CHAPTER TEN

Proof of Concept

When Lieutenant Sauer shoved that large jar of blood into my hands — as if he didn’t realize that my tiny arms could barely keep it aloft — I began imagining his boss, Major Heinrich, as this world’s version of the Red Skull. That’s because he’d gone full-on dark side on us after the primarch’s visit.

Gone was the barely respectable racist who’d doted on me for constantly showing off. In his place was this evil man who no longer balked at the sight of broken children. All that mattered now were results, and even I, the institute’s golden boy, was constantly at risk of the lash for my lack of said results.

So, it was with that dead-man-walking frame of mind that I attempted this latest act of casting transmutation.

I can do this… I can.

I hoped the power of positive thinking was enough to help me while I turned my gaze on the blood inside the heavy jar.

Let’s do some magic!

I willed what remained of my magical energy — the bit of it I hadn’t depleted in my battle with Captain Wolf — into the jar, focusing all my willpower at the blood in the hopes that the damn thing would dance for my evil overlords.

Ten seconds of concentrating passed and my hands were beginning to shake.

Hey, self-actualization… feel free to put me in the zone now!

Thirty seconds passed and the sweat was dripping down my forehead in buckets.

Come on, fucking work already… this isn’t supposed to be this hard!

A minute had come and gone, and my brain was beginning to feel like it was on fire.

Please, please, please…

There, it had been only a moment, but when I hit that minute-and-thirty-second mark, I could swear that a bubble had formed on the blood’s surface. Although this was a pretty lame result considering the effort, and it didn’t even seem like anyone else noticed.

Fuck. Again.

Two-minute mark — no reaction.

Shit, maybe that bubble was a coincidence?

My arms finally gave way, and I dropped the jar. It fell on the ground but didn’t break, although cracks formed like spider limbs spreading across its glass surface.

“I…” I lowered my head in defeat. “I’m sorry… I can’t.”

I knew almost immediately after I’d said it that this was the wrong thing to say. After all, the institute’s motto had always been YES, WE CAN. And when I glanced over at the major, I could tell from his deepening frown that today might be the day I lose my special privileges.

So much for being the exception…

“He’s not ready,” Captain Wolf said, coming to my defense. “We need more time, major.”

“Time is not something we have the luxury of having,” Major Heinrich growled.

He pulled out a letter from one of his coat pockets and read out its contents for me and Captain Wolf. The letter stated that General Hauser, the bastard who’d set me on this challenging path, was returning to the institute tomorrow for an inspection.

“He wishes to see the children’s progress,” Major Heinrich explained. “Most especially Number One.”

“Number One’s gotten even better at transfiguration. That should please the general enough,” Captain Wolf reasoned.

Major Heinrich shook his head. “No, that is no longer enough.”

He patted his chest angrily, and it was such a brazenly territorial action that I was surprised he’d show my master such disrespect. It was like he’d stopped caring that Captain Wolf was a celebrated war hero.

“The general has seen what this boy is capable of. He will expect Number One to have progressed in the school of enchantment… and we will not let him down,” the major snapped.

Ah, now I get it… you’ve pressured yourself into a corner and now you’re blaming us for making promises you can’t keep… typical fucking adult.

The major motioned a hand toward the trees to my right. A second later, more of his cronies walked out of the shadows, and they had two kids in tow. One of them was Number Three.

Wait, why did they bring her here?

I hadn’t noticed until just now actually, but Number Three was turning into a real beauty. She grew her hair so that it was now past her shoulders, although she often styled it with a ponytail to keep her pale blonde locks from distracting her during training.

That’s how she looked now, pretty, and, to no one’s surprise, defiant. Even with the gag over her mouth, the narrowing of her eyes told me she was raring to rumble.

I wished I was as brave as she was in this particular moment because I was terrified for her.

“W-what’s going on?” I asked, my voice cracking at the sight of my best friend being manhandled by the bastard who had his hand around her arm. It was a feeling my master mirrored when he said, “Major, don’t do this.”

My gaze drifted to my master — I saw the terror reflected on his face — and then back to the major whose own expression was one of grim determination.

Oh, God, please don’t let this be what I think it is…

In a hoarse voice, Major Heinrich turned to me, and said, “Think of this as an added incentive.”

He made a gesture with his hand, and one of the kids was brought forward. It wasn’t Number Three, but Number Fifteen.

I wasn’t especially close to the shy, curly-haired kid with dark blue eyes who rarely made any attempt to speak out. In that sense, Number Fifteen was worse than Number Two. And from what I remembered, he was also one of the weakest talents of our nursery. And that might have made him expendable to the major’s eyes.

“F-Fifteen?” I breathed.

