'The Hope of Humanity' – a title that could be a heavy burden for anyone.
This was the nickname Dren Valemont had to carry as the grandson of Nathan Valemont, the man who saved humanity from destruction.
"Hey Gary, how are you? Nervous about the first day of class?"
"Of course not, don't be stupid Luck. On the contrary, I couldn't sleep at night because I was so anxious for this day to come."
"You just wanted to show off how bright your orb is, right? Well, let me tell you it's not brighter than mine."
"Want to bet?"
"Hey look, wait, isn't that Dren Valemont?"
Luck pointed toward the door of the gigantic classroom where they were preparing to start class. Students were still entering, and Dren could be seen among them.
"Where? You must be joking, because I don't see him."
Gary hadn't spotted him yet, as the boy had entered wearing a hood.
"There, idiot, look closely."
Luck moved his friend's head to face exactly where Dren was sitting.
"Wow! You're right! That's incredible! Of all the classes he could be in, he's in ours. That's fascinating! We should become his friends and get popular! But why is he covering his face?"
"Are you an idiot or what?! Obviously to be left alone! If people recognize him, they wouldn't leave him in peace!"
"Oh right, you're absolutely right."
Dren, sitting just a few seats away, looked up only to see Gary and Luck waving at him.
'You've got to be kidding... My plan to go unnoticed just completely failed,' thought Dren as he slumped in his chair.
"Alright students, everyone take your seats so class can begin quickly," said the professor as he placed his hand on his desk and adjusted his glasses with the other.
Obeying the order, each student sat in their respective seats.
'Class is about to start... I hope this ends as quickly as possible so I can go home.'
"Well students, my name is Dwight Hawthorne, and I'll be your professor in charge throughout this first academic year," Dwight said before sighing. "We'll skip individual introductions because I'll probably forget your names anyway."
"Huh...? That's not fair. What kind of professor says that?"
"Yeah... That's not fair. How does he plan to know who we are?"
"Is it even possible to evaluate us that way?"
The students didn't take Dwight's statements well and immediately began to protest.
"Alright, quiet down! How do you expect me to memorize all your names? That's impossible..."
"How lazy..."
"Yeah... Very lazy."
"Fine... So everyone's satisfied, I propose a deal... I see that everyone here has brought their orbs and is eager to show how talented and strong you are. So I promise to give a good grade to anyone who surprises me by demonstrating their power with the orb today."
"That sounds great!"
"Please let me go first!"
"I want to go!"
All the students liked Dwight's proposal, so they immediately began raising their hands voluntarily to show off their talents.
'Great... If this continues, I'll go completely unnoticed today.'
"Hey, wait a minute, put your hands down and be quiet. To avoid this kind of disorder, I'll choose who goes."
The professor's tone suddenly became very serious.
"That's not fair..."
"Yeah, that makes it very boring..."
'This is not good... Not good at all.'
"Oh, and to make it more interesting, anyone who disappoints me will immediately get a bad grade, so give it your best effort."
Hearing that, all the students froze, instantly losing interest in volunteering.
"Hey, you, the boy over there."
After carefully looking at each student, Dwight finally decided who would go first.
'Is he talking to me...? No, I don't think so, it's impossible. I can't have such bad luck,' thought Dren as he lowered his head further, hiding among the students in front of him, many of whom pointed at themselves thinking they were chosen.
"Come on, don't be shy. I'm talking to you, boy with the hood. By the way, I don't know if you're aware, but that's not allowed in class, so I'd take it off to avoid getting in trouble."
'This can't be happening... It must be a nightmare.'
Dren froze knowing that he was indeed the one being called.
Within seconds, all the students looked at him.
Then, nervously, Dren stood up and removed his hood, exposing his face and attracting everyone's attention. They didn't take long to recognize him.
"It's Dren Valemont! Incredible!"
"What? Really? From the acclaimed Valemont family? No way!"
"It's amazing that he's our classmate!"
"His whole family is very powerful, so he must be no exception!"
Everyone immediately began talking about him.
"Alright, enough, quiet down," Dwight said while adjusting his glasses. "I'd been told you would be in my class, though with that hood it was difficult to recognize you."
"Honestly... I didn't want to be in everyone's spotlight from day one..." mumbled the boy, avoiding eye contact with the professor.
"Well, what did you expect? You're a Valemont after all. Everyone expects a lot from you, including me. I greatly respect your father since he used to be my rival at the academy, so please hurry up and don't keep us waiting."
"I-I think I'd better give my spot to someone more eager to show their skills..."
Dren said, looking at each of his classmates, none of whom seemed to agree with him, their gazes showing how interested they were in seeing what he could do.
"How kind... Well, come down here now!" exclaimed Dwight, hitting the desk. "If you don't come down within the next 5 seconds, you'll get a bad grade."
Hearing that, Dren grabbed his backpack and went down to the professor's desk.
"Well, professor, what do I have to do...?" asked Dren.
Dwight gave him a threatening look that sent chills down the boy's spine.
