'Oh, great mother, Mistress of all. Befall us your wisdom. How do we kill our lord?'
We are in a Cave—a large, cold, misty cave, with walls that seem to be damaged, with cracks spreading through every nook and cranny of the room. Light from any of the three suns wasn't allowed into the cave, so suspended ambers of bright blue flames illuminated the cave. There wasn't a ceiling, just a dark abyss upward that the blue flames couldn't cast light on. The roof couldn't be seen, just thick darkness hiding it.
We have been in quite cold places with terrifying inhabitants, but the habitat of this coven is beyond fear, it's dread, and the fleeting feeling of hope.
There wasn't a throne, but instead, between two large ambers of blue flames, there was a blue giant sculpture of the head of a dragon implanted on a wall, with the tongue resembling a seat. The person, or thing, sitting on the supposed throne was ugly, horrible, and dreadful.
The creature bore no semblance of a human, but perhaps... a demon?
It was gargantuan, an estimated guess will be around 84 craters. Its skin was scarlet red, contrasting with the blue hue of the cave. Its face was hard to make out, 6 yellow eyes with bloodshot pupils, with a bigger one on the forehead, but with a cross symbol replacing the pupil. The mouth was occupied by 2 large tusks, and the creature's only complementing feature was its long, red, lustrious hair, which didn't look to be combed or taken care of. The creature appears to be dressed in a robe, which covers its feet and hands. The robe was a color chaos, with red fabrics, blue trimmings, yellow bangs decorating the sleeves, purple sashes, and black bracelets to top it all off.
The creature radiated nothing but dread. The Dragon's throne looked realistic, so that it could instill the fear of being eaten by it. The piercing eyes, the unpleasant face, the grotesque proportion, and the petrifying aura; who dares to stand up to this beast? This foul beast? This foul beast with an atmosphere of destruction just by being awake? Who? Tell me who? Who will challenge this monster? And for what cause? Money? Fame? Glory? Who will be mad enough to face this abomination?
Something that counters the fear of death is the greed of a man.
A human was there, far below the dragon's throne, and standing patiently on the bare ground of the cave. The human looked nothing special, but he was.
Blood was splattered everywhere, but none was on the man. He stood in between an entire horde....of dead demons. They looked like the smaller version of the giant demon, but they were all dead.
The human looked brave, with valour and spirit in his eyes. I wish not to describe his physical attributes. He wore a long black robe with gold trimmings to combat the cold, but I wasn't sure which was colder; an entire cave shrouded with freezing mist that can kill a normal living thing, or the human standing in his triumph of dead soldiers while maintaining a fashionable taste with a stare as hard as steel.
'State your name, you wretched animal.' The giant demon voice was so loud, so terrifying, so eerie, and so hollow.
The human looked at his side, studying something that wasn't there, like an invisible menu of food.
'Baarak, the great devourer, that is your name, right? Now tell me, are you the demon king?' The Man's voice was calm and polished, and his statement brought a shock to Baarak's face.
'You insolent fool, how do you know my name? I have been shrouded in darkness for so long, how can a pest like you call on my mighty name?'
The man didn't seem to pay attention because he was busy studying the same invisible menu, and he began to murmur to himself.
'50,000 xp, and 18 extra stat points. This system is as tight as ever. Baarak isn't the demon king? That explains why his abode really skinks.'
'You foul animal, it smells because you have decided to plaster my walls with the blood of my legion.' Baarak was furious, but hesitant. A mere human defeating his army, how possible is that?
'Well, I guess I have no choice.' The man then turned to Baarak 'uh, do you mind if I kill you, I promise it will be painless'
Baarak has had enough of being toyed with by a human. He remembered the human who ended his reign a long time ago and forced him to live in the shadows. A human with a face being covered, but a sword that shines a blinding green light. Baarak's entire glory and ego were stripped from him by the swordsman, and most of his army was terminated. Now, another human aims to kill him. Human? In every generation, they always feed their greed by taking from others.
