The arena fell silent as Raze Arcwell walked to the center of the platform.
He had no aura.
No Nexas glow.
No supernatural presence.
Just calm eyes…
…and two short swords at his waist.
Students whispered instantly.
"He's really going next?"
"He has no ability—he'll get destroyed."
"What's he going to do? Stab the robots with knives?"
But when Raze drew his blades—
The entire room froze.
The metal shimmered with a strange depth, like liquid silver mixed with starlight.
Students inhaled sharply.
"Wait—those aren't normal blades…"
"That sheen… is that Abyss Alloy!?"
"No way! Even a tiny piece costs billions of Necrons!"
Even the teachers reacted immediately.
Instructor Vale stood up halfway.
"Arcwell… you actually let him bring those into a student exam…?"
Professor Celeste Ardyn narrowed her eyes, voice low.
"Abyss Alloy… the metal people write treaties over."
Raze simply took his stance, unfazed.
He knew their true name.
Astral Edges.
3… 2… 1… START!
The robots charged.
⭐ The Battle Begins
Two 5-meter Academy Combat Units launched toward him.
These were elite training machines—used to test the strongest hero candidates.
They adapted automatically to their opponent's movements.
For Raze—
High-Speed Response Mode.
He barely sidestepped the first punch—
BOOOM!
The floor cracked where he'd been standing.
He crossed his blades to block a second strike—
CLANG—!!
The impact rattled his bones painfully.
One more direct block like that… and my arms will crack.
The robots kept attacking.
Raze rolled aside, slashing at a leg joint—
SHNK!
But the blade only cut halfway.
Not because the sword couldn't—
but because Raze hadn't fully committed.
He hissed softly.
No holding back, then.
⭐ A Dangerous Hit
The second robot lunged from behind.
Raze reacted a moment too late.
THUD—!!
Its fist skimmed his ribs.
Pain shot through his side.
He stumbled.
Students gasped.
"He got hit!"
"Is he okay!?"
Roger stood up.
Bam clenched his fists.
Astra leaned slightly forward, eyes sharp.
Raze steadied his breathing.
I won't lose.
His thumb brushed a small switch on the hilt of his blade.
—click.
A faint vibration buzzed through the metal.
A sharp white glow traced along the edge.
The room froze again.
⭐ Weapon Ability Revealed — The Vibration Edge
Instructors reacted instantly.
Instructor Vale's voice cracked slightly.
"A Vibration Edge…!? In a first-year's hands!?"
Another teacher whispered, stunned:
"Abyss Alloy and a vibration core…
That's craftsmanship on Kael Forgebound's level…"
Students erupted.
"Abyss Alloy with vibration mode!?"
"That blade could cut through combat armor like paper!"
"That weapon alone is worth more than this entire field!"
Abyss Alloy was more rumor than reality to most of them.
But whatever those blades were made of… everyone could feel it—
They were dangerous.
⭐ Forged by a Legend
As the blade hummed, a memory surfaced in Raze's mind.
The sound of hammer on metal.
The heat of a secluded forge.
Kael Forgebound, the greatest blacksmith alive.
He refused kings.
He rejected nations.
He turned away S-rank heroes.
But when he saw Raze's footwork, his posture, his relentless training—
Kael finally nodded.
"You have no Nexas.
But you have the heart of a warrior."
Most of the Abyss Alloy fragment delivered to the Arcwell estate years ago—
a fragment of the fallen star itself—
had been entrusted to Kael.
From that, he forged these twin short swords:
Balanced perfectly for dual-wielding.
Edges enhanced by a micro vibration core.
Blades designed not for show—
—but for survival.
"If you lose focus," Kael had warned,
"you will die by your own sword."
Raze had trained every day since.
And today—
for the first time—
he unleashed their true power.
⭐ The Turning Point
The robots charged again.
Raze sprinted forward, sliding under the first robot—
and slashed upward with the activated blade.
WHRRR—SHAAAAK!!
The entire leg detached in a single, clean slice.
The robot crashed.
The class erupted in chaos.
"NO WAY!!"
"He cut through academy steel like it was nothing!!"
"That's impossible!"
Professor Ardyn's eyes sharpened.
"…he's controlling a Vibration Edge perfectly. At sixteen."
The second robot attacked rapidly.
Raze parried—
CLANG—!!
The vibration shook his arm violently. He winced.
He twisted around the robot's strike, activated his second blade—
click—WHRRR—
And unleashed a flawless triple-slash.
SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!
Each cut sliced through metal joints with terrifying ease.
Raze ran up its arm—
launched himself—
—and delivered a spinning decapitation strike.
KRAAANG!!
The head fell.
The body crashed beside its partner.
⭐ Victory
Silence.
Then—
ROAAAAAAR!!
"He won!!"
"He beat BOTH robots without powers!!"
"That swordsmanship… insane!"
Bam pumped his fist.
Roger screamed with pride.
Astra smiled faintly.
The teachers remained quiet—
not out of disappointment—
but because they had just witnessed something terrifyingly rare.
Professor Ardyn murmured:
"A powerless boy…
wielding blades like that with perfect control.
Raze Arcwell…
you may become the most dangerous of them all."
Raze sheathed his swords, breathing heavily.
His ribs hurt.
His arms trembled.
Sweat dripped down his jaw.
But he stood proud.
He looked at the fallen giants and whispered:
"…This is just the beginning."