Chapter 15: First Day (Pt2)

I took my pen and notepad out. "W-What are you doing?" Aiko questioned me and I smiled. I then started writing stuff down on my notepad. "Aiko. You can take my clothes and room." I wrote down on the notepad.

"What are you saying?!" She shook me, causing me to drop my pen. "Why are you acting like this?! Brother.." She kept shaking me and I finally said "I'm going to fight the Daughter of the king. If I win, then they'll definitely take revenge. If I lose however, I die." I was so sure of what I said.

"Still though. She did say that, but it's not like she could personally pick a fight with you." As I heard this, my expression cheered up. "Yeah. Maybe your right!" I smiled at her.

"Wrong."

The deep voice caused me to flinch.

"This is a school that teaches young aspiring mages to be come Magicians. That being said, you are bound to fight to show your power."

I started sweating bullets.

"We can make duels between each other. Me being the student council president however gives me the perk of 'Force Dueling'."

Is this...School? This shit ain't worth the hype.

"Take it easy sis. You usually ignore people like him, but now.." Her brother spoke out. "Why does Haruto annoy you like this?" The room became silent once more.

"He's weak and he doesn't know his place as trash. His magic is worthless, and his skills are barely above average at most and yet he challenges people like us? Its honestly laughable."

She faked a laugh.

"Once I'm done with him, We'll take over his family and turn them into slaves. That should show him the difference between Commoner and Royals."

My fist slowly started to bawl up. 'Damn it. And I can't even do anything about it. Running away might work. No, that'll just bring shame upon my family and hurt my own pride as well. Maybe I could work it out with them. I could probably avoid my family becoming slaves, and just let myself become a slave to them instead.'

I would do anything, but fight. I'm a normal human who lived in seclusion for most of his life. I never knew the word 'Afraid' since I was always protected by people who were skilled in almost anything, but upon arriving in this world, my whole way of thinking changed. I feel fear now. I'm constantly being shown that I'm not the strongest or smartest any more.

"Shut up Caroline. Your not making him or his family into slaves." Arthur words brought me out of thought. "At first I thought that he was just some commoner that doesn't know his place too. I thought he was less than me in everything, until you said that he would have Injuried me if you didn't step in."

A slight smile appeared on his face. "I...Consider him like a friend or rival now weirdly enough.." He rubbed the back of his head while laughing awkwardly.

"My foolish brother.." She quickly gripped his neck.

"Your brainwashed. Don't ever lower yourself to his level. Is that clear?" Her apathetic look made her seem like the devil. "L-Let go of me!" His eyes turned red and she let go. "I see what your saying brother. But that doesn't change anything. I might make him our personal slave if we're being perfectly honest here.."

Aiko looked over at me and saw me staring out blankly. 'He considers me a friend huh?' I noticed how I was starting out, and started blinking. "Aiko. Let's go. We're through here." I got up and she took my hand. We both then left the room, causing everyone to stare at our backs.

"Awk...Ward.." Shino laughed out while holding his stomach. "What the hell Caroline?! I see what Arthur means by you acting different..." He whipped the small tears in the corner of his eyes. "Commoners have spoke back to you before, but you immediately shut them up in a matter of seconds. This time, your actually speaking back instead of slicing them up.."

Caroline heard this and stared. "Well this commoner is different. He talks back, but knows where to draw the line. He doesn't say too much, but just enough to piss us off." She stared at the place where Haruto was sitting.

"Nah. He pisses 'You' off. Us 6 like the guy, while you just want to ruin him." The 6 nodded, surprising her a bit. Shino then took the mic and coughed. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We will be having a series of test starting in a few minutes to determine you rank. If you don't know about the ranks then let me show you."

The huge screen behind them then change and showed:

Rank 1: Novice(Grey)

Rank 2: Adept(Yellow)

Rank 3: Intermediate(Green)

Rank 4: Advanced(Purple)

Rank 5: Skilled(Orange)

Rank 6: Proficient(Blue)

Rank 7: Elite(Red)

Rank 8: Veteran(Aqua)

Rank 9: Master(Gold)

"After you take your test, you will receive a badge corresponding with what level of Mastery your Magic is at." The students stared in awe. As they were all staring, someone put their hand up. "Speak." Caroline said to him.

