It's the 29th of April 2009, Mizuki Kazumi is in the labor room, she has just given birth, her husband, Shinji Akabane, beside her.
"Congratulations, it's a boy." The doctor announced.
"It seems to have a quantum lever, a powerful one at that."
"Energy exchange is the lever's name."
Fast forward 16 years, it's March 2025, Shoyo Akabane is getting ready to take an entrance exam for the prestigious 11 international high school.
"I'm heading out now!" Shoyo announces.
"Take care!" His mother, Mizuki, replies,
Shoyo arrives at the Examination Hall, along with many students from prestigious backgrounds far different from his, but Shoyo doesn't give it much thought. He takes out his exam ID and scans it, entering the hall, and he takes his phone to pass the time before the entrance examinations start. After a while of waiting, the bell rings signaling the start of the exam. All examinees proceed to their examination rooms and start their paper exams. 8 hours go by, and all the written exams are completed. The bell rings again, signaling the end of the examinations. Shoyo walks out of the examination room feeling exhausted. He knew he did well; everything he studied for came up on the exams he walked home, ready to break the news to his mother.
Shoyo arrives home, gleaming with enough joy and happiness to explode. He opens the front door.
"I'm home!"
"Welcome home!"
"How was the test?"
"It was great!" said Shoyo, voice booming as if wanting the whole neighborhood to hear to news.
"That's great, son!" "Come in, I made your favorite hamburg steak."
Shoyo and his mother enjoy the meal, Shoyo telling his mother about his examinations.
After the meal, Shoyo heads to his room and collapses on the bed, exhausted enough to pass out, he did just finish writing 8 hours' worth of exam papers.
It's the morning of the next day, and Shoyo is walking to school for his second round of exams. On the way, he sees sweet bread on display at a bakery and decides to grab one. While waiting in line, he goes on his phone as always. 5 minutes pass, then 10, then 20, then half an hour, it's finally Shoyo's turn to order, he gets the bread and walks out of the store, taking one last look at his phone. The time reads 7:50, he has 10 minutes to get to class. Shoyo sprints his way to school so fast that you can barely catch his legs moving.
He arrives, checks his phone, 7:59; he arrives just in time. Shoyo, still panting from the run, goes to the designated area for his practical exams. Over there, he sees a blue, translucent wall.
Exam instructor: "As most of you already know, we live in a world where people possess a special organ in their body called quantum levers. These levers allow their beholder to use a specific power unique to themselves at the expense of mana, which is regenerated over time inside the quantum lever. These powers are what we would call magic."
The instructor continues, "Magic is divided into 3 different categories: executor, infuser, and trait."
"Executor types are the types of magic that use mana to emit or create something or execute certain actions ."
"Infuser types use mana to infuse anything that is making direct contact with the user with the user's magic."
"Trait types directly enhance a certain ability or part of the user."
"Examinees are to be called up onto the arena individually, said examinees are then to put their hand on the wall, which will drain their mana and give a score based on mana capacity afterwards."
"The scores are grouped as follows.
Less than 100: F failure.
100 to 1,000: D.
1,001 to 10,000: C, most of you should be here.
10,001 to 100,000: B.
100,001 to 10,000,000: A.
10,000,001 to 1,000,000,000: S, our best student was an S tier.
1,000,000,001 and above: Grand sorcerer. Only 253 people worldwide are currently in possession of this title."
"Without further ado, begin!"
The first candidate walks up to the wall, then he touches it. A surge of energy leaves his body. The candidate breaks out in a cold sweat from the excessive mana usage. After a short while, the mana snaps back with such force, it knocks him off his feet. Then a scoreboard pops up. A voice then echoes.
"Kira Atsumi: 5,000 points, C tier."
The 2nd candidate repeats the same process.
"Endo Sae: 3,605 points, C tier."
The cycle repeats, occasionally revealing exceptional sorcerers.
"Yuki Yuna: 1,129,900 points, A tier"
More and more examinees get their rankings. Then, finally, it's Shoyo's turn. The examiner calls out.
"#546 Shoyo Akabane"
Shoyo walks up to the wall, somewhat nervous. He touches the wall. A strong force pushes him back, knocking him to the ground. Then the voice echoes.
"Shoyo Akabane: 19,999,945 points S tier."
Whispers from the crowd fill the air. Shoyo walks off the arena, radiating so much happiness it's blinding. Then, the examiner calls.
"#547 Saito Wilhelm"
This person walks onto the arena, expression completely flat, like he doesn't give a damn about the results he might get, But then.
"Saito Wilhelm: 81,802,100 points S Tier ."
Not even a gust of wind, the energy just returns, casually. The whispers get louder. "Who is this guy?", "There's no way that score is real, right?" "He wasn't even phased by the recoil!" The candidates and examiners alike are completely stunned. How is it possible for a mere student to hit such a high number?
Meanwhile, Mr. Wilhelm walks off the arena, not a single hint of emotion within him. He just walks to a bench nearby and sits quietly.
After some more candidates get assessed, it's nearing the end of the first round. The examiner calls the last contestant for their group.
"#1,000 Charlotte Guillaume"
The air fills with whispers once again as the heir of the world-renowned Guillaume bloodline walks up to the wall. She raises her hand, then touches the wall. After some time, the wall pushes her back, just a bit.
