"Alright, Test 1 pass. Test 2… do you know your name?"
'Ugh… me? Yonu Hachinan...'
"Where are you?"
'I don't know...'
"Mm… tune it up a bit. What time is it?"
'Ugh… I don't know...'
"Tune it up a bit more. Can you describe to me what happened before you passed out?"
'Ugh…' I brought my hand up to my head, but it felt like a haggard mess. I tried to recall but was grasping for disparate fragments of what once was… but from what I could piece together…
'I was fighting...'
"That's correct. Do you remember who you were fighting against?"
No face or shape popped up in my mind, only fragments of memories of moving slabs of earth lingered in the space between my thoughts.
'Some earth manacian...'
"Alright, that is enough. You may go back to rest."
'I... what is th—' But before I could say anymore, darkness overtook me once again.
. . .
Suddenly, I could sense light behind my eyelids. I heard birds chirping and felt the crisp sunlight beaming against my leg.
"Oh, you're awake. I'm the doctor for the school, Mr. Jona," said the same voice that had asked me those questions earlier. "Sorry about before, that was to test whether the healing system was able to help heal you completely. I'm happy to tell you that it did, as well as restore your mana to its original level. No need to worry," he explained.
'Alright, thank you... uh... may I know what time it is?'
"Ah sure, it's 1:30 PM. I suggest you go home and rest for the remainder of the day. Since it's your first day, there's no need to worry about matriculation. Ms. Okata is handling it. She feels bad about making you fight on your first day."
'Ah... alright. I guess I'll go back. And, uh, please tell Ms. Okata it's not her fault and she shouldn't feel guilty. Thank you... is there anything I need to show the guard before leaving?' I asked.
"Let me write you a ticket... and... here. Just show this to the guard, and he'll let you out."
I took the ticket. 'Alright, thank you,' I said, standing up and grabbing my bag before heading out.
The sun had set, and the day was nearing its end. As I unlocked my door, the rusty crunch of the gears in the lock made me think twice before entering, but where else could I go? Swinging the door open, a lingering, faintly dusty moldy smell greeted me, though less intense than before. Hesitating momentarily, I stepped inside, the faint odor reminding me of yesterday's cleaning efforts.
It revealed a somewhat similar but different sight compared to this morning. Perhaps it is the lighting. The first thing that caught my eye was my phone. I had forgotten to take it with me. Picking it up out of habit, I started scrolling through my messages. Sure enough, there was one from my mother:
"I hope you are settling in well; hope you enjoy your stay there! Don't need to bear all the load on your shoulders my son. If anything goes wrong, just come back home, and we'll welcome you back. Take care, my son."
I slowly slid down to the floor with my back against the wall.
'It's not that simple…' I muttered. More than hating this trouble, I hate disappointing the expectations others have of me, or worse yet, the expectations I have for myself.
'Hais…Thank you, Mom and Dad… But I can't afford to quit.'
. . .
"The weather for today is thundery showers from early morning to late afternoon, so do remember to bring your umbrella…."
'Ah, I guess I should.' I walked over to grab my umbrella, then turned off the television and left the house. 'Ah, another message.' I opened it and found it was from the school system this time.
"Yonu Hachinan, IC: YXXXX916N, due to your recent match, your ranking has been updated to 374 out of 640."
'What? Did I lose the match just to get a rank? Might as well lose my way to success.'
I walked along the familiar streets and passed the same houses as the other day, eventually reaching the same alleyway once more. To my pleasant surprise, there was no one here this time.
I turned and continued to school. The atmosphere at the school was just as bustling as yesterday, filled with chatter that belied an undercurrent of tension. Competitiveness must be of the essence in an elite school like this. Making my way to the office once more, I asked for my classroom assignment before heading there. To my relief, I didn't recognize anyone in the room.
I settled into an empty seat and awkwardly stared at my phone until Ms. Okata entered once again.
"Alright, I'm sure you've all noticed! We have a new transfer student today! His name is Yonu Hachinan. Please introduce yourself," she said, gesturing for me to stand up.
'Hi everyone, I'm Yonu Hachinan. I transferred here because there weren't any higher forms of education in the countryside,' I chuckled nervously. 'So, here I am. I hope to make friends with everyone.' I gave a slightly awkward bow before sitting back down.
"Great! Now that introductions are done, let's take attendance. Is…"
And then I zoned out. Even though I wasn't seated at the corner, I glanced over to the side of the classroom where the morning glow streamed in through the windows, its sweet scent reminiscent of a summer day back in the countryside.
"Now you can split into your classes."
'Huh?'
"Yonu, right?" A voice came from beside me. I turned to see a small boy with black hair with large blue streaks, big eyes, and a petite frame. Hard to believe he's in college. He looks more like a middle schooler.
'Uh, can I help you?'
"Ah, I wanted to assist you, haha. Uh, the classes are divided by rankings. What's your current ranking?"
'Uh… 374?'
"Then you're in my class whose rankings range from 300 to 400."
'This place seems quite discriminatory… Where do most fire manacians end up?"
"Ah, they're usually at the bottom of the list… What's your mana element?"
'Haha… Fire.'
"Huh? Then… how are you at 374? New students usually start at the bottom."
'I fought on the first day, but I didn't win.'
"Impossible. If you didn't win, what was the person's ranking?"
'187…?'
"Then… oh… so it was probably a draw? Even so, you must be quite strong! Very few fire manacians are above where you are at".
'I blacked out before I could find out, but I guess I got lucky haha'.
'May I know your name, by the way?'
"Yunosuke Sakata." He stretched out his hand.
