Heirs of Magic

Chapter Six - One Step From Falling

"Do you know an Geva from your course?" asked Derek looking at himself in the mirror.

"Pretty girl but kind of dark, she likes to write poems to the gods" said Urick "I think she is a worshiper of Lhuna.

"The goddess of the moon? Who rules the night but brings light at the beginning of the year?" asked Derek" They say that if a dark magician worships some god she is the first choice.

"There are worse gods to worship, but why the interest in her?" asked the other.

"Actually, she's the one interested in me, she asked me out" replied Derek "I've never gone out with a girl before, what do I do?"

"You're going to spend all day with a girl? And you just tell me now?" asks the other "I can't let this turn into a disaster!

Urick ran to his wardrobe and grabbed his backpack, inside it perfectly folded sets of clothes were waiting, he separated one set and handed it to Derek who looked confused.

"You only have your uniform and the old clothes you arrived in" he said "Here's one for you to wear to the meeting.

"I don't even know what to say…" said Derek gratefully.

"Just make this day memorable, and then tell me how it went" asked Urick "and here's some money so you don't embarrass yourself.

"Wait, I can't pay you back," Derek would say, refusing the wallet.

"My family sends it every week, and I save a lot" he replied "that's the money I've been saving, it won't be missed.

Urick was happy to help his roommate, as he believed that he would be different from all dark mages, and the more stories Derek had to tell, the better, there would be more things to write in the future.

Derek thanked and accepted the money saying that he would pay someday, after changing he went to meet the girl at the agreed place, the statue of the goddess of magic that was in front of the academy.

He saw Geva looking at the statue, she had blue and wavy hair to her shoulder, her eyes were brown but bright, she was wearing a dress almost the same color as her hair that highlighted her curves, and looking at her like that, his heart skipped a beat. .

"Sorry, did I take so long?" he asked as he arrived.

"You're on time, I arrived early" she said looking at the clock on the statue "don't you find her charming? I arrived early to admire her.

Derek looked at the 12m statue, the goddess of magic dressed like a traditional sorceress, but in sexy clothes, legends say she was born mortal, but her will could bend reality, she ascended to the divine level, but the other gods they were jealous of her power, killed her and her blood rained over the world, from this rain Mana impregnated everything and since then mortals could use magic.

"Her blood rained over the world, and just like our coagulation, hers crystallized" Geva said "that's why all crystals have some amount of mana, it's the blood of the goddess.

"You know a lot about gods don't you?" Derek asked, laughing.

"Of course, because I want to write a poem for each god" she replied "and that's why I need your help!

She explained why she wanted to learn black magic, she wanted to be as close as possible to the goddess of the night, who as legends say usurped magic to create darkness, Derek found this reason much more reasonable than her being a secret admirer.

"Were you disappointed?" she asked "I didn't want to mislead you or give you a false impression.

"Actually I'm more relieved now" he replied "I can deal with this, easier than a secret admirer.

"hahahaha you are very funny Derek, I didn't expect that one" she said laughing "I came here prepared for you to ask me to be your girlfriend, and I would accept.

"Oops? Can I order now?" he asked.

"Too late, but we still have our date" she said "and later you teach me black magic.

Derek couldn't tell if he was calmer or more nervous now, she offered her arm to Derek who, not knowing how to act, held it, and so the two went together, it would be his first time seeing a big city, as he always lived in the countryside.

"“And it's my first time with a girl, I can't fail!”" he thought.

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

"So let's start?" asked Merilda" the study group to repair weaknesses.

"I thought that name was really funny," said Ashera.

"Merilda doesn't know how to be practical" replied Aella.

"What a curious feature," said Isott.

Merilda was all red with embarrassment, after proposing the study group only those came, but the reason no one else accepted it was because Derek was invited too.

"Inviting the suspicious student, that's very curious" said Isott "as a student of the mind course I research human behavior, and yours is curious.

"Sorry, she always talks in that complicated way" said Aella.

"Could it be that a light user is in love with a dark user?" asked Isott.

"WHAT!? Where did you get that?" screamed Merilda" I'm just grateful that he protected me once! No more!

"hun... they say that such a strong negative is a sign of doubt" said the other one scratching her chin "I have to investigate this better.

