Chapter 3 - Fifth Form

'The Last World Guardian'. I was still in disarray as I walked to Mia's room.

"When did I agree to this?" I had asked afterwards.

"Do you recall when you shook my hand?" Rakuma replied.

I remembered the handshake and the purple flames that had inexplicably encircled us. But hadn't that all been in my head? I guess not.

"Well that was when you accepted." Rakuma blatantly avoided eye contact. If all it took to become a World Guardian was to shake the Demon King's hand, then I wouldn't have shook it since I wouldn't be very useful in protecting the Key Stones from InSight anyway, seeing as Blue Demon Eye was my only ability.

InSight. It puzzled me why they wanted complete control over the world. It's like they ripped off some generic comic book plot! Original ideas were hard to come by, since comics, cartoons etc., had been around for just under 4 centuries already! As I continued to traverse the hospital, I thought about how I had got into the situation I was currently in. An invite to go shopping had become a life and death situation. The pace of my day had gone from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye.

Because of Rose's tight schedule, the conversation would have to be continued tomorrow. "There are important matters to discuss, so DON'T be late!" she said.

The glare she had glued to her face convinced me I would suffer a fate worse than death itself if I was. I arrived at Room 101, situated on the top floor of the hospital, as well as it being Mia's room. I gave three knocks on the door.

"Come in." Mia softly replied. I walked into her room. Her room was similar to mine, minus a vase of roses on her bedside table, and 'A LOT' of cards, each one with a teddy bear holding a balloon, the phrase 'Get Better Soon!' written inside each one. I knew instantly they were from her admirers at our middle school. Mia also had a clock placed on her bedside table, which read 4th March 2314, 8:00PM.

"Sam, it's you!" she whispered. Her voice may have been small, but I heard her loud and clear. I walked next to Mia's bed. She was wearing a patients gown, along with a blood-stained bandage wrapped around her head where she had been bleeding. As soon as I got close enough, she opened up her arms and hugged me. As I hugged her back the white polo shirt I had on slowly began soaking up her tears.

"I was so scared!" she mumbled. "I thought I was going to die, I thought you were going to die!"

Her grip tightened on my shirt.

"Please... please... not ever again!" Mia's voice wobbled.

"You need to promise me... promise you won't put yourself in danger again!!"

I knew what had happened to Mia had been traumatising for her, it was blatantly obvious from the look in her eyes, but I also knew that she had the strength to pull through like always. Surprisingly, she brought up her hand to do our handshake. As kids, we would always make our promises by doing a secret handshake we made, and even as teens, we would occasionally do it to make important promises. For Mia, it was her own way of reminiscing the past. Looking up, I realised she was staring straight into my eyes. It was as if she could see into my soul. We both did the handshake.

