DALNO: The Beginning

CHAPTER 11: A Foolish Day

June 16, 3142, Sunday. In the woods, Ren is conversing with the old man. As it progresses, he lays down the ground full of dead leaves and insults the old man.

“From all the things you could’ve done, why an athletic competition?”

“Just do it, kid”

“Fuck you, I’m not announcing them that for a worldwide entry exam”

The old man proceeds to walk without minding Ren’s ranting. As he stopped, he showed Ren a button from a pen he picked from his pocket and looked back.

“Threatening me now, huh?”

“No… just reminding you who’s in control”

The old man continued to walk while Ren walked in the opposite direction, pissed off over the old man’s request.

6:15 AM, June 17, 3142, Monday. In the Homura Academy dormitory, Vincent and Blaze are currently arguing in their room with Shado silently trying to push them from getting near to each other.

“I TOLD YOU, YOU CAN’T KILL PEOPLE JUST LIKE THAT”

“---FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN? Watch them die? Scream? OR GETTING TRAUMATIZED OF A FUCKING BAGEL”

“But isn’t he the first man in society to accept you as a person?”

Vincent went silent and paused. He then vigorously got his arm off of Shado’s hold and went to the door. As Blaze called his name, he stopped.

“Did I… really kill him?”

“What? Er- uh-, you didn’t?”

Vincent confronted Blaze and quickly materialized a long sword aimed close at Blaze’s neck while at the same time, Shado rifts his own hands to get rematerialized around Vincent’s neck and holds it.

“Remember this, Lissclion. I am willing to kill anyone whoever I see to be in the wrong. Other than that, I will never, EVER hesitate to kill anyone who uses my family’s name to cover their inhumane deeds. If you watched it from the news or an exclusive, Lissclion-only CCTV, you haven’t seen the full picture behind that teacher’s manipulative mask. And lastly, I would never claim a murder without its blood on my hands as I see it.”

Blaze went silent, and so did Vincent. Suddenly, their materialized items disappeared without their consent. After, a void portal sucked them three at the same time and teleported them to the school gym. The moment their heads got out of the portal, Ren hardly punched their faces and flew to the corner of the gym with enough impact to damage the said corner. Ren then slowly walked in a girly fashion to the three and smiled in front of them.

“You’re late, tee hee hee”

A sound of a deep-voiced skinny man with black hair long enough to cover his eyes echoes around the biggest establishment in the academy. As the three stood up, the skinny man became buffed as he jumped from the stage to their front from a distance of twenty kilometers in an instant. This shocked the other students and they slowly moved away from Ren and the man.

“Do you know what day it is today? Huh?”, Said the buffed man.

The three were confused.

“Really? You haven’t told them, Ren?”

“Uh, can I ask a question–”, Vincent asked just as his head was thrown down by the buffed man’s fist. Which makes Blaze breathe even more in terror.

“Well, you’re the one tasked to announce it, right?” said Ren casually.

“Eh, damn liar”, The man responds right before he jumps back to the stage and becomes skinny again as he lands.

As Shado is helping Vincent to get his buried head out of the ground, Blaze goes to Ren.

“Who is that man? Where is Falcon? What’s the announcement for?”

Ren stayed silent, looking serious towards the stage.

“Just let him explain it to you. The one who organized this is such a pain in the ass”

The man began to pick up the microphone and asked for everyone’s attention. He introduces himself as Roberto le Vou, a gym teacher.

“---You might start to wonder, excluding the chaos earlier. What’s up? Well, to answer that. This Wednesday, we will be conducting a school-sports day-based Entry exam for the upcoming third Ithorenth Mission Agency exam, which if you already know, is an exam on which when qualified, will become a member of the said agency and do whatever missions they give you. Now, why do we have to take this Entry exam and pass it to get to the main exam? The answer is that the coordinator of the exam was created and went through the idea mentioned earlier so you can have fun and at the same time get chosen by the judges on who will have the abilities to join the main exam. Now, any questions?”

A girl from the same class as Vincent and Blaze raised her hand. Then, Roberto grants her permission to speak.

“What are the events that will occur in the entry event, Sir?”

“Well, about that. We have three categories of events and within are two or three types of games—”

As Roberto set a silence of tension. It widens the first-year’s interest to the point it reaches its utmost peak. Waiting for the mention of the most wonderful events the academy can give them. Running? Tennis? Basketball? Everyone thought within themselves joyfully.

8:45 AM, inside the First-Year Section Yumenaka classroom.

Everyone is in distress, with visible hopelessness. The girl who asked earlier is looking at the blackboard with the list of categories with the individual events in each, anxiously. Meanwhile, Vincent and Blaze on the back were confused, Falcon is trembling as he reads the bible, upside down… and Shado pretended to be a shadow as he was placed sitting behind Blaze.

Seconds later, Falcon could not take the shaky hands and began to gently put the bible to his desk and up with a sour face paired with a melancholic gentle scream which reminisces of a chorale. The rest of the class began to look at him in confusion as Vincent held him up.

“I know, ok, I know… We don't know who could work within these events” said the girl. “Can you make him calm down, Ashite? I’m going to commence a prep meeting regarding this”

The girl swiftly raised her hand holding chalk and cried in a roar.