"Dark magicians are scary, fairies and elves are very afraid of them" said Ashera "if an elf is born with dark magic it is sacrificed immediately.

"How horrible! It would be enough not to teach him dark magic" Merilda said shocked "and if the Derek chose another path he wouldn't have to go through all this.

"The customs of the elves are like that, they exclude from their midst everything that is harmful" said Ashera with his head down "my mother pregnant with me was one of them.

She remembered the hard times with her mother, an elf and a half-breed child with no place to go, luckily they found a village that wasn't so prejudiced, managed to settle there and a man fell in love with Ashera's mother, thanks to that both have managed to survive to this day.

"An elf can live up to 500 years when he is of the upper class, my mother was already 200 or more" explained Ashera "and even then she was still beautiful as a young human.

"Humans hate what's different, but if it's pretty they don't care do they?" said Aella" how I hate this hypocrisy.

"I don't know if your thinking is more honest, you don't like other races or mestizos either" Merilda complained "talking about it frankly doesn't make you any different.

They all looked at Aella who was embarrassed, as the daughter of a military man she learned that other peoples are enemies, and when your nation is surrounded by other races this feeling is even more intense.

"Shouldn't we be studying?" asked Aella changing the subject" I have a little trouble concentrating.

"In my case it's the pronunciation, the arcane language is similar to Elvish" explained Ashera "but I'm half-breed, so I can't pronounce both correctly.

"And what is your difficulty?" asked Merilda looking at Isott.

"None, I just came because I had nothing better to do" she replied with a funny expression "and I also wanted to do some research.

They all got together to practice, they all trained what they were bad at and showed what they were good at, Ashera's magic was extremely strong for her amateur level, an indication that her elven blood helped, Aella had a lot of Mana for her level and Merilda showed her ability to master light magic.

"A third basic magic, very well done by the way" said Isott seeing the floating globe of light" how did you learn a magic that you haven't been taught yet?

"I've seen my mother use it many times, when she told me stories before bed" said Merilda nostalgic "I think that now that I understand the magic I can do it.

"Copying a spell just by looking at it? That shows you're a genius!" said Isott excitedly" please let me study your brain!

"I have a feeling that would be extremely unpleasant," Merilda was saying with a pale face.

"Why are you so interested in this?" asked Ashera.

"The human mind is a mystery, in fact the mind of all sentient beings" she explained "I want to know if there is something in the mind that only sentient beings can have, or if everything can be created.

"Do you want to create a mind?" asked Merilda blankly "Is that even possible?

"I think it's perfectly possible, because I believe that demons are artificial" she said "every 200 years demons rain upon the world, absurd amounts of many different types, as a race they make no sense unless they are an artificially created army.

"I... never thought of it that way" confessed Merilda "so if they're created... who creates them?"

"Maybe one of those creatures called gods, I would really like to know" said Isott "that's why I wanted to talk to Derek, if he learns magic from a demon maybe he could ask that demon.

Merilda immediately remembered her, the image of Onyx skinning Derek's back was etched in her mind, the expression of pure sadistic pleasure, the laughter, the sound of the whip hitting the flesh... that scene would never get out of her head.

"Demons are not beings you can talk to or dialogue with" Merilda said "they are beings of pure evil, creatures that should not exist in this world.

"So why do we have one in the academy teaching magic to humans?" asked Isott" is there not a reason for that?

"I think he's just trying to corrupt as many people as possible" said Aella "dark mages are always evil, they are allies of demons.

"But isn't the Derek different?" commented Ashera "I'm afraid of him, but I don't think he's bad either.

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

"I'm grateful that academy students can get in for free" said Derek "did you see the admission price?

"That? It's not much no" Geva said laughing "you came from a poor manor, right?

He was a little embarrassed, his fief wasn't exactly miserable, but he had nothing left after the demon visited his village, all the money he gathered only brought him to this city, to learn magic at the academy.

Leaving the subject of money aside, the two left looking at the books, they talked about various topics, including the use of magic, there was a section with books on dark magic.

"None of them teach dark magic of course, most just talk about stories involving dark magicians" she said "but I find this world fascinating, how about you?

"It's not like I care about darkness, to me it's just a tool" he replied "if that's the only weapon I have I'll use it, that's all.