"I promise."

~~~

As I walked home on the quiet streets of Sector 3, I continued to contemplate the conversation with Rakuma and Rose. Some of the Key Stones, which were the building blocks for the said infinite universes that existed, were now in my possession. The Mind Stone and Power Stone had been stored within me, though I wasn't capable of using them yet since I am not experienced enough to wield the power they hold within them.

I had attempted to see if I could sense their magical presence around me with my Blue Demon Eye, which I'd practiced using at the hospital while waiting to be signed out (which was lengthier than expected), but I couldn't sense their presence at all!

Tomorrow, I was told I was going to be evaluated on whether I should be given the Key Stones that IHO are in possession of, the Time Stone, and possibly Rakuma's Space Stone. Although, when I had asked about Rakuma's stone, Rose gave me a strange look, then promptly directed the conversation to a different topic, which just so happened to be about Rose's tight schedule and how the conversation would need to be continued the following day.

It was blatantly obvious that her guiding the conversation away from the topic meant there was something being hidden. It is the White Robes after all, it's to be expected from them. I guess I could investigate it later on.

As the dim street lights illuminated the area, the distant screeching of tyres from the local race track broke the silence, along with the faint smell of burnt tyres. I continued my journey home. I almost reached my house when I sensed the car that had been tailing me had reappeared. From the moment I had left the hospital, I noticed I was being watched from an electric car that appeared as though from the 21st century. As I was on the bullet train from Sector 13 to 3, I could constantly sense their miniscule presence.

As it turned out, they had actually been using a Hover Craft Car (HCC) to follow me. On the news, it had stated that HCC's were yet to be commercialised, but somehow my stalkers had their hands on one.

My body unconsciously began moving more swiftly in response to the danger I was most indefinitely in. However, the faster I moved, the more I realised it would all be in vain if I couldn't get away from the car completely, which would be a difficult job to accomplish considering my athletic ability wasn't going to match a car's speed.

As the presence of the car grew, my movements slowed down significantly - another unconscious reaction based on my instincts. Suddenly, an intense magic like never before flooded the surrounding area, with the pressure alone bringing me down to my hands and knees. Then all at once, the chilling sensation I had been overcome by disappeared, along with all traces that had been left by the car. Clouds loomed overhead, as if a warning to all that were unfortunate enough to still be travelling. The disappearance of both presences petrified me. Whilst frozen to the spot, I heard the ear-splitting screech of tyres on the tarmac surfaces of the roads, and without warning, I was back in the endless void. There was no longer room for doubt in my mind. InSight had found me.

I quickly put together a hypothesis on how they'd tracked me using the limited amount of information at hand.

Rose never explicitly said that the 'Men in Black' had been captured, but it became clear that they were most likely bailed out by other members of the organisation. The same people may also have been tracking my movements until they could get me alone, which was why I had ended up in the predicament I was in.

Suddenly, a light began to gradually shine above me. The light started flashing. I was returning back to the dark room from the time before. Like I had thought, the seemingly floating lightbulb began to take form, and the single oak chair faded in to view. My legs were weary from the running I had done, so I decided to sit down and rest them.

"It's good to see you again so soon, Sam." A voice spoke to me from the shadows.

It was the Demon King, Rakuma. He floated out of the shadows to join me under the flashing light.

"Hello, Rakuma." I replied back. Although I hadn't known him for long, he was now taking up most of my time.

"It seems you've been abducted." Rakuma spoke unconcernedly.

"How do you know that?" I questioned inquisitively.

"Calm down or my ears will bleed. As it so happens, I can observe you through our connection to each other as the Demon King and the World Guardian."

I guess that made sense. Since I'd made a deal with the devil, quite literally, I was now connected to him through the contract I had made. Perhaps by the magic that had merged upon shaking his hand? A thought crossed my mind.

"Can you tell me how I'm able to talk to you? And what is this place?"

Rakuma thought long and hard about his answer to my questions before he started. "Simply put, this is a room between time and space itself," He began his explanation.

"Let me answer your first question. We're able to talk because both our minds can cross through space itself to arrive here."

"I don't get what you're trying to tell me."

"Basically, what you're seeing isn't my physical body, but an astral projection, and that's the same for you as well." Rakuma said.

"As for your second question, this place we keep meeting in is known as 'The Abyss'. This room was created when time, space, reality and dark matter intersected and overlapped. Time and space moved parallel to each other, while reality and dark matter did the same. When they crossed each other, the hollow space created between these four became known as 'The Abyss'. Only those with the Space Stone can access this place. When I was the owner of the stone, I marked this place down using a rune so I didn't need the stone to get here."

Runes. A magical sign that imbues the users magic into it for a certain purpose. Different rune signs can be used for different tasks, such as teleportation to a marked location (like a checkpoint), removal of curses, the bestowing of curses, and so forth.

As Rakuma finished his explanation, a single phrase stood out like a sore thumb.

"What do you mean 'was the owner'?" I subtly insinuated.

Rakuma quickly averted his eyes, but the damage had been done.

"Looks like I've been caught out," Rakuma said, shrugging his shoulders.

"In short, when I possessed you, the 'Blue Demon Eye' pilfered my skill, which now means you are in control of the Space Stone, as well as the skill you acquired, the 'Demon King Commandments'."

I was now in control of the Demon King's skill!? Along with the other brand new skill that I recently found out about, I've also found out that I've acquired 'The' Demon King's skill! I couldn't believe my luck!

However, during my brief moment of celebration, I failed to notice my own body had become transparent.

Rakuma noticed this inconspicuous change.

"There's not much time before you awaken." Rakuma started.

"Let me give you a brief summary on your newly attained powers."

"First off, the Demon King Commandments is a skill that has been passed down from one Demon King to another, and the skill holds five abilities called forms. They have been named:

First Form - Demon Sword Mephisto

Second Form - Seven Deadly Sins

Third Form - Speed Demon

Fourth Form - Underworld Armour

Fifth Form - Akuma Mask

Rose decided not to extend the conversation and tell you tomorrow, but it seems that it's a bit too late, and as for what I can see through the connection, the tracking chip that should be on you has been removed."

Of course there's a tracking chip on me. It was to be expected from the White Robes, but if there was one thing I wasn't expecting, it was to get kidnapped while supposedly in their custody!

"Right now, all you need to do is use the fifth form, 'Akuma Mask', to escape from InSight's agents," Rakuma began speaking extremely quickly.

"Since you aren't experienced enough to use silent magic-summoning, we're going to have to use an incantation to activate it."

'Incantations' are when people with abilities recite an activation code for their ability. Usually, when a person is born with an ability, the incantation has already been imparted into the persons mind.

'Silent Magic-summoning' is when people who are already highly experienced with their abilities can silently activate them without the need of any incantations. This type of magic-summoning is highly irregular among most heroes and adventurers, because of the difficulty that is sensing magic. To use 'Silent Magic-summoning', the user must be able to sense their own flow of magic, morphing and directing that magic to where it is needed to use the ability.

"Currently, your body can only handle 10% of my demonic power thanks to your physique, which is enough to partially control the magic contained inside the Space Stone." Rakuma took a short pause, then continued.

"I'll send a small amount of magic to interfere with the handcuffs that are around your hands, which should grant you enough time to transport yourself to a new location. The incantation is as follows, 'Fifth Form - Akuma Mask'. After reciting the incantation, the mask should appear in your hands."

Rakuma's tone shifted. "Put the mask on your face, then you must repeat the following phrase to the letter. 'Velox Transitus', which will transport you to your settlement."

Velox Transitus, Latin for 'Quick Transport'. I didn't need to guess the dangers that would come when using Latin as an incantation shortcut.

Through my research as an enjoyer of magic related topics, I came across a German blogger called Beatrix Winterz, who was an enthusiast of magic abilities. From that point on, I would go to her blog to find out all the newest magic trends on the internet, and on one of her blogs was a history of magic.

One of the topics that she discussed was called the 'Latin Substitute', where you could use Latin as a shortcut in some magic abilities. Apparently, Latin was what Lexwell, the founder of magic, used when activating his abilities, making the connection between Latin and magic to be very close. However, the consequences of improper use of Latin could backfire, which is why when Lexwell attempted to utilize the Latin Substitute for the first time and used the incorrect Latin terminology, he lost an eye.

"Are you ready?" Rakuma's astral projection put a hand on my shoulder.

Slowly, I started fading back into consciousness.

"Good luck!" Rakuma said, fading along with my surroundings.

