Black Magus

“I’m Zakira!”

‘Oh, Telin.’ I internally groaned, then took a moment to give the girl a close lookover. She was around my height. Perhaps a few centimeters taller. As slim as I was as well. Her skin was curiously smooth and noticeably pale, yet wasn't entirely without color. Almost like she’d spent years indoors before finally getting some sun in recent months; much like me. Her mouth and eyes were the most eye-catching of all, however. Her smile boasted large canines and almost bug-like red eyes bulged at me, unblinking.

Based on that and her behavior, I was certain I knew what she was. But I didn’t think Peter was aware of her nature so I calmly reached for her hand, then squinted in curious humor as she jumped in apparent surprise. “My name is Amun.”

“Uh.” She held her gaze on our hands for a long second before stepping forward and lifting her beaming eyes to mine. “Are you dead?” She excitedly asked.

“Uh.” I shook my head in surprise. “Not yet.”

“So then.” She took another step forward. “You’re a devil?”

“Well.” I sighed, much to Peter’s horror. “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah.” She squinted and nodded as if we were agreeing on some sort of conspiracy. “You feel. Well, it's complicated. But, it’s… nice.” She smiled cheerfully. “You’re nice. Let’s be friends.”

“How about we start by letting go of each other?” I mockingly smiled while gesturing down to our hands. But if she saw it, it went unnoticed. As she let go of my hand without delay and remained standing less than a meter before me. Smiling ear-to-ear as if it were her birthday.

‘So that’s how it is, huh?’ I snorted to myself. In Grandpa Lich's words, all undead saw us as sovereigns. That included vampires. But for whatever reason, he acted meekly whenever they were mentioned. It was similar to the way he acted whenever I mentioned dragons. It was as if they were the only creature in existence to make the great Necro King uncomfortable. And now, I knew why.

They were clingy as fuck.

While it was most certainly weird, I didn’t want to force her away for something she couldn’t control. Besides, she was on my team.

“Our other teammates are over there!” Zakira turned, yet stepped closer to me as she pointed across the way to a dwarf and goliath chatting idly on a bench. A comical sight, to say the least. “Come on!” She waved to us before skipping ahead by herself.

“A-are you really a devil?” Peter whispered from my side.

“Only half.” I shrugged without meeting his eyes. “That doesn’t make me a bad person, does it?”

While he was still objectively horrified, he seemed to take a second to contemplate my words before his head slowly started shaking from side to side. “I suppose you’re right.” He eventually said. “But, what’s the other half?”

“Drow.”

Evidently, Peter felt a wave of horror come over him, as his pace slowed to a near halt while his face grew pale. However, my attention shifted to the two sitting before us. The Goliath at least looked like a male. He wore the same browns and greens as everyone else; only, they were morphed to resemble the leather and fur pelts they were wearing during the headmaster’s speech. Other than that, a Satchel of Containing was strung over his obsidian or perhaps slate-like chest.

“Amun, this is Slate.” Zakira bubbly reached towards the goliath before pointing towards the dwarf. “And this is Els.”

“Elsgril Silverforge to you, woman!” The dwarf spat back. Short, squat, and hairy as hell like all the others I saw, Elsgril Silverforge had the hardened callouses and scarred body of an artisanal warrior. The sides of his head were shaved, leaving a braided ponytail on the top that matched the elaborately braided beard dangling from his chin.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” I nodded to him and... Slate.

“The pleasure is mine.” Slate stood to palm his belly and bow a few degrees. “Our instructor implied we should converse with one another and the day is young, shall we begin?”

“Ugh.” Els turned from Slate with a groan. “I, for one, need to register my equipment. And get some grub.”

“I do too.” I quickly said.

“Uh, I would also like to visit the store.” Peter sheepishly added.

“Then let’s go!” Zakira stepped between us with a resounding clap before pulling me off toward the center of campus.

“So, uh,” I mumbled to her after turning into the halls. “How you just... walk under the sun with no issue?”

“Uh, by stepping outside. Duh!” She said in her chaotically cheerful way, making the ensuing burn all the more severe.

“I… heard that vampires are weakened in the sunlight.”

“Well, yeah! But it doesn’t hurt us or anything!” Zakira giggled. “We just lose our powers. That’s all.”

“Ah.” I nodded. In other words, she was like Dracula. Sunlight turned in her into a regular human. Quite the trade-off for natural super strength, speed, and regeneration. “Forgive my ignorance.” I bowed at the neck. To which she simply hummed to herself and remained silent until we arrived at the arena. Inside, was a foyer lined with plants and statues along all the walls, save the ones before us and to our left. Just ahead, the corridor led to the stands of what appeared to be a gladiatorial colosseum while the corridor on the left ended at a half-walled dead-end. Our destination.

While a door sat off to the right of that hall, it was labeled to be for staff and duelists only. So our attention was gathered on the stall fashioned at the end. While it was unattended, I could see racks and chests and mannequins meant for equipment storage neatly arranged throughout the quite spacious room; Labeled from above as Zook’s Armory.