Tears were pooling underneath his eyes, and I could tell from the way his mouth moved behind the gag that he was screaming, but the gag was so tight around his face that it kept us from hearing his plea for help. Honestly, this was the most emotion I’d ever seen in him — and his panic and fear infected me, too.

“Major, please reconsider. This will put too much pressure on Number One—”

But my master was quickly silenced by more of Major Heinrich’s men appearing behind him, and although they didn’t restrain him then and there, the threat of intent was clear enough.

“Number One,” Major Heinrich moved to stand just a few feet in front of me, “I have noticed for a while now how you seem to be very protective of your compatriots in the institute.”

He patted me genially on the shoulder as if he were some doting uncle who wasn’t about to cause me a great deal of psychological pain, and I had to fight off the desire to recoil from his touch.

“This is an admirable trait in a future young leader of our glorious state.” He nodded approvingly at me right before he leaned in to whisper into my ears. “However, your compassion may also be viewed as a weakness by those who will seek to pull you down. So, think of this as a lesson that I hope you take to heart.”

The major straightened up and the scorn in his eyes morphed his middle-aged face into something that was almost diabolical.

Major Heinrich pointed his finger at Number Fifteen. “Now, I understand you are having a hard time breaking past your current limitations, and as I am reluctant to harm such a promising child, I must assume that the life of your,” he paused, as if thinking of the right word could create an even bigger impact on me, “friend,” yeah, that was definitely the right word, “will be a good enough incentive for you to try harder.”

Then the major nodded toward the jar on the ground before gesturing to Lieutenant Sauer.

What the fuck…

To my shock and disbelief, the psychopath adjutant pulled his gun out of his holster and jammed its barrel on the side of Number Fifteen’s skull.

“Hold on, please don’t,” I begged.

What else could I do? They were threatening to kill him if I didn’t succeed, and I already knew that I couldn’t. Not now. Not with this crazy-ass pressure Major Heinrich just placed on my shoulders.

“Major,” Captain Wolf was once more attempting to bring reason into this ghastly scene, “these children are a resource we just can’t throw away… there are so few of them already.”

“The primarch has already approved our plans to increase the production of such special children. We can make more,” Major Heinrich insisted.

“But a new group’s growth will take years—”

“Yes, and I am prepared to make this sacrifice,” Major Heinrich made a fist, “for the glory of Armestys!”

Oh. My. God. He’s insane!

I saw it coming, but I didn’t think the major would lose his mind this soon. It had only been a year since the incident. How could a man change so drastically over so little time?

“Number One, I ask you again,” Major Heinrich sent me an icy glare that chilled me to the bone, “will you achieve that which we have so long desired to save your friend.”

You could see the plea for help clear on Number Fifteen’s face. He was the complete opposite of Number Three whose anger was flowing off her in waves.

I couldn’t, I just couldn’t let either of them die. And so, I picked up the cracked jar and tried again — and still, the blood was unaffected even though I could now sense the iron in it, which was something I couldn’t manage earlier.

It’s like tasting blood on my tongue… what a morbid reaction.

I quickly explained this to Major Heinrich, emphasizing how this was progress. But he didn’t seem to think so, and the disappointment was obvious on his face when he gave the order that would traumatize my childhood.

There came the sound of gunfire, my master’s angry yells, and the sounds of bodies packing together as the soldiers restrained him from tearing Lieutenant Sauer apart. These noises, however, paled in comparison to that terrible sound of a child’s body falling to the ground.

No, no, no, oh, God, no!

I screamed and screamed, and it was a long time before I stopped screaming. Major Heinrich had to slap me in the cheek to pull me out of my terror.

“Pity, the boy had potential,” he said, his voice sounding more callous than I’d ever heard it. “Perhaps we should have brought Number Two here instead.”

There was a spattering of laughter from his cronies, one that sounded cruel to my ears. Especially since I could see the blood flowing out of the hole in Number Fifteen’s head. It dyed the grass red and sent that familiar iron scent into the air.

“Now, this one,” Major Heinrich gestured for Number Three to be brought forward, “she is very, very gifted.”

Number Three pushed back against her guard so that he had to get rough with her. He forced the girl to her knees with a harsh shove.

“However, she does not like to follow the rules that we have set to protect you children and help you grow into the fine men and women who will ensure the future glory of Armestys.” Major Heinrich pointed a shaking finger at her. “She is unruly… It makes her a liability to what we are trying to achieve with this program.”

“She’s only seven, sir,” I reasoned. “I… I promise I’ll make sure she doesn’t act out anymore. Please.”

“This thing you have, it is more than just friendship, isn’t it?” He gave me a knowing smile. “She is very important to you, isn’t she?”

What else could I do but admit it? I nodded.

“You think of her as like a sister?”

I nodded again while hoping that my compliance would be rewarded.

