Scene 1 – Night in the Forest It's raining heavily. Lightning streaks across the Japanese sky as an old man walks along the damp trail, holding a lantern. He hears something—a faint cry among the trees. As he approaches, he finds a baby wrapped in torn cloths, with a strange symbol drawn on the wood beside it. Old Man: "A baby… in the middle of the forest? Who would leave you here, little one?" He picks it up in his arms and murmurs: "From today on… you will be Ryonai." The camera (or narration) rises to the sky as thunder echoes—and the title appears: "Hōseki Academy: The Awakening of the Boy Without Powers" — Scene 2 – Two Years Before the Exam Ryonai is now a teenager. He runs through mountains, lifts logs, trains until his body bleeds. Even without magic, he finds strength in pure determination. In the river's reflection, he sees his unmarked hands and whispers: "Even without power… I will fight to be among them." In his simple room, there are posters of the legendary hero Double Smash, the most powerful of all—possessing five marks and known for defeating entire armies. Ryonai watches an old recording of him saving civilians and smiles with admiration.
Scene 3 – Entrance Exam Day Crowds gather before Hōseki Academy, a gigantic floating school that glows with magical energy. Candidates display their luminous marks—each pulsing in different colors. Ryonai walks among them, without any mark. The people's gaze weighs on him. "Look, he doesn't even have a mark… what a joke." "No magic? Why did you come then?" But he keeps going. Suddenly, a sphere of water falls from a bottle and forms a small fish that swims in the air. Ryonai looks and sees Edward, a smiling boy with light blue hair. Edward: "Hehe, sorry about that, I don't quite control the water pressure yet." Ryonai (laughing): "No problem. This is amazing!" Edward shows his hand with two glowing marks. "Nothing special, there are people here with four… and you?" Ryonai hides his hand. "Ah… it's complicated." Edward notices, but doesn't ask. He just smiles. "So, if it's complicated, that's where the challenge lies, right? Let's take this exam together!"
Scene 4 – The Entrance Exam The academy instructors explain that the test is not just about magic, but about courage and strategy. The students are led to a giant arena surrounded by illusory forests. "Objective: capture the flag in the center and survive the guardian creatures." Edward conjures a water shield. Ryonai, without magic, uses pure instinct—dodging, jumping, breaking branches as weapons. The audience laughs at first… but the laughter fades when he knocks down a golem with a single well-placed punch, using weight and physics. The examiner observes, intrigued. "Physical strength… at a superhuman level? Without magic?"
Scene 5 – The Flag and the Mystery Edward and Ryonai arrive at the center. When they touch the flag, a dark blue energy explodes from the ground. Ancient symbols appear, floating. Ryonai feels an excruciating pain in his hand—something is etching a mark on his skin, but different from the others, with black lines and dark energy. Edward shouts: "Ryonai! Your hand… is burning!" Ryonai falls to his knees, sweating and screaming, while the old man's voice echoes in his mind: "The day your mark appears… will be the beginning of the world's change." The screen fades to black. A powerful thumping sound resonates. When he opens his eyes, there is a crater in the ground around him—and the flag floating in pieces. The examiner, frightened, speaks softly: "That energy… is not human." Cut to black.