Black Mist

by Michael Sisa

  She slowly walked towards the edge of the garden, her steps almost a tip-toe. The moment she saw the breath-taking sight, her lips formed into a smile and her previously wary eyes danced about. She softly mumbled, “So beautiful~”

  A long period of silence filled the area. Only the perpetual chirping of birds and the sounds breeze were heard. Dan and the female student continued to gaze at the Empire below. Both wore a satisfied look upon their faces. Somehow, the silence did not seem awkward. It was soothing and calming.

  ‘I should go back,’ Dan thought after he had deemed that he had savoured the sight more than enough. He stood up, completely startling the female student the moment he did so. Dan noticed the student’s wariness. With a polite smile, he made a small nod then turned around. He went back towards the entrance of the floating garden. His next destination was the dormitory.

  ***

  The moment Dan left the floating garden, the female student sighed. Since she was young, she had been wary of strangers. It originated from a certain experience in the past wherein she had almost lost her life. The path towards the floating was complex, and she was surprised when she saw a student the moment she entered. Not wanting to make a commotion and disrupt the obvious garden gazing of the student, she silently made her way towards the edge of the garden. What she wanted to see was not the garden itself, but what was underneath it: the entirety of the Great Empire.

  The sensation that ran throughout her entire body the moment her eyes landed on the unfolded sight could not be described in words alone. She had the urge to grab everything the eyes could see and embrace it, forever clutching it.

  Thankfully, the student she shared the view with was of few words. Like her, the young man silently gazed at the Empire beneath them, completely enamouring himself with the imagery. The silence was soothing, and deep inside her, she enjoyed the unusual company. It was not frequent that she was able to gaze at such sight along with someone without disrupting the serene silence.

  Suddenly, she heard shuffling sounds on her left and she glanced at the source on instinct. The young man stood up and brushed his garb. Unexpectedly, the smile he gave her was gentle, and she felt that it was completely without malice. That was a first for her considering that whenever she went to, men would flock. She was blessed with beauty, something she would rather do without.

  She silently watched as the back of the student disappeared a few moments after he entered through the arched opening. The previous calm and silence of the floating garden resumed, and she was left with nothing but the chirping birds and the aimlessly drifting clouds as company.

  “I guess I should also go back?” She mumbled to herself. She took out a necklace from her pocket then twined it around her soft, ivory neck. The piece of purple gemstone glowed, and her body slowly but continuously gained weight. Freckles formed upon her cheeks, and her previously straight, glossy and well-kept crimson hair formed waves and curls.

  She took out a silver plate and read the words imprinted upon it: Marianne Love.

  ***

  Janus scratched his head then knocked on the door before him. It was mahogany and a figure of a trident was craved on it. His knock echoed and a voice answered, “Come in.”

  Janus opened the piece of thick wooden partition, creating a small creaking sound. He lightly slammed it shut afterwards. The view of a well-kept room with nothing but two chairs and a table was seen. The rays of the sun lightly seeped through the thin veil of the green curtain. A man sat behind the table.

  “Chairman Grasse, you called?” said Janus.

  “Sit here.” Grasse pointed at a chair. His combed his brown beard that was braided at the end. His silver robe was covered by a white furred overcoat. He tapped his index finger once against the armrest. “I’ve seen the results of the entrance exam. We have quite some exceptional freshmen this year.”

  Janus sat down. “Yes, Chairman. The three top scorers are monsters. Especially the student named Ryle Monfort. He got perfect scores in everything.”

  Grasse grabbed a stack of paper on his left and flipped the first page. “Hmm... this student named Ryle is without doubt a genius. Moreover, the blood of the Monforts runs deep within his veins. He’ll surely become a great magician in the future.” Grasse turned his eyes to Janus. “But that’s not why I called you here.” He took out a piece of paper from the stack then handed it to Janus. “This student—what’s the meaning of this?”

  Janus took the file and read its contents. His eyes widened as he had not expected such results. Rather, he had never seen such abnormal results before. “Daniek Bhlot Roshaila... F rank... 6/100... what’s with the score in the test of potential?”

  “So you have no idea?”Grasse asked. He flicked a finger and a jet-black orb appeared out of thin air. It was the size of two fists combined. It hovered directly before the two of them. He said to the orb, “Qaval. Why did you not give a score to the student named Daniek?”

  The orb made whizzing sounds. Eventually, a voice answered, “Chairman... the child....”

  A long period of silence continued. Grasse raised a brow. “The child? What is it? Tell me.” His voice was calm but it had a hint of irritation in it.

  “The child is immune to my soul magic... it’s impossible to alter his reality through my sheer will,” Qaval said. “It is the same phenomenon with the strongest magician that had ever lived... my master—Walker Vont Ilian.”