"U-Uhm! Is it possible for a student to reach Gold?!" He yelled out at them. "No. Gold is reserved for the Headmaster. The highest rank that a student can get to is elite." The kid heard this and nodded. "And for the person who's going to ask about Veteran, that is for teachers only."

After she said that, some people's face went from questioning to understanding. "H-How would we go up in rank?!" A student shouted out. "Completing Missions and Quest. You could also challenge someone for their rank, but I wouldn't suggest that.."

The kid rapidly nodded and sat back down. "We should like, Hurry up or we'll miss the exams.." Amy blew out a bubble while talking. "Yes, your right." Caroline then coughed. "Students. Go to your assigned homeroom. From there on, your teacher will explain things." She then dropped the mic and the lights came back on.

The students dispersed and the student council walked off the stage.

....

"It should be somewhere around here..."

I was walking down a long hallway with windows to my side. I took Aiko to her class and now I was trying to find mine on this piece of paper that was mailed along with my card.

"Ah! Here it is!" The room was numbered, Room 145. This room was also the farthest away from everyone else. By everyone else, I mean the others students and classes. This room was basically in the corner of the entire school.

'Must be because we're unique..' If I had to randomly guess, I'd say that they're are only around 50 unique individuals. This school had over 2000 students meaning that only 2.5% of students were unique.

That's a reaaly small percent.

'I wonder if they're all in this one class..' I didn't see anymore rooms on this long hallway besides this one. 'Well, I should go in and find out myself huh?' I put on a fake smile and opened the door.

"Ah! Hey Haruto! We meet again!" The teacher was Amy. She seemed like an actual teacher now with her hair in a pony tail and a pair of blue glasses to match.

"Yeah.." I looked all around the room. It was designed exactly like a College classroom. I even saw some familiar faces that I'd rather avoid. "Just pick any seat for now! We'll begin class shortly, so I'd hurry if you don't want to be late!" She cheered out and I nodded.

'Wait. Late? But I'm in the classroom. Is she saying that I'll be late if I don't take a seat before the bell rings or something?' I couldn't really confirm this theory as asking may sound like a dumb question to everyone else. I never had a late bell since I was homeschool. I just wake up, ask them to teach me, get taught, and go back to my room.

I started walking towards some stairs. "Hey, Haruto! Sit next to me!" Arthur said something, but I couldn't quite hear it. I kept walking and got to the top row. I saw an empty seat by the window and sat down in it.

"Hey.." There was this girl with her head down sitting next to me. She had pink hair with black roots. I also think that her hair was short, but I couldn't really tell. "Hey.." I tapped her again and she groaned. "What is it.." She sounded tired.

"I'm Haruto. I just wanted to tell you that I was here, so I wouldn't shock you when you wake up." I lived with women my whole life, but I don't really know how to speak to other women besides them. Ryoko was an exception since we eventually got to know each other.

"Okay?.." She didn't look up at me. After she said that, I heard the sound of snoring once more. 'My table mate is a sleep fanatic huh?..' I sighed out and looked out the window. We had a view of this huge looking rock with people going inside of it. 'That must be the dungeon..' It was black and emitted a purple like aura.

A loud ringing noise then went off and turned off in a mere thought. "Okay class! That was the bell and you know what that means!..." She smiled at us all. "School has now begun!" Everyone in the class besides me, this sleeping girl, Caroline, and...Sai, was it?, Cheered out.

"So, looking around, I do see some new faces..." She looked all around the room while cupping her chin. "Going off that, I think we should all introduce ourselves!" She gave a petite clap while nodding. "Theres about 30 of you, so this might take a while.." She sighed, then shrugged.

"Oh Well!"

She then started walking up to a person on the bottom row. He had no noticable features besides Cross earrings. "You want me to go first?" He pointed at himself and she rapidly nodded. He saw her nod and stood up.

"Kazuya Berkly of the Berkly family. Nice to meet you all." He bowed a bit and people clapped. "Hey...Tell us your magic.." Amy, the short teacher who wore heels to seem tall, pouted.

