The morning at the Imperial Academy had begun like any other.
Students moved through the enormous corridors, discussing their lessons, comparing their entrance-examination results, and arguing about the newly introduced Orbit System.
But one announcement had changed the atmosphere completely.
A challenge match had been approved.
And the name of one participant had attracted almost the entire academy.
Nihil Mora.
The Perfect Human.
The prodigy of Augustus.
The student whose entrance examination had produced a result never recorded in academy history:
PERFECT.
His opponent was equally famous.
The Hero of Dawn.
A prodigy from a powerful elven empire, already regarded as one of the strongest students of his generation.
THE FIRST CHALLENGE
The arena was packed.
Mimi stood beside Seraphina near the front.
“Everyone came just to watch Nihil?”
Seraphina looked around.
“It seems so.”
Mimi sighed.
“He doesn’t even look interested.”
Nihil stood in the center of the arena.
His expression was completely calm.
Across from him, the Hero of Dawn tightened his grip on his weapon.
“Nihil Mora.”
Nihil looked at him.
“Yes?”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I see.”
“They call you the greatest prodigy of Augustus.”
“So I’ve been told.”
The Hero smiled.
“Then I’ll prove that title means nothing.”
Nihil simply looked at him.
“All right.”
The instructor raised his hand.
“This is a controlled academy match.”
“No killing.”
“No attacks outside the arena.”
“Victory will be determined when one opponent can no longer continue.”
He stepped backward.
“Begin.”
The Hero immediately disappeared.
A tremendous burst of Shinkai erupted around him.
The audience gasped.
“He’s fast!”
“That’s the Hero of Dawn!”
“He activated his Shinkai immediately!”
The Hero appeared in front of Nihil.
His weapon swung.
Nihil moved one step.
The attack missed.
The Hero attacked again.
Nihil moved again.
Another attack.
Another miss.
The Hero’s expression hardened.
“Stop avoiding me!”
Nihil calmly replied:
“I’m not avoiding you.”
He disappeared.
A moment later, he stood behind the Hero.
The Hero turned.
Nihil struck him once.
BOOM.
The Hero was thrown across the arena.
He immediately forced himself upright.
“Again!”
Nihil nodded.
The Hero released even more power.
His Shinkai expanded.
His speed increased.
The students could barely follow his movements.
Then Nihil vanished.
A heartbeat later— he stood directly in front of the Hero.
One strike.
The Hero fell.
Silence filled the arena.
The instructor stared.
“Match.”
The Hero remained conscious, but he could no longer continue.
Nihil turned away.
He hadn’t activated his Shinkai.
He hadn’t used an Orbit Wheel.
He hadn’t even appeared to exert himself.
The Hero of Dawn had simply been defeated.
Easily.
THE PRESIDENT’S CHALLENGE
A voice came from the upper platform.
“Then I’ll challenge him.”
Everyone looked upward.
The Student Council President stepped forward.
The students immediately began whispering.
“The President?”
“He’s going to fight Nihil?”
“He’s stronger than the Hero of Dawn.”
The President descended into the arena.
He stood before Nihil.
“You defeated him without using your supernatural abilities.”
“Yes.”
“Then fight me.”
Nihil looked at him.
“Very well.”
The President’s Shinkai began to manifest.
The pressure immediately became heavier.
Even the surrounding students felt the difference.
Nihil watched him.
Then calmly said:
“You are powerful.”
The President smiled.
“Thank you.”
Nihil continued.
“Should I hold back?”
The President’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Nihil nodded.
“Understood.”
The instructor raised his hand.
“Begin.”
The President attacked.
Unlike the Hero of Dawn, he was precise.
Every movement was calculated.
Nihil blocked.
The President attacked again.
Nihil moved.
The two exchanged several attacks.
For the first time, the audience saw someone actually force Nihil to move repeatedly.
The President smiled.
“So you really are serious.”
Nihil answered calmly.
“Not particularly.”
The President’s expression changed.
His Shinkai expanded.
The arena shook.
“Then I’ll make you serious.”
He released his full power.
The students watched nervously.
Nihil remained still.
Then— his presence changed.
Nothing visibly appeared around him.
No enormous explosion.
No dramatic transformation.
Instead, the entire domain seemed to become quiet.
The President suddenly stopped.
His eyes widened.
“Where…”
He looked around.
Nihil was standing directly in front of him.
Then behind him.
Then beside him.
Then nowhere.
The President attacked.
Nothing.
