Rene Ashia starts his day waking up to the sound of his alarm clock. After a few minutes of idling he yawns before he decides to get up. He wasn’t much of a morning person and actually hates the cold morning air especially if it was raining. Today though, he was in luck to experience one of those days.
The hard rain could be heard pounding the glass window by his bed. It was morning but the outside was clouded in darkness.
So today is finally the day I attend that school is it…? Rene thought to himself as he fiddled with his chest length hair dangling down his side.
A bright light engulfed the room and *Bang*- the loud crackling sound of thunder shook the entire room.
“Hiyaaaah-!!!”
Rene jumped back in his bed. It wasn’t because he was startled by the sudden thunder strike, but more because of a certain something suddenly grabbing hold of him from underneath the bedcover.
Even as he moved back, he could clearly see that whatever was inside his sheets is now squirming around under it.
“I-is it a ghost…? No, there’s no way such a thing exists now right?”
Taking a deep breath, Rene decided to pull over his sheets. But just at the last moment, the thunder once again boomed causing him to jump up startled.
At that same time, a hand shot out from under the sheets dragging him into it.
“N-nooooo…! I’m not tasty please let me go!”
Rene covered his eyes thinking that he was still dreaming. But he knew it wasn’t as he shivered when something soft and cold wriggled on top his body.
“Rena…”
“Nnh…?”
Rene opened one of eyes to peek at the source of the voice. But since it was dark and he couldn’t see, Rene lifted off the sheets covering them.
Emerging from within, a girl with flowing silver hair was lying on top of him.
“E-eve…!? What are you doing in the boys dormitory…!?”
“Huh, huh, huh…? So sleepy…”
Eve rubbed her eyes yawning as she was still half asleep.
“Don’t fall asleep again!!!”
For the third time, lightning once again struck.
This time Eve’s eyes bolted open in shock and she buried herself onto Rene’s chest while trying to get underneath his shirt.
“W-wait what are you doing Eve!? If someone sees us like this it’ll be-”
Exactly as Rene was about to complete his words…*Clink*- the door towards their room opened.
“Good Morning! I hope the rain didn’t get to you…”
A girl had entered the room with a puzzled look on her face.
“T-this is…I can explain this!”
“Huhuu…Rena…take responsibility!”
“E-eve!? Stop saying things that will cause a misunderstanding. Anyway…stop touching me there…ahn…”
Rene let out a weird voice, he was particularly sensitive to touch and was ticklish but that was made things worst.
“I-i’m sorry for not entering without notice…! I knocked but the door wasn’t locked…! A-and anyway excuse me!!!”
The girl standing by the door quickly closed the door again with a flustered face.
“But, isn’t it supposed to be the part where you pat my head comforting me because of the terrifying thunder!?”
“Y-you haven’t changed at all haven’t you!!!”
Moments later after smacking Eve on the head, Rene scolded Eve as they quickly changed and prepared for school. It was then Rene noticed that he was actually in the girls’ dorm.
I’ll definitely complain to the headmaster for this and ask to immediately move. Rene clenched his fist as he thought to himself.
#
Helios Sanctum, 3rd year middle school. That was the name of the school and class Rene was in. It was a large school that incorporated from grade school all the way to high school and had a high prestige. It was completed around five years ago in order to draw in multiple gifted people into a single place. Built to nurture the minds of the future, it had very strict security. Entering Helios Sanctum would only mean you are exquisitely gifted or you were the child of an important figure. But Rene was neither. His grades are by far average, having no background status being an orphan, and the examiners themselves found no redeeming feature in him to even be worth mentioning.
“Fuaahn…hey…Rena~”
Eve yawned, her well-endowed chest despite her age, squeezed down onto Rene’s hand while she held onto it as they walked their way through the school yard.
“W-what are you doing Eve…? People will get the wrong idea like this morning…”
Rene quietly bent down and whispered to Eve.
“Muuu…well after all the time we’ve been separated don’t you miss me!? And plus it’s raining and there isn’t any problem with sharing an umbrella is there?”
Eve pouted as she yanked Rene down towards her.
“I-I do miss you but I’m a growing boy a-and t-their touching me…”
Noticing what Rene meant, Eve blushed.
“A-ah…! I…don’t mind if it’s you…”
Eve mumbled in a low voice, clenching onto Rene’s arm even tighter.
“Huh…?
“Nope…! Nothing at all….Rena~”
Eve teased with a smile.
“I told you so many times! Stop calling me Rena, my name is Rene! Call me Ren!”
“But Rena is cuter and it suits you more”
“W-wha-!? M-maybe I should just cut my hair short again…”
“NOOOO!!! You already promised me that you’d grow them with me.”
“W-well that was five years ago! What’ll happen if people won’t recognize me as a boy anymore…?”
From behind them, a dull splash of something falling could be heard.
“Y-you want to be a boy…!?”
