Nox woke up early for his first class. Around 9 hours early, to be exact. All his attempts to get some rest were interrupted by thoughts of his deceased family.
Shaking away such dark thoughts, he decided to check the time:
7:49 AM
“Hmph. Only felt like an hour.”
Deciding that staring at the ceiling wasn’t the best use of his time, he decided to get ready for his class.
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New students flowed into the classroom and were sitting down when the teacher strode into the class.
“Hello, ladies and gentlemen!” said the young man. “My name is Professor Adderall.” he wrote on the board.
[Wait, Adderall? Isn’t that some kind of drug?]
The first half of the lesson was to do with day-to-day subjects - History, Report Writing, and Arithmetic. Arithmetic? He may not have gone to school, but his parents taught him well.
Mr. Adderall sighed. “Some may say that any kind of maths problem would be handled by your implants. However, have any of you ever considered the fact that you won't have implants if you don’t graduate? I’ve seen too many students make the same mistake.”
Eventually, after a multitude of writing tests, maths problems, and other questions, their old teacher got to the interesting part. “Soul Essence extraction is a relatively new technology,” he explained. “By the time the scientists figured out how to use it, the demons were already in control of 40% of Earth.”
He smiled. “Like a few of the other teachers here, I believe the best way to learn something is to experience it first hand. Why don’t you all follow me?” He led the class out of a side door.
Their teacher introduced them to the combat rooms. It was way below the canteens and dormitories, like a massive basement. “The War Simulation Room, or the Sim, as some of you call it, is the student’s version of the combat room.” He explained. “Here, weakened versions of actual demons are stored here.” The elevator they were on kept going down, down, down.
A few murmurs swept through the class. They were silence by a swift movement by Mr. Adderall's hand. “That’s the reason why they’re so deep underground. Even if they did escape containment, they would have to dig through 1000 feet of ground to reach the surface.”
Eventually, they stepped out of the cargo-sized lift. In front of them stood an iron room. Colossal windows stood between them and the expanse of metal that the combat room was. “There are four such rooms,” Adderall said. “Each one with its own set of contained demons.” He walked over to a nearby control panel and punched in a series of commands. Moments later, a heavy flap on one of the walls began to open. “For some of you, this may be your first time seeing an actual demon.” Out of the flap, a single, red creature came out of it.
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It was the size of a human - well, almost. The large, leather-like wings on its back made it look much bigger. Large fangs protruded from its hideous face, and a pair of horns came out from its head. Some form of essence-blocking cuffs were on its wrists and ankles.
“This is a lesser demon. An Imp, to be exact.” In a brief red flash of light, a blade appeared in his hand. A few classmates looked in awe of his trick - a few others, not so much. “I would have summoned a pseudo demon, but its soul wouldn’t have lasted long enough for our demonstration.”
Through a door, he entered the combat room. The demon immediately took note of his presence. It seemed as if it couldn’t see through the glass. Gnashing its teeth, it charged toward their teacher, flying towards him with rapid speed. Claws seemed to come out of its now scaly hands. Mr. Adderall drew his blade... And in one swift moment, it was cut in half.
As a red orb left the dismembered demon’s body, with another flash of red light, Mr. Adderall produced another item - A metal container. Using some kind of essence manipulation, he guided the orb into the container, and without batting an eye, closed the lid. He turned back to his students, most of whom were looking at him in awe and reverence. Nox observed their reactions.
[I'm assuming we all have to be like that by the time we get out of this place.] Nox thought. [Still, one attack? Must be pretty impressive. Even Ariel's staring a little.]
"It's a shame one has to come all the way down here just to get a single soul. Outside of a host, souls don't last very long, even in Stasis Boxes." He held the one in his hand up. "Let's get back to the classroom, shall we?
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After their brief visit to the basement, they performed an experiment where they powered a small lightbulb using the essence from the demon's soul. They plugged an essence-siphoning tube into the Stasis Box, and watched as the essence the soul produced flowed into the lightbulb. The light flickered to life as the kids watched.
[Nothing new, really. We all know how the streetlights work. Still, how many demons does the Vamp Army kill everyday? Must be a lot.]
After the soul finally burnt out, the rest of the lesson was taken up by a long lecture about how souls function. Nox stayed behind after class. “Um, Professor Adderall?”
The teacher turned his head. “Ah, hello! What was your name again? Locks? Knocks?”
The teacher's latter response sounded exactly like his name, but Nox could tell he got it wrong. “It’s Nox. With an N. I have a question.”
Professor Adderall took a seat on the table. “Why, anything!”
“Is it possible to have a hybrid soul? Like part demon, part human?”
“...Well, that’s a hard question. Most research points to the idea that the soul would implode if such a thing was created, but there have been rumours of certain humans having a demon parent.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t talk about it too much. You don’t want to attract the army's attention.
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Nox’s last conversation with the teacher left him disturbed. Both tired and uncertain, he walked out to the cafeteria and sat down.
[Am I part demon? The shapeshifter called me a hybrid-soul user… But my parents are definitely human! Maybe it targeted the wrong person?]
As he sat there thinking, someone completely unaware of his inner torment walked up to him.
“Hey there! What’s up?”