Ethereal Forge Academy

Darius buried his face in his hands as the feeling of impending doom slowly began to creep up on him.

"Look, Darius, think of what you'll get if you win. You'll be able to do whatever it is you want. Trust me, if anything this whole arrangement helps you more than it does me. Drink?"

Darius stared at Lionel in disbelief, "No I don't want a fucking Drink! I want to keep my life, Lionel. Whatever this thing is, I'm not doing it. Go find someone else to die for you."

"The thing is, you're kinda already in the system and there's really no turning back from this point. Even if you ran they'd still just hunt you down, find you, and throw you in the pit anyway."

At this point, Darius was hyperventilating. He was now completely certain he was going to die tomorrow.

"I can tell what you're thinking and no, you're not going to die tomorrow, well probably not. A lot more people survive than you'd think." Lionel said curtly.

Darius could do nothing but sigh, "I don't have a choice do I?"

"Not anymore," Lionel said quite frankly

Darius took in a deep breath, "Alright then."

"In that case, the first test starts tomorrow, It's held at an academy called Ethereal Forge Academy, just outside the city. Since you don't have anywhere to stay, the taxi can take you there immediately."

Lionel stood up and walked out of the booth. In Darius' mind, if Lionel hadn't saved him the other day he would've been dead anyway, so was there really any difference?

Darius wasn't quite sure how to feel about this. Trying his best to let go of fear. He got up, grabbed his hammer and decided that if he wasn't going to do what it took to make the most of it, then his life wouldn't be worth living anyway.

He walked out of the booth, not certain of the future, but whatever it was he felt prepared to face it. He walked confidently up the stairs and into the taxi.

"Take me to Ethereal Forge Academy."

It dinged in response and flew off as fast as ever. It had taken several minutes for Darius to realize that where he was going wasn't in the city at all as the taxi soared over the great wall, leaving it behind.

Outside the wall were mainly open, green fields and several small, scattered villages here and there. Three of the four nighttime moons had come out now and cast a pale silver glow over the land.

The academy was quite far from the city as even with the sphere's incredible speed it still took Darius about half an hour to get there.

Darius was surprised at the immense size of the academy. It was actually several times larger than the guild. It was a gigantic dome covered in some sort of transparent material several kilometres in diameter and hundreds of stories high. The material made a gap in the pod as soon as it came near, almost as if it was sentient. Darius could not help but marvel at the sight. As the pod descended and came to a halt Darius found himself standing in front of two armed guards in some sort of courtyard, right in front of a large building the size of a palace. The dome was simply too large and was more like a city, with a myriad of different buildings inside that Darius barely had the time to register.

"Lord Darius?" said one of the guards. Darius was rather surprised by the respectful tone in the guard's voice as he nodded his head. Not used to being spoken to in such a way.

"Welcome to the Ethereal Forge Academy, right this way sir." a door slid open right between the two guards and Darius walked in. The dome itself consisted of hundreds of circular floors or levels, all stacked up on top of each other. Darius was immediately met with another door in front of him as the one they had just entered through sealed shut. "We will now escort you to your room, there you will wait for further instruction."

As he said this they began to ascend, and Darius realized they had walked into an elevator. "Your room is on the hundred and eighty-second floor with the other nobles." said one of the guards as the elevator doors opened to reveal a corridor with several doors on either side.

After walking through a long corridor for some time they came to a single, large door that stood alone at the end of the hallway. "You will be staying in the royal suite, originally meant for Prince Lionel and his brothers. Your royal substitute status authorizes you to gain access to the room." As soon as Darius approached the door it slid open. Already he was amazed by what he saw. Although the guards weren't allowed to show it, they were annoyed with being tasked to serve this simpleton like he was of noble blood.

Darius entered the large, circular room. It was tastefully decorated with a large bed in the centre and three other doorways, the one on the right leading to a bathroom while the other two on the left led to the gym and indoor pool.

