Rain slammed against the iron gates of Valeforge Academy like the world itself was trying to keep someone out—or maybe trap them in.

Kael Draven stood before the towering gates, soaked to the bone, his duffel bag slung over one shoulder. The academy loomed in the storm like a black citadel, jagged towers piercing the sky, windows glowing faint gold like distant eyes.

He took a breath. The air tasted like metal and electricity.
It’s just a school, he told himself.
But he knew it wasn’t.

A voice buzzed in his ear, mechanical and cold.

“Transfer ID: Kael Draven. Designated class: Zero.”

A rusty clang echoed as the gates shuddered open.

Inside Valeforge

Valeforge Academy wasn’t your average school. Built on the ruins of an ancient battlefield, it was where the world’s most promising young fighters trained to battle the Vokari—monsters born from fear, madness, and something far older. Every student here wielded power: elemental arts, bloodline abilities, sacred tech, or worse.

Kael had none of it. Not that he knew of.

Welcome to the Pit

Two guards escorted him through the maze-like campus, ignoring the stares from upperclassmen in crimson blazers and glowing emblems.

They finally stopped at a large metal hatch in the ground.
A single word was engraved in red paint:

CLASS ZERO

The taller guard sneered. “You sure this one isn’t a mistake?”
“Command says he’s ‘Omega-tier unstable.’ Perfect fit.”
They opened the hatch. Heat and steam hissed out like breath from a beast’s mouth.

Kael climbed down.

Below the Academy

The elevator creaked to a stop below ground level. Class Zero’s domain wasn’t like the rest of Valeforge. There were no clean halls or polished training rooms. Just rusted pipes, cracked concrete, and flickering lights.

He stepped into a narrow corridor just as a chair flew across the hallway and shattered into the wall beside him.

“Try that again, Volt! I’ll make your teeth glow!”

A girl stormed out of the room ahead, fists crackling with static. She wore a ripped Valeforge jacket and combat boots held together by tape and pure rage.

She looked Kael up and down.
“You the new trash delivery?”

Kael blinked. “Uh… yeah. I guess I’m the trash.”

She smirked. “At least you’re self-aware. I’m Reya. Lightning freak. Welcome to the pit.”

Before he could respond, another figure stepped from the shadows—tall, silent, draped in black with pale eyes that didn’t blink.

“That’s Silas,” Reya added, “He doesn’t talk. He raises the dead instead.”

Silas simply nodded, then vanished down the hall like a ghost.

Kael’s head spun.
What kind of place is this?

The Instructor Appears

A sudden clang echoed through the pit. The metal doors slammed shut and a pair of boots clicked down the corridor.

A woman approached, black coat dragging like a cape, scars webbed across her face. Her presence was heavy—like gravity bent around her.

“Name’s Vera Kaine,” she said, voice like gravel. “Instructor of Class Zero. You’ve all been thrown away. Unstable. Unwanted. Dangerous. Good.”

She tossed a card at Kael. It hit his chest with a faint glow.
“Tomorrow, we start combat evaluations. Survive, or don’t. No one up top cares.”

She turned and walked off.

Kael looked at the others, who just shrugged and went back to what they were doing—lifting weights, fighting, meditating under leaking pipes.

No warm welcomes. No tour. No hope.

And yet…

As he stepped into the cracked barracks and dropped his bag onto a dust-covered cot, Kael felt something inside him pulse—hot, like a heartbeat made of fire.

Something that hadn’t stirred in years.

This wasn’t just a new school.

This was a battlefield. And something was waiting for him at the center of it.