Chapter 5: Monster

Sundown, the next day, I was abruptly awoken, by my new roommate, Darren. I looked up at him, wearily, but I quickly got to my senses,

“Come on, Parmy, breakfast is in a few minutes,” he said. I gave him a funny look, at the way he called me,

“Parmy?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“You know, it’s a nickname. Parmasus is quite long, so Parmy is easier,” he explained. I looked at him for a bit longer, then sighed, in defeat. I got up from my bed, and quickly got clothed, in the uniform we had been given.

The uniform was of a black colour, and looked quite weird, to be honest. It was composed of pants, a shirt, and a jacket.

“Call me what you want,” I said, as we walked out of the room. Minutes later, we were in the dining hall. It was a very large hall, with several long tables, adorned throughout. Around the tables, were the students of the academy.

The academy itself, was not connected to the large castle, physically. It was its own building, and was a short distance away from the main castle.

We found a seat, then went to get our ‘food’. I don’t know why, but I was surprised, when breakfast only consisted blood. We were given a chalice, as well as a red bottle. The bottles themselves, were very well decorated, and looked expensive.

We grabbed our meal, then went back to our seat, where Eleana and Marinna, were seated. I opened my bottle, and filled my chalice, as I greeted our friends,

“Good evening,” I said. Eleana broke her conversation with Marinna, to greet me back,

“Good evening, Parmasus. Did you sleep well in your new home?” She asked. I smiled, and nodded to her.

“Yes, I slept pretty well. It’s a bit different from back home, though. How about you two?” I asked back.

“We slept well, as well,” she replied. We continued to chatter for a while, until it was time to go to our classroom, but the entire time in the eating hall, Marinna had been eyeing me weirdly. She kept giving me glances; she probably didn’t realize that I noticed, but I did. But let it slip to the back of my mind, for now. Then, we went to our classroom. Darren, Eleana, Marinna, and I, were all in the same class, so we didn’t separate.

The classroom was full of people, when the teacher walked in. It was the same teacher from before, who had us. The teacher calmly walked to his desk, and sat down, on his seat.

“Good evening, students. Welcome to the first class of the year. As you may or may not know, the first class today, is history. In history class, I will teach you the history of the mortal world, but also the history of us vampires. You will learn of the important clans, and their history, as well as important vampires from the ages. But the fun thing about this is, that we are vampires. We are immortal, and won’t ever die of age, so some of these important figures of history, are still alive to this day. Others have died through the course of time, and others are unknown.

But today, I will teach you about our society. Our social norms, our hierarchy, and things like that,” he said, explaining our first class to us.

“As you may know, after you graduate, you will gain the title of a Knight, but this is only the lowest rank, amongst royalty. After the Knight, there is the Baron, the Count, Marquess, Duke, Prince, Grand Prince, and finally the King.

But of course, there is only a single King, amongst our kind, and he has remained unchanged for a very long time. And there are only a few Grand Princes,” he said. After telling us about the various ranks amongst vampiric nobility, he explained the functions of the titles.

The King, was the ruler of all vampires, or at least the ones that identified with the rule of the Ventus Regulis, and the Exsequor Tenebris Clans. The King belonged to the Ventus Clan. Below the kings, were the Grand Princes. The Grand Princes were all in charge of ruling the vampires of a country, or region. Under the Grand Princes, were the normal Princes. They helped the Grand Princes govern their territory, and were usually in charge of a city, or principality.

Under the Princes, were the Dukes, the Marquesses, the Counts, the Barons, and finally the Knight. All of these, except the Knight, could govern a small area, if given the privilege to work for a prince, but they often didn’t. As for the Knights, they served as the elites in the military, and would often command a small task force, or work in a group with other knights. Within the Knighthood order, there were even more ranks, but we were not taught about these, yet.

After about an hour and a half, history class was over. Then came mathematics. Our mathematics teacher was an old crone looking man. He had a scary face, as he stared at us with empty eyes. He didn’t dally, as he immediately started the lesson.

There didn’t happen much in math class, except us learning more math. We started with basic math, since many of the people here never learned much math, but I was different. I had spent the last four years, learning all kind of mathematics, history, and even some rhetoric.

Thus, the next hour and a half was quite boring. Instead, I took to helping the ones next to me, with their problems. Darren did know basic math, but it didn’t go beyond that. As for Eleana, she seemed to know everything already.

