A couple hours later, Korrozak awoke to loud banging on his door. He tried to block out the noise and go back to sleep but the knocking didn't stop. He reluctantly got out of bed and answered the door. Theo and his other childhood friend, Shiro, were standing in front of him. He instantly recognized Shiro as the girl he found in the woods the previous night.
"What do you wa-" he started before he noticed Shiro's crutches. "What happened?" He pointed at her crutches, already knowing the story.
"I was attacked by a bear in the forest last night when doing research for my project!" Shrio exclaimed. Korrozak stared at her. Theo just stood there.
"Why... do you sound excited... to be injured?" Korrozak asked slowly.
"Because I saw the Masked Demon!" Korrozak stiffened and shifted his gaze a little. Theo put a hand on her shoulder and she slapped her hands to her mouth. "Sorry." Korrozak shook his head before leading them inside.
"I'm gonna get dressed real quick. Feel free to get comfy on the couch." he said, retreating back into his room, closing his door behind him. He pulled off his shirt and switched it with a gray one, then realized he left his mask on his nightstand. He felt his heart skip a beat and immediately grabbed it and shoved it into his nightstand drawer. When reentering the living room, Shiro and Theo were on his couch playing video games.
"Whhoosh! Pew, pew, pew! Neeeeaaarrrrrr!"Shiro made silly sounds as she flew around and shot guns at the boss monster. Theo sat quietly, but he strained his eyes and gripped the controller intensely.
"Don't break the controller, Theo. You're stronger than you think and neither you, I, nor your in-game character will like it if it breaks." Korrozak warned. Theo relaxed his grip slightly but didn't say anything. Korrozak smiled and walked into the kitchen and started getting out cooking utensils. "What time is it by the way?"
"1 pm." Shiro said in between her weird sounds.
"It's 1 already?" he exclaimed, dropping a butter knife.
"Yas!" Theo and Shiro threw their hands in the air, careful to not throw the controllers, as the game boss' death animation played. Theo turned to Korrozak. "You mean you didn't realize?"
"No." he mumbled, bending down to pick up the knife.
"Strange for you to sleep in."
"I had a nightmare that kept me up all night again." Korrozak explained, turning on the burner to his stove. The room was silent for a long time after that. "So why'd you guys come over? It's Saturday, shouldn't you be preparing your reports for Monday?"
"That's why we came here!" Korrozak walked over with a plate of eggs.
"No, you came here to take advantage of my sleeplessness to play my video games in my apartment when you know I'm too tired to do anything about it but play with you." he grumbled through a bite of eggs.
"NO! We did actually come here to work." Shiro insisted.
"Doesn't seem like it! As punishment for playing my games without my permission, we're going to study until dawn tomorrow without any rest! You best be ready to stay up late, guys." he chuckled maliciously with a wicked smile on his face. Theo slowly scooted towards Shiro, who was slowly getting up on one leg. The moment they made a break for the door, Korrozak zoomed in front of them, blocking their exit. He grabbed them by the back of the collar and dragged them into his room.
"To the books, guys!" He exclaimed with a smile.
"NOOOO!!" After he settled them down on his bed, he grabbed a few books from the shelf on the opposite side of the room and started piling them on the bed. He sat down next to them and started flipping through the book on the top of the pile. Shiro looked up at him and noticed the bandage on his arm. She squinted at it for a long time before grabbing a book of her own and flipping through the pages, all the while constantly glancing at Korrozak's arm.
"Hey, what happened to your arm?" she finally asked. Korrozak stiffened.
"Just a small cut. It wasn't deep or anything." he lied, nervously.
"What's with all the bandages? Seems like you used quite a lot for it only being a small cut."
"It was a long, shallow cut."
"Really now? Show me." Korrozak slowly unraveled the bandages to reveal a long thin cut that ran along his arm.
"See?" He was lucky that his magic allowed him to heal so abnormally fast.
"I do see. Ok, I believe you, but you only really needed a few bandaids."
"I'm gonna go get some water. Do you guys want something as well?" he asked, changing the subject. He rewrapped his arm and stood up, setting the book he was reading on the bed beside him.
"I'd like water as well."
"I'm good, thanks." Korrozak nodded and left the room. He grabbed cups from the cupboard and set them next to the sink. He then started filling up one cup at a time. Once he had both filled, he grabbed them and hesitated by the sink. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relaxing himself. He then opened the door and brought the drinks in. Immediately he noticed that the drawer on the nightstand was slightly open, which he was sure he had closed completely, but he paid no mind and gave a glass of water to Shiro. She accepted it thankfully and started sipping it, careful not to spill any. They spent the rest of the day studying books until it was almost midnight.
"Alright, that's enough studying. I'm too awake to go to sleep so I'm down to play some games." Korrozak stretched his arms.
