The morning sun over the International Magic School was a strange, pale color, casting long, sickly shadows across the obsidian grounds. It didn't look like the vibrant sun from One from All's home world; it was a cold, distant light that provided no warmth to the skin. The massive black walls of the Obsidian Academy seemed to soak up the morning glow, making the entire school feel as though it were still trapped in the depths of night.
It was the day after their visit to the library, and the air was thick with a new kind of energy. The school had officially announced that the time for theory was ending. Soon, every student would have their magic and overall strength tested—not by a glowing orb or a written exam, but by the raw brutality of actual combat. The "Combat Season" was approaching, and the tension in the air was so heavy it felt like a physical weight on everyone's shoulders.
One from All sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his reflection in a piece of polished black stone. His hair, split perfectly between deep crimson red and charcoal gray, was messy from a night of restless meditation. His red eyes looked tired, but they held a sharp, dangerous light. He had been waiting for this moment since he first crossed the school's threshold. He didn't just want to pass; he wanted to see how he measured up against the other "monsters" gathered in this place. Standing up, he adjusted his sleek black uniform and walked out to meet his allies.
He found Elara and Riku waiting in the corridor. Elara's fire-red hair was already looking bright and wild, as if it were reacting to her restless Anym. Riku was his usual quiet self, his eyes fixed on the floor as they walked toward their assigned classroom. They weren't just students anymore; they were survivors bracing for a storm they couldn't yet see.
When they entered the classroom, the atmosphere was stifling. It wasn't just the smell of ancient stone and magic; it was the combined weight of sixty-seven different types of dangerous, high-level magic all packed into one room. Every student there was an anomaly, a powerhouse in their own right. They took their usual seats and waited, the silence in the room growing more oppressive with every passing second.
Suddenly, the heavy stone door creaked open.
As soon as a figure stepped inside, a massive, invisible weight slammed into every student in the room. It felt as if the very air had turned into solid lead, pressing down on their lungs and limbs. Many students gasped, their chests tightening as they struggled to draw breath. Some began to tremble so violently that their teeth clattered against each other in the silence. Riku gripped the edge of his desk with such force that his knuckles turned white, his breath coming in short, pained bursts.
One from All felt the weight as well. It felt like a giant, unseen hand was pushing down on the top of his head, trying to force him to the floor. But he didn't buckle. He gritted his teeth and pushed back, circulating his own black Anym to steady his body. He looked around and noticed that he wasn't the only one standing firm. The white-haired boy sat perfectly still, his expression unreadable, and a few others also remained upright, showing they were strong enough to withstand the initial pressure.
The man who had entered the room didn't look like the legendary warrior his power suggested. He appeared quite young, perhaps only twenty-seven years old, with messy dark hair and a tired, almost lazy smile. He strolled to the front of the class, turned around, and calmly surveyed the struggling students.
He smiled and asked a simple, piercing question. "What did you people feel just now?"
A few students managed to find enough breath to answer. "Fear!" one yelled from the middle row. "Terror!" another gasped, still slumped in their seat.
The man's smile widened. "Exactly. That's what you call 'Presence'."
The students looked stunned. They had heard of powerful auras, but they had never experienced "Presence" used as a physical weapon like this.
"I used pure Anym for this," the teacher explained, his voice casual, as if he were discussing the weather. "But there are people whose magic has presence built right into it. The legendary magic users, for example. Users of Hero's Magic, or Demon king Magic, and a few more... I can't remember them all right now. You'll have to forgive me; I'm getting old. I'm twenty-seven, by the way."
He gave a little wink and a small, hopeful smile, clearly trying to appear cool and charming to his new class. But the reaction was not what he expected. The students just stared back with awkward, confused expressions. No one laughed. No one smiled. The silence in the room became incredibly heavy.
The teacher's smile vanished instantly. His shoulders slumped, and he stared dejectedly at the floor, looking as if he were on the verge of tears.
"Aww, man," he whispered to himself. "I thought I would look so cool saying that."
Elara looked over at Riku and One from All, and despite the earlier tension, they couldn't help it. The three of them started to giggle. The oppressive atmosphere in the room broke slightly, simply because their new teacher was so unexpectedly weird.