And thus, mathematics class was finished. As for the next class, that first teacher came back, and brought us outside. It was time for combat training now. Once we arrived in a courtyard, he put us into a line.

“Today is your first class of combat training, so today we are going to test your skills. You will all fight against each other in hand to hand combat. It will be tournament style. Try not to seriously hurt each other,” he said. Immediately after, he started dividing us into groups of two.

My opponent was a big guy, who seemed to have more muscle than he could ever use. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was physically stronger than me. A vampire’s body wouldn’t change much through the course of time, even if you trained your body.

A few minutes passed, after a few people fought, until it was our turn. He didn’t want everyone fighting at the same time, since he wanted to carefully observe.

The big guy and I walked into fighting area. The big guy looked at me with a contemptuous look, as if I was nothing in front of him. But who knows, he might be much stronger than me.

“You might as well give up right away,” he said with a deep voice. My expression didn’t change, as I looked at him with empty eyes, causing him slight discomfort. The teacher seemed to have a slight change in expression, when the big guy spoke.

“I would rather wait, and see how my strength will fare,” I spoke. The buffoon grumped at my words.

“Fight,” Targen, said.

The buffoon didn’t waver, as he rushed at me. He threw a heavy fist at me, but to my eyes, it seemed as if was moving as slow as a snail, riding on a tortoise, complaining about the speed.

In a simply, yet swift motion, I moved to the side. Not wanting to waste time, I sent a swift fist into the side of the buffoon, right into his liver. The buffoon gasped in pain, as collapsed the side.

“So this is all that backed your attitude? Disappointing,” I said, as walked away from the fighting area. Targen, the teacher, had a smirk on his face.

“Nothing less, from the protégé of Elder Nabalu, and the offspring of one of the most esteemed Executors of our Exsequor Tenebris Clan,” he said, as he had a satisfied look on him. But, as he said those words, many eyes widened around me. Darren ran up to me, and basically shouted in my face,

“You’re the protégé of Elder Nabalu?” He asked, his eyes wide open, and his mouth gaping. But it was understandable. Elder Nabalu was a very esteemed figure, being a Prince, of our clan. And I was even the offspring of one of the most esteemed Executors of the clan, even though I didn’t know that before.

The identity of Palazar had always been a mystery to me, as I had never had the chance to ask Elder Nabalu about him. But I did know what an Executor was. They were the task force, in charge of eradicating the bad seeds of the vampire’s race, and took all the most dangerous missions.

They were not the same, as the normal Knights. Executors often worked alone, or in small groups of other executors, while Knights would have lower ranked vampires working under them, while also working with other Knights.

A Knight task force, would often consist of about four Knights, and their subordinates, although, they would sometimes not take their subordinates with them, for some missions.

Knights were considered as elites, but the Executors were on a whole other level. They all had a royal rank above that of a Knight, and they were the goal of all knights.

Ever since I had heard of them, I had wanted to be one, even though it had only been a few days. Elder Nabalu was the one who told me of them.

“Well, Elder Nabalu is an old friend of Palazar, so he promised to look after me. As for Palazar being one of the most esteemed Executors, I didn’t even know about that before now,” I said. Darren still had eyes of apparent disbelief. Eleana had also made her way over to me, and was just as surprised.

Only Marinna seemed to not be so surprised, which in itself, surprised me. And as if on cue, it was Marinna’s turn to fight. Marinna’s opponent was a slender, but tall man. As they faced each other, the man bowed,

“I don’t wish to hurt the lady, so please, let’s take it easy,” he said, with concerned eyes. He seemed to be a nice man, but Marinna took it the wrong way.

“What, just because I’m a woman, you think I’m easy prey?” She said with disdain. She didn’t even bother to wait for Targen’s cue, as she walked towards the man,

“Prepare yourself, because I don’t give a fuck, if you get hurt or not!” She shouted at the man, who immediately got into a fighting stance, but the poor man, he didn’t stand a chance. Marinna’s body lashed towards the man, like a strike of lighting, as her foot lodged itself into his stomach. The man flew back a meter, but Marinna wasn’t finished, and gave him a big, nice fist, right into his cheek, before Targen decided to stop the fight, by suddenly appearing between the two fighters.

“That’s enough. I ask that you please wait for my signal in the future, and don’t use unnecessary violence,” he said calmly, with the ever same, empty expression.

Marinna turned around, and said, “Fine.”

