Orientation wrapped up quickly after the principal's presentation. Registration was a month ago so all the students already had IDs uploaded to their wristbands. Koro looked down at his own. The shiny thin metal bracelet sat there on his right wrist and when he looked at the thing it brought up a whole display with his info and a small picture of himself. His unruly spiky stark white hair framing his tan face with those cold green eyes staring back at him. “I wish these pictures didn't always look like I was gonna murder someone…ugh.”

After the principal excused herself, the class's homeroom teacher Mr.Kenning introduced himself. He was a tall brunette man maybe in his thirties. A lot of the homeroom teachers were younger as the tenured staff often became professors of a specialty after so many years in general academia. Koro couldn't imagine trying to teach kids his age. As he looked around at the noise-y homeroom, a lot of the kids seemed to be making conversation rather than paying attention to the front of the room. Not him though, if he hoped to excel and earn the kind of scores necessary to even be considered for The Endo he would be focused and determined.

He suddenly looked up in surprise as he heard his name called.

"Shit" he thought as he realized he had been too caught up in his own thoughts and stopped paying attention.

Embarrassed he rubbed the back of his head " sorry sir I missed that"

"All's well, just getting attendance and giving everyone a chance to share their Enki. Would you mind introducing yourself Koro and telling us about yours"

Realizing he missed the first several students in the class introduce themselves. Suddenly panicking, realizing the teacher wanted him to talk about his abilities.

"My names Koro….Omni im from District 2,uh and my ability is energy"

"An Omni you say, wow what is your family doing so far South from Omnis"

"It's complicated" , wringing his hands.

The Omni family belonged to the great Hallan Omni, one of the 13 and although Koro was proud of his heritage his family had good reason for moving from Omnis a generation ago. Omnis was the fourth city built and several hundred miles north from Handis which was the most southern city in Unatees.

"What did you say your Enki was Koro?"

"Uhhh..Energy..sir"

"All Enki is energy, please elaborate"

"Sorry sir I'm E'ona"

The low hum of the class quieted suddenly. Murmurs started to come through

"Did he say E'ona?"

Some sounded confused even as if they had never heard of it.

"Ah, that's right I had heard we had one attending this year. Your hair should have been a dead giveaway"

Koro lowered his head into his shoulders wishing he had a hood or something to hide under. As he felt everyone's eyes descend on him.

"I see some of you are confused about what young Mr. Omni just said." A few of his classmates stared at the teacher with blank expressions.

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"Allow me to elaborate. E'ona are those with no genetic disposition to an affinity or elemental style. They wield raw energy from the Ether instead of needing material to match their Enki. They can draw it out from everything and have even been known to mimic other abilities because of it." Most of the class looked dumbfounded. With the exception of a few who seemed to already be familiar with the ability and even some that gave Koro upset looks.

“Not sure what their problem is but I'm sure they'll let me know” he pondered. Just something about those type of people that always seemed to make them feel the need to put their personal problems on him. He sighed. Those who continued to have that dumb look on their face were now staring at him as he scanned the class.

He even saw a tiny red haired kid with freckles ,mouthing the words "cool" as he glanced at him. Being honest with himself that was actually a better reaction than he expected.

Growing up in District 2 a lot of the kids in his schooling told him his ability was useless if he couldn't use it to take care of the people around him. Nobody needs combat specialists or soldiers these days. The Black raids ended hundreds of years ago and none of the independent nations or groups have ever attempted war with any of the Unatees cities.

Of course that didn't stop him from being completely entranced by the Endo. The Peacewalker teams actually got to travel and visit the other nations, being responsible for security to merchants traveling afar to trade goods. Koro had heard that one of his great-uncles was one such merchant. His dad would sometimes retell stories from the man about how the Endo squads would fight off hordes of monsters out in the Wilds.

"You'll get there Koro…one day" a mantra he'd repeated many times.

"Is that right Koro?" Mr.Kenning woke him from his daydreams.

"Yes, sir. That sums it up pretty well"

"Good, moving on" as he called the next name on the list.

It took another 10 minutes or so for the class to get through all of the introductions. With a few standouts that Koro paid attention to. Some time after his name was called, the red haired boy stood up responding to the name Beln Sprigg. He was a wiry boy and seemed so anxiously excited to talk Koro thought he might spring up into the ceiling or something. Beln had a wood affinity and attempted to tell his whole life story before the teacher cut him off and said that they needed to continue. As he sat down dejected he caught Koro's eyes and attempted to wave at him perking up again. Koro turned around, his face turning pale.

Another boy who had dark hair and sandy looking skin was called Laren Handis. He had an air of self importance about him and was one of the kids that had given Koro a shifty look earlier. Of course he had the Handis name, he was probably used to people treating him like royalty because of his namesake. Also he apparently had the Handis gift for metal..of course.

Another Handis was called shortly after introducing themselves as the cousin to Laren. She had similar features to Laren but had a more sternness to her face with a downcast look, announcing herself as Jacklyn. The thought hitting him suddenly, “Oh shit”, she must be an attendant for Laren from one of the secondary lines.

It's not a common practice amongst the 13 families but there are those that subjugate secondary or "impure" familial lines. Koro always figured it was a gross practice along with a number of other traditions by the big names that his father taught him about. He always appreciated that his family didn't follow any of them.

The whole class had quite the variety when it came to abilities and Koro was looking forward to seeing them all in action. The last student in the class was called and as he looked over at the girl all the blood drained from his face. ‘Eliza Xetkil.’

Eliza had grown up in District 2 with Koro and had been one of the few that harassed him for his ability. About 2 years ago though she vanished. Her family had sent her off to train her air abilities after she had manifested the year before. Now she was in the same room as him and despite his staring she didn't even seem to acknowledge his existence. Her hair was still a rich blonde like he remembered but her light brown skin seemed to have darkened some while also gaining more of a sheen to it. Koro quickly shook his head as his mind tried to snap back to focus.

"It's just the first day of school, your anxiety is getting the best of you, focus, focus Koro"

"Alright" Mr.Kenning suddenly shouted, clapping his hands together.

"Day one means…." Drumming his hands

"Power testing. We've got to gauge you all and get your reading recorded before we start going over class structure and assignment. So let's get out to the testing field" he finished saying as he headed for the door. "Come on everyone. Leave your belongings and let's go" he walked out the door with his head buried in a tablet he grabbed off his desk.

All the students shuffled to hurry after him trying to race to the door.