《Sins, Magic, and Virtue》 Chapter 1: Be All That I Can Be. Hi, my name is Nicola Valentini, and I turned seventeen over the summer, so my parents are allowing me to attend a public schools. I know it¡¯s not very exciting to most people but since my family is one of the Big Three running for mayor of Gadopilis, I was home schooled for all of my education. But now that I¡¯m seventeen, I am allowed to attend High School. Not only that, but what I¡¯m most excited for, is seeing which school of magic I fall into. That¡¯s right, my family is part of the Big Three, the biggest three Magicsmen families in the city. Since, I was home schooled I was only taught things like arithmetic, government structure, history and so on. I was a little on the sheltered side when it came to magic, not because my parents refused to teach me, it was just a custom that my grandfather enforces. So I can¡¯t wait to learn all there is about my class of magic. As I step off the monorail, I take in the sight of the school for the first time. The structure was designed to be based off what I believe to be a medieval castle of about six thousand years ago. I mean I don¡¯t know if anyone knows exactly what their supposed to look like anymore, but I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s spot on. The structure was roughly six stories high with towers at each corner. Everything was made of stones, and the walls were made to like serrated teeth at the top. There was a huge gate that led to the court yard of many other towers that pillared into the sky. If there was any word for it, majestic came to mind as I gazed upon this glorious architecture, Fortuna Canyon View High or FCVH. Today was the first day of school; it was sorting day so there wouldn¡¯t actually be any teachings today. We would be shown around the building, sorted into our particular courses, and paired with our roommate for the dorms. First on the to-do list was to assemble in the court yard. It appears that everyone has gathered but it was just a few minutes before the sorting would commence. So there was a low roar of noise coming from the audience. Everyone was excited to see their friends they hadn¡¯t seen all summer, lots of high fives and gossip everywhere. I felt a little left out but hey, whatever. I would make friends eventually; I would just have to just wait this one out. A few moments go by the every goes quiet as a figure with the look of extreme authority walks in front of the crowd and demanded everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°Students, students. Silence. Welcome to Fortuna Canyon View High.¡± After a long speech about rules, how today will go, where to go and where not to go, he ended with the same phrase of welcoming us to FCVH. I listened to the entire speech because I did not have a buddy to chit chat to like everyone else. Most of it blurred in my head but I did make sure where to go crystal clear. Magicsmen in the North tower, Humans in the East tower, Anti-magicsmen in the West tower and for extra information the staff was located in the South tower. I guess I was heading north. The crowd split into three and I followed a group heading north. After walking across the court yard, we enter north building and into a lobby area, the room was massive with couches, snack machines, and coffee tables everywhere. In the back was a stairwell for the upper floors. The crowd stopped at the entrance for a moment, then started making their way to the stair well only to be halted by a man that was not there before. He looked slightly older than our group, he had dirty blonde hair that slicked back like a mid-aged business man. He was dress head to toe in black, as was the rest of us, but it looked really new and well made. His cloak had an insignia on it; the insignia was a blooming yellow flower. Hmmm, this may indicate what his school of magic he was in. ¡°Oi listen, newbies. Welcome to North. The classes are all upstairs but before I can let you go to the professors, we gotta see what class you guys will be in. I was tasked to lead you to the Dr. Halonen. He will sort you out. Follow me.¡± He swiftly turned around and walked a hallway and into a where an extremely pale man in a lab coat greeted us and led us one at a time to do physicals. We were told to get in line outside of the room, luckily I was already close by when he made the announcement, so I was fifth in line. Go me. Each person took a few moments, so I guess he wasn¡¯t doing full physicals. When it got to be my turn, I stepped in into the room and sat down on an open stool. ¡°Mr.?¡± Dr. Halonen he raised a question as he looked at his clipboard. Dr. Halonen was an older looking guy with black receding hair line and a scruff beard. His thin framed glasses gave him a wise like appearance. He had a squared jaw with a feint scar on the right side. ¡°Oh, Valentini. Nicola. seventeen¡± He looked up in surprise, ¡°Valentini? You¡¯re Valentini¡¯s kid? Nice to meet you, mind taking off your shirt?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. At first I was thrown off by his question, and then I reminded myself that he was a doctor of sorts. Taking off my shirt and cloak, I was instantly aware of how cold the room was. I wonder what school of magic I would be in. Would I be a Conjurer? Ooh, maybe Transmuter or a Necromancer! I don¡¯t think I would be a druid, but hey I would be the best druid I could be if I turned out to be one. He pulled out various tools, such as a stethoscope and reflex hammer thing and got to work while striking casual conversation. ¡°So, how is Fernando? I haven¡¯t paid attention to the elections, are the Valentini¡¯s winning?