I was dumbfounded by what laid in front of him. 

Majestic marble buildings inlaid with gems and other precious metals, forests and fields bursting with life, neat cobble streets filled with shops and homes, yet it seemed strangely empty, The place was huge yet no one was on the streets, shops were open but no one manned the counters nor came in to buy anything. 

"Hey Alice why is a place as great as this empty? Where did everyone go?" I asked.

"Dead..... they were either killed or converted, the things that we do is what kills us"  Alice replies solemnly. 

I stayed silent trying to digest this new piece of information, we walked through passages and alleyways, over bridges and through plazas. Nothing alive was seen which gave me more questions to ask then answers received.

"What is it that you do" I asked, 

Alice grew rigid and relaxed in the span of a second, but I noticed. 

She hesitated for a moment, us standing in silence, before she opens her mouth to reply. "We hunt demons, like the two that came to get you, Sable and Jester." 

"And demons are the reason why this place is empty?" 

"Well that is part of the reason....." Alice murmured and she continued walking forward. 

We walked in silence for most of the trip afterwards, only stopping to rest. After a good couple of hours we arrived at a prestigious looking palace. 

"As I said welcome to Van Hawk Academy, this entire place is Van Hawk, but this is the true academy that I was referring to.  You shall be staying in the dorms, practically any house in the vicinity of this area. We can search for one later"  Alice said and she opened the gates of the palace walking through the front door as if she owned the place. 

"Hey Professor I got him" Alice called out and a scrawny old man with a cane walked out onto a balcony in the main hall. 

"Oh Alice my dear, so the retrieval was a success this time around?"  the old man asked and Alice nodded.

"Have you determined his abilities or should we scan him?" the man asked and Alice answered him "Ask that later, just get Daisy here to Scarlet she is in need of immediate medical attention" Alice said and  suddenly a girl dressed in green came out. 

This girl had a green hat normally found on wizards, she donned on green  belted vest over a plaid long sleeve shirt, Her pants were green hippie pants with floral designs. The pants covered her feet so I couldn't see what shoes she were wearing. 

"Alice you got back, New kid, nice to meet you" Scarlet  smiled and she took Daisy into her arms and left with haste. 

"As for Sam here, He got a summoning ability, I saw that he summoned a tree wraith, and it didn't attack any friendlies as far as I am concerned." Alice responded and she turned to me. 

"Alright Sam we're just going to scan you, find out what abilities you possess and how we can use them to combat the demons"  

As soon as she said that, my body shuttered. I felt like someone was looking into my soul, scratching and picking at it, as if someone stumbled upon a new creature and was dissecting it to find out how it worked.  

It lasted for a moment and when the feelings finally subsided I let out a sigh of relief. 

"He has an activation power, The Book of Beasts reside in him and as the holder, he can call out any creature in existence be it this realm or another by activating it's page purely through his mind" Professor said and Alice whispered "Activation like his sisters"  

I was confused,  what was this power?, why activation?, Book of Beasts? What was going on?

Seeing the confused look on my face Professor smiled "Young one, there are many questions you may want to ask but save them and learn, the more you strive to find the answers the more you learn from it in the end. You won't get any information from my lips, now begone, Alice can lend a hand if you get stuck" With a wave he turns from the balcony and goes back inside. 

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Alice looks at me with an expression I've never seen before. "Lets go meet new people" Alice smiles and she takes my hand, dragging me further into the palace. 

We entered a large central area, filled with all types of entertainment, there were televisions everywhere, tables full of snacks, foods and drinks, plants dotted the area and stalls for bathrooms, beds, sofas and couches littered the place. A total of 7 people were present.

Someone noticed us walking in and called out "Welcome back Alice, how'd the mission go" 

"It went okay, Daisy had to get critical medical attention from Scarlet other than that everything was fine." 

"How can you say its fine if Daisy is getting critical medical attention" the guy jokes and the girl next to the guy hits him. 

"Whoa, alright alright, calm down Mariah calm down" the guy shrinks back holding his hands up to catch the girl's , named Mariah, fists. 

"The duo is named Luke and Mariah" Alice gestured to the two, Luke was tall and lanky, he had sun-bleached blond hair, a white smile, and tanned skin, his storm grey eyes always seemed to be flashing with excitement, and wearing sandals, shorts and a t-shirt. Mariah on the other hand was petite and had a sickly complexion,  she wore a witches hat, her blond hair seemed pale in comparison to Luke's and she also donned a belted vest but black in color. She wore a long shirt, it also covered her shoes. 

As for the other 5, Alice named them in order.

Mute- A book loving girl with her black hair in a low and loose pigtails.  She never talks so she communicates through writing. Never seems interested in other people's business and hates it when people get into hers. She had a one piece dress shirt and combat heels. She also had black copper glasses and a sun scarf. Her power has to do with words

Dohser- a boy with slick back hair, he has an open leather jacket and ripped jeans, with a white t-shirt. he has polished shoes and white skin,  He thought highly of himself but he knows when to be cautious,  His ability is to read body movements.

Renny- a girl in a red and black school uniform,  she had bright red hair and a fierce red eyes. She wore combat boots and carried a whip with her, She cares for others but her temper is terrible She dots to much on her friends though. Her ability is ironically for people who call themselves Angels a Demon soul whose attribute is fire. 

Teck- A small adult with bloodshot eyes and unkempt hair, he is sloppy and is obsessed with technology, mainly building, rebuilding, and programming things. He is weird in ways as he normally doesn't finish his sentences and is abnormally quiet at times and most of the time just mumbling to himself. His wears simple collar shirt and shorts, his power is allows his hands to move abnormally fast and with precision

Finally the last guy was Dojo, he was a middle age man who seemed average in all aspects, brown hair, average face, not fat nor thin he wasn't short or tall, just in the middle. Dojo wore a jacket at all times, he also wore sweat pants, and a baseball cap with the Mets on it.  He wore running shoes. His power was Power reduction, he improved and scaled down powers of anyone around him making any and all fights fair. 

Those were the 7 people who were at the base, Daisy and Scarlet were away, and a few others weren't in the room, currently 5 others were somewhere else in Van Hawk, while 6 more were on missions out of Van Hawk. 

"Now that you met everyone here, you might as well go choose a dwelling" Alice suggested and she left me to my own devices

I just stood there for a moment before walking out the door to look at the city sprawling before me. "So that all there is left to us Ascended?" I mumbled remembering the words Alice used to describe herself.  I sighed "What is going on, why am I even agreeing to do this" I closed my eyes and waited. I don't know how long but I just waited.