(One week later.)
"Can you accurately name all ten House of Noir, Mr. Vesphyr?" I glanced over at the professor, a lanky man with glasses, crystal clear blue eyes, and short white hair with two short white horns adorning his head, and said "Yes professor. I stood up from my chair and ignored the stares and snickers from the other students within the class before answering.
"The First House is House Vesphyr, which is the most versatile and strongest House of Noir of all. House Vesphyr is made up of mostly Vampires and their sub-classes. The second House is House Makhoi. They are a House of werewolves that can transform freely between their human and wolf forms. The Third House is House Arvair, which is a House that has pledged allegiance to the Vesphyr's. They are all assassins who wield the shadows with skill and are the most proficient in assassination type missions.
The Fourth House is House Futachi, a House of many spirited and talented swordsmen and women. The Fifth is House Irdnoo, a House of Demons who wield all kinds of fire based abilities. The Sixth is House Zalis, a House that specializes in the use of summoning familiars. The Seventh is House Nightmare which feed off of their enemies dreams, thoughts, and emotions. The Eighth is House Rottwood. They wield Rot and Curse abilities. The Ninth is House Zaefury, a House that wields powerful wind and lightning abilities, and the Tenth is House Nether, a House that specializes in Curse abilities."
(A/N: The Ten Houses are in order from "strongest" to "weakest" so the numbers and positions will fluctuate over time when a House gets more members or beats another, higher ranking House in fair combat.)
The professor cleared his throat and motioned for me to sit back down before continuing on with his lecture about how each House has their own duties to fulfill, and which House would be the best for certain abilities and combat types, for most students in the Noir Academy have yet to be selected to be taken into one of the Ten. Which is why most students here shunned me and tried to pressure me into giving them special permissions.
Of course, I didn't pay them any attention and, although I have no real strength of my own at the moment, Synfael is more than enough to ward off those bold enough to threaten me, that is if threatening them with Nalia's name isn't enough. Currently, I was sitting on top of the roof of the Academy with Synfael as we ate our lunch and talked about various topics.
"So, what do you wanna learn first? CQC skills or something like the sword, or maybe the spear?" I pondered on Syn's question for a minute before saying "I don't know, truthfully. I think I'll start with some CQC before moving up to any kind of weapon, although I'd prefer a shorter weapon since I'll be learning how to fist fight first."
Syn nodded his head in agreement before stuffing his face and standing up. Syn rubbed his stomach with a sigh before gesturing for me to stand up as well. Syn popped his neck before saying "Ok, I'll teach you a basic throw for today and we'll work on it after we get back to the First. Sound good?" I nodded my head and Syn got me to adopt a stance and throw out a punch.
Before I knew it, I was already on the ground with my arm at Syn's mercy. I stood up, brushed the dirt off from my clothes, and asked "The hell did you do...?" in an amazed voice. Syn smiled and held his arms akimbo with a proud expression before adopting a stance of his own and saying "When I throw a punch, use your leading hand to grab my wrist, then use your other hand and put it under my armpit."
We went through the movements and stopped where Syn left off before he continued. "Then, you'll want to move your lead foot in front of mine and twist your body in the direction of the punch before tossing me over your shoulder." We were about to go over the movements once more, but the bell began to ring. I stretched my arms before waving goodbye to Syn as I made my way over to the roof door.
I descended the stairs and found myself in the bustling hall before merging in with the crowd. My next class was rather boring, because all we did was watch other people spar and usually beat the shit out of each other. I walked into the large, arena-like room and ascended the steps to the viewing area before sitting down in an empty seat and letting out a bored yawn. The class soon filled up and the professor had walked in just before the bell rang.
He straightened his wrinkled shirt before raising a podium from the ground, with his ability, and saying "Alright class. Today, as you must have guessed, we will be sparring once more!" Many people complained but not a single person dared to say anything to try and get out of the beatdown that was about to be handed to them. I, for one, just sat there in a relaxed position as some of the more bolder student began to send malicious looks toward me.
They didn't bother me in the slightest, for the pain that they could dish out was nothing more than a little pinch compared to what I had to endure at the hands of William Navus. The professor took a look around at the varying facial expressions and smirked before saying "Today, however, will be different. You are able to challenge anyone you want to a mock duel, no matter their rankings." Many people began to roar out in protest, for this meant that the weaker students would be chosen by the stronger ones.