¡± ¡°Well, Dad is doing well as is Grandpa. No, we aren¡¯t winning. The Yamada family is just barely ahead of us, but ever since that scandal a few years ago the Romanov family is put back for at least another election or two.¡± Dr. Halonen put the cold stethoscope on my bare skin, making jump just a bit. After apologizing, ¡°Your grandfather¡­ Is he still making the family follow the old ways?¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± I got a quick look of sympathy from the doc and had he put his tools down and took off his glasses. ¡°Alright you are physically healthy, now let¡¯s check magical essence and I¡¯ll send you on your way.¡± My heart skipped a beat with excitement; this will tell me which school. When Dr. Halonen eyes blinked they changed from muddy brown to a radioactive green as he gazed at my chest seeming to look straight my heart. After a moment of silence it got awkward really fast, but I ignore it as I watched his face for a reaction. His suddenly furrowed and I frowned; something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°You are a Valentini right?¡± He looked at me accusingly as his switched back to brown. As I nodded, he did as well; looking absolutely puzzled as well. ¡°Since your grandfather is still head of the family, you may not know but magic is¡­ Well it¡¯s related to sin.¡± ¡°Sin?¡± I was completely perplexed. ¡°Yeah, the seven deadly sins to be exact. Notice how your grandfather and father are pretty envious of the Yamato family for being just little more influential over the people?¡± I nodded and he continued, ¡°These sins are natural to Magicsmen, usually a magicsman is associated with one more so than the others, this affects what school of magic they¡¯d be proficient in. The more they are associated with the sin, the more power that magic is.¡± He went on as he began writing on his clip board, ¡°As you know your father is a well-known transmuter and alchemist. Well, Envy pairs up the school of Transmutation. Allowing the user to change what he has to what he desires of his neighbors possessions. Anyway, doing a scan of your magical essence, I ran into a problem.¡± I swallowed hard. ¡°What is it doc? Is it bad?¡± He scratched his chin, ¡°Well it isn¡¯t necessarily bad, rare but not bad.¡± He gave me an apologetic look and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have any essence at all, no properties, nothing. You aren¡¯t any different from a human.¡± My breath caught, the room got colder and I felt numb. This couldn¡¯t be happening to me, no, no, no. Then my heart sputtered when I remember how this would affect not only me but my family as well. This would get leaked out, and it would cause a scandal. This would assure the Yamato victory in the voting. I would be exiled from my family, my life is just going to spiral out of control. Dr. Halonen was seeing my panic attack unfold, I could see he wanted to console me but there were other students he needed to get to so I just swiftly exited the room without another word. In my brisk pace I saw other students gleefully talking as I made my way to the court yard. Since I had no magical essence I was unable to learn magic, therefor I was useless as a magicsman, and a useless magicsman was basically human. So I headed to the East Tower as I walked toward the building, I notice students excitedly exiting the building and was heading west. Despite my crushing disappointment in myself, my curiosity got the best of me. I pulled one them aside as I passed a few. The guy I pulled looked unpleased I did so, but I didn¡¯t care really. I asked him, ¡°Why are guys going to the West Tower?¡± A little confused at first, he quickly excused my ignorance, ¡°Oh, you must be running late. Well, even if you are human you can join the ranks of the anti-magicsmen. Of course since they are basically humans on steroids, we won¡¯t be near as good as them unless we work three times as hard. Usually I wouldn¡¯t do it, sounds like a lot of work. But I looked at my prospects¡­¡± He rambled on and on but I had long since quit listening to him. Join the anti-magicsmen? Long ago, I would be a traitor, but we aren¡¯t at war, so it doesn¡¯t really matter. If I was going to be human I might as well be of the best there is. So I followed the group of six humans to the West Tower. Chapter 2: A Lovely Visit By A Rebellion Upon arriving we were shown to a giant room with testing dummies and people sparring with them. I noticed that older people were observing the obviously inexperienced and there were weapons¡¯ racks everywhere. The guy that led us to the area was massive, I must say. He was built like a tank practically, and he seemed to barely fit in the cloak. His cloak, by the way had insignia of a black dove on a white back ground. He spoke in an odd voice that didn¡¯t match his stature, ¡°Sense you guys are human, we can¡¯t screen you properly. We do apologize for the inconvenience, but we do ask that you practice with some of the weapons we have provided,¡± he gestured to the weapons¡¯ rack, ¡°We do ask you do be careful, we will decide what weapon you show most potential.