"Charlotte Guillaume: 72,148,888 points S tier."
The crowd erupts, no one has seen such high scores in years.
After the examinees settle down, they are taken to a scanning room where their exam IDs are then scanned, and the tiers are added to the ID. Shoyo puts the ID card into his pocket and walks out of the scanner and towards the next exam area.
In the next area, examinees are supposed to use their abilities in a quick 1 on 1 spar to evaluate the examinee's mastery of their quantum lever.
The exam begins. The examiner starts calling out names picked randomly out of a box. 2 people get picked, they start sparring, after the spar ends, the examiner continues. 5 spars later.
"Saito Wilhelm, S tier Vs Yuta Yamaguchi, A tier"
The battle starts, both sides activate their lever, revealing them.
-Saito Wilhelm: Eye of perception, Trait type
-Yuta Yamaguchi: infernal fury, Executor type
Yuta launches the first attack. He creates a fire ring, trapping Saito within it, or so he thought. Saito wasn't there; the ring was empty. Saito... saw through it? How? "Where is he?!" Says Yuta under his breath.
"Over here." Saito reappeared behind the ring, left eye glowing blue.
"Mimic."
Saito launches an attack of his own, a fire blast, at such high speeds that his opponent not only got burnt but was knocked out of the arena. Yuta was stunned, speechless, unable to move.
The examiner announces the results.
"Winner: Saito Wilhelm." Saito won... effortlessly.
"How did he do that?" Yuta wondered, "But that's… my... magic…"
Saito smirked, "Thanks for sharing."
"Lemme give you some insights on your, no, our lever."
"Usually, fire-based magic only creates 2 of the 3 factors of fire, fuel, and heat, but yours is different; it makes its own oxygen, it doesn't need to interact with the atmosphere to combust. What an interesting ability you and I share, don't you think?"
"Do what you want with that information."
Saito, smirking, walks off the arena and walks to a nearby chair, head down, trying not to fall asleep; the copying aftereffects are starting to take a toll on him.
The next couple of pairs start sparring, each battle filled with anticipation. After a while of watching, the examiner calls the next pair.
"Shoyo Akabane, S tier vs Charlotte Guillaume, S tier"
It's Shoyo's turn. Shoyo walks up to the arena excited as ever, although a little nervous about having to face a very strong opponent. After the both of them walk onto the arena, the examiner proclaims,
"Begin!"
As the battle begins, both parties activate their livers.
-Charlotte Guillaume: Crypyre Seric, Executor type
-Shoyo Akabane: Energy exchange, Infuser type
As the levers get revealed, Charlotte starts the first attack. She moves her fingers in certain directions, but nothing really happens, until…
"OWE!" Shoyo exclaims. He looks at his left arm, a burn scar appears on his wrist.
Shoyo wastes no time; he charges his arm with kinetic energy, enough to knock Charlotte out of the arena on release. He attempts to run towards her to deliver to blow. Then he falls… 5 more burn marks appear on his legs. Then they freeze up. Shoyo is screaming, he's about to collapse, but something in him tells him to keep moving. He runs towards her, closing to gap rapidly. Then he swings, at point-blank range, but he gets cut. Again. A part of his hand turned cold, it's like he got frostbite, but he keeps swinging. His punch lands, barely, and much weaker, but it doesn't matter; he made contact with her. Shoyo releases the remaining kinetic energy into her body and continues adding more before she gets knocked back. Charlotte was sent flying back, but not enough for her to fall out of the arena. By now, she's pretty surprised; she didn't think the impact would be that strong, perhaps she may have underestimated her opponent.
"How ya like that!" Shoyo mocks.
Charlotte, wearing a blank expression, doesn't reply. She just stands there, hands behind her back. Shoyo, seizing the opportunity, leaps forward to land the final blow. He gets closer, reeling in his last punch, hand glowing with static electricity, his energy of choice. He punched, but he missed… Completely. Charlotte ducked.
Charlotte, "Your hits are way too obvious."
She goes behind Shoyo, creating more distance. Then Shoyo turns back. He takes a step, "AH!" he gets cut again, the wound burning. Charlotte, with a blank expression, stares at him, waiting for him to move.
"FIGHT ME!" Shoyo, frustrated.
"WHAT? IS UR MAGIC SO BAD YOU CAN'T FACE ME DIRECTLY?"
"WHAT A NOBLE YOU ARE!"
"You talk too much." Charlotte
Another cut forms on his cheek, freezing it. Shoyo, determined to end the fight, runs towards her, and… he collapses. He stepped into Charlotte's field of strings, burning and freezing him all over his body. Shoyo is in intense pain, his skin inflicted with so many cuts his skin is on the verge of ripping apart. Shoyo falls to the ground… the examiner announces the end of the spar.
"Winner: Charlotte Guillaume."
"So, this is how it ends, huh?" Shoyo
"It wasn't even close from the beginning."
"Hah, so I was played until the very end."
"The mockery of that woman."
Shoyo's hearing gets blurred.
"M... ic.." a voice murmurs in his ears, barely audible.
The darkness swallows him. He passes out in the most painful way imaginable.