nexus Academy, but after surviving such brutal circumstances together, though not all of them were close, they respected and related with each other.
With them, Kairo felt at ease.
The next morning, the atmosphere in Nexus Academy was different. The mory of orientation still lingered, but already, the hierarchy of the freshers was shifting.
Word spread like wildfire before anyone even stepped foot into class.
Adrain Cross had broken through!
Not just a minor shift. It was not even 6 months since his awakening, but he had officially advanced to E- Rank overnight, becoming the first fresher to ascend.
To the rest of the students who were all between F to F ranks, the mythical existence called Adrain Cross beca even more daunting.
When Class 1A gathered in their amphitheater-like hall that morning, all 50 of them, 14 scholarship survivors and 36 nobles, the reactions were imdiate.
Whispers rippled through the rows.
"Already? It’s only been one day...!"
"Dual God-grade abilities, no wonder. Adrain truly is a freak!"
"That’s not a student, that’s a monster."
"What are we normal students even supposed to do when he’s just that abnormal and different from the rest of us?"
The nobles sat straighter, their gazes sharp with jealousy and awe. Even those who looked down on scholarship students had to swallow their pride as Adrain’s overnight achievent stole all the attention.
The benchmark for this generation had been set, and it was impossibly high.
Adrain himself didn’t boast.
He sat calmly at the front seat, posture regal, radiating confidence that needed no words. That silence only deepened the intimidation; he wasn’t trying, yet he was already ahead of the crowd.
Valek Drakar sneered openly, lounging in his seat. "Tch. What’s so special about him? The faster he climbs, the faster he’ll be cut down."
His blood-colored eyes scanned the room, lingering on Kairo like venom. He hated Adrain, but since he couldn’t take it out on him, he set his eyes on the other student who was daring enough to take his shine.
Ever since the Demon attack and Kairo’s sudden fa, he hated him to no end.
As for Selene Duskbane, ever quiet, she just watched Adrain with a faint glimr in her eyes. Not envy, not admiration... calculation.
The scholarship students exchanged looks, so in respect and awe, a few in despair, while others clenched fists in determination.
Kairo leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes narrowing at the so-called Monster Trio... Adrain, Valek, Selene, three prodigies born with silver spoons and God-given abilities.
They were the kind of people the world expected to rise, the kind who had everything he never did.
He clenched his fist under the desk. ’So what if Adrain hit E- Rank in a day?’
’So what if Valek glares at like trash?’
’I survived the Coliseum. I bled, I starved, I fought demons, not sparring dolls, I shed sweat and blood for everything that I have’.
His lips curled into a faint grin. ’I’ve always had to fight for everything’.
’Here, I won’t give in, I’ll prove that talent beats privilege!’
Back in the slums, growing up in a world where you had to smash a face in for daily bread, Kairo was not unused to neck-throat competition.
If anything, that was exactly where he felt at ho.
His stomach cramped again, that familiar gnawing ache of his cursed hunger coming back. He ignored it, forcing a smirk.
’Let them play their prodigy ga. I’ll grow the hard way, the painful way, the way they’ll never understand’.
At that mont, the heavy doors finally opened and their professor for the day entered, a tall woman dressed in a black combat tunic lined with silver thread, hair tied in a tight braid, her boots clicking with sharp rhythm against the polished floor.
A longsword hung across her back, the hilt worn but polished, a weapon that had clearly seen battle.
As soon as she entered, the class settled down.
Her presence was calm, but it was the kind that drew silence without her asking for it.
She swept her gaze across them, pausing on Adrain, Valek, and Selene, then flicking briefly to Kairo.
She surveyed the 50 students of Class 1A with steel-gray eyes before speaking.
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