40 Vienice Aramon

_Vienice Aramon_

Classes went on teaching him all about the supernatural world he had not known he lived in. In all honesty this place was confusing. The people here took great pride in what they taught and learned, but they were serious about keeping many things secret within their organization and outside of it. No one in the real world knew of this place's existence and many did not know the existence of magic or any of these supernatural things.

He did not know why they wanted so badly to keep these things secret as no one wanted to stop and explain things to him thoroughly, so he made little effort to ask and more effort to observe. From what the boy had gathered these people searched for others with abilities and coached them to join their organization as a place to belong. He did not, however, know how they found all these people with their respective abilities.

Speaking of abilities, there were specific classes created for the students that would help them practice these powers. Vienice was rarely allowed to attend these classes and when he did nothing quite interesting happened. He did not go berserk like he had in the dungeon, and they did not kill him to see how long it would take to come back, though he had noticed some instructors whispering about it. What was worthy to note was that he had natural abilities that surpassed a normal person. When it came to physical activity, no one matched him unless it was their own ability to do so.

The institute had a boy who could lift and destroy trees and boulders like they were made out of paper. He had strength unmatched by everyone and it was safe to say that he was the strongest physically here. Vienice was second in line, not strong enough to crush boulders but indeed strong enough to rip a man's head off. And when it came to running he was fast too. The institute used to have a girl who was faster than the wind, she could run twenty meters in the blink of an eye. Apparently she had died, but no one told Vienice how that had come to be. All he knew now was that his endurance and speed were unmatched here.

His senses seemed to be far sharper than those around him too, but he had not told anyone this. He did not know why he hadn't. It wasn't like he had anything to hide so he did not know, but he just simply did not mention it. When people whispered across the room he could hear what it was they were talking about. In fact if he closed his eyes, he could tell how many people were in the room just by the sound of their breathing. His eyesight and sense of smell were strong too. Perhaps this was because two of his other senses were so dull. Had dying messed up his head? Because he could not remember things being this way in the past.

Vienice found that food was more bland and tasteless than it had used to be. If given the option he would choose the thing with the strongest smell to make up for the lack of taste. Not only this but with his lack of pain came the lack of touch sensation at all. Sometimes his pencil would snap in his fingers because he was unaware how hard he had gripped it. Sometimes he would drop things because he had not been holding it tight enough in fear of gripping too hard. It was as if he was unbalanced. Yet he said nothing.

The students of this institute also had combat training. Hand to hand and occasionally weapon and ability combat training. Not many students would willingly spar with him so he found himself mostly watching others and their moves. This was not to say that he never sparred, it was just that most did not fancy being his partner.

There were two notable sparring sessions the boy recalled. Two that he hadn't easily gotten out of. Vienice was smart, so if he wasn't using brute strength against his opponent he was picking out their weaknesses and taking them from there. Those two sessions however were something quite notable to him. Firstly there was a fire manipulator in his ranks. A girl with orange hair and sharp brown eyes. She could manifest fire out of thin air with the will of her mind. Their spar was one of the few that allowed abilities like this. It seemed even the instructors wanted to give him a hard time.

This fight had been fast, and Vienice had found something out about himself that he had not realized before. The boy was usually calm and collected but the sight of the fire this girl whipped around herself had made him unbelievably uncomfortable. His iron cool had broken and for the first time in a long time he had felt real fear. Yet he had still tried to spar with her, only to get burned badly on his hand and leg. It was during that fight that the students around him had finally witnessed something other than a blank uncaring face.

Vienice had ended up on his butt, desperately crawling away from the girl with the fire, his bright red hair a mess and his violet eyes wide. His breathing had been erratic and he had felt as though he was going to pass out. Though he did not remember any words that came out of his mouth, in hearing others talk about him he had heard them recall that he had begged her to get away from him and mumbled things about not wanting to be burned alive again. He supposed it was fitting. After dying three times, he could safely say that there was likely nothing worse than fire, though his memories of his torture were becoming foggy.

The boy did not feel quite so embarrassed from that fight, he did not care what his peers thought of him. The only drawback from this spar however was their worsening behavior towards him. If he was not an outcast before, he certainly was now. And it was something he would have to go on dealing with.