“Oh Sephii…!? Are you okay…?”
Eve turned around and walked towards the girl lending out a hand.
Oh no…! It’s that girl from this morning. Just how much of the conversation did she hear? If word gets out that I’m a boy staying in girls’ dorm I’d be kicked out before I even attend the school in the first day! Rene thought to himself.
“G-g-g-good morning! Well I don’t really have a say in someone’s hobby…ahahaha…- So e-excuse me!”
The girl-Sephia quickly picked up her bag and dashed away despite being half drenched leaving her umbrella behind.
“Wait, what…? Hey your umbrella…!”
“Well…isn’t Sephii quite the odd one?”
“You’re one to talk…! Anyway hurry after her and give her the umbrella! Don’t you know her?”
“Nah…I’ll give it to her later. Sephia is in the same 6th year class I’m in. She’ll be alright…maybe”
“M-maybe!? Hey she could possibly be your friend! Why don’t you care a little?”
“Why should I? Could you possibly have a thing for her…?”
“O-of course not…! I didn’t even know her name!”
“Why are you looking away then…!? Hmm…I suppose now that you know her name could you possibly-”
“W-well I can’t help it! It’s not every day you see someone that cute roaming around. As a boy doesn’t that mean I’m particularly healthy?”
“…is that so…? Well I’ll just say we are dating then!”
“W-what-!? Do you want people to think I’m a pedophile or something? What’ll happen if i get kicked out of the school instead?”
“EH!? I don’t want that! Ugh…How about i forgive you…but…! Only if you agree to three conditions”
“Haaah…But what did I even do wrong…? Well alright then, it’s better than getting expelled on the first day-”
“One…! Let me call you Rena!”
“Can’t you just call me Ren…!?”
“No! It has to be Rena or I’ll say we’re dating”
“Urghh…o-okay…”
“Two…! You’re not allowed to date to any other girls aside from me!”
“W-whaa…? Okay…? It’s not like I was interested in dating others anyway.”
“Not interested in…? Ehem! I mean THREE!!! You aren’t allowed to cut your hair without my permission!”
“Well…it’s not like I’d cut it anyway…come to think of it, this hair is what reminded myself of you. It’s because you deliberately cut your beautiful hair just to grow out our hair equally together and forced me to make a promise that I’d feel bad if I cut it without your notice.”
Eve coughed and looked away.
“And last! Let me sleep with you again tonight!”
“No! You said three! Don’t think I didn’t count”
“Ehhh…!? But you’ve never complained back when we were in the orphanage!”
“T-this and that are different things! Back then, there was no other bed so it couldn’t be helped!”
I can’t tell her it’s because she’s grown in some ways, and it’s not like I’m planning on staying there once I resolve all this. Rene thought to himself as he started to walk faster.
“H-hey wait up! Why are leaving me behind!”
“Well if I don’t hurry, I’ll be late for the school assembly! Plus, your class is that way.”
The road had split into two, and Rene pointed in an adjacent direction to the main school building on the left side whereas he headed to the right while trying to keep his thoughts to himself.
“Aarrrghhhh!!! Why must you be older than meeeeee!”
Eve puffed her cheeks, swinging her hands up and down dissatisfied.
“Haah…Well there’s nothing I can do about that now can I…? Listen, I’ll come pick you up after school okay?”
“Uuu…! Don’t you go flirting on other girls behind my back okay!”
“Ahahaha…I won’t, I won’t…”
Rene waved towards Eve as she stomped her way to the main school building.
The morning bell rang as they parted ways.
#
Rene hurried into the glass covered auditorium as the rain poured even harder.
After entering, he was met by the curious looks of the other student body of middle years who had already been seated inside.
“G-good morning!”
Rene quickly greeted them, passing through as calmly as he could while trying to find an empty seat.
Wait…isn’t there something weird here going on…? Rene curiously thought to himself as he surveyed the surroundings.
In contrast to how large and prestigious the school was, the total amount of the whole middle school student body barely filled one of the three basketball courts that made up the auditorium. There were ten rows of ten, evenly split into three aisles. This meant that there were only one hundred students per grade, for a total of three hundred students.
Gripping his bag tightly, Rene scanned through the rows looking for a vacant seat all the while feeling anxious being the center of attention.
“Psstt…over here…”
At the same moment as the whispering sound calling out to him, Rene was surprised by a holographic screen that popped up at the edge of his sights.
Written on it was…
[Allow third party guidance? Yes / No]
“Eh…? What is this…? Yes I suppose?”
[Voice recognition confirmed…]
A screen that confirmed his decision flashed and disappeared, shortly after a bubble like arrow appeared pointing him towards the direction of someone waving their hand towards him. Sure enough where the arrow pointed, there was a vacant seat.
I don’t really know what’s going on, but for the mean time I should hurry and get seated… Rene thought to himself.
