Gripping the wall behind me it took everything to not slide down as I began to tear up. Hearing the rummaging movements of servants that work this late into the night I hurried out of the dorm building heading towards an empty area near the boundaries of the campus. The ink rich in mana felt as venomous as the title atop it as its orange hue of light made it readable even in the middle of the night. Scouring the lines I felt sick as it recorded every single failure I found myself in since I was a child.
Inability to inherit Alphonse Swordsmanship.
Inability to manifest magic beyond a cantrip level.
Inability to inherit the Alphonse Bloodline Arts.
Lack of Qualifications as a competent member of the head family.
Failure to obtain the needed qualifications within tutored academics.
Failure to perform in the Academy Entrance Ceremony.
Incompetence to claim a single flag.
Poor attitude and conduct reported.
The first three were enough grounds but most would rarely actually disown someone simply for a lack of talent. Yet the rest seemed to just be petty additions to justify my disownment. Honestly I knew something was going to happen. The Academy flag trial was such a pivotal point it practically determined who would get ahead and who would not. Every other person in the Alphonse family consistently performed five flags and secured their place as one of the top along with its greater advantages. It was a chance to redeem myself after barely scraping by in some rankings within the entrance exam. But of course even that was ruined by the fact I had lost all his flags at first from my own anxiety and then the five I did possess in the end were robbed from me by someone who left me for dead. Feeling strangled by the hopelessness of being abandoned by his own family he curled up against the tree and for the first time in a long time he managed to just cry.
Ashroth looked down at his amusement now in a heap of his own tears and sighed. Digging out pride from someone broken was much harder than a person who was humble. After all a humble person simply rejected the pride that was there in them but a broken person like the child currently reading through how he would no longer even have the right to his own last name was the same boy that gave up whilst broken on the cold stone.
The boy was just finding new interests, new things to pursue and to feel proud of. Moments that would build confidence and growth which would let Ashroth seed pride and arrogance within. Yet now it was in shambles, broken like a heap of cards. Honestly if such setbacks were not common in his first conquest he would have been seething. In a way it was cathartic to see someone from such a powerful family now have nothing. Perhaps he should motivate the boy and prevent himself from being sealed back into that torturously mundane altar.
Sitting besides the now crying boy he sighed resting a hand on his back. It was amusing to see how the body suddenly tensed at his presence but rather than fearful or on-guard he was simply surprised. “You know being disowned isn’t the worst thing to happen, they at least offered to pay for your first year finances. That should be something?”
The boy still with tears in his eyes shook his head. “It’s not them being generous, it would just look suspicious if after doing poorly I was suddenly pulled out of the Academy in the middle of a semester. There would be a lot more talk than if I just faded before second year.”
Ashroth pulled back from a second, the idea that the Alphonse family he knew so well would be so petty in reputation irked him in a way. They were warriors that had no care for personal pride but chose familial recognition and the duty of their people as pride. As much as he did rave to the boy of pride he was not actually sure considering whether the current matriarch maintained the tradition of humility. He chuckled as he tapped the boy on the shoulder once more.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Boy, just look to me for a second.” He whispered in a voice as soothing as velvet across skin.
The boy glanced up curiously towards the demon, well Daemon King. Who in the palm of his hands had created a small strobe of lights that mimicked the stars above. In his current form the formless abyss-like shape condensed into a figure similar to boy, you could almost mistake them for siblings were it not the sharp teeth that lined his jaw and long pointed ears.
“The stars that are in my palm tell me what is the difference between them and the stars that rest in the sky to man?”
The boy looked a little confused wiping his tear streaked face as he pondered the question. “The stars in the sky are brighter and although they are far away they are much larger?” Yet such a childish answer made him smile. It showed an innocence in the boy that when he delved into the mind of was not choked out by his upbringing.
“In a way, yes. The stars in my hand look as large as the stars in the sky but as you look closer they grow in size as do the ones that dance across my palm with purity of mana. What I mean to say is though they may at first from afar look small and miniscule in worth, often they are truly of greater value than one expects. I am the lord of the abyss and only when I was in complete darkness did the beauty of a single star truly mean everything. Your worth might seem small now but let it grow as when man learnt to navigate by the stars you may learn to navigate the world with your own powers.” Ashroth sighed as he spoke words that rolled so easily off his tongue. He had rehearsed such things for another, nearly a lifetime ago. But now they found this boy. It was almost poetic.
“A-Ashroth, why are you being so nice?” The boy looked at him with scepticism that may have dampened the moment were it not for the validity after all Ashroth still intended to take the boy as his vessel should he accept.
“Because you are my vessel. Wear at least that with pride. If you can not hold onto your family name I shall permit you to represent mine. Even the lowest in my ranks understood such grace and I assure you the lack of talent you feel in your life is not your fault. After all, one cannot measure a fish’s worth by how well it climbs a tree. You simply were not in the seas you were meant to traverse. So have a smile, the Abyss above is now at your side and that is the greatest pride.” Ashroth weaved the illusion into the stream of stars that litter the sky as a veil around the sorrowful child and helped him to stand. It reminded him of his first kin, long before he was moulded by malice and hate back when he belonged to a simpler era of life.
“T-Thank you, what you said really helped. I guess if my family finally chose to get rid of me I can not change those thoughts. All I can do is find a way to move on. But don’t think I will willfully be accepting your power. I want to do this with my own abilities.” Lucas had a bright smile on his face and Ashroth smiled back. ‘I see Lucas now has some pride in him.’ That was when he froze in stun he referred to this child by name.
Lucas got up and nodded as he used the ring at his hand to cleanse himself of the mud, moss and tears. He felt a lot lighter the weight of a family name may still be around his neck formally but personally he was free of it.
I felt a breath of fresh air at Ashroth’s encouragement. Determined to atleast make my own accomplishments and prove my worth, it would be better to pursue what I truly enjoyed and was capable of. Thinking back to it, although my ranking for combat and magic had not even scratched the top five hundred applicants, I made up for it in the rest of his academics. Although not a powerhouse of a prodigy I was still regularly placing in the top ten of the other academic fields, albeit not the ones related to my certification in Nobility and Military studies. Different certifications retain certain core classes even if everyone is advised to attend all classes they only need to actually be present for their core classes as long as they pass the written exams for the other classes. Two additional classes could cover one core class grade assuming you got a higher grade. Scoring two grades around the eighty percent margin would be roughly equivalent to forty percent passing grade. Whilst the biggest issue was also how based on your core classes you would be having a practical examination which for me meant the Labyrinth trial conducted by the head of the Nobility and Military study department, Hammond Blake.
Labyrinth trial was a magically conjured sub-realm that was established by the Academy utilised for practical training of monster combat. Using traditionally styled dungeons and natural habitats for these artificially constructed monsters lets students be put in challenges of wit and skill to prove themselves. The genius who had constructed this Hammond Blake was regarded as one of the best spatial and illusionary Magi in the empire. Being one of the few that is not tethered within Magic Tower although is known to be one of the most critical and harsh educators. With an apprentice of his own that was steadily climbing the ranks of magic and is all but confirmed to be his eventual successor when he retires.
Hopefully I could pass the trial and reach the end which was enough for a barely passing grade and would allow me to at least be given the choice to change courses for second year.