Chapter 21: Difference

Barbados entered the party fully expecting for a lively atmosphere only to be met with humble people sitting at a desk.

"What kind of party is this?" blurted out the Sinborn.

"Hi Barbados. Care to have a seat?" Adam welcomed him in.

"No. I was fully expecting to dive into alcohol, not listen to politics." While Barbados talked to Adam, the rest of the guests noticed the appearance change. "So what is this presentation about?" he said as he sat down. "Oh? Thank you." Barbados remarked as a woman handed him a bottle of champagne. To the woman's shock, Barbados drank the whole bottle in one swig. "Now that's good stuff."

"Ahem," coughed the main speaker to bring the attention back, "With the opening day being a success, we are happy to say that the media has spread the news of this collaboration throughout the country of Germania and the rest of the continent. Never has there been such interest shown in the 5 Stars Academy and the Arcanist." After naming numerous statistics that Barbados didn't care to remember, he leaned over to the woman who served him the bottle and asked for another.

"Sir," she whispered, "Will your liver be fine?"

"Most certainly. But do bring something with a higher alcohol percentage." The woman left the room in search of the requested item, while Barbados refocused on the presentation.

"Chloutarg has been selected as a candidate to demonstrate the soul technology. He is still unaware of this but I assure you he will definitely be happy to try it." The male giving the speech irritated Barbados for the lack of sincerity in his voice, and the mention of his student's name ticked him in the wrong way. Grog saw Barbados try to raise his hand, to which he responded by trying to manifest dense air to pull his hand down. Barbados easily overpowered the air and terror crawled on Grog's face; his face growing weary and going pale. "Yes gentleman with a glowing ornament on their head."

"Will this be the very first test done? Specifically on a half-breed of Orc and Human." Before the spokesperson could speak, Barbados interrupted again. "Do not attack my appearance." he said in a stern voice with his tail cracking like a whip.

"Ah sorry," the man said, "And yes. This will be the very first test done on Durs. But many other races have tested the device and shown no significant side effects."

"Agh I don't like that answer." laughed out loud Barbados. "And does this device have a name?"

"Yes! It is called an 'Aster', from its resemblance to the flower of the same name." It was a chrome flower with a short stem, protruded by delicate spikes.

"The Greek word for star." thought Barbados as the speaker formed a stone replica.

"The soul has been brought up through history and seen as an intangible substance. Which it is. However, there have been some materials that have had an effect. One such material is an iron alloy found in icy mountains in the land of Theorem." Nerman Anchor, a Harpy in charge of teaching Geography, raised her hand. "Yes?"

"How have you been acquiring the metal? From what I know, the dwarves occupying the mountains can be very territorial."

"Simple. We offered to establish a railway underground to establish a more reliable trade route, which they agreed to."

"Does that iron have a dark blue colour after it's been refined?" asked Barbados.

"Precisely. I assume you know a lot more about it due to your blacksmith origin." Silence. The spokesperson had made a mistake. Barbados snapped the metal spoon with two fingers and unleashed a deathly stare upon the man.

"How do you know about that?" he spoke in a raspy voice. "Only a certain few are aware of that." Sweat pooled on the man's face.

Barbados got up from his seat, holding the bottle of alcohol in his hand, and approached the quivering man who so foolishly let out a secret.

"Agh, ugh. W-we have a network in charge of monitoring people of interest. Aha yes that's it."

"Do you not believe in a common principle of privacy?" The thorns of his wings slowly enlarged and his tail grew pointier. His halo glowed redder and redder with intensity, which it could handle. It shattered in 3 uneven pieces and Barbados collapsed to one knee. "This has to be a funny joke." he said as he laughed. "So this is what death feels like, huh." The Sinborn's body gave out and swayed to one side. Okia jumped from her seat and used the shadows as a cushion. Confusion erupted as the immortal had been felled.

Barbados awoke in a strange place coloured in monotonous grey. White sparkles on the marbled floor and black walls created contrast in the bland environment.

"So much for immortality." mumbled Barbados as he got up from the pile of dirt lying beneath him. There was a constant ticking sound coming from above him. A clock missing its numbers with a black and white eyes stared down upon him, its seconds hand slowly ticking away. A strange liquid dripped from the cat-like iris that smelled like rotten cabbage. Barbados touched his back and noticed his wings were missing. "At least its comfortable here." He walked towards the only door insight and blindly stepped out into the unknown. Something had triggered and Barbados witnessed his quick death. A creature residing outside the only route out had easily broken through his body.

"Shit." he said to himself. "This isn't my body, but my soul. I don't have my resilience and wonderous body." He threw out a handful of dirt and witnessed as a thin arm-like appeandage struck onto the ground. "I knew I wasn't going to heaven but really? I'm stuck in this place?" As the arm slowly retrieved upwards, he dashed forwards. Once again he died to another hand. Barbados had a peek at the creature that attacked him and saw the body of an insect. There was also a different sound outside the door, an ear piercing sound formed from the conglomoration of thousands of bugs. "A creature resembling a locust formed from millions of them. How intriguing and grotesque." Barbados prepared two handfuls of dirt and ran, baiting both the attacks and ran forwards into safety. He was douzed in a different liquid that had a vibrant purple colour.

There were moving platforms comprising the room. Althought it looked simple, Barbados found out about the hidden traps the hard way. Multiple times he was sliced in half, pierced with many holes and crushed by the hands of an opaque creature, a slime. This filled Barbados with a depressing sense of joy to overshadow his immense hatred for his inferiority. He cursed out the slime, fully knowing that it had no conscience. Barbados timed his jump and lached onto a floating brick, dodging the creature and climbing atop a moving platform that rose into the air. He nearly perished after a hidden attack of blades barely missed him by an inch. The platform ascended into the cat eye and he phased through into a cofined room with a golden door. He walked towards the door but struggled to open it.

"Please don't be another challenge course." he praid. With a mighty push, he was pusged by a draft into a white room.

"Name?" said the only other being but himslef in the room.