Chapter 3

 Now that Ivan was a third year and was about to head to middle school, Headmaster Na could only help his student by getting him into a middle school that was focused on nurturing the students themselves, and not their ability to wield powerful magic.

"Even though I've failed you as a teacher...I shouldn't fail you as a parent. Since you aren't able to wield magic like other children, or aspire to be a wizard like your friends, I've decided to send you to Jumper Academy, a B-rank educational institution that covers both middle school and high school syllabuses." Headmaster Na said.

"Although Basic Elementary School is only a C-rank elementary school, Jumper Academy accepts students from all walks of life."

"Jumper Academy? How come I've never heard about this school?" After Headmaster Na handed Ivan a brochure about the school, Ivan flipped through the brochure before asking.

Although Ivan was crippled and couldn't wield magic, he still did his research on the middle schools that he could potentially join after he graduated elementary school.

But from the thousands of middle schools he had researched, he had never heard of this supposedly B-ranked educational institution, Jumper Academy.

"Jumper Academy, where the growth of one's heart and morals are more important than the ability to wield powerful magic? Don't you think this sounds fishy?" [Ivan]

"Fishy? Why would I think it's fishy?" [Headmaster Na]

"I mean, it seems like this Jumper Academy was founded with good morals in mind. In this modern age of wizardry, good morals and justice are merely tools of propaganda for the Wizard Lords and Magic Empresses to preach to the common folk. In the world of true sorcery, the supreme might triumphs over everything else! The country would undoubtedly crown someone King or Lord if they had the ability to wield incredibly powerful magic!" [Ivan]

"Son, this is why I want you to attend the academy. Although I myself admit that having good morals and a righteous heart is rather ephemeral to the modern wizardry world, just because you couldn't use magic and decided to practice martial arts instead, you became a wuxia addict." Headmaster Na helplessly sighed.

Listening to the blabbering of a 10 yr old may not be pleasant, the old man couldn't help but cringe slightly when he heard his 10 yr old student used the law of the jungle as a reference to the modern world of magic.

Although modern society no longer functioned under the law of the jungle, wizards would undoubtedly feel more superior when comparing themselves to people like Ivan.

"Practicing martial arts to replace your inability to use magic is fine and all but, if you were to meet a real wizard and they kept their distance from you at all times...run, son. Run as fast and far as you can." Headmaster Na solemnly warned.

"Even if I'm crippled and can't use magic?" Hearing the solemn tone of his guardian, Ivan lifted up his head and asked.

"Yes, even if you're crippled and can't use magic. They will still consider you as a potential threat to them and will try to eliminate you quickly. So when I say run, you better pray your movement technique can allow you to outrun them." [Headmaster Na]

After being deployed onto countless battlefields before retiring and becoming an educator, he understood the thoughts of wizards like the back of his hand.

"The world is a scary place…" The young boy muttered to himself.

"It's not the world that is scary, but the inhabitants, humans specifically, that makes it scary…You'll understand all of this once you're older." Headmaster Na let out a long sigh before giving a pat on his student's back, hoping his student wouldn't think too much about it right now.

On his way home from the school's gymnasium, Ivan took the brochure out again before staring at the big, bold words on its cover: "Jumper Academy, we emphasize good morals more than one's talents!".

While he stared at the brochure in his hands, Ivan began to think about the current world and its issues over the past century.

It was currently the era of modern wizardry and scientific application of magic.

With the arrival of chantless magic and advanced enchanted weapons that increased the combat effectiveness of wizards, countries and kingdoms around the world felt annoyed at the current era of peace and thus started to antagonize their neighbors into starting war with them.

To the rulers of these kingdoms and countries, they didn't mind spending millions and millions of gold to build up their armies and burn bridges with their allies.

As long as they get to test out the effectiveness of their new weapons, they wouldn't mind losing some territories and men as long as they had daughters or maids to marry off afterwards.

Even though Ivan's country, Ishgar, was only a medium sized country to begin with, all other powers avoided Ishgar like it was some holy ground they would never touch.

Thanks to this, Ishgar remained as a neutral force whenever a new war erupts around them. If they don't involve Ishgar, Ishgar won't interfere with their plays either.

