It had been entirely too fast, Pietro had not seen a movement this swift in his entire life and afterlife. Even Asura himself could not reach such speed. That was very clear with how he hadn't dodged the blow and now found himself passed out on the ground, with blood pouring out of his mouth.

Pietro now looked at the gathering of soldiers with a newfound fear lodged deep in his heart. They did not seem all that special or dangerous, and yet one of them had defeated Asura in a single blow, and one that Asura had not even seen coming at that. This disparity in power was not something Pietro had expected. Asura was his shield, or at least he was supposed to be. And now he felt more naked than ever.

"So...As I was saying, we have questions for you kid. Matter of fact, first one is this...Who the hell is that?" The leader of the contingent spoke with a harsh tone, clearly, he had not taken kindly to Asura's attempt at threatening him. The demon easily towered over Pietro and even if that had not been the case, Pietro could quite literally feel in danger just by being near the man.

"Uhm, he...He is called Asura and I am P-Pietro. We just came to this city to go to school! We are perfectly normal children, not shady at all sir!" Pietro exclaimed, split between an attempt at sounding confident and an innate desire to make himself as small as possible. He was not used to dealing with demons that were actually threatening, as the monks had been the opposite.

The soldiers seemed to have taken his answer lightly as they mocked him, most likely for his apparent fear, but the leader did not chuckle like his men. From the corner of his eyes, he observed Asura. He was looking for something, or perhaps more specifically, he seemed to be trying to decipher something. It took him only a few seconds of silence to snap out of it, and his eyes went back to the small human in front of him. Unsurprisingly, Pietro did not seem to interest him nearly as much as Asura did.

"Going to school huh? You from the lower levels? Bah, don't even answer it." The captain of the band clicked his tongue as he ran his eyes over Pietro. "I can already tell you're a human. Can only come from the lower levels if you're a human and a weak one at that. Only the strongest of your kind remain on this level, kid. Does it look worth it to you to go through all that trouble, namely us demons, to get an education?" The man asked, and for a split second, Pietro almost wondered if he was serious. Yet this was obviously just an attempt at scaring him away. The monks had been smart enough to warn Pietro of what he would be likely to encounter on his way to the city, though they had forgotten the gigantic wall and the abyss for some reason.

They had told him that their kind did not very much enjoy having humans live near them, but that they didn't have much of a choice. So they usually resorted to threats, as they couldn't quite do anything else. Demon society still had rules, as ironic as it sounded, and it certainly did to Pietro the first time he had heard of this. Demons could casually murder each other as long as they did not do such things in public, but they could not do the same to others. They only could through duels. And who in their right minds would challenge a mere child, and a weak one at that, to a duel?

Though the curiosity the leading soldier held for Asura now worried Pietro. Had this look on the man's face meant that he wanted to fight him? Demons were obsessed with violence and power. Asura was just unique in how big his obsession was, but other than that he would seem far more normal to the rest of his kind than Pietro would.

All of this would matter at another time, however, for the soldiers awaited an answer, and Pietro had one to give.

"It does. I want to learn, I really want to." Pietro put all of his conviction into his voice while making sure to not be too loud. He had once learned that adults would get exasperated by children who yelled instead of talking, and with what they once did to him, the mere humans that they were, he did not want to find out what demons would do.

The soldiers looked at one another and then glanced at their leader. He had a small smile on his face, for reasons only he knew.

"Well, ain't ya a kid full of life, huh? Well, let's get you into the city. We're not done with the questioning though" He said as he looked towards the skies, he seemed a bit wearier now. "We should just avoid staying around here. Can't say I appreciate some random demon swooping in to look at the city and then leaving. "

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The man turned to the only other soldier beside himself who had actual armour and not mere leather clothes with some bits and pieces of metal over the limbs.