“How comforting it must be for an orphan to find someone like her in the environment you two are growing up in.”

Number Three started mumbling through her gag, and I was very glad whatever she was saying was unintelligible to the adults because I was sure she was calling the major names.

Major Heinrich spared her a glance. “Number Three, you are a very brave girl… I hope you survive this,” he paused again to think of an appropriate word, “tragedy,” which was definitely the right one, “and learn your lesson… Our glorious military has no place for a rebellious child. You must be perfect or you will be cast away like the garbage.”

“Major, for fuck’s say, they’re kids.” Even with so many hands restraining him, my master was bristling. “And if you don’t stop this—”

“You will do nothing!” Major Heinrich snapped.

Captain Wolf stared daggers at Major Heinrich who was also staring at my master with hate alight in his eyes.

“You may be a rising star in the capital, Captain, but here, I am in command,” Major Heinrich hissed. “And you will follow my orders, or you too will be punished.”

The temperature dropped suddenly, enough that I could see a cold mist on my breath. And I just knew that Captain Wolf was nearing his limit.

Major Heinrich didn’t notice it though. He had already moved on from threatening him to threatening me with the life of my other most important person in this second life of mine.

“Now, we shall see how special Number Three really is to you, Number One.”

If Captain Wolf goes wild, he can save Number Three…

This was the thought racing through my mind, and it lessened the anxiety and pressure I was feeling. But then I realized that if I left it all to my master, I would be no better than the man I was before I died because someone who couldn’t save their friend when she needed me could never be extraordinary.

So, I picked up the jar once again as if it were Number Three’s life in my hands.

Whatever god or devil rules this world, please… give me strength.

I willed all my magic to connect with the iron in the blood — and at last, there was a reaction. It had only been a few seconds, but even Major Heinrich’s eyes lit up with delight when the blood in the jar began to swirl clockwise at my urging.

Thank God…

I fell to my knees out of exhaustion, dropping the jar as I did. It rolled away from me but still didn’t break.

“I… I… I did it,” I gasped.

Man, it was like I’d just finished a marathon, that’s how out of breath I was. Still, despite the sudden fatigue weighing over me, my grin was so wide that it hurt to smile.

I fucking did it! And I saved the girl, too!

“Very well done,” Major Heinrich whispered, “but not enough.”

I glanced up and saw pity flash across his face — as if the old Heinrich had somehow found his way back for just a second — before my gaze moved to take in all of Number Three who now had tears dripping down hair face despite how fearless she looked.

They had taken off her gag, although instead of hurling insults at her captors, she’d opted to give me a grin as wide as the one I had only a second ago. It was almost like she was showing me how proud she was of my success — and it was heartbreaking.

Major Heinrich gave the same order that ended Number Fifteen’s life, and I saw Lieutenant Sauer point the barrel of his gun at Number Three’s brow.

No, no, no — not on my watch!

Although I didn’t get to react right away as two things happened at that moment that was beyond my expectation.

First, the temperature dropped below zero, and the cold mist drifting from behind me was like a promise of violence to those who kept my master restrained.

Second, another cold draft was drifting toward me. Not from behind, but from in front. And as my gaze remained on Number Three, I noticed how a sheet of ice had begun to form around her body like a protective coating.

She’s so freaking gifted.

I wasn’t sure if this ‘Ice Shell’ would be enough to save her, though. Not when Lieutenant Sauer’s gun barrel was resting on her temple.

You’re going down, you bastard!

And so, in that brief moment between life and death, I summoned all the natural energy I could muster to flow into me and then explode out of me while carrying all the emotions knotted inside me — regret, fear, rage, hope — and that was the secret sauce I’d been missing all along.

I realized it with my earlier success. I'd been so worried for Number Three that my fear spilled out of me while I attempted to cast an enchantment on the jar, and that outpouring of emotion was what made the blood swirl around.

The School of Enchantment it turned out, to my great frustration, was the opposite of the scientific rationale of the other two schools. No, this kind of magic required an emotional component that was akin to a plea to God or something equally esoteric.

Small wonder that I didn’t get it these past two years. I was a child soldier, and we were being taught to suppress emotion rather than let it out. But now that I had the trigger, I needed only to unleash my emotions into the ether and I knew the world — this being we call God — would respond to my call.

No, I didn’t use the blood in the jar. It was too old, and I realized earlier that this weakened it so that I could barely control the iron in it. I needed fresh blood, and luckily, there was enough of it not too far from where I knelt.

I promise, Number Fifteen, I’ll make them pay for you too…

I raised my hands and droplets of blood began to rise from the dead child’s corpse. They danced in the air like red fireflies before flying in every direction like shrapnel from a dirty bomb.

Then I heard the adults screaming, and I was glad to hear it. So much so that I smiled.