Weakest Talent

"Huh?"

"Wait what?"

"That's the weakest student in our school? How?" 

The new kids were stunned by this information. If that 2nd year from earlier was their weakest student, how strong would the 3rd years be?

Seeing the shocked expressions on their juniors' faces, the seniors immediately guessed what they were thinking and shook their heads in dismay.

"No no, it's not what you think. Although I did say that Ivan was the weakest student in this school. I meant that his magical talents were the weakest, not his combat ability. If we were to judge him based on combat talents, Ivan would've been a genius! Not even the third years can beat him."

"So, strongest in physical combat but weakest in magical talent? Then, where did that iron staff come from? Wasn't that Metal Manipulation Magic?"

"You guys are overthinking it! Ivan Chaos is manaless. His mana veins were crippled since birth. What Ivan used previously was a martial art, not magic. Without the slightest bit of mana flowing in him, it wouldn't be a surprise why he's considered the weakest in terms of magical talent…" 

Another senior said. "This is a world where magic reigns supreme after all."

"Oh, we get it… Hold up, if he's manaless and is unable to use magic at all, how did he get accepted into the school last year?"

"That…I don't want to talk about it." The seniors present couldn't help but cover their faces in shame. 

From the looks of it, it seems as though Ivan's admission had something to do with these people and made them feel shame for it.

Seeing their seniors' reaction to their question, the new kids could more or less figure something's up between them and the manaless boy. 

And since they were young children, their ability to imagine things was…extreme.

But before their young minds could run wild, a white-haired 3rd year who had accidentally heard the conversation came over and revealed the truth.

It turns out, it was their seniors who looked down on Ivan and challenged him to a duel. If Ivan won, they'd call him father while the latter would be accepted into the school.

But if Ivan lost, he'd have to crawl around the school 10 times before he could be accepted into the school.

"Ah…we were arrogant back then and thought we'd easily win against a person who can't use magic. But boy were we wrong!" Seeing that their dark past has come to light, the seniors could only keep their embarrassment in their hearts as they explained their end of the story.

"Although Ivan was never trained in proper martial arts, his senses were incredibly sharp as he managed to dodge all of our spells. And since we were just newbies who learned how to wield basic magic from our parents back then, it took us an incredible amount of time to cast just one spell, provided we were free from all distractions in the first place."

"Alas, just seconds after Ivan dodged our first round of barrages, he used some mystifying movement to close the distance before appearing in front of us with a wooden staff. Since he was manaless and couldn't use magic, he flung sand in our eyes before giving each of us a hard bonk on our heads."

"Woah! That's….awesome!"

"Incredible! A non-wizard managed to beat wizard apprentices with ease!"

"Amazing, I want to just be like Ivan!"

Hearing how the manaless young boy beat down their seniors with ease, they were instantly fascinated and intrigued by this 2nd year senior.

"Ivan Chaos…the strongest wizard apprentice who can't use magic."

1 year later…

Basic Elementary School Gymnasium

_______________________________

Name: Ivan Chaos

Age: 10

School: Basic Elementary School

______________________________

Mana: 0

Magical Talent: 0

Crafting Talent: 0

Physical Talent: 10

______________________________

Overall Talent: 3.33

Overall Score: F-rank

______________________________

When the results of his most recent aptitude test appeared on the holographic screen, Ivan couldn't help but feel dejected as he felt his life becoming bleak with nothing to live for.

"Well son, even after 3 long years of hard work, only your physical talent has improved. Haiz…even if I wanted to help you, your mana veins being crippled makes your situation too hard to solve." Headmaster Na sighed. 

The old man also felt dejected when he saw his student's result but couldn't do anything about it. 

The current world of magic was a scientific one. 

It was an era of peace and prosperity, even for the E-ranks and F-ranks…as long as their magical talent was 1 and above.

As long as people have mana, becoming a wizard is not impossible.

Having crippled mana veins since birth, it was no wonder why Ivan's magical talent was zero. 

Without magical talent, one's crafting talent would also be nonexistent since the current scientific era of magic required mana to operate its machines.

Since the day Headmaster Na personally accepted the admission of this student, Ivan had been constantly surprising him with miracles.

Despite having no magical talent in a school made for future wizards, Ivan had successfully become the strongest student through his sheer willpower and efforts.