"If you need anything simply clap your hands twice and say what you would like. The room will deliver it to you." with that the two guards bowed and walked backwards with their heads lowered. The door closed after them leaving Darius to his own devices.

Immediately Darius clapped his hands and said, "Food." Although he wasn't hungry it was really the only thing he could think of at the time. A table appeared in front of him out of thin air. With more food than he had ever seen in his life. Clearly, his broad request was met with a broad answer. Every kind of food they had had been brought to him.

"So this is what it's like to be royalty?" he thought to himself as he took a look around the lavishly decorated room. It was gold and silver as far as he could see. He threw his bag onto the floor as he walked around the large, spacious room. It was around ten p.m as he sat down on the bed, taking off his shoes before lying down.

He stared up at the ceiling as he thought about what would happen now. He felt exhausted and worn out by everything that had happened throughout the day, his thoughts lingered there for a moment before he slid into an uneasy sleep.

A young boy stood alone in a wide-open field. He was rather scrawny, dark-skinned with black hair. A bell rang from somewhere behind him. "Darius!" a woman's voice screamed at him.

The boy looked back, not sure what was happening as the woman ran to him, grabbing him by the arm she half dragged him back to a house that appeared just ahead. She opened the door, almost throwing the boy in and slamming it shut behind herself.

"Where's Dad?" the boy asked as he watched his panic-stricken mother barricade the doors. She was a pretty woman. Not the most .beautiful but she could easily turn a few heads. She looked at him for a moment, a look of despair in her eyes as she resumed her work. The woman walked up to Darius and said, "Listen to me, Darius. I need you to protect your sister. Can you do that for me?"

The young boy nodded as she pushed him into another room. A little girl, about ten years old sat alone in a corner inside. Her cries were almost drowned out by all the noise coming from outside. There were several screams and cries for help that could be heard. The young boy was at a loss for what to do when he heard a door slam open from outside the room. Darius heard a woman scream followed by the sounds of breaking bones and a dull thud as his mother's lifeless body fell to the ground.

Darius could hear a distinct bone-chilling hissing sound as the spirit made its way towards the door. With a bang, it slammed into the door, which flew wide open. A large, pale humanoid figure with a serpentine torso slithered into the room. It had two gaping black holes where its eyes were supposed to be as it slithered towards the little girl who was crouching in the corner directly in front of the door.

The humanoid head had no eyes, only two slits for a nose and large, sharp fangs. The torso had no arms but trailed off into a large snake-like tail. The young girl was far too scared to even make a sound, as was Darius. The creature made its way towards her, hissing with malevolent malice. But it did nothing, simply waiting there as if it was thinking for a moment when a pair of heavy footsteps came charging through the room. Panicked, the creature immediately used its tail to pick the little girl up.

"Darius, help me!" she whimpered as the creature hissed once more, rapping its tail around her. Darius wanted to help, but noticing the door he took his chance and ran out of the room. Passing a man by who looked at Darius with a puzzled face for a moment, but immediately ran to save the girl Darius had just abandoned as her screams echoed throughout the house.

The creature was using its powerful tail to literally squeeze the life out of her, breaking her bones in the process. As soon as the man was in striking distance he thrust his sword through the creature. Immediately causing it to let go of the girl and fall to the ground. Unfortunately, he was too late, the girl was dead. Streaks of blood and tears stained her face. The sight of her lifeless corpse had haunted Darius for six years.

He woke up in a cold sweat. Panting and breathing heavily as the sound of his sisters' desperate cries for help echoed through his mind.

He looked at the holographic clock that was floating in mid-air as it rang beside him on the bedside table. It was ten a.m and soon someone would come and get him. Normally the sight of it would have impressed him, but the dream he had just had, or more accurately put the memory he had just had, shook him to his core. He waved his hand through the clock, silencing it as he sat up, still rattled by his dream.

He felt a deep sinking sensation as he remembered how alone he had felt the other day, only to be reminded of how he abandoned his sister six years ago and left her alone to die.