¡± With that he gave a swift bow and left us to our own devices. Gradually, our small group dispersed into random areas of the room, some even went to what I guessed was an explosives and archery range. I kind of gravitated toward a lone dummy with a rack close by. Looking at the rack I take a quick inventory check: various throwing knives, a staff, a spear, a short sword, a Warhammer, and a few daggers. Hmmm, I guess I¡¯ll pick the sword. Picking up this iconic weapon, it felt¡­ awkward. I know nothing about form but I decide to give it a go. I approach the dummy and give him a quick slash and the sword bounced off it sending unpleasant vibrations up my arm. Well I guess I will not pick up another one ever again. Let¡¯s see ooh, I guess I¡¯ll try the Warhammer. Rather than being awkward, it was just really hard to balance correctly. So instead on focusing on balance I just put all my weight into a horizontal slash and smashed into the dummy¡¯s side. The dummy swayed but I had received way more damage than the dummy. Trying to stop my teeth from chattering, I moved on to the next weapon. As I bent down to pick some of the knives I noticed a lovely looking girl training on dummy rather close to mine. She was slender and probably just a few inches smaller than me. She had a sharp chin and a small nose with long, cascading dark hair. If it wasn¡¯t for the knives she was holding, I could see anyone try to hit on her. I took a moment and watch her throw a knife. She threw with such grace I almost forgot to follow the knife to the target. As I followed with my eyes, I saw the knife knock another one out of place and lodge itself at the bullseye with seven other knifes. Whoa was she incredible or what? Snapping myself out of sheer amazement, I try to copy her stance as I took a knife and quickly toss it at the unmoving dummy and watch as the knife bounce off a few inches before it clattered on the floor. What did I do wrong? I heard a giggle that sound like wind chimes, but however pretty the voice was, I still freaked out just a bit. Jumping a bit, I narrowly avoid the knives I just dropped out of surprise. I turned around to see the same girl I was mimicking earlier, trying to contain her laughter. My jumpiness proved to be even more amusing to her as she just about doubles over in laughter. I bent over and picked up the knives as her laughter came to a stop. When she had settled a bit, I asked, ¡°Is it out of your system?¡± She stifled a giggle, as she said, ¡°Yes, I think so. I was just observing you and I couldn¡¯t help but giggle.¡± She had a charming smile that flashed her teeth. Despite being openly laughed at, I could see she was just a joyful person in general. She approached and asked, ¡°I¡¯ll try not to brag but my skills in throwing weapons are pretty good, mind if I give you some tips?¡± I scratch my chin as if was contemplating the proposal, ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Her smile faltered just a bit. ¡°Oh, I see, perhaps another time.¡± She was about to turn around and I caved. ¡°Yes, please. It would be nice to learn a thing from a pro.¡± She perked up. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m a pro, but I¡¯m not shabby.¡± She said as she came closer to me. She grabbed one of my knives and held it up by the tip. ¡°Lesson one: hold it one inch above the tip of the blade.¡± She motioned me to step aside as she stared down at the target, ¡°Next, hold the knife at about your ear. For beginners, it helps improve aim if you move other hand in front of you and sing your torso as you throw the blade. Release the blade when you extend the knife throwing hand straight in front of you.¡± She demonstrated it all in one go and she hit the bullseye. She stepped aside and indicated that I give it a shot. So that I did, I followed her instructions as best I could. I didn¡¯t hit the bullseye on the dummy¡¯s head but I did manage to get the knife stuck in his head. For that I was proud. ¡°Thank you so much, umm, sorry, I didn¡¯t catch your name.¡± ¡°My name is Karen. Karen Weidenmann. My family moved to the city of Gadopilis, so I don¡¯t much about this place. Mind if I have your name?¡± Well, if she is new, then she doesn¡¯t know of my family, ¡°Oh, well my name is Nicola Valentini.¡± She paused for a moment, ¡°Valentini,¡± oh crap, ¡°sounds like Old Italian.¡± Phew. Dodging a bullet I confirm that it was before I was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around I saw an elder behind me with a little gleam to his eyes, ¡°Young man, I think you may have some prospects in throwing weapons. I¡¯m going to bring you into the Diligence Core, follow me.¡± He said he turned around exited the gym. I turned around and shrugged before I jogged off. Following the old man I was lead in to a room upstairs that had a few other students. The room appeared to be a classroom so I take my seat among the other students and wait for the old man to catch his breath before he started, ¡°I am not your instructor but your recruiter. Not many humans join the Diligence Core but I am glad that you few have taken an interest in throwing weapons. Now you may not be the best at it yet, but with time you will do well. Since it¡¯s the first day of school, this will remain brief. Since you are only humans I will go ahead and tell you what the Diligence Core is. The Diligence Core is a specialization of anti-magicsmen, which specializes in daggers and throwing weapons. Anti-magicsmen graced with the virtue: diligence, are good with throwing weapons and such because it takes a great deal of diligence to master and use this skill in combat. More so than the other weapons. Yes, question?¡± He pointed at a kid sitting next to me, the kid stood up and said, ¡°When do we get our insignias?¡± The old man nodded, ¡°Tomorrow when you return to this class room with the rest of your classmates. If that is all, then you all will return to East Tower to find out what Dorm room you will be assigned. Dismissed.¡± Everyone rose and left the room as we made our way to East. We just have to find out what room our dorm was then we get the rest day off. It wasn¡¯t even noon! When we entered the East Tower Lobby we saw lines forming in front of some desks. I assume these are lines for dorm information, so I hope in line before it gets too long. Again, since I don¡¯t have any friends, so I¡¯ll just have to sit tight. It was about half an hour before I approached the desk. When I got to desk, there was only lady behind the desk looking so bored. She looked up and asked, ¡°Name?