Chapter 6: Descent into Darkness

The class had just finished their lunches. The students stood around waiting for the teachers’ decision.

“All right everyone! We’re going to head out to the chasm. Make sure not to forget any weapon and armor that you have brought!” Monaco announced to the class.

Kuren made sure that his sword was by his hip. The only armor he had was the leather armor that he borrowed from the school. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to fight at all. Melodi looked at Kuren and smiled knowingly.

“I’m so glad that you’re here Kuren. I know that if a monster came, you would protect me, right?” Melodi asked. Kuren nervously glanced at Melodi. She couldn’t be serious, right? How was he supposed to protect her when he couldn’t even protect himself? Melodi grabbed Kuren’s arm, her nails digging into his flesh.

“Right?” she repeated. Kuren winced from the pain and quickly nodded. The class started walking behind the teachers towards the chasm.

* * *

The chasm looked like a giant crack in the ground. Someone could easily fall in if they slipped. The teachers stopped in front of the chasm and turned to the class.

“This crack seems to be the source of numerous magical beasts prowling around the area. The monsters are hiding right now, but they will show up eventually. For now, we’ll wait until a beast crawls from below. Remain on guard. If you wish to fight one of the beasts, simply step up and we’ll let you fight it. Understand?” Monaco spoke to the class.

The students nodded and gave sounds of affirmation. Kuren tried to walk to the back, but Melodi kept a firm grip on his arm. He couldn’t do anything but nervously wait.

Flane eyed Kuren from a distance. He decided on a plan to embarrass Kuren in front of the class and Melodi. He would force Kuren to go fight a beast with him. Of course, Flane wouldn’t be doing any fighting. Kuren would have to fend for himself. Most likely, Kuren would probably fall to the beast, and a teacher would have to stoop in. He smiled at the thought of Kuren displaying his utter incompetence in front of Melodi.

Suddenly, a deep growl came from the chasm. The teachers and students instantly went on guard.

“They’re coming. Be ready!”

A black shape dashed from out of the chasm. Two more followed. When they stopped, Kuren got a better look at them.

Three lizards covered in black scales. The scales were completely black, almost as if they completely absorbed the light. Pulsing red veins lay between the scales. The veins carried a red, glowing liquid that was more than just blood. Raw, demonic mana flowed through their bodies. Their red, reptilian eyes stared hungrily at the students.

One of the lizards opened its mouth. Suddenly, the veins on its body began pulse faster and glow more intensely. A great blast of fire shout from out of its mouth towards the student. Monaco stepped in the flame’s path.

“[Terra Murus]!” A wall of earth burst out from the ground. The flame hit the earthen wall and dissipated, not even leaving a mark. Monaco turned back to look at the students and grinned.

“So, who wants to go up first?”

“I will!” One of the students stepped forward. Kuren realized it was his roommate, Mare Noxumb. The boy was shy or maybe he just disliked Kuren. Whenever Kuren tried to talk with Mare, Mare would just ignore him or walk away. Mare didn’t talk with any other students too. However, he was extremely interested in learning magic. His enthusiasm was visible as he volunteered to fight the lizard first.

Mare didn’t show any nervousness. He looked calm and in control. As he faced the lizard, it suddenly opened its mouth. Mare didn’t hesitate. Before the lizard could attack, he pointed at it and chanted, “[Aqua Telum]!” An arrow of water shot through the air and pierced through the lizard’s open mouth. The lizard fell to the ground, slayed with a single spell.

The students cheered as Mare took care of the lizard. He grinned and ran back to safety. One down, two lizards left.

Melodi looked at Kuren and said, “Wish me luck!” She had at her hip not an ordinary sword, but a rapier. Within it’s a guard was embedded a gray jewel. She approached one of the lizards and drew her rapier.

