The hidden classroom behind the moving wall was far larger than it had looked from outside.
Rows of polished desks stretched across the shining white floor, each lined with soft blue light. Screens were built into the walls, showing hero rankings, city maps, weather alerts, and emergency reports from around Thornevale. Thin silver panels floated near the ceiling, casting a calm artificial glow across the room.
To most of the students, it felt like stepping into the future.
To Tatsuga, it was just another room.
Still carrying his school bag over one shoulder, he walked beside Nanami and sat near the middle row. Soukaga immediately claimed a seat in the front, leaning back with his arms crossed like he already belonged there.
The professor stood at the front of the room in a blue suit and black glasses. He held a digital tablet in one hand and adjusted his frames before speaking.
"Alright, young people. Let's make this quick."
His voice silenced the room instantly.
"Anyone here without mana, leave immediately and wait outside."
The room froze.
Then chairs began scraping across the floor.
Some students stood with embarrassed faces. Others looked angry. One young man cursed under his breath as he walked out. A girl bit her lip to stop herself from crying.
Tatsuga counted quietly.
Thirty-three.
Then twenty-eight.
Then twenty-three remained.
The professor glanced at his tablet.
"Good."
The door sealed shut behind the mana-less group.
What's the point of even being a hero with no mana? Just pathetic, Soukaga thought.
Outside the classroom, the students without mana stood in a silver hallway lined with glass windows overlooking the capital city of Thornevale below. Traffic moved through glowing roads, rails floated between towers, and crowds packed the streets far beneath them.
They looked lost.
Then heavy footsteps approached.
A rough-looking man with messy hair, combat pants, black boots, and a cigarette in his mouth walked toward them with both hands in his pockets.
He looked nothing like a teacher.
He stopped and laughed.
"So you're all the unlucky bunch?"
Several frowned immediately.
"Who are you?" one boy asked sharply.
The man removed the cigarette.
"Your trainer. Name's Gilbert."
They stared.
"What?"
"You heard me."
He looked over the group carefully.
"Just because you don't have mana doesn't mean you're useless. Some heroes use weapons. Some use technology. Some become physical monsters."
A few faces brightened.
"Hey, look at Power Girl. She's the only manaless hero who's an S-Rank, and she's a physical beast. So my job is simple: make you physically strong," Mr. Gilbert said.
Then Gilbert grinned.
"Now start running."
Their hope died instantly.
Back inside the classroom, the professor set the tablet down.
"Okay. There were fifty-six people in this room. Now only twenty-three remain."
He turned toward them.
"You twenty-three may become the next generation of heroes."
His eyes sharpened.
"But only if you prove it."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Soukaga sat upright.
"To become a hero, mana is essential," the professor continued. "Mana is the energy inside the body that allows magic to manifest."
A screen behind him lit up with images.
Heroes battling monsters.
Teleporters evacuating civilians.
Healers restoring the wounded.
"Hero work is not only combat."
He raised a finger.
"Fighters handle threats directly."
Second finger.
"The Pick-Up Squad teleports civilians and injured heroes out of danger."
Third finger.
"Healers preserve lives after battle."
Nanami's eyes brightened.
The professor continued.
"Healers are the rarest branch in the world."
Another screen appeared.
Estimated Active Heroes Worldwide: 500,000
Registered Healers: 60,000
A murmur spread across the room.
Only sixty thousand?
Nanami sat straighter.
Tatsuga glanced sideways.
Looks like she picked the rare path.
"There are nine known magic types," the professor said.
Fire. Water. Lightning. Stone. Air. Teleportation. Healing. Light. Darkness.
"Some rare people are born with more than one affinity."
Tatsuga looked away.
Rare, huh?
"You already know the ranks."
Letters appeared in giant font.
E. D. C. B. A. S. SS.
"Ranks are based on power, control, versatility, mastery, and combat value."
He pointed toward the highest letters.
"SS-Rank heroes are global assets."
The room became still again.
Soukaga smiled.
That's where I belong.
Tatsuga yawned.
Too much attention.
The professor stepped aside.