¡± She had expression that screamed boredom. She looked more bored than I, which was saying something, I had no friends. Remembering that she asked a question, I fumbled for an answer, ¡°Uh¡­ Nicola Valentini.¡± Accepting my answer she flipped through fifty or sixty files before turned to me and asked, ¡°Are you sure you are supposed to be hear?¡± ¡°Uh, well, I am actually a magicsman¡­ but I don¡¯t have any magic.¡± She looked me over once then twice, once satisfied she looked behind her shoulder at a clock and looked back at me, ¡°They haven¡¯t transferred your paper work yet, and since we still have many students go through, it won¡¯t be in till morning.¡± Till morning, huh? I was about to turn around but then I remembered, ¡°What about my dorm room?¡± She bit her lip for a moment, took another look at the clock and then at the students, with a scowl she said, ¡°Fine, return before curfew.¡± She could¡¯ve done it earlier all this time? Was she being lazy or something? I nod my head and turn around and walk off. I exit the lobby and I guess because I had a lot of time to think, I started to brood without noticing. Worst case scenario, my family will find out the results me not having any magical essence, it will turn into a fiasco, they won¡¯t when another election, and I will be ostracized. Best case, they won¡¯t care, society will not notice, I will continue life undisturbed. As much as I want to believe in the best case, the worst case was still weighing heavily on my mind. As I was pondering this, I notice someone had stepped in front of me. Looking up, I saw a familiar figure of a lovely girl staring at me in curiosity, ¡°Are you ok?¡± When I nod my head, Karen took it as is and continued, ¡°Hmm, you were spacing out, so I was checking if you were alright. Hey, listen, I¡¯m new here, so I don¡¯t have any¡­ many friends, mind hanging out with me for today?¡± I was stunned for a moment, a wild friend has appeared! How should advance? On second thought, I need friends before I look for advancement in relationships. ¡°What a coincidence, I too have no friends!¡± I say pathetically, I practically died a little from how pathetic it sounded. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She smiles for a bit before she corrected me, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t have any friends, just not many. They are busy visiting other people so, I decided to see if you are available.¡± She said as she was turning right. ¡°Well, I was homeschooled until today, so you are my first friend.¡± I admit. She glanced at me before she completed her turn and marched toward the gate. ¡°They should be serving lunch today, let¡¯s go before the lines get to big.¡± With a smile, I follow her to the cafeteria. The cafeteria is located out of the fortress of a school. From what I gathered from my research of this school, the school doesn¡¯t actually have a designated mess hall, the do endorse a few in Gadopilis. The main one that most students go to is the one that is the closet to the school, of course. The building was only two stories high but it was seven times the space of the West Tower Lobby. It was giant food court full of anything you can think of. It was still half mile walk from the school being that it was located in the commercial district. Two rights and a left later and we arrived at the amphitheater style cafeteria, The Melting Pot. Entering, we were greeted by many of aromas. Most of the smells were mouthwatering. When I turned to look at Karen, I saw the look of awe. She knew the way, but I guess she never really entered this place before. I waited for the awe to die down from her face before I asked what she would like to eat. She took a moment, taking in the seen, then pointed at a McKing¡¯s excitedly. Since I don¡¯t mind McKing¡¯s too much and I wanted to make a friend, we make our way to the red and yellow fast food haven. The line wasn¡¯t too bad, there were a few people staring at the menu as if it wasn¡¯t millionth time ordering from this food chain. As we approach the counter one customer at a time, Karen got more and more excited, she even started to list off some facts. ¡°McKing¡¯s Burgers was established in the year 4895 AD, it was when two restaurants from ancient times decided to join forces to form a joint company. It was a miracle those two chains lasted through two apocalypses, so they decided to call off their rivalry and join hands in a fast food union. Although the two restaurant names had long been forgotten, the Double Golden Arches came from one of the two and no one knows what the other contributed to today¡¯s McKing¡¯s. Some same it might owe part of its name to the deceased restaurant.¡± She rattled off facts left and right about corporation and what all had been on the menu that isn¡¯t on it now. Now I was starting to feel my stomach make gurgling sounds indicating it was indeed time to be feed. Just when Karen finished saying something about some of the previous CEO¡¯s policy changes, it was our turn to approach the counter. Karen had already told the cashier what she wanted, loud and clear. Before I tell the cashier what I wanted, I give the menu one more look over, just out of habit. Alright I know what I want. ¡°I would like a¡­¡± I started before there was a huge commotion that interrupted my order. The sound of glass crashing from the windows, screaming and hollering coming from all sorts of directions. ¡°Everybody get down and stay down!