I put extra focus into hearing the next words from the teacher. He says, "Your Scrap Mana rank is E, your Unrefined Mana rank is E, and your Rich Mana rank is E. You have no talent, I am sorry to inform you. I did not want to announce it because it seemed too cruel even for punishment…"

No, no, no… That’s impossible! All my thoughts stop, losing my sense of hearing as I stare into the distance.

I shake my head, trying to get back to reality. This can’t be right. This thing must be broken. Emdos is the one that praised me. I worked hard to get his approval to finally attend the Academy. I ask, “There must’ve been some mistake, right? Emdos said I’m special.”

"Hmm… I am sorry there is no mistake. You are indeed special… You are the first student to enroll here to receive the E rank in every category in the history of the Academy…" the teacher says.

I stare blankly at him. The crowd breaks into a cackle, yet again.

"He’s special indeed!"

I frown and look at the floor, feeling my face flushed red all the way to my ears. A lump grows in my throat that has a pulse of its own.

"Hahaha! Didja see how confident he was?"

"His name was Kai, right?"

The students continue their gossip and laughter. A dull pain aches my chest and throat, especially seeing Luna laughing with them. So much to the point that she has her mouth covered with her hand.

I clench my teeth and my fists while tensing up my entire body. I scowl, feeling like something is about to explode from within me. I’ll prove everyone wrong. I take a deep breath and then exclaim, “Stop laughing!”

The room becomes silent, and I only notice my own labored breathing. I continue, “I didn’t wanna reveal this, but I’ll show you my true power!”

I close my eyes and start focusing all my Mana into my right arm. I fully extend it in front of me the same ways as I’ve always have during training. First, I’ll create the barrier in my hand like I did this morning.

Right before I’m about to break that barrier and unleash my Mana into the open, an icy feeling overwhelms me. I have an intense fear of what’s about to happen next. I can’t explain it. This is nothing like I’ve ever felt in my life. It’s not even comparable to Emdos’s punishments.

I can’t even move. My heart begins to race faster and faster. It doesn’t feel like I’m getting enough air into my lungs, and my head is spinning. My insides are going crazy.

It seems like I can still move my Mana, though. I dissipate the Mana gathered in my right arm and forget about revealing my Mana to everyone. A moment later, the dreadful feeling is gone. I spin around, surveying the room, but there’s no one suspicious.

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What was that…? Was it Emdos? I made him a lot of promises, and I was about to break one. I have a bad feeling about it. I should not think about breaking any of them again. I shouldn’t reveal my Mana to anyone, no matter what.

Focusing back on reality, I'm still holding my arm in front of me. Everyone stares at me silently. I put my arm down and then scratch my head while smiling.

"Just kidding," I say and then laugh as if it's a hilarious joke. I expect everyone to react negatively, so I mentally prepare myself.

"What the hell? Don't mess with us!"

"I was scared for a moment… I thought he was actually going to do something."

"Hah! I knew he was bluffin' all along."

I keep a neutral facial expression as boos emanate from the crowd. I glance over at Luna to see how she feels about me. She makes eye contact with me and then chuckles. I smile in response. I’m glad she doesn’t hate me.

"My, you are a funny one, are you not, Kai? Well, how about you go take a seat? We still have some more time before my lecture ends,” the teacher says.

I remember the seat next to Luna is empty. Luna is sitting on the furthest left chair on the first row. I casually walk over and take the seat next to her.

"Kai, you're so funny!" she exclaims with a wide smile.

I smile back but avoid eye contact. I look toward the teacher as he clears his throat.

"I will continue where I left off earlier. When the amount of Mana has reached your maximum capacity, the excess amount exits from your body through the skin. It diffuses into the air to prevent the toxic effects of Mana.

"There are three grades of Mana… Scrap Mana…" The teacher raises his right arm in the air and emits Mana into the air. It has a very faint, light blue color, like an ice cube.

"… Unrefined Mana…" The Mana coming out changes to a deeper tint of blue, almost like the color of the sky.

"… Rich Mana…" The flow of the Mana suddenly becomes fiercer, and the color changes to an even deeper tone of blue, like a sapphire.

I close my eyes and purse my lips, thinking back to the training I had done with Emdos for the past five years. The color of my Mana never changed, and it matched none of the three Mana grades the teacher presented. My Mana is a much deeper blue. Maybe darker.

"…but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The purer the Mana, the harder it is to control, and the slower it can recover. You can see that I am having some difficulty controlling the highest Mana grade, despite that I have trained for a very long time.

The teacher stops releasing his Mana and puts his arm down. He continues, “Those of you who received good results in higher grades of Mana should not be happy with just that. You must still work hard to achieve full mastery of your Mana. Those who have a low capacity for Scrap Mana should not be discouraged. When you can freely manipulate your Mana, you can break down the higher grades of Mana into larger quantities of a lower grade Mana.

“Unfortunately, you cannot do the opposite. Knowing when to break down your Mana and how much of it to break down will determine the tide of a battle. Any questions?”

Luna raises her hand.

"Ah, yes, Luna?"

Luna asks, "If there's Mana in the air, why doesn't it have a color?"

The teacher rubs his chin as he pauses for a moment before answering, "Good question, that is because the Mana in the air is inactive. Remember what I said about that magicians must activate Mana to use magic? The Mana in our bodies stay inactive until we activate and manifest them. Only manifested Mana will have a color. One of the reasons why higher grade Mana is harder to master is because activating them is harder than a lower grade of Mana. Any other questions?"

There is a long silence in the room. I want to ask why my Mana is different than the three he presented, but I can’t.

"I think that is enough for today. Next, you will break into the groups you were in earlier. We will meet outside at the entrance of the Academy at eleven. Try not to wander off exploring the Academy as you will have the time to do that another time. Do not be late. I would not want you to fail out of the Academy on your first day."

Groups? Did he forget about me? Everyone else gets up at once and talks amongst themselves. Before the teacher heads up the stairs, I chase after him and call to him, “Teacher, I don’t think I have a group.”

He stops, turns to me, and says, "Oh, Kai. You can call me Moria or Teacher Moria. But, hmm… You do not have a group because you were late, and everyone already broke into groups of six…”

Moria raises his right arm. He mutters some words too, but I can’t make them out. A bubble starts to form right over his hand. A thunderous noise bursts out when it pops, silencing the room. I cover my ears, but the damage is already done. Some warning would’ve been helpful. Pain lingers in both of my eardrums.

Moria says, "Ah, yes, sorry for the interruption, but Kai needs a group. Who wants to take him?"

The room is silent. After what happened earlier, no one wants me in their group. Who would want a talentless person anyway? Though, I know that’s not true. Even Luna wouldn’t want me.

I sigh and frown as I look down. At this rate, I won’t have any friends.