Waking up to the sound of my mother shouting for me to come and eat breakfast. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining-
Wait, that’s not right. Autumn just started and it’s Wales; it couldn’t possibly be sunny outside. But, against my expectations, it was sunny outside. I guess it’s supposed to be really good day.
Stomping could be heard getting closer and closer to my bedroom door as it swung open to reveal my mother. My mad mother, at that.
“What are you doing not in your school uniform?! You should be ready by now! Damien- this will be your first day at your new school! First impressions are everything-“
And she went on for another 5 minutes, forgetting that fact that she was also stopping me from getting ready for school. Though, I didn’t mind her little rant. Times like this make me remember that I’m not fighting for my life and no one else’s.
After my mother left my room, I got up from my bed and went through any person’s ‘Getting Ready’ routine. Following that came the first breakfast to open my first school year since my summoning. I’ve kept quiet about my fantasy world adventure, but the habits I’ve gained from the treacherous journey have been leaking ever so slightly. I’ve kept all the strength, all the speed that I gained from the other world. My instincts were sharpened and I had a fighting style ingrained into my head. Its kind of hard to forget all that considering all the memories and experiences that came with them. When my sister or my parents try to surprise me, I usually pull some sort of crazy stunt on them. At these times my instincts just kick in and I just get jittery thinking something tried to ambush me.
Seeing my parents gathered at the table reminds me of their reactions when I first saw them again. It was a lot of crying, a lot of screaming and asking me where I went. My dad even went overboard and started spouting threats and off-the-cuff deeds that he’d do to find the people who took me right in front of the doctors and nurses that came to give me my medicine. Then again, they just laughed it off and saw it as parental love albeit my dad was really intense.
My parents are like any other person’s. They’re nice, simple, and they have a few quirks which make them who they are. If it wasn’t for them and how they raised, I may have taken the summoning far differently and for that, I love them. Well, I also love them for things apart from that but, you get the point right?
Taking my seat, I get myself a few pieces of bacon, a sunny-side egg, two pieces of toast with beans on top, and two sausages. I’ll skip over eating them because I can tell this is already boring people. I did have a very short conversation with my dad as we ate.
“Will you be alright?”
The question came out of nowhere yet it was very expected. I haven’t gone to school in 4 years now and while I had home schooling since I’ve come back, I haven’t had any contact with people my age in this world for a while. They weren’t worried about if I couldn’t handled the schoolwork. In fact, I reassured them and the school that I was going to that I was caught up with all the assessments, test, and exams I did. I don’t know why but I just feel so smart yet so dumb at the same time. I can understand all the topics yet I don’t understand how I understand them. My theory is that magic somehow makes you smarter. The school even said that with my level of work, I could just skip Year 11 and go straight to college if I just did all the exams and coursework before the start of the year. However, I decided myself to see how school is and get friends my age. From these thoughts I gave my dad my response with confidence.
“Yeah”
He gave me a smile, reached over, then ruffled my hair. Looks like my confidence got to him.
Clearing my plate, I headed upstairs to pick up my bag and head out. Before I left, I tried one last thing. Holding my hand up in the air, I called out the name of a low-tier spell.
“Spark.”
I wait for a few seconds until letting arm fall to my side. Looks like I still can’t use magic. Like I said before, I still have all strength speed to be a superhero yet my magic; it’s gone. Three years of training down the drain. Then again, I had the Blessing of the Hero to help me learn magic. The power I had would take others decades to attain.
With my bag in hand, I headed outside.
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The school bell rang as I sat in the head teacher’s office. My bag was cradled in my arms, the big boss of the school inspecting me from top to bottom. It was rather uncomfortable.
“Mr Pierce... I know we accepted you to join us this year but I do believe that problems caused by the events that led up to your situation may cause issues. Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
“Yes, miss.”
“The injuries you sustained from what I was told were very extensive. Will that not cause problems? It has only been a year.”