¡± Everyone immediately ducked and protected their heads while they were on the ground. Is this a robbery? They won¡¯t get very much, it¡¯s only restaurants here. Moments later I felt a sharp kick in my ribs as I was kicked by one of the crooks. ¡°I said get over there with the rest of the hostages! Come on, get!¡± with that, the man kick once more before I was put with the rest of the people in the center of the cafeteria. Chairs and tables had been thrown aside to make room for all the hostages, adding up to maybe 150 to 200 hostages, me being one of them. Looking around I counted seven bad guys, each brandishing a different weapon. There were was a guy holding a giant hammer, a double handed broadsword, and a crossbow. One had a staff and another had a set of knives in his hands. There was one guy that had a spear. The last didn¡¯t have a weapon but something that looked like a remote control with only one or two buttons on it. I didn¡¯t like the feeling of the one with the remote. All of them were dressed head to toe in black, they had goggles and masks on. Over the black suit was some kind of armor that might be Kevlar or something. The guy with the spear was the only one in front of us and I think he might be the leader. As if to confirm my suspicion, he takes off his mask unlike the others. His face made him to be about mid-twenties with red hair, dead eyes, and a scar running across the bridge of his nose, at the sight, Karen gasped as if she recognized him. At first he paces the crowd and he looks over us and says, ¡°The people not in robes, get.¡± When he finished his order he jab his thumb at the door. When no one budged, he barked, ¡°Get! I don¡¯t know what is clear about it, I said get!¡± After that, the folks not wearing robes desperately left the group. When the last one left the door, he looked at the remainder of us and smiled an awful smile. He looked back at the door and waited a second or two before we all saw a security drone fly in through the broken window. Security drones are used for surveillance, usually used for news stories. The man with the scar looked into the drones lenses before he spoke again, ¡°Finally, it¡¯s what we¡¯ve all been waiting for!¡± He said joyously, ¡°The Inquisition has arrived to the great city of Gadopilis!¡± he cracked another smile. He looked over the remaining ninety or so hostages and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were bright green. He scanned the crowd and said, ¡°When I point at cha, go that way¡±, he pointed to the area off to the side. He scanned each individual briefly and every other person he told to go to the area. When he looked at me I shivered a little, but he moved on. When he was done, he blinked away the green, and the group was split almost evenly. He had his subordinates strategically placed in the crowd I guess to keep us from getting any ideas. The man then walked over to the group and pulled out a boy with brown curly hair. On this boy¡¯s robes was a thorny purple flower insignia which the man ripped off. He showed it to the rest of us, ¡°Pride. Pride is the worst in my opinion, but then again it is the opposite of humility.¡± He dragged the boy, who had to be only one grade above us, to the center of his stage. He looked at the drone dead on and said, ¡°This is the first of many.¡± When he concluded those words he drove his spear deep into the boy¡¯s chest. The boy went deathly still in a moment, the man twist his spear until he was satisfied then kicked the body off his spear. The body slumped unto the ground and did not move past that. There was a scream in the crowd and the rest of the hostages broke out in frantic murmurs. From beside me I heard Karen say, ¡°I have to do something,¡± before she could do something stupid I shake my head as if to silently yell ¡®no¡¯. ¡°I have to do something; I can¡¯t just sit here and let people die.¡± She didn¡¯t let me continue my silent pleading. She was just determined to get herself killed, but I won¡¯t let my first friend die on me. When the man with scar dragged a girl out of the group, practically by her hair and put her beside the body, she was had a justifiable panic attack. She had straight blonde hair and like some of us, had no insignia. Karen bolted straight up and threw her concealed knives at the crossbow wielder. Her immediate action caused me to take course as well, I ran straight for the very surprised leader of the pack. He gave me only a glance before he regained his composure and stabbed the girl in the chest as well. As I got within five feet of him, I felt a red hot pain shoot straight through head and I immediately tasted the metallic taste of blood. Before I knew it, my face was already on the ground, staring at a pair of boots approach my face. When they got in front of me, they stopped and I felt my head being pulled up by the hair. More pain attacked my brain making sure I was awake. The guy picked me up with one hand and turned me to face the crowd. The goon closest to me had a staff with blood on one end. Hey, he hit me didn¡¯t he? In the background I noticed Karen getting subdued by the other knife thrower, who was taking down her knives out the air with his own. Then the guy turned me around to face the drone, and proclaimed, ¡°This is perfect timing, now I can show you what happens if meet resistance. Since the lady over there is an anti-magicsman, I¡¯ll show some mercy, however you, human, are a conspirator with the Sins. Because you tried to defend a Sin, I will not show you any mercy from The Cleansing Virtues.