“Hi, hi! Welcome, welcome!” A voice thumped from behind the walls before an aged gnome waddled around the corner, hopped aboard a desk, and stood to bring his beaming visage above the counter. “I’m Zook! Overseer of Zook’s Armory, as you can see here!” He swiftly pointed above and kept rambling. “You look like some mighty fine young Pages! Bet you’re here to register? Yes, you are! Well alright, alright! Step up one at a time please and I’ll get you sorted.”

“I’ll go first,” Zakira muttered before prying herself away from me and stepping before him. “Hi!” She waved. “I’m Zakira and you talk fast.” Not that she was one to talk. She spoke like a college girl who took nothing seriously, but with somewhat of an Easter European accent. It was curious. Zook, however, was shocked.

“Uh- t- thank you, Miss.” He shook his head, then rapidly nodded. “You have any equipment you want me to hold? I’ll tell ya, you can only duel with registered equipment. You needn’t worry about it getting stolen or damaged. I’ll take good care of it!”

“Yeah, sure.” Zakira hurriedly reached into her comparatively small satchel to withdraw and hand over a rather impressive mace. “This is my weapon, Blood Stain. And then.” She drew out the word while reaching back into her satchel to hand over a suit of red and off-white armor piece-by-piece. “The Blood Weaver Set.” While it was impressive, there was no magic leaking off from any of the parts so I let the pieces gloss over my vision until she was done and trotted back to my side.

“Guess I’ll go next.” With his arm dug into his bag, Els waddled before the desk and let out a grunt of apparent dissatisfaction after meeting eyes with the gnome towering above him. Then he handed over a set of armor in much the same fashion as Zakira. While I could see no signatures of enchantments coming from the pieces, there was a bit of mana pouring out from across their surfaces. But before I could hypothesize, Zook let out an awed gasp that pulled my attention to him.

“I see this is made from some rare materials.” Zook gasped again.

“Aye. Though it has yet to face battle. As such, it has no name yet. But these!” Grinning wide, Els reached into his bag to retrieve a war hammer and shield made of the same gold and blueish iron-like materials and held them up high before slamming them on the counter. “These be the Cave Carver and Mountain Post!”

“Those names are dumb,” I mumbled to Peter and Zakira.

Els spun around at once, spitting and warbling his finger. “I heard that!”

"I- ah!" Peter recoiled from the angry dwarf, forcing Zakira’s giggles to erupt into blatant laughter. Yet Peter still tried to save his sinking ship. "I don't have any weapons or equipment.” He sheepishly said.

While Slate pulled a quite large but unremarkable claymore from his bag, a part of me wanted to reassure Peter and tell him equipment didn’t make the fighter. That said, I also didn’t want to be a hypocrite and pull out a bunch of expensive equipment right after telling him such a thing. So I decided to forgo the former and do the latter.

“Hmm.” Zook squinted hard at me as I approached. “You look familiar.”

“I have one of those faces.” I waved the matter aside before gesturing around. “I was told we can use magic in here?”

“Of course!” Zook nodded his little head. “It's the arena. Just don’t attack anyone.”

“Was that a... alright.” I sighed. “Just… prepare yourself.”

He seemed confused but continued studying my visage until I reached into my shadow to withdraw my spear. And at that moment, he and Els practically leaped forward in shock. But for seemingly different reasons.

“Now that is a fine weapon.” Els hovered his hand above the haft as he stroked it from blade to pommel.

Once his gawking was done, I imbued a bit of shadow magic into the hilt to shorten it enough to fit on the table and set it down gently. “Be careful,” I smirked at the gnome. “It's tainted.”

“I can tell by the name.” He recoiled, shaking his head as if he were in despair. “The Shadowsteel Reaper. And these enchantments. Hah!” He looked up at me, cackling madly. “This is amazing! And your power. I haven’t seen something like that in years.”

“Wait.” I abruptly leaned over the desk and eyed the gnome closely. “How did you know its name?”

“A perk of my Class!” Zook stepped back, spreading his little arms wide. “I’m a Grandmaster Artificer! I can tell what a lot of things are! Including the names of weapons, enchantments, or materials. I’m at the Fifteenth Step if you’re interested. Been stuck there for decades.” He muttered as he finished.

“I am interested.” I grinned. “Greatly. Why are you stuck, if I may ask?”

“Runes!” He said, making my ears cramp from how hard they perked up. “Don’t know nothing about 'em. Never seen 'em. Don’t wanna go exploring to find 'em. But, uh.” He wagged a finger at my spear. “This here enchantment is a problem. Spectral Blade. And this other one without a name too. You can use the weapon against your classmates if you don’t use those enchantments. Otherwise, you have free reign.”

“That’s fine.” I put our talk of runes on the corkboard and nodded along. “But my other equipment may be more... problematic.”

“Oh?” He leaned forward and watched with those curious beady eyes as I reached into my shadow again. Then the same scene as before replayed once I placed my daggers fell onto the table.

“The Shade Splitters.” He gasped.

“I didn’t name them.” I hurriedly said and immediately sighed after hearing Zakira’s giggles rise from behind me.

