2 Mastery and Recovery

He made it home and threw his phone down on his desk as it rang continuously with calls and messages from the traitors. He eventually turned it off and put it on charge as he went outside to figure out the new power he had been given. He summoned his blade, which meant his armor was also there, but he noticed that it wasn't flaming anymore. It must be according to my mood then. He thought to himself. He looked for something to use as a practice dummy, but the only thing he could find were a few fallen pieces of bamboo from his neighbors yard. He tied the pieces into a bundle and set to work. He swung his blade for hours before he was able to cut through the bamboo. It was not because he couldn't swing powerfully, but the blade was extraordinarily heavy, so he had to practice lifting it before he worked on swinging. He swung at it many times, but it was not until he thought of Josh and Krystal's recent betrayal that the red flames returned and his blade cut through the bamboo like butter. He also noticed that his eye also produced the flames when he was angered, but he only noticed this in his reflection in the silver of his blade because he could see through the fire like it wasn't there. The flames dissipated along with his weaponry and he went to sleep.

Salem woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep, so he was left alone with his thoughts. He looked at his phone and checked the messages he had been sent by Josh and Krystal, but none of them were what he expected.

"Monster," one of the messages from Krystal read.

"How was I friends with a demon like you for so long? No wonder Krystal picked me," said another from Josh.

Salem sat up in bed and began to cry as he realized they were telling the truth. He was a monster, and the power he had now made him anger so much faster than before. The memory of how he nearly killed Josh and Krystal made him begin to think that suicide was a righteous choice. One for the better, so he summoned his blade and placed it above his chest, preparing to end his life, but something inside his head began to speak.

"I didn't give you this power so you could take your own life, Salem," the voice said. "I told you that I didn't know how it would affect you, but the anger simply needs getting used to."

It went on to explain that the main reason he was given this power was because of how heavily he was bullied, and that his new changes physically meant that could change as well. Salem sat in silence for hours contemplating whether or not he had officially lost his mind and was hearing false voices before putting his weapon away and trying to get sleep. He was interrupted, however, when a voice at his door claimed to be the police.

"May I help you, officer," he said after opening the door.

"Yes. We got some reports of attempted murder involving you and we want to clear things up. Did you threaten two teenagers yesterday evening."

Salem expected some kind of backlash from his outburst, but he felt that calling the police for attempted murder was a bit excessive.

"No, sir, but I did yell at them and walk away aggravated."

"Well this has been happening a lot recently, so we don't usually expect the calls to be serious anymore. Just make sure you be careful out there these days, son."

Salem said farewell to the police officer and was confused about why he wasn't taken in for questioning, but he was grateful nonetheless.

The rest of the school year went by rather quickly, but so did the Summer Break that followed and he was back in school and now in the tenth grade. The modern society Salem lived in meant that nothing could stay behind closed doors since people just texted anything they wanted since the police were made to leave texts alone as they were personal property and freedom of speech, so Salem was avoided at school by the many people that once knew him. He knew that it was because of the drastic physical changes he had gone through, but he knew that all he could do was let people adjust over time, which they did painstakingly slow. Krystal and Josh were all that the school talked about when Salem returned, but he had found himself a girlfriend. His physical changes along with his sudden top of the class grade were treating him better than he thought possible. His girlfriends name was Natalie, and she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a curvaceous body envied by all. The school was bland with white halls and black lockers, but Salem had gotten used to it. He had been asked to play Football for the school, so he worked out for the first two periods of school out of eight, but he was called to the office during third period and told to bring his items with him. Many of his classmates had asked him about Josh and Krystal, but he simply told them that he no longer wanted anything to do with them. He noticed that when he walked through the hallways past the couple, they would look at him and sneer for reasons unbeknownst to him, but he had a feeling he was going to discover the truth in a manner he would come to despise. He even made an effort to ask them why they were acting the way they were, but they simply told him to leave them alone. He walked begrudgingly to the office knowing that he was more than likely getting in school detention. He sat down before his Vice Principal and was stunned to hear the utter nonsense spill from her mouth.