He turned.
Nihil was there.
He attacked again.
Nothing.
A voice appeared inside his perception.
“I am here.”
The President froze.
“What?”
Nihil stood before him.
Yet the President could somehow feel him everywhere.
The walls.
The floor.
The air.
His own thoughts.
Everywhere.
The President’s breathing became faster.
“What are you doing?”
Nihil looked at him.
“Do you know what Nihil Mora means?”
The President stared.
Nihil continued.
“The delay of nothingness.”
The President’s eyes widened.
“I am nothingness.”
The arena became strangely quiet.
“I am inside you…”
Nihil’s voice seemed to come from everywhere.
“…and outside as well.”
The President looked around desperately.
“I am you.”
A pause.
“And you are me.”
The President shook his head.
“No.”
“I am everywhere…”
Nihil’s expression remained completely emotionless.
“…yet nowhere.”
The President could no longer distinguish what was real.
He saw Nihil everywhere.
But every time he attacked, there was nothing there.
Nihil continued.
“You cannot kill something that’s already dead.”
The President suddenly shouted:
“SHUT UP!”
The audience jumped.
“SHUT UP!”
He looked around wildly.
“SHUT UP!”
From outside the domain, everyone saw something completely different.
Nihil was standing perfectly still.
The President appeared to be shouting at empty space.
One student whispered:
“What’s happening?”
Another answered:
“He’s talking to himself.”
A teacher narrowed his eyes.
“Mind manipulation.”
Everyone searched for an explanation.
Nihil simply continued watching.
Then he spoke.
“For killing me…”
The President froze.
“…kill yourself first.”
The President’s eyes widened.
“The only way to kill me…”
Nihil’s voice became almost impossible to hear.
“…is complete annihilation.”
A pause.
“And that’s the key.”
The President’s Shinkai suddenly began collapsing.
His power disappeared.
The President staggered.
His weapon slipped from his hand.
The domain vanished.
Then the President suddenly collapsed to the arena floor.
The teachers immediately rushed forward.
“President!”
“Check him!”
“Treat his injuries!”
The healers examined him.
But what they found terrified them.
There was no wound.
The healers checked him again.
Nothing.
No visible wound.
No physical injury.
His body was completely intact.
He was simply unconscious.
One healer slowly looked toward the other.
“What happened to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“But everyone saw what happened.”
“I know.”
The two healers looked toward Nihil.
Nobody had an answer.
Nothing.
No one understood what they had just witnessed.
The arena was silent.
One student whispered:
“Hypnosis…”
Another nodded.
“He controlled the President’s mind.”
A teacher spoke quietly.
“That must be it.”
The academy needed an explanation.
They had seen something they couldn’t understand.
So they gave it the closest name they knew.
Mind Manipulation.
But Nihil didn’t correct them.
Because the truth was much stranger.
He hadn’t simply manipulated the President’s mind.
He hadn’t cast an ordinary illusion.
He hadn’t hypnotized him.
What everyone had witnessed was only the smallest glimpse of something they had no terminology for.
Nihil had allowed the President to perceive his existence within his own consciousness.
Inside.
Outside.
Everywhere.
Nowhere.
The words he had spoken weren’t merely intimidation.
They were statements about what Nihil truly was.
And no one in the academy understood that yet.
THE LIBRARY
The curious student slowly closed the book.
The tired student stared at him.
“So…”
“What?”
“Nihil defeated the Hero of Dawn.”
“Yes.”
“Then the President challenged him.”
“Yes.”
“And Nihil asked whether he should hold back.”
“Yes.”
The tired student rubbed his forehead.
“Why does that sound worse than the actual fight?”
The curious student smiled.
“Because he wasn’t even using everything.”
The tired student stared at the page.
“But the President thought Nihil was manipulating his mind.”
The curious student looked toward the ancient text.
“That’s what everyone thought.”
“Was it?”
The curious student was silent.
Then he slowly answered:
“I don’t think the book wants us to know yet.”
The tired student sighed.
“Of course.”
The curious student turned the page.
The next title appeared.
THE HIERARCHY
The tired student stared at it.
“Please tell me this one is peaceful.”
The curious student smiled.
“We’ll see.”
And somewhere inside the Imperial Academy, Nihil Mora continued walking through the corridors.
Students stared at him.
Some admired him.
Some feared him.
Some wanted to challenge him.
Nihil paid attention to none of them.
The challenge had ended.
For him, it had been nothing more than another ordinary day.