He lay on the grass, head on her lap, staring at the clear blue sky above, the scent of nature reaching his nostrils.
“Did I… lie… to myself…, Mother?”

“Hmm? Why is that?” she asked, gently stroking his hair.

“…Because I feel like burning the world down.”

She slipped the palm of her right hand onto his heart, locking it away.
“You’re not wrong to feel that way. But—”
She whispered,
“—don’t let it consume you.”

Zen stared out the window, chin in hand.
“Why am I here while others are suffering on the front lines?”

“Because you’ll kill yourself if you keep fighting, dumbass!” His conscience replied.

He didn’t try to argue with himself. Not when his conscience was right.

Four days since he transferred to the academy—and he was already bored with the routine.

The instructor continued his lecture on humanity’s technological advancements, pacing back and forth at the front of the class.

“…and after years of research, we were finally able to start mass-producing nanoparticles.”
“Since nanotechnology is so powerful, it’s still under strict military use.”
“Because of the latest second-gen nanotech, your military-grade combat gear can deploy in mere seconds, from just a small accessory, like a wristwatch.”

He tapped his knuckles against the desk to regain their attention.
“Back in my day, we had to put our combat suits on the old-fashioned way—manually. You, kids, have it way easier now.”

Zen couldn’t help but smirk a little at the instructor’s words.

His eyes snapped from one student to another in a routine sequence, noting their appearance, micro movements, and body language for the tenth time.

They looked so… peaceful, relaxed, and… typical. He almost envied them.

But also pitied them for what the future held.

They hadn’t seen cities burn. They hadn’t seen thousands die. They hadn’t witnessed the death of their comrades in battle. They didn’t even know what a Null in action truly looked like.

Maybe the last part was for their own good.

Zen’s gaze shifted to the black, fingerless glove on his left hand.
“It didn’t take long for humans to go from cellphones to full exosuits stored in a wristband,” he thought, staring at it.

A strong breeze came through the window, but it didn't startle him. The pages of the book on his desk flipped rapidly and landed on a chapter completely unrelated to the ongoing class. The picture on the page caught his attention.

Two figures, their body made of what looked like space filled with distant stars, locked in a catastrophic battle, the city around them in debris.

His eyes narrowed, hard to tell whether with recognition or hatred.
“Null…”

One rogue Null was all it took to level multiple major cities. And there were nearly two hundred of them out there.

One third of the mainland was already gone. And what remained wouldn’t survive if only twenty went rogue simultaneously.

Zen looked out the window, eyes locking onto the massive ocean outside as far as the eye could go.

Humanity had already pivoted to its only option.

Create massive islands over shallow seawaters to relocate while they rebuild the destroyed mainland. Each one the size of a city or two. These islands were more economically stable, which made them rich targets in a world where crisis reigned.

Humans and Elementals are constantly at war. All it would take is an army with one of their titan-class war machines to show up for cleansing this land, and all hell would break loose.

Nexus Pentagon was one of the dozens of projects that stood out.
A cluster of five islands surrounding a central hub island in a pentagon shape.

“Was it a bad idea to come here? I guess the geometric design is good for defense.”

“Would it matter, though?” he scoffed at the thought.
“Only the easternmost island is fully capable of defending itself. After all, they poured a big budget into making this academy one of the best in the world.”

The East-Wing Warriors Academy boasted multiple private combat arenas to the front, military camps to the left, a container zone to the back, and expansive student facilities to the right.

In class 1-S2 on the second floor of the academy, Zen sat in his white academy uniform, wondering if this day could get any more boring.

“I’m so tired. I want to take a nap.”

Suddenly, the instructor’s voice cut through the atmosphere.
“Zen Fuyukawa,” and Zen’s head lazily turned towards the front of the class, his eyes locking onto the instructor.

“Since you have nothing better to do than stare out the window, why don’t you tell us something about second-generation combat gear?” the instructor asked with a mix of anger and frustration.

Zen stared at him for a second and said, “Pass” with a calm, expressionless face.

Other students burst out laughing, some shaking their heads in resignation, at someone who was already making a name for himself for being a slacker.

The teacher sighed.
“I expect better from you, Fuyukawa.”

The blonde-haired guy at the desk ahead laughed—Finn Morrison, Zen’s best friend.

A few seconds later, the bell rang, signaling the end of this class. “We’ll read about some specific roles of military-grade gear next class,” the instructor stated before leaving the class.

