The entrance to Hell Class wasn't a door.
It was an elevator — one without buttons. You entered, and it took you. The academy called it The Drop.
Cain stood inside, the hum of the steel box surrounding him. No music. No light. Just a screen above his head that displayed a single word: DESCENDING.
When the doors opened, it felt like he'd dropped into another world.
---
The room wasn't a classroom. It was a coliseum.
Tiered seating encircled a marble arena. Massive digital screens hovered mid-air, displaying rankings, upcoming matches, and live camera feeds from training grounds.
The students were already inside — maybe forty of them. Every one of them had a presence that warped the room: glowing eyes, plasma-coated tattoos, floating swords orbiting their backs, gears embedded in their skin.
Cain was the only one wearing a standard uniform. No enhancements. No glow. No fanfare.
And yet — they noticed him.
---
> "That's the glitch," one boy muttered, arms folded, gold-lined cuffs on his wrists.
> "No Gear. Still took out Iris's team," a girl added, her voice robotic — filtered through a gas mask.
At the center of the coliseum stood a platform, where a hologram of an elderly man with mechanical eyes flickered into view.
> "Hell Class. Assembled."
The voice boomed through the arena.
> "New recruit. Cain Valen. No Gear. No bloodline. No backing. But... still here."
> "So we test him."
The platform rotated. A name appeared in bright red above it: "Ryke Draen — Ranked #9".
A tall boy with silver dreadlocks stepped forward. His body shimmered with a transparent armor field.
> "You don't belong here," Ryke said, grinning. "Let's fix that."
Cain sighed. "I just got here."
The floor split, revealing a combat pit. Cain dropped in. Ryke followed.
---
The fight began instantly.
Ryke's Gear activated — Graviton Shell — a personal gravity field that could bend space around his fists. Every punch crushed the air itself.
Cain dodged narrowly, feeling the pressure crack the stone around him. He didn't strike back. Not yet.
> "No Gear? Or just hiding it?" Ryke taunted.
Cain smirked. "Neither."
He slid under a punch and slammed his elbow into Ryke's gut. Nothing happened — the shell absorbed it.
Ryke countered, throwing Cain across the pit. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he hit the wall.
Above, the students laughed. One yawned. "Guess the glitch is overrated."
---
But Cain got up.
His hands trembled, not with fear — but with focus.
> "Let's try... copying it."
His pupils dilated unnaturally. Then, with a flicker, his body adjusted.
He charged — this time, not dodging, but mirroring Ryke's exact movement patterns.
His elbow struck again — this time, with the exact same pressure, timing, and angle Ryke had used. The shell faltered.
Then Cain twisted his foot — borrowing a movement he'd seen from Iris — and sent Ryke flying.
Gasps echoed from the seats.
> "...Did he just mimic his Gear technique?"
---
The fight was stopped. Cain didn't win by knockout — but he landed the final blow.
The screen updated.
Cain Valen – Rank #38
He was officially part of Hell Class.
But as the students whispered and plotted, Cain knew something had changed.
Not just in their eyes.
In his body.
> "That movement... it stayed," he whispered. "What the hell is happening to me?"