Power was never something special at Shinjuku Academy.
It was everything that there ever was.
Every discussion held down the hallways always revolved around the same issues. Rankings, output, ego types – the silent rankings which dictated importance and insignificance alike.
And today, the silent rankings had only one name.
Valerius Aurelius.
On all the academy's floating screens, the same recording played over and over again.
A fight inside the Colosseum.
One fighter standing.
One beaten into the ground.
Valerius stood in the middle of the colosseum's floor with ease, his golden ego still glimmering around him like molten sunlight. His opponent lay in unconsciousness several meters away from him.
The fight lasted for forty-two seconds.
A third year student.
Echelon Twelve
The Gilded Prince
Soren clicked his tongue as the video played once more in front of them.
"See that?" he muttered. "He doesn't even use a technique."
Hizume adjusted her glasses while watching the video on her tablet.
"False."
She paused it, and focused on the specific part.
"He activates Sovereign Reinforcement for only 0.8 seconds."
Soren gaped.
"Is that really a technique?"
"It would be, if you have such a high Conceptual Density."
She rewound the video.
Valerius moved forward.
Just one hit of his palm.
The enemy's Durability Shield immediately crumbled.
"His Ego absorbs any attack and turns it into heat," Hizume said calmly. "With each hit, he gains power."
Soren sighed.
"So basically… it means suicide to punch him?"
"Yes."
Soren then asked the quiet kid next to him.
"What about you, Kai? Scared of such monsters?"
Kai Izumo's eyes did not move away from the screen.
His gaze remained fixed on his hands.
Deep inside him, a force was always pushing up against the boundary of his self-control.
An insistent force.
Dense.
Patient.
A power that is supposed to be foreign to a human being.
Do not speak.
Do not show yourself.
Do not let go.
Valerius Aurelius lived in a totally alien realm.
Not that Kai would dare enter it.
"Then perhaps," Kai said quietly, "Tenebris will just have to kill us if we are late."
Soren stopped dead.
"…Understood."
The three of them took their leave instantly.
For the training room.
The door slid open with a hydraulic hum.
Tenebris Kael stood waiting, ready to receive them.
Towering.
Scarred.
Crossed arms behind him like an executioner poised to deliver his judgment.
Tenebris made no gesture or utterance to greet them.
No, instead he merely shifted his eyes beyond them.
Right at the second-year group that had already congregated inside the arena.
These teenagers felt right at home.
Smiling.
Cracking necks.
"First-years."
Tenebris' voice echoed off the walls of the arena.
"You were chosen for Shinjuku Academy because they believe you have potential."
He gestured at the second-years.
"No, what I am about to show you is just how little this mindset means."
"This is no practice battle," he explained.
"It is a trial of survival."
The freshmen were uneasy.
The teacher made no expressions.
"Unless you can fight against people one year older than you…"
He shrugged.
"…then chances are you will not live to leave this academy."
The second-years moved forward.
And the battle started.
Chaos.
It was the second-years who moved first.
Egos collided.
Electric arcs.
Shockwaves.
Bursts of compressed air.
The disparity between their experience levels was enormous.
Class 1-B disintegrated quickly.
All but one person.
Soren.
His Ego flared up as though around him was a live fire.
EGO: SCORCHED HORIZON
A heat haze swirled around his figure.
The Ignition Point triggered.
And when the first strike landed on him…
The attacker yelled in pain.
Their blow bounced off with severe burns.
Soren smiled.
"Ignorant."
And he stepped forward.
His punch collided with a second-year's chest.
BLAST-BACK STRIKE
Delayed thermal detonation erupted in the opponent's torso.
The student recoiled.
However, the second-years were quick to adapt.
Three of them moved in unison.
Lightning lashes entangled Soren's arms.
Another lash struck at his side.
Forced to drop to one knee.
The lead second-year kept an eye on the situation.
His Ego flashed in sparks between his fingertips.
"Enough!"
He turned his gaze.
Over Soren.
To the quiet student in the back.
"The silent one."
Kai froze.
Until now, his existence was practically non-existent.
"Get rid of him."
Fives strikes came at once.
Kai could not move.
The memories surfaced.
Alleyway.
Steel gleaming under the moon.
Brother placing himself between him and the danger.
And that power unleashed by it.
Power residing within him.
Remain in control.
His body would not obey.
The strikes kept coming.
Someone stepped before him.
Soren.
Lashing lightning lashes beat his back.
The scent of burning fabric lingered in the arena.
Despite everything, he remained on his feet.
"I got this." Soren grumbled.
Bleeding from his mouth.
"I got your back."
Somewhere deep in Kai's heart, something shattered.
Silence surrounded him.
There was no sound.
No movement.
Just pressure.
Kai raised a hand.
"Stop."
His Ego awakened.
EGO: SOVEREIGN WILL
Silver micro-layer enveloping his body.
THE SILVER SINGULARITY
0.01 millimeters above his skin.
Infinity density.
Self-contained circulation.
All fragments of Ego instantly recycled.
Space around him warped.
Kai's fingers aligned.
Two fingers.
CONCEPTUAL VOID-RIFT
The blow was invisible.
It was a correction.
Reality itself could not tolerate their methods.
Their defenses failed instantly.
Kai raised his arm once more.
Flat palm.
ENGINE BURST: CLEAVE
An immense wave of silver Ego materialized.
It did not explode.
It sliced.
All second-years were propelled against the rear wall simultaneously.
The floor below Kai buckled and folded in on itself.
A large crater opened up around him.
Silence.
And then…
Alarms.
They rang throughout the academy.
An Ego output overload was detected.
Kai knelt down.
Gasping.
He examined the destruction caused.
He had lost control again.
But the alarms abruptly ceased.
Kael Tenebris descended into the crater.
His boots clattered over the mangled metal.
He studied the unconscious second-years.
He studied the damaged arena floor.
Finally, he met Kai's gaze.
"I have witnessed fire manipulation before."
He lowered himself to Kai's level.
"I have observed the use of gravity."
His eyes narrowed.
"However, this…"
He pointed to the shattered steel next to them.
"It is something different."
Tenebris seized Kai by the shoulder.
His grip was vice-like.
"You are not an ordinary Ego user."
Kai met his gaze slowly.
Fear lingering in his eyes.
Tenebris rose to his feet.
"You are an anomaly."
He spoke those words with great weight.
"And from today onwards…"
His expression darkened.
"You are my concern."