"See that artifact on the other side? It's made with the skin of creatures that emerge from the rifts, so it's practically reinforced. What you need to do is use your orb's magic to try to damage it. Though since you're a Valemont, you should at minimum be able to shatter it, right?" Dwight said this and the boy nearly trembled, as he was unable to use his orb, which unlike his classmates, he kept hidden in his backpack so they wouldn't see its grayish color.
"O-okay..." Dren mumbled and froze, thinking about how he could destroy that object.
"We don't have all day, Dren, and in case you didn't know, you need your orb to destroy that object, as it won't happen just by looking at it."
"Y-yes, of course..."
"I assume you brought it, right? Since unlike your classmates, I don't see you with it."
Dwight maintained a challenging and intimidating look with the boy.
"I-it's in my backpack..."
"And what do you want? For me to get it for you?"
Seeing that he had no option but to look useless in front of everyone, Dren stuck his hand in his backpack until he touched the orb.
"BLURRRP!"
But then nausea overcame him due to the nervousness of the moment.
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you sick or something?"
Unable to hold back anymore, the boy headed for the classroom exit to avoid vomiting in front of everyone.
"Hey, wait!"
Dwight tried to stop him, but the boy had to leave as soon as possible.
"Was it too much pressure for his first day of class?"
"Maybe the professor shouldn't have pressured him so much, he must be very shy."
"Or maybe he's just really sick, and that's why he didn't want to come out."
The students began chatting about what happened.
"Can one of you go check on him?" asked the professor.
"Me, professor, me!" Luck immediately volunteered.
"Go ahead." And so Luck headed to the bathroom to see how Dren was doing.
***
"BLURRRRP!" Dren had his face in the toilet and couldn't stop the nausea he was feeling.
"Damn, why did this have to happen on the first day of class...?
"BLURRRP!"
"Now everyone will remember this..."
"Hey buddy, are you okay?"
Dren heard Luck's voice, who had entered the bathroom.
"Uh, sure, yes, I'm bette- BLUUURP!"
"Take it easy, friend, calm down, okay? Let it all out."
Luck waited outside the bathroom stall where Dren was.
Finally, Dren stopped vomiting and came out of the stall.
"Are you better now...?"
"Uh... Yeah... Thanks for coming. Let's get back to class." Dren was in a hurry, so he went ahead to leave first.
"Wait, you're forgetting your backpack!" Luck told him he was forgetting his belongings, so he picked up the backpack to hand it to him.
!
However, it fell because he didn't grab it well and it was already open, revealing his gray orb, which looked almost lifeless.
'Oh no, what can I do now...?' thought Dren, watching in horror as his orb rolled across the floor, until finally Luck picked it up to look at it closely.
"Why does it look like this...?" asked Luck, analyzing it.
"I-it's because it's mist magic, it's a very rare magic, yes, that's it." Dren desperately tried to explain why his orb looked that way, but it was obvious he was lying.
"That kind of magic doesn't exist, and besides... Your family specializes in electric magic. It's impossible for you to have that type of magic," said Luck, looking at Dren. "What's happening here is something else. It's a case of an orb with zero magical presence."
Dren felt like running away, but he couldn't leave without the orb, so he ran toward Luck to snatch it from him.
"Oh no, I won't let there be no evidence of this..." Luck said that and quickly took out his phone to take a picture of the orb, before being pushed by Dren who recovered it.
"This will make me very popular. Just wait until everyone knows that Dren Valemont is unable to use magic, hahaha!" said Luck, laughing as he looked at his phone on the floor. "I know, I'll send this to Gary first, he'll be shocked."
"You're wasting your time. No one will know it's mine," said Dren, confident in his words.
"What? Did you forget, idiot? Orbs come with a code that can be scanned, which means everyone will know it belongs to you, hahaha!"
"Delete that image right now..."
"What? Why should I? A few seconds ago you said I was wasting my time."
"Please do it. I-I didn't know about the scannable code... If you publish it or send it to anyone, my life will be ruined, I'll lose everything."
"Seems like you've been hiding this secret from the public eye for a long time, huh? But unfortunately, secrets come out sooner or later."
Luck said this, preparing to post the image.
"Stop, please. I'll... do anything, just don't publish it or send it to anyone."
Hearing Dren's pleas, Luck was just one step away from posting the image.
"Anything...?"
"Yes... I just want to live my life in peace, that's all."
"Well then, let's make a deal. You'll give me money every day without fail, since after all, your family is wealthy, right?"
"Are you crazy? I can't do that daily, my parents would kill me."
"Then you should be ready for everyone to know the truth."
Seeing that Dren was hesitating, Luck began moving his finger toward his phone as a threat.
"Fine! I'll do it daily, you win..."
With his head down and ashamed, Dren accepted the conditions.
"And I'll use your popularity to my advantage, understood?"
"Fine..." said Dren.
"Haha! You're pathetic. So we have a deal." Saying that, Luck got up and pushed Dren with his shoulder, making him fall.
"You're a disappointment. Who would have thought you'd be willing to do anything just to keep your secret? Hahaha!"
"You're a disgrace, Dren Valemont!"
And with that, Luck left the bathroom.