[Royal One: Study Crisis & Secrets of Power]
The next morning, Iruma and his friends walked into a strangely silent Royal One classroom. What greeted them wasn't excitement—but the burned-out corpses of their fellow students... metaphorically.
"They look like zombies," Gaap muttered.
"The cost of studying too hard without results," Azz sighed, pushing up his glasses. "Hopeless fools."
A quick assessment of the situation had Azz proposing a study system: split into "Morons" and "Smarts." The Moron Team included Iruma, Gaap, Lied, Ix, Jazz, Clara, Agares, and Caim. The Smart Team had Azz, Sabro, Crocell, and Allocer.
But one glance at the sheer number imbalance, and Azz promptly shut the plan down.
"Never mind. It's doomed."
"Aww, c'mon!" Lied pouted. "We can do it! Hey Iruma, got any plans for school break?"
Iruma paused, tilting his head.
"Not really…"
The Moron group immediately started tossing around ideas: Walter Park, the haunted hot springs, the exploding fireworks festival. Their chatter was full of enthusiasm.
But Iruma's eyes lowered as Lied turned to him.
"Wait... you've never been to Walter Park?"
Iruma gave a small, quiet nod.
Jazz slammed a hand down on his desk.
"Then it's settled—we're all going!"
A wave of cheering washed through the Moron group.
Even Azz, ready to scold them for being foolish, stopped when he saw Iruma's expression. It was that same small, nostalgic smile—the one that always broke through Azz's logic like sunlight through fog.
Before they could celebrate more, Kalego appeared like a looming shadow.
"You're all failing your exams," he snapped. "So unless you want your break revoked, you will attend the supplementary class... which I will personally supervise."
The cheering died.
Jazz whispered to Iruma.
"By the way… don't even think of cheating. Every cheater has been caught. No escape."
At that moment, the door creaked open again.
Balam entered, clutching a familiar vine-bound notebook. The entire room stilled as the towering beast of a man walked toward Kalego. Without a word, they raised fists—and bro-fisted.
The classroom collectively gasped.
"Kalego-sensei has a… friend?" Clara whispered, astonished.
Balam, oblivious to the stir, turned toward Iruma.
"I heard you're struggling with studying, Iruma-kun."
"Ah… yes," Iruma muttered, scratching his cheek. "A bit."
"Then I've brought you this." He handed Iruma a peculiar storybook, hand-drawn and colored. "It's an allegory. It should help you understand the foundations of magic by comparing them to familiar, non-magical ideas. If it helps, I'll make more."
Iruma's eyes lit up. The book was oddly easy to follow, almost like a child's bedtime story—yet packed with applicable magical theory.
As Iruma flipped through the pages, Balam tilted his head, a thoughtful look crossing his features.
"Tell me, Iruma-kun…" he began. "Do all humans have powers like yours?"
Iruma hesitated. Then answered truthfully:
"Yes… and no."
Balam blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Iruma sighed.
"I've never traveled the entire human world. But… I'm not exactly a normal human either."
He looked at Balam seriously, Rinnegan flashing for an instant under his lashes.
"I carry the soul of someone else… someone. A named Sasuke Uchiha. If he came from my world, then maybe others like him still exist—just far away. But its not like This body doesnt belong to . Its also my own."
"How?"
"Well. I was Born when i was baby. At that time i dont have any memories but if i remeber back my Mom told me i start walking when i was six."
"Your mom must be Proud of you?"
"Yeah. I don't Think so"
Balam was stunned but didn't push further. He's only 14, Balam thought. He probably doesn't fully understand what he's world is.
Still, curiosity got the better of him.
"So… what can you do?"
Iruma grinned lightly and began listing off powers with casual calm:
"I can use Fire Style and Water Style ninjutsu… summon lightning with Chidori… swap places using my Rinnegan… read movements with my Sharingan… manipulate gravity… and create illusions that can trap minds and many more."
Everyone nearby who overheard froze. Lied dropped his notebook. Clara blinked.
"C-cool…"
Balam nodded slowly, clearly impressed, but also puzzled at the sheer versatility.
"Your power," he whispered, "it's like a hybrid i mean you can do so many things. It's not magic… but something else."
"Yes . Its Chakra. By the way i can use magic."
"You can?"
And Iruma explain about His ring that can absorbed Magic and counter them.
[Later That Afternoon – Battler Rooms]
After the lectures and confusion, Iruma joined Clara in the Magical Apparatus Battler Room, where "studying" meant throwing exploding trinkets into a blender and screaming.
