Note, I will no longer use the transition will just be smoother. If you're bored, you could also go reread the first two chapters which have been edited. Small rewrites, story additions, etc.

By the way, comments, reviews, messages, etc.

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I woke up early today, it was so I could go into the school's library before class. I browsed through the hundreds of books on demons again skipping over the ones I've already read. Multiple books tell about how demons control the host, lots tell of their whispers, how they drive the person insane. With this seal, it shouldn't be able to have much influence over me, I can still do this, I can still keep it under control.

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Sitting at my spot, Axel comes up to talk to me, the usual smile plastered on his face.

"Where have you been?" he puts his hand on my shoulder. "I got some pretty awesome missions done by myself ya know?"

One of the other students, "Hahahaha, yeah right Axel." did something happen while I was away? "You stole our quest, we found that cat first!" the blonde haired boy shouted. He reminds me of Leonard, the guy who was kicking the lizardman.

"You guys found it, but I caught it." he crosses his arms. "Rainen, who do you think the reward rightfully goes to? Me, the person who actually caught and fulfilled the quest, or these guys, who just found the cat."

Don't pull me into your petty disputes, the reward's already been given right? Another person, a girl, sitting down below by the guy who laughed at Axel stopped me before I could speak.

"Don't, bring the 'martial artist' into this, it should be between the mages." is this how they saw me? The memories of me fighting Hector came back, I beat him with my fists, not magic.

"H-hey! Don't say that about him!" Axel yells in my defense. His face is a light shade of red, his eyes glance between me and the girl. "He's better than you!" as a magic caster I have to disagree with him there, where is he trying to take me?

"Hah. I've been ignoring both of you... villagers, for the past month, the academy doesn't discriminate but you guys are lower than us, we earned our way in here." she says. She doesn't know about how I got in but Axel got in with money just like them, I assume.

"You just paid to get in here." Axel says. "You didn't earn anything." his fists were clenched and to his sides.

"Who are you to say that?" her face is red. The other students have started listening in. Miss Ein's not here yet. "There's no way a villager like you could get into this school without cheating!"

Hearing this remark another student starts to chime in, an elf. "Unlike you no-"

Axel cuts him off, "No. Who are you, to say that to me!" his knuckles are white and his arms are shaking. "You, you... unLIKE YOU, I GOT IN BECAUSE MY FAMILY WORKED HARD!" his voice grows louder, he's shouting. "INSTEAD OF HAVING EVERYTHING HANDED TO ME, I HAD TO WORK HARD TO GET HERE! MY FAMILY HAD TO SUFFER JUST TO PUT ME IN THIS SCHOOL WITH YOU RICH KIDS WHO HAVEN'T EVEN DONE THEIR OWN LAUNDRY BEFORE!"

I stand up and put my hand on his shoulder, he looks at me. I turn to the shocked girl and say, "I never thought that a noble would be so hungry for money. If you really needed that reward I'm sure Axel would've given in if you asked him." I said it rather spitefully, watching Axel get angry also got me a little riled up.

"It-it's not abou-" Miss Ein slides the door to the side, it makes a loud bang as it hits the wall.

"Everyone, take, your, seats." she says without her usual please. She must've overheard Axel's yelling. "What's going on here? A little dispute?"

"M-Miss Ein," she says, "I've had enough with those two!" she points to us. "They won't do anything for the academy. They're just stains on its reputation, their magic is way too weak!"

Miss Ein shakes her head, "Axel, like you, was admitted because he met the magic standards and paid the fee. Not be quiet, we're going to take the test soon."

She sits down, and shoots us glares. Miss Ein starts passing out a written test, Axel and I glance at each other, silently, he mouths, "Thanks."

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With the written test done, Miss Ein leads us to the arena, the same one where it gained control for a bit. The same place where I jumped in to stop Leonard, and fought against Abelard. I sit next to Axel, the other classes are here, only first years though, the upperclassmen will be doing this another time.

The teachers will call us, a person and their partner, down for a battle not much unlike the one I had the first day. The person and their partner will be facing another group, it'll be called off by the teachers when they feel like they've seen enough or there's a winner.