Zen yawned and stretched as he sat at his desk for another minute until he decided to go to the restroom before the next class started.

“Be right back,” he said as he got up from his desk.

“Alright,” Finn smirked.
“Try not to start a war out there.”

“Don’t jinx it.”

He left the classroom and walked through the long, tiled corridor balcony, hands in his pockets, staring at the students scattered around the school field.

Meanwhile, a group of pranksters stood near the intersection of the men’s and women’s restrooms, holding their laughter in anticipation.

They had messed with the circuit board barely a minute ago, which caused the holographic signs for male and female to swap places.

In the women’s restroom, Princess Cassie Lysandra von Solheim was washing her hands, her long pink hair flowing freely under a white cap worn backward.

Not the most fitting of a princess, but for her, it carried sentimental value.

Standing right beside her, arms crossed, orange hair tied in a high ponytail, and a smile on her face as always, was Princess Viara Elysia von Solheim, Cassie’s cousin.

Both from the noble Solheim family of Ignisar and strong, respected A-rank first-year students from class 1-S2 of the academy.

“You know, I sometimes wonder how you maintain peak performance with such a tight schedule,” Viara said, smiling with pride towards Cassie.
“You shot down three drones in seven seconds with your bow and arrows.”

“We have to live up to our reputation. Our families expect perfection from us,” Cassie replied while focusing on washing her hands.

“Yeah… can’t help it now, can we?” Viara sighed.
“Sometimes I wonder what it feels like to be a normal person without royal expectations haunting you.”

“Hey, don’t be like that! Normal people also have expectations of their family to deal with. It’s not very different,” Cassie said with a subtle smile to cheer up her cousin.

Suddenly, the door pushed open just a little and stopped.
Cassie and Viara immediately turned their heads towards the door.

At the door, Zen was gripping the handle, about to enter, but he paused immediately as the air from inside connected with the outside. “Wait… That doesn’t feel right.”

He opened the door a little further, just enough to confirm whether his instincts were correct. His eyes caught a glimpse of Viara, and he slowly stepped back, letting the door swing closed as if nothing had happened. “Shouldn’t have doubted myself.”

He looked up at the holographic signs indicating this as the “men’s” restroom.

The pranksters nearby were barely holding their laughter.

Zen briefly looked at them from the corner of his eye before returning to the sign.
“...shit”

Then the door swung open, and Cassie burst out, Viara standing right behind her, trying yet failing to stop her from lashing out.

“THE AUDACITY!” she screamed furiously, throwing punches at Zen, making him pivot behind immediately to dodge, his back hitting the railing behind.

Zen’s expression didn’t change.
“Can we talk about this?”

Cassie didn’t listen.
She aimed a punch at him.

He rotated his shoulder ninety degrees, his foot shifted in a perfect arc, his head tilted just a little, and his eyes locked onto hers, tracking so smoothly as if he had all the time in the world to kill her right then and there, yet he chose otherwise. “There goes my habit again…”

The moment Cassie’s eyes met his, a chill ran down her spine.
“That motion... The position of his foot... The slight tilt of his head and that stare... That’s HER style.”

She snapped and shook it off mentally.
“No. I’m dreaming. That can’t be.”

She followed with a kick.

He tilted his head back with perfect timing, dodging again.
“What a weird day to be alive…”

“How’s he dodging so effortlessly, damnit?! Have I gotten slower?” Cassie thought, her jaw tightened, and her face burned red.

Zen rolled his eyes, sighing at her unwillingness to talk it out.

Before Cassie could continue, Zen hopped over the railing and jumped down from the second floor. “Nope! I’m out of here.”
He aimed his left hand at the ground—left leg bent, right leg straight. Wind pushed against the ground, slowing his fall. He landed like taking a walk on a Tuesday.

Cassie stood behind the railing as Zen slipped out. Her breathing became heavier.
“You think you can run from me?” she murmured, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Then, suddenly, Cassie’s right hand tightened into a grip, and a staff with a central grip and two long, single-edged blades extending outward formed in her hands with a metallic chime of nanoparticles.

But it wasn’t only a double-bladed staff. It also had a retractable, integrated arrow launcher, making it perfect for both close and ranged combat.

Cassie’s grip on her staff tightened again, activating the integrated arrow launcher. Two levers at either side of her staff’s center grip flicked open with a string attached between both.

