“My name is Vii!” Vii cries out at the teacher, who shrugs without a care. In the arena below, a couple of older students are taking care of the flowers corpse that Eshya and I left bleeding in the sands. I briefly cry out my thanks and they wave back at me with a few smiles.

“You think your name matters? Get ready and get down there.” He says, heading over to the gates where the beasts are kept. Again, the various screeches and cries escape past him as he enters.

“Rude.” Vii huffs, before shifting nervously. “Well, it’s my turn then. I wonder what sort of beast I’ll get? Will it be big? Will it have strange poisons like that stupid flower? I hope it’s not something disgusting…”

“You’ll be fine.” I encourage her, “We’ll be right here, and don’t doubt that we’ll be down there in a moment if you need us.”

“Thank you,” She says, breathing slowly to settle herself, “I’ve got this, just another stupid beast. I’ll deal with it.”

“Do take care.” Adler says.

“Yes, yes. I won’t break any rules.” She says with a sigh, hopping over to where the weapons are lined up.

Adler’s ears drop at Vii’s harsh reaction to her apparent concern.

“Adler,” I grab her attention, “Why is it that we’re allowed to kill these beasts? Shouldn’t you be wanting to train them or re-educate them or something?”

“There are only so many resources for such efforts.” Adler sighs in resignation, “The beasts brought to facilities such as these are those that we can’t easily civilise, either because we’ve tried and failed, or because we don’t have the time or the people.”

“Not enough resources?” I sigh, they have a whole world made into an academy. Either they’re wasting resources, or they have whole planets assigned to their re-education programs.

I can just imagine them all chained up while welfare officers and beast tamers are trying to teach them table manners.

“How do you get to be a welfare officer, anyway?” I ask.

Vii looks briefly through the weapons stand but it doesn’t take her long to disregard the weapons on offer. Instead, she pulls the protectors off of her sharp talons, weapons far sharper and far more vicious than the sticks on offer.

“That’s not… I shouldn’t discuss that.”

“It’s a talent, isn’t it? Shouldn’t there be classes for it? I don’t recall seeing any in the class list, though.”

Adler sighs and grits her teeth.

“If you must know, welfare officers go through combat training the same as you. We're selected from those who are the best at maintaining ourselves through the rigours of combat.”

“You fought?” Eshya asks incredulously, “But you seemed so taken aback when Freid mentioned how different things were from what you were expecting…”

“Yes, things here are different.” Adler grumbles, “I’ll have to discuss this with my superiors. When combat personnel are put into high risk environments, they are much more likely to suffer injuries to their wellbeing.

“This shouldn’t be allowed.”

“You just wanted me to let Eshya get hurt down there.” I say, not at all disguising my disgust at her.

“Yes, but that was meant as a rare occurrence. It’s high stress introductory training. It is not meant to be treated as a normal event, especially not in actual combat.”

“You’re contradicting yourself in so many ways,” I say.

“From your limited perspective I can see how you would think that.” She replies in growing frustration.

I let it go and turn to Eshya.

“So, did you have fun?” We lean on the rails of the arena, and watch Vii enter into the sandy battlefield.

“Of course not,” she smiles to show off her blatant lie. How she somehow had fun, even after all that horrible ending where she was truly afraid, I have no idea.

“I was just taking my class seriously. This experience should help me develop my talents… and all that.” She looks away and tries to whistle a small tune. She’s not good at whistling.

“I’m sure getting beat up by a flower makes for some great experience.” I reply, “Perhaps I should leave you to it next time.”

“Next time it won’t get me with that stupid attack.” She replies.

“I do hope not.” I say, “How was it fighting after you were hit with the pollen? Poison? Whatever, you know what I mean.”

Vii is nervously waiting in the arena below, apparently the selection process for her dance partner is going to take a while. Let’s hope he’s not ugly.

“It was difficult. I was just a bit numb to begin with, but I could hardly feel anything by the end.” She shivers, but quickly shakes herself out of it.

“Glad I didn’t hesitate.” I say.

“We have each other’s backs.” Eshya shrugs, looking at Adler who’s still by our side, “Well, we do. I’m not sure how much longer till this one stabs us in the back after your stunt.”

Adler, right by our side, is obviously hearing every word, but with everything we’ve done so far already...

We are so going to get ourselves killed. Yet, hyped up on adrenaline, and more than a little angry myself, all I can do is laugh.

“Now, now, be gentle with her, for she knows not what she does.” I reply sarcastically, “And she hasn’t killed us, yet.”

Alder closes her eyes in frustration, her fists tight by her side. She leans in close with a fierce look in her eyes.

“I should have had you collared already.” She hisses quietly enough that the others shouldn’t hear, “I’ve spared you because of that stupid thing you said about killing yourselves. I’m not stabbing you in the back or anything, and I do care about you all.

