《Angel Academy》CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
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After a long, break less, three hour! training session, we all stumbled hungrily up to the hall to get food, my stomach growling loudly as we sluggishly walked through the corridors.
"That wasn't so bad, was it!" exclaimed Axel cheerfully.
We all glared at him and watched in disbelief as he sprung by the side of us still full of energy.
"What?" he questioned defensively as he took in our sulky faces.
I shook my head at him and sighed as we approached the hall, I took in a deep breath and smiled happily at the smell of all different sorts of foods flowing out of the doors. We pushed them open and sat at our usual table while Axel went to sit with his friends from his own year.
Food was already positioned on the tables ready for us, I immediately grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it in my mouth, mentally thanking the cook's organisation.
"I've never been so happy to see food" sighed Chase, taking a bite out of a chicken strip.
I rolled my eyes and took a big gulp of water.
"I'm sure you say that every time we eat," said Orpheus, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Chase shrugged at the comment and continued to stuff his face with chicken.
"I can't believe that we're still doing the games" complained Shade changing the subject "with the demons building up for an attack, we should be focusing on war training" he continued, setting his cup onto the table.
I was really looking forward to the house games but I do have to admit, Shade has a point. Isn't the fate of the whole school more important than an elemental victory?
"You're starting to sound like Asher" voiced Orpheus.
"Well, Asher has his priorities straight" scoffed Shade.
The table fell into an awkward silence, I continued eating and watched as Orpheus picked up a blood bag. He took a long sip of it and his eyes turned silver making those weird marks appear on his face.
"Since when do you drink blood?" I asked.
It may seem like a stupid question, but because Orpheus was a vampire, dragon rider hybrid he can survive off human food as well as blood, so he usually stays away from the stuff because he tends to lose control.
He blinked a few times, allowing his eyes to return to their normal colour.
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"It makes me stronger, so the principal told me to start drinking it to prepare for the war," he said, his fangs still visible.
"But don't you have control issues?" asked Shade rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but I can't exactly harm anyone here. Humans don't enter the school's borders," he replied clearly annoyed.
I finished eating and looked over to Shade who had returned to his usual, blocked off self.
I recently discovered that if I focused hard enough I could feel Shades basic emotions, not as strong as the bond between Obsidian and I but it was still there, I know its weird but I can only do it with him. It must be another side effect of the prophecy.
I began to read him through the connection and had to bite onto my cheek to stop myself from gasping. He was in pain, it was an emotional pain but it was so strong, just tapping into our little connection had me wanting to burst out in tears and this was only a hint of what he was going through. How can he look so calm? So normal? He must have been hiding his emotions his whole life to be this good.
I quickly exited his mind and sighed as relief flooded through me in a wave of calmness as all the pain and worry diffused out of me. I stood up from the table and looked down at everyone's confused faces.
"I'm gonna go and see if Kai needs some help sorting out the dragons" I lied convincingly.
I pushed my chair under the table and walked up to Shade casually.
"Come with me?" I asked sternly.
He instantly got to his feet realising that he didn't have a choice. I smiled at Chase and Orpheus and gave a little wave before swiftly leaving the room, Shade following behind me.
"Whats wrong?" he questioned as soon as we left the hall and walked down the school corridors.
"We need to tell somebody about your demon side," I said seriously.
His stopped In his tracks and turned to face me, his eyes hardened and he cleared his throat, straightening his posture.
"Why?"
"Firstly, by telling somebody we could actually make sense of it, maybe even understand it" I began, walking towards him gravely.
"Actual-" he started.
"Secondly!" I shouted backing him into the wall "what happens if the school comes up with a weapon to kill ALL demon-blooded creatures? Did you think about that?"
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He hung his head and looked at the floor in thought.
"Shade, I know your hurting..." I said more softly.
"How could you know that?" he questioned, bringing his fiery eyes up to meet mine"No seriously, tell me. How could you possibly know how I feel" he shouted taking angry steps towards me.
I backed up and hit my back on the other wall of the corridor.
"The connection!" I screamed without thinking.
"What?" he questioned.
I brought my eyes up to meet his to see that they had softened. I let out a sigh and straightened myself out.
"I can use it to feel your emotions," I said quietly.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, we continued to stare at each other before he finally spoke.
"You feel that too?" he whispered.
I nodded slowly, only now realising how close to each other we were. He silently continued to look into my eyes as if he was searching for answers, I stood frozen at our close proximity, taking in his unusual scent, he smelt of pine, with.. a faint hint of...peppermint?
"You're nervous?" he asked, searching my face.
I shook my head in disagreement but felt my heart pounding against my rib cage, I tried my best to calm it down, praying that he didn't hear it. He moved a strand of hair from my face slowly and backed up hesitantly never taking his eyes from mine.
"Fine, we will tell the principle" he concluded, breaking our eye contact.
I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding and gave him a faint smile.
"Ugh... l-lets go" I stuttered.
I began walking down the hallway towards principle Stonehearts office.
I hated how much power Shade had over me, it's strange, I've never felt that way around anyone. It's hard to describe but when I look into his eyes, the whole world stops, it's just us, frozen in time. He makes me feel nervous but at the same time, he makes everything seem like its going to be ok. I know that sounds cheesy but it's how I feel and to be honest, I don't think that I could change it if I tried.
I came out of my thoughts and approached the door to his office. I knocked on it three times before entering.
"Mr Stoneheart?" I called, walking into the dark room.
"Stop" shouted Shade, grabbing my arm.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him with a questioning look on my face.
"I can smell blood" he whispered.
I took in the disgusting metallic smell and pulled out my dagger, advancing into the room slowly. I nodded to Shade and he flicked on the light, illuminating the room.
My blood turned to a frozen slush in my veins as I took in the horrific scene before me.
Principle Stoneheart was slumped backwards over his chair with a large silver blade protruding from his chest. I dropped my arms to my sides and gasped, looking over the blood that was pooled below him and splattered all over the walls.
I hesitantly walked towards his lifeless corpse, noticing that there was a note attached to the blade. I broke it off the handle and read it aloud.
As soon as I had finished reading it, the note went up in flames sending a cloud of ash to coat the bloodstained floor.
'torturous death' I looked over to principle Stonehearts dead body to see that his eyes were pure black which meant that he was hexed to endure as much pain that his body could physically cope with before death. I watched silently as Shade walked over to him and closed his eyes.
"Nunc libera animam tuam" he mumbled softly, bowing his head
(Your soul is now free)
I stared at the floor and thought over the note. 'Your father' The words hit me like a tonne of bricks, Sebastian is my father?
Tears filled my eyes blurring my vision, I looked up at Shade as one escaped and rolled swiftly down my cheek. His mouth was moving but I couldn't hear him, the note's message still stabbed through my mind.
Sebastian is my father.
It was all too much, I know I said I wouldn't be seen as weak, but this was different. I closed my eyes and sobbed quietly, I felt a pair of comforting arms wrap around me but I stayed still, I couldn't move to return the embrace, all I could do was cry into his chest and take in his calming scent to mask the blood.
Shade is wrong, he isn't the monster, I am.
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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