Chapter 17: Royal Meeting

"Just as rude as I've been informed." The king sneered at the awful presentation.

"Oh don't be so dismissive. I am only mimicking human culture, your snobbiness."

"Do not anger me boy. I hold the power to have you executed with treason."

"Huh?" the Sinborn questioned. "I am not a citizen of Germania."

"So," Harbinger began to say, "You are illegally residing in this country? Outrageous!"

"For a king…you're really clueless about internal affairs." Barbados laughed at the poor excuse of a leader he was presented with. "I will present you with the same option I gave to your silly silver knights in shining armour. You wish to meet me? Come find me then." Before the king could respond, Barbados hung up and blocked the number.

He always strives to get the last laugh. Not for the fulfilment of a purpose but just to be petty, which itself is ironic as it fills him with excitement. Barbados held the phone tight as he imagined the king's angered face. The feelings of ecstasy shivered through his body, making him clench his superior body tightly as his wings shook and rattled with euphoria. He had to pierce his leg with a rapier to stop the hysteric shaking.

"That was a new feeling." he thought as he clenched the blade handle, imagining the momentary madness that coursed through his veins.

He removed the blade and clenched a mana crystal in his hand. Although he challenged the king without worry in the moment, he doubted his ability to win if many foes attacked him at once. This was especially if they used mana.

"Better to be prepared for the worst than unprepared for good fortune." Barbados consumed the medium sized crystal; a familiar feeling overcoming his body and concentrating it inside the growing mass replacing his heart. The pain this time seemed to have dulled too, becoming bearable and mind-clearing. He finished and was about to pretend to sleep, but a knock on his door captivated his attention. "Coming."

It was Erven and Ben.

"Barbados," started the clearly shaken Ben, "Will you join us for a walk? There's a matter we need to discuss."

"Yeah sure." Barbados replied while placing a towel over the mana crystals on his desk. "Where will we be going?"

"The basement of the academy." replied Erven.

"Interesting. What should we expect to see?"

"Misery." replied Erven in a serious tone. They walked into the main academy building and walked behind the main stairs. Ben wiped his hand over the floor to reveal a solid metallic trapdoor that was camouflaged to look like marble.

"Barbados, would you please lend me your hand?" asked Ben.

"Certainly." the Sinborn said. The two placed their hands on the cold surface.

"Give authority to personnel. Now, could you prick your finger to let a drop of blood fall on that circular pattern." Barbados did so, and the dormant door lit up. It glowed red then blue before losing the spark of life.

"I love modern technology. It is eccentric for the sake of it." he joked.

"I do forget that you are an ancient being." laughed Erven as Ben drew a strange symbol using Barbados's blood.

"There we go. You should now be able to access the basement if you need to." The door opened and Erven went ahead, conjuring a flame from his fingers. Barbados took out his flame lantern only to have it crumble into dust.

"Fuck!" he yelled in anger as his precious artefact broke in his hands. He resorted to summoning a simple lighter he had in his pocket.

"Is everything alright?" asked Ben worried as Erven continued to walk down the spiralling stairs

"It's fine. Just an inconvenience. Every artefact I have ever made keeps getting destroyed. Woah…" he said as he got distracted by a large mural covering the walls, painting a history textbooks didn't cover.

"This isn't even the most impressive. What we wanted to show you is that." Ben pointed at a large silvery capsule lined with golden edges and covered in rusting black locks. "You wouldn't happen to kn-"

"I know." Barbados said as the childish wonder had been replaced by anger. The group approached the object that repelled shadows. "It's of Angelic origin. It's a traditional prison they use to store smaller items."

Barbados walked towards the confinement container and placed his hand over the lock. He felt the strange devilish sensation of a demon.

"Let me reword my statement. The prison of Angels locked by Demon powers." He circled around the large item, thinking why such an item would be in the mortal realm and not in Heaven. It was most definitely not on the map that Truif had provided him.

"Would you be able to open it?" asked Erven.

"Yes. The problem is me having to reveal my trump card against Erven for the tutor fight."

"Ben and I could turn around while you work away."

"That would work. Place these over your eyes." he said as he handed them blindfolds. Ben was surprised as his sight was stolen. "They are made from the leather of an ancient beast that feared being looked at."

If Barbados had come prior to obtaining mana, he wouldn't have been able to open the capsule. He held the lock again; the same aggressive aura leaking of the chains and corroding his pristine skin. He forced his mana to enter the lock and imagined it vibrating vigorously. After a second or two the lock popped off with ease. Barbados collected the lock and chain in his personal space for later use. The issue now was opening the metal koffin. He was unaware of the time period it originated from-if it was formed after he was imprisoned then it would be out of his field. He chose a chisel, walked around and picked away at any present cracks.

"No reaction. Oh I forgot. You may remove the blindfolds."

Barbados talked with the group that he would need more time to uncover what was hidden inside. They made their way back to the stairs, until an idea struck him.

"Put the blindfolds back on." he said as he rushed back to the box. He placed his finger on the crack and visualised mana leaving his body, but not losing control of it. Barbados controlled the globule of floating mana. His eyes strained as they adjusted to seeing the glowing mana inside the angelic device. Using the mana as plastencine, he formed an arm to feel what was inside. But a ring from the Erven's phone kept distracting him.

"Hello," Erven said as he rushed up the stairs, "Coming." He hung up his phone. "Ben stay with Barbados for as long as it takes him. Adam has cancelled the lessons for tomorrow."