"Okay, Okay.." He sighed out and put his hand out. "Barrier Magic.." A small, flat, greenish blue circle then hovered over his hand. "I see! As expected from a family who guards the Royal Castle!" She clapped her hands and he sighed.

She then went around, and more people introduced themselves.

"Emotion Magic."

"Gas Magic."

"Memory Magic."

"Music Magic."

People had all types of magic. "Caroline. Would you please tell us about yourself." My ears bucked as she asked that. "Yes." She stood up and the whole class stared at her. "My name is Caroline Cambridge. I am the 1st daughter of the King."

The class clapped at her words. "My magic is..."

I could feel my ears getting bigger and bigger.

"Gravity Magic."

Hm? Gravity magic?! The hype was for nothing!!

"Have you been wondering what I was going to use against you in our fight?" She looked over at me with a smirk. The class then looked at me, causing me to sweat even more. "Gravity magic huh? I expected more from someone of your status."

I felt my whole being cling onto the table. "You didn't expect this huh?.." She walked over to me. She sat on the top floor as well just on the opposite corner of me. "T-This is nothing."

I kept picking at her. I wanted to see just how far she would go against me. "With a mere thought, I could break you like an axe would to a piece of wood."

It wasn't great to hear that, especially since my Axe cuts wood like butter. "Try it! Show me your true colors!" I screamed out at her, and the pink haired girl groaned.

Caroline then stood beside me. She moved her hand down and placed it on the back of my head. "Hey, sis! Calm down!" Arthur turned around in his rolling chair. "Shut up brother. I'll show this bastard why you shouldn't open your mouth in the face of Royalty."

I felt the pressure on my body increase. 'I'm scared, but the pain... The pain doesn't hurt..' I guess that after being shot in the stomach, being hit in the stomach by a dragon, and being sliced in the stomach by a bear..

Dull My Pain.

'This bastard isn't screaming?' Caroline was a bit surprised. "Amy! Why the hell aren't you doing anything?!" Arthur yelled at her and she said "I-I was told to not get onto her or I'll lose my job..."

'L teacher.'

Is what me and Arthur thought. "Scream, boy. I know you want to!" The grip on my head became tighter. It felt like my brain was splitting open. "Sh.." I mumbled out. "What did you say?" I slowly started moving my head back. My nose and eyes were leaking blood, surprising her self a bit.

"Shut up.."

The pressure on my body increased and my vision became red for a moment before turning pitch black.

"Caroline!" Arthur rushed up without thinking. He then slid over next to her and pushed her out the way. "Hey! Wake up man!" He tapped Harutos face, but soon stopped as he wasn't responding.

"Caroline. You went too far this time.." He looked at her. "What? Don't tell me you feel for him?" Seeing how he didn't deny it, she snickered a bit. "My stupid brother has actually been brainwashed. What an idiot." She smiled and started walking away.

"O-Okay class.." Amy forced a smile with her eyes close. "Let's continue the introduction.." She forced out a laugh as well. The class slowly shook their heads, as most stared at the passed out Haruto.

'Poor guy..'

Almost every student thought at the same time.

....

In a small white room with nothing but a long table and chair, you could see a blacked haired boy seemingly unconscious.

There was also a man sitting in the chair. He had on blue goggles and his hair was deep black in color as well. "Oh boy. Your hurting our reputation Young man.." The man, who was actually old, sighed out while shaking his head.

"Oh? Your finaly waking up huh?" As he said that, the black haired boy started twitching. "Hm.." He slowly opened his eyes and the light blinded him, causing him to quickly cover his eyes.

"Where the hell am I?" He questioned out, not expecting an answer. "Your in the nurse office lad. Congratulations on being the first person since school started to come into the nurses office."

He jumped from the voice, as he side eyed him. 'Who is this old man?' Haruto questioned and the old man got up. He then went over to a wall and a counter came out of it. 'What the hell?! Such advanced technology..' Haruto was surprised by what he saw.

"You use dark magic don't you?" The man was digging in a drawer with his back to Haruto. "Yeah.." Haruto didn't question how he knew he had darkness as an element since he announced it himself.