The guiding arrow was pretty convenient, because of it, Rene could quickly walk towards his destination without having to look up and see the stares of others.
“Over here!”
“Uwaahh…!”
Since Rene was only paying attention to the arrow instead of his surroundings, he was surprised when suddenly he was pulled into the row by quite a beautiful girl.
“T-thank you! Um…?”
“Oh! My name’s Flaire Amethyst. I’ve never seen you before…are you new here!?”
“Y-yeah…I’m Rene Ashia I just moved in last night. Nice to meet you…!”
“Ohhh…this is the first time I’ve heard of someone transferring in their third year. You must be pretty talented! So tell me tell me what’re you good at!? I love alchemy, and I can make powerful potions! Want to try some of potions? Hehehe…”
“Ahaha…well about that…”
“Well it can wait till later, the shows starting!”
The girl made a *Sshh*- gesture and winked towards him as the lights within the auditorium dimmed not long after their short exchange.
Hnngg…Flair is also pretty, but I guess a bit weird on the weird side…No no! What am I saying after she helped me find a seat. I-i should apologize for thinking that… Rene tensed up while thinking to himself.
[ATTENTION]
Large letters had appeared this time within his line of sight, and arrows smaller than the previous one guided him to look forward towards the stage set before the rows of student.
On the stage where everybody’s attention is now focused on, a person who could be perceived as one of the teachers had stood and started the opening ceremony.
To those who will be joining us this year, we welcome you to Helios Sanctum.
The sound of cheers could be heard from the crowd, but a notification which also appeared at the corner of Rene’s screen seemed to have quieted them.
As you all might have been told as you enrolled here, this school does not follow the standard curriculum. Rather than that, we have our own special unique ranking system… Every year, the one with the title of number one will be granted a wish. This wish can be anything! Fame, fortune, or perhaps your wildest dreams…?
Hearing the prize of having your gift granted made Rene feel rather uneasy, it probably wasn’t something easy to do, but even he had a wish he would’ve really like to have granted which also made him excited.
You are all here as the chosen one hundred of your generation. So during your three years here, we will help to bring out the best of your abilities. We believe that each of you possess a unique ability capable of competing with one another. Thus I hope you will live your life to the fullest here. Next will be a word from the Principle.
Just before anybody could raise their hand for applause, a bright light beamed from the back of the stage. The stage then magically transformed, easily catching the attention of the awestruck students including Rene.
As if watching one of those popular VR music concerts in the early 2000’s, out from nowhere, the figure of a woman who was apparently the headmaster appeared.
“W-whaa? Mama…!?”
Those words slipped Rene’s mouth as he quickly covered them. The girl beside him gave him a puzzled look but Rene pretended it was nothing.
No way…so my sudden admittance to such a high prestige school and being put in the same room as Eve was her doing? Rene shivered thinking of how a normal looking lady in a backwater orphanage could actually be someone this important.
Good Morning, my name is Elise Stacia. Once again, I congratulate those of you who have passed the tedious tests and joined our ranks. As some of you might already know I am your Principle and as such consider my words as the laws in this place…
The whole auditorium which had previously been teemed with excitement had suddenly become silent.
No objections…? Good! First of all, I would like to apologize for merely only projecting myself before you. I am currently away from the school grounds and as such please forgive me. But before we continue on, I’d love to introduce two special students this year…
“Eh…? What is this…!?” Rene’s face grew pale in shock.
“What’s wrong…? Are you sick? I have a potion if you want…?”
Could the two of you who received the notification please head over to the stage?
“This is…are you serious…?” Rene trembled as he got up.
The voices of surprised, excited, and confused students began to circulate.
“Is that Christopher Pier…?”
“For real!? It’s actually him!”
“Is he born with multiple gifts or something? That’s not fair, he is good looking and smart too! Just what is he?”
“But who is that other person…?”
“I don’t know, but she looks quite pretty. Maybe I can make her my girlfriend?”
Rene gritted his teeth as he silently walked towards the stage. I’ll show you…every one of you that makes fun of me…! The thought lingered in his mind but he didn’t let it show. Rene knows that words are meaningless, that’s why when he was notified of his sudden school transfer to a prestigious school he felt relieved. Because he finally got the chance to prove himself, he believes that hard work would always pay off, and what better way to prove it than here where the most talented are gathered.
Good! Now let me introduce you to the two who will create history! First off, the one who you all probably know as the genius behind the NIL technology that allows you to see virtual reality with your own eyes, Christopher Pier!
Christopher stepped forward and just stood there as the sounds of cheering and clapping greeted the mentioning of his name. In mere moments, the commotion quickly died down as Elise raised her hand silencing them.
...And next we have Rene Ashia!-
“Yayyy!!!” The shout of joy which Rene noticed originating from Flair could be heard as only she was the one who clapped her hands followed by a few others that were unconsciously led by her.