Right now we're on the fiftieth group. Only a few more to go, Ellar and I haven't been called up yet, Axel has though. He lost, but they were up against the magic swordsmen, much harder opponents. They deflect the attacks, block, counter with magic and keep on getting closer and closer until it's a close combat fight. Only ten pairs of magic swordsmen have lost so far, seven times against other magic swordsmen, and three against magicians. Ellar's friends, Iris and Elis, were one of the three that beat them.

Elis was aggressive and kept on pounding them with spells, Iris focused on disrupting their barriers and she also used a lot of earth pillars to get them unbalanced. Eventually the swordsmen slipped up and a teacher had to save them from Elis's relentless assault. If she were to fight that red haired girl, Maria, from the auction, it'd be quite the long battle if they only used magic.

After this, after today, I'll talk to the headmaster, I'll ask for an excuse. Then I can finally go meet my sister after eight years, I hope that when I meet her, we're both much more mature.

"Rainen, Ellar, it's your turn." Miss Ein comes up to get us. It would be tiring if she always had to climb the stairs to come up here so she uses flight magic, an advanced spell.

"Who are we facing?" Ellar asks from four seats away.

"You'll be facing the swordsmen from Mr. Duval's class. Their names are Jenny Halthorn, and Jack Malzbur." she answers. I see Ellar lean to Iris, she's probably asking for information. Iris still doesn't know much about me, she's tried asking but I've refused.

Mr. Duval? Guessing, just guessing here, I assume he's the one that didn't want Ellar and I to go on that D rank mission. I ask another question to try and confirm this, "Is he the teacher that didn't want us to go on the D ranked mission?"

She nods, "Yes, but this is completely random, we just take turns and it just happened to be his students against you two." she ushers us towards the stairs. "Now go on, we'd like to get these tests done by the end of the day."

I start for the stairs, Ellar rushes to meet me. Her face is a mix of conflicted feelings, one that's prevalent is concern.

"What did she say?" I ask while still walking, just slowing my pace so I can hear everything.

"Iris, said that Jenny shouldn't be a problem because her magic is the one of the worst in her class. But the problem is that, when it comes to close combat she ranks in the top f-five." okay, so she's troublesome. If she gets too close I'll have to fight her. "The real problem, uh, is that Jack's got the best magic score in their class and he's proficient at close range. If he's supporting her, I-I don't think that w-we, can w-win."

"Couldn't you just use your water torrent right off the start so they can't get close?" Is what I want to say but I know she's hesitant when it comes to people. The other problem is that with my magic, I won't be able to break Jack's barrier, I might even have a tough time against Jenny's.

"Don't worry," I tell her. "we've beaten a few giants," we had help but hey. "we can handle those two."

"Y-yeah." she tries to say it with enthusiasm but fails.

We reach the room filled with extra pairs of uniforms. Blue hair looks around, "There's a lot of uniforms." she says softly. I agree, though, it does seem necessary. Out of the fifty groups I've seen today, at least ten had to get new uniforms, ten whole groups of four. I can see why they have some students do quests, some of that money goes into funding this.

Stepping outside, Miss Ein leads us to the middle where we meet with the other two students. Jenny has long blonde hair but it's in a bun, she's as tall as Ellar. Jack is only an inch or so taller than them, everything about him screams knight. From his body mass, to his winning smile. At their sides they bear two wooden swords, both of which, they have to enchant themselves.

If a magician fought against a guard or a normal swordsman at a reasonable distance, they'd win hands down. The same can't really be said for a swordsman armed with an enchanted sword though, much less for a magic swordsman, with knights standing at the top.

"Ellar, Rainen, come over here." Miss Ein beckons us to her. In her hands she holds two wands. "For you two, it's only for this match though." Ellar reluctantly takes the wand, Miss Ein watches her carefully. I choose not to even move.

"Could I also have a sword?" I ask her. Both look at me, as if I were some kind of idiot. Both have a dumbstruck look on their faces, I heard that I beat up Hector but these guys don't even give me much credit huh? I'll admit, from what I remember, Hector's a strong guy, I'd lose quickly unless I had my tools.

"Why would you want a sword?" Miss Ein asks. "You're a magician." she says that but her hands slowly curl around the wand. "Alright, I understand."

