The muscular and the skinny guy led them to the castle. The castle was desolate. All the crystal, gold and silver decorations had been taken. The statues, vases and paintings were destroyed or stolen. The only thing left behind were destruction, blood and corpses. They entered the inner ward. A red magic formation on the center illuminated everything. There were over two hundred students with cat emblems sitting on the debris around the blood and organs of those who should've been their seniors and professors. Dozens of black clothed guards were around them. There were some who had red symbols on their foreheads while a couple of them had complex white symbols. A very small number of students were on a separate group. They weren't as guarded nor as sad as the rest.

The stench was terrible, Rayen had to cover his nose to resist it a bit. He looked around, human parts covered the ground, the walls and towers were all broken. 'How bloody has the battle been.' He saw two rakuyas with the cat emblem. They were alone, separated from the rest of the prisoners. 'Rakuyas!' He lived all his live near rakuyas, yet this was the first time seeing one alive.

There was noise inside the great hall. There was a party going on. Shouts and laughter could be heard. Their enjoyment was a stark contrast with the despair that existed here. Rayen couldn't see much. He only saw a few of them drinking and looting corpses.

Kris approached the two guys. "What will happen to my cat?"

"Eh?" the skinny guy said. "What cat?"

"The professor was going to give me a cat, but he is now dead."

"You won't get any then."

"No way. I want a cat! I was promised one."

"If you don't stop, you will only get hurt." The muscular guy said.

Kris went back with the group.

"A cat?" Rayen asked.

"I always wanted a pet, but my parents never let me have any..."

"We brought you more kittens," the skinny guy said. "I think this is the last group."

"Good," a mage sitting near the magic formation said. He had a red symbol on his forehead. "Any of you, enter the formation."

Saya looked at Yune. She couldn't let anything happen to her. The magic formation could be anything. Only someone skilled at magic formations would be able to tell, and she clearly wasn't. If something bad happened, it was better if it happened to her and not to Yune. She stepped into the formation and closed her eyes.

The formation shone and red lightnings surrounded her. The mage nearby observed it in detail. "Seven. Not enough. Go there." He pointed to the big group. "Next one."

Seeing that it was safe, Vesh went into the formation. The quicker he did it, the safer it would be. The formation shone once again.

"Six. Go."

Vesh knew his capability, so he wasn't surprised.

Stone went ahead.

"Oh, a gruen, first gruen here."

"What's a gruen?" Rayen never heard that word before.

"Uh?" Yune looked confused at Rayen. "You didn't know? Stone is a gruen."

"That doesn't tell me what a gruen is..."

"A gruen is a race. They're similar to humans, but twice as big and more muscular."

"And they love rocks." Kris said.

"Hum hum." Rayen nodded. "I see."

"Eight," the mage said. "Quite good, but not enough."

Stone went with Saya and Vesh.

"Next."

"They must be looking for a nine." Yune said.

"I'm not a nine," Kris said. "And I don't want to go. I don't like them. They don't want to give me my kitty."

"I will go." Yune stepped ahead. The formation shone again.

"Seven. Next one."

Rayen looked at Kris, who still refused to go. He went into the formation. He felt the power entering inside of him. It was different from the one he felt on Reius. It was more invasive and dangerous. He tried to memorize it as well.

"Six. Go with the others. Cat girl, come."

"I don't want to. Not unless you give me a cat."

"You..." He got up.

"Fine." She walked there. The light shone much more brightly than with the others and there were more lightnings than before.

"This..." All the other mages were astonished and went closer.

"T-ten." He said.

"Why would a ten come to this academy?" Another red symbol mage said. "With a ten you could get into a much better academy!"

"They offered me a cat, so of course I will come. Unlike you, who don't want to give it to me. Hmph." Kris went with Rayen and the others, since she wasn't a nine.

"Wouldn't the other academies offer you a cat as well?" Vesh asked.

"They did, but they didn't have cat on their name. So they may be lying to me. And the professor said that the founder had a pet cat as well. That's were the name comes from. But this is unfair. Now I won't get a cat."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Don't go there. You have to go there." The mage in charge of the formation pointed at the small group of people.