Clara's method of memorizing was chaotic—full of dance, snacks, and shouting out spells like karaoke lyrics.
Then he spent time with Lied and Gaap in the Gamer Battler, which somehow turned into a 3-hour battle of who could beat the Demon Racer high score. Spoiler: Clara won by accident.
Later that evening, Iruma took a moment to message Ameri.
Iruma: "Studying hard today! I'll do my best!"
Ameri: "Good. Remember: Do your best."
He stared at the message a moment, feeling a quiet warmth. Of course, what he didn't text was that he had learned exactly zero that day thanks to Clara's study sessions.
But somehow… it didn't feel like a wasted day.
---
[The Quiet Spark of Growth – Iruma and the Study High]
A few days later, Iruma sat quietly in the Underworld History Prep Room, surrounded by stacks of books Balam had lent him. The one in his hands now was… different. Unlike the storybook-style magical primer, this one was darker—emotionally rich.
The tale was a historical allegory about ancient methods of demonic torture, but through Balam's eyes, it was more than grotesque history. It was a tale about pain, misunderstanding, and how society weaponized fear and ignorance.
As Iruma flipped the final page, he felt something ache quietly in his chest.
Even demons have suffered because of misunderstanding… just like humans. Just like… me.
"Did you like it?" Balam asked gently, scribbling notes in his vine-covered research journal.
Iruma looked up, a small smile on his face.
"It was… touching. Sad, but important."
Balam nodded.
"That book was based on real records. I believe understanding pain helps creatures grow empathy." He peered over his glasses. "And you, Iruma-kun, have… far more empathy than a typical demon."
Iruma scratched his cheek.
"I still get a lot of answers wrong. But I guess… I'm just updating myself."
Balam blinked, intrigued. "Updating?"
"Yeah." Iruma tapped his head. "Like a system. I'm learning from my mistakes and adding new understanding. I don't know everything, but… every time I mess up, I get a little better."
Balam's eyes gleamed with interest. He eagerly jotted that down in his journal under a section titled "Human Learning Patterns." He handed Iruma a new book, a second volume. This one had a silver thread on the spine and illustrations done with charcoal ink.
"Then keep updating, Iruma-kun."
[Babyls Library – The Morons Watch in Awe]
At the library, Iruma sat with a practice test, this time scoring 70%. It wasn't perfect, but compared to his earlier disasters… it was a massive leap.
He smiled, clutching the page proudly.
From behind the shelves, eight heads popped out in unison—Clara, Lied, Gaap, Ix, Jazz, Agares, Caim, and even sleepy-eyed Sabnock, who somehow got roped in.
"Whoa…" Jazz whispered. "He's… actually studying."
"And enjoying it," Gaap muttered, creeped out.
Clara's eyes sparkled with tears.
"I wanna study with Iruma toooooo!"
With that, the Moron group collectively approached Iruma and demanded a group study session. What began as a simple request snowballed into a classroom-wide cooperative study group.
Even Clara contributed in her own bizarre ways—her visual memory games somehow helped Lied and Ix memorize spell names. Caim quizzed Agares while pretending they were dungeon-trapped mages. Jazz and Gaap argued over question answers while secretly helping each other. Iruma moved from student to student, patiently explaining concepts he had just learned himself.
As the day went on, the classroom filled not with dread… but laughter.
Even Azz and Allocer, watching from the corner, softened.
"I suppose…" Allocer muttered, "…peer-based reinforcement has merits."
"Yes," Azz nodded. "Especially when it's Iruma-sama leading it."
[The Study High Returns]
By nightfall, Iruma stood on his desk, eyes shining like a war general addressing his troops.
"Everyone, the enemy is ignorance! But together—together we will conquer it!!"
"YEAH!!" the class screamed back.
Clara waved a giant flag that said "Study War!" in neon paint. Lied had war stripes on his cheeks. Caim wore a helmet made from a spellbook.
Iruma's eyes were practically spinning.
He was experiencing another Study High.
[The Day of the Exam]
The school bell rang.
Exam papers were passed out.
Iruma inhaled deeply, hands steady, mind clear. He could feel it. Not just his Rinnegan sensing tension in the room—but his own growing awareness, sharpened by days of effort.
This time… I'm not afraid.
The other students, once hopelessly unprepared, now looked confident—if a bit nervous. Clara tapped her pencil with focus. Jazz smirked at the questions. Gaap stretched his arms with a confident yawn.
From the back, Kalego surveyed them all.
"Begin."
Pens hit paper.
The test had begun.
And so had their transformation