Crimson Core

The next morning…

Kai had only slept for two hours. He spent the night thinking about how to make himself stronger and get closer to the level he needed to be so that protecting Chelsea would not be much of a struggle. He could not wait to take her to see the world.

Kai felt tired since his essence had been reduced to close to nothing. The little strain he embraced last night by not sleeping took a huge toll on him.

He had huge eye bags; he looked miserable and he felt miserable as well. ‘It has been a long time since I felt this weak.’

Kai took his bath wore some clothes and trudged to class.

The moment he stepped into class, all eyes were on him. The fact that he was nowhere to be found the day before was a mystery to them. Seeing him turn up that morning was rather surprising.

Lester had to say something to express his dissatisfaction. It was his responsibility. “Young man, where have you been? Why do you look so wretched?”

Kai’s eyes could hardly stay open. He felt sleepy, but he had to just be present today in class. “Master, I was sick yesterday. I went to the healer’s office. Sorry for making you all worry for me.” Kai said those words as though he had practiced them.

The explanation was good enough for Lester; at least he could not just send Kai back. He had to gain more information about him. He was the cursed one. Kai lumbered his way to his seat and sat down; all eyes were on him, but two particular sets of eyes looked at him with a conflicted expression.

That set of eyes belonged to the Night brothers; their eyes were filled with suspicion. They felt his true power before. They even almost had their souls shattered, but here he was, looking all miserable and pitiful.

What did he experience last night to make him end up like this?

Yesterday…

When the Night brothers came to inquire of Kai’s whereabouts from the healer.

“Young lads, what can I do for ye?” the healer asked with a smile.

Damien, being the spokesman, spoke up, “Please do excuse us, but we have come in search of a friend of ours, Kai.”

The healer seemed interested, showing from her expression when she heard the name Kai. “Ah, sure, and begorrah! The lad was right here, he was. And let me tell ye, he’s a mighty peculiar one, I do declare. Meself, I’ve seen me fair share of folk, but this lad—oh, he’s cut from a different cloth altogether. Aye, there’s a glint in his eye, a twist in his step, and a whisper of magic clingin’ to his very bones. Mark me words, he’s no ordinary soul.”

—phew—

Adrian heaved a sigh of relief; at least they had a clue, he hadn’t simply disappeared from the academy. Damien, on the other hand, seemed to catch onto something that the healer had said. “My lady, what do you mean by peculiar?”.

“Oi… That lad was a right peculiar one, he was. Came stumblin’ in, half out of his wits, and there he lay—unconscious—like a fallen star. But it wasn’t just the lack of consciousness that set him apart. Nay, there was somethin’ in the air, somethin’ that whispered secrets of other realms. His very essence, it seemed, had taken a detour through the faerie mist. Aye, quirky indeed, that lad.”

“Unconscious?” Damien questioned.

“There he lay, unconscious, but that was naught, the queerest part of it all. Nay, his very essence—his very soul—seemed to have been siphoned away by some otherworldly force, not the usual kind, mind ye. ‘Twas somethin’ I’d only heard whispered in ancient tales by the fireside. Aye, the stuff of legends, it was.”

The hot nurse talked as though she was narrating a crazy dream or something of such sort. Her eyes widened and squinted as she spoke those words.

Damien had a puzzled expression. Adrian could not care less, he was having the time of his life fiddling with something he found hanging on the wall. He seemed really childish.

Damien, shouldering the responsibility of gaining information about the mysterious mage, asked another question. “What do you mean that his essence was not the normal type?”

The woman entered a thinking pose. “How would I be explainin’ this to ye, me hearties? Well, the usual elements recorded be: water, fire, earth, and wind. But there be other well-known deviants, or better known as variants, like sound, death, lightning, and even the rarest of ’em all—the healers.” The healer took a lot of pride in herself while saying the last words.

“Ah, But his very essence danced a jig betwixt existence and absence. It lingered, like the echo of a banshee’s wail on a moonless night—there and not there, a spectral paradox. And what was this essence, ye ask? Blood, the very lifeblood that flowed through his veins. Not just any blood, mind ye, but the same crimson tide that coursed through the veins of the demon king, aye, two thousand years afore this mortal coil.” The healer shuddered as she recalled the sickening stories she heard about King Salinger.

Damien had a profound expression on his face, but the way the healer talked was almost getting on his nerves. “Hmm...” was all that could escape his mouth.

After some time of thinking, he bid the healer goodbye. “Thank you for the information; this child will take his leave slowly... Adrian let us go.”

The healer waved her hands. “Toodles, me hearties! Take heed and mind yer step, for the devil’s snare lies in wait.”

Damien and Adrian left the office to their chamber. On the way Damien related to Adrian what she had said, because for sure he knew that Adrian had not paid any attention to the conversation they had... Damien and the healer.

They had talked about it, Damien and Adrian, as they walked to their shared chamber.

