After half an hour Ariel was standing next to the Headmaster's office, he was wearing a weirdly long white shirt, and a light brown pant which were also baggy and long. He opened the door and went in. As he opened the door he saw 4 men standing there. Masir and Ihaan were standing behind the Headmaster and another guy was standing right in front of the Headmaster. Everyone gazed at Ariel as he opened the door. Headmaster stepped towards Ariel and pointed towards that other guy,
"He is Anus Mohsin. Anus, he is Ariel." Anus said greetings but he didn't get any reply in return. Ariel closed the door and walked forward. "So, you leave your world behind and accept a new home?" Headmaster asked him.
"Yes." He replied with a heavy tone. "Only if you tell me who did it. And why do I have these powers? Were my parents Aurians, and they did something and went to the Human World? Is that the reason they were killed and I have powers?"
Anus stepped away so, Headmaster can pass. "Humans do tend to think things weirdly, you came up with a proper explanation about your parent's murder in just a few hours, impressive. That is wrong but impressive. Your parents were ordinary humans, they weren't anything to us. We have not much knowledge about this case as well." The headmaster stopped right next to Ariel.
"What will you do to the guy who killed them?"
Ariel lifted his head and looked the Headmaster in the eye and with a firm voice he said "I won't kill him," Ariel's tone seemed to be filled with anger. "I pluck his fingernails one by one, then cut his fingers and then his hands."
A strange fire in Ariel's eyes, he didn't have just anger and hate in his eyes, it was a wraith.
The headmaster seemed astounded after hearing what Ariel planned on doing. He gulped and sighed vividly. Masir looked at him and saw himself standing there. Ihaan placed his hand on his head, "Not this again,"
"And then I'll find everyone he holds dear and kill them in front of him. After that, I'll find every single man or woman he ever made contact with I'll kill them. I'll destroy the house he lived in, the village he played in, and the country he holds dear. I'll burn everything contacted to him. He will see everything burn and when he'll beg me for death. I'll take a hot rod stab his right eye and leave the rod in. I'll cut his tongue but I won't throw his tongue away, I'll make a small hole in his windpipe and place the tongue in that cut. He won't have hands to take the tongue and he won't die instantly. He will drown in his blood and will be choked by his tongue. When he is about to die, I will cut his both legs and I'll use a spear and put it in between his legs and take it out from his mouth. After he is dead, I'll stab the spear in the ground with him on it. He won't rot on earth nor will he burn in flames, animals will eat his bones and flesh I'll exterminate every fraction of his existence. And I'll kill everyone who comes in my way, tries to stop, or even if they become as much as a bump in my way."
Ariel smiled and looked around at their faces, his smile widened. "Is that what you thought I would say? That I would choose revenge and give my whole life away in chasing the killer? I would have done that if I had the same guy just about a day ago. I seek no vengeance from the guy who killed them, I lived in the human realm and chased after things I didn't want to. It was something I didn't want to do, I didn't want to be a savior. All I wanted from life was stillness. A place to call home, my parents loved me and I loved them too, their death is proof of that. I want to live here, you say I am one of you. I would like to be one of you, I will become strong and protect the life you are offering me. I would never destroy it by chasing a ghost of the past."
Headmaster walked near him and rested his right hand on Ariel's shoulder "I thought you would choose revenge but it seems like you have proved me wrong. You have a different life view, and I admire it. So now that, the man who killed them is not of that importance, let's talk about something else. Try to keep up." Then he took his hand off and took a few steps back.
"Let's talk about you. You are something out of our understanding, to be honest. Your history is something out of our thinking capability. We knew your parents were going to die. We have been looking for you for 20 years now. So, we can prevent you and your parents from dying and understand the whole thing. You see this isn't the first time this has happened, A hundred years from now an Aurian boy was born in the human realm, and he and his family were slaughtered the day the boy turned 20. And a hundred years before that another boy was Aurian who met the same end on his 20th birthday. We have been looking into this case for over 3 centuries. A boy is born in the Human Realm and he dies on his 20th birthday, that's all we know. Our ancestors named this thing, The Slaughter Cycle." Headmaster stated. Ihaan, Masir, and Anus were listening carefully too as if they were unaware of it.
"This mystery has been passed down to me by the Prodigy King himself, in the past Pridigy King did all the research into this case. The second Prodigy King found out about this and started digging into it, but he died before he could unfold the mystery. It was passed down from him to the Third Prodigy King, who died before he could unfold it, so it was passed down to the current Prodigy King the Fourth, he felt ill a few years ago and he passed it down to me. No one knows about it other than me and Prodigy King, and now you four. Not even any of the Sardars of Houses know anything about it, but it will be revealed to everyone in a few days."