The lizard was on guard. It had seen what had happened to its previous companion. Yet, it still eyed Melodi hungrily. Melodi chanted, “[Ventus Celero]!” The spell was a tier above Ventus Gradior. Ventus Celero allowed the caster to improve the speed of his or her entire body at the cost of more mana. Ventus Gradior could only heighten the speed for a single step. The fact that Melodi could cast such a powerful spell displayed her talent and ability.

Before the lizard could react, Melodi had already dashed in front of it. The lizard, startled, tried to back up. Melodi pointed her rapier at the lizard and chanted, “[Ventus Perfodio]!” The gray jewel in Melodi’s rapier glowed as she thrusted the tip towards the lizard. The wind gathered and propelled her rapier.

The lizard’s scales could not defend against Melodi’s piercing attack. The rapier stabbed the lizard’s head. The wind burst apart its flesh and the lizard fell to the ground defeated.

The entire class applauded the graceful girl as she slayed the beast. She walked back to where Kuren was standing.

“Did that impress you?” Melodi grinned impishly at Kuren. Kuren swallowed. Hell yeah she impressed him. He could never accomplish what she had done. A mixture of grace and deadliness. Kuren was reminded of just how dangerous this girl was. Kuren weakly smiled and nodded.

“So does anyone want to come up next?” Professor Legith asked the students. Flane stepped up but stopped. He turned back to the class.

“I’ll go but I’d rather be with a friend, you know? So…Kuren! How about you help me out here?”

Kuren stared at him blankly. Was he serious? Kuren wanted to avoid fighting the lizard as much as possible. Melodi pushed him forward.

“Good luck out there! It’s your turn to impress me!” Melodi encouraged Kuren. He looked back skeptically. At least make it less obvious, he thought. You just want me to put on a show… Kuren gritted his teeth and grabbed the hilt of his sword. He unsheathed his sword as he approached the remaining lizard with Flane. He held the sword in front of him with two hands, shaking a little bit from fear and nervousness.

The lizard took a single glance at Kuren and Flane. Kuren was obviously inferior and lacked confidence. Flane stood there smirking as if the battle was beneath him. The magical beast made an obvious decision. Kill the weaker one.

The magical beast roared and a flame began to appear in its mouth. Kuren moved backwards, but he tripped and fell on his bottom. Just as the beast was about to launch its attack, it stopped.

Then, it whimpered. Kuren looked at the lizard in confusion as it scampered away back into the chasm. Kuren thought, what the hell is going on? All of a sudden, the students heard a voice from behind them.

“Huh, it seems that there is at least one intelligent living thing here. Running away was the correct decision. As for the rest of you…consider this your consolation prize.”

A man with black skin and red eyes stood with two others. He wore a fine black suit that seemed out of place in the middle of the forest. The other two figures wore cloaks that hid their faces. As the man in the suit spoke, he raised his hand towards the students.

Suddenly, earthen spikes burst out from the ground. The students screamed as the spikes approached them. Monaco’s eyes widened. He shouted, “[Terra Murus]!” A wall came out of the ground, blocking the spikes’ path.

“Quick! Legith! Styria! Guard the children! I’ll hold them back!” As Monaco ordered the other teachers, the spikes broke through the earthen wall. As the spikes came closer, Monaco drew his sword. He had three jewels on its guard, each with a different color: red, brown, and silver. He pointed his sword at the incoming spikes.

“Once more. [Terra Murus].” A new wall appeared, this time aided by the shining brown jewel in Monaco’s blade. The spikes hit the wall and were stopped. Monaco couldn’t see the enemies through the wall, so he began gathering mana for a more powerful spell.

“All right. Here we go. [Spacium Globus]!” All of a sudden, particles from the air, the ground, and the surroundings began gathering in front of Monaco. The particles condensed in the air, forming a sphere that seemed to have its own gravity field. The silver jewel on Monaco’s sword shined brightly as he casted the spell. When the sphere finished forming, he sent the sphere flying towards the wall.

