School was tiring and boring most of the time. Mostly this was because I was left out of everything. No one wanted to be seen with me as if my 'lack of power' was contagious. I was tired of this. I took out my phone and looked at the requests for today. My phone had seen better days as its screen was cracked. The requests were pretty much the same; a job of assassinating someone who was well known. That was a risk I wasn't willing to take. Glancing at the board, I found the professor gazing at me with unrivalled intensity.
"Nico, detention, again," Well that was the third one this week and it was just Thursday. It was unfair. It was unfair that I had to attend these lessons. It was unfair that I got punished for not paying attention. It was not like I was gonna learn anything. The lessons on how to duel using powers was pointless to me. I never sparred with anyone and wished the lessons to pass by.
"Nico, come here as you seem to have nothing to do," the professor said getting into sparring position and signalling me to do the same.
"Excuse me Professor, I have no powers,"
He grinned at me then turned to the class. He raised his hand and a dark shrivelled hand peeked through his robes. A sudden flame flickered alive on his hand dancing across his palms.
"Today, I will be teaching you on one of the ways mages can get an upper hand on their confrontations with demons."
The flames leaped from his hand on to the floor where it began to grow forming a humanoid figure. The flames solidified in front of me and I could feel the heat radiating off it.
"This is a hellblaze, a warrior born of flames to do its master's biddings. The class gasped and murmurs broke out. The students were amazed with the sight before them. Pleased with their reaction, the professor uttered a single word 'Attack'. The hellblaze turned to me and swords made of fire materialised on its hand. Rooted to the ground, I watched as it approached. The heat seared my skin. A ghostly glint in its hollowed eye sockets shook me back in to my senses.
It raised its hand to strike as I uttered a curse. I sidestepped it and ran towards the armoury. It was just my luck to find only wooden swords for training. I muttered another curse as I picked one and turned to face it. I charged and dodged its first jab and made a clean slice through the head. The flames dissipated and the professor smiled at me.
"Well done, Nico. You managed to survive that long against a hellblaze. But I wouldn't advise a wooden sword against," he chuckled as I glanced down to view the sword which was charred. A piece fell off causing the class to burst into laughter.
"Now, who'd like to try summoning a Spartan?" The professor looked round the class still beaming. His eyes scanned the room for an eager soul but none seemed willing to try first. He seemed down for a second but then got his spirits up once again with a wild glint in his eye.
"Jason, how about you demonstrate for us," the professor said once more now his eyes full of something, the possibilities within his mind seeming endless. Seriously my luck was playing with me. The professor had to pick the most centred, prideful (as he was considered a genius) and heartless person. Even better, he seemed to despise me with a burning passion. Most figured the professor chose him as he was the only spirit user in our class (spirit users were considered rare and more special in our world).
Jason turned to me and grinned. His teeth sparkled as if to show his regal status. I scorned at him as I picked up another wooden sword.
"How do you feel squib for having to face me. Terrified, afraid I presume. I'll have mercy on you and end this in an instant." Jason's spirit surged from his body, but unlike the professor's Spartan, hellblaze, Jason's solidified quicker and was full of unrest. Traces of spirit were oozing from its body and it kept on scanning the room. Its hollowed eye sockets met my gaze and without any command it began its approach. Daggers shimmered in and out of focus in its hands.
'Death need to kill' I could feel the Spartans murderous intent as it approached. The class and the professor both realised something was amiss. The professor moves to intercept it but he realised what was going on too late. The Spartan had erected a barrier between us and the rest of the class. Jason's shouts at his Spartan were all I could hear as I looked at the Spartan then sighed.
"Guess it's time to dance,"
I raised my sword to strike but as soon as it raised its daggers in response, I kicked it in the gut region causing it to stagger backwards. The sword made contact with its head shattering on impact. The attack caused the Spartan to freeze then it unfroze instantly releasing a shockwave that sent me flying. I hit the ground with a thud and watched the Spartan approach, its murderous intent intensifying. It looked at me and smirked. The daggers in its hands gleamed, shining brightly, its hollowed eye sockets mocking me if savouring the moment. Its hand twitched and the Spartans arm descended on me. Time seemed to slow down as my adrenaline kicked in. The faces of everyone in the room were filled with shock as the Spartans arm seemed to be blocked by something. Jason's face was filled with more than just shock, more than just fear. I looked up and smiled at my Inferius.
"About damn time," I murmured standing up. The Inferius sidestepped the Spartans jab, hooked its hand over its chest, slamming it to the ground. A scythe materialised in its hand and with a quick movement of the arm, the Spartans head was cut off with an ease of an experienced killer. The Spartans energy dissipated and I sent my Inferius back to the abyss.
