Today was the big day; finally, a doctor was coming to examine him and his mana chains to determine his magic class and what he might excel at. Although there were a lot of rumors going around that my father had checked during my birth to see my potential, from what I heard, it was not great. I was optimistic, hoping that it'd change. I stayed cooped up in my room, waiting patiently for my father to come get me. I really did wish that Abby was next to me. She needed relief from this stressful situation. I paced back and forth in the room. It felt like the Manor was falling on top of me, and darkness surrounded my vision until, khunk khunk, a door was tapped softly.
"Come in," I said, Waverly.
My father stood in the doorway. No emotion crossed his face, only a slight movement of his hand to beckon them to follow and a command.
"It is time, let us," he opened the door fully ajar. Oh gods, my stomach churned. I turned to face him and only nodded. The doctor was supposedly down the hallway and in my father's office on the western side of the house, one of the few places he was not allowed to step into. I trodded slowly behind my father, increasingly becoming more wary of my surroundings. The dark, deep hallway is growing increasingly shaded. From the outside, the western side always looked darker. Like the blackness of humanity lived and settled its stake into it. More twists and turns he'd never seen, pictures of people he had never met. These were probably distant relatives or parts of the family he had never met or probably ever will. Then, finally, the door. It was a simple black wooden door. Nothing extravagant about it. It was too simple to be his father's. It didn't fit him; his father had always been flashy about appearance. His Manor was adorned with many jewels and silks of the finest caliber, but this door. This door didn't fit. His father made a sudden stop and turned to him.
"Whatever happens and whatever is said, you will continue to train and fight like all the rest. You will be a Glazvell through and through." He looked down at me with his beady brown eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Yes, sir." He seemed to be pleased by my response.
This moment makes me think back on my life. Especially at the time when I had gotten my first job interview, I was nervous. My ears rang, and my body failed me, but the man interviewing me seemed understanding and spoke to me calmly. My nerves had quelled, and we had an honest chat. His employer hired him the next day, and from then on, he had an excellent job working for a firm, but this time it wasn't the result of an interview. No. It was the check up of his life. One that would decide if he was helpful in the world or not. I walked into the office and followed behind my father as he turned in.
The office was dull, with black curtains and black walls. A desk sat in the middle of the back of the room with cabinets stacked along the walls. A single window, facing the back of the person sitting at the desk, shone through at all times. I looked around the room, confused. Where was that doctor?
"Welcome, Master Glazvell and Master Soren, " a voice said behind him. I turned sharply to face a sullen and deprived looking man. He was tall and seemed quite old with all the wrinkles. He was skinny, wearing a simple white suit, contrasting with his mood and features. The man had black hair and dark brown eyes, which sported small spectacles with chains.
"Thank you, Victor, for meeting us on such short notice. With you being busy, I'm glad you decided to come," my father said blankly.
"Of course, I've been the doctor for all of your children thus far and take great pride in giving their aptitude test, anything for you, Master Glazvell," he said hastily but in a monotone voice.
The doctor turned back to me, his eyes shot daggers into my head, and then down to my wrist.
"May I?" he questioned
I gave him my arm, and he swiftly took it, and hard as well. Dang, why does a doctor have such a firm grip? The hell. He looked at my arm, and soon a dim light entered my body. Magic, I'm guessing. The doctor slowly traced the light in my body, which soon fractured as it hit my mana chains. I could see my chains… did they look small or did everyone look like this?
"Hmmm," he hummed, puzzled.
The light seemed to struggle to reach throughout my body, and god did I feel like a human flashlight right now.
"What seems to be the problem, Victor?" my father stated, worried. "Why is your light so dim in him?"
Victor paused and looked up at my father as he was now crouching down to my level to examine me,
"It seems that his chains are small… but dense, may I use a bit more force?" he questioned
My father only nodded and then looked at me, "Ah, uh, yes."
"Very well, this may hurt a bit," Victor said plainly.
He again put his hand on my wrist, but this time, the light that entered my body burned like lava spewing into my veins, or like a chemical burn eating away at my flesh. Acid pulled in my heart, and my eyes felt bloodshot. I screamed in pain and winced, but stayed planted where I was. The light in my body seemed to glow brighter and brighter until, as swiftly as it started, it stopped. Victor pulled back and stood up, looking at my father.
"Well, what seems to be the diagnosis?" my father asked.
"His Mana Chains are small, yes, but dense. I doubt your son has any ability or even a gift for magic, but he might as well be the best in terms of fortitude, magic, and Aura. If he is, given the correct training, of course."