“I want to help you get better, but you keep saying things like this. You keep doubting us. You keep doubting me.” She says with a long sigh, “Just, please trust me… or I can’t save you.”

I shut up.

“So, you’re covering for us?” I ask.

“Not… precisely. You’re under my authority. I’m doing what I think is best to help you regain your civilised natures. Trapping you with a collar would only make you more resistant to reason, but that’s only true if you’re willing to listen now.” She appeals, just as the gates start to grind open below.

“Fine.” I say, “We’ll talk. But if you’re way of doing things means abandoning my friends to suffering…”

“It’s not… I swear it. We’re the good guys. You just have to trust us.” Adler replies, calming down a little.

Eshya is quiet at my side, throwing a few worried looks my way. I grab her hand and give it a firm squeeze. I’m not about to be indoctrinated to their strange cult, but I might be willing to bow and scrape a little if that’s what it takes.

Calmly analysing it, Adler is already giving us some leniency, so giving her a little trust in return might go a long way to converting her. Though we should definitely be more mindful of her than we have been.

Below, Vii’s foe has finally made itself known, and it’s enough of a sight that I can’t contain my disgust.

A wriggling, pink worm about a metre and a half in length and covered in little tendrils reminiscent of an anemone. It lifts itself up and crawls on these tendrils like a caterpillar might, slowly taking in its environment, not yet noticing Vii, who has taken a few steps back away from the thing.

It rears up, opening a circular maw to reveal shifting rows of tiny teeth. Folding up on itself, the first rows of teeth roll out around its head as its tail is pulled into itself.

In other words…

Its mouth is opening so wide it’s wrapping around its head, while it sucks itself up its own asshole.

Before I can fully appreciate this disgusting fact, the creature launches explosively at Vii.

Flapping her black wings, she throws herself to the side, cleanly escaping the attack. She hovers above the bloody grounds, one claw lowered enough to trace a line in the sand, the other raised and relaxed, likely for balance.

The ‘worm’ slaps into the ground, having missed its target. It spits out some strange keening sound before twisting about to search for Vii again.

“What in the good name of fuck, is that?” I ask, tempted to waste my entire stock of mana just to glass these sands with purifying fire.

“I… don’t quite know.” Eshya replies, and from the look of it few of the other students in the stands are familiar with it. They’re having calm discussions or writing down notes as Vii nervously circles it.

When it finally senses her, it folds itself up, seeming to want to try the same trick again.

This time, Vii isn’t so willing to let it escape. The ass-crawling worm leaps and she reacts. Her black wings stir the sands at her feet, at once moving her from the monsters path, and sending gusts up and underneath the worm in flight.

The winds, rather than weakening as they travel from her, seem to grow stronger.

The worm should have hit the ground by now.

Yet, it doesn’t.

The summoned winds, twist up and around it, keeping it from falling, and imprisoning it in the air. The worm, Santa’s gift to Satan, is clearly confused by this, and twists about and builds itself up as if to leap. Something clearly impossible given its circumstances.

Except…

It flies out at Vii, opening its mouth impossibly wide and striking her wing as she dodges to the side. A few feathers fall loose, but she regains her posture in the air as she turns to face the devil worm, more focused now than before.

Seeing that her easy victory has suddenly slipped from her fingers, she looks frustrated as she gently stirs the air around her with both wings and magic.

The worm however is just beginning its assault.

It leaps again, but this time its mouth opens up at the last moment to nearly a metre wide. Row upon row of hooked, yellowed teeth, are visible from where we stand, and it seems too late for Vii to dodge it this time.

She waves both her wings forward and summons a strong wind that stirs the air even among the audience. The blast is fast enough to strike the open mouth of the worm before it lands it’s attack.

The force is enough to stall the devil worms flight, but rather than sending it flying back, the wind opens its mouth wider. Its maw widens, all the way down it’s body and to its ass.

For a few moments, the worm hovers in the air, letting the wind pass through its body like a god damned wind tunnel.

With a snap, the creature unwinds itself back to a normal form.

If that thing catches you with its hooked teeth, it’ll simply unroll itself around you. Swallowing you as completely as a large snake but taking only a moment to do it.

Vii blasts it with wind magic before it gets a chance to settle.

“How is Vii keeping this up?” I ask, “I know she has a talent for wind magic but surely this has to be using up her mana like crazy.”

She sends blades of wind at the worm, but they only manage to slice off a few of the small tendrils and nothing much more. Pissing off the creature even more.

“A proper talent uses very little mana.” Eshya says, “It’s unfair.”

“Mana blessed; some call them.” Adler says, “The mana comes into creation for their spells.”

“Excuse me, it sounded to me like you said that they make their own mana. I must have misheard you.”

“You did not. Mana comes into existence out of nothingness, and someone with a full talent can manage to leverage that for their own power.”