Besides, Ishgar also benefits greatly every time some bored rulers start a war for fun. Being the neutral country that it was, Ishgar wanted to take advantage of their neighbors and decided to expand their weapons' industry as well as its tourism industry.

Kingdoms would first aggressively purchase weapons from Ishgar every time war was about to start. And after the wars ended, Ishgar would purchase those broken battlefields from the winning countries for cheap before turning it into theme parks and secret lands.

Tourists would then flock to these remodeled battlefields to sightsee and find treasures.

Chapter 2

 "Har? That's the weakest student? Of our school? How?" The new kids were stunned by this information. If that 2nd year from earlier was their weakest student, how strong would the 3rd years be?

Seeing the shocked expressions on their juniors' faces, the seniors shook their heads before adding, "No, it's not what you think. Although I said Ivan is the weakest student in this school. I meant that his talents were the weakest, not his combat ability. He's actually the strongest when it comes to martial arts and physical combat but is considered the weakest when it comes to magic. Not even the third years can beat him."

"Strongest in physical combat but weakest in magic? Then, where did that iron staff come from? Wasn't that Metal Manipulation Magic?"

"You guys are overthinking it! Ivan Chaos is manaless. His mana veins were crippled since birth. What Ivan used previously was a martial art, not magic. Without the slightest bit of mana flowing in him, it wouldn't be a surprise why he's considered the weakest in terms of magical talent…" Another senior said.

"This is a world where magic reigns supreme after all."

"Oh, we get it… Hold up, if he's manaless and is unable to use magic at all, how did he get accepted into the school last year?"

"That…I don't want to talk about it." The seniors present couldn't help but cover their faces in shame. From the looks of it, it seems as though Ivan's admission had something to do with these people and made them feel shame for it.

Seeing their seniors' reaction to their question, the new kids could more or less figure something's up between them and the manaless boy.

And since they were young children, their ability to imagine things was…extreme.

But before their young minds could run wild, a white-haired 3rd year who had accidentally heard the conversation came over and revealed the truth.

It turns out, it was their seniors who looked down on Ivan and challenged him to a duel. If Ivan won, they'd call him father while the latter would be accepted into the school.

But if Ivan lost, he'd have to crawl around the school 10 times before he could be accepted into the school.

"Ah…we were arrogant back then and thought we'd easily win against a person who can't use magic. But boy were we wrong!"

Seeing that their dark past has come to light, the seniors could only keep their embarrassment in their hearts as they explained their end of the story.

"Although Ivan was never trained in proper martial arts, his senses were incredibly sharp as he managed to dodge all of our spells. And since we were just newbies who learned how to wield basic magic from our parents back then, it took us an incredible amount of time to cast just one spell, provided we were free from all distractions in the first place."

"Alas, just seconds after Ivan dodged our first round of barrages, he used some mystifying movement to close the distance before appearing in front of us with a wooden staff. Since he was manaless and couldn't use magic, he flung sand in our eyes before giving each of us a hard bonk on our heads."

"Woah! That's….awesome!"

"Incredible! A non-wizard managed to beat wizard apprentices with ease!"

"Amazing, I want to just be like Ivan!"

Hearing how the manaless young boy beat down their seniors with ease, they were instantly fascinated and intrigued by this 2nd year senior.

"Ivan Chaos…the strongest wizard apprentice who can't use magic."

1 year later…

Basic Elementary School Gymnasium

_______________________________

Name: Ivan Chaos

Age: 10

School: Basic Elementary School

______________________________

Mana: 0

Magical Talent: 0

Crafting Talent: 0

Physical Talent: 10

______________________________

Overall Talent: 3.33

Overall Score: F-rank

______________________________

When the results of his most recent aptitude test appeared on the holographic screen, Ivan couldn't help but feel dejected as he felt his life becoming bleak with nothing to live for.

"Well son, even after 3 long years of hard work, only your physical talent has improved. Haiz…even if I wanted to help you, your mana veins being crippled makes your situation too hard to solve." Headmaster Na sighed. 

The old man also felt dejected when he saw his student's result but couldn't do anything about it. The current world of magic was a scientific one. It was an era of peace and prosperity, even for the E-ranks and F-ranks…as long as their magical talent was 1 and above.

As long as people have mana, becoming a wizard is not impossible.