The professor eyed me warily as I stood up. I knew Jason had seen it. Just my lucky day! I knew this scenario could turn into a mess but the fear on Jason's face was worth the trouble.
"Class is dismissed," the professor said then turned to me and Jason, "You two come with me."
Great, even more trouble to deal with. I trudged behind Jason into the professor into his office. The office was lined with relics from the professor's younger days. Runes obtained from demons radiated their demonic energy. The runes seemed to grow more brightly when I passed by. The professor turned to me, noticing the strange phenomenon, but I just shrugged. Something about demonic energy resonated with me. Further into the room were weapons, divine weapons. Most of them were out of the divine blessing which enabled it to kill demons but some still pulsed with energy. I had some yearning to reach out and grab them out of their casing. I didn't realise that I was staring until when the professor called me to take a seat next to Jason. The professor's desk was full of writings in a text that I could not make out. I sat next to Jason waiting to be questioned.
The professor flicked his wrists and the torches on the wall lit up. He turned to us and began.
"Jason, what on earth do you think you were doing back there! Do you know the consequences of murder within the Institute? And you Nico, what did you do back there? I thought you didn't have powers"
The trauma of seeing an Inferius had hit Jason leaving him with no will to argue. All he could whisper was, "I couldn't control it, and it was like it was thinking on its own. All I could feel was the urge to kill."
The professor was surprised by Jason's statement and was about to inquire more when his phone rang.
"Hello, this is Sebastian Blaze, how may I help you? …wait what!! …He's with me right now … I'll ensure he does not leave the Institute.
The professor set down his phone and turned to me with a grim look on his face. Jason looked as confused as me. I was about to ask what was wrong when he said.
"The orphanage was attacked by demons …"
I didn't hear the rest as I had already left my seat heading towards the exit. The professor shot a fireball at a rune fixed on top of the door, activating some kind of magic sealing the door. I took a rusted sword from the wall and attacked the door. A shockwave threw me back and the sword clattered on the floor. The professor laughed and said.
"Only an A rank mage or higher can break through that door"
My desperation to get out of this room was changing to anger as I picked up the sword. I hated being contained in rooms and this was no exception. The sword began to glow purple as I raised my hand to throw it. The sword flew off my hand to the seal ricocheting of it and back to the floor.
"Nico, just come take a seat …" the professor said as I ran towards the door, my hand clenched into a fist. My hand made contact with the seal and purple cracks spread out throughout the seal and the seal exploded breaking the door and the casing of the runes and weapons. The runes and divine weapons seemed to pulse with more energy as some floated towards me, following me as I ran.
I don't remember how long I ran for but soon I was standing face to face with the 'cathedral that was our orphanage. The orphanage buzzed with energy as the restless crowd criss-crossed its grounds. The crowed was expectant of something, something to come out of the orphanage. The mages present were arming themselves with more weapons and shouts to other mages to take up ranks filled the air. I stood for a moment, perplexed. How huge a scale was this attack? I turned to the nearest mage and asked.
"What scale is the demon attack?"
The mage looked at me then paused when he saw the floating runes and weapons. He then looked at me in the eyes and I could see the fear in his eyes as he spoke his words.
"It is undisclosed to us by the higher ups but it looks like a 3 tier attack, but a 4 at worst," he answered.
Suddenly everyone's focus shifted to the sky as a crack appeared in the middle of the air above the cathedral. The crack grew, spreading like cracks on glass, the night air filled with and eerie silence as the crack finally shattered. The hopes of the mages shattered on sight of the enemy. Everywhere around me weapons fell down as the holders stood rooted to the ground.
The commander of Lucifer's own personal army, Ashborne, stepped out followed by the elite army of hell. This was no longer a local threat, but a worldwide threat. Why was Lucifer's personal army attacking the orphanage? The true army of hell descended on the mages leaving me unscathed and attacked everyone else. I turned to face Ashborne, who was now headed towards me with his longsword, Terra, the harbinger of doom, by his side.
He stopped in front of me and faced me. I could not feel any murderous intent from him but the terror of his victims washed over me in waves.
"You were not meant to happen, but my master tells me to say this to you flee and never surface again and you will be left unharmed. Rise again and you shall fall to Lucifer as the great prophecy which protects you. Now sleep godling," Ashborne said tapping my forehead with his finger.
I felt to coolness of his touch then my mind completely went blank as I fell to the ground.