Drazonoth, The Walking Calamity

Log Date - Saint Dragon Year 200 - New Year Festival

Stormspire City - Arcadium Channeling Academy

08:16 PM - 30 minutes past sunset

The city lights were still glowing, and the majority of its population was loudly laughing, cheering, and singing despite the late hour and the cold weather.

The scent of meat and barbecue lingered wherever you went, and the various fireworks coloring the sky had been exploding for 30 minutes. A faint smell of gunpowder was starting to build up.

"A spatial distortion?! So you're saying Drazonoth's summoning ritual is being conducted here? That's way too stupid."

A black-haired boy, who appeared no older than 16, was talking into a circular piece of glowing metal.

He completely stood out in his black jersey, which contrasted sharply with the clothing colors of the rest of the tight crowd.

He was standing smack dab in the middle of Arcadium Channeling Academy's grounds, whose students wore white school uniforms.

The students were running around left and right. Some were even flying or jumping high above the tall, fancy academy buildings at superhuman speeds.

The young, passionate students couldn't contain their energy—this kind of event only happened once every hundred years, after all.

"Heh! Hiding in plain sight! They thought I wouldn't notice?" an adult man's voice came out of the strange metal piece.

"If Drazonoth really shows up in the middle of the academy, forget the students—even I won't make it. Can I leave now?"

A group of students standing near the boy started turning toward him. They couldn't hear what he was saying through all the noise, but just looking at him seemed to put them on edge.

"...Go and stop them. It's gonna be a massacre if you let them go through with it, you know," the voice responded nonchalantly.

"Huh?" The boy couldn't believe his ears. "Are you shirking your responsibilities again?! This is way out of my league!"

"I can't make it in time! Don't die, Evan. Okay?" Vrrrr.

"Gah! He hung up on me!" Evan clenched his fist. He was definitely punching that guy the next time he got a chance.

Log Date - October 15th, 2024

Africa - Algeria - Oran City

09:00 AM - Winter Holiday

"No way, dude. Gojo would've beaten Sukuna if his entire arsenal wasn't revealed to that fraud beforehand. He didn't even know about his open-barrier domain! Sukuna had prepared a whole plan to deal with it. Gojo was just winging it."

A boy spoke into a computer microphone with heated intensity.

His entire body was wrapped in a blanket as he sat in front of a computer screen in a dark room.

It was already daytime, but the boy had yet to open the blinds.

At first glance, one might think he'd woken up early, but upon closer inspection, the bags under his eyes suggested otherwise.

"...Yeah, sure, man. Maybe if you studied as much as you powerscaled JJK, you'd actually get some good grades," a disinterested girl's voice responded.

The boy reached for a potato chip, knocking over an empty cup on the table.

His entire room was a mess. Dirty clothes were strewn everywhere, and the junk food wrappers on the floor didn't help make it look any better.

There was a strong sour smell of sweat and old food. The boy didn't seem to mind it as he'd gotten used to it.

"What's the point of thinking about school at this point? I'm already making more money than all the teachers combined!"

"...Right, but Alex, won't you get in trouble for that, though? Isn't it illegal?"

"C'mon, I live in the middle of nowhere." The boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Plus, none of those internet celebrities ever got in trouble for crypto rug pulls, so why would I?" he added quickly, trying to reassure himself more than anyone else.

"Don't you feel bad for scamming people?"

"If they're stupid enough to invest in a meme coin, they'd have lost the money gambling it somewhere else. It's survival of the fittest out here!"

"You're the worst," the girl responded sarcastically.

"Like you're one to talk. Freakin' demon worshiper."

"It's called necromancer!"

"Digging up graves and playing with corpses is a little too far for roleplay, don't you think?"

"It's not roleplay! I keep telling you—spirits are real!"

"Yeah, sure. You better stop doing that. You might start a zombie apocalypse."

"They're not—ugh, whatever." She usually didn't get dragged into his pace, but she always got agitated around this subject.

"Why don't I prove it?"

"Prove what?"

"That spirits are real."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna summon a demon."

"You freakin' demon worshiper!"

"I'm not!"

Log Date - Saint Dragon Year 200 - New Year Festival

Stormspire City - Arcadium Channeling Academy

08:29 PM - 43 minutes past sunset

Evan was slowly walking down a set of stairs, careful not to make any noise.

