Demonbane Academy
I was finally here.
A place I once only read about but now, I stood at its gates in the person. This was where the main characters faced challenges and grew strong enough to defeat the Demon King and were later hailed as heroes.
A massive, grand gate loomed in front of me, guarded by a few stationed soldiers. I didn't need to verify my identity manually. The gate could automatically scan if someone was a student or not by reading their manaprint that they registered during admission.
What's a manaprint?
It's like a magical fingerprint. Every person has a unique manacore, shaped by their genetics, bloodline, elemental affinity, and soul. That combination makes each person's manacore completely unique. The manaprint is just what we call mana store in your manacore. Just release a little bit of mana while crossing and the gate will verify it.
"Wait a second , System!"
I hit the brakes suddenly, stopping just before the academy gate. A few guards and some passing students gave me weird looks.
[Yes, Thorin.]
The system's calm voice rang inside my head in addition to the green screen floating in front of me.
'First, turn off the green screen. Just talk to me in my head. I don't want people thinking I've lost it, staring into the air and all.'
[Affirmative.]
'Now tell me ,won't my manaprint fail at the gate? I mean… my soul and affinity they are not same as before. Shouldn't that mess it up?'
[Thorin, while your soul has changed, it wasn't mixed in a way that created a hybrid. Think of it more like an addition. Let me give you an example:
Imagine your identity is being verified using your right thumbprint. One day, you suddenly grow a sixth finger. Even with that extra finger, your thumb remains unchanged—so your identity still matches. The original structure remains intact for the system to read.]
'So, only I know that my soul isn't exactly the same as before… but to the world's system, I'm still seen as the same person. Got it.'
A thought crossed my mind.
'Then if I get evaluated again, will my old stats show up? Or the new ones?'
[Your current stats will be shown, since I've merged with the system and status interface. If you want to hide your real stats, you'll need to reach at least D- rank. A new feature will be unlocked then.]
'Ah, so I've got to level up a bit more to keep things under wraps…' Afterall my main motto is to grow without affecting the story and let protagonist grow as he grew in novel.
Now that I had confirmation from the system, I drove my bike through the academy gates with confidence. As expected, the verification went through without any issues.
I cruised slowly along the academy's internal roads, passing a few students. Some were walking,probably because they lived in the academy dorms or somewhere nearby . Though a small number preferred to walk from outside, but most of the students who lived off campus came by cars or bikes. That group mainly included those from strong or wealthy families. Atleast thats how it is supposed to be according to novel.
And of course, as i mentioned before, the Frostbane family is among the prominent families in the human domain. I had been staying at the Frostbane mansion, located in the upper district of Demonbane City, for the past two weeks. A week ago, my mother and the protagonist joined me. However, my mother didn't stay long. As the head of Valeska City— the Frostbane domain located in the northern region of the human continent, she had duties to attend to. That said, with her rare elemental affinity, she could travel between cities with ease and visit Demonbane City whenever she wanted.
Living in the mansion near the academy made more sense than staying in the academy dorms. After all, if you have a luxurious estate at your disposal, why settle for less? Though that less is also quite nice. Naturally, the mansion was staffed with servants, though they had their own separate quarters within the estate grounds.
As for my father? He was never really mentioned in the original story since it focused on the protagonist's point of view—not mine.
Three days ago, my mother kicked me out of the family and you know what? she didn't even bother coming in person but just sent a mail claiming that i have been kicked out of family. That's when the previous Thorin booked the hotel room where I woke up this morning.
Why did I get kicked out?
"I kinda just tried to kill the protagonist with poison..." I muttered with a half-hearted chuckle.
Yeah... not exactly a big thing.
'HELL NO!' I screamed in my head. I actually tried to poison the main character—the one destined to save the world before the story properly even began. And not even with a proper fight but with poison. I hurt my mother's cherished disciple, the one she cared about because of his overwhelming talent.
why did I or rather, the previous Thorin—tried to kill the protagonist...