Three men entered through a side door.
The first wore a gray suit and smiled casually.
The second wore white gloves and carried himself like a doctor.
The third wore the same outfit as Mr. Gilbert.
Many students recognized him instantly.
Branch sorting begins now," the professor said.
"I'm Mr. Kong, captain of the Pick-Up Squad. Teleporters, come with me."
Five students rose nervously.
"Mr. Zachworthy. Healers, with me."
Nanami stood immediately.
She looked at Tatsuga.
"Wish me luck."
"Try not to kill the fake patients," Tatsuga said.
She laughed.
"Try not to fail."
Two students joined her.
"Fighters, move. I'm Zamora."
Everyone got up and walked toward Mr. Zamora.
"Alright, so five people for teleportation, three for healers, and fifteen fighters. Documented," the professor said, typing on his tablet.
"Alright, Mr. Kong, you're up," Zamora said.
"Yep, we're ready," Mr. Zachworthy replied.
Mr. Kong clapped his hands once.
"Everyone try to get close together."
The three groups cautiously gathered in clusters.
Nanami stood with the healer group, glancing at Tatsuga.
Soukaga stood confidently with the fighters.
Tatsuga adjusted his bag strap.
"Now be ready," Mr. Kong said.
He grinned.
"Teleportation Magic: Zap!"
Golden magic circles burst beneath each group, spinning rapidly with glowing symbols racing around their feet.
Nanami's eyes widened.
So cool…
Tatsuga looked down calmly.
Interesting.
Then—
Flash.
The world disappeared.
The healer group reappeared inside a bright medical chamber filled with rows of white beds. Thin glass dividers glowed blue between them. Floating screens above each bed displayed heart rates, mana levels, and injury diagnostics. The entire chamber hummed softly like a living machine.
The Pick-Up Squad appeared in a massive outdoor training zone scattered with rescue dummies, collapsed barriers, and fake rubble.
The fighters—
appeared in the sky.
Hundreds of feet above the capital city of Thornevale.
Wind exploded against their faces.
Buildings looked tiny below them. Roads twisted through the city like ribbons. Traffic lights blinked far beneath their feet.
For one second, everyone floated in stunned silence.
Then gravity took them.
"IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE," Zamora roared beside them, floating effortlessly.
"USE YOUR MAGIC!"
They dropped.
"AHHHHH!"
Several students screamed instantly.
Tatsuga calmly held his school bag over one shoulder.
This is dramatic, he thought.
As they fell down Zamora couldn't help but notice that Tatsuga was just calm.
He's awfully calm, Zamora thought staring at him.
As they got closer to the ground, many people started using moves.
Soukaga laughed wildly.
"Wind Magic: Tornado!"
A spinning cyclone wrapped around him, slowing his fall and lifting nearby students with him.
He landed perfectly.
Others crashed roughly.
Some rolled across the grass.
Some hit hard.
One student threw up.
Tatsuga touched down lightly as if stepping off a stair.
Zamora noticed immediately.
Interesting.
The students regrouped angrily.
"We almost died!" one older student shouted.
Soukaga stepped forward.
"Then die," he said casually.
The man froze.
"What did you say?"
Orange mana leaked from Soukaga's body like flames.
"I said if that was enough to kill you, quit."
The older student hesitated.
Sweat formed on his forehead.
Zamora stepped between them.
"Enough."
The pressure vanished.
"Line up."
They obeyed quickly.
"Now release your mana. I need to know your level."
One by one, power erupted.
Blue waves. Green spirals. Brown tremors. Yellow sparks. Orange fire.
Soukaga's aura blazed strongest.
Zamora nodded.
Then he reached Tatsuga.
A deep violet glow emerged silently from Tatsuga's body.
No roar. No heat. No sound.
Dark cosmic shadows moved beneath the purple light like a night sky folding inward. Tiny star-like specks shimmered within it.
The air became heavier.
Several students stepped back instinctively.
Soukaga's smile vanished.
What is that?
Zamora stared.
This doesn't feel human.
Tatsuga immediately lowered it.