"Gun? What do you need a gun for?" she asked curiously.

"This is a personal matter, but maybe one day I'll tell you" he replied.

Derek took one of the books on the shelf, the book told stories about the worst black magician in history, a tyrant who usurped the kingdom and ruled with cruelty for 50 years, during his reign demons were treated as deities, criminals took power and people suffered daily, this was after the first major invasion on record, and before the founding of the magic academy.

"Decades later came the 2nd great invasion, and the kingdom was almost extinguished" he said reading the end of the story "a noble king user of light magic was the one who brought prosperity after the calamity, and managed to protect the kingdom until the 3rd great invasion.

"From then on the dark magicians were cornered, the white emperor declared that all users of black magic should be hunted and killed" said Geva "that's why I think it's amazing that black magicians can graduate from our academy.

Derek and Geva went to another sector of the library, a more reserved place, there Derek showed the spells he already knew how to use, Geva was more impressed with each new spell, all manipulating shadows.

"For now it's all I know how to do, but I hope to learn something amazing soon" he said.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how useful it is to be able to see in total darkness?" she asked looking around.

Geva noticed that Derek got closer to her, he was staring into her eyes, she got a little embarrassed and looked away.

"Ah sorry, it's just that I was curious" he said "the magic I used on you, it manifests a symbol in the eyes, I couldn't look in the mirror, so I didn't know.

"I think that all magic manifests a symbol when activated" Geva explained "but dark magic has a unique property, it camouflages itself.

"Does it camouflage?" he asked.

"Yes, dark magic hides the truth, so it camouflages its effects" she explained "it is very difficult to perceive a dark magic, that's why dark magicians are sneaky.

"You know more about dark magic than I do" he said laughing.

"I read a lot of books but I didn't have real experience" she replied "you are the first dark magician I met.

"Just a student, I haven't graduated yet," he said.

The two left the library and continued their walk, on the way Derek got nervous when he noticed that she took his hand, they continued walking hand in hand until they reached an ice cream stand, Derek offered to buy one for each.

"How kind" she thanked him.

Hand in hand and eating ice cream, there wasn't a single person who didn't see them as lovers, the two were having a lot of fun when they decided to go to a city square, it was already mid-afternoon, there were two hours left for the sun to set.

"That was the best day I've had since I got here" said Geva.

"I say the same," replied Derek.

The two got closer together, Derek put his hand on Geva's hand, she didn't do anything to show that she didn't like it, in fact she kept a smile on her face.

"Look, I don't know how much I can help you, but I'll do my best to teach you dark magic" he said a little nervously.

"You're really nice Derek, I was willing to do anything, and yet you didn't take advantage" she said "how does a nice guy like you end up becoming a user of black magic?"

"I think it's fate maybe" he replied embarrassed.

"Then I guess it was fate that brought us together today" she said leaning towards him.

Derek leaned over to kiss her too, when their lips were almost touching a sound was heard, he looked around and saw 8 guys approaching, 3 of them were already known, they were the same ones who beat him up before.

"If things get bad, run away" asked Derek, seeing the group approaching.

Derek got up when the group got close, they were all academy students, he thought of running to avoid problems, but it would be difficult to run away from all of them with Geva at his side, he wanted to avoid fighting if possible or protect her in the end.

"Hi Derek, going on a date?" asked the one who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Derek remembered him, he was one of the few users of light magic, he seemed to have gathered everyone who had already had a disagreement with Derek in that month that they started studying.

"She was just showing me around town, but she was on her way out, wasn't she?" he said looking at Geva.

She understood that this was a sign, she started to walk in the opposite direction to the group, but quickly one that Derek had not seen came out of the bush and held her, Derek tried to go to Geva who called his name, but he was quickly caught by two of the guys.

"Cut that Ashiok! If you want to have fun that's fine, but let her go!" asked Derek.

"You're pretty cool with women aren't you? First Merilda, and now Geva" he said "what a gentleman black magician you are!

Ashiok punched Derek in the stomach, with that punch all his breath was gone, the other two holding him while Derek coughed to regain his breath.

"For your sake we take a warning!" said one of the others" we intended to leave here with a clean slate!

