Inside the principal's room of Central Magic Academy.
A tense atmosphere filled the space.
The principal, Guren Levington, a seasoned officer who had once served with distinction in the
Magic Special Force (MSF), stood at the head of the table.
He was a man in his 50s, with the aura of a battle-hardened veteran, yet his sharp eyes betrayed the weight of the responsibility he now carried.
Seated around the large table were all the teachers of CMA, members of the management, and various key staff members.
The meeting was held just after the entrance ceremony for the new batch of first-year high schoolers, and it wasn't a normal meeting.
This year marked the beginning of something unprecedented.
The monarch of Mars, in collaboration with the elven chief, had introduced a new skill system, one that linked directly to the future trials humanity was bound to face.
Teleportation portals had been bringing unknown enemies to their doorsteps, and combat was no longer a specialized field—it was becoming a necessity.
The system was implemented at CMA as an experimental trial to gauge its effects on students.
If successful, it could revolutionize how magic was taught across the solar system.
Other academies would soon be forced to adopt similar measures, as humanity braced for larger-scale attacks.
But for now, the eyes of the system were on the results of CMA's experiment.
Principal Guren addressed all the staff present with a deep voice.
"So? What are your thoughts after the inspection of students?"
Doctor Alpha Berlint, the in-charge of all the first year high school students stated his opinion.
"Mr. Guren, I think the result is better than we had expected. Of course, it might be due to the presence of the heirs of the main noble families in first year, like from the House Aurelius, Selena Aurelius is the top student of the year and received a high rank skill as well. Moreover, from the House Valenheart, we have Arlan Valenheart, who also displayed remarkable aptitude. As a result, she also got a very high ranking combat skill right off the bat."
"Hm. What do you think Alice?", Guren asked to the newly appointed teacher, who also has served in the MSF.
"This is just as Dr. Berlint said. Well, that's to be expected, because of the inheritance of powerful mana capabilities by the noble heirs. Most of the students already have gotten one or two combat skills. And, it's not just the noble children, the commoners, albeit a few, also showed remarkable stats and skills. Moreover, the elves are on a whole another level. I knew that their mana affinities are high, but not to this extent. Each of them, has similar stats with Selena Aurelius."
Guren crossed his hands, deeply thinking about something, then resumed his posture.
"Well, if this is already a success, I am sure the higher ups would be satisfied. Then, we can proceed with the appliance of this system with other grades and university students as well. Alice, send the report to the higher ups today itself. And Berlint, you proceed with the next stage of the curriculum. We would hold another meeting after that stage is over. Now then...."
As Guren was going to wrap up the meeting, Alice stopped him. The other teachers also wanted to talk about this matter.
"Ah, Mr. Guren. About the report, there is a slight problem."
"What problem?", Guren asked with an imposing voice.
"Actually, a student named Kai Rayleigh managed to get an undefined class.", said Alice, slightly posed by the predicament.
"Tell me more about that.", the principal said leaning forward.
"His mana level is too low to get even a skill. And because he doesn't have a skill, no class could be assigned to him.", Alice showed her tablet with Kai's stats on it.
"It's quite troublesome." Guren remarked after checking his status window.
Because, all of the data of students were to be sent to the higher ups, they just couldn't say that one of the students studying in the prestigious Central Magic Academy, couldn't manage to get a skill.
As everyone seemed to be in deep thought, a hand rose among the teaching staff.
"Yes, Mr. Ronald.", Guren addressed another first year teacher, as he was raising his hand.
"Mr. Guren, this might be a bit outrageous, but in my opinion, we should remove this student from the course."
***
The no-skill brat.
That has become my nick name here.
Students and teachers alike, don't even to bother to whisper among themselves.
They just blatantly mock me on my face, maybe due to their status of nobility.
I don't really mind it that much, as such things have been the same from the start.
Moreover, there is a friend with me who also ignores such remarks.
"Hey Kai! What's the meaning of this!?"
Wilhelm came running to me, and showed me his phone.
"What do you mean?" I asked feigning ignorance.
"Don't give me that crap! Why is Lilia so mad first thing in the morning!? You must have said her something again!"
"Oh... I just sent a pic of you sneering at those hot elven chicks to her. Quite the brocon sister you have, Wilhelm."
Well keeping this usual matter aside, the classes has not started yet.
And I am still contemplating over, how the fuck is my mana so low.
Is it because I am a commoner?
But, Wilhelm is also a commoner, and all of his stats were in the early twenties, which is quite impressive.
Not only Wilhelm, but rest of the commoner students also got more than average stats.
Is it because I am the only one here from the slums, and am on a scholarship program?
Mana is usually genetically inherited, and the noble families have a huge amount of mana pool due to their genetic features.
There was a board inside that inspection cabin entailing that 15 is the average stat for any attribute.
That means except my intelligence, every other stat is even below average.
Moreover, why the fuck was my class and the skill I got, announced in front of everyone?
Well, looking at the smirking face of Selena just after I got out of that cabin, I could guess who was behind this.
But, I don't really have the luxury to think about that.
My mana level is too low that I couldn't even get a skill or a class.
Now what would happen to me?
As I was thinking about that, the in-charge of first year students, Dr. Berlint, got inside the classroom.
Dividing classes into sections was only done until middle school, so all the 110 students of first year were shoved into a single large classroom.
"Good morning class. I am pleased to announce that you students have exceeded our expectation through the introduction of the skill system."
It seemed like they were satisfied with the results.
"I am pretty sure that you are aching to know and apply the skills that you have got. But, as this is a new curriculum, things haven't been finalized yet. However, schedule for this week itself has been decided."
Then, he went towards the large holographic board in front of the class, and wrote something.
"Skill-wise ranking and group formation."
"On your status window, you can check your rank in this class. This ranking was decided on the basis of your skills and all the stats. Please check it right away."
I opened my status window by clicking on the wrist watch provided by the academy, accordingl.
{
Name : Kai Rayleigh
Age : 16
Race : Human
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength : 7
Agility : 8 (Penalty in effect)
Endurance : 8 (Penalty in effect)
Intelligence : 30
Mana : 5
Luck : 4
[EQUIPMENTS]
Central Magic Academy Uniform : Basic protection, no special attributes.
Old Wristwatch : A relic with a hidden compartment.
[STATUS EFFECTS]
Tired : Slight reduction in endurance and agility.
????? : ?????????????
[SKILLS]
Active : No skill assigned due to very low mana.
Passive : ????
Class : No class assigned (Skills' slot is empty)
Rank : 110
}
Welp. No surprises there.
I am the last ranked student.
Actually, the skills that we were given did exist even before the introduction of this skill system, which was only available to the university students who chose the path of MSF.
That's why there already exist an order in which the skills are placed from top to bottom according to their usefulness and adaptivity.
Berlint opened the rank list too, on the holographic board.
"Now that you all have checked your rank, I am going to explain the group formation rules."
I fucking knew it.
Because it was gonna be a combat course, we have to perform in groups.
If we had to act individually, then I would have managed somehow.
But, in a group, I can't even imagine what I would do.
"You will form 22 groups of 5 students each. The rule is quite simple. To achieve fairness, we have decided to group three students from top and two students from bottom. For instance, the first group would compose of rank 1, 2, 3, 109 and 110. Then, second group would be composed of rank 4, 5, 6, 107, 108. And so on."
And this is the fucking worst.
"Hence the first group would be formed by Selena Aurelius, Aria Leafsong, Arlan Valenheart, Elric Thornhill and..."
Dr. Berlint paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as they scanned the class.
"And Kai Rayleigh."
Now I am grouped with that Selena piece of a shit.
This is truly hell.