A few minutes later, the door opened again. This time, there was no dramatic entrance or loud complaining. A guy stepped in with a steady, quiet gait. He looked remarkably calm, as if he were walking through a library rather than the most competitive classroom in the country.
Without a word to the girl fuming in the front row or the teacher snoring at the desk, he moved to the second row. He chose the seat near the window, right in front of Elphyete's column.
He sat down, adjusted his uniform, and immediately pulled a thick, leather-bound book from his bag. Within seconds, he was lost in the pages, his expression unreadable. He didn't look up, didn't scan the room, and didn't seem to care about the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.
The contrast was striking: the girl in the front was like a flickering flame of impatience, while this guy was as still as deep water. We were still hidden in the back row, watching the "Ten Seats" fill up one by one with the most dangerous teenagers in the world.
The doors swung open again, and the atmosphere in the room shifted from cold tension to high-energy chaos.
A Beastkin girl bounced into the room, her long bunny ears twitching with every step. Despite her cheerful expression, the heavy, double-headed spear gripped in her hand told a different story. She hummed a little tune, completely unfazed by the sleeping teacher or the "Queen" in the front row, and took a seat in the second row, just a few desks away from the quiet bookworm.
Hot on her heels was a guy who radiated a chilling, dark energy. He looked human at first glance, but a single, sharp black horn jutted from the center of his forehead. His pupils were a piercing, blood-red, scanning the room with a predatory sharpness. He didn't say a word, simply leaning against the wall for a moment before claiming a seat.
Finally, the floor groaned under the weight of a student clad in full, gleaming iron knight armor. You couldn't even see a sliver of skin through the visor. The "Iron Knight" marched to the front row and sat on the window side, right next to the confident girl. The sound of metal clanking against the wooden chair was like a final exclamation point.
The front and middle rows were now a gauntlet of elite power. And there we were, the three "unknowns," watching it all from the back.
Ten minutes remained. The tension in the room was so thick it felt like a physical weight. Suddenly, the sunlight streaming through the tall windows was blocked by two figures standing on the balcony ledge outside.
They didn't use the door. They stood there for a moment, their backs to the room, silhouettes framed by the blinding morning sun. The light reflected off their uniforms, making it impossible to see their faces, but their presence was undeniable.
With synchronized, effortless movements, they stepped into the classroom. Without a word, one took the last remaining seat in the second row, while the other moved to the front row, completing the semi-circle of elites.
The Ten Stars of Class A1 were finally gathered.
I looked around. To my left, Elphyete was practically trying to shrink into her seat. To my right, Euphyne was smirking, his eyes darting from one powerful student to the next as if he were sizing up his future rivals. In the front, the sleeping teacher let out one final, loud snore, and the "Queen" in the front row tapped her foot impatiently, her eyes finally flickering toward the back of the room where we sat.
The clock on the wall struck the hour. The silence was deafening.
The tension finally snapped. The bunny-eared girl gripped her spear, her playful demeanor vanishing as she bared her teeth at the girl in the front row. The "Queen" didn't flinch; she stood up, her hand glowing with a sharp, crackling mana. They were screaming at each other, their voices echoing off the marble walls as they prepared to turn the classroom into a battlefield.
Then, the world changed.
In a heartbeat, the air turned a heavy, bruised purple. The floor beneath our boots began to shudder with a violent, rhythmic vibration that made my teeth ache. A wave of pure, primal fear washed over us—the kind of fear you feel when a predator is staring at the back of your neck.
Even Euphyne froze. Elphyete grabbed my arm, her knuckles white.
The teacher didn't even open his eyes. He just let out a soft, annoyed breath and muttered a single word:
"Shut."
The world went dead. Not just quiet—the very concept of sound vanished. The girls were still shouting, their mouths moving, but nothing came out. The shaking stopped. The purple mist settled like lead on the floor. We were trapped in a vacuum of absolute silence for five agonizing seconds.
The teacher finally sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. "Ok," he whispered.
The sound rushed back into the room like a physical blow. The two girls collapsed back into their seats, gasping for air, their faces pale.
"Class is in session," the teacher said, his voice lazy once again. "Try not to break my floor. I just had it polished."
The teacher leaned back in his chair, tapping a pencil against his chin as he surveyed the ten of us. The "Queen" was still catching her breath, and the Bunny-girl was gripping her spear so hard her knuckles were white.