Baarak stood up from his throne and jumped down to meet the human. The sound of the landing was deafening, and the shockwave was deadly, but the Man wasn't fazed. Who is this man, you might ask?
He came from nowhere, and claimed he was lost and he was from another world, what a joke.
The man freed his hand from under his robe, and a dagger appeared in his hand. The dagger had a purple rose hilt, with a crooked, blue blade, with the edges glinting under the light of the blue ambers.
Baraak also freed his hands and brought out a shield, a shield that looks to be made of blood, bone, and other organic matter, with strange markings and drawings of a war.
'You humans think you are very powerful. If you want to kill me, you have to do it while I try to kill you. Doesn't it make it more fun?'
Baraak screamed, and the warm, blue amber flames turned into scorching red flames. The room temperature rose by 50 degrees Malcey, and the room went from cold to boiling instantly.
The human took his stance, and his eyes glowed bright purple 'You are right, it is more fun. Time for my next kill....Dismantle by blood'
The human attacked Baarak, and three giant stone spears appeared above him.
The room was massive. That was Fenrir's first impression as he snuggled in on the top bunk he stole from Caesar. Caesar was worried about Izobel because he knew she would have problems with Aurelia, but he was confident in Chalybe and Zeus.
The stairs that took Caesar and Fenrir to the Juhnzu faction seemed to move from door to door, and the stairs picked the room that had space. The room was massive, according to Fenrir's intuition. It was like a main hall with several 3-storey bunks with chairs and tables being occupied by the students personal belongings that was posted to the school few days before the resumption day.
The other students admired Caesar, and he greeted them warmly. Caesar and Fenrir recognised some of them. From Nursery to Playdates to family functions, the faces were all familiar.
The diversity of the room was spectacular. Humans, ghouls, titans, neptunians, and even the legendary dwarves were all present in the large room. People didn't admire Caesar just because of his reputation of being skilled and naturally gifted, but because of the trial, when he had to undertake the contestant battle and had to face....
'Good to see you, brother Caesar.'
Caesar was arranging his bed when he heard that cold and young voice. He turned around to see a partly covered face addressing him. Caesar's ear rang as he remembered the sound of bullets and the smell of gunpowder.
The Contestant bottle in the trials was intense, so intense that it has been recorded that children have died of three things: killed by the contestant, killed by overusing their divinity, or killed by just pure stress and shock.
Caesar was sure he tasted death on that day.
Murmurs scattered around the room as three members of the Prodigy kind interacted. For some context;
A genius is someone who has learned to use their divinity. These people embody pure hard work and determination to thrive, and they are the standard building block of the idea of a society engulfed in power.
But we have prodigies. These are those who are born abnormally and are gifted to surpass the geniuses. They are different, they are like a white stain on a canvas. They are those who disrupt the natural balance with their talents and gifts. Some people claim these kinds embody luck, but no. They embody Freedom and change.
So during the trials, eleven of these rare kinds were found, from different races and backgrounds, and they were given the titles 'The Paragon 11'.
Caesar is a member, Chalybe is a member, Izobel is a member, surprisingly, Fenrir is a member, and the boy standing near Caesar is a member. Zeus is sadly not a member, because he is a genius.
This boy was truly a prodigy. He is a human with no tainted blood. He was shorter and skinnier than Caesar, with glowing, short, spiky blue hair that covers both his eyes. His face looked innocent, but it gave Caesar flashbacks to the trials. His uniform was well ironed and cleaned, with rolled-up sleeves and an emblem of two crossed swords fitted on the right side of his chest.
His name; Jacques Loius Valeur IX. His father is Henri Pierre Valeur IV, the head weapons master of the Zion Kingdom.
The Murmur continued as people began to question what would happen next, but thankfully for Caesar, Fenrir was there.
'Yo Jacuer, how you doing?' Fenrir said while bouncing on his bunk.
'Nice to see you, Fenrir, and it's Jacques.'
'C'mon Jaccy, you know how difficult your name is. Otherwise, your papa could have named you, I don't know, Peter, Beetleguese, Julius. See? They are alternatives.'
