The International Magic School didn't have standard gyms or grassy courtyards for practice. Instead, Instructor Selene led the sixty-seven survivors deep beneath the main building into the Obsidian Hollow.
The air down here was different—colder, and so saturated with the dampening property of the stone that One from All felt his own Anym buzzing beneath his skin, trying to push back against the pressure. The walls weren't just polished; they were reinforced with Null-Stone veins, creating an environment where even a catastrophic magical failure would be contained within the room.
"Find a station," Selene commanded, her voice echoing sharply. "The theory of the stones is over. Now, we see if you can survive their application."
At the center of the hall stood several pedestals, each holding a raw chunk of Onsaiden Steel. To the average person, it looked like scrap metal, but to these students, it was the only thing that could handle their output.
"Your task is simple," Selene continued, walking between the rows. "Infuse the Onsaiden with your Anym. If the metal glows, you have control. If it cracks, your power is jagged and inefficient. If it melts... you are a danger to yourself and everyone around you."
One from All took his place, feeling Elara and Riku move to the stations beside him. Elara looked excited, her red hair practically sparking, while Riku looked like he wanted to vanish into the floor.
Further down the line, Valen was already at work. The noble boy didn't just infuse the metal; he forced his golden, light-based Anym into the Onsaiden with a flare of arrogance. The metal turned a brilliant, blinding white. He looked over at One from All, a sneer twisting his face.
"Don't hurt yourself, commoner," Valen mocked, his voice carrying through the hall. "Onsaiden doesn't respond well to 'waste' energy. You'll likely just dull the stone."
One from All didn't respond. He didn't even look at Valen. Instead, he reached out and placed a single finger on the cold surface of the Onsaiden Steel.
He didn't "push" his power. He simply opened the void.
The pure black Anym didn't flow into the metal—it seemed to be pulled in, as if the Onsaiden were thirsty for it. In an instant, the dark, light-absorbing energy coated the metal. It didn't glow like Valen's; it did the opposite. The pedestal seemed to disappear into a pocket of absolute darkness, a silhouette of a rock that refused to reflect any light from the room.
The silence that followed was heavy.
Instructor Selene stopped in her tracks. She walked toward One from All's station, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. She reached out a gloved hand, hovering it just an inch from the black-coated metal.
"You aren't just infusing it," she whispered, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. "You're making it part of your own field."
She turned to the rest of the class, her expression hardening. "Look at this. Most of you are trying to 'paint' the metal with your power. You are fighting the stone. This student is treating the stone as an extension of his own soul. That is the difference between a mage and an abnormality."
Valen's face turned a deep, angry red. To be compared unfavorably to a nameless "commoner" in front of the whole class was a humiliation he couldn't swallow. His golden aura flared dangerously, the Onsaiden at his station beginning to emit a high-pitched, straining whine.
"It's just a trick!" Valen snapped, stepping toward One from All. "Anyone can hide behind shadows. Let's see how that 'void' handles a real strike."
He didn't wait for Selene to give permission. In a world of "World Destroyers," rules were often just suggestions until someone enforced them. Valen raised his hand, a concentrated bolt of golden kinetic force forming at his fingertips—a high-level noble spell designed to shatter armor.
He fired.
The bolt was fast, a streak of light that hissed through the air. One from All didn't move. He didn't even lift his hand from the Onsaiden.
As the golden bolt hit his field, the pure black Anym simply... opened. The light wasn't blocked; it was eaten. The golden energy hit the black void around One from All and vanished instantly, neutralized by the sheer density of his absorbing nature.
One from All finally turned his head, his teeth-only smile widening as he looked Valen in the eye.
"Is that all?" he asked softly.
Valen staggered back, his eyes wide with a sudden, primal fear. He had put everything into that strike, and it had been erased as if it never existed.
Before the conflict could escalate, the temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees.
A shadow moved at the edge of the Hollow. One of the two anomalies—the students who had stood tall even under Kageyama's gaze—was leaning against a pillar, watching the scene with bored, cold eyes. He was a tall, pale boy with hair as white as Null-Stone, and his presence alone made the Obsidian walls seem to hum in warning.
"Enough," the white-haired boy said. His voice was like ice cracking. "You're embarrassing the class, Valen. If you want to die, do it on your own time. Don't waste the Instructor's."
Selene didn't stop the boy from speaking. Even she seemed to give him a wide berth.
One from All felt his Anym flare in response to him. This was the world development he had been waiting for. The school wasn't just a place to learn; it was a hierarchy of monsters, and he had just officially stepped onto the ladder.
He pulled his hand back, the black energy retreating into his skin. The Onsaiden Steel on his pedestal was now ice-cold to the touch, its structural integrity perfectly preserved, while Valen's was cracked and glowing with heat.
"Class dismissed," Selene said, though her eyes remained on One from All as he walked away. "The first evaluation is in three days. Pray you're ready."
One from All walked out of the Hollow, Elara and Riku trailing behind him in a stunned silence. He wasn't thinking about Valen. He was thinking about the white-haired boy.
End of chapter 5