Before Ben could further question the professor, he had teleported out. Barbados still struggled to identify the object within.

"Change of plans." he thought as he pushed in more mana inside. With the excess material, he formed rapid spikes in a plethora of directions. They pierced through and Barbados was able to call back the mana. His eyes had started bleeding as his nerve cells had been heavily damaged.

"Ben, remove the blindfold and please form a splinter of fire."

"Sure." A fingersnap later and fire breathed. He placed it near the large hole that Barbados formed and shrieked in horror. "WHAT IS THAT?" He once again held the flame close to the hole, and a white pale figure was inside.

"No way." Barbados said as he put his arm inside to feel the corpse. "It's dead."

****

"Dear diary. Today I found the corpse of an Angel hidden away under the academy. Wounds present on the corpse suggest it was attacked with ice and fire." Barbados was shook at the sight. He told Ben that it must have been here since the awakening of mana. What he left out was that it involved the work of the twin Sinborn: Usher the Pessimist and Earl the Optimist. He could tell from the snake tied around the Angel's neck and daisy-chain crown placed on its head. Their power's were similar to his, although Earl and Usher's involved the use of dreams and nightmare. They were able to bring whatever a creature dreamt up to reality. Earl was able to bring the wildest of fantasies to reality, while Usher was able to conjure the nightmares that tore people's minds apart.

"Ha ha ha. First Truif, now the Twins." He would have guessed this to be the work of Truif initially, since the Angel's eyes were missing and were replaced by red pearls, but the snake and flowers made him think of the twins. The problem now was why. Why had they mutilated the sacred corpse of an Angel and how long ago did they do it?

"Hello?" A voice yelled from down below. Barbado stuck his head out of the window to see Jorvik's face.

"Jorvik? Hello young man." Barbados was pleasantly surprised

"Hi," he said as he waved frantically, "You have a visitor! Some guy named Harbinger." Nam smacked him over the head to watch his speech.

"You goof! It's not just some guy. It's the king."

"I can't wait to see how this turns out." the Sinborn said as he made his way down. "Should we see the insanity that is about to ensue?"

"Yes!" replied both students in unison. They walked and arrived in the reception area. They saw Adam having to deal with the anger that emanaged of the king.

"Oh here he is. The immortal of the academy. Barbados Creative. I have other matters to attend to." Adam walked by Barbados and whispered in his ear. "Don't kill him. Put up with him." He left out of the door.

"How may my superior self help you?" Barbados asked as he bowed.

"Your name has reached the Arcanists and they want your head. Please follow me to-" but a single dagger flew past the head of the king. The guards all surrounded his majesty.

"I still am unsure of what these Arcanists are. Could you explain?" The Sinborn made sure to show the multitude of daggers he had on him.

"Ahem." The king coughed, with a hearable tremble in his voice. "The Arcanists are the backbone of this country."

"So what is the Knights Council?" Barbados asked while raising his eyebrow.

"Well uh. The sons of prominent families." the King explained while smiling.

"So the spoiled brats of rich families. Maybe the present isn't as advanced as I had thought. Do continue the explanation."

"The Arcanists are responsible for every advancement this country has been able to produce. It is a mage's dream to become a part of them."

"So why would they want my head?" Barbados asked while laughing, clenching his fist around the handle of a dagger.

"Um, I'm not sure. All they told me is they wish to see you."

"To me, your entire purpose sounds utterly useless. How does the king of a nation not control his own people? I've had enough of this boring meeting." Before Barbados could do anything, a group of people walked through the door.

"It is always such a pleasure to see the architecture of this place!" said one of the 6 people present.

"I agree. The fresh feeling and the regal attire the people wear. Regal attire?"

"Oh no. Why are you here?" The king's face grew with worry.

"Well if it isn't our beloved Harbinger. Where is the body of the person we asked you to bring?" The mortal got up close to the leader of the nation and stared down.

"Listen," Barbados whispered to his students, "Go call Grog or Okia. Tell them I might end up killing someone today." The two troublemakers ran at an incredible speed.

"H-a-r-b-i-n-g-e-r. Stop hiding behind your meat shield. You know they won't protect you." The Erk, a half-Druid half-Human, spoke in an arrogant tone. Barbados realised they were all human or had human lineage. But before he could knock some shame into the Erk, another person walked in wearing sunglasses.

"Well isn't this a welcoming party?" he laughed as he put away his glasses to reveal silver eyes. "The king, the Arcanists 2nD in command and a strange half-breed."

"I'm surprised you were able to figure I was a half-breed." Barbados said as he went to shake the man's hand. "The name is Barbados."

"Azer Norman, Vander Recluse." he said while still smiling. "Let me guess, half-Flesh Hunter and half-Harpy?"

"Nope. Half-Angel and Half-Demon."

"Interesting."

"Stop!" yelled one last person as they arrived at the reception. It was Okia.

"Please leave any fighting spirit for the upcoming events. Barbados take Harbinger and go to-"

"No need," the king interrupted, "I'm leaving. I have matters to attend to."

"That's a lie" Barbados thought as he could see the speed walking King almost dash as he walked by the Arcanists.

"Well then. Welcome Arcanists. We didn't know you would arrive so soon. Please join me in Principal Adam's office."

"No," the Erk interrupted, "I have someone to deal with." those words being directed towards Barbados.

"I'm waiting." the Sinborn teased back.