The second notable spar he had did not help this, but it was not quite as demanding as the other. He had been matched up with that boy with the strength from before- the boy who could destroy trees and boulders. He looked to be about Vienice's age at 17... though Vienice looked about 14 himself. The redhead recalled the memory of this less than fondly.

After being assigned the strong boy had walked over to him, not making any shows of the strength that he had. In fact he looked like a regular teen. He did sport some muscle but it was achievable by anyone their age. He was not unbelievably tall or muscular. He was only normal. Passing by him in the streets of a town or village, you would have never known his ability. No one suspected things of him like they did of Vienice with his pale skin and violet eyes.

"Do not get me wrong," The boy had said to him as he approached him for the fight. "I do not like you, red devil. But I do not want to hurt you. If you tap out early before I get serious, it'll save us both the trouble." He had said confidently. He did not seem to be boasting more than he was merely being realistic. Vienice too, knew that he would lose and he planned to play along until he spotted the watchful eye of Archdruid Wymon not far away. Vienice had nothing to prove but he felt something stir in his gut.

When they were told to go, Vienice's critical eyes roamed over the strong boy's body looking for openings. There were many. It seemed this boy relied too much on his brute strength and not enough on the combat training all around him. And though Vienice merely watched more than he got to practice, he was still able to throw a mock punch the boys way, and when he had the others lurch out towards him he was able to drop near the ground and kick the other's leg out from under him. The strong boy grunted in irritation as he quickly pushed himself back up and immediately came in for the attack.

One hit to the face and Vienice would likely black out, and if the strong boy did not hold back Vienice knew he could die even, and it was likely the instructors around him would allow it since he could just come back. His eyes narrowed at his opponent. The boy wasn't burly in the slightest how you would expect someone like him to be. He was not going to be slow, though he was slower than Vienice so that would give the redhead a slight boost. He used his speed to his advantage, barely dodging punches and kicks. He had brought back his own which had landed, and one punch to the other boy's side made him step back and grimace.

Vienice felt fairly confident about this now, glancing up at the archdruid's interested eyes. It was this glance that had the boy dubbing over, his breath knocked from his lungs as the strong boy had punched him straight in the gut. There was that feeling of pain but it yet again meant little to him but an uncomfortable itch. It was still hard to breath so he stumbled back, violet eyes trained on his opponent.

When another punch came his way he failed at dodging it and got a punch straight to his jaw. It threw him back onto the ground and had him spitting out blood. His hand came up to touch it curiously. His jaw was not broken but it was likely sprained. When the strong boy approached him on the ground Vienice threw his legs out and managed to knock the strong boy to the ground once more. It seemed this boy focused his strength from his hips up, though Viencie knew the boy had nastly leg power as well, having seen him kick a ball so far no one was able to go and retrieve it because they could not find it.

Vienice came over to the boy and tried to pin him, only to feel his muscles pull and pop, and his own shoulder dislocated as the strong boy easily pulled from his grip. "You're an idiot if you think you can pin me," the boy grunted, gripping Vienice by the face and prying him away from his body. "Just tap out already!"

The violet eyed boy felt a click in his head. No. No he didn't want to tap out. He wasn't going to. He could- he could kill this boy if he wanted to. He could rip him up and- a smashing punch came to his head, and he heard a large crack in his ears. Hot blood came pouring from a now broken nose. He had to breath through his mouth now, his nasal cavity completely ruined. He had not noticed his fingers digging into the others skin causing the strong boy's blood to spill.

His eyes fixated on the red that flowed down, his grip on the other never wavering. "What are you? Don't you feel any pain at all?!" The strong boy told him, rearing his fist back again. "I might kill you if I punch you again, either tap or I'll bash your skull in!"

Vienice's wide violet eyes met the strong boy's green ones. There was not fear in these eyes, but a wild animalistic feeling that was rushing over him. The strong boy hesitated at this as Vienice started to writhe in his grasp wildly, yanking his arm violently in the strong boy's grasp. Taken aback the strong boy gripped him tighter, and Vienice only pulled against his grip more as he reached wildly at the strong boy's face, digging his fingernails into the boy's soft flesh. The boy made a noise of surprise and increased his grip on Vienice's arm until there was a snapping noise.