My father paused then crouched down to my level "so no magical gift but Aura, hmmm I see i guess i was wrong all those years ago" he then thought for a bit longer the silence becoming deafening, "One of a kind you are my son, there isn't anybody who can't use magic in this world, sure some struggle but you have been cut out from learning it. Of course, you could try to be a mage, but that road would be hard and unfilling. Alternatively, you can become a swordsman or an Aura user. Though other Aura's users may be able to use magic, Soren, if you try hard enough, you may make it through."
Could I make it through? Through what? What was the old man talking about now? He got back up and started to chat with Victor. What was so important that even his life might be in danger? What did my father have planned for me?
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I was out in the field again, swinging my sword. My stomach turned and churned. What the fuck does that mean! I swung harder! The air screamed around my sword's edge. I'm in a magical world for the gods' sake! I should be able to use magic or do something! This system was unfair, unjust, and AGH. I swung faster and faster, muscles screamed, my eyes swelled with tears. The emotions spilled out. My teeth ached as I gritted and grinded them. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Being reborn in this world just to be given some stupid advantage to possibly become a swordsman didn't feel right! I wanted to use spells, cast lightning, and command the world around me! I was in control! I thought I was in control. I thought. I stopped swinging the sword. The wood seemed to thank me as the creaking from the air stopped. I dropped down to my knees. Looking at my hands, I hadn't realized how bruised they looked.
How damaged my body had become. How damaged I was. Was I born with this tragedy? Unfair. I fell on my knees, hitting the ground hard, the painful shock of the graveled dirt hitting against my kneecaps. Blood came out of my hands, blisters popped, and ravished. I cried once more, sobbing in the air, my throat felt parched, and my eyes grew weary. Until a hit to the back of my head snapped me out. I swiftly looked back, tears still falling down my face, my teeth gritting, my lip, wondering who it could be. My sister, standing tall, frowning down on me.
"Are you done pathetically groveling, worm?"
She drew closer to me, now kneeling down to my height. Her frown now a small smile. What does she want? I rubbed my head.
"I heard from around the mansion that you got assessed today, and what happened, Soren?" She paused and then said, "I'm sorry."
And for the first time forever, my sister embraced me fully. It shocked me. My sister had always held a slight grudge against me. Ever since I got my name. Over the years, though, she matured. She's grown. My face buried itself in her silver; it reminded me of my mother's hair. I hugged her back harshly and strongly. Letting my pain seep through my actions.
"Why did it have to be me?" I sobbed silently.
"Why not you, Soren, look at me?" she said gently. "Even though your chains are small, it doesn't mean that they aren't powerful; you decide that yourself. Once you give up, you give up your chances for anything. The good news is... hey look at me, the good news is that they are dense, meaininggg" she waited for me to respond.
"My inner power is stronger than my external power in magic formation."
"Correct my little brother, now get up, face me."
She was right, although it still stung. I can't do crazy magic spells, but... I looked at my sword. I could get good with the sword. I got up, wiping the tears away. Standing wobbily with my sword in hand. Still shaken with that terrible news, but to be honest, I felt stronger than ever. God, this child's body feels strong emotions.
"Ready to face me?" my Sister looked at me with a smirk, standing across from me in the training grounds.
"Maybe"
0----------------------------------0--------------------------------------0
I layed awake at night battered from my very eventful day, and my sister beating the crap out of me. My bruises turned to bleeding cuts and minor open wounds. I wish this house had good bandages, but all he had were cut up t-shirts. Abby had tended to his wounds, and his sister had given him some of her ointments. It still hurts like hell. She couldn't at least go a bit easy on me, knowing I was already a battered mess. My bed, I felt the dark black pelts and how soft they were. At least there was one thing his father didn't hold back on: expenses, which were the decor. You know, going back on that and thinking back to his father's office, it still struck me as weird that it was bland. His father was an odd man. A swift hater of anything he didn't like and a fierce lover of the empire, he was very one directional. Well, at least on the outside it seemed. Now seemingly out of nowhere, his father became a mysterious although be it one direction man to know a sparse but sprouting tree with branching roots. My eyes felt heavy, and my mind wavered, tired from the long day. This world was unfair, but balanced in a way. I just wish I had something cool about me, but alas, no. I started to slowly close my eyes, and fell asleep.