“I’m... fine, miss.” Though I’m unsure how. “My injuries have fully healed.”
Mrs Bertridge eyed me once more before shuffling through a small stack of paper on her desk. After finding what seemed to be the right one, she stood up and walked over to my side, handing it to me.
“This is your timetable for the year. You can also find the options you’ve picked to be on their as well. Product Design, History, and... ICT, correct?”
“Yeah...”
Less focused on the conversation and more on the paper held in my hands, I looked over the table printed over. It seems that I have Biology in room 67.
“I’ll take you to your lesson.”
Walking out of Mrs Bertridge’s office, we walked along the polished floor. Unlike other high schools, this school – St. Luke’s RC High School – didn’t have that lockers. So, instead of metal cupboards lining the walls, multiple colourful displays took up the free space. There were ones for notices and announcements, sports awards, and awards for good behaviour among others. St. Luke’s was a pretty standard school.
As we neared my class, the odd student or two that we walked past noticed me next to the head teacher. It wasn’t really surprise though since it was the start of the year so they walked past with little to no reaction. Along the way, I can only assume we were in the Science Department with the displays on the walls leaning more towards famous scientific people and the periodic table. Chatter could be heard from open doors, more excitement in the air than learning. Peering into one as we passed by, the class were filled with students just talking to each other, probably happy to see friends that they haven’t seen for 6 weeks. The teacher didn’t mind the mild chaos and just walked around the class greeting a few students.
Mrs Bertridge stopped right in front of a class a closed door but you could hear the talking from the room, just muffled. Opening the door, Mrs Bertridge stepped into the classroom and I soon followed.
When I walked in, the talking briefly stopped as the people in the class looked at me. Whispers slowly rose from the silence, probably people either continuing their conversations or people talking about what they thought about. My arm started to tremble for some reason but shortly stopped.
“This is Damien Pierce. He will be joining you for your last school year here. Make him feel welcomed.”
With the short introduction, Mrs Bertridge headed back to her office and left me under the scrutiny 29 teenagers. This sucks.
Smiling awkwardly, I waved to the class and said a quick ‘hello’ before asking the teacher where I could sit. Miss Rhodes, she told me her name was, gave swift scan of the room before pointing to one of the back tables with an open seat. Whilst handing me a blank notebook to do work in, she sent me off. Each table was set up around a small locker of sorts with plug sockets and gas faucets on top. Two people could sit at a table, with three to each locker. You could call the a work area.
Walking to my seat, I saw the people in my area of the class talking very quietly amongst themselves. I swept an eye over the class, seeing other groups doing the same thing.
Man, I want friends.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
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Exiting the class, I felt a weight on my back as I turned to see a mess of dirty blonde hair clinging to him.
“You’re pretty strong! He didn’t even budge when I jumped on you!”
Feeling a bit annoyed, I shrugged the body off before asking the boy who he was.
“Woah woah, sorry man, I didn’t mean to come off as rude or anything. I’m just... curious, yeah. Anyways, I’m Sion Himley.”
He seems pretty nice.
“I’m Damien Pierce, though you’ve probably already know my name from the head teacher.”
“Sure did. You talked to anyone else?”
“Nah, I’ve mostly kept to myself. Talking to others isn’t really my forte.”
“Then I’ll help you out! Everyone knows me in this school. Watch,”
Sion turned to his right just to see a pair of girls pass by. “Camille! Jenny! Come here!”
The girls just looked at him funnily before continuing to class. People who saw the exchange laughed quietly at him.
“W-well maybe not them but-“
“It’s okay man, it doesn’t matter. You can show me where my next class is though.”
Handing him my timetable, Sion seemed to perk up at the thought of helping me. Sliding his finger across the paper, he quickly found my next class and perked up for some reason. Before he could say anything, however, the school bell rung to signify a warning to the students.
Panicking, Sion pulled out his phone from his pocket and paled at what it displayed.
“Oh god, we’re going to be late! We have the same lesson but the room’s on the other side of the building. Come on- let’s go!”