He didn't bother turning on the light inscriptions engraved in the walls.

He could handle himself just fine relying on his senses, and his black jersey blended with the darkness better this way.

Pulling up his hoodie, he contemplated the current situation. He'd already wasted a few precious minutes trying to find the summoning ritual.

The energy currents it was releasing were massive, making it hard to pinpoint its exact location, even for someone as skilled as him.

He was currently making his way into the underground storage rooms of the academy.

There was a sharp metallic ozone smell—a dead giveaway for massive amounts of energy currents. Even someone with no training in current sensing would've realized that something big was happening.

Why did they pick this location? Who was responsible for this? And what even was their real goal?

Countless attempts had been made in the past to release the ancient calamity on the world—mostly by those crazy demon worshipers—but none of them had succeeded.

He could just ignore this and go about his day. The ritual was unlikely to succeed, but if it failed, it would likely create a massive explosion. That wouldn't be pretty.

Perhaps that was their goal—destroying the academy? But there were easier ways of accomplishing that.

The fact they'd managed to slip through unnoticed for this long suggested they'd received help from someone on the inside.

Evan wasn't the greatest example of a morally upright person. He didn't care if people died, but this made him extremely uneasy.

On the off chance the summoning succeeded, it would be the worst-case scenario. Even if he ran to the ends of the earth, he'd still be screwed.

Many thoughts raced through his head as he finally reached the door at the bottom. A faint purple light emanated from beneath it.

Shivers went down his spine, and his hands trembled. He contemplated his life decisions. He could die doing this, but he'd already made his choice.

He took a deep breath to resolve himself, cleared his thoughts to prepare for combat, then reached for the doorknob.

Log Date - October 15th, 2024

Africa - Algeria - Oran City

14:05 PM - Winter Holiday

"Honey... I wanna talk about something," echoed the weak voice of a woman in her fifties.

The room was dim, lit by a flickering bulb that cast weak light on gray walls. They had originally been white, but the room hadn't been cleaned in a while.

The smell of medicine and hospital food was strong, and a steady series of electronic beeps came from the heart monitor.

"It's about your inheritance," she continued.

The floor's cracked tiles revealed patches of rough concrete, and a grimy window let in faint, dusty light.

"Huh? What's the point in telling me that? It's not like you're gonna die," answered a young, brown-haired boy.

He was currently chowing down on some potato chips while staring out the window, not wanting to face her direction.

The bags under his eyes were still present despite having fallen asleep while using the computer. He didn't want to bother her with his problems.

"You haven't been sleeping well, and what did I tell you about junk food? Where do you get the money for all of that? Have you been stealing again? You smell so bad! Take a shower!" she shot in rapid succession.

Now he remembered why he didn't visit her that often.

He turned around to face her.

A rusted bedframe held a sagging mattress with torn, stained, white sheets, on top of which the old woman was lying.

"Did you call me here just to chastise me? So what if I was stealing?"

He was sure he didn't smell. Well... he hadn't taken a shower, but at least he had changed his clothes. That had to count for something, right?

He was currently wearing his last clean outfit: a brown jacket with a white shirt underneath, black pants, and brown shoes. He topped it off with a black fedora.

He didn't have many options, so he didn't look stunning, but there was nothing wrong except for the sharp, sour smell, which he was oblivious to.

"I wanted to discuss your inheritance. There's not much time left for me. The doctor said so."

This woman was his mother. She needed an urgent medical operation, but their family couldn't afford it. She had already resolved herself to her fate and seemed eager to tie up any loose ends.

He wanted to deny it but couldn't bring himself to say anything. If he told her that he was gathering money for the operation, she'd nag him until he revealed everything.

He was almost done anyway. She certainly wouldn't agree with his methods, but he didn't care. He had gone as far as performing borderline illegal scams. One more lie wouldn't change anything.

"Have you been doing well in school?"

"...Yeah." He hadn't been studying at all, but he still managed to squeeze in a passing grade.

"...Good. Don't cause any trouble, okay? You're a good kid."

"Mm." That wasn't true at all, but he hummed in agreement.

"...I know you'll take care of yourself just fine after I'm gone."