"It was you who attacked me first" he replied hoarsely.

"That's right, you were the one who should have attacked" said one of them, throwing a punch.

The punch made his brain spin, blood came out of his mouth and he fell to his knees on the floor, stunned he just pressed on helping Geva, that's when he noticed something strange, he noticed that no one was holding her, and she was laughing, her surprised face showed the others that he had noticed it.

"Sorry Derek dear, I didn't mean to deceive you but... no, I did" she said laughing.

"What are you saying?" he asked dazedly.

"I said I wanted to compose a poem for every god, didn't I? That also includes the great Blinar" she said "the god of two-faced, the god who protects those who stab others in the back."

"The job was just to get you away from the gym, but she wanted to use that for inspiration" explained Ashiok "I thought it was going to be a lot of work, but wasn't it fun? Seeing you two on a date!

Everyone started laughing, Derek looked at everyone around laughing at him just like Geva, he thought he was the most ridiculous person in the world for believing her, for being humiliated like that, for believing that she liked him.

"I thank you so much Derek, I'm going to compose a beautiful poem to the great Blinar" she sneered "a poem about a young man who had his heart broken by a girl."

"You all...you all can go to shit!!" he shouted angrily.

"Please be more polite, we're all gentlemen here aren't we?" mocked Ashiok" by the way, since we are students of magic we should solve this with magic, shouldn't we? So guys, do the honors.

They all gathered before Derek, recited the conjuring phrases and pointed their fingers at Derek, in an instant he was being targeted by arcane shots, energy shots that hit like hard punches, they all fired as many shots as they could until they were satisfied, and Derek lying on the floor in agony.

"Enjoy the floor, and never set foot in the gym again" Ashiok was saying "next time we won't be so nice about letting you have a date first."

They all left laughing, Geva as she passed by him gave a "bye" and left laughing too, lying on the ground Derek crawled to a tree, leaned on it and sat down, his whole body ached as if he had been beaten several times, but what really hurt was his chest, he was humiliated on all levels, and only hatred was left.

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

"A day off went by so fast!" said a girl in class.

"We were stuck here for a month, we need more than that" said another.

"The year has barely begun and are you already complaining?" asked Merilda" if you can't handle the pace you better give up soon.

"Here's our model student, I don't know if I'm more or less motivated" said the first one "what did Merilda do on her break?

"Didn't you know? She set up a study group to help those who were having difficulties" replied the second "everything was fine, a lot of people were going to gather, until she invited Derek.

"I don't accept that, it's true that his path is dubious" justified Merilda" but he's not a bad person, you should give him a chance.

"We are already happy that he stays quiet in his corner" said one of them "only you to be so friendly with him.

The room was filling up, while there were a few minutes left for the teacher to arrive, everyone was already present, except for Derek, two boys looked at the last empty seat and laughed a lot.

"He never shows his face here again" said one of them.

"Wait, did something happen?" asked Merilda two rows back.

The two just laughed and didn't answer, Merilda was worried about what could have happened, the teacher then entered through the side door and greeted the room, as soon as he put his folder on the table Derek entered the room surprising everyone.

"A few more seconds and you'd be out" said the teacher "well, as yesterday was off I guess you exaggerate, right?

"That's right, that was bad teacher" said Derek forcing a smile "I won't be late anymore.

Derek looked for the only vacant seat, it was in the middle of the room on the edge of the table, he sat down without even looking to the side and paid attention to the class.

Merilda, on the other hand, couldn't pay attention, she saw his purple face, the eyes of those who cried a lot and the expression of indifference, it was as if someone else was there.

The first class of the new month followed in a very strange atmosphere, the professor showed on the blackboard a new table of symbols, 50 different arcane symbols that contained varied functions, they should be added in the conjuration phrases to create effects different from the usual ones, the most of the students were already shaking imagining the next test, some were bothered by the bad atmosphere that reigned in the room, and some others wanted to know what was going on.

When the bell rang everyone got up as soon as the teacher left the room, when Derek made his way to the exit the other students made way for him, for some reason everyone felt that if they spoke to him or stood in his way it would be disastrous, Merilda he wondered what had happened when he saw Geva with a stupid smile.

"Very well, I have to know what happened," Merilda said determinedly.