The way the night brothers looked at Kai, anybody would know that there must be something wrong. Kai sat down in the same position he was in the last time he came to class. He seemed to notice the peculiar stare of the night brothers.

Nobody, not even Kai, knew why he turned towards the Nyx brothers and gave them a knowing smile. Anyone could see that the smile was not hostile, nor was it sinister, but for some reason, it drove chills through the Nyx brothers.

“Eeek!” Adrian shrieked. He was the expressive one after all, whereas Damien was totally silent, but the look on his face screamed a lot of words.

The class was silent, and Lester had to do something about it. He had to teach. “Class, as most of you may know, the academic bureau has made some changes to your curricular activities. They have agreed to let first-year students partake in the mid-yearly assessments.”

“Gasp…” Someone somewhere in the class gasped on behalf of the first year’s in the class.

The system in the Central Magic Academy allowed students of different years to attend the same classes under the same masters to avoid cases of bullying and boost competition between classmates.

But there were some activities that not all students could attend. Normally, the third year we were stronger than all the other students, collectively.

The Nyx brothers as well as Astra were second years’, so they had attended the mid-yearly assessment once. The Wykes brothers were the only third-years’ in the class.

Kai and Harley were the first years’ in class, Harley was different, she had Astra as her only friend, but Kai had none.

The mid-yearly assessment was a brutal and gruesome activity; there were no rules. The main objective was to kill demon beasts. But the students could take the merit points of other students by killing them. This entire activity was wrong, but this was the central magic academy: Success was paramount, no matter how it was gotten.

A few days ago...

An old man sitting in a high seat, so high that he could only have gotten up there by flying. “Let what brings you to my presence.”

Lester walled forward and genuflected. “Academic administrator, I have a favor to ask of you.”

The expression of the old man changed; his facial expression got serious because he knew that Lester never asked for favors, except when it was cutthroat important. “Hmm… Tell me, what is it?”

Lester took some time before answering, “It’s about the mid-yearly assessment.” Lester said.

The Academic Administrator seemed to ponder for a moment. “Mhm… What about it?”

“I want the first year’s to participate.” Lester said in one breath.

“mhm.” The Academic Administrator hummed. “This is a tough one.”

“Administrator, can you do it or not?” Lester asked, eyes burning a dangerous light.

The administrator was silent for some time before replying, “This would be hard... But I would see what I can do about it.”

The words of the administrator were music to Lester’s ears. “Ha-ha… Now you are talking what I love to hear. I would be expecting the good news!” Lester laughed heartily as he walked out of the room.

“Haa,” the administrator heaved. “How did I fall into this young master’s trap?” This task would take everything he had to accomplish.

In an actual sense, the administrator was meant to be Lester’s superior, and even in the eyes of the citizens of the central continent, the administrator was the highest-ranking official in the central magic academy.

But unfortunately, Lester wasn’t not under this concept. He had the administrator wrapped around his finger, to bend to his whims and wishes.

As to why this is so, only Lester and the administrator were fully aware of the reason behind this. But one thing is that Lester’s not to be taken lightly.

“This is a decision from the magic council... Prepare! You will enter the training grounds next week, and by the way, there will be no less till next week. Use this time to prepare.” Lester said to his class as he dismissed them early.

Kai didn’t see anything as strange.

Nothing worthwhile happened throughout the rest of the day.

Darcy had been in her training chamber for a whole day; she hadn’t slept nor eaten anything since that time.

Darcy had lost most of her ladylike luster but still had the elegance of a queen. Sweat ran down the side of her face, and her expression distorted.

The baron-level spell was hard for her to comprehend fully; it was too complex yet so delicate that Darcy felt that if she lost a bit of concentration, that's when the spell would backfire and hurt her soul.

Darcy had been in the same position since yesterday; her aura kept rising and falling as she comprehended the spell. Darcy was a genius among geniuses, but still, this was hard to crack.

This went on for quite some time; Darcy’s eyes were glued to the opened scroll in front of her.

Suddenly her eyes lit up with brilliance; the fiery embodiment of the Phoenix was deep in Darcy’s eyes. It was made of flames, yellow and purple. It was magnificent.

“I have finally done it!” Darcy had comprehended the spell. It all seemed like a dream to her. She stood up, but sitting for so long in a complex position had its toll on her; her feet felt wobbly.

Darcy checked her essence; It had gone up! “I am about to advance; is this not simply too fast?” Darcy seemed shocked. Her words carried a trace of shock but her face… Not so much.

This speed was unheard of. She was a genius quite all right, with Baron Mage potential, but she had advanced by leaps and bounds since she met Kai. It hadn’t even been a month since she got his blood.

“If the world knew about this... no. I can’t put his life in danger.” Darcy said to herself as she walked out of the room with a noticeable limp.

Darcy’s fire magic essence increased from 37 per cent to 39 percent; she was one step away from being a first-layer Count-level mage.

Samantha had called in sick, so as a mortal, she was given a leave to stay off work for a few days for her to get better. Instead, she spent her days inspecting the spell manual Kai had given her. The words Dao of space and time seemed to call out to her.

