Ralt sat motionless for a long moment, his thoughts a tangled mess as he stared at the darkened screen of the phone.
The words from the news article still lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.
A new generation of heroes.
A fresh start for those who had awakened their abilities.
His fingers twitched slightly before he reached for the device again.
This time, there was intent behind his actions.
He wasn't just mindlessly scrolling, he was searching.
His fingers glided across the screen as he typed into the search bar.
[Hero Academy]
The results flooded in instantly.
["The Prestigious Hero Academy: Shaping the Future of Protectors!"]
["How the Academy Transforms Gifted Teens into Certified Heroes."]
["The Gateway to Greatness: What It Takes to Join Hero Academy."]
He clicked on the first link, his expression unreadable as he absorbed the information.
The Hero Academy wasn't just some glorified school, it was a sanctuary.
A place where teenagers who had awakened their abilities were brought in, trained, and taught to control their powers.
Instead of being feared or shunned, they were molded into superheros, protectors of the world.
It wasn't just about strength.
The academy taught strategy, teamwork, discipline, and ethics.
Students were given access to elite instructors, advanced technology, and real-world battle simulations.
Every graduate walked away with not just the title of 'Hero,' but the recognition and admiration of society.
They were given a future.
A chance.
Ralt's grip on the phone tightened.
He had an ability.
One so strong, so absolute, that even the air around him felt heavy with its presence.
But no one had ever offered him a place in that academy.
No one had ever reached out with promises of guidance or control.
They don't even know he exists...
Locked in a damn room.
Because his ability wasn't something to be nurtured.
It wasn't a gift.
It was a curse.
His chest rose and fell steadily, but beneath that calm exterior, something dark stirred within him.
This world had drawn a clear line.
On one side stood the heroes, the chosen ones, the ones who had been blessed.
And on the other side stood those like him.
The unwanted.
The feared.
The monsters.
The ones who become villains.
He never blamed them, neither did he accept whatever they do to the world.
His fingers hovered over the screen, his mind racing with thoughts he dared not voice.
For the first time in years, he found himself asking a question he had long buried beneath his own indifference.
'What if things were different?'
For the first time in a long while, Ralt felt something unfamiliar bubbling inside him, something light, something dangerously close to hope.
His fingers drummed against the side of the phone as he stared at the glowing screen, rereading the words over and over again.
["The Hero Academy teaches gifted teens to control their abilities."]
'Control.'
That was the word that stuck with him.
'Was it possible?'
'Could they actually teach me to tame the thing that had defined his entire existence?'
'The ability that had stolen from him before he even understood what loss was?'
Ralt had spent years isolated, knowing that everything he touched with his bare hands would wither, rot, and fade into nothing.
It didn't matter if it was living or inanimate, his ability didn't discriminate.
He had tried, on his own, to fight it.
To control it.
Sometimes, he succeeded for mere seconds.
Other times, failure was immediate and absolute.
But the academy...
They specialized in control.
In training people like him.
And if they could help him, if they could teach him how to touch, to hold, to exist without fear, then maybe, just maybe, he could be something more than the monster they all saw him as.
A small grin tugged at the corner of his lips.
It was faint, almost hesitant, as if his body wasn't used to forming such an expression.
But it was there.
For the first time in years, Ralt dared to imagine a future where he wasn't locked in a room, where people didn't tremble in fear at the mere sight of him.
A future where he wasn't a walking disaster, but someone with purpose.
Someone who could be a part of the world.
Maybe, just maybe.
He could be saved.