She turns around and walks towards the other sword instructor, after seeing him lean over to catch a glimpse of me, Miss Ein returns with a sword in hand.

"Here. Before you go, just know that it's not enchanted. You won't be able to block any spells or parry them with that." she holds the wooden sword by its handle.

"I know." I take it from her. "Thanks." Ellar and I go to the middle to meet with them. I notice her fidgeting even more, she's probably nervous. Finally, she manages to ask a question before we shake hands with them.

"Y-you're good with swords r-right?"

"Nope," I lie, I'm better than the average swordsman. "I'm a total newbie, I just wanted to try it."

"I-is that so?" she lowers her head a bit. For some reason, she never seems to be able to open up to me. I guess I make too many jokes at her expense, or maybe she just doesn't like me.

"I'm just joking, I'm not bad." I tell her. Her expression changes into one of a person who understood.

"That makes sense then..." she mumbles.

"What does?" she takes a step away from me and only glances up at me through the corner of her eye.

"Huh? Oh. It's nothing." I think she might be blushing but I can't tell when she has her face away like that.

"I'm Jack and this is Jenny, good luck." Jack holds out his hand for me to shake. I quickly exchange greetings with them and we head to our corners. His good luck seemed to imply that we would be needing it.

Feeling confident I make sure to share it with my partner. "You don't have to worry so much. We can do this." I reassure her.

"Y-yeah." again, a less than enthusiastic reply. Her eyes keep looking at the crowd up above, her body is stiff and her arms are placed firmly at her sides. She's holding back and nervous? Before I couldn't tell if which one it was since we were always in class, but after going with her on the quest, I've noticed how much she's been holding back.

I can't really understand her problems. I trained under my master, not because he forced me to, but because I wanted to get stronger. I can understand the bit about the attention but the eyes of outsiders doesn't mean anything. They're just there to watch and do nothing, sure they judge with their minds but they don't always act on it.

Because of that, I had to step in to help the lizardman. No, I'm sure that even without its influence I would've went in eventually.

Mr. Duval came to the middle of the arena, his eyes rest on the sword at my side for a moment before saying anything. "Start!" he yells and runs to the sidelines where the other teacher are watching. An older magician stands in a circle, no doubt waiting for the moment where he has to cast a barrier and stop the match.

Both of them make a break for it, running in opposite directions but with the same place in mind.

"Ellar!" I yell as I shoot off two fireballs.

"G-got it!" she comes back from her previously petrified state and launches off a few basic spells, each one packed with much more power than mine.

Jack is on her side but I fire at him, with my weak attacks won't do much to Jenny anyways so I stall Jack with them. Instead of putting up his barrier he lifts his hand and shouts a spell.

"[Great Gust]!"

The fireballs are blown away, he stands there unscathed. Using such a spell for my simple fireballs is overkill and a waste, but he probably plans to end it quickly. Jenny dodges the barrage of attacks sent from blue hair, her balance is faltering.

Capitalizing on it, I put both hands on the ground. "[Earth Pillar]!" A giant rock raises from the ground and Jenny hops away. "Now!" I yell. Like I've noticed before, Ellar hesitates and casts a spell a little too late. By now, Jenny's balance returns and she dodges it.

"S-sorry!" Ellar says.

"Don't worry about it." I say.

I pull both my arms back, preparing for another attack, "[Fire Burst]!" from my hands I release fire like that of a dragon's breath.

Unable to cast a spell in time Jack opts for a barrier. Taking my chance, I throw another fireball into the mix to keep his attention occupied. I fall to the ground and say, "[Earth Pillar]!"

Instead of losing his balance, Jack rides the pillar as it drives him upwards. From the peak he leaps, my first instinct is to let loose a throwing knife but I can't use those. I bound backwards, avoiding his attack.

Ellar easily keeps Jenny at bay, her attacks getting more and more frequent. Each frost arrow and water ball, each coming sooner, but Jenny's sword moves swiftly with a flick of her wrists to deflect each one.

"[Soul Arrow]!" Jenny casts the basic normal spell, tens of arrows appear above her head.

Jack rushes at me, "[Mud Wall]!" it stops his rapid advance. Following up, I twist my body and shoot out a fireball with my hand. Jenny counters it with a soul arrow, three more are flying at me.