"Okay. Just making sure.." The man then turned around and I saw a rock in his palm. "So am I.." He walked up to me. 'What?!' I was baffled at what he said. "Yeah don't get too surprised. I might not even be here after today.." He sighed out and I made a confused look.

Noticing this, he continued to speak. "Let me explain.." He grabbed the chair and turned it around. He sat down and resteded his arms on the back of the chair. "My name is Jared. I'm 300 years old and I like singing. Anyways, I have connections with this kingdom as me and the old king from some time ago were friends."

He played with the rock in his hand.

"The prince of this country called me here. His name is Arthur I think. Well anyways, he told me about you and I happily accepted. You see boy, I'll teach you, but it comes with a price." He focused intensely on me.

"You have to beat the princess in a fight."

Whelp, you might as well go back old man.

"I ain't going back because I'll teach you a little something that'll make you want me to stay." Teach me something huh? Well it would be nice considering that Ryoko hasn't taught me anything.

"Okay. I'm listening.."

"Good! Now take this."

I sat up a bit and dangled my legs over the edge. I then took the rock and he continued. "Tell me. What do you... See in this rock?" He questioned me. I then looked down at it and moved it around in my hand.

"It has gold in it, and its heavy. That's about it."

"What? Gold? Lemme just.." He slowly took the rock back and placed it in his pocket. Another rock then appeared in his hand, surprising me. "You'll learn about that later."

No. Teach me this instead old man.

He then handed me the new rock and coughed. "Tell me once more. What do you see in this rock."

"Hm.." I examined the rock.

"Nothing really. It's just a normal rock."

The man's lips curled at my answer.

"Haha. Well, your still immature, so that's probably all you do see."

He took the rock back and held it out in his palm. The rock was a perfect circle now that I realized it.

"Darkness is the true essence of things."

As he said that, a clear purple aura surrounded the rock.

"This ability let's you see somethings past essentially. Everything has a bit of darkness in it, not matter how good they may seem."

I nodded at his words. "So? What type of darkness does this ordinary rock have." The aura became ripples as I questioned. "Hm...Try it on your own." The aura faded away and he tossed it to me.

"Darkness Magic. Its said to be the roots of all evil." He motioned his hand towards my face. "Close your eyes, and embrace the darkness!" He screamed at me and I nodded.

I then closed my eyes and sighed. "Remeber to let the darkness flow like a river...hehe..." I heard his voice echo around me.

"Embrace the evil.."

I consider myself to be an okay human being. I donated money to orphanages and even went around the United states to give money to the poor.

Thinking all of this, I couldn't see myself as evil.

"Embrace the evil.."

But I have too. If I want to seek revenge then I have to.

'I have to give into the darkness and grasp the true nature of things..'

My eyes widened and I was in a field. The sun was low and the wind was calmly blowing. 'Where am I?' Everything seemed peaceful. It reminded me of being back in my mother's womb.

'This is your safe heaven?' I heard his voice echo around once more.

'I've never heard of a Dark magic user being in such a calm subconscious..'

A subconscious? How am I here?

'This is fine I guess..' He reappeared next to me, surprising me. 'This all has to go though.' He snapped his fingers, and the wind blew slightly more intense. The grass beneath me then started flying away into nothingness.

'Sit down.' He sat down himself and crossed his legs. (Who does this guy think he is?) I thought to myself. (Oh well. He's teaching me so I guess he can be considered my master.) I sat down and crossed my legs.

'As you can see..' He looked all around. I did as well and saw over a million small marbles. 'Use that darkness of yours and identify the rock.'

I smacked my lips at that. 'What does this have to even do with finding the true nature of something?' He heard this and sighed. 'My student. In order to see how things are perceived, you must first know what your perceiving. Get it?'

No, I don't.

'What if you use too much of your darkness and see the true nature of every living being in the world. What would happen then?'

Oh, I see. So he wants me to find the exact rock to help me get better control. God, I'm an idiot for not realizing sooner.

'Okay. I'm not some prodigy, so we might be here for a while.' I placed my hands on my thighs and closed my eyes.

'Time works differently in here. Take as much of it as you need.' Not heading his words, I continued.

