My name is Kaitou Iijima, and I'm a first-year student at Kibou Academy. To be honest, I don't have the slightest clue why I'm attending this academy. It's known to be a professional and private academy. My dad enrolled me here. I don't even know a thing about him. He just comes in and out of my life whenever he wants .

As I approached the massive school building, I noticed a bunch of students making their way to the entrance ceremony. Nervously, I entered the building and found my way to the auditorium, where a lot of Kibou students had gathered to listen to the announcement.

I took a seat and glanced around.

After a few minutes, the room began to quiet down as teachers of the academy lined themselves up at the back of the stage. One of them approached the microphone. She was an average-height woman with a katana hanging besides her left hip. I looked at her katana, then observed all the other teachers

"Why do most of the teachers have weapons?" I muttered with surprise.

"Hello! Welcome to Kibou Academy! My name is Hana Tokugawa, and I'll be teaching the rank 3 students," she announced with a beaming smile.

"Rank 3? Why are there rankings in this school?" I wondered.

Tokugawa-sensei continued her speech, "Now, please welcome the head of Kibou Academy!"

A tall man with black hair, and black eyes walked toward the microphone, releasing an air of authority that sent shivers through the room.

"Welcome, my students, to Kibou Academy: The Onryo Extermination Institution," he declared.

"Onryo Extermination Institution?" I whispered to myself, puzzled.

He introduced himself, "My name is Jiro Yamaguchi, the Head of this Academy."

People around me started muttering about him and his position in the academy.

Yamaguchi-sensei continued, "Let's get straight to the point. You're all here because you're not ordinary people. You possess an extraordinary power called broken ki. Broken ki is a unique supernatural energy that enhances your stamina, agility, strength, and even your future," he explained. "This power is a blend of mental focus and emotional state, and each broken ki user has their own special arts with sub-techniques they can create. Its purpose is to combat the Onryo, vengeful spirits that can harm the real world and can only be seen by those who can control their broken ki."

“You will all be taught how to improve your broken ki, and make it effective during future battles. You will also be living in the dorms that are a part of the academy.”

Yamaguchi-sensei glanced at the clock above the students, abruptly concluded his speech, and left the auditorium, leaving the room in silence.

"Onryo? Broken Ki?" I thought, confused. "Is this guy serious, or is it some kind of joke? Why didn't my dad warn me about this? I would have been better prepared. I haven't even used broken ki before! Hell, I don't know the first thing about any of this!"

Tokugawa-sensei then announced that it was time for us to see our ranks, classroom numbers and teachers for the semester, displaying them on a large screen above the stage.

I searched for my name and finally found it.

"Rank 2? Is that good or bad?" I wondered.

Tokugawa-sensei remembered something important, "Also, for all the first years, ranking goes from 6, which is the weakest unit, to 1, which is the strongest unit,” she explained.

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My eyes widened in shock. "Why am I so close to rank 1? I should be at rank 6!"

Tokugawa-sensei instructed everyone to go to their classrooms for introductions. I was still looking at the screen. right under "Rank 2," was the name "Daichi" in bold. “That must be my teacher's name,” I thought. Though I wondered why he only had a first name. I, then, got up from my seat and left the auditorium.

I walked through the hallways in search of my classroom. It took me some time since there were a bunch of slow students also trying to find their ways to their classes. Finally, I stood before the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

The class was pretty small, only having four students, including myself. I chose the seat at the back right of the classroom.

After a while, a tall guy walked in the classroom. He had gray hair and silver eyes.

"Hello, everyone. I am Daichi-sensei, and I'll be your teacher until the end of the semester when you'll be re-ranked,” he said.

He looked around the room.

“Another small class eh?,” he said. “I need each of you to introduce yourselves and explain why you joined the academy,"

My heart raced. "I have to tell everyone why I joined? I'm not telling them I didn't have a choice in coming here!"

“You are up first,” Daichi-sensei said.

He pointed at a girl with red hair and blue eyes. She was pretty short, but I wasn't any taller.

"Hello! My name is Akira Hayashi, and I'm a second-year student at this Academy. I joined to protect people from the Onryo," she declared with unwavering determination.

She was beautiful, an angel among us. The introductions continued.

Daichi-sensei then picked the next person to introduce themselves, “You over there you’re next.”

He pointed at a guy with dark blue hair and brown eyes. He was pretty cut.

"My name is Shoota Ito, a second-year student at this Academy. My goal is to exterminate all Onryos, so don’t get in my way," he proclaimed before sitting down with an air of arrogance.

"I don't like that guy," I thought. "We probably won't get along."

Daichi-sensei, again, picked the next person to introduce themselves, “Next is you.”

He pointed at a guy with black hair and black eyes. He was slightly taller than me, and looked very mature.

"My name is Fukui Jinja, and I'm a third-year student here. I enrolled here to avenge my family, who were killed by a group of Onryos," Fukui said with a dark demeanor.

“So he was one of the survivors from that incident,” Daichi-sensei thought.

"So people are really getting killed by these evil spirits," I thought.

Daichi-sensei then looked at me.

"Next up is you," He said.

I stood up, shaking heavily.

"My name is Kaitou Iijima, and I'm uh-a first-year student at this Academy."

All eyes turned to me, likely because of my rank as a first-year student.

I began to sweat. "Um... I-Uh-I don't know how to use broken ki, and honestly, I didn't have a particular reason for joining this academy. I was forced to come by my dad."

It was silent.

“Shit Shit Shit! I said I wasn’t gonna say that,” I thought, panicking.

"So you're just here without any motives and don't even know how to use broken ki? What a load of crap!" Shoota yelled, angrily.

"Why are you ranked 2 if you're inexperienced with broken ki?" Fukui muttered under his breath, side eyeing me.

“Guys stop, you're making him feel bad,” Akira said, trying to calm me down (it didn't work).

Shoota looked at Akira.

“We don’t need trash like him in our unit,” Shoota yelled.

I had expected this reaction. Thankfully, Daichi-sensei stepped in to stop the argument.

"He is rank 2 because the head of the academy placed him here," Daichi explained.

“What Yamaguchi-sensei put me in this unit?!” I said, surprised.

"Don't give me that nonsense!" Shoota yelled. "A weakling like him could never be noticed by the head."

“He has potential and could become a strong broken ki user in the future, way stronger than you" Daichi said.

"Possibly even stronger than myself," Daichi thought.

Shoota looked at me in fury then looked away in anger.

“tsk”

Clearing his throat, Daichi-sensei continued, "Anyways, you will all engage in a small sparring match with your classmates. This will help me determine your suitability for Onryo extermination tasks."

“A sparring match?! I’m gonna die!” I said, shivering.

I hesitantly raised my hand.

"Yes, Kaitou," Daichi-sensei inquired.

"I won't be able to participate in the sparring matches since I don't know how to use broken ki," I admitted.

Daichi-sensei smirked at me, "Don't worry. I'll teach you."