"Barrier!" the turn to smoke as they hit the magic shield. Taking a step back, Ellar pulls her hands to her side, "[Ice Burst]!"

A large bluish cloud emits from her hands, soon they turn into sharp ice spikes.

"Barrier!" but they're stopped by Jack's just in time spell. I turn to fire another spell at Jack but I feel myself getting light headed, my mana's running out. In that brief second he closes the distance between us, his sword ready for a strike.

"YES!" someone yells, but I don't see who.

With Jack's sword coming from below, I pull out my own and stop his. My free hand flies at his face but he dodges. My next reaction is to send a kick his way, he ends up rolling backwards because of it.

He wipes the sweat of his forehead, "Not bad." that's when I notice another five arrows coming my way, I take a step back.

"Barrier! [Frost Arrow]!" Ellar shields me and grazes Jack's cheek with her attack.

I rush in and he swings the sword at my stomach, I leap over him and land on my feet. My own swing aims for his shoulder.

"Barrier! [Great Gust]!" with the two spells cast by Jenny my attack's effectiveness falls.

Jack jumps away from me.

"[Flash Freeze]!" the ground under blue hair becomes ice and spreads to stop Jack from moving. "[Frost Bolt]! [Frost Arrow]!"

Both of those fly to stop Jenny from advancing, "Barrier!" the immobile Jack casts.

With that both of the spells are stopped. I dash in, my sword low aiming for his abdomen. I take a quick step back, the rest of her soul arrows fly past my face. Noticing her, I bend my body backwards, I feel the wind as it blows past my nose.

I jerk my hand and hit her side with my sword. She calmly moves away from me, her leather vest taking most of the damage.

"[Heat Wave]!" the frost keeping Jack from moving slowly dissipates. Ellar flings more spells their way but they counter it with their swords. I see blue hair gasp for breath, even she has her limits when it comes to magic, we're still young.

"So? You both going to come at the same time or let me pick you off one by one?" I say it in a superior tone trying to anger one of them.

"Nice try." the girl runs behind me, swinging low, Jack comes from the front with a high swing. My body floats horizontally in the air for a moment, their swords pass by each other in slow motion in perfect unison.

Once I land back on my feet, I lunge at Jenny with my sword. It pushes one of her shoulders and she falls back.

Quickly following up, I change the direction to hit Jack but he knocks it from my hand. It flies across the room hitting the wall.

"Got you." he says. I only smile. I've always liked using my hands for fights, my master said that knives best suited me.

I roll away from Jack. Jenny gets back up, she rubs her shoulder where I hit her.

"You okay?" Jack asks.

"Yeah." she responds.

"[Hail]!" large chunks of ice fly at them with unbelievable numbers.

His barrier holds off the attack. Ellar holds her chest, breathing a little heavily, I have to end this quickly. The way she's acting versus the way I was is almost completely different, I just felt lightheaded and collapsed. A teacher hasn't stepped in yet, do they not notice how she's doing?

A part of the barrier breaks and they resort to swiping at the incoming ice with their swords. Finally, the hail stops. Ellar's on her knees, a teacher comes to get her but she holds up her hand, "I-I can, still, do it." the teacher looks at her for a moment and nods.

"Rest!" I yell. "I'll handle them!" she only nods.

"Think that you can take us by yourself? Magician." good, they're getting a little arrogant. I can see their relaxed stances, they're much more confident now.

"Yeah, I do." actually, I don't know if I can, especially without my weapons but I know one thing's for sure, they can't beat my master.

I charge at them, they hold their swords back behind them ready to stop me. They swing at the same time, with a quick movement, my uniform is thrown into the air. Their swords slow down as they hit the clothing.

The one with the best magic has to go down first. I appear from the side that Jack's on, he's caught totally off guard, nothing he can do to defend himself from my next attack. I send the mana into my fist, the fire coats it in a blazing red, *Boom*

He flies back into the mud wall and falls quietly to the floor.

Jenny, after recovering, swings her sword aggressively at me, pushing me backwards. I do nothing but dance away from her and block the occasional blow with my bracers. Seeing the perfect moment I land two quick strikes in her injured shoulder. Ignoring the pain she continues, I make a slight mistake and she lands a hit on my chest.