That girl…Flair was it? She really is something… Rene thought wanting to look away, confused between feeling embarrassed or happy about it.
Ehem…A challenger… With average abilities and with no talents whatsoever, what this child lacks he will overcome by hard work…!
The students were baffled, even Flair had a shocked look in her eyes. Silence once again took over the Auditorium.
What…? So I wasn’t brought here because I had talent…? Who are you kidding…? Rene gritted his teeth bearing his thought in frustration.
Now for the main event…This…! Will be the starting rankings of the year!
The background of the stage rippled and distorted, becoming a three side wall with the names and number of the ranks.
The names on the list would probably start with the newcomers at the bottom hundreds of the list, so there’s no reason to check them- Rene’s thought was cut short when he saw the name on the top of the list.
The number one is Christpher Pier…!? Tcih! Then what about me!? Keeping his thoughts to himself, Rene clenched his fists as he scanned through the list for his name.
Even the audience couldn’t stay put seeing Christopher’s name suddenly on top of the list, some were even voicing their discontent.
Wait…what is this? Why is Flair number 298!? A-and I’m dead last? Rene caught a glimpse Flair’s figure shrinking down in her seat.
Now, now I know that all of you must have been surprised by a newcomer holding the number one status. But as the creator of the NIL which all of you conveniently use, it’s only fair that in his one and only year here with his achievements, he is granted at least this much…
The voices of discontent once again broke out, but with a simple gesture from Elise they were quickly silenced again.
As my words are the laws of this place, I will allow for one duel! A winner takes all challenge! If you are capable of besting Christopher in a challenge of your choice, you will lead an early start as the number one…but should you lose! Your current rank will be exchanged with that of Rene. Any volunteers…?
The people who were previously discontent are now showing faces of hesitation.
Is there something about the ranking system…? Or is it about pride…? There shouldn’t be anything to lose from a single duel right…? Rene’s thought was immediately answered.
As you all know…the penalty of being the last is the cut of all your financial support from our facilities. Which means, you will have to work hard to gain our trust in your abilities…this is the last call, any volunteers!?
The auditorium was immediately silent. Everyone here has a goal in mind; they can’t afford to lose the support in achieving their dreams. All of them, except for one…
“I’ll do it! Because I’ll be the one to show you, that talent is nothing compared to hard work!”
Rene stepped forward and raised his fist up high.
“Well, it’s good that you don’t have anything to lose… but against a little girl, it’ll be rude of me as a man to go all out. So as a handicap, I’ll only be using my left hand…-”
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE GIRL…! I’ll make you regret saying those words!” Rene snapped back.
“Well for starters, I’ll be updating combat data for everyone’s NIL here. If you can land even a hit on me, it’ll be your win and I’ll acknowledge whatever you say. So how about it…?”
Christopher gestured his hands somewhat manipulating an invisible device. Moments later a notification appeared at the corner of Rene and the other’s sight.
[Updating Combat Sequence….Combat mode implemented]
“W-what…?” Rene felt slightly confused by what he is seeing.
Alright, I will now acknowledge this duel. Let this be a lesson for all of you who will attempt to challenge the number one before you.
“Ready when you are…” Christopher sneered.
[Warning, target has initialized combat mode. Activate combat mode? Yes/No]
“Ghghh…No I won’t use combat mode! I’ll beat you at your own game fair and square!!!” Rene gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so strongly that it ached.
If there was something that Rene was good at, it would be fighting. To avoid being bullied and to fight back and protect Eve, Rene had diligently practiced multiple martial arts refining his body over the years.
I won’t lose to a makeshift technology! Rene thought as he took up a stance dedicated for a quick finish.
Rene channeled all his energy into his legs. The distance between him and Christopher was a mere ten meters, he focused himself into thinking he was a bullet. He needed more speed, more strength in his legs. A serene silence overcame his mind. He closed his eyes and felt it. He was ready, he was more than ready. Feeling as if he became one with the wind, he pulled the trigger.
The stage cracked under Rene’s foot as he launched himself. To the audience, it would seem as if Rene had somewhat disappeared.
Forgive me if I break your bones, but this will end it! In the slow motion world only visible by Rene, he positioned his knee forward. Relying on the strength of his legs to knock Christopher out, Rene prepared himself to also receive the impact from colliding.
But, his legs never reached Christopher. Instead, to his shock, a dull pain hit his back as he was knocked off course and tumbled down off stage. Unable to stop himself, he crashed into the glass walls of the Auditorium and out into the school yard. The heavy rain poured down on his pitiful form covered in wounds.
“So…this is the difference between talent and…hard…work…” Rene gasped as he coughed out blood. His consciousness slowly faded away.
“Rene…!”
Before passing out, Rene saw a figure of someone running towards him. Is that Flair…? He thought before the last of his consciousness left him.
#
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