She decided to comprehend the spells within the book. She opened the first page and the time around her seemed to stop, not that she noticed.

Kai walked to his room after the class had ended; he had no time to talk not have a chat with his classmates.

The rest of the day, not even the night brothers came to meet with him, so Kai spent it getting used to and understanding the vast knowledge he had stored up in his head.

“This is interesting.” Kai said this to himself as he was lost in thought; he had found something new. His body was simply new to him; the knowledge in his head was to him as a huge library.

The next few days, Kai spent his day understanding his vast knowledge and trying to understand how he got it.

Darcy had just gotten the news of the mid-year assessment. “Kai would also be participating.” That was all she could say when she heard about the changes to the requirements of the assessment.

Samantha, on her own, had spent her leave well, studying the Dao of time.

Somewhere in a dark alley, two hooded figures were making plans for their own.

“Are your people ready?” One of the hooded figures said, in an unrecognizable voice.

“We await your command.”

“No mistakes else… I don’t want your heads.”

The other hooded figure seemed to shudder in fear before answering. “No mistakes.”

… Days went by.

Darcy had improved in her spell proficiency. She was not a Count-level mage yet, but she was close. She could feel it.

Kai had not gone out of his room for some time now. The knowledge he had was vast, so extensive that even he could not fully understand it… Yet.

—Knock. Knock—

There was a faint knock on Kai’s door. “Who is that?” Kai asked.

A faint voice was heard. “It’s me, Samantha.” Samantha blushed on the other side of the door as she began imagining things.

“Come in,” Kai called out to Samantha on the other side of the door as he opened it for Samantha.

Samantha Heath

Rank: Noble (9%) peak commoner mage

Element: space and time

Loyalty: 30%

‘I see she has improved quite nicely.’ Kai thought to himself.

The view in front of Samantha almost made her jaw drop. Kai was shirtless, and his chiseled body came into Samantha’s view. He was hot.

—flick—

“Ouch!” Samantha winced in pain from the pain in her forehead.

“Even if you want to ogle at me, come inside first.” The moment Kai’s words landed in Samantha’s ears, blood rushed to her face. She brushed hard; she could not even keep eye contact any more.

Kai shifted from the entrance and gave Samantha leeway to come in. Samantha walked into his chamber with her head down, with thoughts flooding her mind. She could barely think straight any more.

A few moments passed by, and the silence was becoming more deafening. “Say, my dear, what is the problem?” Kai asked with his cheeky smile plastered on his face.

Samantha was silent for some time. “You…. You said I could come and see you if I ever encountered a problem in my assimilation.”

Kai seemed to ponder. “Yes, I did say that... Have you encountered any difficulties?” Kai asked and he picked a seat and sat close to her.

The room became hot. ‘Is it just me?’ Samantha asked herself. She had never felt this feeling as strong as she felt now for him. To be true, she had never been in the same room with a boy her age before.

Kai noticed the way Samantha looked at him but said nothing. “What’s the problem?”.

Samantha was calm. “Uhh, Kai, the problem is...” Samantha explained the problem to Kai; she was experiencing a bottleneck in her assimilation.

Kai thought for some time. “It’s clear that the problem is the concept of time. Let me explain, time is…”

Kai spent time explaining the concept of time, Samantha was silent as she did her best to understand all that Kai spoke.

‘He knows a lot!’ Samantha thought to herself.

Kai seemed very knowledgeable in the concept of time, and Samantha looked at him in awe. “Did you understand what I just explained?” Kai said, whipping Samantha out of her train of thought.

Samantha stuttered for a bit before answering. “Yeah, I understood what you said; I will take my leave now.” She half-lied.

Samantha stood up to leave. “Did I tell you to go?” Samantha heard Kai’s question and was frozen.

Samantha turned around. “I am sorry,” She said with her head bowed.

“It’s alright,” Kai said with a smile. “You know I never told you about the family members... You have one sister in this school.

Samantha was shocked. ‘Could it be Lady Dorchaidehe? No, it can’t be.’

“Lady Dorchaidehe,” Kai said.

The whole room became dead silent, Samantha never expected that Kai could be so well connected with Fire Princess Dorchaidehe.

—Knock. Knock—

Before Samantha could say something, someone rapped on the door. “My best guess is... That’s her.”

Kai walked to the door and opened it. A happy lady, Dorchaidehe, jumped onto Kai. “I have comprehended it! Thank you!!” Darcy was beyond excited.

Behind the happy couple, a shocked Samantha could only gape at the happy pair.

Kai was smiling. “That’s wonderful, truly!” He carried Darcy to the chair and sat her down.

It was then and only then that she discovered that there had been someone else in the room. Her countenance fell; her childish behavior had been on display in front of the strange girl in Kai’s bed.

The silence was heart-piercing. Samantha was in shock to see lady Dorchaidehe in Kai’s room.