"No. I want to be with my friends."

"Do you understand the situation you are in?"

"She clearly isn't fit to be a follower of the Red Demon."

"If she was a nine, okay, but we cannot let a ten become a servant."

The guy who killed the professor appeared. "If you join us, I will give you a cat."

"Really? Thanks, mister!" She ran to him and hugged him. Then she stopped. "But you killed the professor and made it so I couldn't get my kitty in the first place. Hmmm... Thanks anyway." She patted him.

He looked at the big group of people. "You guys, come with me."

Kris went with the small group.

"A ten... I can't believe it." Vesh said.

"Uh?" Rayen said. "Isn't a ten just one higher than a nine? Why is it so special?"

"Ha, you don't know anything. You are just an ignorant hick. Let me explain you. A nine is rare, only one in 50,000 have a capability of nine, but ten is much rarer. Only one in a million have it."

"And six?"

"Six is one in 50."

"Now I see why you are so dumb, you spent all your time memorizing a lot of useless facts."

"You..."

Yune chuckled.

They stopped in front of a big room. It was the director's old room. Now it was his room.

"I'm Ren, a Great General of Red Demon. From now on all of you will serve the Red Demon. Enter one by one." He went inside.

The skinny guy and the muscular guy, among other Red Demon's members, walked back and forth around the prisoners. They made sure none of them could escape.

Since Rayen was at the back, it would take a while for him to enter. He saw the two rakuyas from before. Most of the other prisoners were in groups of four to seven, but not them. They were together, but not in any group. He went to talk with them.

"Hi."

"What do you want?" One of them got in front of the other. They were both little girls. The one that got in front was a little taller than the other, still shorter than Rayen. She had short light green hair with emerald eyes. The other one looked the same, but with long hair.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"We've nothing to say to an outsider," she said. A blue ball with big frowning eyes and claws came out from inside her. It was her spirit.

"I'm from the village that vowed with the Dokenra." Rayen remembered the Elder's words when he met Senku.

"Dokenra? As if I would believe you."

"Calm down, Remya," the shorter girl said. "I'm sorry, she is like that because of all that happened."

"I'm not lying. I have something I need to know, and you are the first living rakuyas I ever saw."

"Living rakuyas?"

"Yes. When I went to the Rakuya Forest..."

"What?" Remya asked. "You went to the sacred forest? It's prohibited to let outsiders in."

"I went there a few days ago, but all the rakuyas were dead, spirits and beasts too, except those damn ferrets."

"What?" Remya took Rayen by the shoulders. "All dead?"

"Yes. I wanted to know if there is a way to stop the tree from withering."

"What tree?"

"The Dokenra. What other tree could it be?"

"Wait... The sacred tree is withering?"

"Yes. That's what I said."

"What?!" Both shouted.

"Don't shout," a guard said.

"Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Yes, I'm not dumb. Withering is when the leaves fall and the tree changes color, then it dies."

"Not that, you idiot. How could it wither? The holy tree should never wither."

"Well... That doesn't change the fact that it's withering."

"How could this happen?"

"I dunno, it was withering when I got there."

"Ugh... We should leave and inform the others."

"The others? Aren't all the rakuyas from the Dokenra?"

"No." The shorter girl said. "There are dozens of holy trees around the world. We aren't from there."

Rayen thought for a second. Not sure whether to show it or not. "I also got this." A badge appeared on his hand. "It was on a temple."

"Never show that to a rakuya or she will kill you."

"Eh? Why?"

"That's a Sister of the Woods' badge. Only a Sister of the Woods can have it. If you have it, it means you killed her."

"I didn't kill her."

"I know, you are too weak for that. I guess we must escape soon, this is far too important."

The guards looked at them.

"Come with my group. So you aren't alone."

They looked at each other. "Fine."

"I've brought you two rakuyas." Rayen said to his group.

"Uh?" They were a bit confused since they looked like normal girls.

