23 Back To School

Nick's eyes slowly open as he looks over to his clock, it was 4:40. If he had stayed a little longer in that world he would have been woken up by his alarm. He preemptively shut off his alarm and made his way to the shower, staying in it for one hour until the hot water no longer felt hot. When he got out of the shower and began to dry off he took a look at his stomach, there was a prominent scar where there was once an open stab wound. Not even a scab, must be thanks to the healing magic speeding up the process while I was in my coma.

He quickly put on some clothes and then worked out until 6:30 when he then got dressed for school and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. As he walked to the kitchen he quickly looked at the news, a couple of stations had already reported that he was out of his coma. Someone who worked at the hospital must have told the news for some money. It didn't bother him, he just hoped that nobody would try to get an interview or anything. It was rather old news, so it was doubtful.

"Morning, honey. Your plate is already on the table." Faith pointed towards a plate with eggs and sausage. It was not Nick's favorite meal, but it was a lot better than what he had been eating in the other world. Especially now that he was locked up, the food he got now was horrible.

"Alright." He put away his phone and sat in front of his plate, looking over to his dad who currently had a mouthful of food but looked like he wanted to say something.

"I'll drive you to school today. It's snowing, so it isn't a good idea to ride your bike today. It will also give you a couple of extra minutes to eat your breakfast." Steven said after swallowing his mouthful of food.

Nick looked out the window, there was a lot of snow coming down. "Works for me, I wasn't really feeling up to riding my bike today anyway." He took a bite out of a sausage, he forgot how good the sausages on earth were.

"We'll head out at 7:30."

What am I going to do for nearly an hour? Guess I could catch up on some of what I missed on YouTube. "Sounds good."

After breakfast Nick sat down on the couch and watched gaming videos on YouTube until it was time to leave, he had no idea on how he was going to catch up on all of the videos he had missed. It felt oddly normal to be on his way back to school again. He expected to feel really nervous, but he felt more relieved. Oh, I forgot to tell Mark I was awake... Nick pulled out his phone and quickly texted him.

It was not even ten seconds later before he got a text back saying "WHAT?!?!??!?!" Mark was understandably surprised to suddenly find out that Nick was awake. In under a minute Mark had already sent five more texts, but they were nothing he felt the need to reply to. He kept getting notifications up until the point they pulled into the school parking lot.

"Have a good day at school, bud." Steven said as Nick got out of the car.

"Sure thing." He took a deep breath, closing the car door and making his way to the school.

Nothing had changed, everything looked identical to how it did when he was last here. Not that he really expected it to be drastically different, but it did not even looks slightly different. Well, besides a couple Christmas decorations here and there. Nothing major, just a Santa or candy cane sticker stuck on random things. One thing that was drastically different was the looks he was getting.

People at his age don't really pay attention to the news, so seeing Nick enter the school again was like seeing a ghost even for the people who had not actually seen him anywhere before the news after the stabbing.

"I thought he died."

"Hey, isn't that the guy?"

"He finally woke up?"

"I wonder if he ratted out Dan or not?"

All around him were people glancing at him and whispering. They evidently weren't that good at whispering considering he heard every word. It did not take long for Mark to show up, barreling around a corner towards Nick like he knew exactly where he was. "Dude! Your text gave me a fricking heart attack!"

"Sorry, I was going to text you right when I woke up but I didn't have my phone nearby. I didn't remember until I was already in the car on my way here."

"You have to tell me what happened!"

"Sure... Just not right here." Nick looked around, people's eyes were glued to him. Though, they all pretend like they weren't looking once Nick looked at them.

"Right. I know a place, come on."

A couple of minutes later Nick and Mark were standing in a small room that used to be an office but was now just used as a storage closet. It was the perfect place to go if you wanted to do something in secret, the only problem was the room was full of dust and spiders. "Alright, we're alone, so tell me what happened!"

"Well, to put it simply, Dan and a few of his henchmen ambushed me. He got a couple of people a grade or two older than us to hold me still while he beat the crap out of me. I was able to get out of their grip and fight back, but then one of his goons stabbed me. After that they just left me for dead." Mark's jaw dropped as he was told what happened.

"That's insane... No wonder you were in such horrible shape when we found you. You seem to have mostly healed up now, though." Mark shook his head, he could hardly believe it happened.

"Yeah, I'm all healed. I just have a bit of a scar from the knife."

"Really? Can I see?"

"Sure, I don't see why not..." Nick pulled up his shirt and jacket, showing the small but prominent scar on his abdomen.

"Jesus Christ..."

"What?"

"Dude, how do you still have abs after being in a coma for a fucking month and a half? Actually, how do you have abs at all? Weren't you completely paralyzed not too long ago?" Mark seemed more shocked about the abs than the scar.

"I guess I just have good genes."

"Man, If I don't work out for more than a week my abs start to fade away... Hey, have you told the cops about all of this yet?"

"Yeah, I talked to one a few hours after getting out of my coma. I told him everything." Nick pulled down his shirt, covering the scar once again.

"That's not good..."

"I assume you mean the whole thing about Dan being connected to the mafia? I wouldn't worry about it, if he tried anything then he would be the prime suspect."