The teacher looked back up, clearing his throat and trying to regain his professional composure. "Alright, back to class. My name is Yami, but you can call me sensei."
The class looked at him and replied in a flat, synchronized voice, "Never."
Yami slumped down again, looking totally defeated, as if his very soul had left his body.
"Fine, fine," the students finally conceded, feeling a wave of pity for the man. "We would prefer to call you Yami Sensei."
Yami's head snapped up, his face lighting up with immense pride, as if he had just achieved a great victory. He wiped a fake tear from his eye and looked at the room. "My students! I knew you cared about me!"
At the back of the room, Valen let out a loud, sharp scoff of pure disgust. He slammed his hand onto his desk and stood up, his face contorted with rage. "This is a joke!" Valen shouted. "I am stronger than all these kids here! I am a noble! I shouldn't be in the same class as them! They are beneath me, and this teacher is acting like a spoiled baby!"
Yami Sensei's eyes suddenly shifted, turning a pure, blinding white. He didn't move a muscle, but his gaze swept across the room like a physical force. It felt like a freezing wind was blowing through everyone's soul, stripping away their defenses. Then, just as quickly, his eyes returned to their normal, tired state. He looked at Valen and smiled, but there was no warmth in it this time.
"True," Yami said softly. "You are stronger than a few here. But if you were to challenge a few others in this room right now... you would not make it back to your dorm in one piece."
Valen's face turned a deep, humiliated red. He opened his mouth to scream an insult back at the teacher.
"Sit Down."
Yami's voice wasn't loud, but it carried the force of a falling hammer. Valen's body acted before his mind could process the command. He was slammed back into his seat with such force that the stone chair rattled. He sat there, trembling with a mixture of suppressed rage and genuine fear.
The rest of the class remained silent, though a few students in the back whispered to each other, "This is going to be fun."
Yami Sensei began the lesson in earnest, explaining the reality of their situation. "You might wonder why we only have one class a cycle," Yami said, pacing in front of the board. "It's because the Anym inside you is far too dangerous. You are all anomalies. If you stay in one place for too long with your energy excited, you risk going berserk. You could destroy this entire residential building without even intending to. We give you time to rest so you can keep the power within you controlled."
One from All listened intently, his fingers tracing the faint pulse of his King's Magic. He knew the "hunger" of his void magic well, and he understood that "going berserk" was a very real threat for someone with his level of power.
When the class finally concluded, Yami Sensei stepped out of the room. Valen remained in his chair, fuming and looking for a target to reclaim his sense of superiority.
As the students were preparing to leave the classroom, a quiet boy mistakenly bumped into Valen's shoulder. The boy had dark hair and an incredibly calm, almost detached face. He didn't even look up at Valen; he was simply focused on making his way to the dining hall.
"Hey, you peasant!" Valen screamed, his voice cracking with anger. "Didn't you see you hit me?"
The boy didn't offer a word of apology. He just looked at Valen with bored, uninterested eyes. This lack of fear made Valen completely lose his mind. He signaled to his two "sit mates"—the two large, aggressive nobles who functioned as his enforcers. "Go bring him here! Teach him a lesson he won't forget!"
The two boys charged forward, intent on grabbing the quiet student. But the boy didn't retreat. He instantly dropped into a low, perfect combat stance. His hand flew to the hilt of the sword strapped to his waist, his grip steady and practiced.
One from All, watching from his seat, recognized the boy was a powerhouse. He saw that the situation was about to turn violent and that he could easily do permanent damage to the nobles. He stood up, intending to intervene and stop the classroom from turning into a battlefield.
Suddenly, a girl stepped directly into One from All's path, her hand clamping onto his arm with a surprisingly tight, iron-like grip. She was Levi's friend, and she had no intention of letting anyone interfere.
"Let Levi have some fun," the girl said, a mean, knowing grin spreading across her face. "Don't spoil the show."
One from All looked down at her, his red eyes beginning to glow with the first flickers of his black energy. But before he could act, Elara stepped in. She grabbed the girl's wrist and forcibly pulled her back.
