Black Mist

by Michael Sisa

  Though hesitant, Dan mimicked Negi and began plucking out the numerous leaves off the roots, along with the worms and maggots. There was a squishy feeling as they were crushed by his fingers, but seeing the calm look on Negi’s face made him continue despite his hesitations.

  “That’s the way, mate!” Negi cheered. “We should get used to this stuff while we’re at it. I heard from my brother that Alchemy Class is waaay worse than this!”

  Dan asked the thing that had been bothering him.

  “You can actually eat this thing?” he said as he pulled out a large worm that clung to his hands.

  Negi shook his head. “Nope. Not that one.”—he pointed at the fat, wriggling maggot—“that one.”

  Finally the two of them finished plucking. Negi shook his hands in an attempt to remove the soil and muck that hand clung to his skin. He nonchalantly added, “No need to fry them, mate. You can eat those raw. Trust me. They don’t taste bad at all.”

  Dan wryly smiled, “No, thank you.”

  Negi clapped his hands once. “Then! We’re off to the next stuff! It’s time for some boiling cauldron!”

  The two of them picked up their gnarled roots and made their way towards the cauldrons. There were already a handful of other students when they arrived. Dan and Negi immediately took out small pots.

  “For the fire, leave this to dependable ol’ me!” said Negi with a wink. He mumbled his chants, and a small orb of fire the size of a pebble manifested itself before them. They immediately used it to create a small campfire, making the flames spread to the firewood.

  Even now, Dan was mesmerized of how convenient magic was. But he knew full well that he should be content of what he had right now. He had a family, friends, and a normal everyday school life. He could not ask for anything greater.

  “Now, we’re onto the boring stuff,” said Negi as the two of them sat next to each other, waiting for the water in the pot to boil. “This thing will need to boil first, right? Then after that, we’ll wait for an hour after adding the roots.”

  “That’s right,” mumbled Dan. He stared at the blazing flames before them. “But somehow, waiting like this is also fun. So peaceful, so serene.”

  On their left, a female student stumbled on her pot and it broke. She cried in frustration, and her partner reprimanded her for her clumsiness.

  Negi chuckled, “You’re right. Even boring things like this is fun!”

  ***

  After Herbalism Class ended, night quickly came, and Dan once again started on his daily meditation. He brought both of his blades with him as he went to the path in the forest.

  It would have been frightening for a normal student to be alone in such place during the night, but to Dan, such place was an ideal find. It was silent, and there were no other students around. It was the perfect place for him to practice and meditate.

  He closed his eyes as he willed for his soul spirit to circulate throughout his entire body. To his surprise, adding the mediation arts of the Byudak made it far easier than before. The meditation arts of the Byudak served as chains that controlled the amount of his soul spirit, and all he had to do was direct its flow.

  An hour quickly passed, and he opened his eyes.

  “Now, let’s try it,” he mumbled. He opened his palms and willed for a sword to manifest itself on it. Like before, a translucent blade materialized. He gripped it tight and swung it around.

  After a few more tests, mainly by swinging the thing around, he willed for it to vanish, and it did.

  “Now, for the next trial,” he said as he pulled out one of the blades hanging on his waist. It created a soft, mellifluous unsheathing sound.

  He directed his soul spirit to flow into the blades themselves. Then he swung it around.

  He nodded. “I see. It’s better to channel it to an already existing medium instead of creating one myself.”

  “An interesting find,” said a voice. Dan instinctively glanced left and right for a few seconds before realizing where the voice came from.

  Dan furrowed his brows. “Karazaan. I almost forgot about you.”

  There was a pained answer. “Almost forgot about me? A Spirit King? Seriously!”

  “What do you want?” said Dan in distasteful manner.

  “Nothing much. Is it too wrong for a spirit like me to speak every now and then?”

  Dan sighed. “Look, I’m getting impatient of this. If you want to talk, do it outside my head. Do you realize how much headache you’re causing me? Even your smallest voice beats a shout at point blank range.”

  Dan could somehow feel the Spirit sulking and frowning. It said, “What an arrogant kid! Just because you know a bit of Soul Spirit, it doesn’t mean you can talk to a King like me in that way!”

  “Stop shouting!” snarled Dan. He felt his head almost burst from the Spirit’s loud remark.

  “Fine! Fine!” said Karazaan. “But human, how did you learn the technique of the Ancient Clan of Anito?”

  Dan sheathed his sword into the scabbard. The appearance of the creature declaring himself the Spirit King ruined his mood for practice.

  “There’s no reason for me to tell you,” said Dan.

  “Come on! This is driving me nuts! It’s impossible for a child—a mere child—to learn a technique that requires numerous years of training!”

  “Sometimes, I wonder if you’re really some great Spirit like you’ve told me,” said Dan. “That… attitude—”

  “—And what’s with my attitude?!”

  Dan cringed as his head throbbed in pain. “Hey, stop shouting already—”

  He stopped midway when he saw a silhouette in the forest. The twin moons above were shrouded by clouds, but the glowing insects that continued to fly around gave enough illumination.

  Dan stared at the figure, and he was sure that it was a female student. For some reason, she felt familiar.