I started by spreading my dark element into the ground. (Damn, this is hard..) It felt like my body was becoming one with this world.

'Hey! Foucs!' I felt a slight hit on my palm.

'If you feel like your becoming one with this place, then your doing it wrong.'

'Then how do I do it then?..' I was confused. From his words, I thought that I was supposed to spread my magic out into the ground, but apparently not.

'Kid. Listen to my words carefully. Did I ever really say what your thinking? You have to foucs!" I retracted my magic and slowly opened my eyes.

'What is your goal here?'

'To find the right rock.'

'Good. Now find it.'

And with those words, I closed my eyes again. (He doesn't want me to spread my magic into the ground. Not only is that wrong, but the fact that I tried using it to identify every single rock here was also wrong. That would be too much for me to handle..)

I stood up, keeping my eyes closed. I then started walking around, crushing the rocks in my steps. (Instead of spreading it in the earth, maybe I should spread it around myself?)

I thought back to everything about the rock. Its size. Its shape. How much it weighed. I thought of everything.

(Yeah, I never need to spread my magic into the ground. This is way more helpful.)

I stopped walking and looked down. My eyes slowly opened and I picked a rock up.

'Congratulations! You figured it out!' He was following me the whole time. 'Why..Did you twist my thoughts like that?' I turned back and stared at him. "Ah! You figured it out huh." His cheerful expression then became cold.

'I wanted to see if you could get out of my loop and you did quite easily. When I placed my hand in front of your face, I changed something in your head to perceive my words differently. I did all of this because I needed to be sure if you were really someone who was chosen by the darkness element.'

A test inside a test inside a test.

(This old man is as confusing as he is smart.) I'm kind of pissed that he tricked me, but I understood what he was doing.

Dark element users are very good at using their elements. He tricked me, wanted me to know that I was being tricked, and solve the problem at the same time. This old man...

'Good. Now that you can kind of control what you actually want to see into, try actually doing it.' The scene changed to that of a dark room. The room had a rusted table in the center with torture devices in the corner.

'Lay down. This isn't going to hurt.' I hesitantly nodded at his words and got onto the rusted table. He then strapped me in and took the rock out my hand. He placed It on my chest and said 'Focus on this rock. Think like this rock. Become the rock.'

I nodded at his weird words and closed my eyes. I channeled all of my magic power into the center of my chest, causing me to cough a bit. 'Good..' His voice was echoing again.

'Now implant your magic into the rock. Not too much, and not to little other wise it'll destroy itself and the lesson will be over with. You don't want that right?'

I didn't want that so I continued concentrating.

I started moving my magic into the rock. The rock then started trembling so I eased down on how much magic output I was giving it.

The rock then went back to being in place. A purple aura was now being emitted though.

'Tall about fast!'

He was surprised with what I was doing.

'Now feel the emotion in the rock. The sound of the rock. The smell of the rock. The taste of the rock. How the rock looks. How the rocks sounds from within.'

I nodded at his words. A purple clear string then attacked itself to my head and my eyes widened. (Are these...The memories of the rock?)

I was seeing a rock being thrown up out of what appears to be a volcano. I saw how it landed in a forest and time passed by. I saw how the rocks eroded itself into pebbles until it became a single being. I felt how sad it was to be alive and how it desperately wanted to die. I smelt its tears, I heard its cries,

I...Felt everything.

'Sad huh?' I slowly opened my eyes.

'This little thing has no influence in the world and yet has feelings like everything does in the world. Its truly remarkable if you ask me.'

I was now in the white room again. "Test it out on random things to level it up. See ya after the fight, that you'd better win!" His body then sunk into the ground as he waved at me.

'Incredible. This is just too cool!'

[New skill unlocked: Psychometry]

I went around the room, looking into all sorts of things. I found out many things which caused me to be even happier.

"With this power, I can truly see, and feel why she did that.." I was talking about the lady who caused me to come to this world.

I stood in the center of the room.

'Its such a basic aability. No attacks, or defense at all. That doesn't make it bad though. It's pretty cool seeing into something's deep, and carnal feelings.'

I started laughing a bit.

'The dark element is truly fun!'

....