There were two main reasons.
The first was his rank. As expected, he ranked number one. The amount of attention, praise, and gifts he received from my mother was overwhelming. And then there was me, her actual son who didn't even get a glance. She didn't bother checking my results. The contrast between how she treated him and how she treated me… it was enough to spark jealousy. And jealousy has destroyed many strong men throughout the history.
And while a smarter Thorin might've just swallowed his pride and used his family name to quietly enjoy whatever small benefits he could still get—resources, reputation, protection ,he didn't. Instead, he went and tried to kill the protagonist. Though the second reason was more of the driving force behind his action.
The second reason?
That's a story for another time.
Anyway, As I mentioned before, The main characters are supposed to be in first semester and today marks the first day of 1st semester.
The entrance exams, both physical and theoretical were completed 3 weeks ago. The rankings were released shortly after, and classes were assigned 2 week ago and the Students were given 2 week off to prepare, settle in, and join the academy before the term officially began.
Anyway , The academy was massive and I mean really massive. All the dorms, training domes, lecture halls, cafeterias, and other facilities were spread out across what felt like a self-contained city. First the demonbane academy was established like a city of their own to provide for all of the needs of students but over the time the area around academy developed and the whole land was later named as demonbane city.
I navigated through the academy roads using the campus map provided to us after the admission process. It was embedded into the Demonbane Academy's official app, a sleek, multifunctional tool that kept students updated with announcements, class schedules, facility bookings, and even cafeteria menus. The UI was smooth, and I could tell it had been designed by some top-tier developers.
I steered my bike toward the academy's parking lot and found a spot near the rear end. The lot was filled with luxury vehicles from high-end mana-powered bikes to sleek, rune-inscribed cars that practically screamed wealth and power. It wasn't hard to guess that many of these belonged to students from influential families. Flexing was part of the culture here. Afterall when your family is head of a city you don't need to stay humble i guess and what better means than luxury vehicles to flex.
In this world, flight was possible for individuals of S- rank and above, and those with wind affinity could achieve it from A rank onward. If someone was lucky enough to get a flying-type skill, they could soar through the skies even earlier. But those skills were rare, and most were classified as A-rank or higher, with equally high prices. So Flexing vehicles become a way to flaunt your power and strength.
I parked my bike and secured it with a mana lock- it means it can be only be unlocked with my man print, then started walking toward my classroom. The academy grounds were busy but not chaotic. Students in uniforms of various styles and ranks moved in clusters, chatting, heading toward their respective classes or facilities. The energy in the air was vibrant, almost electrifying. I wasn't famous or special enough to attract attention and as for my handsomeness ? In a place filled with people having both riches and looks i am not that special- A harsh truth but that only applied to us i guess not the main characters. Each of them will attract attention even though they have same level of looks as me.
I didn't expect to Run into the protagonist here today. He was placed in Class S, the elite class for the top 50 students. I, on the other hand, was in Class C. There was quite the distance between our respective buildings.
The classes were divided into ranks: S, A, B, C, and D. Class S was reserved for the top-tier talents, often with SS or S-rank potential. A and B had students with excellent to above-average talent. C and D weren't necessarily weak; they just weren't standout geniuses.
Being in Class C might sound low, but this was still Demonbane Academy—the most prestigious institution in the entire continent. Even my B- potential, though nothing special compared to the monsters in Class S, was enough to guarantee a decent future.
The problem with Thorin wasn't his lack of talent, but his environment. When you're surrounded by future legends and prodigies, even a bright spark can look dim. And that's why he was called a disgrace not because he was weak, but because he was constantly being measured against the exceptional. What made him weak was not his talent but the comparison done by the people around him.
It was unfair, really. Thorin's potential wasn't bad. With enough effort and training, he could have achieved a comfortable and maybe a respectable life. But instead of laying low and focusing on himslef, he let jealousy and resentment get the better of him.
And that's how we ended up in this mess. I was now in his body, trying to forge a different path without affecting the storyline much.