  ‘Ah, that student from before,’ Dan thought. He was sure he had encountered her in the forest before, when he was coming back from the Seniors Area.

  This time, instead of casually passing by, Dan decided to say hello.

  “Hello,” said Dan. He lightly bowed his head in greetings. “It’s a surprise to see someone here at this time of the night.”

  The female student turned around, and Dan’s eyes widened in surprise. He had now fully remembered. How could he forget such face? It was not just this forest, but he had also seen her in the Floating Garden of Ilian. That very same student that solely gazed at the horizon.

  “Yes, it is a surprise to see someone here at this hour,” she replied. She raised a hand and some of the glowing insects approached it. “I really love this Academy. To be able to see such breathtaking sights.”

  “Such a beautiful human. Make her your bride. Take her now,” said Karazaan.

  Dan almost wanted to retort with a “shut up!”, but he was afraid of frightening the student before him. After all, he was the only one capable of hearing the Spirit’s voice.

  “I won’t ask what you are doing at such place, at such time,” she said, her voice somewhat angelic. “After all, everyone has their own little secrets.”

  Dan smiled, “True.”—And they both gazed upon the glowing little critters of the night.

  Interlude

  The scent of scorched bodies filled the air as Randolph struggled to his feet. Everything around him was in utter chaos, with the cries of pain and horror as background. Buildings were reduced to rubble, and the walls that surrounded their small city were reduced to cinders. Dead bodies were seen everywhere, their blood covering the ground red.

  “Still not going to talk?” said a demon he had never seen before. Its hair was crackling with violent lightning, and its pupils were slit-like, almost those of a snake.

  Randolph knew that even if all of the magicians here pooled their strength and fought him, they would still be unable to defeat this monster. All he could do was pray to the Gods that his men had safely evacuated the women and child
ren outside the city.

  “I’ve repeatedly told you,” said Randolph. At the corner of his eyes, he could see his fellow citizens succumbing to their death by the hands of other demons, and a sense of helplessness further enveloped his entire body. “I do not know of any magician called Greez!”

  A small fork of lightning flew out and hit his left arm. The pain was so excruciating that no voice came out as he cried. Randolph fell on his knees, tears uncontrollably streaming down his eyes.

  “You are the leader of the magicians of this city,” said the demon. “Surely, you know of him?”

  The sky rumbled, and numerous pillars of lightning fell down the sky, decimating everything it touched. Randolph could not believe it at first, but before him was a demon capable of altering the weather itself. A demon capable of toppling an entire nation alone. That much, he was sure.

  The scent of scorched bodies intensified. The demon’s pupils shrank further. “I will ask for one last time. Tell me where I can find the magician called Greez.”

  The voice was cold to the point of piercing.

  Randolph was dying, but he still had his pride as the leader of the magicians in the city. Through sheer will alone, he stood up and stared at the demon face to face.

  “No matter how much you torture me, you will never get an answer! Can’t you understand?! I do not know of any magician called Greez! You damn piece of swine! You fucking demon! You fucking mass murdere—”

  Randolph could no longer continue with his mockery as his head fell down the ground. The demon before him frowned, and it glanced at its left.

  “Forgive me, Lord Ashevaren,” a small frog-like creature approached. “The human has become too disrespectful of my Liege. I had no choice but kill him.”

  Ashevaren gazed at the corpse for a full second. He was becoming tired of searching for that man. How long had it been since he had left the Demon Continent in search for that certain magician?

  Ashevaren asked the frog-like creature, “Golgas, did you find any lead?”

  Golgas knelt. “Apologies, my Lord. Even after killing tens of thousands of humans in this city, we were unable to find anyone with such a name. Furthermore, no one knows the magician.”

  Just right then, a high pitched shriek echoed. “Lord Ashevaren! I’ve found him! I’ve found that damn human!”

  Golgas’ large eyes bulged further. He smiled as the source of the news, a small imp, flew towards their direction. It was carrying with it a headless body of a child.

  The Imp stopped right in front of the demon called Ashevaren. It said, “My Lord! It’s Grasse! We’ve been searching for the wrong man all this time! The name of the magician is Grasse!”

  Ashevaren tilted his head to the side. “Grasse? Are you sure with this information, Maruna?”

  The Imp flapped its wings in excitement. “Yes, Lord! That Magician is actually famous among the humans! He is the chairman of an Academy in the Sky!”

  Ashevaren grinned. Finally, he had found the location of that impudent bastard. He raised a finger to the heavens, and the entire sky itself roared as lightning rained down mercilessly. The ground trembled as numerous veins of vaporizing thunder hit everything the eyes could see.

  “Change of plans. Tell the Demon Army,” said Ashevaren. “We shall head to the Sky Academy.”

  Chapter 27: The Chosen Students

  Another week quickly passed by. Unlike what most of the students had expected, their stay at the Sky Academy was not composed merely of lessons regarding magic. They were also though of various things like basic concoctions and history, and they were forced to do study as though they have exams every day.

