Chapter 1: Welcome to Arcadia Academy (Please Don't Explode Anything)

BOOM!

A crater the size of a swimming pool now decorated the courtyard of Arcadia Academy.

Students screamed. Alarms blared. A flaming chunk of statue rolled past a group of first-years.

And at the center of it all stood a single boy, hands in his pockets, chewing a rice cracker.

“...Oops,” Kaizen Valtor muttered, blinking lazily. “Didn’t know the statue was real gold.”

“You incinerated the Headmaster’s Monument! On your first day!!” screeched a girl in full armor, her sword half-drawn.

Kaizen turned to face her. “You mean that ugly rock with the angry face? Yeah. It was in the way.”

“I-It was a hundred-year-old relic!”

“Then they should’ve moved it.”

The armored girl nearly fainted. “What kind of monster are you?!”

Before Kaizen could answer, a pair of students ran up to the scene. One wore goggles and carried three different magical gadgets; the other clutched a giant textbook and looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Ara, Ara!” said the goggled boy, grinning. “You must be the special transfer student.”

Kaizen squinted. “...Who are you?”

“Name’s Zeke Blitz! Tech magic specialist, first-year genius, and now your unofficial fanboy. That spell you cast? Chef’s kiss. It rewrote the courtyard’s gravity field for a whole ten seconds!”

The sleepy girl groaned. “It also destabilized five magical wards, vaporized the rose garden, and summoned a fire elemental by accident.”

Kaizen shrugged. “Still got it.”

The armored girl stomped forward. “Enough! I’m Commander Lys Ardent, Head of the Disciplinary Committee. You’re Kaizen Valtor, right?”

“Technically.”

“You’re late. Unregistered. And you destroyed school property before orientation.”

Kaizen raised a finger. “Counterpoint—I also created a very memorable entrance.”

Lys pointed her sword at him.

“Detention. One month. No food privileges.”

Kaizen’s eyes widened. “Okay, now you’ve gone too far.”

From a distance, a voice echoed across the ruins of the courtyard. “Will the new student Kaizen Valtor please report to the Headmaster’s office immediately?”

Zeke whistled. “Oooh, big boss wants to see you already. You’re so toast.”

Kaizen sighed, brushing off ash from his sleeve.

“Fine. But if I get expelled, I’m taking this statue’s ugly cousin with me.”

As he strolled off, the fire elemental behind him gave a polite wave before vanishing into smoke.