"Mm." That also wasn't true. The house had looked like a disaster ever since she was hospitalized, but once again, he only hummed in agreement.

"...I've been causing you so much trouble. You'll finally get rid of me," she said in a joking manner.

"Mm." That was the least true of all. She wasn't going to die. Just one more week, and he'd secure the last bit of money. Still, he could only hum in agreement.

"You weren't supposed to agree with that one."

He exhaled through his nose in a laughing gesture.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...? Why'd you go silent all of a sudden? Weren't you gonna talk about the inheritance?"

"..."

"...Mom?"

Log Date - Saint Dragon Year 200 - New Year Festival

Stormspire City - Arcadium Channeling Academy

08:33 PM - 47 minutes past sunset

Deep beneath the academy, stone walls held rows of dusty shelves and forgotten school furniture illuminated by a vibrant purple light.

The room was very spacious. all the shelves that were occupying it had been moved to the side by the people standing in the center. demon worshipers.

evan peeked in from behind the door. he wanted to analyse the situation before engaging. there was more than 10 of them in the room.

he had expected them to be wearing black menacing robes or blood stained white cloaks. but reality was often disappointing.

most were wearing normal clothes. leather jackets and boots, woolen tunics and leggings. they looked like average middle aged men.

one person standing at the back was shirtless wearing nothing but sandals, shorts, and sunglasses. during the winter? really? they were as crazy as the rumours say.

purple light pulsed from the runes engraved on the ground. distorting the air and casting twisted shadows.

flow currents rippled outwards with a dangerous intensity. evan felt overwhelmed by its pressure despite standing a few meters away from it.

the demon worshipers didn't even flinch. the half-naked guy was likely the one responsible for powering up the ritual, if the massive energy emenating from him was any givaway.

he had to interrupt the ritual, but he couldn't just attack beach lover with all those guys standing next to him.

even if he could, they'd just kill him and get right back to it. he needed a way to delay them until 'he' arrived.

whisper whisper

those guys seemed to be talking about something, but he couldn't quite hear what they were saying. it might give him a clue about the internal functions of the ritual.

he closed his eyes to focus on the current flowing inside his body. he used his mind to channel it through his ears.

solidifying his imagination, he executed a technique he practised thousands of times.

flow formula: IV (increase volume)

his hearing sharpened up significantly. he could literally hear a pin drop. his ears started ringing painfully from the increased sensitivity.

he adjusted the frequency range that IV picked up and filtered out the background noise made by the ritual to focus on the conversation.

he didn't have to worry about revealing himself unless he used a powerful flow. the energy emanating from the ritual should have dulled their senses quite a bit.

"-ly four summoning rituals left. we're almost done."

"how long is this gonna take?"

"it's not the final one, but there's a good chance he'll actually show up this time, right?"

"last time was fourty minutes."

"not likely. if he did, it would only be for a short period of time. we won't be here to see it."

"shouldn't be too long then."

"why not? aren't we trying to summon him?"

"what are you in such a hurry for?"

"are you fucking dumb? if we stay here we either get killed by the explosion or killed by Drazonoth."

"uhhh... it's nothing. just being impatient."

"if this guy's gonna kill us, then why are we summoning him? and why here?"

"yeah, man. I'm telling you. that meat loaf we had at your mom's was the best thing i've ever eaten."

"i don't know man. we're just here to protect the circle in case we get attacked. don't worry about the details."

"really? thanks. i'll let her know you liked it."

"that sounds pretty irresponsible, but whatever."

"why are you clutching your stomach like that?"

following multiple conversations was pretty difficult, but he had a good grasp of the situation.

using his right hand, evan made a circle with his index finger and thumb and peeked through it.

flow formula: ZI (zoom in)

a glassy lens appeared in the area between his fingers funcioning like a scope. allowing him to study the runes engraved on the floor.

if what those guys said was true, he didn't have to worry about Drazonoth being released for good.

though he might make an appearance, there would be no issue so long as he left at the same time as these guys.

he was now more concerned with the person responsible for this and the inner workings of the summoning ritual.

"i need to go to the bathroom can you switch with me?"

"switch what? we're not even taking turns."

"but i really have to go. kael's mom's meat loaf really didn't agree with my stomach!"

"just go do it behind the shelf."

"what's that about my mom?"

"uh... nothing."