Can a battle crazed hero be the savior of humanity?

Pride before the fall

The school bells tolled repeatedly as I ran through the halls crowded with students from the same grade as me.

I was overwhelmed by a rush of overexcitement, how could I not be? I was finally going to get my abilities and my rank. I expected to be nothing below rank S and a maximum mana level of 5000+ just like the rest of the great battle mages from my family.

Father had affinities for five out of the six basic elements, Mother had affinities for three, so did my three brothers and two sisters who all passed through this great academy. I came from a family of battle mages who had made significant contributions to the affairs of our Kingdom, Fritia.

"I must become the strongest. The light element which nobody in the history of Fritia has been able to successfully harness before, I'll harness it and master it! Then I'll challenge father to a duel!"

Upon getting to the hall, I slowed down. I was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Jeez Gin. I could hear you from across the school. What are you on about this early in the morning?" he asked.

The person in question was none other than Isaak Crowley. My only friend at the academy.

Aren't you excited as well? Almost everybody is. We're getting our magic status today! Our abilities and status will be known" I pat him on the shoulder.

"Why do I feel like you're about to become bigger delinquent than before?" Isaak laughed heartily. He was an easy going guy who got along with everyone. I always saw that as a waste of time and energy.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You do remember your promise though, right? After we get our magic status installed you'll duel me, we'll settle this once and for all!" I said.

"I remember, I remember. Stop yelling so early in the morning. I suggest you think less about this and more about the History subject you failed. The history of Fritia is something we've learnt about a million times. You would have passed if you didn't skip the exams to duel with seniors" Isaak said, he had an annoying smirk on his face. He was right and I hated that.

"Get off my case would ya?" I responded, walking past him to take a seat in front.

The students in the hall conversed loudly with each other, gossiping and giggling like they didn't know the importance of what was about to happen. I struggled to contain my anger, wishing I could slap the stupidity out of them all.

"Now now, students. Let's maintain composure shall we?"

Principal Williams said from the stage.

It was about that time. Both my dad and siblings had told me about an annoying mandatory speech that was given every year before this event.

The hall went silent with immediate effect. Williams was respected by each and every student at the academy. She was friends with my father, they attended this same institute together so naturally I respected her. Word on the streets was that they even dated at some point before Dad met my mom. That was certainly information I had no business knowing. My hot headed father and Principal Williams who was a terror, they would have raised psychopaths!

Williams cleared her throat and grabbed the microphone.

"Hello, students. Do we know why we're gathered here today?" Williams threw a question.

A girl in the row in front of me raised her hand, I knew her. "Know it all Carolynn" She was the prettiest girl in class. Lots of boys fawned over her but there was an issue she had.

"Yes Principal Williams!" she said loudly. Williams pointed at Carolynn as a welcoming gesture for her to speak.

"Today we are gathered here for the ceremony of receiving our magic statuses to know where we belong as mages. This event dates as far back as-"

"That'll be quite enough, miss Jonas. I fear that if I let you carry on, you might give the whole speech on my behalf" Williams interrupts Carolynn.

A student from the crowded yelled "know it all Carolynn doesn't know when to shut up!"

The students present in the hall burst into laughter. I couldn't see Carolynn's face but I could tell that she was about to kill someone by the aura seeping out of her.

You know those issues I mentioned earlier that she had? Yes, Carolynn had anger issues, severe anger issues.

"Students, let's maintain decorum shall we?" Williams called back our attention.

"a hundred and twelve  years ago, our beloved Republic of Fritia suffered a devastating disaster, although it later became a blessing, at the time it wasn't. The Ruptures, as we call them appeared all over our country.

These Ruptures or portals as some call them are still very mysterious. One thing we do know is that at the time, they emitted a miasma that poisoned our people. Or so we thought anyway. While the miasma was later perceived as harmless, measures still had to be put in place. The Royal capital was isolated by a dome, seeing as it was the only zone in the Republic where a rupture didn't appear" William explained.

She went on and on, I wasn't going to sit there for an hour and listen to a story that I had heard a hundred times over and so, I slept off with my hand down on my desk.

"It's starting, it's starting!" I could hear voices from a distance, a snapped out of my sleep immediately. I had become hyperactive due to how much I had awaited this day.

It was going to be carried out in the inner arena as usual, in front of everybody. I always wondered why the school had such a system. The classism in this school was very obvious, but it's not like I minded it.

A huge magic circle was drawn by the mages who appraised skills. I was getting overexcited at the thought of finally fighting Isaak and handing his butt to him, and after that, I'd finally get to defeat dad and my siblings as well.

"I am the strongest and I'll keep proving it over and over again!"

The appraisals were underway. No surprise that Isaak got earth as his main attribute, and two other attributes.

His special skill hadn't manifested yet. A special skill was a non elemental skill we got in addition to our affinities. They were usually hidden, even the appraisers couldn't detect them till whenever they manifested.

"I thought you'd me more eager to have your turn. What are you doing back here?" Isaak acquired as he came back to the crowded area.

"You see, the best has to be saved for the last. I want every single person to witness my power, I want them to know that the balance of power has been shifted" I said with a confident smirk.

"You're such a narcissist. You better not go causing trouble" Isaak said, laughing slightly.

Just when I turned my attention back to the front, my eyes met with William's eyes, I knew she wanted nothing but trouble.

Williams had a smirk on her face, and then she tapped the mic before speaking into it.

"Sofiaso, you're getting on the circle next" Williams said.

She had a habit of ruining my plans. Although it might have just been her being eager to  see my potential.

"Gin, Gin, Gin, Gin!!" the students sang my name as I walked up to the circle. The person who just finished with hers, was none other than Carolynn Jonas. For some reason she shot me a sharp look before passing by. It was clear that she didn't like me, of course I didn't like her either.

I stood at the center of the magic circle which had inscriptions written in old Fritia. The language we used.

The appraisal mages started the incantations. A bright light could be seen, then it totally faded to darkness.

"What? No, this can't be possible. It has to be a malfunction, try again" I said, trying to hide my anxiety and fear of the unspeakable. I was growing impatient"

The mages tried three times, no glowing light.

The chattering stopped. All eyes were on me. I was terrified, but more than that I was enraged.

"um, it would seem that you have no—attributes. The circle doesn't detect any attributes or skills. There is mana though. You have a mana level of 230. You are ranked G" a mage said.

"I have- no skills? No no, we both know that it's impossible" I said, trying to hide the panic in my voice.

It felt like I could see the faces of every single student present in the arena. I was being mocked, laughed at.

"a useless Sofiaso" that was probably what they thought of me.

Slowly and carefully, I made my way through the crowd.

There was total silence, a silence  that echoed too loud.