Grabbing my hand, he pulled me to our next class.
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“Phew, glad that’s over with.”
Sprinting through the corridor with other people rushing to their classes wasn’t easy. I can control my strength and I can probably run for days on end but when your body is as hard as steel, maybe even diamond, you’re not going to be the one hurting when you hit people running by. We didn’t even make it in time so the teacher, Mr Mulligan, took it upon himself to rant on and on about how ‘its the first day of school and you’re already late to lesson’ and ‘this is the most important year of your lives’ which it obviously isn’t. Teachers can be very melodramatic.
“Glad that Maths is over, or glad that the lesson with Mr Mulligan is over?”
“Mr Mulligan is just so harsh. I’ve had him for over 4 years and I still don’t get why he hates me!”
We walked out of the school building into the gated yard. Large part of it was just a field which led to a forest path and the smaller part was basically an area of concrete. It was simple, but the large space meant people could do most things that they wanted.
Sion continued his idle chatter with me as we stayed close to the entrance. I can only guess that he’s waiting for his other friends.
“So what brings you to Treford? I don’t know your situation but joining a school in Year 11 seems pretty weird. That might just be me, though.”
“Fresh start for my family, I guess. The town I used to live in had a few problems."
“Can’t do anything about that.”
Sion gave a glance to the doorway before saying, “wait here.”
As Sion started to wade through the students walking out, a sharp sensation went down my spine.
Eyes widening, I turned to the source of the single only to find myself facing the forest at the back of the yard. Looks like my other blessings are still in effect. I haven’t sensed this amount of danger to me since before my return. The whole thing stinks of... something. Time to find out what.
Quickly making my way to the gate of the fence, I ignored the few stares of the people who saw me going to the far end of the field. As I got closer the feeling of danger got stronger and stronger until I couldn’t see straight anymore. Even the Demon King didn’t affect me this much. There’s got to be foul play going on here.
Glancing from side to side, I made sure no one was looking at me before I jumped over the fence. As I land, the pressure around me suddenly intensified and I was forced to the ground. This really sucked; dirt did not taste good at all.
What felt like magic swirled in the air in front of me. I could feel its twists and turns as its strands weaved in and out of the leaves that flew with the wind. Yet, how could there be magic here? For 1 year I have tried and tried to feel magic in this world but, despite that fact, nothing comes to me. If I’d known there was mana in these woods I would have come straight away.
A pang in my consciousness allowed me to notice a presence right in front of me. Pulling my face out of the forest floor, I saw a robed figure standing over me. What stood out the most from him was not the fact that he would definitely be a suspicious person loitering around school grounds, but the ethereal quality to his atmosphere.
‘Like he was some sort of spirit or deity-‘
“A god, actually.”
‘For goodness sake, you can read my mind as well. Since I can’t open my mouth right now due to your pressure... um, hi.’
“Hello there, Damien.”
‘Of course he also knows my name.’
“Oh I know everything about you Damien; including your escapades to another world.”
‘Wonderful. So, what do I owe this pleasure?’
“Problems, Damien. Big ones.”
With a swish of his robes, his right sleeve appeared to shoot out a ball of pure mana that hit the ground causing the earth to rupture.
“As you may have already guessed, that was a ball of pure mana. ‘Mana Orb’ as the beings of the other world, Piora, have coined it.”
‘So what’s bad about that?’
“I should not be able to do that.”
‘But aren’t you a god?’
“The God and no, I stripped all magic from this world after I made it.”
‘Why?’
“My world has no need for it.”
‘I would’ve thought you needed mana to perform the miracles you can do.’
“Ah, but you just said it yourself. They’re miracles, not magic.”
His aura flared with power, done in a way to show to his pride.
‘Okay then... if there shouldn’t be any mana on Earth, how come there is and why only now?’
‘Because of you Damien, and your return.”
