Bryn awoke with a start, his hand clutched at his chest whilst he breathlessly panted as he took in his surroundings.

The last thing he remembered was laying on the cold forest floor, a hole in his chest, dying.

Only now he was, he was surprised to find out that he actually knew where he was, he was in the classroom that they used to teach first year at the farm.

Swinging down from atop the wooden table he had been lying on, he noticed Magnus Solomon, vice principle of black rose academy, watching him from his desk in the corner, his face hidden by the shade of night.

Vice-principle Solomon was unhappy, he had a cigar in his mouth and a cute puppy in his arms, but neither could improve his mood.

“You're awake, good” He said before taking another puff on his cigar before blowing out a cloud of smoke, “Now tell me, what happened?” he said as he leant forward in his chair and further into the light.

Bryn froze for a second before telling him everything.

Rosewater

The Duel

The Surprise attack

Everything

Bryn sat in silence whilst Solomon spoke to an assistant at the side, Bryn was unsure whether it was an older student or someone who just worked at the farm but to be honest, he didn't really care.

He felt something in his chest, a phantom pain at where he had been stabbed, but he knew that he was fine now, the vice principle had healed him to the point that the only time he had felt this good was right after the Grand dragon had healed him during the second test, but something was different this time and he didn't know what.

Solomon finished his conversation with the assistant and walked back over whilst the assistant left, he shook his head in disappointment.

“The names you gave me were fake, there is no record of anyone going by that name attending the academy and as for that 'adjudicator', well, there is no one of his description in the disciplinary committee so that is a dead end” Magnus said to which Bryn gave him a look of betrayal.

“So that's it, they get away with trying to kill me!” Bryn pleaded in anger.

Solomon leant against his desk and held hid head for a second before turning towards Bryn, “No, they are not getting away with anything, this is just going to take a few days to find the culprits, okay” Solomon said softly, he understood what Bryn must have been going through, the anger, the fear.

Bryn gave a soft nod of his head in understanding but the Vice Principle was not done with him yet, there was a key piece of information that he had left out, something that he felt Bryn deserved to know, if only as a driving force to get stronger.

“there is one more thing that I think you should know” Solomon suddenly said from the side, “...They didn't try to kill you, you were dead for several seconds before our people got there” Solomon said, dropping a bomb right into Bryn's lap.

“I... Died?” Bryn spoke in shock and almost questioningly, as if he could scarcely believe what he was really saying.

“Only for a few seconds, the person I sent to investigate what was going on managed to resuscitate you but essentially yes, you died”.

Bryn Sat there in silence, stroking a still Leena who was resting on his lap.

Silence pervaded for a time before Bryn spoke, “How did you find me?”

Solomon perked up at this question and aimed a small smile towards Leena, “I was working at my desk when suddenly out of nowhere, You're little partner starts going ballistic, I thought that you may have been caught by one of the older years in a duel but just to be safe, I sent one of the students that assist me here to investigate, good thing I did, I never expected things to be as bad as they were otherwise I would have gone myself, but you should thank Leena, without her alerting me to your danger, you would have died in that forest” Solomon said to which Bryn only leant his head down and nuzzled Lena's fur with his nose.

He spoke into her ear with words so quiet no one else could hear, and cried tears that Leena knew not what they were for.

After a few minutes Solomon called for a few of the assistants at the farm to escort Bryn back to his dorm, as he was leaving he called out to the man.

“IS there anything you can do about the situation in Rosewater?” Bryn asked, hoping that at least something good could come out of this but he was to be let down again.

Solomon shook his head, “I'm Sorry, the people in town belong to the guild and I cannot go against their decision, the most I can do is talk to a few people I know and see If they would be willing to ignore the blacklist”.

Bryn's head dropped as his hope was snuffed out, the assistants led him back to his dorm before leaving him be.

Sat on the edge of his bed, Bryn held his head in his hands.

“God damn it” he whispered.

“GOD DAMN IT!”

Bryn lost control and suddenly started to smash up his room, he flipped his bed and threw anything that wasn't nailed down again the wall.

By the time he had calmed down the room looked as if a bomb had gone off.

He spent the rest of the night sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

********************************************************************************

Class started the next day with the new students chatting amongst the little cliques that they had formed in the days since school had begun, Armarni had spoken to a few he was friendly with but the person he really wanted to talk to hadn't shown up to class yet.

Seeing lionheart in the distance, Armarni headed across the field to see if he knew where Bryn was, after a brief conversation Armarni was directed to a courtyard adjacent to the training field.

The courtyard was enclosed in white walls and sat atop dry red dirt, several practice dummies were planted into the ground but for all their number, only a single one was in use.

Armarni leant against the wall and watched as Bryn unleashed all his anger and rage onto the dummy, from the condition of his knuckles, Armarni guessed that he had been hitting the dummy since before class has even begun.