"Yay!" the others cheered. Theo and Korrozak helped Shiro walk out into his living room and began to set up the game they wanted to play. Korrozak stood up and walked over to the kitchen to put his cup in the dishwasher. He paused. There was another magical presence. Theo looked over at Korrozak.
"Is everything alright?" Korrozak turned around with a smile.
"Yup!" He put his glass in the dishwasher and walked over to the couch. Seconds after he sat down next to Shiro, a loud boom sounded and the ground shook. Korrozak quickly stood up and rushed to the door, unlocked it and ran outside. Smoke and fire could be seen glowing at the edge of town. A dark silhouette was hovering in front of the moon. It looked like a person with bat wings. Demon! Korrozak glared at the demon in the sky, his friends peeking out from his apartment. The demon raised a hand and an orange circle appeared above him. Small fires ignited above the magic circle and then grew into massive spheres of magical energy. People started running down the streets, screaming in fear. The demon swung his hand down and the fireballs flew at them. Many more explosions and booms symphonied across town. Korrozak quickly turned towards his friends.
"Get back inside!" He yelled.
"But-" Shiro started.
"NOW!!" Korrozak pushed them inside and closed the door, locking them in. He then turned to look at the demon again. He donned his wings and quickly grabbed his cloak from his subspace before teleporting up to the other demon. The demon turned at his sudden appearance. He was an old, grizzly looking man. He had tan brown hair and worn out black eyes. He was wearing a tattered and stained black coat with a red and crimson victorian pattern tuxedo underneath.
"Who might you be?" the man asked.
"Leave this town alone."
"Why? Do you want it all for yourself? Sorry, but I found this village first!" He prepared another fireball and aimed it at the village. By now, lots of people were out in the streets in a panic. Korrozak quickly cast a barrier over the town just in time to catch the next attack. The fireball exploded against the barrier, creating a giant firework in the sky.
"Stop! These humans have done nothing wrong!" Korrozak shouted.
"They did something wrong when they KILLED MY FAMILY!! My wife, my children!!" He launched another fireball. "Why do you protect humans? Surely they have wronged you in some way as well. Or are you still hiding amongst them, fearful of the day you get discovered?"
"I learned to forgive them!" The demon suddenly pulled out a sword and charged at Korrozak. Korrozak pulled out his own sword and blocked the attack. The demon pushed on Korrozak, who pulled out a second sword and swung at the demon. The demon flew out of the way and prepared another spell. It was a massive ice shard and the demon launched it at the barrier. The demon then swung at Korrozak, who blocked with both swords. The demon kept him there and casted multiple spells at the barrier.
"Barrier spells require constant magic from the caster. A barrier this big would consume massive amounts of magic power all at once. There's no way it could last more than three shots." the demon smirked. "That was two, and three." He waited but the barrier didn't even crack. When the demon didn't hear a shatter, his smile faded and he glanced back at the barrier. Korrozak took that distraction as an opening and pushed the demon off of him, grabbing him by the waist in a hug and dove straight into the ground. He put a foot on the demon's chest and pointed his sword at the demon's throat.
"Leave this town alone." Korrozak ordered with a murderous look on his face.
"H-How? Why didn't it break?"
"Your magic is weak but flashy. All you can do is scare some people. Train yourself before you decide revenge is your fate. Maybe along the way, you'll find something you'd rather give your life to protect than lose it to your revenge."
"Grr…" the demon growled in frustration. Korrozak got up and off of the demon. He got up and took off away from the village. Korrozak watched him fly off, then let out a relieved sigh. It had been a while since he had to fight another demon. He teleported back in front of his apartment and put his wings away. He paused in front of his door, having an ominous feeling, before he unlocked the door and opened it. Theo and Shiro were waiting a little ways from the door with worried expressions on their faces. Shiro hobbled over to Korrozak the moment she saw him coming through the door.
"Korro! Where were you? I was worried." she frowned. Korrozak patted her on the head.
"I was trying to keep the other townspeople from causing too much of a panic." Korrozak lied. Shiro stared at him for a moment.
"I saw another demon fighting the first one." she stated.
"Yeah, I saw them too." Korrozak started to feel a little uneasy.
"They must be around here if they wanted to protect our village from that other demon." Shiro stated, a suspicious tone to her voice. Where's she going with this?
"I guess so." There was another awkward pause. Shiro hopped over to the couch and sat down.
"Sit with me." Korrozak hesitated before walking over and sitting on the chair next to the couch. Theo sat down next to shiro.
"Tell us everything Korro." she said flatly.
"What do you mean." Shiro pulled out his mask from behind her and he stiffened.
"Why do you have this mask?" she glared at him. Korrozak stared at his knees. "Korro. You're not human, are you?"