Academy - Monster Dormitories

Hex, Dracala, and Skel arrived at the dormitory where the first-year mentors had gathered all the new students outside.

Talara fluttered over to them, somehow appearing graceful even in her haste. "We've been looking everywhere for you three. Is everything alright?"

"We brought Brains to the infirmary," Hex said. There was no point in revealing the rest of the story right now. He didn't want pity anyway.

Talara didn't seem to buy the explanation, but continued. "You've heard about the illness then."

Hex glanced at Skel, who rolled his eyes. "Yes, we heard."

"We tried to have the initiation postponed, but the Headmaster insisted nothing could be delayed."

"Shocking," Skel snorted.

They fell in with the crowd of other first year Monsters—no zombies remaining among them—and followed Shale, Howler, and Talara back along the garden-lined path toward the castle. Instead of entering the castle, they turned down another path deeper into the gardens.

Hex watched Skel as they walked. There was still a little red paint in his ribs that he'd missed. The skeleton's expression was locked in a deep frown.

Skel was always a little bit cynical, but it was usually cut with a layer of humor and energy. Now it was just bitter.

Brains is his best friend. I bet he's feeling exactly how I felt when I had to drag Dracala home from the cave.

Hex hopped up next to him. "B-Rod will be okay."

Skel smiled a little at that. Then he sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"I know you want revenge. I do too."

"I'm glad we're on the same page."

Hex cringed. "But..." How the heck am I supposed to word this to keep him happy and prevent this all from getting out of hand? "But we need to bide our time. If we fight back now, things will keep escalating and eventually Brains might not just be sleeping."

Skel stared at him.

"The Humanoids who did this will get what they deserve. We just need to be smart about it and not dive in head first."

Skel's shoulders drooped. "You know diving in head first is kind of my thing."

"I hadn't noticed."

The skeleton chuckled. "Why do you have to be so logical?"

Hex shrugged. "I guess that's kind of my thing."

"We tried revenge my way with the Sack of Vengeance. Which I still think would have been glorious if it worked. We can try your way this time."

"Thanks," Hex said. That went way better than I expected. Maybe Skel isn't as hot-headed as I thought.

Then he smirked. "But if they go after us again before we retaliate, I'm not gonna wait for your plan."

Andddd, so much for that thought.

Eventually, an embossed gold fence blocked the path forward. Intricate vines and leaves of silver weaved and twirled through the vertical gold bars. Roses of embedded ruby added a flash of sparkling color every few paces along the fence.

Despite the beauty, it may as well have been minimalist wrought iron considering the lack of emotion it garnered from the other Monsters. Few were in the mood to smile after the morning's events.

They all still think it's some rare disease and have no idea if the zombies will be okay.

Hex needed the distraction though. Something good. Something beautiful.

There hadn't been enough of that in his life of late.

"Welcome to the Hero's Promenade!" Shale said from his position at the head of the group.

They passed through a heavily guarded gate under an elegant arch that matched the fence, but had even larger versions of the ruby rose embellishments.

Within, the gardens were even more impressive than the one between the castle and dormitory. A sparkling marble pathway weaved inefficiently through the array of rose bushes, rainbow flowerbeds, and exotic trees with oddly shaped trunks that Hex had never seen before. It opened into a circular terrace—also heavily guarded, with a score of armored Humanoid soldiers evenly spaced around the circumference.

The guards both here and at the gate didn't wear any Academy colors or emblems, instead representing New Valour in blue and purple.

We did walk pretty far. I wonder if we technically aren't on the Academy campus anymore.

In the center of the terrace sat a giant, golden bowl the size of Hex's hovel back home—big enough that even a fairly large golem could fit comfortably within. A set of moveable wooden stairs had been wheeled up to the edge.

Compared to the ornate fence and walkway, this object was rather plain. It bore no carvings or inscriptions. A smooth chalice.

The Academy Headmaster stood before them, looking almost miniature in front of the massive inverted dome—the man who refused to delay the day's events, despite an entire species of Monster being poisoned.

"You stand on sacred ground," Headmaster Castellas intoned, not even waiting for the last of the Monsters to file onto the terrace from the narrow path. "Ground blessed by the Creator Himself. Imbued with properties that can be found nowhere else in all the worlds. This," he pointed to the bowl, "is the Halcyon. And it is what will give you the ability to travel across the World Gates.

"You are each defined only by your own personal actions in this realm. No power upgrades, no enhancements, no skills beyond what you can train and learn physically. But to the Halcyon, you are a blank slate. A limitless soul that can be bound to other worlds and granted the honor of collecting Heroic Energy. During your initiation in the Halcyon, you will be given two items." A pair of human professors pushed two carts up to the Headmaster. He pulled an item from each cart and held one of them up. "The first is a Leveling Scroll."

