"Who... what are you?" I manage to stammer, my voice barely above a whisper. while I clutch Aimi in my arms, fearing the creature would attack her.
The masked attackers fall to their feet after witnessing true terror before their eyes. The one with the naginata shakingly gets up. "Hey- what is this? D- don't fear it is just an illusion!"
The one with the ice powers feels more confident after his partner's statement. He picks up back his wand, takes a big step forward ready to face the creature and recites "Icicle Storm, maximum strength". The guy then creates a fierce storm with sharp icicles directed at the tall creature in front of me.
Although I don't get a good look of the creature because of his cloak I can tell he is standing there, arms crossed.
The creature then lifts up their arm, and makes it straight then says in a raspy old voice "Reaper Magic: Dark hole".
All of a sudden a dark sphere appears with a glint of red, sucking all the magic, making the ice magic ineffective.
"Ohoho! you call that magic? Now it's my turn." The creature crackles horribly and after a pause, the creature calmly says "Blood detection, on."
I couldn't believe my eyes of this sorcery I just saw, but the hole starts to pull the ice mage to it.
The ice mage starts to scream and grip the ground from preventing himself from being sucked in, ultimately it was futile, it was as if he was a lamb being sent to the slaughter. The ice mage let out a blood curdling scream as his feet go feet first and the scream abruptly stops when his head is fully emerged. Then dark blood starts dripping from the hole.
I watch in horror as the ice mage completely gets erased from the world, and I try to pull me and Aimi as far away as possible from the creature.
The ice mage's accomplice face turns white. "Y- you, don't scare me you fiend!" as he drops to his knees and dropping his weapon by his side as he just stares at the creature.
"Reaper Magic: Shadowstep". The reaper chants which then a some kind of black shadowy matter engulfs his whole body from the feet up.
For a moment nothing happens but then a dark rift opens up behind the Naginata user and first the creature's head pops out followed by his arms and legs.
I get my first glance at the creature's face and body as he now is facing towards me. "W- who the hell are you?" I stammer, now understanding the terror the masked attackers felt when facing him.
"Some might say I am hell itself, I go by Kurayami, The Reaper." He crackingly laughs in a dark tone.
From what I can tell the reaper stands as a seven-feet skeletal figure, shrouded in a flowing black hooded cloak that seems to absorb all light around it. The cloak is long and tattered, with ragged edges that flutter slightly as he moves. It drapes over his body, hiding most of his skeletal frame in its shadowy folds. His face is a bare, bleached skull with deep, hollow eye sockets that glow with an eerie red light.
The reaper proceeds to open a rift of darkness which then he reaches into with his bony arms and takes out a massive scythe with a slightly curved, sharp blood-red blade that glistens ominously as if stained with fresh blood. The scythe is nearly as tall as he is.
The naginata user slowly turns around, terrified from seeing his massive scythe. He does not know what to do so he gets up and does a death charge towards him, hoping it would kill The Reaper.
Kurayami effortlessly slashes the naginata in half, leaving the attacker with only the handle.
The masked attacker stares at his broken weapon and slowly shifts his gaze upwards towards The Reaper.
Before the masked attacker could do anything, The Reaper cleanly slashes him in half symmetrically, with his blood oozing out as each half hits the ground.
As Kurayami finishes killing the masked attackers, he looks at us with his menacing glowing red eyes, sharp blood stained scythe, tall skeletal body and starts to slowly walk towards Aimi and I while his feet stamps on the fresh blood of the masked attacker he just killed with his scythe.
"No- no. stop don't kill us too" I hug Aimi's unconscious body on my lap closing my eyes, too tired to run away.
From inches away from us, I hear The Reaper stop moving and he takes a deep breath before speaking. "Kid, you should have seen your face when you first saw me, you were white as a ghost!! learn to have some
I lift my head up in shock, I thought The Reaper was going to kill us too. "How are you even crying when you are a skeleton corpse? You old fossil!" I start to laugh and my expression widens.
The Reaper clears his throat. "You should probably go take your girlfriend to a hospital or something."
My face turns red "She's not my girlfri-" Before I finish my sentence The Reaper's body turns into a long strand of shadows and turns to the Orb I previously had but now the color is pitch black.
I stand up and I go pickup my orb, feeling its warmth in my hand and bringing it to my chest "Thank you for letting me save Aimi." And then I reattach the orb to the string around my neck.
I hurriedly rush to Aimi's unconscious body and lift her, supporting her back with one hand and her knees with the other.
As I run towards the nearest Magic Hospital, Aimi slowly opens her eyes. "Ma-Masa..." she murmurs, catching her breath. "What happened to the attackers?" she asks, using the last of her strength.
"I managed to get you away," I lie, not wanting to reveal the truth of what really happened. "I'm so sorry you got hurt because of me," I say, my voice breaking with emotion.
Aimi looked like she was about to say something but then she falls back unconscious.
I reach the magic hospital and rush her in at midnight, fortunately the doctor said she will be able to recover by tomorrow morning.
As I turn around, I notice two frantic people rushing in asking about Aimi at the front desk, they look like her mother and older brother. To avoid being questioned by their family I hurriedly leave the magic hospital and go back to my home.