Having crippled mana veins since birth, it was no wonder why Ivan's magical talent was zero. Without magical talent, one's crafting talent would also be nonexistent since the current scientific era of magic required mana to operate its machines.

Since the day Headmaster Na personally accepted the admission of this student, Ivan had been constantly surprising him with miracles.

Despite having no magical talent in a school made for future wizards, Ivan had successfully become the strongest student through his sheer willpower and efforts.

Chapter 1

 Basic Elementary School

In an inconspicuous corner of the school's canteen, a young boy ate his meal quietly. He scooped up soup from his bowl as his left arm was fiddling about with a pen or pencil.

Upon closer inspection, the young boy was twirling a butter knife that appeared and disappeared from his left hand from time to time.

The other children looked at him, not daring to bother him. Instead walked away, leaving the boy alone. They feared what might happen if they bothered him.

Not blind fear either, but that fueled with respect.

Like that of an important figure.

The last of his meals finished. He gathered his things, tray in hand ready to leave.

He stood up, his path blocked by some kids. They weren't the usual crowd at the school. Surrounding the boy from all sides, blocking any way he could slip out.

A tall chubby kid threw glances at the boy. The rest bending to his will did the same.

From what the boy could make out he was the leader. He faced the boy again with pure contempt and disdain plastered on his face.

Since the young boy had never met them before, he assumed that they were either transferees from another school or that they were new kids who didn't know the rules here.

Unaware of the mess they had gotten themselves in.

Regardless of whether they were new or not, the fact that they dared disturb the young boy made the other children stop dead in their tracks.

Everyone gathered around them, putting aside whatever they were doing. Everyone was excited, waiting for the show to start, pushing each other for a better view.

The ring of kids surrounding the boy watched the crowd gather around them. They couldn't help the excitement. As if ganging up on a child their own age was a proud and glorious thing to do.

The leader, Marcus, stood eye to eye with the kid, towering over him. He let out a hearty laugh, extending his hand toward the boy in a practised manner, robotic even. "Give me your money kid, all of it!"

Hearing his attempt to bully the young boy sent the whole crowd laughing. As if they had heard the funniest joke ever.

Confused by the crowd's sudden laughter, he misinterpreted the disdain and mockery of the crowd into respect and admiration and felt happy inside. 'I thought it'd take longer for me to gain a foothold here but who knew I'm already becoming popular on the first day of school!'

"Blame your bad luck for becoming the boss's prey, idiot! If you don't give him your money now, I'm afraid he'll lose patience and order us to beat you up. Scared? Pay up then!"

Marcus's lackeys did their best to intimidate the young boy one after another but it was obvious to the crowd that this group of kids were relatively new to the bullying scene.

The chubby kid acted tough as sweat rolled down his forehead. His breathing was ragged and his hands trembled.

The same goes for his lackeys, they were all sweating profusely as they tried to maintain their tough fronts in front of the young boy.

Seeing that he and his lackeys were clearly losing their status among the crowd, the chubby kid gritted his teeth and proceeded to shout at the young boy to give him his money.

But much to Marcus's surprise, the young boy seemed unaffected, he looked at him indifferently, causing his face to burn red with shame.

But before he could vent his anger on the young boy, the young boy raised his hand to stop him.

The young boy then turned his head to look at another boy across from him and said, "Cedric, go and inform the nurse to prepare 4 high-grade healing spells and 4 beds please."

The boy named Cedric nodded before running off.

Turning back to stare at the chubby kid, the young boy revealed an evil smile that sent shivers down the chubby kid's spine.

As if feeling that something was amiss with the boy in front of him, the chubby kid unconsciously took a step back from the uneasiness as he began to sweat buckets.

'What's wrong with me today? He's clearly alone yet my gut tells me that I should run away immediately. Why am I feeling this uneasy when I clearly have the advantage here?'

Just as the chubby kid was contemplating whether he should leave with his lackeys or not, the motionless young boy made his move.

'Create, iron staff!' Light shone before everyone's eyes before a long iron staff appeared in the young boy's hand.

He grasped the iron staff in his hands before beginning his assault on Marcus and his lackeys.