"It looks blank," Hex commented, squinting up at the parchment as the Headmaster unrolled it.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Skel said.

"Shh!" Dracala said. "I'm just as clueless and want to hear what he says."

"The Halcyon," Headmaster Castellas continued, "will judge your current abilities, strength and weaknesses. It will fuse the Leveling Scroll to your soul and inscribe upon it your assigned starting level and skills. Do not make the mistake of thinking of this as a stone table though, marked only once. The Scroll is an enchanted document, and will grow to reflect experience you gain, levels you climb, and new skills you acquire. It can never be misplaced, as the bond to your soul will make its presence known to you permanently. And furthermore, the inscriptions upon it will appear to no eyes but your own."

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

The crowd of students murmured.

Headmaster Castellas ignored the buzz of excitement and lifted the second object, a translucent cylinder filled with tiny white marbles and a gold cap on each end. "And this is your Energy Capsule. As the Heroes you interact with beyond the Gates generate Heroic Energy, it will naturally gravitate into the lazgaryl crystals in the Capsule for temporary storage. The crystal spheres will glow crimson as they fill with Heroic Energy, each filling in sequence until the capacity is reached.

"Lazgaryl is the sister element to lazurite, so it is compatible with Heroic Energy like the stones used by mages and in enchanted equipment, but Heroic Energy is beginning when contained within it. Because of this, you must transfer your Energy from your Energy Capsule to lazurite upon your return to this world so it may be used.

"Much of this may not make sense to you, but it will once you visit the Altar of Heroes and the Gate Concourse."

The Headmaster placed the capsule back in the cart beside him and stepped forward. "You will each be called up by name to enter the Halcyon and undergo your initiation rite." He nodded to the professors who'd pushed the cart of scrolls.

The one closer to the stairs—it was the same monotone human with a grey beard from the entrance exam—pulled a piece of parchment from within his robe. "Skeletor Bonedust Junior."

Skel slapped Hex's back. "Looks like I'm leading the way. See you on the other side." He strode up the steps, retrieving a rolled up Leveling Scroll and Energy Capsule from the Headmaster as he passed, a peered into the giant bowl.

From this low angle, Hex couldn't see inside it, but ripples of light reflected into Skel's eye sockets.

He winked out into the crowd of eager students watching him.

Then he did a cannonball into the Halcyon.

Talk about diving in head first...

Hex braced for a spray of water, but no splash followed—not even the sound of sloshing liquid.

The Headmaster smirked at the confused reactions around him, as if he'd won some sort of minor victory.

A pillar of white light burst from the bowl into the sky, piercing clouds and scaring birds away. Skel's silhouette, black as midnight, rose into the light as if being pulled by a string through his chest. It continued up until it faded into the distance.

The onlookers didn't have to wait long. Seconds later, a black speck returned to view above. It rapidly grew larger. Skel's dark form plummeted down at incredible speed and vanished into the Halcyon without the slightest disturbance. The pillar of light went out the moment his silhouette returned, as if doused with water.

Skel stepped back onto the stairs beside the bowl, beaming with excitement, completely dry. The Headmaster directed him to wait on the other side of the terrace, near another path that led deeper into the promenade.

What the heck happened in there? It reminded Hex eerily of the inverse rain they'd observed when they crossed into Humanoid Territory.

Other students were called forward, and each experienced the same ritual as Skel. Other skeletons, the slime siblings—even Dracala—all exited the Halcyon with that same emphatic smile.

Finally, Hex's turn came.

He stood atop the stairs, Energy Capsule in one hand, and, in the other, his blank Leveling Scroll clenched so tight the paper crumpled. Opaque silver liquid stared back at him from within the Halcyon's bowl. There was no reflection.

He touched the liquid with a toe-like appendage—or, at least, I thought he touched it. No sensation followed. No change in temperature, no feel of liquid against his goo, no resistance. Almost as if it wasn't truly there at all.

He retracted his appendage and the liquid rippled gently where he'd maybe-touched it.

"Let's not waste the day, now," Headmaster Castellas said from the bottom fo the stairs behind him.

Hex inched down the metal ramp into the liquid. It remained inert to his senses, yet jostled and swirled with his movements. He slammed a hand into it, but he may as well have just waved it through the air. No splash. Only calm ripples from the point of impact.

Everyone else had gone into it and been fine. It'll be fine. I'll be fine.

He tapped the pocket of goo where he'd hidden the gem from Rupert's axe, trying to draw hope and strength from its presence.

He took as big a breath as he possibly could, cheeks puffing out to their full capacity. Then he dunked himself into the liquid.