I woke up, but this time floating in a dark space. Where the Hell am I? My eyes shook, my brain shook, everything in my body shook. Despair, just like when I died. No NO NO how could I have died. Not again, but then a loud boom crashed in my ears. Blood came out of my ears and my mouth. Spilling out into the void. A crackling laugh snapped my eyes to the right of me. A devilish, crazed, smiling, smoky mass looked at me like something out of a horror movie. I tried to speak, but no words came out; what did come out was blood.
"How have you been loving your life, Soren, or should I say Michael?"
How did this Thing, this demon know my name, my name back when I was... On earth.
" How do I know?" he laughed at my thoughts, my thoughts!
Can you hear me? My eyes felt like they were gonna pop out.
"I can hear every single thing you say, feel, and think," the voice said menacingly
Who are you? What are! I shouted in my head.
"Right! We should get to know each other, since you and I are going to spend quite a lot of time together. I am Aamon, I am your salvation boy, and the one who brought you here, the Grand Demon Marqouis, leading millions of demons in the war on Terra."
Disbelief, I couldn't believe it wasn't real, my thoughts whirled in my head, no conscious thought being completed or fully finished. My head rang harder, and my skull felt like it was bursting. WHY DID YOU BRING ME HERE, I mustered to say in my whirl of thoughts.
"My, aren't you a mess, here."
As soon as those slithering, snakey words exited his mouth, my head stopped hurting, and my eyes relaxed. The blood stopped slowly seeping away from my body and soon made its way back into me. Eldritch it was.
"Now that we can talk, my young boy, the reason why I brought you here is because I need a champion, a person outside of this world. A blank slate, something Wydrir can't see. I need an apostle, and so that is what you are, my apostle."
NO NO, I did not sign up for this demon worshipping crap, I thought, I thought... NO, I don't agree, I don't accept these conditions, it's NOT.
"What Fair! BWHAHA laughable boy, I'm a Demon Marqouis, what makes you think I am fair or right? A light or anything of the sort. Just because I brought you here doesn't mean you have a will or freedom to run amok. No, you are mine and mine alone. You will serve me and will kneel to me, and if you don't. Just think of how easily I can get rid of you." He snarled back at me.
I stopped dead in my tracks. There was nothing I could do, and if I could, what would I even do? He's got me. If he's the one who brought me here, how could I even escape... So, are you a god of some kind? I meekly thought to him.
"A god! Disgusting, don't compare me to those pompous, gross, vile things! I may have the power to bring forth life and make it, but that doesn't mean I am one of those creatures. No, I am simply a Demon of high status, a demon who used to follow the late king scrāzich. Now us demons are sporadically spreaded out amongst the ether. In places where no gods or goddesses would look, or at least dare to."
If you are no god but have the power to bring me here, then why choose me! Why pick me out of the thousands, millions, and billions of people? I'm an average Joe who amounted to nothing compared to a hardened warrior or someone like a Navy SEAL or special operative. Then there's the war with the Demons and humans! Are you the one behind the war, or is this a collective? Do you want to slaughter humans, my fellow family and friends, for your sick game! The evil grin slowly fell to an actual thought-filled expression, then back to its evil grin.
"I have no qualms against you killing your family and friends," he said snakily, "though that is not my goal. The war against the demons was not started by me, but by a close colleague of mine. Although I find his upcoming plan to be frankly stupid, you can't deny that the death and souls that fuel us now are not great. I, however, could not care less what he does, being out front in center in his material form to where he can die is a risky game, but he knows that. No, what I want is something grander. The gods themselves, I WANT THEM DEAD. The power balance has been checked, and I find it's been leaning too much toward them. It's like a new god comes forth every week. Bastards reproducing like animals in an Eden field, and why not someone grander to take," he paused thinking, "You were just in the wrong place, wrong time, you humans say, right on the place where your world held a small tear in its fabric of space. Of course, these tears happen everywhere, but rarely does a dead body happen to stay on one for so long, and so fresh. Although there were hundreds more, a war torn man was not needed, I needed a fresh young boy to tame. Mailable, easy to control, easy to persuade. Even as I tell you this now, I hear no complaints from you, because you know your place." He waited, examining my expression and thoughts, "So, Michael, Soren, are you with me or are you against me?"
Honestly, what worth did I have back then, and how could I resist a being who brought me into this world? How would I survive without something backing me? Every Manga reader knows the demons usually lose in the end, but hopefully not this one. It's crazy that I'll be serving the very thing I hate, evil, but to embrace the evil, maybe just maybe, I'll be made into something new. Someone new, I'm ready for my change, I'm ready to embrace the dark.
... I'm... I'm with you.