God seemed to have flicked the switch as whatever was pushing me down just vanished. Regaining control over my body, I pushed myself of the ground and dusted my clothes off. I can properly speak to God now. In front of me stood the robed figure of God, in all his glory.
“Now that I don’t need to read your mind, I can now focus on telling you what you need to know. Everything needs to time to mature Damien, like you and the magic that brought you back. The sacrifice made to ensure the portal to our world was opened had enough mana absorbed that an excess amount fled into our world, infecting the verdant life of this forest.”
This just didn’t add up.
“Sacrifice... you mean the Demon King?! And why would it infect this forest if its so far away from where I appeared?”
“Damien, you did not reappear near the City Centre, you were reappeared in this forest, while I placed you in the City Centre. And yes, the Demon King was the sacrifice.”
“Hmm... well why didn’t you let me absorb the excess mana from the Demon King? I could have stopped the infection your so wary about.”
“I’m a benevolent God, Damien. If you had absorbed that mana, Jaraxxus’ magic would have continued to eat you inside out and eventually kill you. It only devours mana-filled body and with the portal expelling the mana from your body, it stopped affecting you.”
I froze.
‘T-thank you.’
“No need. Now, what I need from you is to protect as many people as you can.”
That’s concerning.
“Why?”
With bated breath, I waited for the answer.
“Monsters are coming.”
My mind couldn’t process his answer.
“Huh?”
“The two worlds, Piora and ours’, have two very different yet very similar constitutions. While one cannot have mana, the other must have all the mana.”
“What do you mean?”
At my question, God gave a pause before lifting his head to reveal a man made of light.
“It means that it will take the mana back, no matter what it has to do. And do you know what that means.”
Something inside me just clicked.
“It’ll send things to take it back... to absorb it then return.”
God’s face seemed to shine bright as he turned back towards the forest.
“Correct. Now follow me.”
Dead leaves on the ground sprung to life as God marched to the centre of the forest, like life itself oozed from his very being. It probably did. Not knowing what to do, the smell of something interesting enticed me. Looks like I still want to fight.
We trekked through the beauty of the forest, the area becoming denser and denser with plants and trees as we got closer to our destination. What was rather eerie was the lack of birds’ singing in the canopy. Dead silence was our music along the darkened path.
I was about to ask God how close we were to what he wanted me to see when he abruptly stopped in front of large pit. Seeing as he didn’t move any further, I walked to his side and peered into the hole. What I found was not quite what I expected.
“A hydra...”
“Yes.”
Nine necks were haphazardly laid on top of the creatures body, their heads detached and the stumps only charcoal. Even its famed regeneration couldn’t save it from the wrath of God. The pit itself look like it was ravaged by the behemoth’s struggle, an epitome to the overwhelming power of the man who created the world. I’m a little bit scared now.
“The first of many and the messenger of Piora’s intent.”
“Aren’t you all powerful? Why not just use your miracles to stop this from happening ever again?”
Shuffling could be heard to my left, as God turned to face me.
“For Piora’s creator is just as powerful as I.”
That was both expected and unexpected.
“Are you... like clones?”
“Similar, but no. Imagine us like twins; same genes but different personalities. My brother was a lot more of a control freak than I.”
So this is a battle between two omnipotent beings? Neat.
“Why do you need me then?”
“I can’t be here for everyone all the time. I’m a lot of what humans say I am but I can’t be anywhere at anytime. I’m just one person, so to speak.”
“What about angels, don’t you have those?”
A resounding slap could be heard as God had face palmed at my answer. Did I say something stupid? And how did he make that sound when he’s made of light?
“Those silly thoughts of yours,” he said, shaking his head. “They are the souls of people, most of whom haven’t even gone to war. I do have an army of soldiers from across the ages but do you think they can face against these types of enemies? Creatures that they thought were legends only founds in books?”
“Good point – forget what I said.”
There was a pause in our conversation in preparation to the proposition he offered to me.
“Be my sword, Damien. Be the sword of this world like you were for the other.”