*Something slammed into my head from the sky.*
"Ouch!" I caught it before it hit the ground.
A glowing green orb, medium-sized, covered in gale patterns. The second I stared at it, my world flipped. Head, eyes, body, bones—everything went upside down. I was floating in a void. Jade green light everywhere, like I was inside the damn orb.
Let me rewind.
I'm Denki Kusukube. Seventh-ranked royal of the Kusukube clan in Wind Tempest City, the City of Air.
Problem is, I'm the only noble alive who can't bend air.
Mother Nature blessed this land with fire, water, earth, and air. People built cities based on their element. My parents say they're proud of me. They're lying. How do you brag about a wind noble with no wind?
I don't care. Let them mock me. I'm still the fastest in Wind Tempest Academy. Speed's the only thing I have, and nobody's taking that from me.
*7 a.m., March 15th.* Gale Race day. I had to win.
I rushed to school. Mom didn't notice I left. Dad was still asleep. I got to the gate too early and waited for the gatekeeper. Once I was in, I went to class and snoozed until I woke up to my rival's face.
Rato. Sitting next to me with that dull, serious, bullshit expression.
"Don't you ever smile, Rato?" I asked.
"What's the use of smiling and acting nonchalant like you, fool?"
I stood. "Say that to my face, bastard."
He got up, right in my face. "Don't start something you can't finish, lower Royal class dimwit."
Yeah. My family's rank 7. Anything below top 5 is "low class." No fancy palace. No private swimming pool like his.
"Oh, so we're suddenly lower than you because of your gold palace?" I snapped. "You're all just weak rich scums."
"Take that back!" Rato shouted.
"Make me!"
"What's going on here, guys?" Jukaki Jaro, our class head, cut in as more students entered.
"Nothing, Jaro," I said. "Just this low life explaining how his family got all that luxury."
"You dimwit! I never said that! How dare you falsely accuse me!" Rato yelled.
"Enough," Jaro said. "More students are here. Don't cause a commotion."
At the end of class, the head teacher announced the Gale Race reps: Sato Kushki, Rima Tasha, Rato Zaurkra… and Denki Kusukube.
I grinned. I always get picked. Speed is my pride.
School ended. On my way home, I heard a strange noise in a nearby alley. Not my business. Then rain started.
"Bullshit," I muttered. I had to run before it got heavier.
That's when the orb hit me.
And now I'm here. Floating in green light. No ground. No sky. Just void.
Then a voice echoed: "Hush, boy, and listen to your fate."
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