He let go then only to rip the boys arm from his face and throw the kid away from himself. Vienice hit the ground and rolled, before easily pushing himself up onto his feet. There was blood pouring from his nose and mouth and even his arm as the bone that was shattered poked through a couple parts of his skin. He felt the skin on his face crack but he could not see the black that shone through those cracks, nor could he see his shining violet eyes. There was something obviously inhuman about him that those watching could clearly see.

The strong boy looked on in horror. "What in the god's name are you?" but Vienice hardly registered the words, he wanted to kill this boy now. Not out of any anger or hatred but only on instinct he wanted to take his life. He had walked towards the strong boy only for the whole scene to immediately go dark.

There behind him stood Archdruid Wymon with his fingers up to the back of Vienice's head. Blood poured out of a hole now newly appeared on the boy's forehead. His eyes rolled back into his head as he fell firstly to his knees and then to his face, dead on the ground.

That's what Vienice had heard at least, he did not remember the later half of that fight between the two. But it seemed Wymon, better than anyone, knew what Vienice was capable of. Vienice still wasn't sure what the man's powers were but it seemed that they were quick and quiet. Vienice hadn't felt a thing.

The boy recalled waking up in his bed a few days later, his blood cleaned up and in a change of uniform. His arm was completely healed- in fact everything was completely healed save for a new scar on his forehead. As he now watched from the sidelines and his peers sparred with one another, his fingers brushed over the fresh scar. He wondered if this too was like the scar on his neck.

The scar that lined his entire throat was left from his first death. He remembered the incredible flash of pain as his head had been cut from his body by the large axe. All his other scars from childhood were gone now, having disappeared after he had come back from being burned alive. This scar on his forehead... he had died from it so he wondered if that was why it was still there. Even the wounds on his arm from the shattered bone poking through were now completely gone without a trace. It seemed odd that these wounds were gone though, as after his head had been reattached he had still had his scars, even after the torture he had still had his scars. Was his healing abilities growing stronger? He wasn't sure what to think.

His hand fell from his forehead, letting his hair fall back down to cover it. Nothing came without a price, he thought. And a foreboding feeling fell over him at that very thought. The more he died... there was a price to those deaths. He wondered if it was the death of those around him, or if it was a deeper more personal price. He remembered the dread he had felt before he had been burned alive. He somehow knew he would not be the same afterwards... but now he was not so sure.

Had he changed? What was different besides where he was and what he was doing? He didn't know for sure... no he didn't know at all. Vienice was completely clueless on the matter. He sighed now and looked up from the ground, eyes traveling over his sparring classmates up into the vast branches of the tree he was sitting under.

No one bothered to assign him a sparring partner today, nor did any student want to attempt to fight with him. Were they scared? Maybe disgusted with him. Perhaps both. And it was not too far off the mark, even Vienice was disgusted with himself if not a little scared too. Not even he knew what he was.

The redhead hadn't known how long he had sat thinking until the instructor called today's sparring to a close. Now it was time to go back and learn more indoors. He stood without a word and started back with his class, being all the way in the back as to not draw unwanted attention to himself. It was things like this that were normal to him. As a child no one liked him, it was the same as it was now. The other children picked on him, and the adults scolded him and reprimanded him for the smallest of things. As a young boy it had upset him deeply. All he wanted was to be like the other children, to be loved by his parents like the other children. But it was not so.

He had spent that early youth miserable and quiet, and now he spent the remainder of his youth quiet yet still. Perhaps he had become numb to it, or maybe he truly did not care anymore, but he no longer felt that same misery. He no longer felt much sadness, nor did he ever feel happy. His world simply seemed grey and all he wanted was to get by. And he was doing just that. He had no hope for things to get better, but adversely he did not hold any scorn for the way things were now. In his mind, he simply existed.

"Vienice," a familiar voice called to him. Wymon.

The violet eyed boy stopped and turned to the archdruid without a word, only a blank stare that was void of expression or emotion. He wondered to himself if he was in trouble, as he had not been scolded or reprimanded for his actions from the sparring match with the strong boy. In fact, no one had said a word to him. Not to say that people hadn't been whispering about it to each other.

"Come with me." He commanded lightly, and Vienice followed suit, wordlessly.

They walked one of the many paths on the manor, the forestry around them making for beautiful scenery, though the boy couldn't have been less interested in it. The two were silent for the longest time, nothing but the sound of crunching rocks and twigs under their feet and the birds in the trees.