'Nice to meet you, Yunosuke, what's your element?'
"Ah, I'm a water manacian."
'Hoh, I assume you just can't be bothered with the rankings then, water manacians are highly sought after no?'
"Uh… Thanks for the compliment but I'm just weak haha...Anyway, we should go, I'll show you where the class is."
'Ah alright, lead the way, my friend'
. . .
And…the class is a disaster. I mean, I wasn't expecting some god-tier classroom, you know? Just something with working equipment. My table is practically falling apart, the chairs are all lopsided, and there's no air conditioning... On top of that, the classroom is dusty and rugged.
"Yup, better ranking, better facilities."
'Haiz... you don't seem like the kind who cares about rankings. Why are you here then, in this school?' I said, pulling out my pencil case and dragging my table beside Yunosuke's to share his textbook, as I would only get mine after school today—I forgot to collect them yesterday.
"Haha... People from such a prestigious school will definitely get a job. I need the income, haha," Yunosuke chuckled in response.
'I see,' I said, but I didn't press further. I bet it's a familial situation that he wouldn't feel too comfortable if I delved deeper.
"Alright, my name is Dr. Note… I'll be teaching you guys…"
'It seems the teachers here are of lower quality too, huh?' I muttered as I sank lower into the chair.
"Haha, you get used to this trash treatment…"
"But the only way to get better stuff is through a duel, right?"
"Yeah…"
'So, do I have to ask a teacher to arrange the duel?'
"Yeah… Don't tell me you're actually going to…"
'Maybe…' I don't have a choice now…I guess I should try to go as far as I can.
. . .
The moment I reached home, I sank to the ground once more. I grabbed my old notebook and flipped it open. Back in the day, I used to jot down notes about what I could do with my fire manipulation all the time. It was just lying around on the floor—I guess I forgot to keep it. I dusted off the cover of the book, revealing my name written in my shitty handwriting.
It was filled with scribbles from my younger self—desperate to be stronger. Back then, I couldn't really say it was an ambition…It was just cool to be strong. Disparate symbols and randomly scattered words. 'Higher temperature… more energy…' Ha, really part of a primary science class… Well… It isn't wrong. End of the day, the purpose of fire is to…is to melt things… Wait a second… then what temperature is my flame?
I produced a small flame at my fingertip and brought it near my face. 'Okay, understandable it IS hot…but…'
I tried to pour more mana into the flame, but it only got bigger. Quickly, I absorbed the mana back to reduce the size of the flame. That could've been bad.
'… but mana is supposed to fuel the flame… what else can I do…' I extinguished the flame completely and started over. This was the first time in years I struggled to wield fire as I intended.
'How about…' I concentrated, compressing the flame into a dense, spherical form. 'Then I inject mana…' I poured mana into it again while maintaining the compression, but nothing changed.
'Damn it, the mana I injected only fueled the compression. I need to infuse it without allowing the flame to expand or compress,' And that proved more challenging than expected.
I glanced at the clock. It was already half past midnight. Sweat droplets formed on my forehead as I ignited the flame on my palm once more.
'Why can't I keep its shape in place?' I muttered. 'Placing a mana wall should make it burn within the shape of the wall, but even then, it just keeps growing. Is it... wait!'
I immediately absorbed the surrounding mana. 'Yes! The cloud of mana I habitually spread around me was supplying the flame with enough energy to grow. But if I could just inject the mana directly into the flame while maintaining its shape…'
I steadied my breath, focused, and tried again.
The flame, while seemingly unchanged, became steadier and more focused. At its base, a slight blue tint peeked through the red flames. I continued injecting mana, and the blue slowly spread, overtaking the red. The heat intensified, forcing me to pull my hand away from my face.
'Of course! Blue flames are higher in temperature! It's like the science of a Bunsen burner! The more mana or oxygen you supply, the steadier the flames!' I continued injecting mana at a slow, steady rate. The once red and orange flames turned fully blue.
'Hah! I did it!' I screamed. Then I realized how incredibly hot it was; my face was getting goosebumps from the intensity. I clenched my fist, but the flame didn't shrink.
'Uh-oh.' I must get rid of the flame first. I started absorbing the mana back, but the more I absorbed, the more it persisted.
'What in the world…' The fire remained steady, but the color slowly faded after 30 seconds of mana absorption.
'Phew… this is hard... but I like it. Finally, some progress. HAHA!'
The thrill of discovery surged through me, but exhaustion was catching up fast. My hands were trembling, my vision blurred, and my legs felt weak. I could barely keep my eyes open.
I lost my strength and collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. The room spun around me. As I lay there, too weak to move, I broke out into a little smirk.
(The Uon Estate, Xerathian Desert)
"Look, it's my fault. I didn't expect his intelligence or his aptitude in mana to be this high."
"Kyousuke, we told you years ago to stop listening to that man. Can you still not move on from Gai?"
"I… Sorry. But for this mistake I made, I hope you can help me."
"That's what family is for. When is the extermination mission?"
"In three days, west of the desert. Incredibly near to the city."
"Then we better get ready."
"Help me bring the rest up to speed afterward, Yousuke."
"Got it."
###
Manacians have a set mana pool from birth. This mana pool is influenced by genetics as well as the attributes of the mana itself.
Earth manacians and Water manacians tend to have larger mana pools due to the amount of energy needed to manipulate mass. Air manacians tend to have slightly smaller pools, followed by Fire manacians.
However, genetics play a larger role in the size of one's mana pool, leading to unfair advantages. Air manacians, especially those with large mana pools, tend to thrive in industry as it greatly improves their versatility.