It was as he was watching from the far side of the courtyard that he saw a new group make their entrance, and he immediately knew they were there to start trouble.

Bryn panted as his eyes locked on to the dummy, its straw face replaced with that of Felix.

From out the corner of his eye he saw the group of students as they approached him, he noticed Aria and gave a self-depreciating laugh.

He knew what they were there for and it was for that reason why he was laughing as that they had no chance of getting it, because he no longer had it.

“What do you want?” he called out to them in annoyance.

Arai moved to speak but a sword was raised by one of the older member of the group, they gave Arai a look that told him to back down and know his place, a place that didn't have the right to speak.

“Gideon Bryn” one of the older student stood at the front of the group asked to confirm.

“I go by Bryn Lockhart now, and once again, what do you want?” Bryn asked whilst still punching the straw dummy.

Some members of the new group took offence that Bryn was showing them no courtesy in facing them, but once again, the older student motioned for them to back off.

It was as he was going to speak again that Armarni came in to view and stood to one side of Bryn, currently out of the way but very much in the picture.

The older students face turned unpleasant for an instance as he recognised Armarni but it went back to normal after a moment.

“Before you came to the academy you engaged in a duel with a member of my organisation, a duel that they lost, I am simply here to retrieve that which they lost as it is something they will need for that which is to come” He said amicably, but his tone brokered no fear, nor any doubt that he would be leaving this place other that with that outcome.

Finally, Bryn stopped hitting the Dummy and looked at this newcomer for the first time.

The older student was strangely, or at least for the academy, not wearing any combat armour, nor did he carry any weapon, instead he was wearing a black suit with a red shirt, he had Spiky black hair and was of obvious Asian descent.

However, just because he was weapon-less did not mean that he was of no threat, Bryn could feel something radiating off the older student, something that instinctively told him not to try and fight this man.

“what did you say you're name was again” Bryn asked in curiosity, not showing any care for the pressure that the older student, nor the rest of the students in his gang were giving off.

The older student gave a defenceless smile, “Ashikaga Hanzo, but you can call me Ash”

Bryn and Ash stared at each other for several seconds without saying a word, it only ended when Bryn let out a cheeky smile.

“I'm sorry to say, you're too late” Bryn said to which not only Ash and his group lost their smiles, but so did Armarni, he had never seen Bryn without the sword on his person since joining the academy and it was only now that he realised that he didn't know where it was now.

“What do you mean?” Ash asked, his pleasant facade slipping.

“I mean that I no longer possess the sword, I lost it in a duel, so even if you start something now, you'll still get nothing from me”.

Ash looked him dead in the eye before noticing Ash redirecting his attention to both the worn-out dummy, and Bryn's bloody knuckles.

“I see, I don't suppose you would mind telling me the name of the person you lost the sword to so I can peruse my objective with them”

Bryn was about to answer but Arai burst out from behind Ash, hollering as he spoke “He's lying! The bastards lying, let’s just kill him and search his corpse” He shouted whilst giving Bryn a glare that told of his hate.

Bryn was both surprised and amused by this outburst, Ash was not.

*Slap*

Arai recoiled as he held the side of his face, Ash glared at him with unhidden anger, “Did I ask you for your opinion! Stand there and be quiet, you have already done enough with your so called 'Orders'” He said before readjusting his suit and turning back to Bryn.

“I'm Sorry you had to see that, now the names?” he asked once again.

Bryn was surprised by Ash's actions, but in all honesty, he found himself actually liking the yakuza man for it.

“I can give you the name but It won't do you any good” Bryn said to which Ash gave an unamused look whilst Arai had to hold himself back from speaking out again.

“Explain”

Bryn shrugged his shoulders before motioning to his body, “I got challenged on the way back from Rosewater last night, both my opponent and the adjudicator gave fake names...the academy is investigating” Bryn said and decided to add the last part of his sentence to add credibility to his statement.

Cocking an eye, Ash asked almost immediately, “Was it on the road or in the forest, and how far were you away from Rosewater”

Bryn saw where he was going with this and answered, “in the forest and about 5 -10 minutes out at walking pace” he said but before he could even finish Ash had turned around and begun to give orders to his group, “that's third year territory so we'll start with them, have our people ask who has been working in the area recently then we'll take it from there” he said and motioned for a few members of the group to get started on it before he turned back around to Bryn.

“You have my thanks” Ash called out unexpectedly before leaving with the rest of his group, surprising both Armani and Bryn with his friendliness.

Armarni moved to stand beside Bryn as they watched the group move away, most of them were listening to Ash as he spoke whilst only Arai was giving them a look back every so often, it was obvious he was upset with things being left as they were but Ash was in no mood to hear it, a raised hand was all it took for Arai to hold his tongue from earning Ash's ire any further.