"I would like to say the same to you," Elara said, her voice dropping to a dangerous level, her fire-red hair beginning to smoke. "Let go of him."
The classroom was now a complete mess. Valen's friends were inches away from Levi. Levi was a heartbeat away from drawing his blade. Elara was facing off with the girl, and the Anym in the air was screaming with the pressure of their clashing wills.
Just as the swords were about to be drawn and blood was about to be spilled, a voice echoed through the entire school. It didn't sound like a human voice; it was deep, resonant, and carried the weight of a deity.
"KING'S MAGIC: PRESENCE OF THE ONE TRUE KING."
The world went blank.
For several long seconds, no one could see, hear, or feel anything. It was as if reality itself had been temporarily deleted.
When the students finally came to their senses, the classroom was deathly silent. Elara was on the ground, looking visibly weakened, her grip on the other girl finally broken. Even the girl who had stopped One from All couldn't withstand the pressure; she had fallen to her knees, looking up in a state of pure terror.
"Hey... you've got to be kidding me," someone whispered, their voice trembling. "How did she get here? Who the hell is that?"
One from All looked up, his vision blurry and his head spinning from the sudden shock to his system. In the center of the room stood a tall, slim, and strikingly beautiful lady. She looked almost like a dark silhouette because the very light seemed to bend away from her body.
She was holding the sharp edge of Levi's sword with just two fingers.
Levi was on his knees. He wasn't unconscious, but he was barely breathing, the sheer weight of the lady's Presence pinning him down. The lady looked at the gathered students, her eyes cold and utterly unimpressed. She looked away as if they were nothing more than dust on the floor.
"My name is Shizuko," she said. Her voice was quiet, yet it filled the room perfectly, vibrating in their very bones.
She released the sword and addressed the stunned crowd. "Anymore violence or conflict before the actual combat season could be punishable by a day in the beast dungeon."
The students looked at each other, confused and terrified. "Beast dungeon?" one mumbled.
"These are Purgatory Beasts," Shizuko added, her voice chilling.
One from All was shocked. He had heard the legends of Purgatory Beasts—monsters from dimensions that had already been annihilated, creatures born of pure chaos and hunger. He wanted to ask how the school had captured them and where they were being kept.
But he found that he couldn't speak. He realized he was mute; the "Presence" of this senior lady was so absolute that it had physically locked his vocal cords.
Before any more words could be spoken, Shizuko simply vanished. She didn't walk away; she was just suddenly gone, leaving only the fading memory of her crushing aura.
The classroom remained silent for a very long time. Every student there had just received a taste of a tiny fraction of a senior's true power. They had walked in thinking they were the kings of their worlds, but Shizuko had shown them they were still just children.
One from All stood up slowly, rubbing his throat. He didn't just feel fear; he felt a fierce, burning surge of motivation. He looked at Levi, who seemed to have recovered faster than almost anyone else, competing in sheer resilience only with the white-haired boy. Levi calmly sheathed his sword, his face unreadable. One from All then looked at Valen, who was still curled on the floor, looking as though he had seen a ghost.
He turned to Elara and Riku. They were safe, but the damage was written all over them. Elara — whose Anym sensing was sharper than anyone else in their group — looked the most shaken of all. She hadn't felt Shizuko coming. Not even a flicker of warning. For someone who had never been caught off guard in her life, that silence was more terrifying than the sword itself.
"We need to train," One from All said. His voice had come back, low and steady.
Nobody argued.
They walked out of the classroom without another word, the afternoon light hitting them like something indifferent. One from All kept his eyes forward, but his mind was somewhere else entirely — turning over the image of Shizuko's two fingers on that blade, the casual, almost bored way she had unmade the room's confidence. He pressed his thumb into his palm, feeling the cold black void stir beneath his skin.
Not enough, it whispered back at him.
He already knew.
The second day of the wait was gone. One remained. And somewhere between the classroom and the residential block, without any of them saying it out loud, they all arrived at the same quiet decision.
They weren't going to sleep tonight.
End of Chapter 8