She made her way back to us, where she was met with many wide eyes, which I was glad for. I didn’t like having all the attention on me. Eleana grabbed her shoulders, and started jumping up and down,

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“Holy shit, you’re strong! I wonder, who would win, you or Parmasus?” She wondered aloud. Marinna chuckled at her.

“Who knows,” she said, with a mysterious look. I couldn’t help, but to chuckle at her expression. Then, the fights continued, until it was Darren’s and Eleana’s turn. They had actually been matched together.

Darren had a confident expression on him, as they faced each other, in the ring.

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you, just because we’re friends!” He said, with an arrogant smirk. Eleana chuckled at him,

“Don’t be too arrogant now,” Eleana said. Then came the signal, and the fight ended. Yes it ended. The very moment Targen said, “Fight,” Eleana, had punched Darren in his solar plexus, and sent him flying a few meters away.

Once more, every single eye in area widened, while Darren’s eyes, were completely white instead.

“Ah, I used too much force,” she said, as she rushed over to the collapsed Darren. After making sure he wasn’t dead, she rose back up, with a relieved look on her face.

“Eh, I have something important to do now, so I’ll be leaving early,” she said to Targen, before quickly making her way out. No one uttered a single word, as she ran, and Targen only gave a nod, but he didn’t look surprised at all.

One of the students close to him, decided to ask,

“What the hell was that?”

“If you want to know, you can ask her. And since she left, Darren will continue to the next round,” he said.

Thus, the fighting continued, until it was time for my second round. This time, I faced a man, of more average body type. He looked a bit nervous, as he had seen what happened to the last guy, and even more nervous as he had heard who stood behind me. But nevertheless, he got into a fighting stance.

“Fight,” Targen said, signalling the start of the fight. Fearlessly, he charged forwards, lounging his fist at me. Effortlessly, I moved to the side, and put my foot in front of his, effectively tripping him.

He fell, but he managed to regain his balance quickly, by rashly stomping his other foot down, but it mattered not, for I had already lounged my foot towards his bent down face. Only a single moment had passed, and he was already defeated, in a flash.

Thus my second fight ended. A few moments later, and it was Marinna’s turn once more. This time, her opponent didn’t dare be arrogant, but this time, it was also a female. Neither of them spoke a single word, as they waited for the signal.

“Fight,” he said.

The female opponent lounged forwards, with a flying kick, which showed both grace, as well as skill. Marinna managed to evade it, and sent a low kick, to her feet, but her opponent was skilled and managed to evade, as well. She didn’t rest, as he sent a spinning hook kick at her, but Marinna managed to duck under her foot.

While her back was turned to her, Marinna quickly sent a powerful sidekick into her back, sending her flying, then, she quickly rushed over to her, and punched her in the face, ending the fight. Thus, Marinna had won, once more, but this time, her opponent had been more skilful, causing a harder fight.

Now, it was Darren’s turn, who had already recovered, thanks to the regenerative abilities of a vampire. His opponent was once more a female, with a haughty air to her.

“Last time, you were defeated in a flash. I’m sure it will be the same this time as well, as you had the luck, to face me in the ring! Hahaha!” She said, as lifted her chin high into the air, showing her dominance. Darren looked at her in a weird light, finding her a bit too much.

The fight started, but the girl didn’t move. She just lifted her hand up, and gestured for Darren to come at her. Darren shrugged, and started to walk towards her. Once he made it up to her, he made to punch her face, with his left fist, but instead, he sent a quick, powerful uppercut, right into her abdomen.

The girl gasped in pain, as her eyes widened, then she fell to the floor. There was a look of shock and despair on her face. She couldn’t believe it; she had lost!

“Cheating! You cheated! Foul play! You were going to punch my face, but you punched my abdomen! Coward!” She barked at him.

“Don’t be foolish. If this was a real battle, you would have died. There is no such thing as foul play, in a real battle. There is only strategy and tactics,” Darren said, as he turned around, and stepped of the arena.

“It is as he says. In a real fight, you would have died. And even if you were prepared, I still believe you would have lost,” Targen said, ending the fight, and giving the win to Darren. As he came back to our group, I gave him a smile, and thumbs up,

“Hah, you showed her! She should know better than to be so foolish,” I said, a mocking tone in my voice. She truly had been too foolish, and too green. Such a faint, should have been easily avoided.