The pain isn't very intense, my body protection spell is always on a certain level when I'm fighting, "Never go without that spell when you fight." My master said to me.

More thrusts come my way, I can't find an opening anymore so I just defend. If I want to end this now, I'll have to take the initiative.

When she sends another thrust, I allow it to hit me, in that moment I catch the wooden blade and turn my body. She doesn't let go of the sword so I'm able to grab her arm. *Thud* I flip her onto the floor.

"Sorry," I say to her, she's looking at me dumbstruck. "my specialty is close combat."

I hear the crackle of fire behind me. I turn around, putting up a barrier. It shatters on impact. The force sends me spiraling.

I'm able to get back up and dodge the next fireballs.

"[Whirling Gale]!" the small tornado sends me flying, I have no defense against it.

"Guh!" I let out a noise as my back hits the wall. I let my guard down too.

Another fireball comes my way, I put my hands up to create a barrier but as I invoke it, my mind falters, I'm running out of mana.

"Barrier!"

The fireball clashes against it and loses. I see Ellar standing back up, she doesn't look like she's doing a lot better but she's not out yet.

"[Frost Beam]!" she shoots a continuous blue beam of ice at Jack, his barrier protects him as he steps closer to her.

I notice Jenny getting up, I wasn't able to cast stun on her. I get up, my legs are a little wobbly but I still run.

She holds her sword like a fencer, mana gathers around it, "[Wrath Thrust]!" from the sword a burst of the dark looking mana is shot out.

I tumble under it, I can't afford to go slow right now. I charge my fist with mana, this time no fire coats it.

"[Burst Strike]!" a normal basic spell my master taught me. Very useful when I need some range.

"GUH!" she's blown back by the attack, some of her spit falls to the floor. She lays on the other side, not moving.

"S-stop!" Miss Ein shouts and sends a great gust of wind at us. I use my hands to shield my eyes from the wind. Jenny shouldn't be dead, that attack isn't a lethal one. "Go heal him immediately."

"Yes." the nurse rushes forward, but not to me or Jenny. She runs for the half frozen Jack. I look on in shock, Jack's on top of blue hair, his arm is raised but not in a fist. Was he trying to stun her?

Ellar sits there shaking.

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"Can I take a few days off from school?" I ask the headmaster politely.

He studies me with his eyes, with one hand he holds a piece of paper, not mine, and uses the other hand to hold up his reading glasses. Hector's not in his office today.

He drops the paper on his desk and says, "I understand your circumstance." he nods. "Visiting family is a fine reason to take a vacation." he hasn't been doing much since the last time I saw him.

"Thanks so may I le-"

The door to his office opens. Axel walks in, "I'm leaving pl- Rainen?"

"Oh? So you're taking a break too?" the headmaster asks.

"Uh, yeah. I'd like some time to go see my family." Axel says.

"Do you two know each other?" I ask.

"Yes we do. Axel came here last week giving me a notice that he would be leaving for a few days this week." the headmaster smiles. "I believe the place you two are going is the same right?"

Axel is going to the Green City?

"Okay, then I'll allow you two to leave if, Hector comes along."

"I have no problem with it." Axel says. He may feel that way but I don't want one of the headmaster's closest people next to me. But I need to go see Aisha.

"Fine." I respond.

"That's great." the smile grow brighter, but I sense something more behind it. "But, what about your partner, Ellar Wholehart? Are you not worried about her?" he asks me.

"I-" I don't know what to say. "I am." I am but I also need to visit my sister. She's been waiting for eight years. Blue hair and I aren't the closest but she's still my partner, and the second person from this school that I talk to the most.

"Are you not going to talk to her?"

"I-" Axel puts his hand on my shoulder.

"As her partner, I think you should go. It'll be short, we can leave tomorrow. Okay?"

"Yeah, you're right." thanks Axel, I don't need to leave right after school. Seeing her is what I should do first, she's having a rough time right now. "I'm going."

"Me too." Axel says as we turn to the door.

"Be careful!" the headmaster yells out after us.

I close the door and head to the dorms.