“That sounds like cheating.” I say, “No, that is definitely cheating. Why can’t my talents do that?”

“It’s rare among the intelligent species, though the wind magic of the flying species is the most common exception. Talents like hers are unfortunately more common among wild beasts, than civilised peoples.” Adler further says, “The rest of us must instead work to better ourselves and learn magics the hard way.”

As Vii dodges and flies around the arena, the worm keeps right after her. It’s jumps coming faster and faster, sometimes even jumping again halfway through the air.

Vii’s brow shines with sweat, the winds she summons aren’t enough to keep the beast under control and seemingly are not enough to seriously hurt it either.

I can hear Vii saying something. Her voice almost chanting, making it difficult to make out the individual words, but what I do understand of it is the general feeling of frustration and disgust. It’s not a spell, but if curses are real, she might be casting one.

With a flap of her black wings, the winds stir in the arena, swirling up the sands and encasing the worm in a blinding, sandstorm. Even this isn’t enough to stop it. I watch closely as its shadow bounces through the storm with growing fervour.

Vii doesn’t let up, dodging attack after attack and keeping the beast encased in the swirling sands.

The creature leaps. It just leaps. Its tactics are completely unchanged through this entire battle. It may not be smart enough to think of another approach, or perhaps this is the only move it actually has.

No matter what its motivations are, it is that simplicity that spells its doom.

Vii finally seizes the offensive as the blinding sands start to slow the worm. She flies high up in the air, and the worm pauses to try and find her, a rather stupid move.

She swoops down into the storm from above.

A high-pitched wail escapes the beast as the whirlwinds of sand die down and we all get a good view of her gripping the slimy worm in her talons.

Safely contained, following the rules properly, she seems ready to kill it. She hesitates only for a moment.

But a moment is enough.

The worm sucks itself up its ass and pukes itself out of its own mouth unravelling itself and squeezing out of her sharp taloned grip. As it does so, it flips around and sinks some of its fangs into her leg.

It snaps its body around in an attempt to wrap her up, she quickly and ruthlessly uses her other talon to attack the creature in this moment of weakness.

Her sharp talons separate the flesh easily, even while it’s wrapping up her leg like a sock made of flesh and teeth. She splits it in two.

One part falls to the sands, but the other is still wrapped around her scaled leg.

This isn’t enough to see it dead.

Vii looks calmly down over these parts before using her sharp talons to cut down the length of her new sock, pulling it off without caring for the scales that the hooked teeth pull out.

She continues slicing it up until the flesh falls to the ground. The grim look on her face proves that she’s just as disgusted at this as I am, but she’s still brave enough to push through.

When the last remains finally stop twitching, Vii sighs, and relaxes. After a seconds pause, she races over to the student with the cleansing and healing magic, pleading for his services so quickly that she manages to squeeze out a small essay before he can cast.

When the last of the blood and sand has dripped off of her she flutters up to us, not bothering with the stairs.

“I think I need to learn that spell,” she says, quietly shifting her talons around as if she can still feel the creature on her. She carefully replaces her protectors, ensuring there’s no trace of the worm she’s dissected.

“Why is it every beast I come across wants to wrap me up and eat me?” She moans, her feathers shivering in disgust. “I’ll have to plan a way to get out of these situations. There’s no telling when the next one will come to wrap me up.”

“Right now.” I say, giving her a big hug. She takes only a moment to relax in my arms, wrapping me in her wings in return, “You’re okay now.”

“That was impressive,” Eshya says.

“It was an interesting fight, who would’ve thought that thing could move on air?” I say, before the teacher comes over to interrupt.

“You did well,” Freid nods, “Again, you should be more mindful of what parts you destroy though.”

“Ah, yes. In the future.” Vii frowns, her feathers shifting uncomfortably.

“Also, it isn’t unusual for people, even those of us with the talent, to have difficulty making the killing blow. You will get used to it with time.” Freid confides gently to Vii, before turning to me, “You’re last up.”

“Give me an easy one, yeah?” I reply, with a laugh to hide my seriousness.

I take a shield and spear from the weapon stands, the spear feeling far heavier than it probably should. Freid swaps out my spear with one looking little different but weighing less. Even now I’m still feeling my weak mana pressure fucking with things.

He mutters something about my ‘pathetic mana form’, before heading off to release a foe for me.

“Good luck.” Vii cries out in support.

“If you can’t kill it, give me a shout and I’ll come get it for you.” Eshya says with all seriousness. I’m almost ready to call her down here to my side when I hear a wet squelching sound from the raising gate opposite me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats & Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 123 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 21%

Muscle: 8%

Mind: 8%

Cardiovascular: 8%

Misc.: 3%

Efficiency: 48%

~Skills:

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused Delayed Casting