“So, what really happened?” Armarni asked after they finally left but Bryn was in no mood to answer and moved back to the dummy before he continued to hit it.

Seeing that he was getting not where Armarni called out in exacerbation, clearly unhappy that Bryn was ignoring him.

“Bryn!”

Bryn stopped for a second as the memories of last night came flooding back.

Bryn turned to look Armarni in the eye before saying one thing, “.... They killed me, they put a sword through my back, who does that?”

Armarni had no words for what Bryn had told him, he simply watched as his friend turned back to the dummy and continued to pound hist anger and frustration upon its straw body.

He now had his own demons to deal with, his own questions to ask, the main one being 'would things have turned out the same way if he had decided to leave Rosewater alongside Bryn when the opportunity was there?'

Class ended with neither Bryn nor Armarni re-joining the main group, No words were spoken between the two but that did not mean they did not remain by each other’s side.

The two walked side by side through the academy as they headed for the clifftop keep and their next class of the day, techniques.

They walked in under the happy go lucky conversation of the rest of the room before taking their seats stoically.

They were in a world unto themselves, invisible to all but those that saw the signs of what had happened.

Professor Kane noticed the mood In which both Armarni and Bryn were in and guessed that it had finally happened, they had popped their cherries and lost a duel to one of the older students.

Walking over to them with a knowing smile and intentions of cheering his student up, “So how was it?” he asked jovially.

“How was what?” Armarni asked uncomprehending.

“You're first Duelling loss, ha-ha don't try to hide it, I can see it on your face from a mile away” he joked to which Armarni gasped whilst Bryn reposed curtly in irritation, “oh it was brilliant, I especially loved it when mid fight the Adjudicator stabbed me in the back and left me to die in the middle of a forest, it was FUCKING BRILLIANT” Bryn shouted out finally, his words loud enough and content shocking enough to silence the entire room.

For a second, Professor Kane was about to flip his own switch in response to being spoken that way to by a student, but then he realised what the words Bryn had said meant.

The professor motioned for the class to carry on and ignore the outburst whilst he himself, revaluated how he was looking at the two students in front of him.

“I understand that you are upset but you will not speak to me like that again, am I understood” he first said to Bryn who calmed himself down, “Yes sir...sorry” he said as he continued to take deep breathes before he felt like he had gotten his anger under control.

“Now tell me what happened?” Professor Kane said before listening as Bryn explained what happened in the duel to both the Professor and Armani, who had yet to hear that it was the adjudicator that had killed him.

The story only took a few minutes so it had no real impact on the class, but the professor was able to gleam several things from the story and whilst he couldn't help with most of them, he could with one of them.

“Well, I'm sorry for what I said before and what happened to you but have faith in the academy, they will find out who it was and the appropriate punishment will be dealt, but if I may ask one question, is that the Gauntlet that you mentioned that they were unable to remove in the story?”

“Yeah, the one who called himself Dominic was trying to remove it for a couple of minutes, if it wasn't for this gauntlet refusing to come off then they would have probably had the time to kill me and make their escape with no one the wiser” Bryn said as he gave a new look of appreciation to his gauntlet after following that train of thought.

If he was to be honest, ever since he had learnt that the gauntlet was his fathers, he had looked at in condemnation, that everything that he had been through that had gone wrong was its fault, but now, those feelings had started to change.

“Do you mind?” The professor asked as he motioned to getting a better look at the gauntlet.

Bryn motioned it was okay and the professor took Bryn's gauntleted arm in his hand, he looked and inspected each mark and etching, each detail and carving until he gave Bryn a smile and let go of his hand.

Bryn was about to ask what he had found but the professor had walked away before standing in the middle of the room.

“So, for today's class I was going to tell you about the next technique that we will be learning that comes after reinforcement but before we get into that, it has been brought to my attention that some of you have gained the ability to manipulate Mana but have yet to grasp one of the most fundamental abilities inherent within Mana” he said before flashing a grin to Bryn.

“Mana can be both used to power [Skills] and spells, as well as tools, such as sword and shields, guns and armour, as long as you are in contact with the item you wish to empower is should be quite easy to direct your Mana in to it, why don't those of you that have not yet attempted this, try it now” he said whilst motioning for Bryn to attempt to do the same with his gauntlet.

Bryn looked down to the gauntlet that he had been wearing for the past few days with both surprise, but also embarrassment.

Using Mana to empower tools and weapons was not a secret, this was common knowledge! Bryn had simply had too many things going on to remember he could use Mana in this way.

With a quick look around, that thankfully revealed he wasn't the only one, a number of students had red faces whilst their friends were jovially ribbing them from the side.

With a quick look to his side, Armani shook his head as he caressed the two pistols hosted on his chest, “I knew how to use Mana 'properly' before professor Kane said it, but these are Science based tech, no Mana necessary”.