"That won't stop him. I don't know what you know, but whatever you think you know is likely not the whole story. He has a lot deeper ties to the mob than most think."

"How do you know?" Nick raised an eyebrow, curious how Mark would have this unknown information.

"My dad used to do business with Dan's dad. It was some pretty shady shit, though I don't know if any of it was really criminal or not. My dad told me to stay away from that man's son, Dan, because it could get me killed."

Nick shrugged, the news didn't really phase him. "Your dad didn't want you to get close to the mafia because it's dangerous, that doesn't mean that Dan has some really deep ties to the mafia. For all we know he has almost no pull in it."

"You know about his dad, how he was a seriously high level enforcer, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's not all. His brother, Dan's uncle, treats Dan like a son ever since his dad got locked up. The same goes for most of the other members of the mafia, even if they are not related by blood everyone is family. Not to mention that Dan's uncle is a lot farther up the totem pole. If you had not talked to the cops it would be unlikely that they would even pay attention to you, but you snitched."

"It's not like Dan will even get in trouble, he can just pin everything on the goon that stabbed me."

Mark shook his head, a grim look on his face. "The cops are going to jump at the chance to put some charges on him. Not to mention he is going to get expelled. You are the victim, if you testify against Dan he could get more than ten years as an accessory to an attempted murder. The mafia will make sure that doesn't happen."

Nick sighed, Mark was right that it was dangerous to try and make Dan get time in jail. "Look, it doesn't matter. Sure, I was stabbed, but I'm the only person who can say that Dan was actually there. If he is in deep with the mafia he could have twenty people say he was somewhere else at the time of the crime. Nothing is going to happen to me."

Mark's face started to regain some of its lost color. "I sure hope you are right about that... Those people are no joke, man. They are prepared to kill or die for Dan."

The bell signaling homeroom began to ring. "Well, there is no use in worrying about things that we have no control over. Let's head to class."

"You are a lot different than you were when we first met... More mature, more confident." Nick smirked, if only Mark had known what he was doing for all the time that he was in that coma.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, most people just looked at Nick and talked about him without actually approaching him. There were a few people that asked to see the scar, which felt a bit weird to him. The teachers didn't act like anything had changed, loading him up with homework as if he had just taken an extended vacation and had to do make up work. The hours passed by quickly and before he knew it he was back in his dad's car on his way home.

"So, how was the first day back at school?" Steven asked, pulling out of the school parking lot.

"A lot of people were looking at me and talking about me, some asked to see my scar, and the teachers loaded me up with homework... Besides that, I would say it was a pretty normal school day. I got extra food at lunch as a bit of a welcome back present as well."

Steven chuckled. "Just make sure you get that homework done fast so it doesn't pile up on you."

"I'm dreading having to do five times as much homework for like a week just to catch up. It's not even that it is hard, just annoying."

"I know what you mean, but you have to do it in order to get good grades. You can be the smartest kid in the entire school but if you don't do your homework you won't go to the next grade."

"...That's stupid. You can't even make sure that the kid did the work, he could have just gotten the answers from someone else."

"Well, if the kids decide to do that then it is their choice. Homework is meant to be a tool to help you remember the material, even though you don't have a problem with that. You are like an information sponge when it comes to school work."

Nick shrugged. "Well, I guess it is unavoidable if I want to pass."

Steven chuckled once more. "That's the spirit!"

It was now ten o'clock and Nick was done with about a week's worth of homework. His hand was cramping and he had a headache, but he had a good head start on all of his makeup work. He could have done more, but he kept getting distracted by the internet. Now it is time to catch up on some of the YouTube videos I have missed... He was going to be up a bit longer than normal, but it's not like he was exactly eager to go to sleep anymore.

Sure, it was still a fantasy world and all, but to him it was no better than just being in a prison. After all, that is exactly what it was, a prison. He was allowed to use magic and read and all of that, but those lose their fun when they are literally the only thing you can do. About an hour into watching YouTube Nick got an idea, if he could learn to control this demon power then they would have no reason to lock him up. Though, he was not even sure if he really had any kind of demonic genes in him.

Anything was possible, that much was certain, so it would be unreasonable to dismiss the fact that he might have some demon blood. There was an expert he could consult, though it wouldn't be a good idea to do that while still being on earth. He could summon Azara and ask about it, but there is the possibility of one of his parents hearing him talking to a girl and coming in unannounced. Guess I should get some sleep after all.

Nick turned off his computer and made his way to his bed. He had not actually talked to Azara in quite a while, he never summoned her during the whole bandit ordeal because he was scared of the backlash that would bring from the bandits and members of the caravan. It was the trump card he never actually got to use. Nick laid in his bed for an hour, thinking about demons until slowly drifting off to sleep.

Just as he closed his eyes for the last time before falling asleep he opened them in the other world. God, I miss sleep already... He slowly stood up and stretched, looking out of the one small window he had in the room. It was not big enough for him to get out of, but it was plenty big enough for him to look out of. He would be able to see the city in the distance if it wasn't so dark at the moment.

