Ch.22

—10 years ago—

(John. Age:6)

"Faster John. You must strike with strength and precision to defeat your foes!" A man stood beside the young boy yelling.

"Uncle Viribus my arms can barely move and I have a terrible headache." The boy pleaded.

"Nonsense, you are to be king and you must learn to be a great warrior. A leader must carry on his people's journey even if it means the end of their own, you should know that I never wanted to be king but I eventually realized it was duty to the people and my family."

"But your not going to die for at least another 500 years!"

The man put a hand on the Johns shoulder. "The sad reality of this world is that even if I want to there's always going to be monsters in this world and not all of them are animals. I took an oath to defend this kingdom from every threat as will you, and when that time comes you will be ready."

Walking in front of John he pointed to the men and women standing guard around them, "these people would give their lives for me as I would for them. You can't rule the world with one hand tied behind your back so make sure those you become friends with are strong and loyal people."

The duo took a walk through the halls of the massive castle eventually stopping at a ledge that overlooked the entire city.

"See this. About 5 billion people live here and they all pledged allegiance to the crown so we must not let them down. Now back to magic training." Turning around the kid groaned as the man just chuckled.

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—Now—

(John age:16)

John walked through the halls admiring the various displays, day dreaming about living in the stories they told wondering if he would ever be able to escape the burden of the crown.

"A crown of thorns is what it is" he mumbled to himself.

"Something wrong?" Ava looked up at him with an expression of worry.

"No I'm fine, just thinking."

'Once I'm finished with this school I'm becoming an adventurer and leaving behind these suffocating walls. Maybe I can get the group to come with me?' He wondered. 'Clay is terrifying, so much power possessed by a nobody! Well I guess he's well on his way to a somebody.' John shook his head knowing that his new friend was the hottest topic in the school.

"Ava what do you think of Clay?" John asked.

"Umm. He's strange like he has no clue what he's doing. When he uses magic it's unrefined power, where as you and I with training are like a river, he's a tsunami. I honestly don't understand anything about him but he seems genuine like he's aware that he's strong without abusing it."

"Hmm."

"Why do you ask?" She questioned.

"Because my uncle has shown interest in him becoming the next blade of the crown." She replied only to be met with a gasp.

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Clay sat there in silence as Darnice went on a rant about how light had no capabilities towards combat and that he wished he had lighting or fire.

"Why."

"Huh?"

"Why must everything be about destruction? You have the power to heal and save the weak so why not?" Clay asked.

"Because that's not what gets by in this world. No one cares about the healers! It's sheer power and strength or wealth. You wouldn't know this of course." He huffed.

"Really? I wouldn't understand what it's like to be nothing, to have nothing? I grew up in a place where magic was foreign concept something outta stories, believe me I know what weakness feels like." Clay replied shocked at the sudden anger he felt. 'Might be a bit homesick.' He thought.

"Sorry emotions got the best of me."

"No it's fine. I should be the one apologizing, I really should have asked you about your past first."

With having turned up his senses slightly everyday Clay could hear the light scuffing of boots in hall with John and Ava's voices muffled through the door.

"Ok class let's begin. First does anyone have any questions from yesterday?" He asked. "Oh and it seems that I forgot to introduce myself I am professor Principium, Xavier Principium but please call me professor P. Today we will begin by going over the different types of reaper starting with the clipper." Pulling out a painting of the creature it was a 4 legged monster with skin a sickly white, it's front limbs were human like appendages ending in a scythe style blade. It's body was reptilian, with scales covering it, a tail ending in a spear blade sat there poised to strike. It's head was horrifying, a visage of pain sat there forever looking on in torment. It looked almost human with distinct eyes that brimmed with hunger and power.

"This is a clipper, the weakest reaper variant. These creature were responsible for 68 percent of civilian casualties due to them drilling a hole through the defends with sheer numbers and entering the cities to run rampant. They did have one key weakness which was the lack of ability to swim, if you take tours around Apollo's shield and

Winter fall you will dozen of rivers each 10 or more meters wide supplied with water mana daily." Looking around the room he asked. "Any questions?"

A girl who's name Clay didn't know raised her hand.

"Why do we need to learn this? If all the portals are closed then what's the point in knowing this?"

"Fantastic question and you see all the portals are closed but not all the undead and reapers have been killed. In the area to the west of the kingdom exists a land called the vastum terram or its common name the wasteland with magic generating structures that cause reapers and undead to pour out. Despite our best attempts we have found no way to disable the magic or found its source with many speculating that a queen still exists deep within a cave system in a slumber." Bringing up another painting he took a second to stare at it.

"And this abomination is a queen."