~~~

Eventually, the darkness disappeared completely, replaced with a lapis blue scenery. My skill Blue Demon Eye had been activated due to the surge in my magic, caused by the unconscious separation of my soul from my body. My vision was blurry. My body was slouched down, and my hands had become transfixed by handcuffs with cryptic symbols I couldn't understand on them. Slowly, my vision cleared up, and I realised the symbols were Ancient Runes.

'Ancient Runes' are an old type of magic sign that could imbue larger amounts of magic than modern runes. They were first used by Lexwell in a dungeon raid, where he created them through sheer coincidence when he was drawing a magic circle. Ancient Runes are much more difficult to wield, most low and mid ranked Heroes and Adventurers can't use it. However, a handful of higher ranked Heroes and Adventurers can handle the power of the Ancient Runes.

"Did you here?" A man spoke. "The boss is gonna give a huge bonus for this haul!"

"For this?!" A second man said. "He must be losing his marbles over this kid!"

"I heard this kid is the one who took out Raven's team." A third man commented.

"Raven's team were a bunch of pussy's! Ain't no way there were gonna beat the runt in the first place with a bunch of magicless jackasses on their team!" The second man replied.

"I heard they killed off two of their mates using the Power Stone," A fourth man exclaimed. "And they're going to visit 'The Portae Mortis Est Scriptor'!"

"That's stuff of legends!!" The first man continued. "They say the last words you here is the boss man's voice!"

As I listened to their trauma inducing conversation, a small amount of magic passed through my arm into the cuffs, silently unlocking it. This was my chance.