She wanted to ask Derek, but something told her not to, she decided to look for her roommate, during lunch she looked for him in the cafeteria, warned him alone at the table that she used to eat together with Derek.

"Where's Derek?" she asked directly as she approached.

"He took a sandwich and went to eat somewhere alone" he replied calmly "do you want something with him?

"I want to know what happened to him, I saw him earlier today" she said "he looked like someone else, he had marks on his face and some students seemed to know something, as a roommate you should know.

"I know yes, that scared me a lot too" replied Urick "but what are you going to do if you find out? You've gotten yourself in trouble before for acting without thinking.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do, for that I need to know the story first" she replied.

"Very well, I will tell you.

Urick reported everything he learned and heard from his friend, Derek was found lying in a city square, brought to the academy and treated in the infirmary, he told who did that to him, why they did it and how they did it, Merilda listened shocked about what lynching he suffered along with the humiliation.

"The incident happened outside the academy, this will be treated as a matter not related to the academy" said Urick" which means that the dean will not do anything.

"What? That's not fair!" said Merilda "Academy students got together to beat one another up, it doesn't matter if it was inside or outside these walls, students who do that don't deserve to be here!

"A future black magician didn't deserve it either, even so the academy welcomes them" said Urick "the academy doesn't accept criminals, but it doesn't stop you from doing stupid things with magic.

"Like... like the Derek...

"How is he doing? Earlier today he thanked me for the money and clothes I lent him, and apologized for wasting it" replied Urick "after that he seemed surprisingly calm, but I think he's broken inside."

Merilda thanked Urick for his help and stood up, when she took a step Urick took her hand, he looked pretty serious about it.

"Don't go after him, right now he's furious and destroyed inside" he advised "he doesn't want friends or compassion, if you show him pity he's liable to do something stupid.

"So you're saying leave him alone? If he was betrayed, now is when he needs real friends!" she said.

"I consider myself his friend and even so I don't think I can interfere in his life" replied Urick "you don't know him, you don't know anything about what he's going through, and you certainly can't put yourself in his position.

Merilda clenched her fist in her indignation, she knew Urick was right and there was nothing she could do for him, so there was only one thing left for her to do.

Merilda looked for the group that attacked Derek, luckily they were all together in a corner of the cafeteria, including Geva who most deceived Derek, all of them together seemed to be celebrating what they did the day before.

"Hi Merilda! Come here, join...

"You are despicable!" she said in a loud and clear voice " how dare they do something so low!?

Everyone turned their attention to that table, the group that bragged about what they did already spread the story throughout the academy, Merilda was known for her sense of justice, but no one expected her to take sides like that because of Derek, so Ashiok stood up. if to talk to her.

"Calm down Merilda, we may have been exaggerating just a little bit, but he deserved it all" he justified "a mage who uses dark magic shouldn't even exist, let alone tarnish the honor of this academy.

"And cowardly attack a boy alone? Trick him into a trap?" she asked that looking at Geva "to use magic to hurt a defenseless person? All of you behaved worse than a dark magician!

"Wait a minute, you're overreacting!" one of them shouted "don't put us on the same level as that garbage!

"A dark magician is someone who kills and destroys with black magic, but Derek never did anything wrong" she said "as long as he is a good student I will be on his side, and against this cowardice.

"I see, it's a very noble point of view, really admirable" said Ashiok "so when he takes his first victims, what will he say to their families?

"What!? What kind of question...

"The last student of the course of darkness, he became a professional killer feared throughout the country" said Ashiok "you can't even tell how many people he's already killed, what if someone had prevented him from becoming a dark magician? could we avoid tragedies?

"But that argument...

"He has a good reason on his side, if we knew what was going to happen we would have a moral obligation to prevent it" said Androuet appearing right there "but we don't know what will happen, and anyone can turn into a monster.

Everyone was surprised by his sudden appearance, despite spreading the story to the other students the group could never confess to the attack, but there was the director aware of everything.

"But let me tell you something Ashiok, anyone can commit crimes, even a former dean of this academy committed atrocities" he said remembering the dean from 4 generations ago "I also knew of a cruel and unscrupulous magician of light, so take it be careful how you do what you think is right.

"I'm sorry..." he said with his head down.