Bryn Focused back on the gauntlet, since he had received the piece of armour he had been dubious about it, His dad had been using it during the massacre of Hong Kong and quite simply, it was disturbing that it was made out of what looked like carved bone, but since the incident last night, his opinion about the tool had changed, not completely, but enough that he was going to give it the benefit of the doubt.

With a bit of effort, he split a stream of Mana off from within himself to power the gauntlet, and his world was never the same again.

The world around him disappeared as he felt as if he was plucked from reality before being unceremoniously dropped within a strange environment that lacked any light.

Bryn tried to move, to look around and search for any indication of where he was but his body was frozen stiff, petrified into stillness.

Suddenly a monotone voice that offered no gender spoke from within the darkness.

“Activation of this inheritance requires the user to be of the [Oni] Bloodline...Would you like to acquire the [Oni] Bloodline?” The strange voice asked but before Bryn could reply, it carried on.

“[Oni] Bloodline detected; would you like to acquire the inheritance?” It asked and the world stilled as it awaited Bryn's answer.

Bryn was so shocked and confused over what was going on that it took him a few moments to catch up with the words that the being in the darkness had asked, and in doing so, several dots were connected in his mind.

Whilst it was only recently that he had found out that Ryuto Asakura was his father, he had known about the Hero with the moniker [Fallen Hero], everyone did, you didn't just wipe out a city without being noticed or people wondering about how they did it.

In regards to Ryuto, the world at large had always assumed that he was able to do it because he had lost control of his Bloodline, but whilst the world was certain that this was the cause, they had never figured out how he had obtained that bloodline, as when those that knew what bloodline he possessed after the fact investigated the cost within the [Aegis] system, they unconditionally stated that he had absolutely no way of obtaining this [Bloodline] through the system and must have obtained it through other means, and those means were now within Bryn's hands, But from the sounds of it the bloodline was just beginning to what the inheritance offered.

An [Inheritance], from what Bryn had heard whilst watching T.V, Usually from some TV show talking about how famous Heroes obtained their powers, was an item crafted by a powerful being with the intention of passing down their personal skills or abilities to those that they found worthy, now that Bryn thought about it, they were very similar to that of a grimoire, only one passed down upon their owners death, whilst the other would be passed down even if the owner was still alive.

If what he held now was an [Inheritance], then Bryn had no doubt that it was worth far more than the advance bloodline required to access it, but the question was, should he accept it or not.

The world may have come to the conclusion that his father went mad thanks to his bloodline, but was that really the case, or did something he obtained within the [inheritance] cause the Hong Kong Massacre.

“...yes” Bryn spoke out to the world and the darkness receded to reveal a pedestal with a mask floating atop it.

Bryn knew that he could have debated the pros and cons of whether he should accept the inheritance to the point that it would tear him up inside, but the simple fact of the matter was this; He needed the power the inheritance offered for the world wanted him dead, and no matter what the world thought, he knew what he felt within his own Mana, he knew that what drove his father to kill was not anything offered by the inheritance, their bloodline was the cause and whilst his father had failed to control it, he would use any and every means to not end up like him.

With his body finally free to move, Bryn Stood before the pedestal to get a better look and whilst he had tried to overcome his misgiving about the gauntlet and the [inheritance], the mask was not helping.

It was a skull, plain and simple.

It was made out of carved bone, the eye sockets were sunken into darkness, much the same as the nose and what Bryn could see behind the teeth in its mouth.

It was plain, simple and horrifying.

Bryn had already made his choice, he simply needed to follow through with it.

He placed the mask upon his face.

“Bryn, Bryn, You Alright” Bryn heard Armani say from beside him as he realised he was suddenly back within the courtyard classroom.

Was he alright though?

Bryn thought he was, he wasn't in pain anywhere, in fact, he felt good, he felt calm and collected, like an irritating fly that had been buzzing around inside of his head for days was finally gone.

“I...” Bryn turned to speak but Armani Suddenly jumped backwards with his face a picture of terror.

“Ah!” Armani gasped in fright, his hand halfway towards reaching for his pistol whilst he moved to put space between him and the thing in front of him.

The room went quiet as they focused on the disturbance before they all noticed what had caused Armani to jump back in fright.

“What?” Bryn asked in fear, he had only just accepted the [Inheritance] but something to do with it must have caused such a reaction with the rest of the class.

Professor Kane slowly walked over to Bryn; his body language showed that he was prepared to attack if things took a turn for the world.

“Bryn, Are you okay?” He asked to which Bryn focused on him and he stopped in his step.

“Yeah, I'm fine, what's wrong, what happened?” Bryn asked as his fear grew larger.

