How I Almost Became a Snack for Shadow Monsters: A Tale of Luck and Soul Flames

…

Shera subsequently continued, "Your parents are… Their name is…"

"Okay, their name is?" Arion asked, urgency and curiosity bubbling within him. "Yes, yes. Go on. Continue!"

She paused for a few seconds, her gaze lingering on the innocence shining in Arion's eyes.

Finally, she decided, "Sorry, Arion. I think it's better if we hold on to it for now. I don't think it'll be good if you know about it sooner. So, how about we create a small goal? If you manage to get it, I'll tell you a little bit about your parents. How's that?"

She reasoned with herself, not wanting Arion to become arrogant or risk disturbing his focused state of mind. Besides, even she didn't know what had happened to his parents. The thought of what they might be facing was something her current state couldn't handle either.

'Better for him to focus on training first, and then for me to strengthen him as much as possible. If those in the council knew about him, they would probably send killers our way.'

"So anyway, it means my parents are amazing people, right?" Arion asked, a hopeful grin spreading across his face.

"You could say so," Shera replied, trying to keep a straight face.

Arion nonchalantly agreed, his mind already racing with thoughts of how incredible his parents must be.

All he cared about was that he had parents, and they were amazing people. That was enough to fill his entire body with positivity, like a balloon ready to pop.

…

The next morning, chaos erupted in the room.

"Holy sh*t, bro! Bro! Wake up!!! Teacher, someone's still alive here!"

A voice shouted, shaking him by the shoulders vigorously as if trying to wake a hibernating bear.

Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Arion suddenly realized, 'Oh dang, I forgot about yesterday.'

The memory of his intense training with Shera flooded back, and he shivered at the thought.

He had never known the lady could be so cruel. It seemed that the training in that mental space had exhausted both his mind and body. As soon as it was over, he crashed into sleep like a log, completely oblivious to the world around him.

Looking up, he found someone he recognized – his roommate, who had been sleeping in the same room.

Just then, a rough, tall-looking man with a bushy beard strode through the door.

Upon seeing the two students, especially the one sitting on the bed – Arion, the academy's former best student – he sighed in relief. The great loss of countless students at the academy had weighed heavily on the hearts of all the teachers and guards. One more person safe was indeed great news.

With great strides and heavy steps, he approached Arion, taking him by the shoulder and lifting him as if he were a feather.

Arion dangled in the air, his feet swinging like a pendulum. He clearly remembered the name of this teacher – the one who had taught him martial arts with great enthusiasm before the ceremony.

"Sir Bertrand!" Arion exclaimed, half-laughing, half-gasping for breath. "I didn't know I signed up for a lifting class!"

Sir Bertrand ignored his funny half-ass joke remark, then inspected Arion closely, moving up and down as if he were a mechanic checking a car for any signs of trouble.

"You okay, boy? How did you survive last night while staying here?" he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

Gulping his saliva like a fish out of water, Arion began to act his part, recalling the elaborate plan he had concocted with Shera about the previous night's attacks.

"Ah, sir. I'm okay. It's just that I was lucky to hide last night. Though, it wasn't long before one of those creatures almost clawed me to death," he said, his expression shifting from dread to a theatrical shock and awe that would make any actor proud.

"You might not know this, sir," Arion continued, his voice rising with excitement, "but it was an incredible sight! Just before those claws were inches away from my face, those creatures suddenly started screaming in pain, and then – poof! – they burned to death! I don't know what happened, sir, but it was really close. I almost died! Lucky for me, something happened that turned all those creatures into ash. Gone by the wind. Maybe it was some great Weaver doing that."

Hearing Arion's explanation, Sir Bertrand sighed in relief, his shoulders relaxing as if a weight had been lifted.

"Ah, I see. So, you also witnessed what happened that night. You're a lucky boy. I don't know who managed to cast such a wide-range spell without any fluctuation. Not even the headmaster felt anything at all. Maybe it was a Master Weaver who just happened to be around."

The sole student standing nearby, the one who had shouted to inform the teacher about Arion and had also woken him up, chimed in fervently, "Yes, sir! I also saw it! All those shadowy creatures suddenly burned out of nowhere and turned to ash! It was really cool!"

His tone was filled with amazement and adoration – as if he were describing a rock concert rather than a near-death experience.

Arion secretly smiled at that, trying to suppress a chuckle.

Shera had already told him how she used the pure power of Soul Flame attached to the seal. That energy had hidden her in the necklace and then burned all the Void Spawns and Void Shadows in his vicinity. It had also healed all his wounds and basically, revived him on the spot from what should have been certain death.

'Guess that means she saved the people in the male dorms too,' Arion thought, recalling Shera's explanation about how the power spread wide, estimated to cover a quarter of the school with him as the center. It must have been quite a sight. Pity that when he woke up, the lights were already gone for good. Still, he could feel the lingering warmth from that energy, healing him fully.

On another note, it was incredibly lucky that the purest form of that white energy couldn't be seen by the naked eye – except by those who ignited the Soul Flame or by divine beings who held part of the Power of Creation, such as Celestials, Primordials, and the guardians of each realm known as Primevals.

Of course, there was another rare case, as scarce as hen's teeth, that even for a Celestial like Kyshera, had only happened twice in her entire life history.

Returning to that pure magic power from the Soul Flame, Arion realized that if that energy could be seen or felt by Weavers, without him even managing to prepare himself or light his Soul Flame, the man who seemed to be the leader of those Chosen Serpents would have surely barged in, killing him on the spot.

After questioning Arion about some other things regarding what he might have seen – perhaps something different from what the others had witnessed last night – and ensuring he was truly fine, Sir Bertrand subsequently took him to be grouped with the rest of the surviving students.

As they walked, Arion couldn't help but think that if he survived this, he might just have enough material for a bestselling novel titled "How I Almost Died and Got Saved by a Magical Necklace."

…