Two thin, flaming arrows formed in her hand, one after another, as she charged and fired at him, aiming for his shoulder.

Just as Zen thought he got out, he sensed the elemental arrows flying in his direction.
He rotated his shoulder to dodge the first and pivoted forward with a dive to dodge the second.

A crowd had started to gather, hearing the commotion.

Cassie was gritting her teeth hard. A bit too hard. She hopped over the railing.

“Cass, wait!” Viara called from behind to stop her, but Cassie paid no attention to her and jumped down. Flame stabilized her landing, scorching the ground in the process.

Cassie drew another arrow and fired at Zen.
“Stop running like a coward and face me!”

But before Zen moved, a black katana, gleaming with red lines, appeared in front and sliced through the arrow, making it vanish into thin air.

Madoka Fuyukawa, a second-year S-rank student, intercepted.

A cold breeze swept through the purple edge of her braided dark hair as she adopted a firm combat stance, ready to stop Cassie in an instant.

Cassie didn’t react well to the intervention, and a fight seemed inevitable.

Until, barely a second later, a transparent water barrier appeared between her and Madoka, forcing both to stagger back slightly. They both knew only one person could have done it.

The voice of an elegant, tall girl with flowing red hair cut through the air.
“Hold on now, I’m sure we can talk this through without the need to use military-grade weapons in an environment not meant for war? Hmmm?”

Julianna teased with a polite smile, hazel eyes locking onto them both.
“Or do you prefer a penalty?”

Cassie and Madoka sighed in unison.

After a few seconds, they both dropped their stances and retracted their weapons back into their nanotech housing unit.

They knew better than to argue with Julianna.
The barrier between them dropped.

Madoka’s eyes locked onto Cassie.
“What are you doing, Solheim?! Are you crazy?” she snapped, though with a stoic expression as ever.

“That pervert peeked into the women’s restroom! What do you think I’m doing?!” Cassie replied, still furious.

Madoka looked over her shoulder, “Zen?”

“The sign showed men’s restroom. It’s not my fault,” Zen explained, his voice nonchalant as if someone just hadn’t tried to kill him.

Viara, hearing this from above, looked up at the signs.

To her surprise, the sign did indeed show the ‘male’ sign above the women’s restroom.

“Cass! He’s right. Someone swapped the signs,” she shouted from above.

Julianna sighed dramatically.
“Not again! Did they forget to install a lock, as I suggested the last time it happened?”
“Does anyone care to listen to me?”

“Tch! Whatever. Be careful, or next time, you won’t be as lucky,” Cassie said with lingering anger and frustration as she walked away towards the staircase.

As the commotion died down, the crowd slowly dispersed.

“Jeez. What was that?” Zen sighed, shaking his head.

Julianna chuckled with an innocent yet devious smile.
“Miss Solheim can be hot-tempered at times. Don’t mind her. But it makes her all the more fun to mess with.”

Madoka rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
“Don’t mind her? Like she didn’t just try to murder someone.”

Zen suddenly felt his left hand going numb. He stretched his left arm and shook off the feeling.

“Injured?” Julianna asked, noticing his discomfort.

“No. Just a little strain. I’ll be fine,” he replied. “Thank you for calming the storm down.”

“No worries. Just doing my job.” She clasped her hands demurely.
“I’m Julianna Favina Marcevelle, student council president, and the current rank one.”
“Everyone calls me Julianna... or Favina, whichever they prefer.”

“Zen Fuyukawa. I’m a transfer,” he introduced himself, his tone flat.

“Fuyukawa?” Her gaze shifted to Madoka.
“A relative of yours?”

“My brother,” Madoka replied.

“Oh, I see.” Julianna smiled politely, but her eyes were teasing.
“Though I must say, he doesn’t sound very enthusiastic about meeting new people.”

“I really am not,” Zen replied.

Her smile didn’t falter.
“Anyway, I hope you feel at home in East-Wing Warriors Academy.”
“It’s one of the best in the world after all,” she said, walking past him and looking over her shoulder.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”
She picked up her pace, waving goodbye.
“Do find me when I’m free if you ever crave a tour of the facilities.”

Once left alone, Madoka immediately turned her attention back to Zen.
“We need to talk.”

Zen turned towards the staircase.
“Rooftop, lunchtime.”
“Right now, we have classes to attend.”

Madoka exhaled at the mention of classes and dropped the matter, for now. They both started walking back to their homerooms.