“Your face...are you sure you are okay?” The professor spoke again but it was enough for Bryn to investigate himself.

Bryn felt at his face and within seconds he realised that thankfully, “my horns are gone!” he spoke out loud before continuing to investigate.

Everything felt normal until he felt it, it was unlike the chitin that made the horns before, it felt like his skin had taken on the feel and texture of his gauntlet, like it was bone, but the real problem though, the thing that had frightened and freaked out the rest of his class, was that the bone like skin surrounded his left eye.

Only, could he call it an eye any more, as a dark socket was all that remained.

After feeling the lack of an eye Bryn quickly brought up his Holowatch and quickly used its camera to get a look at his face.

His left eye was simply gone and in its place was the darkness from the realm he had just been dragged into.

“For Fuck's Sake” Bryn muttered as he poked and prodded the darkness within his eye socket as those around him started to calm down.

“Bryn, What's going on?” Armarni finally got the courage to ask after calming down from his initial fright.

Bryn stopped playing with his eye for a second as he thought on how to best describe what had happened, and what he came up with was “Oh its nothing, the worlds just fucking with me again, I'm sorry sir but I think I need to go see Professor Blackwell again”.

“Granted”

Bryn grabbed his stuff and left the classroom as quickly as he could, he made his way through the empty halls of the academy before arriving at Professor Blackwell's classroom.

Luckily, this time she wasn't in the middle of teaching.

“Professor” Bryn called out to the teacher who was researching at her desk, she looked up as Bryn walked down the stairs, she was about to say something but when she got a good look at his eye, she held her tongue.

“I better call the others” She said before making a swish with her hand, to which two ethereal birds flew from her hands and out of the classroom.

Vice-principle Solomon was the first to show up but the head of the first-year students, Eduardo Espinoza was right on his trail.

The two came in to the classroom to see Professor Blackwell examining Bryn's eye, or the lack of one for all appearance.

Eduardo and Solomon shared a worried look once they saw Bryn's eye but shelved their concerns as they got closer.

“What happened?” Solomon asked to which Bryn explained about the [Inheritance] and how the mask was proof that he had accepted it.

Bryn was slightly concerned about telling them about something that was probably worth a fortune, but he needed help from where he could get it, and these people had been on his side so far.

The three teachers had their own questions about the [Inheritance] as Bryn had just told them the answer to a question a lot of people had been asking for the past 16 years, but they were more concerned about Bryn, at least for the moment.

“How do you feel?” Eduardo asked to which Bryn gave him a genuine smile.

“I feel good, and happy, something that I haven't felt since I first started using my Mana” Bryn said to which the three teachers gave a questioning look before beginning to discuss amongst themselves.

“It could be that the new mask is helping with controlling the negative effects of his inherent Mana Attunement”

“yeah, It could be that his Mana Cap has rose thanks to the mask as well”

“Can you have a look Ali”

“no problem, give me a moment” Professor Blackwell said before activating the seal on Bryn's arm before manipulating it to allow more Mana Through.

7%

10%

20%

50%

100%

Bryn's Mana was at full flow and whilst his mask had fully formed atop his face, there was no negative side effects like before, no errant or slightly psychopathic thoughts attempting to dominate his will, no desire to kill or maim, rape or torture.

He was just him.

“Are you still you?” Solomon asked from the side, ready to take action if need be.

“Yeah, I'm fine, brilliant actually, my body feels like it’s on fire, but a good fire, if you know what I mean” he said, fumbling out his words as he tried to describe how good he felt.

The three teachers nodded in understanding, what he was essentially going through was accessing his Mana for the first time again, only unlike last time, there was no restrictions.

He was able to feel the full force of his power unimpeded.

The three teachers were concerned about this sudden trend but none more so than Eduardo, but more than concern, he looked remorseful? Sad?

“What's wrong?” Bryn asked as he noticed Eduardo's melancholic atmosphere.

“It's nothing, it's just...that is the same mask that you're father wore, back before he was known as the [Fallen Hero}, but as the [Shinigami]” he said to which the two teachers gasped in realisation whilst Bryn showed a look of concern.

If he had the same mask as his father then did that mean that he was following in his father’s footsteps, would he end up reaching the same destination as he father.

“Does that mean...” he tried to asked but Eduardo cut him off, “No, I remember that your father was in full control of his abilities when he wore that mask, images from Hong Kong show that when he lost control, he was no longer wearing that mask so we can assume that so long as that mask remains, so too will your control” he said, banishing the fears of the three others in the room.

“So, what now, do I just live out the rest of my life wearing this mask” Bryn asked as he looked at himself within his Holowatch camera.

Just like before his eye sockets were hollow pits of darkness, so to was his nose, but unlike what he was expecting, he actually had control of his mouth and could use it as normal, only the insides were made of pure darkness.

