~ Self dependency is grueling - 1 ~

Days passed uneventfully as the competition schedule neared, the excited buzz in the air was filled with eagerness and anticipation as the students talked about the best candidates up to date. Deciding upon a winner was difficult, but nonetheless it was a tasteful gamble.

Sora huffed in his mind, dragging his feet to cross over the field and enter the back valley of their 1st block, for a long night of practice. At first he had been excited as well, even anxious for himself, yet as the time passed, everything related to the competition made him annoyed. Not that he hated the talks, but rather he was getting nervous enough to feel the seriousness of the situation.

He did not let anyone know what he was thinking, just smiled at them when they poked him too much regarding the competition day, they had expectations from him, but he himself had none, because as time passed, he started to really give himself a thought. He had such a useless master, and even his friends weren't enchanters, so who would teach him any skills? He had tried learning himself, but he ended up decorating his arsenal with school day tricks and amateur techniques. If he failed, then not only was his name going to be trampled, even his dignity would take a solid hit.

At the beginning he thought he could simply try his best and show what an enchanter could do, since he was still new to Silver Sect, yet after some much given thought, he realized his own shortcomings, he might be strong and skilled with his mantras, but spell casting alone wouldn't do the trick, and not even a set of metal claws would be feasible in the battle field. He did had a last moment resort where he could enhance his own power for a short duration of time, that was how he got into the sect when they were holding the competition for entry, but other than that, he needed another powerful set to support himself if he faced any dangerous enemy.

He had tried asking that master of his to teach him a few more skills, yet his master just vaguely side stepped the question and told him that the power of hidden blood was the best skill one would have. He had questioned him if whether something so dangerous could be used in a sect competition, to which his master asked him to not question his teachings, and that, the power of hidden blood wasn't as dangerous and taboo to use as was rumored.

"I heard Jeha isn't participating in the competition," Sora heard someone say in the crowd which was gathered at the entry of the back valley, all of them snickering and gossiping. The natural foliage of trees and shrubs surrounding their little meeting arrangement, the canopied sittings beautifully shading them.

"Wasn't someone saying that he was asked not to?"

"Yes, yes, his power is comparatively more than us day scholars combined, so he had to take back his name."

"D-Day scholars combined? Is he that powerful??"

"He is a demon, they are always overpowered."

"I am jealous, why do those creatures have so much in their core, if I go and become someone like them, I will become powerful as well?"

Obviously it was a joke, because everyone knew, that a day scholar couldn't become an evening scholar even if they wanted to, because the genes couldn't be changed and a dark energy core was difficult to maintain, so until the physical body was strong enough, it was not easy to have access to a dark core energy. Deviation from light to dark or from dark to light was unethical and unnatural, it couldn't exist.

"Well until you become their slave, you are doomed to walk the path of righteousness. Hahaha..."

A younger boy snickered, "I really can't believe he said that."

"But what he said is true. I myself would want to be one."

"Really?" someone asked impressed, "even if you want to become their slave, you need qualifications, you cannot just easily enter their turf."

"...yeah, I would suggest you chose the long term plan, not the short one if you find one family."

"Becoming a slave is difficult..."

Sora ignored them as he passed by, their talk reclining to whispers as they tried to not get overheard by their president, the eyes watching his frame until he left their sight.

Sora wasn't easily disturbed, but the thought of becoming a slave made him green. He believed that such trend was like selling oneself, selling at a price of freedom and dignity. Because in the end a slave was just that, a slave. That is why he always found himself shivering in disgust whenever he heard this term.

It was very surprising that even becoming a slave had a field of its own. It was a natural business which happened in broad daylight. Where people signed up blood contracts with their masters and set themselves in a trap.

Of course the general view was that 'becoming a slave was a matter of success and pride', 'being a slave made you rich if your chosen master was rich themselves', 'being a slave was difficult now-a-days since the population of the light cored humans was more than those of the dark cored creatures, so only the best of the light cores could form the contract.'

Sora did not understand how selling oneself was considered a matter of pride, or how the money would taste like with your freedom snatched.

Even if you would receive more benefits than a regular worker, the whole issue was too demeaning.

It was not as if Sora hated the trend to its core, but that it made him feel trapped whenever he imagined himself as a slave. The slaves weren't asked to bed their master, or become their weapon, but every opportunity presented varied. Some masters were looking for a worker, a secretary or some were looking for a healing type staff.

So it wasn't devaluing the light cored folks, but Sora still couldn't help but feel helpless when he imagined himself as one.

"I would become self-dependent," he thought, pursing his lips as he treaded slowly towards his boulder for practice.

He had already started to store some amount in his bank account, and later when he would land a profession, he would try to buy property under his name. Start up a small business maybe and marry a beautiful girl who would understand his reasoning.

His current field was related to usage of chants and mantras, so he was eager to land in some profession which valued enchanters. And mostly they were based on healing, armory and weapon assembly factories.

After his parents died, he was left to suffer various setbacks, miserable and lonely as his days passed in difficulty. But now that he had succeeded in entering the Silver Sect, he finally had some hope for himself. And discarding such hope just because he had sad luck would mean he had given up, and that was just not Sora's charm. He was as prideful as a dragon.

~