Jacques gave a side smile 'How can you perfectly pronounce Beetleguese, but not Jacques?'
Fenrir scratched his wild, spiky hair and looked confused 'Hmmmm, I dunno, one was harder.'
Caesar was happy that Fenrir intervened, but he knew he had to talk.
'Hello Jacques, long time since....'
A loud sound was heard, the sound of a gun. The entire hall fell dead silent. Caesar's back was bent backwards as he dodged a gunshot delivered from Jacques Pen, in which he uncapped at rapid speed.
Fenrir was the first to react, as he was seen on the other side of the hall, with the bullet caught in his palm, protecting a flower vase.
'Owwwwww, hot, hot, hot. Hey Jaccy, you were about to break this girl's vase.' Fenrir directed his attention to the girl standing right next to him, who was shocked and left speechless about what had just happened. 'Sorry about Jacyy, he wasn't meant to do that, please forgive him.'
The girl was motionless, before she was able to speak 'No worries, I understand the hassle. When two kings meet, one delivers the order first. Don't worry about the trouble.'
The girl was taller than Fenrir but not as muscular. She had long grey hair that was tied in a bun, grey eyes that resembled the color of storm clouds, but with a voice so sweet and gentle. She was Megara Salomi Birdwhistle, daughter of Falco Pilvi Birdwhistle, an Admiral in the Zion Kingdom Navy Fleet.
'My name is Fenrir, what's yours?' Fenrir asked while strechng his hand for a handshake.
The girl chuckled 'I know your name is Fenrir, like who doesn't know. My name is Megara.'
Fenrir gave her a wild grin. 'I guess I am famous now. Who knew a simple wolf like me would impress a girl'
Megara laughed.
Caesar's hair was hanging, and his face was unfazed. He stood up right and faced Jacques. Even though his eyes were covered, Caesar could see the pleasure and excitement dancing in them.
'Wow, I was right. You learnt your mistake from the trials, brother Caesar; always expect the unexpected.'
'What if I hadn't dodged, would I have died?' Caesar asked with annoyance in his voice
Jacques inspected his pen, or a gun in a pen form. 'The bullets are cryo plastos, or what some people call plastics. Meaning even though they get fired at high speed, it doesn't cause any harm, but they heat up fast, Sorry Fenrir.'
Fenrir was still talking to the girl making sure she was alright, but he responded to Jacques apologies 'No problem, just don't shoot inside the rooms, please.'
Jacques nodded and turned to Caesar. 'But even though it won't kill you, it was impressive you were able to dodge it, as it could accelerate fast enough to break the sound barrier immediately it left the gun, so it was impressive.'
Caesar sighed and pulled his hair back. This is a habit of his, always pulling his hair back at random times.
'That's impressive, I know, but not as impressive as when you rained bullets on me during the Trials, we both know how that fight ended up'
A random person called from the room 'Who won the fight again?'
Caesar forgot that people were still listening to their conversation, so he was taken aback by the question. Jacques gave his side smile, and Caesar knew it was over. Jacques knew that the fight was close, and any one of them could have died, but the winner shocked everyone present. Rumors had it that the headmaster intentionally rigged the picking system to set up the Paragon 11 to fight each other. At the end, the entire battle arena collapsed.
Jacques said in a loud voice, 'Caesar, why don't you tell these people about our battle, you will love that, won't you?'
Caesar stared at the crowd and hesitated. The fight, the battle, the struggle, Caesar wanted to forget about all of it. The battle wasn't too long but it felt like eternity for him. Jacques entire face was filled with the will to defeat, even if death was the answer. They both saw death's door, but no one chose to knock.
'Fine, I will tell you the winner of the 5th Contestant battle, between me, Caesar Nova Percival, and my opponent, Jacques Louis Valeur IX'
Caesar's stomach did a frontflip, his lips felt heavy, and Jacques stared down at the floor to hear the answer. Caesar couldn't handle the outcome of the battle, and Jacques couldn't accept it either.
'The winner was....'