The morning sun filtered through the crystalline skylights of Hysteria Academy, painting golden arcs across the polished floors and hovering scroll-boards. Arcane glyphs shimmered faintly along the walls, pulsing in harmony with the academy's energy flow—a silent song that only the truly attuned could hear.
For Vibe, today marked the beginning of something far greater than her academic life. As she stood outside Class A1, her fingers curled and uncurled against her sides. Her heart, usually synchronized with the rhythm of the world, beat just slightly off-tempo.
The massive reinforced door before her hissed open, revealing a classroom thrumming with laughter and voices. At the center of it all stood Leslie, a graceful woman with shoulder-length silver hair and crescent-shaped glasses that glowed faintly with analytic runes.
"Come now, Vibe," Leslie said warmly, taking her hand with surprising gentleness. "Let's not keep your new symphony waiting."
As they stepped inside, a ripple passed through the room.
Silence fell—too clean, too immediate.
At the front of the class stood a small girl with dazzling brown hair pulled into twin buns, and eyes far too deep for her age. She raised a tiny hand, and an invisible pressure settled across the room like glass descending onto a piano.
> "Class," she said in a voice soft as air yet firm as stone, "silence, please."
The command was not merely spoken—it was enacted. Her power, known simply as Order, hummed through the walls and minds alike, realigning attention and stilling fidgeting limbs.
"Thank you, Yaomie," Leslie said with a nod of approval. "Class, this is Vibe Fasue-Xiv, our newest student. She hails from the Fasue clan, with lineage tracing into the Xiv-mic. I expect you to treat her with the same respect you give to the laws of this world."
> "Yes, Ma'am!" the class echoed, their voices cleanly harmonized by the lingering pulse of Order.
Vibe glanced around—rows of students with powers that hummed beneath their skins like sleeping gods. A few eyes widened in curiosity. Others narrowed in appraisal.
One girl stepped forward with an inviting smile. Her fiery red hair flickered like embers, and her red pupils glowed faintly, as if lit by a personal flame. "Hey," she said casually. "Jin-nah. You're Vibe, right?"
Vibe gave a shy nod. "That's me."
Jin-nah grinned. "Cool. You've got a strong aura. I like it already."
Before Vibe could respond, a sharp voice cut through the air like a dissonant note in a choir.
"Tch. So bold on your first day," drawled a boy lounging at the back. His messy blonde hair fell over eyes that burned red like molten metal. His posture was lazy, but the tension in his limbs was unmistakable—a predator playing at indifference. "Make sure you don't piss me off, newbie."
Vibe's gaze drifted to him—calm, unreadable. Her silence wasn't out of fear, but calculation.
Another voice chimed in, delicate but firm. "Please ignore Nagant," said a girl with rose-colored hair braided to one side and eyes the soft hue of cherry blossoms. "That's just his... default personality."
Nagant scoffed. "Careful, Rose. Keep that tone up, and you'll see my 'default' up close."
Before Rose could retort, Vibe finally spoke, her voice even and laced with something sharper than defiance—certainty.
> "Nagant, right...? I'll be on your turf. Whether you like it or not."
Her words weren't shouted. They didn't need to be. They slid into the air like a blade unsheathing in slow motion—calm, deliberate, and infinitely dangerous.
Jin-nah's eyes lit up. "Oh-ho, she's got spirit."
"Definitely want to be her friend," Rose added, folding her arms with a smirk.
"She's got guts, alright," said Miree, a quiet girl with shoulder-length black hair and grey pupils that shimmered like storm clouds. She observed from behind her notebook, but her words were genuine.
Despite the tense introduction, the day unfolded like a blooming melody.
During the arcane rhythmics class, Vibe's harmonics resonated with the instructor's teachings even before she fully understood the theory. During lunch, a group of students crowded around her under the shade of the singing cherry trees that lined the garden plaza. Jin-nah shared her flame-grilled dumplings, while Rose offered her signature rose-petal lemonade.
Only Nagant and his self-styled clique—Kamaro, Pavi, Gama, and Nico—remained at their own table, casting glances like daggers. Each of them bore the air of seasoned prodigies—untouchable, unbothered.
But Vibe noticed something strange. Nagant, who was pretending to nap, opened one eye—just barely—to steal a glance at her. A twitch. A spark of interest he couldn't quite hide.
> "He's trying to figure me out," Vibe thought. "But that's fine. Let him try."
As the final bell neared and students began packing their books and charms away, Nagant's irritation, which had simmered all day, boiled over.
"What are you looking at, you moron?" he snapped suddenly, glaring at Rose across the room.
She blinked. Then, ever so sweetly: "Definitely not you, you big-headed dummy."
The class froze for a moment—then burst into hushed laughter.
Nagant's face darkened. "You say what…?"
But Leslie had already reentered, clapping her hands. "Save the duels for sparring class, you two. I don't want a crater in my classroom... again."
Nagant growled under his breath, and Rose shot him a wink. Vibe, quietly watching from her desk, tapped her fingers against the surface in a rhythm only she could hear.
> This academy… It's louder than I thought.
But I'll find my tone in this chorus. Even if I have to change the melody.