¡± The edges of my vision were already fading ever so slightly, but when he slammed my head into the ground repeatedly, the pain had dulled and vision went black. And that was the last thing I remembered. Chapter 3: Wroth I finally had control; it¡¯s been too long. I felt no pain, only an unchecked rage that consumed me like a raging fire. I didn¡¯t feel pain, but it does appear that we did sustain some damage from those fools. I am going to kill every last one of them. They are dead. When I opened my eyes for the first time I was staring at pool of my own blood. Why am I on the ground? I quickly stand up only to be knocked over. I felt the blood in my mouth flow, I look at the perpetrator and I lock on my first target. The Deadman seemed to be amused. I stood up and smiled and growled, ¡°I am going to destroy you, scumbag.¡± The bastard laughed and mocked, ¡°You destroy me? Haha, amusing, a human who doesn¡¯t know his place.¡± He twirled his spear once and charged my way. My rage manifested into flames that surrounded my being. I felt no heat but I did pump emotion into them. I charge at the slightly surprised idiot. He made a stab at me, though I moved to step aside and the sharp edge grazed down my arm. With that side step, I twisted my body, put all my momentum into punching that worm in the face. Bone gave way to my fist in a satisfying crunch as my face sank through. The little man¡¯s feet came off the floor as I continued the arch of that punch. After a few seconds he landed on floor and he did not move a muscle, not even a twitch. A moment later, his body caught fire and the smell of burnt flesh filled the room along with the sound crackling of fire being the only sound in the room. No one moved an inch, but I wasn¡¯t satisfied yet, I walked over to his body and I began wailing at his pathetic, mush face. The more I hammered, the more his head was undistinguishable from the rest of the blood soaked floor. I heard a few people approaching, standing back up right I noticed the swordsman and the Warhammer wielder coming at me. I take some of the heat from my arms and condense it into my palms then launched my pure rage from my hands to the swordsman¡¯s chest hurling him into a wall. I look up just in time to catch a falling hammer from crushing me. When I caught the Warhammer, I pushed up and high kicked the pathetic excuse of a man¡¯s chest sending to sit with his friend. I still had the hammer in hand, brandishing it, I marched over to the insects that lay still against the wall. As I was about to eliminate some pests, but I noticed something sticking out of my arm that wasn¡¯t there a second ago. I look up at the piece of trash that impaled a knife into my arm. I felt my pulse quicken just a bit and flew into a sprint. As I got closer and closer to him, he threw more and more knives at me, getting more frantic each time. I held the hammer above his head and passed judgement upon his empty head. My mistake, it wasn¡¯t empty at first but it was now. I heard whirling sound then felt something penetrate my back. My fury had grown even larger as I turned and threw the massive hammer, it ripped the annoyance¡¯s body in half. When I looked down to remove the bolt from my back I noticed that there were many knives imbedded in my stomach. My anger hit an all-time high, if I didn¡¯t already kill the maggot that did this to me, he would be a dead man. Plucking out a knife, I look to my right and notice the staff wielder frozen in place. Stolen story; please report. I touched the back of my head and pull back my blood stained fingers and then looked at the ant before me as an object of hatred and my flames got hotter, I knew this because the hostages who couldn¡¯t run away were flinching from the heat. I knew he was going nowhere so I casually retrieved the hammer from the earlier corpse and walk over to the ant. Sizing up this ant, I swing the Warhammer in a low angle shattering both of us shins. As he crumpled to the ground, the ant made the loveliest, blood curdling scream I¡¯ve heard all day. As he lay in pain, screaming, I bring the hammer from a high angle down to his shoulder. Beyond merely breaking, his shoulder was infused into the concrete. I picked up the limp body and I burnt is from all the hatred for him that boiled in my veins. Remembering the two on the wall, I turn to go and finish taking out the trash. Mid step, I almost tripped due to a hand reaching up and grabbing my ankle. I look down and see the burning hand of a scared Karen. I bent down and I picked up by her wrist, her flesh boiling where my hands touched. She winced in pained as I pulled her near my face, ¡°Watch it girly, I will kill you.¡± After the warning, I throw her across the room. She skidded across the floor and came to a halt when she collided with the wall, she then moan in pain once and made no further movements. Satisfied, I turn back to the pests on the other side of the room. It looks like one has gained consciousness, when I began to approach him, he tried to scamper away. I grabbed the miserable rodent by the ankle and lifted him in the air and bashed his body on the ground, next grabbed the broken body by the neck and raised it to eye level. I notice his eyes roll to the back of his head. Not yet. I take him by the skull and smash it against the nearby wall repeatedly until his head fell to pieces in my hands. As his head crumbled in my hands, I remembered that there were seven morons that barged in, and now I only count six. Five dead, one alive, the other escaped. Oh well, a room full of rats, one is bound to escape. Looking at the last rat, I knelt down beside him as he started to come to. When he noticed me he made a sour face before throwing a punch at me. I caught the fist, of course, and broke his hand immediately. He let out a scream and