"This incident happened outside, so it's none of our academy's business" Androuet explained "but bad conduct outside reflects in here, I'll be watching you guys.

Unlike his sudden arrival, he walked out and touched Merilda on the shoulder, she understood what he wanted to convey with that and calmed down, but she could never forgive such cowardice, with a look of disapproval she left the place.

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

"Welcome master" greeted Napilla.

"Did she hurt you again?" he asked seeing the marks on the body of the other.

"Master said she was bored, so she had fun with me," Napilla replied.

Derek sighed and called Napilla to the couch, sitting there he took an ointment he got from the nurse, he applied it to Napilla's wounds which showed great satisfaction, he found it ridiculous that she liked to be treated after being tortured.

"Why do you put up with all this?" he asked as he treated her.

"The master loves me, she feeds me, bathes me, caresses me" she replied "I am happy with the master.

"Happy isn't it? I think that's possible if it's the only life you know" he replied "how would it be if you had another life?

She didn't understand the question, Derek knew that Napilla was much older than him, but her appearance was like that of a teenager, besides her mentality was that of a child, so he didn't think it was fair that a child saw pain as something good.

"Master? Are you crying?" asked Napilla noticing her eyes.

"Huh? How strange...why is that?" she asked herself, wiping her eyes.

"Is the master hurt? Do you want me to help you?" she asked excitedly.

"Napilla... can I ask you something?" he said" a rather strange thing.

"Of course! I'll do anything!" she replied.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked sheepishly "I wanted to know what it's like to kiss a girl who isn't interested in sucking me up or cheating on me.

She just smiled and leaned forward, it made him remember Geva, the one he was practically in love with, so to make her image disappear Derek kissed Napilla, a sweet kiss at first, but that the girl herself deepened, he noticed that she seemed to have a lot of experience, but unlike Onyx's voracious kiss, she kissed with affection.

Derek hugged her and glued his body to hers, returning the kiss he ran his hand over her face, moved his tongue inside her mouth and their lips remained glued, all this until he stopped to breathe better.

"Does the master want more?" she asked breathlessly "I can give my whole body to master.

"Napilla...

"Are you going to do that on the couch anyway?" asked Onyx sitting on the backrest "not that I mind of course, I like to look, and maybe participate.

Hearing her voice Derek jumped falling off the couch, Onyx laughed and sat where he was before, she ran her finger across Napilla's lips to tease him.

"Look what you did to my dog, you got her all excited" said Onyx "are you going to tell me what happened to you?

"Nothing happened" he said getting up from the floor and sitting in a chair.

"Please, I've seduced countless young men like you, I've seen this need before" she said like a professional "at least someone has stepped on your feelings, and judging by that inflammation on your face I'd say you've got your ass, tell me.

"I was just too naive, I let myself be deceived and they took advantage of it" he replied turning his face away "it won't happen again.

Onyx's eyes flashed, eyes that once looked like rubies now looked like flames, she laughed and walked over to Derek putting a finger on his chest.

"Your heart is full of hate, frustration and anger" she said "a rage so intense it doesn't resemble fire but a frozen lake, you could kill someone right now and you wouldn't even care.

"Can a demon see people's hearts?" Derek asked.

"Only those like me, but even a human could see that" she said "you're so needy that you kissed Napilla just to feel some affection, so it's not even fun to tease you."

"What should I do?" he asked.

"Are you asking a demon for advice? You are so naive..." she said "the only thing you can do is overcome this frustration and resentment, whether for better or for worse.

Derek realized what he should do, he should overcome all this by showing results, not letting himself be shaken and moving forward, if they didn't like him as a black magician then he would be the greatest black magician in history, and from now on he wouldn't care more with reputation or means, if he had to turn scum he would.

"Teach me everything you can, no matter what" he asked "I want to surpass my predecessor, even if I have to become as bad as him!"

"That's how you say boy! So let the class begin!" Onyx said excitedly.

"Master, won't you do nice things to me?" asked Napilla holding his hand "my body is hot...

"Poor Napilla, it's the first time she's been played with like that" mocked Onyx "come here my little dog, I'll do nice things to you."

"DO YOU TWO WANT TO STOP IT!?" shouted Derek.