Then, the third round came about. Once more, I won my fight quickly. It seemed like I just didn’t get to meet any of the skilled ones. Darren managed to win once more, but it was a closer fight this time. As for Marinna, she once more won, rather effortlessly.

And then, it was time for the semi-finals. It was me, versus Darren, and Marinna, versus some girl. Darren and I stepped into the arena.

“Please go easy on me, Parmy,” Darren begged, with a nervous expression, but he didn’t give up without a fight.

Targen signalled the start of the fight, and we charged at each other. Darren gave me a quick punch, which I evaded, then he punched again, a total of three times, but I dodged every time.

Then I started to fight back. I quickly threw a roundhouse kick, and Darren prepared to block it. But to his dismay, it never connected. I dropped the kick down, and changed to side kick, which slammed right into his abdomen, sending him down to the ground.

I had used the roundhouse kick as a feint, and then changed into sidekick. Darren hadn’t been prepared for that, and had thus fallen, and I had won the fight.

Then it was Marinna and the girl. The girl seemed semi confident, but it was also clear that she was a bit scared. That small air of confidence was just there, to help her cope.

The fight began, and the girl charged at her, like a madman. She was kicking and punching like her life depended on it, using all her energy, to keep Marinna at bay. Marinna had no choice but to block and dodge, as she didn’t get any chances to attack.

But attacking in such a manner, will take a lot of stamina, so the girl was being worn out quickly. Eventually, she slipped up, and Marinna managed to grab her arm. Marinna quickly positioned her leg, behind the foot of the girl, then violently pushed her to the ground. When on the ground, Marinna took the girl into a choke hold, and held, until the girl tapped out.

Thus, Marinna had won the semi-final, and now, there was only a single fight left; me, and Marinna.

We both stepped into the ring, but then something unexpected happened,

“I forfeit,” Marinna said. Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, once more.

“What?! Why?” Targen asked, very confused. Marinna looked towards Targen,

“If I fight against Lord Parmasus, I will be going against my vows. Lord Nabalu entrusted me with protecting and serving Lord Parmasus, and I took a vow. Although, this is not the reason why I joined the school. I was told of all this yesterday evening,” Marinna explained. Today, there had truly been many wide eyes, and the number just seemed to grow. Even I was surprised by this, as I had in no way been informed of this, prior.

“What? So you’re my bodyguard now?” I asked, clearly confused.

“I’m your servant, as well as your protector. Whether I would be of much use to you as your protector though, I do not know. Our strength differences aren’t clear to me, as neither of us have went all out, today. But, I will serve your needs, and take care of any tasks you need of me. For me, to be allowed to serve someone as you, is truly a blessing. I’m but of low birth, and the one who turned me, has long died, so serving you, will be beneficial to me. So don’t think I’m not willing,” she said with a comforting smile.

“Well, alright then,” I said, slightly hesitant.

“Well then, this concludes our little tournament then. Since Marinna has forfeited, that means that Parmasus is the victor. Thus, Parmasus shall be head of class 1-E. The vice head, shall be Marinna. And that concludes the first day of school, but don’t think all days will be this short. You only get mercy today, since it’s the first day, and some of you did get quite beaten up.

Also, please don’t be angry at each other, since you’ll be together for many years to come. After all, changing classes is not an option,” Targen said. After all that was over, we went to our own.

There had been many surprising events on this day, events that were rarely seen. Thus, class 1-E had been taken under the notice of the various Elders. Or should I say, it was noticed even more.

Ever since it was revealed that the son of Palazar, the protégé of Nabalu, had been put in class 1-E, it had been classified, as a class of utmost importance. And now that my strength had been revealed, and the strength of the others had been revealed, it would be known as the genius class.

In the future, it would be known as the class, full of monsters within monsters, the most feared class of the Academy, class that spawned prodigy after prodigy, monster after monster.

End of chapter 5.

And here it finally is! I'm sorry it took so long, but sadly, I got sick again a week ago, and it cost me my life. Luckily for everyone here, Ragnarok was able to successfully complete the ritual to revive me. All it took was 2 dragon scales, half a liter of dragon blood, 4 phoenix feathers,  the soul of a demon tortoise, two bottles of fish breath, the tears of a Falmer, and finally five pure hearted virgin souls.

Imagine, that was all that had to be sacrificed, so that I can continue and write my stories, and you can continue to enjoy them. Talk about a great deal.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and please rate and review, follow and favorite!

Thanks!