If he had to where it constantly from now on, he could and for the most part he could go about his daily life the same, only he would look creepy as all heck doing it.

Eduardo gave off a smile this time, “no, you're father was able to manipulate the mask to his will and make it disappear on command, you should be able to as well, with a bit of effort of course”.

Bryn focused on his mask under the watchful gaze of the three teachers, he tried to will it gone, to move or manipulate it as if he was manipulating his own Mana, but he was getting know where.

Suddenly, a thought came to him, I'm trying to manipulate it as if it was my Mana, but does it even have any of my Mana within it yet, is that why it isn't working.

Following this train of thought Bryn entered his soul realm and turned to see his Mana Gate, the part of his soul boundary that allowed his Mana to leaver and empower the rest of his body.

Unlike before where only a single mask was present, there were now two masks attached to his boundary.

There was his own masks, the Five-eyed Oni, And now there was the Skeleton mask that hung beside it, only a few things were different between the two.

Before, the main stream of power went through the Oni mask but now that had been switched to the skeleton mask, but unlike the Oni mask that glowed bright with power, the skeleton remain dormant, its eyes hollow but not with the darkness he now associated the mask with.

With a quick change, he powered the mask like he did Leena's gate, but unlike he was expecting, it did more than just come to life with power.

The being that spoke to him in the realm of darkness spoke once again.

“Access to Inheritance [Reapers Folly] Granted”

“Skills available for purchase, Reapers Touch, Reaping Arms, Reapers Cloak, Deaths Contract” the being spoke before its words turned into physical letters that surrounded Bryn's Spirit form with his options.

Reapers Touch [Active] [Tier 2]

Absorb life force (Mana) from any target upon physical contact

Cost: 1/0 Souls

Reaping Arms [Item] [Tier 2]

Create a weapon that possesses an enhance Cutting Ability

Form - Scythe

Required Materials

1 x Femur [Tier 1]

4 x Fang [Tier 1]

1 x Fire Source [Tier 1]

1 x Nether Steel Bar [Tier 1]

1ltr of Host Blood

Essence of Host Soul

Cost: 1/5 souls

Reapers Cloak [Item] [Tier 2]

Create a cloak that possesses enhance stealth and manoeuvrability.

Form - Cloak

Required Materials

1 x Shadow Fox Hide [Tier 1]

10 x Defiant Toad Skin [Tier 1]

10m x Combining Thread [Tier 1]

1ltr of Host Blood

Essence of Host Soul

Cost: 1/5 souls

Deaths Contract [Active] [Tier 7]

Extend the life of a target by using the Host's Mana supply to power the Spirit Boundary of Host's Target, The targets body is broken down and Reforged back into true life so long as mana is supplied to the boundary.

Use of skill will cause a permanent loss of Mana for as long as contract is in existence.

Cost: 1/5 Souls

The skills were impressive and useful to say the least, especially given his current situation, as for who this [Inheritance} had belong to, he had a fairly obvious idea.

The only thing that had him worried was the cost for each of the [Skills].

Souls

It had never occurred to him that Souls may have been used as a form of currency somewhere, but it appeared that they were.

Could he really use someone soul as a form of currency, well, from the displayed cost it appeared that he had already obtained a soul from somewhere, with a quick investigation of the [inheritance] he was able to find out that the soul he possessed was within a storage area for souls in his Gauntlet.

Using his Mana to peek inside he was able to get a brief description of the soul stored.

River Dragon's Soul [Tier 1]

Soul Rank: Orange

Potential: Epic

Death's Contract: Compatible

Thinking back to the second test, Bryn remembered the moment he killed that baby dragon, and how he threw its body off of the rock tower and onto the sand below.

He still didn't know whether he was happy about having to use Soul's to obtain power now that it was no longer just people that he could gather them from, but at the very least, he wasn't going to use this one yet.

Not until he Understood the capabilities of [Deaths Contract], as a tier 7 Skill, it must be powerful, and the river dragon's soul was compatible, so that must mean something and he was not willing to waste what was potentially a once in a life time opportunity.

Entering the real world again Bryn was met with the three teachers expectant gazes, “So, how did it go?” one of them asked and it was only now that he remembered that he had entered his soul realm for a reason.

With a quick thought the skeletal mask upon his face receded under skin, his face was perfectly back to normal.

The three teachers let out a sigh of relief whilst Bryn confirmed with his Holowatch once again.

No Horns

No missing eyes

Perfectly normal

The group quickly departed under good tidings as they each went about their day with a renewed and happy vigour.

Professor Blackwell went back to her research whilst Vice-principle Solomon went back to run the Farm, Eduardo headed off to teach his next class and Bryn went to kill some third years.

The teachers never noticed the change, but neither did Bryn.

It was subtle, but something inside of Bryn had changed.