  Janus and Grasse were stunned after the Guardian’s revelation. Qaval was a spirit, and it was utterly impossible for him to be wrong in his deductions regarding the third test. Grasse asked Qaval, “The child is F rank and he doesn’t seem to be the intellectual type either—but his soul is on par with that legendary magician?”

  The orb made hissing sounds. Qaval replied, “Yes. It seems that the child’s soul is too strong that it devoured a large portion of the mana core. It’s possible for the child to learn magic, but he would never be able to wield it as much as those with a complete core.”

  “That’s... the Soul Core Phenomenon....” Grasse mumbled. Janus gulped down the lump in his throat. The conversation was going towards the impossible. Soul Core Phenomenon was almost a myth. According to history, only a handful of magicians had attained such level of growth, and one of them was Walker Vont Ilian. The magician that created the Great Wall that encompassed the entirety of the Empire of Kulaima and the creator of the Sky Academy.

  “My master died before he had completed the Soul Core Phenomenon—age is not something he could win against,” Qaval said through the orb. The guardian’s voice was low and solemn. “It is the same core the Demon Lords possess. It is the same core that is on par with the Gods.”

  A deafening silence filled the room as Janus again gulped down. Trickles of sweat flowed down his forehead. His mind was occluded by his thoughts. The reason why the Demon Lords were feared was due to their unparalleled strength, and the Soul Core was the reason for such existences.

  Grasse broke the silence. “Professor Janus—what is the current standing of that student?”

  Janus paused and pondered. “Bottom rank, Chairman. Contrary to the usual four subjects during the first year, he’ll receive just a single one. Professors are scarce these days... we usually focus our attention to those that are talented.”

  “Give him all four.” Grasse’s voice was firm and absolute. “To make sure that the students don’t complain, move his entire class into the regular section. I don’t care how you do it—make it happen.”

  Janus knew what the Chairman of the Sky Academy was trying to achieve. Such student would be wasted if not given the proper nurturing. Even though it was a strict rule that those that ranked bottom most were given the least amount of education, the student was without doubt an exemption.

  Janus knew the repercussion of his actions. Even just now, it started to give him a terrible headache. He nodded. “Understood.”

  Chapter 18: Herbalism Class

  After the entrance examin
ations, Dan went his way to the warp portal. Just like Janus had declared, the portal led him directly right at the entrance of his dorm. The structure encompassed a total of five floors, all corresponding to their respective years. Dan pulled out his status plate and like before, it reacted to his will and his room number appeared vividly like a fog on a mirror.

  “Room 148…,” Dan softly mumbled. His grip on his metallic case was slightly loose as he entered through the wide entrance of the dormitory. On his right, he saw a large placard with the words “Male Dormitory” written in bronze. The scent of wild grass entered him as he walked towards the counter located right the middle of the hall, his footsteps creating light ~tak sounds. The ambiance reminded him of the forest in Ruktia Village: petite coniferous trees devoid of leaves were line up in arrays at his right, forming a half-spherical imagery that surrounded a large couch. A large orb of light hovered directly above the hall, gallantly illuminating the area bright hazel.

  The counter was devoid of people, but far beyond it, he saw a clustered group of students. All were male and were energetically chatting away the moment. Dan’s pair of crimson jewels swiveled left and right as it scanned its immediate surroundings. It landed on the west side of the dormitory. On logic, his room should be in that direction. Dan stopped in his tracks when a booming voice reverberated.

  “Professor Janus! You can’t be serious?! What’s the meaning of this? You’re giving ‘that’ class all four subjects?!” he heard a student say. Numerous murmurs of approval followed it.

  Janus sighed in resignation. He waived a hand and raised a brow. “Look… If you have qualms about it—ask the chairman himself. It’s his orders. I’m just following it—‘kay?”

  “Unfair! How about us? We scored higher than that class and were getting only two subjects!”

  “This is crap… what’s the purpose of the entrance examinations then?”

  The commotion continued for a while, and Dan decided to ignore it. He continued his way towards his room but halted. He turned around and quickly looked for Professor Janus’ figure.

  “Professor!” He said as he briskly walked towards the man that had just gotten away from the angry mob. The Professor’s appearance was slightly baffled, but Dan failed to notice. “Professor Janus! Regarding the last part of the test…” Dan pulled out his status plate, and immediately, the results of the entrance examinations popped out before him. “The last test….” His voice trailed off as he showed the professor the texts written on the silver card.

  Janus saw the question marks that filled the area where the result should have been. He resumed a composed look. He had already made an answer to the question beforehand. With a smiling façade, he said, “Due to some circumstances, the third test had ‘some’ problems… worry not for we made it so that it would not affect your overall score. We gave you the mean score for the third test as remedy. It’s all that we could do.” What he said was a lie. After all, who would believe him if he told them that Qaval, the Guardian of the Sky Academy, was unable to penetrate the soul of a mere first year student?

