Our class schedule was split into four mandatory classes, training, warfare, monster hunting, and then training again. We had two classes in the morning, and two before bed, which meant the main portion of our free time was actually in the middle of the day. There were other classes you could attend to learn other skills such as forging, horseback riding, or weapon specialties, as well as art and sport, etc. But again none of them were graded, and you didn’t have to show up if you didn’t want to… To say the educational system was different would be… An understatement. We didn’t even have traditional school weeks. In other words, it was asynchronous, every two days we would have one day off, so sometimes we would have class on Sunday, and sometimes we wouldn’t. It made everyone's head spin trying to keep the days of the weak straight.
“So what are we doing today? More target practice?” Mo asked as we walked down the outer circle hall of the great tower. Even that was odd… Our school building and dorms had all changed to separate massive towers large enough for a single floor to have everything our class needed… There were 12 floors, so 12 classes.
“What are we doing today… Well, first I need to handle that demon in the sewage room… After that… Let’s just wait and see how this goes first…”
“You look worried… None of them have hurt you so far, right? It can’t be that bad.” Isy said, trying to reassure herself more than me.
‘Not that bad… It still feels dangerous though… The only reason I’m doing it at all is because my dark magic gets stronger with each one I kill. It’s like a shortcut to my training… Well, and a favor to Rafi I guess.’ I let out an uncomfortable groan.
‘I’ve killed what… four now? There was that creepy moth thing that’s face turned into a big stretchy worm. Then there was the weird stone statue that could share the pain. I could never forget the one that made me 8 years old for a day… If not only because Mo was the only one who noticed… Well, I guess Bear probably did, just didn’t dare to say anything in case he was wrong.’
“What was the last one like?” Mo asked.
“Hm? Oh, the one in the stables? I’m not sure, that one actually wasn’t bad, my horse killed it before I even got there…”
“Is she ok?” Her eyes widened slightly with worry, showing more attachment to Fritz than me.
“Fritz is… A special horse… But keep that a secret please.” ‘if people don’t like magic they’d probably try and put her down if they knew…’ “Fritz went through the same… Special training I did, from that knight I know.”
“So she can recover from curses too?”
“Something like that.”
Mo walked up to a locked door blocking the path further on and began to pick it. “If it’s just training can you put me threw it too? I don’t mind killing things that arn’t people.”
I paused for a moment thinking about it before coming to a decisive answer. “No. It’s a kind of training you can only survive if you are part dragon… Sorry. If you guys get cursed it might be really serious so I’d rather you stay back.” ‘It would also be hard to explain me phasing in and out of the abys and using black fire… But I am ginuinly concerned about them.’
She tilted her head back as she looked at me. “Fritz is part dragon?”
“Well… She’s not full horse…”
With a click the door came unlocked and we walked through. After a bit more walking we arrived at the several feet thick steal door and Mo got to work picking the lock as I examined the layout of the room from the map and quickly put to memory the entire sewer system. “You’re already helping me out more than enough. Thanks to you I can move around freely, and thanks to Bear I never walk in blind.”
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“Oo me, what about me?” Isy asked.
I lifted my eyes for a moment to look at her. ‘Isn’t she just here because she doesn’t want to be alone?’ “You provide… Emotional suport. In case I do get cursed…”
“Oh… Why do you have to do this anyway? Couldn’t you let the teachers take care of this?”
‘With magic I’m stronger, and with dark magic, against demons… I’m leagues above them… Not to mention the strength I gain from it.’ “The uh… The more people that know about a demon the stronger it gets, that’s why we can’t tell anyone remember? That’s why my knight friend told me to take care of any I found, instead of telling the teachers to take care of them.”
She sighed with worry, but didn’t argue. The only reason my web of lies worked was because they all followed me without question… That and they didn’t have the first clue about demons, so I could say whatever I wanted and they’d believe it… I felt a little guilty, but it was temporary. I would tell them the full truth eventually.