"Hi, my name is Sonya." The shorter girl said.

"I'm Remya. This is Pakku." She pointed at his spirit.

"Hi there." Pakku waved his little claw.

"Oh." Sonya said. A green rabbit came out from her body, his fur made of grass. "He is Daku." *Yaaawn* He sat on her shoulder, sleeping.

"What cute little girls." Yune caressed their heads.

"Get your hand out of me, outsider." Remya stepped back.

Sonya just enjoyed it while blushing.

"I'm Yune. She is Saya. And he is Stone." She pointed at them.

"I'm Rayen. I think I didn't say it before."

"Nice to meet you." Both said.

"I think that's all." Yune said. "Oh, there is Kris, but she isn't here."

"My princess... How can you forget about me? You never leave my mind for a second. I live and breathe just for you."

"Who is that?"

"Just ignore him." Yune said.

After waiting for over an hour, it was finally their turn. Rayen went into the room. The general Ren was sitting there, in front of a big table. There was a statue of a red demon on the table. Ren pointed at Rayen and a ray of mana went into his head.

"Break."

Rayen felt something inside of him breaking and leaving his body.

"Now, put your hands on the Red Demon."

Rayen put his hand on the statue. The statue shook and opened his eyes. Rayen could see his red eyes looking inside of him directly into his soul. It was entrancing, he couldn't stop looking at it.

"Don't take your hands out and read this." He passed Rayen a piece of paper.

Rayen read. "From here on I make this oath to the Red Demon. I swear to obey any order of the Red Demon. I swear to never kill a servant of the Red Demon. And I swear to never attack a follower of the Red Demon. From now I will become a servant to the Red Demon. Giving my life and soul to the Red Demon and his cause."

"Good."

A red light came out of the statue and entered Rayen's body. His mind shook. The red light carved the statue he saw in front of him into himself. The Red Demon materializing inside his mind. After it finished materializing, it opened his red eyes, staring at Rayen's soul.

"Don't worry, you won't need to obey the orders of normal followers. Only the orders of captains and above. The ones with the same or higher ranking can override previous orders."

"Uff... What a relief."

"It's better than dying. Put all your valuable objects on the table."

The red demon inside of him felt stirred. If he didn't obey, he would suffer something terrible. He had to obey. He needed to obey. Rayen put his grandma's money on the table, along with the bestiary and the map. The need to obey didn't wane. He still didn't do what was ordered.

'The dagger.' Rayen felt bad to part from it, but he had to. He put it on the table. Yet, the need still didn't disappeared. 'Uh? What do I have left? Is it the badge? No, my clothes. My clothes are valuable.' He took out his clothes and put them on the table. Only then did the need stop. 'Thankfully, I didn't need to put the badge. It must be because I think of it as part of me and not as an object.'

"I have no interest in kid's clothes. You can keep them."

Rayen put his clothes back.

"How can a kid have so much money? You don't look like a noble." The general waved his hand above the money and it all disappeared. He extended the map on the table. "Quite a good map. A follower may find it useful." He took it. He unsheathed the dagger. "You have no idea what this is, right kid?"

"Uh? It's a dagger."

"Look." The room shook and a hum could be heard. The eyes of the weird creatures on the hilt turned red and felt alive. They were similar, but not as powerful as the big statue. The decorations were filled with a strange light and moved around. The blade became longer and turned black.

"It never did that with me."

"That's because you can't use it. You are far too weak." He sheathed the dagger again. It all turned back to normal. "This thing is too fragile for me, but someone will find it useful." He opened the book. "A bestiary, uh? I have no use for it. Since you gave me so many good things, you can keep it." He gave Rayen the book. "Now leave."

Soon after, all the prisoners had been inside. Most of the guards left, leaving only two behind. The skinny and the muscular guy from before.

"I'm captain Suei," the skinny guy said. "It took you a while, but you all grew up. You aren't kitties anymore. You belong to the Red Demon. All of you are now servants of the Red Demon."

"I'm captain Yuhal," the muscular guy said. "Let's get to work, servants."