His eyes opened to darkness. He hovered upright, not in liquid, but a black expanse of nothingness.

Vibrations shuddered through the air behind. Hex swiveled in mid air, but the motion was too quick and he continued spinning with no way to stop himself.

A glowing teal portal rippled to life above and a giant wire-frame hand reached out from within. The hand stretched toward him. He tried to escape, waving his appendages to swim through the air, but just kept spinning in place.

Two fingers squeezed around his head and stopped the spinning. Then the hand receded into the strange portal.

"Hello, Hex," A deep, omnipotent voice spoke. The ripples above quivered with each syllable.

"W-Who are you?"

"Is it not obvious? I am the builder of worlds, the giver of life. The worshipped, the praised, the cursed. I am the Creator."

The Creator? Speaking to me?

"I address all those who wish to venture beyond the World Gates. I'm sure you have many questions, young slime, but unfortunately I cannot answer them all. I will permit one query, as I do for all first year students at the Academy."

A single question. How could he narrow everything he ever wanted to know down to a single question? My mother. The fate of his village. My father. Am I strong enough to be at the Academy?

My... My father.

"Dad," Hex whispered.

In the end, only one question was important enough to ask.

"Keep in mind," the Creator said, "I cannot see the future. I cannot perceive the thoughts of Humanoids, nor Monsters. I simply bear witness to what is or what has been. I will answer the precise question you ask. No more. No less."

So, the wording of his question would be important. If I ask whether Dad is alive, I'll get a one word response. If I ask whether I'll see him again, the Creator won't know the answer.

"Okay. I'm ready," Hex said.

"Then ask."

"Where is my father?"

The ripples shuddered turquoise momentarily, then went still. "Your father is in the Embershard Mine."

"I've never head of the Embershard Mine."

"This is the answer to your question."

"But I—"

"You have your Leveling Scroll and your Energy Capsule. I will bind them to you and evaluate your rank."

Hex nodded, relenting any further clarification about his dad.

The portal above opened and a brilliant yellow light shined down upon him. The scroll and capsule glowed gold in his hands.

Then it was over. The light dissolved. And there was laughter.

Laughter?

Am I back down with the others?

No. He still floated in blackness, the portal above him. It was orange now, jiggling hysterically.

The laughter stopped, and the ripples faded back to their original teal color. The Creator cleared his throat. "I'm... I apologize. That was rather ungodly of me. I've just..." He choked back another chuckle. "Are you sure you want to become an adventurer?"

"What? Me?" Hot goo leaked from his pores and trickled down his armpits.

"I'm sorry, young slime. Hex, was it? But you are a Level 1 Monster. I honestly had no idea Levels even went that low. This path will be arduous and painful for you."

Hex melted into a puddle.

The Creator... was laughing. At me.

The Creator.

"So, I ask again. Are you sure you want to be an adventurer?"

Level 1 Slime. The weakest species and the weakest rank. Weaker even that the Creator knew was possible.

Is this because I've lived my whole life in isolation? Protected from the dangers of the world. Because I never took any risks? Because Dad always kept me safe?

Did it matter?

He didn't know where the Embershard Mine was, but the most likely scenario was beyond one of the World Gates. If I ever want to see my dad again... or learn about my mother... I have to attend the Academy. I have to become an adventurer. No matter how 'arduous and painful.'

"Yes," Hex whispered. Tears trickled down his cheeks.

"Very well then."

Wind blasted upward around him. The sensation of falling shot up his spine.

Everything spun.

He burst from the silvery liquid of the Halcyon and gasped in a breath of fresh air.

Back at the Academy. The garden. The Hero's Promenade.

Headmaster Castellas cleared his throat and tapped his foot loudly in annoyance.

Hex stepped down the ladder, past him, and joined the other Monsters who'd completed their initiation.

Yolo hopped excitedly beside him. "What level did you get, Hex? I'm Level 5! Isn't this so exciting? We actually got to talk to the Creator. Can you believe it?"

Hex stared at the ground. "Life-changing," he mumbled.

"Sooooo, what level are you?"

"Hmm? Oh. Umm. Yeah, same as you."

"Yes! We're gonna have so many adventures together!"

The reality hit him. He squeezed the Leveling scroll tighter in his right hand. It felt like a shackle weighing him down, holding him back.

I finally know where Dad is. But how am I supposed to find him if I'm so weak?

Am I really that pathetic?

He held up the Leveling Scroll. A red ribbon that hadn't been there before sealed it in a roll. His name was written across it in gold calligraphy.

Level 1.

I never thought I could despise a number so vehemently.

Inside that paper his fate was written, his flaws spelled out plainly.

He lowered it, knowing he didn't have the courage to look at the words inside with his own eyes.

Not yet.