Suddenly, three students walked up toward me and stood in front of me with large grins. "Well, if it isn't the Newblood of the First House..." I sighed and waved my hand before saying 'Yeah, yeah, I've heard this a million times already. Let's get this over with." I stood up and walked past the three students before descending the steps down to the massive arena floor.
excited whispers began to pop up from all over the room as everyone ceased their complaining and locked their gazes onto me. I had my hands in my pockets as I reached the middle of the floor and waited for the three student to come down. Surprisingly, however, only one of them did. It was the one who initially spoke to me.
He had short, spiked red hair with glowing cyan eyes. He had a pretty decent build with his arms practically bulging out of his sleeves and a single sword strapped to his waist. The professor laughed and yelled out "Oh!? It looks like we have a rather interesting duel to start the day with!" I ignored the man's crazed laughter as the student drew his sword, its brilliant red surface gleaming in the light, as he walked over toward me.
"You think you're almighty just because the leader of the First House turned you personally...well you're not! You're nothing but a piece of Human garbage compared to me, a superior race! Listen well, as I will only say this once. My name is Felix Makhoi of the Second House, and I will show all of you how inferior the First House is to our Power!"
Felix's skin began to bulge and ripple as dark red fur began to grow all around his body. His muscles grew in size as his frame increased from 180cm to 200cm as he grew a long snout full of razor sharp teeth. His hands and feet grew sharp claws and his eyes began to glow even brighter as he clutched his sword. Felix let out a loud howl before laughing manically and yelling "Feast your eyes upon my form, for it will be the last time you see it, Take!"
Felix dashed forward and I was able to dodge out of the way of his thrust, narrowly avoiding a painful death. Felix came at me with a flurry of stabs and slashed, and I was forced to continue dodging for I had no clue how to actually fight. People soon began to talk about if they should get the professor to stop the match because, to them, it seemed like I really was in trouble, but I was biding my time and waiting for the right opportunity to get into Felix's guard.
I sidestepped a thrust and was forced to roll out of the way of a clawed foot aimed for my lung. Felix was fast, but not as fast as me considering I spent my whole life running. But that was about to change. I jumped out of the way of a slash and Felix smiled before letting out a loud laugh as he said "I've got you now, bastard!!" before stabbing out with his sword.
I smiled myself and grabbed his wrist with my lead hand before placing my other hand under his armpit and pivoting my foot. I shifted my weight and yelled out "Go to hell!!" before flipping Felix over my shoulder with a loud yell. Felix hit the ground with a loud bang and spiderweb cracks began to cover the floor. I looked at Felix's unconscious form and began to move over as my breaths came out in ragged gasps.
I kneeled down and raised my hand before slamming it down with another yell. I began to beat Felix's face in as my rage began to build even further. I was tired of people thinking they were better than me. I was tired of being weak. Suddenly, a strong grip wrapped around my arm and I was snapped out of my trance.
I looked back and saw Nalia looking at me with a kind smile, and more than a bit of worry in her eyes, as Synfael and his father, Daarvess, stood behind her with ready stances. My guess was they were here to protect Nalia just incase someone wanted to try something. I stood to my feet and glanced down at Felix's bloody and bruised body with shame evident in my expression.
"I-I'm sorry, My Lady...I just-" Nalia puffed her cheeks out and poked me in the ribs before whispering "Call me Nalia! Got that?" I rubbed my chest and nodded my head as she moved over to Felix and held her hand over his unconscious form, which had already reverted back to its Human form. The blood covering his body began to slowly seep back into his skin, turning his body back to its normal color and returning his breathing to normal.
Nalia waited for Felix to regain consciousness before saying "If you dare try and tarnish my families name and try to purposely kill one of my members...I will not spare you, nor your family from my wrath. That's a promise." in an icy cold voice. Nalia left the frozen boy alone and turned back to me with a smile and asked "Shall we go someplace else? It seems like you're quite knowledgeable already."
I laughed and shrugged my shoulders before saying "After you, My Lady..." which earned me a threatening glare. Daarvess conjured a weird, door-like object before opening it and gesturing for us to enter as he said "After you, young Lord." I walked through and found myself in front of the Vesphyr castle as Nalia, Syn, and Daarvess appeared behind me.
"Damn, that's one handy ability..." I muttered as I was, once again, awestruck from the sheer sight of the castle. It was a beautiful work of architecture with its black and red stones and golden banners handing from the large doors. "So, you ready to get your ass handed to you or what?" I turned my head and saw Syn smiling confidently while Daarvess stood behind him with his mouth wide open from shock.
I laughed and said "Yeah, you're on...!"