The next day, Lionel Academy's Hero Class gathered once more.Yesterday's lesson had shaken them — Abyss Crater, the origin of Nexas, and the forbidden metal born from a fallen star.
Today felt different.Quieter.Heavier.
Raze entered alongside Roger and Rain, taking his seat calmly.Astra sat with her usual composed confidence, Gray beside her like a silent fortress.Everyone sensed something was coming.
The door opened.
Professor Celeste Ardyn stepped inside.
But today, her expression was… distant.Not strict.Not calm.
Heavy.
She walked to the center of the room, placed her hands behind her back, and spoke softly:
"Hero Candidates… today, I will share something not written in any textbook."
The class straightened.
Celeste drew a slow breath.
"This is the story of why I stopped being a hero."
◆ ◆ ◆
Celeste Ardyn's Past
"When I was younger… I thought power made me unstoppable."
Her silver hair glimmered faintly in the morning light.
"My Nexas — telekinesis — made me a prodigy. And because of that, I was arrogant."
No one dared breathe loudly.
"I was assigned to a hero team of four.And one of them… was like Raze."
Her eyes shifted briefly toward the white-haired boy.
"He had no Nexas. None at all."
Gasps rippled.Even Astra looked up.
Celeste's voice softened.
"Many mocked him. They said he was useless. Dead weight. A liability."
Her fists clenched.
"But he wasn't.He was the bravest among us."
A memory flickered in her eyes — warm and painful all at once.
"One day, we responded to a disaster.A Nexas user had mutated after taking an illegal enhancement drug."
Vines bursting through asphalt.Roots tearing entire buildings apart.Chaos. Screams. Death.
"He was too strong. Too fast. Too… broken.We tried to save civilians, but we were being pushed back."
Her voice cracked for the first time since the semester began.
"And then… he said it."
She looked at her students, trying to keep her composure.
'Use your telekinesis to throw me into him.I'll end it — even if I don't return.'"
Raze felt chills run down his spine.
"I refused. Again and again.But he smiled and said…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper:
'A hero without power… has to give more than anyone else.'"
Silence swallowed the room.
"I lifted him.He armed an incendiary grenade.And he crashed straight into the villain's chest."
Her eyes glistened.
"The explosion ended everything… including him."
Astra lowered her gaze.Bam bowed his head.Even Zack looked shaken.
"I was praised as the one who saved the city," Celeste said bitterly."But the real hero died without a name in the records."
She looked at the class — truly looked at them.
"So remember this:Nexas does not make you worthy.Your will… your heart… decides that."
Her gaze finally rested on Raze.
"And never underestimate someone who was born powerless."
◆ ◆ ◆
Raze's Secret — The Astral Edges
Class ended early.
Most students lingered, whispering about Celeste's story.
Raze returned home, his expression unreadable.He slipped into his room, locked the door, and knelt beside a reinforced storage case.
He opened it.
Inside lay the true swords — the Astral Edges.
Forged from the fallen star fragment his father received years ago from a hooded stranger.
A stranger who had whispered:
"Your son will need this."
Roland Arcwell had spent an astronomical fortune to legally register the metal without revealing its source — a loophole only the wealthy and powerful could afford.
Tiny fragments of real Abyss Alloy were priceless. And these blades were carved from such a fragment.
But now…
Raze kept them hidden.
He stared at the blades, wrapped in dark cloth, their aura like a sleeping predator.
"I can't use you yet," he whispered.
If the world learned a first-year student held real Abyss Alloy weapons—
Political storms would erupt.The academy would face danger.And his family would be dragged into conflict.
So instead…
On his waist at school were perfectly forged replicas — Arcsteel blades crafted to mimic the Astral Edges almost exactly.
Rare, expensive, elite-tier metal.But still a shadow of the real thing.
Raze traced a finger along the case.
"When the time comes…I'll need your true edge."
He closed the box quietly.
Tonight, sleep came slowly.
Celeste's story echoed in his mind.
A powerless man who died a hero.
Raze clenched his fist.
"…I won't let my story end like his."
He would protect others.He would carve his own path.He would live.
And one day—
He would prove that even a boy without Nexas…could surpass fate itself.