Start of the school year

On a dark cold night when most people were asleep under their warm duvets, a young blonde-haired boy was laying on the ground as he gave the man in front of him a cold stare.

The bruises on his small body were proof of his defeat against his opponent, or rather his lack of strength. If only he was able to magic just like the man in front of him, he would have been able to protect his sister from the mysterious kidnapper.

"Leave my sister alone!" Soma Yasushi glared at the man standing in front of him. His parents were murdered when he was only a year old, so his memory of them was blurry. His younger sister, Ayano, was the only family member he had.

The thing in front of him was not a human. It was a demon with two horns on its blonde hair and two dark wings on its back. His red eyes glowed in the dark.

With an amused voice, he said, "If you give me 1,000,000,000 gold coins, I might consider it. Otherwise, forget about it. You are too weak to fight against me, nobody can help you out, not even the so-called Ultra-class mage from human land. But you can rest assured that I will not harm her. Find me at the Demons' land when you have gathered enough money. Even though I doubt you will..."

After this, a black portal appeared just beside him as the demon walked toward it with the unconscious blonde-haired girl in his arms.

In an instant, after they have entered the portal, it immediately closed itself before Soma Yasushi was able to follow them.

"Fuck!" he pounded the ground, despite his bloody hands, his guilt did not allow him to stop.

He couldn't do anything when his only family member was taken away just in front of him. If only he was stronger... he would have been able to protect her.

Power is everything. The weak are stepped on by the strong. Just like what happened today...

That day, the experience of powerlessness awakened something in Soma Yasushi. From that moment, he was not a boy who couldn't use magic anymore. No, he gained the potential to become a powerful mage. It was a change destined to greatly affect the world.

---

In Escana, the Pleasant Grove Academy was among the best magician schools in the country as it even accepted students from other countries who are part of The Confederation of Guardians which was an alliance composed of many countries. The objective was to gather everyone's strength to defend their lands against monsters from the outside world and other enemies' alliances.

With 600 square miles available, the students had everything they needed inside the academy. It was a city in itself.

The large restricted Redwood Wood belonging to the school was house to monsters whose function was to serve as exercises for students.

Anyone who graduated from the academy had a 100% success rate of joining one of the five mage guilds that are part of The Confederation of Guardians alliance.

This was thanks to the academy's founder, Masuda Takayuki, an Ultra-class mage who made use of his knowledge and talent to nurture future mages. Although very few important people had seen his face, his name was well-known among the public.

But to join such a prestigious academy, one had to possess the ability to use magic which already excluded almost all of the population as a normal person at birth only had a 0.0001% chance of becoming a mage. And the ratio of having a high potential for joining the academy was even lower. However, even with that low ratio, the school received around 600,000 applicants each year. And only 10,000 were admitted.

After that, one's magic potential would be tested with many harsh tests. If a person's talent was deemed too low, he would be rejected.

For this reason, mages were respected figures. And those that belonged to mage guilds were akin to gods for normal people as they were the best of the best.

Because of their low numbers, just like other countries, Escana sent 10% of its GDP each year to The Confederation of Guardians alliance for employing mages to defend not only against enemy countries but also against magical beasts roaming outside of humans' land.

---

Start of the school year

Early in the morning, a crowd of students wearing the school uniform which consisted of a red blazer and black pants could be seen stepping into the academy entrance gate. Some had happy expressions on their faces, while others looked anxious or had dark circles beneath their eyes after a nightless night.

But their current emotions were understandable, today was a special day for the new students.

It was the start of their journey to becoming great mages and making their family proud, the start of a battle of survival. Indeed, they would be constantly tested by the school, and those who failed would be dismissed from their status as students.

But it was also from then on that they were forbidden from leaving the academy except for special reasons. Now, they were on their own.

Because of the fear of being alone, the majority of people have already started making friends, exchanging information about the school, etc...

They were going to be stuck for a long time at school anyway.

"My elemental magic is water. What about you?" A boy said to his new friend.

"Mine is fire."

"Oh, you're so lucky! It's the best elemental magic!"

"No, if I am not wrong, there are ice, lightning, and darkness above my element." his friend replied.

"Yeah, but they are so rare that it's as if they were nonexistent-"

"Wait, look at that guy's uniform!"

"Isn't that the uniform for crazy talented students who are in the elite class?!"

Each class was sorted by the students' talent.

Z-class was for those with the weakest talents, climbing the ladders until the elite A-class which was composed of the most talented students. On average, a normal class would have 400 students, but the A-class only had 20 students. The teachers sorted the students by their potential so that they would be able to integrate with others and feel at ease.

Walking alongside the crowd of new students was Soma Yasushi. His black blazer contrasted with others' uniforms, making him stand out from everyone.

Ignoring the gazes from other people, he continued on his way.

The only reason he bothered himself to enter the elite A-class was that since mages were generally people born from mages because they had a much higher chance of being able to use magic, those from the elite class must be crazy rich. Otherwise, he would rather stay low-profile until his graduation.

Many would dream of being popular, but to him, it was just an annoying status that bring bothersome things to do as an elite student, disturbing his peace.