"Mmm... nice and quiet," he murmured, a lazy smirk playing on his lips. "Class, today is simple. You're going to stand up, come to the front, and present yourselves. Tell us who you are and why you're taking up space in my room."
He paused, his eyes glinting behind his glasses.
"And behave," he added softly. "If any of you decide to get... wild... I won't hesitate."
To drive the point home, the air flickered purple again. The ground gave a violent, two-second lurch that nearly sent the knight in the front row sliding off his chair. Then, just as quickly, it vanished.
"Understand?"
A chorus of "Yes, sir" and "Understood" rippled through the room. Even Euphyne looked serious for once.
"Good," the teacher said, gesturing to the front row. "Let's start from the window and move back. Knight-y, you're up first."
The armored student stood up. The heavy clank-clank of his boots echoed through the room like a hammer on an anvil. He didn't remove his helmet. His voice came out muffled and mechanical, echoing through the iron visor.
"My name is Zane," he stated flatly. "Species: Human. Age: 16. My affinity is Mech Magic; I can manifest and pilot my own suit of magical armor. I also specialize in Barrier Magic for squad-level protection."
He gave a stiff nod and sat back down. Short, professional, and efficient.
Then, the mood shifted instantly. The guy with the single horn and red pupils practically bounded to the front of the room. He was grinning from ear to ear, waving his hands as if he were at a party instead of a high-stakes elite class.
"Yohooo!" he chirped, leaning against the teacher's desk. "I'm Lucian! Species: Demon. I'm sixteen too! My main thing is Seal Magic—I can lock your mana away if you're not careful. I also have Bond Magic, which lets me borrow power from all my friends and stack it onto one person... though it drains ninety percent of my mana, so it's a real 'all-or-nothing' move! Oh, and I use Lightning Magic for a speed boost! Hahaha! That's all. Hope we can all be friends!"
He walked back to his seat, still grinning, but a cold shiver ran through the room. A Demon who can seal magic and channel the power of others is a terrifying teammate—and an even worse enemy.
The "Queen" in the front row stood up slowly, smoothed out her uniform, and looked at the class as if she were inspecting her subjects.
"My name is Vela," she said, her voice cold and sharp. "Human, age sixteen. I specialize in Space Magic. I can manipulate the distance between points and distort the space around me. I also use Enhance Magic to reinforce my physical and magical output. Don't get in my way."
She sat down without waiting for a reaction. Next, the bunny-eared girl practically leaped to the front, spinning her spear with a blur of speed that whistled through the air.
"Heyaa! I'm Aria!" she chirped, her ears flopping happily. "I'm sixteen and a Beastkin, so I don't actually use 'magic' like you guys. I'm just extremely strong and skilled enough to handle any weapon you throw at me. And I absolutely love to fight! Hehehe!"
She winked at the room and bounced back to her seat. Then, the quiet guy in the second row—the bookworm—stood up. He didn't even look away from his book as he walked to the front. He spoke so quietly we had to lean in to hear him.
"Celdrich," he muttered. "Human. I use Grimoire Magic. Anything I write in my book becomes reality. I also have Copy Magic."
He turned and sat back down before anyone could process the fact that he basically just admitted to being able to rewrite the world.
Before the teacher could even call for the next student, the two figures from the window moved in perfect unison. They stood at the front, the sunlight catching their silver-blonde hair and the sharp points of their ears. They looked like statues carved from marble.
"We are the Elf Twins," the girl on the left said, her voice like ringing crystal. "Sixteen years old. I am Elfhine, and this is my brother, Elfrich."
Elfrich stepped forward, his eyes glowing with an unstable, white light. "I possess Overdrive Magic," he said bluntly. "I can vent my pure mana at a 100% output blast. It only lasts five seconds before I'm empty, but in those five seconds, I can erase almost anything. To compensate, I have Switch Health. If I am broken and drained, I can force a swap with my opponent. I take their vitality and mana; they take my injuries and exhaustion."
The room went cold. That meant beating him only made him stronger.
Elfhine stepped up beside him, a predatory smile on her face. "And I use Drain Magic. I can strip the mana from anyone in my vicinity. I don't just take it for myself, though—I can pass that stolen power to my brother, or anyone else I choose."
They turned as one and walked back to their seats. They were a closed circuit—one drains the enemy, the other blasts them, and if anything goes wrong, they simply swap their pain for your health.