  “You over there! You’re lagging behind!” roared Professor Rouma. His bald head shone against the scorching sun above. “Do you think your opponents will wait for you once you’re tired! No! A moment of dallying in the battle field will result to death!”

  In today’s Martial Arts Class, they were tasked to undergo extreme body training. All of the students were forced to run numerous laps around the Grand Coliseum, their bodies not allowed to stop despite the fatigue.

  Those that were unable to finish their task on time were going to repeat it the next session after. It was a no way out situation, and for the first time in their life, the students regretted not having taken better care of their bodies.

  “But we’re magicians! Damn it!” protested one of the students. “There’s no need for us to train our bodies!”

  Rouma commanded one of his golems to pick up and bring to him the complaining student. After some violent squirms and protests, the student glared at Rouma.

  He said, “Professor! This is unfair! We came here to study magic! Not this! Not this!”

  Professor Rouma sighed. He ordered the golem, “Bring him to the isolation room.”—he said to the student, “My class, my rules. If you can’t finish it, you’re going to do it over and over again until you do. That is the rule.”

  The student wailed as he was taken away by the stone golem. The other students saw this, and despite the fatigue, they continued running.

  After another half an hour of hellish nightmare, Rouma ordered everyone to gather before him.

  “We’ve finished the warm ups,” said Rouma. Everyone groaned upon hearing this. They had the urge to puke from fatigue, and just listening to the deep voice of the professor made them want to sob and wail.

  Rouma seemed satisfied of the despair and horror in the eyes of his students. He broadly grinned. “This is nothing. When you’re fighting against monsters, you’re not allowed to rest even for a single moment.”

  He flicked his fingers, and the three golems behind him immediately bolted into action. With finesse unlikely for their size, they opened a large wooden chest and pulled out the pieces of metals inside.

  Rouma pointed to his left, and the golems placed the items to that area one by one, creating loud clanking sounds.

  “Now, we shall proceed to the real body training,” said Rouma. He picked up a large metallic ball on the ground and tied it on his left leg using a chain. He kicked the air numerous times, not minding the shackles that bound him.

  “Tie a ball and chain to your bodies, then run five times around the coliseum,” he said. “I’ll be keeping track of your progress. You’re not allowed to cheat.”

  Behind him were five floating orbs the size of a fist. Everyone knew that those things were meant to monitor the area around them, enabling the professor to see the progress of everyone at the same time.

  “Once you’re finished, you can rest,” said Rouma. He clapped his hands once, and the orbs behind him immediately dispersed. “Start.”

  One after another, the students grabbed one of the metallic balls and tied them unto their bodies. There were numerous grunts of dissatisfaction, but nobody clearly voiced them out. If they did, they would be thrown into the isolation cell, only to repeat the training once again.

  “Have you done this before?” said Negi as he watched Dan tie a ball and chain on his body. There was a surprising calm on Dan’s face, as though he did not mind the training at all.

  Dan stretched his body. “Sort of. This isn’t that bad, actually. I know of harsher training methods than this.”

  Dan recalled the time when he had first joined the Leopold Family back in his previous world. He was the bottom-most member that time, with nothing but a small decrepit room provided for him and his only family.

  Every day without fail, they would make him run for hours, then train him in the art of killing afterwards. For years, he would practice more than half a day non-stop. He never failed to persevere, and he eventually climbed up the ladders.

  Now that he remembered, he realized that those days were actually more peaceful than it seemed. He smiled as he reminisced.

  “Harsher methods?” said Negi in disbelief. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, right? I mean, we aren’t even adults yet! They shouldn’t be doing this to mere first years!”

  Dan tapped Negi
in the shoulder. “Complains won’t get you anywhere. Let’s go.”

  And so, they ran with metallic weights attached in their bodies. The coliseum was absurdly vast, and running around it five times took most of them students more than an hour. It was hard especially with a heavy thing attached to your body.

  Some of the students fainted, while some puked on the ground. Negi barely managed to finish it, while Dan completed the task without hitch.

  ***

  After the training, Rouma once again asked his students to gather before him. Some were almost crying when he issued the summons.

  “Don’t tell me? That’s also just a warm up?!” said one of the female students, her voice hysterical.

  Rouma heard this but he let it pass. He ordered one of the golems to bring to him a piece of large parchment. The golem spread it out wide, enabling everyone to see what was written inside.

  “Holy… it’s that time already?” whispered Negi.

  Rouma’s deep voice suddenly reverberated, making some students jump in surprise. He fiercely said, “A week from now, we shall be holding the Annual Crimson Abyss Tournament!”

  He got everyone’s attention from that single statement. The silence was absolute as he continued, “We will be picking out representatives for the first years. Three from the genius class, and one each for the remaining classes, for a total of ten students representing the lot for each year.”

  He cleared his throat. “The first round of the tournament is a practical game. We cannot give the specific details, but we can assure you that your lives will not be at stake. We will prioritize your safety over other things.”

  Buzzing sounds erupted from the students. All were wondering what the first round of the tournament would be like. Every year, the Sky Academy would hold a competition to display the abilities of the students. It was a famous event known all throughout the Empire. And sometimes, even the Emperor himself would come and watch.