Ariel interrupted and asked "Slaughter cycle? What is it and what are you talking about? You are saying you knew all this and you still couldn't save my parents? And you are saying you have seen this happen in the past."
"No, I haven't seen it, but Second and Third Prodigy King has seen it happen in their eras. It happens after exactly one hundred years. But in past incidents, the kid never survived. And this time it happened one night before you turned 20. While, in the past, it happened after the boy turned 20, not before it. According to the data we had, the slaughter should have happened tonight after 12. That's why we couldn't make it in time, as if the killer knew we were onto him."
"Wait. You are saying I am reincarnation or something like that? And what does it have anything to do with the guy who killed my parents?" Ariel shouted with shock and curiosity in his voice.
"What does that make me a reincarnation or your savior or The One?" Ariel scuffed.
"We are at constant war but, we don't need the help of a chosen one. And as for you being reincarnation, we don't believe it's possible." Ariel was shocked to hear that he was supposed to die with his parents but he was spared or survived somehow.
"So, I am some kind of abomination or something?" Ariel said lightly as he walked forward.
"You chose to live here and become a Prodigy Knight, did you not?" Headmaster asked with politeness.
"I don't know what that is but yes, I agree upon living in this world and helping you reveal the mystery of this Slaughter Cycle," Ariel answered with a frown.
Anus sighed and walked forward, he brushed his hand into his hair.
"Headmaster, we don't have time for explanations. He needs to wake his Eldris, and we only have one hour to do so."
Ariel smacked his tongue, "Wake what? My Prodigy?"
Anus smiled slightly and moved to the right side, "Not your Prodigy, we need to awaken your Eldris force. You see Aurians do have extraordinary strength and speed and healing as well, like you do now. But, to awaken the true Prodigy, we need to make a contract with Eldris. He will ask you to give him something in return for his Force, after paying the due you will get your Eldris force. Then we'll see which House you belong to."
Ariel smirked mildly, "That's too much information in just one night. Slow down let me think about what the hell is going on. You keep throwing bombs at me like that and I am sure to leave. I mean this is messed up. Just a few days ago I was living a normal life, not completely normal but still this is too much. And now, you are telling me I am part of something, there is a whole different world. Eldris thing, 20th birthday, the cycle of slaughter, and whatnot. Why are you rushing this so fast, I can learn these things later. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Masir took a few steps forward and grabbed Ariel's collar, with a cold and calm voice he said; "Don't get smart with us. You can think it over some other time. The second the clock strikes 12, you won't be able to get Eldris force ever again. That means you won't be able to get a Prodigy, you were strong in your world but right now you wouldn't even stand a chance against a child. So, you better listen to what we are saying." Ihaan rushed over and grabbed Masir from the back of his collar and pulled him away from Ariel, but Masir had a tight grip on Ariel, he took Ariel's collar with him.
"What the hell are you trying to do, Masir?"
Ihaan asked. Masir threw the collar away and maintained his cold and calm voice when he answered Ihaan. "Telling him that he is not a protector, or a chosen one. We all think of him as a nuisance. We should just kill him. I thought I saw something in him but, he isn't fit to be a Prodigy Knight. The death we face every day on the battlefield. He can't survive that. He lacks strength and talks too much."
"He doesn't have to be one of us. He can be a better man than us. Not all of us have to be monsters." Ihaan answered as he let go of Masir's collar.
"And you want to make him a Prodigy Knight? We fight monsters out there we must become monsters to defeat monsters." Masir said with a calm tone.
"Maybe you are just afraid he might end up like you, you big softie," Ihaan smirked.
"You wish to stray from this world?" Said Masir while snapping his finger two times. The second he was going to snap his fingers a third time, Anus took a few steps back, fear in his eyes was clear.
"Stop it, there's a kid in the room," Anus shouted. Ihaan placed his hands on the sword that he always had on the left side of his hip. The aura changed around them. The air became heavier and heavier before long Ariel found himself lying on the ground. He was being crushed by the Eldris Force of Masir. That's when the third snap sounded.
Ariel felt a hand on his collar once again, and he was standing on his feet. It was Masir again who had his hand on his collar. But Ariel couldn't figure out what just had happened.
Ihaan was standing a few steps back, it seemed like time was reversed.