As I enter the worn-down home, still the same as before, my mom waits for me at our half-broken dining table that has a huge crack in the middle. It has been here ever since we moved in, and we are not able to afford a brand new one. Mom's clothes and hair are still disheveled.
I take a seat in front of my mom, where one wooden leg of the chair is held on with a thin sheet of fabric, somehow supporting my weight.
"You have been gone a while today, Masa," Mom says worriedly. She takes a look at my face and notices some bruises. "Oh my- Masa, are you alright? What are those bruises?"
I touch my face. "Yeah, just had some work to do and did some training," I lie for the second time.
"Oh, well, if you say so," Mom says with a sigh of relief. "Go to bed, you have school tomorrow."
I nod in agreement, going to my worn-down futon and snuggling underneath the ripped blankets.
Mother also goes to sleep beside me, in her futon.
I call out, "Mr. Kurayami, Reaper? You there?" But no response comes. I feel the Orb and, oddly, it feels ice cold.
-Next Day at School-
As I enter class, I guess that word already got out that Aimi was almost kidnapped and I was with her that time because everyone flocks to me asking about if Aimi is alright.
I notice Aimi's fangirl group enter the class, pushing everyone to the side and approaching me.
"Why couldn't you protect her? You're just peasant scum! You should have sacrificed your life instead of letting them lay a finger on Aimi!" they shout angrily.
"You girls are dumber than I thought. You can never rely on Magicless Masa," Kajiwara adds.
"I did everything I could," I reply calmly, though my hands are shaking slightly. "Aimi is safe now, and that's what matters."
"That's enough!" A familiar voice cuts through the commotion. Aimi pushes through the crowd, her arm in a sling but her eyes blazing with determination. "Masa saved my life. Without him, I wouldn't be here right now." The room falls silent as Aimi makes her way to stand beside me.
I feel a mix of gratitude and embarrassment at Aimi's words. If only they knew the truth about what really happened...
As the fangirls retreat, muttering apologies, I turn to Aimi. "Thank you," I whisper, "but you didn't have to do that."
She smiles, though I can see the pain behind her eyes. "Of course I did. I owe you my life after what you've done for me"
Just then, Professor Akagi enters the room, calling for silence. As we take our seats, I can't help but wonder how today's duel with Kajiwara will go.
"Alright, class, we will start by drawing names to see who will fight first," Professor Akagi announces excitedly.
Professor Akagi's hand dipped into the jar, fishing out a small slip of paper. The class held its collective breath as she unfolded it.
"For our first match," she announced, her voice cutting through the tension, "we have Aimi versus Miyuki." A pause. "However, due to Aimi's recent injuries, this match will be cancelled."
Professor Akagi's hand dove back into the jar, emerging with another slip. "Our new opening match will be... Masa versus Kajiwara!"
The classroom erupted into a cacophony of whispers and barely suppressed giggles. "Talk about one-sided," someone muttered nearby. "This'll be over before it even starts."
Kajiwara's deep laugh cut through the chatter. He stood, stretching his muscular arms above his head in an exaggerated show of confidence. "Better start praying now, Masa!" he called out, his voice dripping with mockery. "You'll need all the help you can get."
"Let's go out to the battle grounds," Professor Akagi instructs as she leaves. Everyone follows her.
We go in front of the school where there's a wide, shallow rectangle box filled with sand. Kajiwara stands at one end, and I stand directly across from him.
Kajiwara's smirk widens as he stretches, treating this like a warm-up. "Ready to eat sand, Magicless?" he taunts.
I swallow hard, trying to steady my nerves. This is it. No more running. No more hiding. Whatever power is inside me, I need it now more than ever.
As Professor Akagi raises her hand to start the match, I close my eyes briefly. Dad, if you're watching, please help me. I'm going to need all the strength I can get.
The professor's hand falls, and the duel begins.
Kajiwara's face twists into a cruel grin. "Earth Magic: Earthus Surge!" Kajiwara shouts, his voice booming across the arena. He stomps his foot hard on the ground, and I feel the earth shake beneath me.
Before I can even blink, a massive column of earth erupts from the ground, hurtling towards me at lightning speed. My eyes widen in shock, and I try to dodge, but it's too late.
The wall of earth slams into me with incredible force. Pain explodes through my body as I'm thrown backwards, tumbling across the sandy arena. I hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of my lungs.
Everything spins as I lie there, gasping for breath. I can hear the excited murmurs of the crowd, Kajiwara's arrogant laughter, but it all seems distant, muffled.
"Have I not been able to get stronger?" I mutter, struggling to my feet with my back hunched and hands on my knees.
Before I can gather my thoughts, Kajiwara sends a mid-sized boulder made of solid dirt flying towards my forehead. It strikes me, and I fall, my eyes closing mid-fall. Everything seems to move in slow motion.
"MASA, NO!!" Aimi's desperate cry echoes in my ears.
Oh shoot, I'm about to be knocked out, I think, just before I hit the ground.
When I hit the ground, I wake up in a seemingly dark world. Confused, I call out, hoping someone is there.
Suddenly, a mass of black shadows forms, creating Kurayami, the Reaper. "Kid, you really need me to bail you out again, huh? No more Masa—more like a Basa fish about to be cooked," he laughs with his raspy, dark voice.
"Ahhh. Don't fret, I might be able to help you," he continues.