In one breath, the young boy squatted down and swept the legs of the ignorant children with his iron staff. They smashed on the floor in confusion. The next second he went around and gave all of them what they deserved.

One by one he bonked them on the head. Gripping his staff even harder, the young boy moved forward.

He released a rain of attacks, not letting them catch even a breath. He drove each one further, the staff smashed against their bodies.

And one by one, they hit the canteen wall, beaten black and blue. Marcus and his lackeys could not move a muscle due to intense pain coursing through their bodies.

Cheers soon erupted, laughter and positive vibes filling the canteen. The crowd screamed and chanted for the young boy's victory. The crowd had grown enormous compared to the start of the battle.

Even the janitor and lunch ladies gave the young boy a round of applause for that impressive show.

Several new kids who were watching the beat down quickly asked around about the young boy's identity.

"Woah, who is that?"

"The chubby kid's magical talent was 5 while his overall talent was 6, since the young boy was able to beat him this quickly, the young boy must have been powerful."

"That young boy is called Ivan Chaos. He's the weakest person in our school." The others replied.

Prologue: Memory Fragment

 "I'm bored!" A black clothed young man groaned.

The blue mech armored person beside him glanced over lightly before he turned his attention back to the massive holographic screen in front of him.

Seeing that he had been ignored, the black clothed young man grumbled even louder. 

After being voted to be the captain of the Extraterrestrial Elimination Team 70 years ago, he has only been receiving and hearing reports from his crew. 

He couldn't understand the thoughts about his crew when they appointed him as captain of this space journey.

Aboard the God grade Universe Exploration Ship, Heaven's Rift, the black clothed young man and his crew had wandered the universe for several decades now, but after all real threats had been annihilated from the face of the universe, he felt that his life had lost all meaning.

As for the remaining space tribes within their universe, they have been scared shitless that they all vowed to never pass the Milky Way Galaxy during their travels, much less dare to go near it.

"Tidal! Where are we hyper jumping to next?" the black clothed young man suddenly asked as he sat up.

Not even turning his head to glance at the young man, the blue armored man named Tidal replied, "The mother of all spiral galaxies, ICX 112. There have been reports about sighting an escapee of the Milky Way Galaxy Prison starting a tribe in one of the solar systems there."

Hearing that, the black clothed young man nodded before he got up and left the room. "I need a breather for a moment...Continue to monitor the void for possible space beast attacks and the wanted men. I'll be back."

"Yes, sir." With his eyes still glued to the holographic screen, Tidal replied.

******

Heaven's Rift, The Garden

Sitting in a white marbled gazebo quietly, a man in silvery-gray uniform was reading a book when the doors to the garden slid open. Not needing to look up from his book, the man greeted the newcomer with a smile. "Good morning, Chaos. I heard you whined a lot while signing reports. I feel bad for Tidal now."

"I came here to enjoy the limited beauty of the ship's artificial garden, Matter. Don't make me whoop your ass a 2nd time because of your mouth." Chaos coldly replied. Walking to a nearby bench before taking a seat, he took a deep breath as an iron knife appeared in his right hand. "Be a good boy and maybe I'll let you in on this junk."

"You promised?"

Chaos nodded.

"Sweet! I haven't eaten any iron since the day you banned me from the storage room 3 years ago! Hahaha, I'm finally going to get to eat iron again!" Matter cheered. His magic required him to consume metals in such large quantities that Chaos had to ban Matter from ever using his magic again during the mission. Matter has been meditating in the Garden since then.

1 hour later...

"So Matter, how's life going for you?" Chaos asked.

"You know the deal, same old same old. Waking up, meditate, read a book, meditate again, read another book, sleep, and repeat. What about you?"

"It's been 70 years since our departure from Earth. After sweeping up all of the colonies and space brigades of other solar systems, I'm getting tired...and bored."

"Hoi, I have known you since childhood and never once have you gotten tired. But yeah, boredom has hit all of us like a truck. Until we reach our next destination, we will have to find things to do to not lose our sanity."

Feeling amused, Chaos chuckled, "Imagine going insane due to boredom, couldn't be me. Well....I have to return to my quarters now, else I won't be able to escape Tidal's lecture. Bye, Matter."

"Goodbye, captain...Eh? Captain, wait! You haven't given me that knife of yours yet, captain!"