Cautiously, I peeked around me. I was in a large, comfy HCC that gave off a casual mood, which seemingly clashed with the incongruous atmosphere produced by these men. One of the men was driving the car, with the second sitting in the passengers seat, and there was one man on each side of me, as well as a noticeably strong, sturdy man directly behind me. As I surveyed the car, a small tab popped up next to each one of the five men in the car. It revealed their rank, their class and their abilities.

All the men were Rank Epsilon, Beginner Class with varying goblin abilities, except for the fifth man who was Rank Gamma, Master Hero Class with '???' next to his abilities.

Classes are a measurement of a persons magic power. There are 10 classes, with the final one being the Superhero Class, and those who reach the final class are tested so IHO can identify those who are strong enough to reach the next rank, which gives a general idea of Heroes and Adventurers who are stronger. Once they advance to the next rank, their class is promptly reset to Beginner.

"Fifth Form - Akuma Mask." I muttered discreetly.

Immediately, my skill began reacting to the incantation. A lapis light shone from my hands causing mayhem in the car.

"WHAT THE HELL!!" The first man yelled out frustratingly.

As the men entered a frenzy, the mask took its full form in my hand and I placed it onto my face. Accompanied by an intense magic aura, a tornado encompassed me, creating rings of ancient runes that began to slowly get brighter and brighter. It was as if it was getting ready for the final incantation.

Unexpectedly, the fifth man pinned me down from behind.

In a hoarse voice, the man spoke, but only one word left his mouth when a shrill, piercing sound struck the ears of everyone within the vicinity, fabricating a brief sense of peace amongst the chaos, before the glow of the ancient runes reached its peak.

The sense of peace was short lived as I uttered the final step to the escape plan. "VELOX TRANSITUS!" I announced triumphantly. Instantly, the ancient runes released their power which, with the help of the Space Stone in the mask, was able to tear through space itself, creating a wormhole to an unknown location. I was pulled in.

"GO! NOW!" The screams of the five men became more distant the further I was in the wormhole, becoming mere echoes after a while. I couldn't feel anything in the freezing depths of the exit I was quietly sinking into. I was submerged in the dark depths of the wormhole, which slowly dissipated.

THUD!

I crashed into the concrete floor. Debris and dust flew into the air. The dense concentration of magical power surrounding me formed a crater in the ground. Picking myself up, a tingling sensation covered my right arm completely, followed by the flickering of fire.

FLICK! FLICK!

"What the..." A shocked expression spread across my face. My arm was on fire! My shirt was scorched, becoming rags in only a few seconds. Tattoos with designs similar to that of the demon katana had arisen from my right arm, with sapphire blue flames burning rampant on my arm as well! I tried putting out the flames. While smothering the flames, I saw my reflection in the window of a parked car.

My Blue Demon Eyes was yet to deactivate itself, however, my appearance had been altered in a different manner. My hair was now neon azure in colour, shining brightly with the same styled hair I had before.

I rapidly calmed myself. The flames died down, and the tattoos vanished. My hair returned to it's regular state. In the confusion, I hadn't realised where I had been sent. The three storey mansions, the endless skyscrapers, the 10 metre tall fences, I was in the Heroes Sector, Sector 3. In front of me was the most expensive of them all, with a sheet of gold on the fence that read, 'Daemon Manor'. I was home.

I rang the video doorbell. There was a short pause before I heard my mum's voice.

"Samuel? Samuel is that you! Where have you been? We got a phone call from IHO about you and the trouble you got yourself mixed up in, it's even worse than when you were ransomed. Also let me apologise on behalf of me and your father for not telling you about your ability, and..."

My mum went on to ask a spree of questions without giving me time to answer any of them. It seems my mum was still her usual self despite the insane shopping trip her son had just been on, but I'm glad she was!

"... you should be more careful. It doesn't even matter. As long as you're safe! Ah! You should come in now. Sorry about the questions, I'm sure everyone would like to listen to your zany misadventures inside!"

BZZZT!

The gates opened up. I strolled inside.

BZZZT!

The gates started to steadily close itself.

"I can't wait to go for a nice, long shower!" I exclaimed to myself.

The gates shut behind me, signalling the end of my adventures... for now.

CLICK!