Looking at the clock in the room he could see that it was currently 4:40 in the morning. "Wow, accidental perfect timing." He had ten hours before his alarm would go off and wake him up. He would be in this world until almost three in the afternoon, that's ten hours talk to Azara and try to figure out how to control this demon side he was not even sure existed. These people are so paranoid about nothing...

Nick couldn't for sure dismiss the thought in his mind that he might have a demon ancestor. In fact it would explain a few things if he was part demon. It would explain the demon familiar and also why he has possibly the rarest magic affinity combination. However, there were still things that made no sense. Like if he had a demon ancestor why doesn't he have horns or a tail?

According to them the only thing remotely demonic that they saw were his eyes turning red for a brief moment. But if that happened why didn't his eyes stay red? He couldn't help but ask himself these questions even though he did not have the answers for them. Only one person he knew could actually tell him what was going on. Luckily, he was able to use magic in this room so he was able to call her.

"Azara!" He called out, the usual burst of flames shooting up from the floor as she appeared.

"It's been a while, Master." Azara had her usual grin on her face, though it did not last long after looking around the room. "Where are we?"

"In a prison of sorts. These people seem to think I'm part demon, claiming my eyes turned red briefly during a fight."

Azara nodded. "Yeah, sure, you do have a little bit of demon blood in you." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

How casually she said it threw Nick for a loop. "Wait, what? You are saying I am part demon and you never thought it was a good idea to tell me that?"

She shrugged. "I thought you knew. Also, I told you when we first met. It was rather faint at the time, but I could feel demonic energy coming from you. It is a little bit stronger now than it was when you last summoned me. It is why I decided to be your familiar in the first place, I would never be the servant of some random weak human."

Nick sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. "Well, I guess it makes some kind of sense that someone with demon blood would summon something demonic as a familiar."

"Well, not quite..."

Nick raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "What do you mean?"

"Well, while it is common for demons to summon something demonic as a familiar, to summon a lesser demon like myself takes a bit more than that. In order to summon a lesser demon as a servant you either need to be a greater demon or an extremely powerful human. I don't think you really fit into either of those categories."

"Could it be possible that I have the blood of a greater demon?"

"Sure, but even if you did have the blood of a greater demon running through your veins it does not feel like enough of it to be able to summon someone like me. As I said, the demonic energy coming from you is faint, it would have to be a lot stronger to summon me. I have never heard of anyone under a half being able to summon a lesser demon."

"A half?"

"A half breed. When a demon has a child with a human. Under the halves are the quarters, but they are more human than demon. I have never heard of a quarter summoning a lesser demon as a familiar... Judging from the demonic energy I sense from you, your demonic ancestor dates back nearly a millennium, if not more."

"So, in other words, it still makes no sense that I was able to summon you as a familiar?"

"Yep, still makes no sense." She said with an amused grin.

"Wonderful..."

"It's what makes you interesting, though. The fact that you shouldn't be able to summon me but you were still able to."

"I guess so... Either way, my demonic ancestry is only part of the reason why I summoned you today."

"Oh?" This seemed to peak her interest.

"I want you to teach me how to control this... demonic power of mine. If I can learn to control it then the humans will have no reason to fear me."

"Alright, I can help you with that. I have never really tried to help a demi-demon learn how to use its power, but I will try my best!"

"Demi-demon?"

"It's just a way of saying you are some percentage demon. No matter how small of a percentage it may be."

"Ah... So, how long do you think it will take for me to learn how to control my demon side?"

"Hmm... Well, I would say probably about a couple of days to a week to master your control of it. It would take longer if you were a higher percentage of demon, but with how much demon blood you have it should not take long."

"Hmm... What would learning how to use my demon blood do for me?"

"It should give you a little bit of a strength, speed, mana, healing, and stamina boost."

"How much of a boost are we talking?"

"Not much of one. As I've said, you don't have much demon blood inside of you."

"Alright... Well, let's get started."

"Sure." Azara nodded. "First, I need to know what it felt like. When your eyes turned red, what did you feel like?"

"It is hard to explain... Cocky is one way to say it. Even if I was completely outmatched I would get a sudden boost of strength and start provoking my enemy. The words would just come out of my mouth like I had no control over it. Honestly I just thought it was adrenaline."

"Sound pretty typical. Your body was going into pure survival mode, kicking the fighting part of your fight or flight response into overdrive. The cocky attitude is pretty common when someone is exposed to demonic power. It is common in quarters when they first tap into their demonic energy."

"So, I was basically drunk on power?"

"Yeah, that is one way to put it. That feeling will be the key in learning to control your demonic power. You have to feel what you felt at that moment in order to force your demonic energy to come to the surface."

"Sounds difficult."

"Might be. Honestly, I don't really know much when it comes to teaching people like you how to control your demonic power, so I don't really know how to instruct you though summoning your demonic energy. For lesser demons like myself it kind of came naturally."

"So, what you are saying is I'm on my own from here?"

Azara nodded her head. "Yeah, essentially."

"...Alright, then I'm going to practice. Thanks for the help."

"Sure thing, call me if you need help with anything else! And I do mean anything." Azara winked before disappearing into a torrent of flames. Nick just rolled his eyes, looking towards the clock.

"Looks like it's almost time for breakfast..."