  Somehow, Dan doubted the words that seemed to have routinely come out of the professor’s mouth. Still, he conceded with a nod. “I see… thank you then.” Dan made a slight bow.

  Professor Janus raised a hand and waived it twice. “Hahaha! It’s fine! It’s fine!” He heard numerous footsteps coming towards their direction and he nervously glanced towards it. He had been the target of complaints the past few hours, something he would rather do without. He turned to Dan and said in a slightly stuttering tone, “T-Then… I’ll be off!” And he was gone like the wind.

  Dan sighed and flexed his neck. He resumed his way towards his room. His body was still full of vigor, but he had the peculiar urge to sleep the day away. Upon arrival at his room, he was surprised of what was inside.

  A large bed that could accommodate four people at once was located at the far right corner. Soft, bulky, and small protrusions were seen on top of it, and a see-through cloth covered it. Just a single glance would enable anyone to see that it was made of the finest materials possible. It gave one the impression that they would melt away from the fluffiness the moment their bodies brushed against it.

  Right in front of the bed was a mirror that was almost the same size as him. It was placed on top of a wooden table. At its left was a large vase that screamed of the word ‘antique.’ Dan noticed a white envelope on top of his bed. After shutting the door, he walked towards it.

  ‘For me?’ Dan inwardly asked himself as he read the words written on its back: it was his name. He picked up the envelope and took out the paper inside. He read the contents.

  Child of Edward,

  We have arranged for you to have all the luxuries possible inside the Sky Academy. A day from now, sets of magic books and meditation arts shall be delivered to your room. It’s an ancient heritage of the Prochson Family. Do not worry about concealment—the book shall be read only by you. It will appear different to other people. Take care of it. Lamark Prochson is currently a professor there. Make sure to meet him.

  P.S. Take care of my granddaughter… she’s in her last year at Ilian.

  Wellter Prochson

  The letter blazed into cinders the moment Dan had finished reading. The smoke swirled upwards along with the remnants of the letter, eventually vanishing into obscurity. Dan sat on the fluffy bed, making his body sink a few inches into the cloud-like interior. He remembered the woman he met inside the Prochson Family’s castle. The fragility of her skin underneath the raining flakes of snow back then was something he had never forgotten since. The mere thought that she was also attending the same school as him sent his lips into a smile. At the very least, he did not feel that alone anymore.

  After checking his schedule tomorrow using his status plate, Dan slumped his entire body onto the bed. Without changing his clothes, he dozed off into dreamland.

  ***

  Dan’s eyes bolted open the next morning. He glanced at the window veiled by green curtains: the morning sun had begun seeping through, giving ample illumination inside his room.

  “Herbalism class,” Dan mumbled. It was the only subject for the day. Almost like routine, Dan stood up and showered. His clothes from before had begun to stick to his body from sweat, and it started to give an uncomfortable feeling. He changed into his uniform.

  The Male Dormitory was around twenty minutes of walk from the main ground of the academy. The nearest building was a green house, and it spanned an absurd size of half a kilometer. It was the place where the Herbalism Class was to take place. Dan passed through the well-paved road that led towards his destination. The path was almost a forest with numerous trees adorning the sides of the road. Wild grasses were seen almost everywhere, some spanning till half the human body. Occasional chirpings of birds were heard, and the breeze was neither too cold nor too warm.

  Dan entered the green house and saw groups of students flocked together. The sound of the door opening made them turn their heads towards him, and to Dan’s surprise, the stares they shot at him were peculiar. Those were stares that depicted uncertainty and bewilderment. Even the woman that appeared to be their professor was staring at him with a hint of puzzled look upon her face.

  “That’s him, right?” a student whispered.

  “Yeah. There’s no doubt… that’s the son of the Emperor of Fire.”

  “Guess we’re lucky that we got on the same class as him… we’re also getting all four subjects for the first year.”

  “Damn rich nobles… even those that are not talented gets rearing. Life’s really unfair, eh? Not that I’m complaining.”

  Murmurs continued to fill the area as Dan made his way towards the group. Unbeknownst to him, a rumor stating that their class was getting special treatment due to the son of Edward Roshaila being within the group had begun to circulate recently. It sparked uneasiness within the first years. Before he had even stepped foot into his class, a lot of students had already marke
d him as someone they should be wary with. The Great Families were known for their great power within the Empire and a next-in-line noble like him would without doubt hold power tantamount to it.

  Dan was slightly confused of the commotion. Somehow, he had the feeling that he was directly involved with the uneasiness within the group. He walked towards the clustered students and his brow slightly rose when they parted into two like the story of Moses.

  The female professor’s eyes darted left and right as she tried to find the right moment to break through the uneasiness. She cleared her throat and fixed her garb: a purple robe opened at the middle, revealing a white laced dress. Her body was stubby; her height was only a bit taller than her students. Her blonde hair was peculiarly curved to a side, and her nose was flat and broad.