After some distance Wymon finally spoke up. "Do you like class here?"

Vienice was silent for a moment, curious where this conversation was going to go. He was a good judge of people, at least he thought he was. He knew the archdruid enough to know that most things he approached Vienice about lead to something completely different. The archdruid was a shifty man.

"It's alright," he said simply.

"Have you learned anything?" Wymon asked him.

"Yes," was all vienice answered with a single nod. He did not care for talking to Wymon about such things, especially since he knew the man had no real interest in these things.

"I am interested you know," Wymon piped up after a moment.

Vienice was quiet for a while longer before he chose to respond. "I did not take you for someone to care about those trivial things,"

The archdruid raised a brow. "You expect so little from me," he said with a sigh. "Perhaps I was not so interested, but I am now." He said with a sly smile gracing his thin lips. "You are new here, I expect not all is well and easy for you,"

"I do not know what to tell you. My education prior was limited, I find some subjects hard to follow, my peers and instructors do not like me, it is awfully similar to how I was living before."

Wymon hummed. "Before. You mean how you were living before you took out your entire hometown?"

Vienice was quiet and that was all it took for Wymon to know he was on the dot with that one. "So things have always been a challenge for you?"

"You could say that," the redhead said with a slight shrug.

"You were mistreated for a long time, anyone would be angry. Is this why you killed them?"

"If I was angry then, I no longer remember. I am not angry now," Vienice offered.

"Then why did you kill them?"

Vienice locked eyes with Wymon now, his face still blank, as well as his emotions. It used to upset him, thinking about what he had done, and of course it didn't make him happy nor did he feel any pride in it, but now it was little more than a fact of the past. "I don't know," he answered at last. "I don't even remember doing it."

"How do you know it was you then?" The archdruid chose to ask now.

"I don't, but I don't know anyone else who could have done such a thing,"

"You are a curious creature," Wymon said now, interest showing on his features. "But it seems you are sloppy, both in class and in your sparring."

Vienice looked away from the older man now and back out to the scenery as they walked. He said nothing on the others comment. He already knew he wasn't the best at these things.

"I took notice of your fear of fire,"

"What about it?" The redhead asked in response. He didn't care for feeling embarrassed or ashamed, though he would have rather it never happened.

"That is something you'll need to overcome once you go after our target. He has the capabilities to use nearly any magic he wants. If he learns fire then you will be useless. What is the use of an undying member of our community if he fails his job because of one little set back?" Wymon told him.

Vienice's brow raised, now this was the Wymon he had been expecting. Always with the alternative motives, this one. Still he said nothing.

"The boy I need you to kill, grows stronger by the day, thus harder to dispose of. If we wait or take too long then the boy may harm others and become a bigger issue. We cannot have this happen."

"Then what is it you want to do?" Vienice asked him bluntly. Wymon would not be talking about this unless the man wanted something from him.

"You are not proficient enough in your classes, by our typical standards, to do field work. However we are running out of time to stop calamity from happening. I need you out there hunting that boy as soon as possible so I will be excusing you from your classes. You will be heading off with two veterans of mine to hunt and take him down."

Vienice was not surprised in the least bit by this news, leave it to the archdruid to come at him with another command that took commitment. "Alright," was all he said, and Wymon seemed pleased. Vienice was not naive, he knew he was playing right into the archdruid's hands. The violet eyed boy was being the obedient soldier this man wanted, and without any struggle.

Vienice was not inclined to help this man, he had no reason to even stick around, yet he found himself doing what he was told. This thought opened up a realization for himself now. Vienice hadn't the slightest bit of knowledge on what to do for himself. He had nothing, no one. At least here he had some sort of purpose, so here he would stay.

"Why are others coming with me. Won't they just die?"

"They might, and it is likely they actually would under normal circumstances. Our last man was killed and it seemed to be by some sort of explosion of his head. It has been some time now, so who knows what the boy can do at this point. But this is where you come in. You will take the brunt. The two I will send with you will likely stay behind once you encounter the target. Their purpose is to both help you track him down, and capacitate him if it is safe for them to do so. They will also be able to provide you with useful knowledge if you need it."

"I see," was all vienice said in response.

"You leave tomorrow, I will have what you need packed for you, as for now just attend class and I will have someone gather you in the morning," he instructed.

Vienice nodded and made his way back to class without a word.