“On you.” Mo said, stepping back after a deep echoing click marked the unlocking of the door.
‘Right… So it looks like generally speaking there aren’t many ways for it to run… I can sense that it’s a decent size, so that means that the only real way out for it would be this giant door…’ I sighed. “After I walk inside, close the door behind me, I don’t want it getting away, and more importantly, I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”
Bear crossed his arms and nodded, but the others seemed more hesitant. Regardless, they followed orders like always, and seconds later I was inside, the door closing behind me with the sounds of Isy choking on the pungent smell… It made my eyes water a bit, especially with my heightened senses… But I also just didn’t really need to breathe, and even if I did, once I stepped into the abyss the scent vanished, thankfully.
‘Where are you… Is this one not hiding or trying to attack? Wait… Is it willingly staying in the human realm? Why would it do that? I thought all demons preferred to fight in the abyss.’
I slowly traced its soul over to the largest sewage pipeline and suddenly it jumped out at me, splitting a hole into the abyss and leaping through. I just barely dodged, but by the time I slashed at it, it was already back in the other plane. ‘Fairy dust… I can’t transfer between planes that fast… What is this thing?’
It jumped out at me again trying to drill a hole in my back, I stepped forward and spun around cutting it in half as I stepped out of the way. It began to squirm on the ground as black blood filled the void and I froze time.
‘That wasn’t so bad… Now I just need to figure out where its hearts are… And I should probably stab it in the brain too for good measure…’ I slowly looked over it. In some ways, it freaked me out more than the creepy moth thing I had mentioned, although I couldn’t say why. It was essentially just a giant worm that was more like a snake because of its size. Its head had what looked like a single long antenna that split off into two much longer and smaller ones.
‘There’s a simpler way to resolve this. It’s a giant slug… And my blade is pretty wide.’ as I resumed time I first stabbed it in the head, and then repositioned and cut it in half again length-wise, slicing both its hearts in two and… Well with how strong I was becoming it was more like I disintegrated most of it with my dark magic. ‘One more down, and this time with no side effects, go me.’ I walked back to the door and banged on it from the inside for them to let me back out again.
“That was fast… And you look fine…” Isy hesitantly said.
I stepped out and they quickly closed the room again, Mo locking it so no one would get suspicious. “Yeah I took it out and sent its corpse back to, in theory, we should be good. I grabbed another manna stone too, might as well keep collecting them.”
Mo leaned in and looked closer. “Creepy…”
‘It creeps her out too? What’s different from this and a normal demon?’ “Something was bothering me about it. So I’m going to meditate, if you want you can take the day off, otherwise just put in more practice with the moves we went over last time.”
I slowly put it back in my pocket and went back to my room, separating with them at the training grounds. ‘In just three weeks I killed five demons now… That can’t be a good sign, although the hunts are making me stronger as I continue to use my dark magic, and it’s probably helping the students stay safe too. Those three have come a long way as well.’
I imagined they were training. I had taught all three of them had the same hand-to-hand style passed down to me from my mother, and because of Mo’s previous expertise, she was able to help get Isy to finally be coordinated. With my help, Bear and Isy both learned how to shoot a bow… Airsidh had drilled it into me too many times for me to forget… Although… I did have to work with Isy a bit more on account of certain things… Getting in the way… At any rate, the three of them were unrecognizable in terms of ability. Even Mo, who was already amazing, had improved drastically just by slowly building her confidence in fighting without knives and not killing people, which she still almost did a few times, even making Izy cry during a spar.
‘I was wrong… This is nothing like middle school…’ I walked into my room and sat down in the middle, slowly focusing my mind and body until I drifted into the rift, the gateway between the human realm and the abyss. It was like reality itself flipped upside down, while I stayed right side up. Before long the familiar pressure of darkness began to surround me until a floating nothingness wrapped around me like water. I opened my eyes and there before me stood the great ruined cathedral wrapped in the pale dark glow of the cursed moon. ‘It’s time Rafi and I have another chat.’