“Yes, you’re right.” He nodded. “I can see why you’d think these would be problematic. But you can still use these in the arena. Some of your classmates will keep fighting no matter how much li-”

“I still have two more pieces of equipment.” I nearly yelled. “Unlike the others, they’re; for lack of a better explanation, bound to my soul.”

“Oho?” Zook and Els stood on the tips of their toes at the same time. Forcing another round of giggles from Zakira's lips.

“Bound to your soul?” Zook slowly repeated.

“Yeah. I can’t take it off.”

I saw Peter squint in confusion from my peripherals but stepped forward in anticipation like the rest of them once Zook said. “May I see it?”

“Sure.” I shrugged and allowed a bit of darkness to envelop me to summon the armor. And like the umbral energy around me was a magnet, the pieces were pulled from the Shadowfell and clamped around my body in less than a second. Leaving my hulking form towering over the little gnome's desk.

Without waiting for him to move past his awe, I reached to the small of my back to pull Death’s Key from its sheath and held the seax out to him. Then retracted it once he, Peter, and everyone else but Zakira jumped back in horror.

“P- please! Put that away!” Zook shuddered, much to my amusement and surprise. But I still did as asked and put both the armor and the blade away.

“So, much hunch was correct.” Zook shuddered again. “You are-”

“A living devil, yes.” I groaned in annoyance and showed everyone my ears. “I’m also half-drow. Do with that knowledge what you will.”

“Drow?” Els recoiled in surprise. “I-”

“Didn’t know they bred with humans or left the Dark World.” I stopped him as gently as I could. “I know.”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t mean to offend.” He harrumphed with a spread of his hands.

“None taken.” I shrugged.

“Right.” Zook hesitantly nodded once our banter had died down. “Your armor and that… cursed sword of yours is indeed a special case. As such, I will schedule an appointment with the Headmaster for you. But keep in mind it may take a few weeks for him to get to you. He’s a busy man.”

“I understand.” I shrugged it off. "It’s not as if I use them anyway. I just wanted to be forthright."

“Very well.” He bowed and began hesitantly stowing my weapons away. “Before you go, I’ll explain that there are terminals in the classrooms and facilities that will act as armories in their own right. That way, you won’t have to come here to retrieve and stow away your gear. If that’s all, I bid you a good day!”

With a nod, I bid him farewell and followed the others out into the central hub to make a pit stop in a small alcove within the cafeteria. Inside was a round room lined from end-to-end with pedestals supporting thick catalogs containing moving pictures and spoken descriptions of the contents listed for sale.

‘Magic manga.’ I chuckled to myself.

In all, the school sold a wide variety of things that I both did and did not expect. Of course, there were things like potions, simple armor or weapons, and even snacks, food, or raw materials. Surprisingly, however, a variety of enchanted and magical materials that granted resistance to certain things were for sale as well. Which immediately made me think of how it coincided with our Classes.

Even though I had no use for such things, I took a long look through the listings while Peter purchased a few things for himself. My points, I decided, would be spent in the greatest place of all.

The library.

Once our purchases were complete, we returned to our dorms as a group and immediately saw Winston, brooding by his lonesome in one of the chairs. At a glance, I assumed he was pouting because he wasn’t paired with any of his vassals or friends. With that assumption made, I started to turn away. Only to realize a scowl wrinkle across his face after noticing us.

While we all went on towards our mailboxes to retrieve our schedules, Winston’s scowl kept switching between Peter and me before eventually settling on me. So I quickly shifted directions to sit across from him and match his stare.

“I’m Amun. It seems you don’t like me too much. Why?”

“Because you willingly associate yourself with trash.” He spat with a crude gesture towards Peter.

“Oh?” I leaned over his shoulder to take a look at Peter before turning back to Winston. “What makes him trash?”

“He didn’t tell you?” He scoffed. Then raised his voice so everyone in the common area could hear him say. “Peter was a slave! He was only freed because he awakened his cores.”

“Well, congratulations!” I met Peter’s shaken eyes with a smile. Then turned back to Winston. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only trash here.”

“W- what?” He scoffed again. “You’re going to fight his battles for him?”

“Definitely not.” I laughed and let it drift off into a pitiable sigh. “I just hate bullies.”

“Don’t look down on me because I'm human and you’re a drow-devil, Amun of Odissi. I know what you are!” He loudly spat, invoking more gazes than I was comfortable with to fall upon me. “Five cores or not, devil or not, Cole House or not, you don’t scare me.”

“Oooh, five!” Zakira tactlessly gasped.

“That’s not why I look down on you, Winston.” I amiably smiled. “I look down on you because you’re a whiny, spoiled child who thinks his meaningless title and loutish lineage makes him better than everyone else. There’s a difference. People like you make me sick.”

As the snickering and murmurs from the crowd ensued, I rose from the couch and began descending towards the rooms with my team with nary a look behind me. Even as he spat. “You’ll be the first I teach a lesson!” He spat behind me.

“I’m free anytime.” I waved over my shoulder.