cradled his hand, he looked around nervously before noticing his fallen comrades and his dumb face fell. He then gazed upon my smiling face in sheer terror, I jabbed my fist into his face and broke his nose, then his cheek, then blackened an eye. I was about to go another round with his face, then I felt my head bounce off the floor when my head was smashed from the back. Slowly looking back I saw an older lady in our school¡¯s robes, clearly she was a professor of sorts. The look on her face was grim, like she was looking upon a monster. As I started to get up to face the hag, she brought down her staff over and over again. Until I lost consciousness and everything turned black. Chapter 4: I have Magic? I woke up to sunlight hitting my face, and then I was brought into the awful truth that my body was in immense pain. Looking at my body, I looked like a mummy, so many bandages, especially around my abdomen and head. I am wearing a light colored gown, with white walls surrounding me¡­ I¡¯m in the school¡¯s medical wing. Man, what happened yesterday? I was about to hold my head but then I became aware of a weight on my right hand. Looking at my hand, I noticed a bandaged one attached to a sleeping figure. It was hard to tell who was under the mess of dark hair. Upon pondering about it, she woke up and hugged me. After I winced a bit, she shoved me back a bit and stood up and practically flew across a room, as if she was afraid of me. Why was she acting like that? Her voice started out small, ¡°Are you ok?¡± ¡°I feel a lot of pain, but I think I¡¯ll live. What about you?¡± I motioned to her bandaged hand and wrist. ¡°It¡¯s fine. The doctor says there will be scarring, but its fine.¡± She said as she looked down at her wrist. I was curious, ¡°What happened? Did you get cut up?¡± She didn¡¯t say anything for a moment, she just stared at me. Slowly she said, ¡°Do you not remember?¡± ¡°Remember what? I was unconscious when that leader guy hit my head.¡± She remained silent. ¡°What happened to them anyway? Did they get caught, did they escape, what happened?¡± ¡°One escaped and one is in questioning I believe.¡± She said ever so quietly. ¡°What about the other five? There were seven of them right?¡± I¡¯m pretty sure there seven. ¡°They died.¡± She said solemnly. ¡°Did they put up a fight? Was it the police or the school that got to them?¡± Before she could answer, there was arguing outside the room that drew our attention. Before I could manage to hear what was being said. The door opened as an older lady barged in while pushing a doctor out of the way. She rushed to my bedside and got in my face. She appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. She had blue eyes and long, blonde hair set into a pony tail. She had our school¡¯s cloak on but the color was grey, signifying she was a professor. ¡°Why did you do it?¡± She demanded. I confused as to why she was mad, ¡°Do what?¡± She looked like she was about to blow a fuse, ¡°You know good and well what I¡¯m talking about. If you were that strong, you could have spared them easily, so why did you kill them?¡± Ok, now I have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. ¡°I think you have the wrong room. I have no idea what-.¡± I was cut off. ¡°Don¡¯t mess with me! I know you are lying, just tell me why?¡± She was mad I could tell, but she was calm in an odd way. Then a man entered the room, he had a white robe that I believed meant he was the Headmaster. With a gravelly voice he calmly said, ¡°Calm down Professor Aurelia, he has no magical essence about him. I didn¡¯t his eyes were glowing, but they turned to straight black. When his eyes turned black, it made me realize how pale his face was. He looked dead with the nearly black rings around his eyes. It was hard to pin down what age he was. He glanced over to Karin and spoke, ¡°Mind leaving us Mrs. Weidenmann?¡± Without saying a word she left the room, the Headmaster gazed upon me, and I felt the room drop below a few degrees, ¡°Do you realize what happened yesterday?¡± ¡°No, I was unconscious when my head was slammed into the ground by that one guy.¡± ¡°Did you use magic?¡± ¡°No, Dr. Halonen said I was no different from a human. I was joining the ranks of the anti-magicsmen.¡± I say confused. He looked over to the doctor and the doctor shrugged, ¡°Perhaps a concussion caused a relapse in memory¡­¡± The Headmaster looked down in a brood, and then he said, ¡°No, it could be a split personality.¡± The room fell silent for a moment, he then looked at me again ¡°You brutally killed five men yesterday. These men are part of The Cleansing Virtues. The Cleansing Virtues is a rebellion, consisting of mostly anti-magicsmen and a few humans. They have started an inquisition against magicsmen, being around since magicsmen rose to power a few millennia ago. From yesterday¡¯s news, it is now known that they have set their sights on this city. Also, your face is well known now Mr. Valentini.¡± I still didn¡¯t believe him, and I guess it showed on my face, so he pulled up Holograph of the news from yesterday¡¯s drone. Up until the part my face was bashed in it was as I remembered, even when that guy killed that student. The pain of me hitting my head came back when it played that part. I saw myself rise up in the video and then I went on a sickening rampage. There was so much blood, I felt sick watching my own violence. I saw knives being thrown at me, and I didn¡¯t care. I was shot with a bolt from a crossbow at one point. I bashed peoples¡¯ heads in the ground, splattered their skulls like they were water balloons. Thrown a hammer through one man and burnt another to a crisp. I was a monster. After the video was over, I wanted to hurl. I looked at the Headmaster, ¡°This is me?