It wasn't as drastic as before, there were no psychopathic thoughts tearing him up inside trying to get out.

Instead, it was just a subtle coercion, an implanted desire.

A need for revenge that would only get stronger with time.

Bryn next class was in the opposite direction to where he was going, he exited the grounds where most of the first-year classes were being held and headed in the direction where all first years knew to avoid, the area where the older students gathered.

At the academy there were multiple training fields for the students to use, they would each offer both basic and unique equipment to train with so no matter what area you specialised in, there was a place you could train.

Due to the first years being new to the academy, their abilities were limited and as such the training grounds they had access to were limited, the training grounds he was heading towards now was some of the best the academy had, and a guaranteed place to find some older students.

It was most definitely not a place a first year wanted to be during hell week.

On the way to the training grounds Bryn reviewed all that he knew about his targets, he figured that Felix was a rouge/assassin type of build but he had not faced him in battle so his knowledge on him was limited.

No, if he was going to one of them, then it was going to be Dominic.

He could always find Felix's location from Dominic when he found him.

Spotting an older student on the training field, Bryn walked over to her and started up a conversation.

They talked, they chatted and Bryn departed.

No fist were thrown, no threats exchanged, no feelings hurt.

That would only get in the way of what he needed to do, he needed information on his targets but he didn't need them to know he was looking for them.

The proof of concept in his train of thought, was that it worked.

Whilst the older student didn't know who it was that Bryn was trying to find, after hearing the description of Dominic's abilities she was able to advise him of what class he was probably in.

She was even kind enough to give him directions.

The teacher of the class too was very nice and just as helpful as the older student.

It turned out that ‘Trey’, which was apparently Dominic's real name, had a bit of a stigma attached to him in class.

Basically, he wasn't liked very much because he liked to pick on the weak and he didn't know how to hold back whilst sparring.

As soon as Bryn told the teacher that Trey had beaten him in a duel and took his gear, and that he wanted a rematch, the teacher first advised him to change his mind and to practice a bit more before challenging him again, but after seeing that he mind was set, the teacher advised him on where Trey liked to hang out and where he could probably find him.

Of course, she advised on finding an adjudicator first, as a duel wouldn't be official without one.

Bryn of course knew that, but this was never going to be an official duel, this wasn't even going to be a fight.

After checking two of the location the teacher had advised him on, he found him.

Laughing, joking, training with his friends or they may have even been his team.

It looked like at least some people liked him.

Felix wasn't with him so he would have to use other means to track him down but he had at least found one of his targets.

Now, he only had to wait.

Bryn might have been consumed by revenge, but he wasn't stupid, it hadn't impacted his sense of reason or self-preservation.

If anything, it had made him unnaturally sharp and focused like the edge of a knife.

He knew that whilst he was stronger thanks to having access to his entire Mana reserve, but he didn't have any weapons to channel it through, and the skills that he knew would not be able to bridge the gap between the first and third year in a fight.

The day led on and the group of friends he stalked began to depart, Trey and another girl was one of the last to leave, the two were obviously more than friends with their public display of affection, but soon enough the two parted and Bryn was able to follow Trey back to his room in the dorm.

Bryn could feel it is his bones, his revenge was close but it was still not the time.

He needed to wait a little longer.

He needed to be a bit more patient.

The hours passed and the dark of night encumbered all with within its gentle embrace, nary a mouse was a stirring except for a boy on a mission.

Bryn walked down the dorms hallway without fear, he footsteps were silent but steady, his breathing calm and consistent.

Standing outside of Trey's room Bryn checked the coast was clear, he lent in to try and hear if Trey was still awake but he couldn't hear anything, he had no choice, he would have to go in blind.

He gently tried the door handle only for a magic spell to rebuff him, the door was not only locked, it was locked with magic, encoded for only the assigned owner of the room to have the ability to open the door and enter.

Bryn gave a smile.

“[Reapers Touch]” Bryn quietly whispered whilst holding onto the door and he felt the spell fizzle as it was drained of the Mana empowering it.

When he had read the spell description earlier in the day, he found it odd that the it had specified target and not a being, it felt as if it was going out of it way to inform the reader that it could be used on more than just the living, and that was because it was.

As long as it had Mana, Bryn could reap what he was owed.

After a few seconds the barrier went out with a buzz and the door clicked open.

Bryn lent in again, he could now hear the soft, rhythmic breathing of someone asleep.

The door closed with a soft click.

Trey lay upon his bed, half naked but for boxers, his quilt kicked to the base.

For a powerful hero he looked no different than a normal 19-year-old.

Bryn had no knife to slit his throat, no poison to kill him in his sleep, he only one thing to his advantage.

Patience

Bryn held Trey's hand softly and gave him a warm smile.