"You know who should still be in town somewhere, find them and see what we're supposed to do about this situation. They should have received orders by now...Though...Eh, a bit weird that they didn't do shit." The leader ordered before crouching down to put Asura over his shoulder. He then turned to Pietro and motioned for him to follow after them while the guard he had just ordered jumped. And he did not jump as Pietro would have, or like anyone, besides perhaps Asura, he had ever known would have. No, in fact, his jump left a small hole in the ground and kicked up a bit of dirt. He went at least thirty meters in the air and then somehow propelled himself in the direction of the city.

And so, Pietro simply followed after the group, but his eyes remained glued to the city as his mind couldn't just ignore what he had just been a witness to. His awe was no secret and all of the guards chuckled, most likely used to seeing children marvel at such things, which to them might just be normal. Pietro still had no real idea what Demons were capable of as a species.

"Impressive, ain't it? This fool isn't really all that big of a fighter, but he got the moves. Fast as the wind and with his magic? Oh boy, imagine fighting a guy that can just propel himself in the sky while you're stuck to the ground like an idiot." The captain struck up a conversation with Pietro, and for once the boy was not lost in his thoughts. No, actually he was as focused as he could possibly be on the captain's words. It was his objective, after all, nay his dream, to learn as much as he could about Hell and the wider universe.

"I cannot imagine myself fighting a demon at all, to be honest."

At that, the captain responded by simply smacking Pietro in the back like a father. At least the action would have looked fatherly and normally had it not nearly made Pietro fall face-first to the ground. The soldier grabbed onto his monk attire and put him back on his feet.

"If you don't see yourself fighting no demons, why are you even going to school? Most schools mostly teach that...Wait..." The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight tilt of the head." Which school are you even going to?"

" Uh, well. That is a good question, Mister..."

"Bernos, Acting Commander of Dramora." The man presented himself and did a mock bow on top of everything. Pietro found a smile making its way onto his face. He had to admit that the captain, or rather the commander, was far less intimidating when he wasn't trying to be so. Even his appearance was not as scary as the rest of his comrades. While he did have the same curved horns that they too had, he had no tail and a far more human-like face. In fact, he really looked like a human who simply had dark red skin. His face was handsome and appeared far younger than he sounded. He had a small stubble, high cheekbones and looked rather thin. In fact, he did not look very muscular at all for a soldier. His eyes were of a deep and disconcerting green. Pietro tried to not look directly into them.

"Alright so, Mister Bernos, if I remember well the school is called something like...Forneus School, I think." Pietro stopped in his tracks when he noticed that the man had done so too, and as he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the other guards looked as surprised as their leader.

"That would be the Forneus Military and Public School...Bloody hell, kid. Well, at least I guess you won't solely be learning how to fight for the first few years there..." The man resumed his walk, but this time his pace had quickened. A sigh escaped his lips, however. "Can't say I'm happy about this horrible place getting more students though."

Now, it was Pietro's time to be surprised. A horrible place!? Firstly he could not understand what was meant here, as demons would obviously not have the same definition of what was horrible. But that did not assuage his fears. The monks wouldn't have sent him to a dangerous place, now would they have?

'Ugh, who am I even fooling....Might be a school, but it's still Hell. I hope I won't get bullied again. This time it won't stop with a punch and some nasty words if it happens...' He thought while looking at Asura. He really hoped the demon would be a nice shield for him. Perhaps it was a bit too selfish to think of such things, but then again...He had died after a life of selflessness, almost, he could act differently now.

"You don't even know, kid? Fuck, who even sent you to this school? Must have thought the little tyke here would protect you. Well, better to get things straight, he ain't gonna." The commander looked him straight in the eyes, with a face that betrayed no emotions. Pietro liked to imagine that he was behind this, what he felt was pity. People tended to be nicer to him when they pitied him.

"You see, this school is not really that unique, but the teachers are. It ain't a school at this point really...It's a damn retirement home for war heroes. And you, little human" He pointed a finger at Pietro's chest." Do not want to be anywhere near a war hero of Hell. I remember when I went to that damn school. I survived a single year before I ran away from those psychotic veterans. But hey...Good luck!"