¡± He nodded and straightened up, ¡°Now you can no longer join the anti-magicsmen or the humans knowing that you do have magic. However since you cannot have control your magic on command yet, it would be dangerous to place you in rapid paced classes. I realized what you had used was Pyromancy, however I am going to put you in a Conjuration class, it is¡­ a little slower than the other classes. This is until you have a grasp at your own magic. Here is your room key, once you are ready you may leave for your room at once. You have the rest of the day off considering.¡± He turned then paused before heading out, ¡°Ah, report to Conjuration Class for a briefing on how rooms work.¡± He resumed his pace out the door with Professor Aurelia in tow. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Looking at my room key, I see the number 777b. I smile to myself, remembering my mother saying before the first fallout, that three sevens in a row was good luck. Then the image of me smiling soaked in blood came back to bring on a frown. I kept my bandages on my abdomen from the advice of my doctor. I guess it was serious than I thought, then again I knives stuck me. I hid the bandages with my cloak as to not raise suspicion. I made my way to the North Tower. I was surprised to not have seen anyone, but I reminded myself that class was still in session. When I entered North Tower Lobby, I went to the map on the wall. Looks like I¡¯ll need to head to the second floor and the third class on the right from the stairs. I arrive at the door and a big breath before I go inside. What I saw was not what I expected. I expected a classroom full of nice orderly chairs and desks much like the classroom of the Diligence Core. What I saw was couches mostly around the edges of the wall and an empty space in the middle of the classroom. Most of the students were asleep in said couches. The professor was begging the students to cooperate to no avail. When I entered I caught the attention of the professor, she put her entire focus on me, ¡°Hmm, you sure are late, but I¡¯m surprised you came at all.¡± I don¡¯t know why, but I felt really offended. ¡°I was just in the medical wing, I was unconscious till now.¡± I defended myself, but to my dismay she had a look of doubt on her face so I lifted my shirt to show the evidence. She looked flabbergasted for a moment, so I spoke, ¡°I assume you are Professor¡­?¡± She snapped out of her shock to speak, ¡°No, no, I am not the professor. The professor is so lazy that he can¡¯t come to class, so I¡¯m his substitute. Though he only comes to class once a year and that is at graduation. I swear that man¡­ Oh my name is Mrs. Valentine.¡± Valentine? ¡°Oh that¡¯s interesting, it¡¯s a lot like my name. My name is Nicola Valentini.¡± She straightened up a bit, ¡°You mean the one the Big Three, Valentini?¡± I nodded. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m part of a branch family of the Valentini¡¯s. It¡¯s a long story, but there is a branch that was disowned then accepted again. That would be the Valentines.¡± She once again looked at my face then flipped out. ¡°You, you, you were on the news yesterday weren¡¯t you, why are you here?¡± I slowly nodded, ¡°I don¡¯t have recollection of that though, it appears that I didn¡¯t have any magical essence until yesterday then it vanished again. So the Headmaster told me to come here.¡± She calmed just a bit, ¡°Headmaster Thanatos? Alright, I don¡¯t know why he sent a wroth student is a sloth classroom, but I will trust his judgement. Since I am not a professor and we are related, you may call me April. Now then, it¡¯s almost time for class to end so I will go ahead and tell you how the dorms work.¡± I nod and sit down on the nearest couch next to snoring student, and she continued, ¡°The dorms are located in the Central Tower Complex. Hard to miss, it is located in the center of courtyard, you have to walk around it to go to different Towers. The Central Tower Complex looks like it is multiple towers but in actuality, it only has one entrance and the towers all share one Lobby. If you look at the structure maps provided on the Lobby walls it¡¯s easy to figure out where you go. You were assigned a room already, one tower is for humans and the other is for magicsmen and anti-magicsmen. Each Sin is assigned it¡¯s corresponding Virtue.¡± I nod once more before she finishes up, ¡°Alright class is dismissed.¡± No one moved but I got up, thanked Mrs. Valentine and left for my room. ¡­ I had checked the map in the lobby, and it appears I take elevator three to the seventh floor. Waiting for my stop, I can¡¯t help but wonder what my roommate will be like. Obviously since I was a Pyromancer, I would be with Kind Core student. Kind Core, huh? Is he going to be ultra-nice or is that only in name? The elevators makes a dinging sound as it comes to a halt at the seventh floor. The door opens to acquaint my eyes with a unique scenery. There was a red carpet with a gold trim, beige hall way walls and Big burly guy getting hit over and over again by a really short, really mad girl. He is desperately apologizing and guard his body with what appeared as brief cases. It looked like the big guy needed help so I started to make an approach, but I was stopped by the guys stare. It relayed a message to me, even though there were no words, I understood I was not to interfere. Perhaps this was an everyday thing. So I turn my approach into a retreat with a slight angle difference, I managed to sneak passed the royally angry girl. 776a, 776b, 777a, ah 777b. Pulling the key from my pocket I carefully place the key into the keyhole.