“THE FIRST YUMENAKA-1 CLASS MEETING, WILL NOW BEGIN”

“AAAAAGGGHHHH” screeched Vincent’s vocal cords as he slammed his head to his desk.

“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM NOW, ASHITE”

“Uhh, I’ll just explain it to him?”

“THE WHAT? MR. DRAKE?”

“GRAAAAHH, MY NAME’S NOT DRAKE MOTHERFLIPPER”

“THEN WHAT THE HECK IS IT?”

“His name is Bla~ze” Shado unexpectedly inserts in-between.

“WHY IN THE HEAVENS IS EVERYONE SHOUTING?” Asked Falcon.

“WHAT… THE… FUCK… IS… A… YUMENAKA”

The commotion suddenly went to a close. With literally everyone, including Ren and a buffed Roberto peeping from the window outside, grilling some meat, all confused.

[The Academy consists of four grade levels with four class sections that are named after the departed founder’s friends, named from the oldest descending: Juoldeus Lissclion (Deceased), Yumenaka Yachi (Deceased), Lexen Monstierre (Decamped), and Richard Ashite (Imprisoned)]

“Soo, about the events. Since I seem to know you all now, I’ll do the choosing myself” confidently said the girl as a shimmer of Arcanae energy came out of her eyes. This immediately took the students in shock and they wondered how.

“Heh, with an Arcanae’s help, of course, stupids”

The girl stepped back and picked a pair of tea shades, wairs them, and stomped her foot on the teacher’s table. She opened her arms wide and smirks.

“I… AM… VALODIA DARKFRIGHT… YOUR CLASS REPRESENTATIVE…AND I WAS BORN WITH THE ARCANAE COMMON FROM OUR CLAN… THE WELLOW SIGHT”

The moment she mentioned her Arcanae. Blaze’s eyes widen more than his classmate’s shock at the reveal of the class representative’s identity.

“Now, bow before me, as with these eyes, I saw what you all wanted, personality, biography, and most of it are worse enough to make your mommies cry in embarrassment. HO HA HA HA HAA”

As Valodia stands proud with enlighted glasses. A mysterious voice occurred from Falcon and Vincent’s ears.

“Do you think she looks like one of those black-haired AA nerd cuties that will get fucked by a fat ugly NEET? Because I did”

Falcon shouted with all his lungs and proceeded to cry while begging forgiveness in the bible. While Vincent calmly looked at the blond-haired boy and immediately noticed his HSMA uniform.

“Oi oi oi, Are we being too noisy, sir?” asked Vincent.

As the rest of the class looked in his direction as he walks to Valodia, rumors ensue and reached Vincent’s ear.

“Isn’t he the boy who instantly became a commander in HSMA? Isn’t it suspicious to get that high with such age?”

“I’m pretty sure he paid for that shortcut”

“I could’ve done what he did myself but my mom won't let me”

More rumor arises as the boy goes near Valodia. But what bothers Vincent is that Blaze is still shocked by Valodia’s revelation of her Arcanae. As he looks back, the blond guy is standing in front of the table where Valodia stood, she immediately noticed his presence and looked down.

“Oh, you’re finally here, Anstrale.”

“I have one thing to remind you,” said Anstrale as he smirks.

“Hmmm, is it because I have the high grounds?”

“Heh, you may have won with the high grounds… But I ALWAYS GET THE PRIZE”

In an instant, Anstrale flicked Valodia’s long black skirt upward and jumped before the rest of the class see Anstrale’s “prize”.

8:50 AM, Anstrale is walking towards the door, casually.

“Wait, aren’t you gonna join?” asked Vincent.

Anstrale stops and gave Vincent a thumbs up, he then looks at him with a beaten-up face and smiled.

“I won't, for now”

While Anstrale leaves the room, Valodia calls everyone's attention with a smirk.

“So, why are we here again~?”

11:30 AM, near the Lissclion residence. Blaze is still dazed by Valodia’s introduction earlier.

If the Darkfrights have the said Wellow Sight by heredity.

Then how come Ren has a different, FAR different Arcanae?

No…

Is he even a Darkfright in the first place?

As Blaze mumbled, he heard a knocking of wood in a distance. As he looked toward it, he saw Vincent with his father, happily training.

Oh yeah

I almost forgot

We have an event this June 19

Heh, I wonder why I became absent-minded whenever I see families together in jolly.

Father

Mother

I just wonder…

What could happen

If you had time to…

The time to…

As Blaze look beside him, he saw a familiar face. A blue-haired girl, in a blue skirt, in a blue shirt, also watching Vincent. Her unexpected presence startled Blaze.

“How… long are you… been… here?”

The girl stayed silent and smiled. Blaze looked in the same direction her sight is, he got shocked. Despite the distance, he can clearly see, for the first time, Vincent smiles with his father and mother. This sent chills in Blaze’s spine as he reminisce all the bloody Ashite children being abused in the streets. Despite the pain, despite the injuries he clearly sees Vincent constantly get since childhood, Blaze’s sympathy became too heavy, that it made him drop a tear.

Blaze proceeds to continue his walk as he wipes his eyes, leaving the girl still watching Vincent as her mother approaches and walked to home with her.

6 years

6 DAMN YEARS

Vincent

If only I could do something in your case

But I have my own goals

Which comes

With their own foolish quests.