Class 1B's training room smelled faintly like smoke.
Not enough to be alarming.
Just enough to suggest something had gone wrong here before—and would probably go wrong again.
Kai noticed immediately.
"…Okay, this class already feels more honest."
Nobody answered him.
Mostly because half the room was still staring.
The other half looked like they were trying very hard not to.
Class 1B was louder than 1A.
Not chaotic.
Just less controlled.
Students were actually talking before the instructor arrived. Somebody was arguing near the back wall. Two others were comparing burns on their hands like trophies.
One guy was asleep face-down on his desk.
Nobody seemed concerned about it.
Kai liked this class instantly.
Jonah looked like he wanted to leave.
"You think all the classes are this weird?" Kai asked quietly.
"They put you here," Jonah replied.
"That feels insulting."
"It was."
Kai grinned anyway.
That was the thing about him.
Bad situations only seemed to bother him after they were over.
A girl near the window looked over at them.
Not subtly, either.
"You're the cousins, right?"
Kai pointed at himself proudly. "Favorite one, yes."
Jonah didn't react.
The girl blinked once.
"…You people actually act like that naturally?"
"Unfortunately," Jonah said.
"Wow," Kai muttered. "That hurt my feelings a little."
Before the conversation could continue—
the classroom door opened.
And the room changed immediately.
Not dramatically.
Nobody snapped to attention.
Nobody stood up.
But conversations died halfway through.
Even the sleeping guy lifted his head slightly.
Their instructor walked in carrying a metal cup and absolutely no interest in being there.
Tall. Dark coat. Scar across one hand.
Older than Vale.
More tired.
He stopped near the front desk and looked around the room once.
"…Why are you all awake?"
Nobody answered.
"Disappointing."
He took a sip from the cup.
Then pointed vaguely toward the corner of the room.
"You," he said.
The sleeping student raised his head.
"Sir, I was meditating."
"You were drooling."
"That happens during deep focus."
"Get out."
The boy stood immediately and walked out without arguing.
Kai watched him leave.
"…I respect him."
"You shouldn't," Jonah said.
The instructor finally looked at the new students.
His eyes stopped on Kai first.
Then Jonah.
There was a pause there.
Small.
But noticeable.
"…Right," he said. "The relatives."
Kai raised a hand. "We prefer legends."
"No," the instructor replied instantly. "You don't."
A few students laughed quietly.
He placed the cup on the desk.
"The name's Rohan."
No title.
No dramatic introduction.
Just Rohan.
"You break my classroom," he continued, "you fix my classroom."
He pointed toward the cracked scorch marks covering one wall.
"Those are examples."
Kai leaned toward Jonah.
"…I like him more than Vale already."
"Your standards are broken."
Rohan picked up a piece of chalk.
Then immediately threw it at someone near the back without looking.
A loud yelp followed.
"Stop trying to light your sleeve on fire," he said flatly.
"How did you even know?"
"I can smell stupidity."
That got a bigger reaction from the class.
Even Jonah looked mildly impressed.
Rohan finally started writing on the board.
CONTROL
OUTPUT
AFFINITY
Then underlined all three once.
"If you idiots survive long enough," he said, "these are the only things anybody will care about."
Kai raised his hand immediately.
"Question."
"No."
"That feels unfair."
"It isn't."
Rohan tapped the word AFFINITY with the chalk.
"This is what you naturally lean toward. Fire. Reinforcement. Spatial distortion. Whatever strange nonsense your bloodline handed you."
A student near the front asked, "Can affinity change?"
"Not usually."
"Usually?"
Rohan shrugged.
"Sometimes people break."
The room went quieter after that.
He pointed toward OUTPUT.
"This is power."
Then toward CONTROL.
"This is what stops power from turning you into a news report."
Kai slowly lowered his hand.
"…That was weirdly motivating."
"It wasn't meant to be."
Jonah finally spoke.
"What happens if someone has high output but low control?"
Rohan looked at him properly for the first time.
"People die."
Simple answer.
No exaggeration.
No speech attached.
Which somehow made it worse.
The room stayed quiet for a few seconds.
Then somebody near the back muttered:
"…So basically half this class."
That broke the tension a little.
Rohan tossed the chalk onto the desk.
"Enough theory. Stand up."
Chairs scraped across the floor immediately.
No complaints this time.
Apparently everybody already knew what came next.
The training section behind the classroom opened automatically once Rohan pressed his hand against the wall.
Kai stopped walking for a second.
"…Okay, now that's cool."
The wall had split apart completely, revealing a massive indoor combat space beneath the building.
Not polished like 1A's room.
This place looked used.
Deep cuts marked parts of the floor. One section of wall had clearly been melted and repaired badly.
The lighting overhead flickered occasionally.
Kai looked delighted.
Jonah looked concerned.
Reasonable reactions from both of them.
Students spread out naturally, like they'd done this dozens of times before.
Rohan walked into the middle of the floor.
"Pair up."
Kai immediately pointed at Jonah.
"No."
Kai looked offended. "You didn't even wait."
"I know you."
"That feels personal."
"It is."
Before Kai could complain further—
someone else stepped forward.
A tall boy with braided hair and bandages around both hands.
He looked directly at Jonah.
"I'll take him."
Kai blinked.
"…Wow. I got rejected fast."
"You talk too much," the boy replied.
"That is not a reason."
"It definitely is," somebody else muttered.
Jonah stepped forward quietly.
No dramatic posture.
No visible reaction.
But Kai noticed something shift slightly in his expression.
Not fear.
Focus.
Rohan folded his arms.
"First clean hit wins. Try not to cripple each other. Paperwork annoys me."
"That's comforting," Kai muttered.
The fight started without warning.
The braided-haired student moved first.
Fast.
Cleaner than Kai expected.
His reinforcement affinity boosted his movement sharply enough to crack the floor beneath his feet.
Jonah barely moved.
Just stepped sideways.
Small adjustment.
Minimal effort.
The punch missed him completely.
"…Okay," Kai whispered. "That was smooth."
The other student attacked again immediately.
Faster this time.
A sweeping strike toward Jonah's ribs—
then another toward his shoulder.
Jonah avoided both with the same quiet precision.
No wasted movement.
No panic.
Like he'd already seen the attacks before they happened.
Murmurs spread around the room.
Even Rohan was watching more carefully now.
The third strike should have landed.
It didn't.
Because Jonah wasn't there anymore.
Not speed.
Not teleportation.
He'd just—
shifted.
Like attention slipped off him for half a second.
The attacker stumbled slightly.
Confused.
And Jonah moved.
One step forward.
One hand against the other student's chest.
No dramatic blast.
No explosion.
Just impact.
The braided-haired boy flew backward hard enough to skid several meters across the floor.
Silence hit the room immediately.
Kai stared.
"…What the hell was that?"
Jonah lowered his hand slowly.
Even he looked slightly unsettled now.
Like the movement hadn't felt entirely intentional.
Rohan broke the silence first.
"…Interesting."
That was all he said.
Which somehow made everybody more nervous.
The defeated student sat up coughing.
"…I hate this family already."
Kai pointed proudly at Jonah.
"That's my cousin."
Jonah closed his eyes briefly.
Probably regretting everything.