Just as the sphere reached the wall, the wall burst into pieces. A chunk of the earth came hurling at the sphere. The gravity sphere absorbed the earth, gaining more mass and speed as it flew towards the unknown men. The man in the suit frowned. He raised his hand once more and swiped it through the air. The gravity sphere suddenly split in half, as if it had been cut by an invisible knife. The sphere quickly dissipated, sending masses of earth and dust onto the ground.

“…a spellblade? Oh dear. We had better take care of this right now or the lord will have a fit. Azai. Deal with this nuisance. Behemet. Come with me. Let us take care of the children and the other two mages.”

“Yes, sir.” The other two demons answered in unison. Azai sent a blast of fire towards Monaco. The man in the suit and the one named Behemet rushed past Monaco as he defended Azai’s attack. The students and the other two teachers were trapped by the chasm behind them. They had nowhere to run.

* * *

Within the shadows, a figure watched the battle. Its glowing eyes never lifted off Azai and Monaco.

“A man… a demon…they fight underneath the darkness of night…one fighting for his people…the other for vengeance…” the figure whispered words as if it was reciting lines from an ancient text. It frowned as if it had noticed something wrong.

“…but the demon loses the fight…and his life…” it narrowed its eyes while looking at Azai.

“…but something is wrong…the story will not be fulfilled…because…” it began walking out of the forest towards the battle.

“…because…that human will…” it emerged from the shadows. Azai suddenly noticed it and widened his eyes in surprise. A disheveled girl was slowly walking towards him. She kept on muttering words as she continued on her path.

“…will definitely die.” the girl finished. The girl looked at Monaco. Then she pointed at Azai.

“The story…it must be fulfilled…the demon…must be…Erased.” As the girl said her last words, everything became silent. Azai stepped back, but it was too late.

The man flickered. He looked down at his own body in shock. His body flickered once more. He watched in horror as his body slowly began flickering faster and with more intensity. The man began fading into oblivion.

“I am sorry, milord. I have failed you.” The man whispered as he flickered for the last time and disappeared.

“The story…is fulfilled.” The girl fell to the ground unconscious, knowing that the story had been set into place. The man in the suit looked back at where Azai had once stood.

“You! What have you done, you insufferable piece of trash?” Behemet roared with an uncontrollable anger. Behemet suddenly unleashed a ring of flame that spread outward.

As the ring approached the students, Legith chanted, “[Aqua Murus].” Water in the atmosphere condensed to form a thin wall to protect the students. The flame hit the wall and dissipated, but its shockwave still sent the students back. Melodi was standing right in front of Kuren as the shockwave hit. Melodi lost her balance and bumped into Kuren. He stopped her fall, but he began falling backwards right into the chasm behind him. As he fell into the chasm, a hand reached out and grabbed his right ankle.

Kuren howled in pain. His right ankle had not even come close to being healed. He twisted and shook his body around. The hand latched onto his ankle lost its grip and was forced to let go. Kuren watched as the opening of the chasm grew smaller and dimmer as he fell down towards the bottom. He no longer heard the sounds of the battle above. He could only hear the rushing wind as he descended into darkness.

Above, Flane was his knees in front of the chasm. His hand shook from when he had grabbed Kuren’s ankle. He was in shock. He didn’t understand why he had tried to save him. He absolutely hated the other boy. Yet, his hand instinctively reached for him. Why would he want to save the nuisance? Not only that, he didn’t understand what he was feeling right now. He should be happy. Kuren was finally gone. It didn’t make any sense. Why? Why did his chest feel so heavy? Why did his heart feel as if it was weighing him down?

Flane gritted his teeth as he looked down the chasm. Kuren was gone, his body swallowed up by the darkness. Flane stared for a long time.

Melodi sat near, staring mindlessly at Flane and the chasm. Her eyes were glazed over, as if she wasn’t quite there. Her mouth was slightly open as she tried to understand what had just happened.

Kuren Sain, a boy who lacked talent, strength, and friends, disappeared in an instant.

His story had just begun.

But it was coming to an end.