“[Reapers Touch]”

Trey Stirred in his sleep as the skill was activated but that was all, you do not feel the reapers touch, you only know he had visited once death had overtaken you.

Trey's body started to shrink and wither as all of his Mana was absorbed; his breathing became laboured whilst his body aged several decades within several minutes.

“huh” Try gasped as he choked on his breathe and awoke with a dry wheeze, his eyes went wide as he tried to understand what was going on, he could barely move and he had never felt as weak as he did before!

It was as he started to panic that he noticed Bryn sat calmly beside his bed and he went still.

“Surprised to see me again” Bryn spoke casually whilst still holding onto Trey's outstretched hand, “I must admit that it was rough going there for a while, after you and 'Felix' killed me in the woods, I would have been done for if the student that rescued me didn't know a healing skill that was able to keep me stable until actual medics were able to get me back on my feet” Bryn explained matter of factly but his gaze changed, he was no longer giving off the atmosphere of someone with an easy going nature.

He was now a vindictive predator.

“But you and I both know that we cannot end the story that way, right” Bryn said before releasing Trey's hand, “You have one chance to live, firstly, where is my stuff?” He asked to which Trey tried to speak but his voice was too dry to manage words, he instead motioned with his eyes to the ring upon his hand.

On his ring finger was a silver ring made up of tiny scales that circled his finger before meeting up to encapsulate a large, dark blue gem.

It was very nice; Bryn took it without remorse before placing it on his own finger.

“Now, Lastly, I know that it wasn't you that killed me, it was Felix., so if you want to live you will answer my questions. What is Felix's real name and where can I find him?”

Trey showed a moment of hesitation before he steeled his resolve, he tried speak out a name but his mouth was too dry, Bryn fetched him a glass of water before leaning in close to hear what he had to say.

“...Gilbert...Flanagan....room... 251....Charleston...House”

Two thoughts ran through Bryn's mind at the moment in time.

'So much for honour amongst thieves', and...'I cannot believed I was killed by a person called 'Gilbert''.

Bryn charged Mana into his new Ring type storage device before finding his sword and with a single twist Bryn drove the sword down and stabbed with enough force that it pierced through body Trey's chest and the mattress below.

The Reapers mask spreads across Bryn's face and the darkness of his hollow eyes bore into Trey's very core. Trey's eyes went wide with shock and panic, but he was already teetering on the edge and that had sent him well beyond it.

Trey's head slumped to the side with his eyes open wide, but Bryn did not pull the sword out, he waited and watched, his mask retreating as he did.

It took a few moments before it begun but it was obvious when it started.

Glowing Veins started to run along Trey's body before it began to implode and fall apart, in the end only cinders remained, soon to become ashes.

Bryn left the dorm with none the wiser, his target dead but his mission far from over.

“one down, one to go”

The academy at night was quiet but far from empty, there were no rules that prohibited students from running amok so many hung out with their friends or attended parties at houses off academy grounds, But it was deep into night now and it was still only mid-week, the parties that were available were few and most were preparing for the weekend, for the first weekend of the academic year was one to remember.

For not only were friends and lovers reunited after a long summer, but the first years would hold nothing back in the celebration of making it through Hell week.

As such, the weekend was aptly named 'Hells Banquet'.

Bryn arrived at Gilbert's dorm and entered his room in much the same way he entered Trey's, he moved to kill him slowly as he had before, but when Bryn saw Gilbert's face, his chest flared with pain and a panic overrode his emotions, before he even realised it, Gilbert's head had been severed and rolled off the desk he had been sleeping at.

Some may say that his death was peaceful for he went in his sleep, that he got off easy, but as Bryn felt the satisfaction in his chest, he knew that he did not care how it happened, he only wanted the deed done.

Bryn removed Gilbert's ring, it was of similar design to Trey's only without the scales and with an emerald gem, He left whilst Gilbert's body was still in the process of turning to cinders.

As he got outside Bryn walked for a short distance before sitting at one of the bench's that dotted the long paths of the academy.

He relaxed on the bench with his arms stretched out wide, a broad smile on his face.

He had obtained his revenge.

He had obtained his revenge.

He had obtained his revenge.

The thought kept running through his head even as the sun began to rise and the academy sprung to life.

He had obtained his revenge.

The desire that had consumed his mind was fulfilled and gone, no longer was he the single-track person of last night.

He was back to normal.

His smile began to slip.

The realisation of what he had done began to hit.

His actions overwhelmed him.

His mind turned to turmoil.

His regret surmounting.

He had obtained his revenge, but at what cost.

He had said in the past that he would do as much to those that crossed him, but was it truly him that killed them, was he in control of his actions, or was the power inside of him in control.

Vice-principle Solomon approached from one side of the pathway whilst Eduardo came from another.

Neither looked happy.

Nor did the disciplinary corps that surrounded him.