Too much attention.
The aura vanished.
Soukaga instantly flared brighter.
Orange flames burst upward.
Zamora's eyes shifted to him.
"Excellent," Zamora said.
Soukaga grinned proudly.
Tatsuga exhaled.
Saved by ego.
Across another sector inside the hospital-like room, Nanami stood in front of a training dummy with a broken arm.
Mr. Zachworthy raised a remote.
"Healing is the hardest magic to use."
He clicked it.
Cuts, burns, bruises, and fractures suddenly appeared across the dummies.
Several trainees gasped.
"Because healing requires precision," he said. "Too little power does nothing. Too much power causes damage."
Nanami swallowed nervously.
Then placed her hands over the broken arm.
Soft green light formed.
Warm.
Steady.
The fracture slowly sealed.
Mr. Zachworthy's eyes widened slightly.
Natural talent.
Nanami focused harder.
If someone is hurt…
I'll save them.
Across another training sector, the five students who chose teleportation stood in a vast open field surrounded by steel walls and broken rescue vehicles. Training dummies were scattered everywhere—some buried beneath fake rubble, others hanging from damaged platforms high in the air.
Mr. Kong stood with his hands behind his back, smiling casually.
"Welcome to the Pick-Up Squad."
The students looked around nervously.
One young man raised his hand.
"Sir… are we supposed to fight monsters too?"
Mr. Kong laughed.
"If we're doing our jobs right, we don't fight anything."
They blinked.
He pointed toward the towering skyline of the capital city of Thornevale in the distance.
"When buildings collapse, civilians panic, fires spread, villains rampage, and fighters get overwhelmed…"
He vanished.
Then instantly reappeared standing behind them.
"That's when we move."
Several jumped in shock.
"No branch saves more lives per minute than us," he said proudly.
The students straightened.
"Teleportation is the second hardest magic to control behind healing," Mr. Kong continued.
"Distance. Accuracy. Timing. Carry weight. Group transport."
He pointed toward the field.
"You see those dummies?"
Some were over a hundred yards away.
"Teleport to the farthest one you can reach."
The five students gathered themselves.
Mana gathered beneath their feet.
Then—
Flash.
All five disappeared.
They reappeared across the field at different distances.
One reached halfway.
Another overshot and fell into dirt.
One appeared beside a broken vehicle.
And one young man appeared beside the farthest dummy at the very end of the field.
Mr. Kong's smile widened.
He vanished.
Then appeared directly in front of the young man.
"First try?" he said.
The student calmly folded his arms.
"Kurogane Fuyuki."
Mr. Kong laughed.
"Yeah… you're definitely mine."
The others stared in disbelief.
A prodigy.
Mr. Kong turned back to the group.
"Good. Again."
The field lit up with teleportation flashes.
Outside the Central Hero Association, the sun was already high over Thornevale.
The streets nearby were alive with motion—hover cars drifting through air lanes, delivery drones cutting between buildings, and massive mana-powered billboards flashing hero rankings in real time.
Below all of it, on a wide concrete training strip, stood the group of students who had been rejected for mana.
They were breathing heavily.
Not from teleportation.
From running.
A loud voice echoed across the training zone.
"KEEP MOVING!"
Mr. Gilbert appeared beside them in a blur, then reappeared ahead of them instantly, arms crossed and completely unfazed.
"You want to become heroes, right?"
No one answered immediately.
Their legs were shaking.
Their clothes were soaked in sweat.
One student finally spoke.
"We don't even have mana…"
Gilbert looked at him like he was stupid.
"So what?"
Silence.
He pointed toward the skyline of the capital city in the distance.
"You think villains care whether you have mana or not when they're crushing civilians under buildings?"
The group stayed quiet.
Gilbert turned and started walking.
"Mana is just one path. Not the only one."
They didn't say anything; they just kept running.
To Be Continued
A/N: I'll be posting two chapters for release day, then switching to one chapter daily. If you enjoy the story, support it with power stones and collections—if the support is strong enough, I'll increase uploads to two chapters a day.