Oleander

(Thirteen Years Ago)

"Yes! Yes! Good! Use your anger!" A thirty six-year-old man yelled as he stared down at the six-year-old boy. "Let it take you over. Use it as your weapon. Let the Wrath consume you as your taste for blood spills out of control." He roared. The thirty six-year-old man was named Lin Zuì and currently, he was training the newest member to the Zuì family.

Down below from Lin, sat a large arena. In the arena large monster like beast could be seen. They all resembled large bears covered in what looked like spikes. They were all around ten feet tall and had black spikes poking out from them. They were the creatures known as Demi and sadly they were very common on Gaia.

Three of them were in the arena currently attacking a young boy.

The boy was six-years-old and looked extremely frail due to the oversized clothes he was wearing. His clothing was extremely oversized and bulky and was filled with sand making it weigh nearly forty pounds. The child himself moved awkwardly in it clearly being weighed down by the clothing as he struggled to dodge the Demi.

The child had raven black messy hair and cold black eyes that shined with an animalistic nature to them. He had extremely pale skin and if you were actually able to see him without his clothing you would see that he had a slightly muscular frame compared to your average six-year-old.

The childs name was Dawson and currently, he was fighting for his life.

Dawson wasn't like your average child. While most kids wanted to use their superpowers to be heroes he didn't. No. He liked the other side. To him, the monsters seemed better.

"Keep going!" Lin roared when he saw Dawson get hit. "You'll never be able to become a Zuì if you don't let your choosen emotion out. Let the anger flow through you." He yelled. "Do you want the gift my family offers you! Do you wish to become a creature that will hunt, heroes and the Enforcers! Then keep going. Only the worthy can accept this gift."

Dawson growled jumping forward pouncing on one of the Demi. He raised his fist up bringing it down on the creature again and again. His fingers ripped into its throat as he tore its head clean off.

He let out a loud roar in order to signify his victory. Truly he was more beast than child.

He turned just in time as another Demi swung at him. Dawson quickly wrapped his arms around his body protecting him as he was thrown back. He slammed against the wall hard causing him to let out a large yelp. The leg of one of the Demi came out as it kicked into him painfully. It tried to pull its leg back but Dawson held on. He clawed his hand into the leg holding on for dear life.

You see Dawson's Attribute (Attribute=superpower) was different than your average persons. His wasn't anything too special. He didn't have God-like strength or speed. His Attribute was just a mild enhancement as well as the ability of learning. Most of his power came from his Mantra (Mantra=Life) and his determination. The truth was he never really tried to learn more about what it could really do. So he just assumed it was useless.

The Demi roared as it tried to shake Dawson off of it. He held on however as he ripped into the leg ripping it off. Dawson grabbed the foot lifting the severed leg as he brought it over his head and began to violently beat the poor creature with its own leg.

'The hell?'

Dawson kept bringing the leg down again and again. He didn't stop until the poor thing was a bloody mess.

'I think he fell asleep?'

Dawson looked up as the fist of the last Demi slammed into his face breaking his nose. He let out a scream as he fell back clutching his broken nose.

'Should we wake him up Zilo?'

Dawson felt himself get slammed to the ground as the large Demi raised its fist up. Dawson closed his eyes ready to die as the fist was lowered. A loud slashing sound was heard as he snapped his eyes open. The Demi's head fell forward as its body fell backward.

'Yeah. Go ahead and wake him up. We'll be arriving any moment now.'

Lin pulled his hands back as he stared down at Dawson. "Pathetic." He snapped staring at Dawson's surprised black eyes. "You failed." He let out a sigh as he held his hand out. Dawson accepted it as he gulped slightly.

'Yes, Zilo!'

"Go wash up." Lin snapped as he turned away.

"Yes, Sensei..." Dawson said quietly as he turned away. His rage had broken away by now and he only wanted to cry.

'Slap!'

Dawson's cheek felt red as he began to walk. Everything around him began to go blurry.

'Wake up Idiot!'

Dawson's eyes snapped open as he finally woke up from his nightmare.

(Present day.)

Dawson Blight coughed in pain as his eyes adjusted to the light. When they finally did he saw three people standing in front of him. The first two were no named goons. Completely pointless and faceless. But the last one. He was clearly a someone. He had straight obsidian black hair and orange eyes. He wore a slightly smug look on his face.

"Finally awake?" The nineteen-year-old said smugly. "Honestly you should be happy I woke you up." He said simply as he held up his bags dumping them onto Dawson. "Now carry these. The airship will be arriving at the school any minute and I need you to carry my stuff-"

Dawson dropped the bags as he stood up. He slowly began to stretch.

"Hey! Watch it you big-"

Dawson's fist came out slamming into the mans face knocking him back again the wall of the airship. Dawson turned around sitting back down in his seat. "Leave me alone." He growled out when he realized everyone was staring at him. He closed his eyes as he went back to sleep.

Over on another part of an airship, a nineteen-year-old boy paced back and forth. He had white slightly spikey hair and electric blue eyes. His name was Jackson Sturm "When are we gonna get there!" He sighed slightly. He was ready to hurry up and take the test. "Come on!" The boy announced staring out the window. He paced for a little while longer before finally sitting down. "Maybe a nice book will take my mind off of it." He reached out pulling a book from his bag. He nodded along with it as he stared at it. "I can't read any of this..." He said simply as he realized it was in a foreign language.

A blue light lit up as a girl appeared. She wasn't really there though. She was just a hologram. The girl smiled as she began to speak. "We will be arriving at our destination in less than five minutes. Please remain seated until the airship has fully landed."

"Finally!" Jackson yelled out getting everyone's attention. "Sorry..." He trailed off sheepishly as he set back down excitedly.

Across from him was another room. The bathroom. A guy stepped out clutching his stomach as he groaned in pain. "I hate airships..." He groaned as he fell flat on his face.

"You okay?" Jackson asked raising an eyebrow. The guy had messy apple red hair and sapphire blue eyes. A wooden sword was connected to his belt. He wore a straw hat in order to cover up the top of his head.

"Yeah..." The guy muttered propping himself up. "My insides are just slaughtering each other." He said simply as his face became green and the need to hurl increased. He managed to fight it down thankfully. "I just have an awful case of motion sickness." He stated standing up slowly as he wobbled. "I'm just not used to these things..." He trailed off. "You see my Attribute is more of a sitting still type of thing and, I come from the country so I'm really not used to these things." He said letting out a slight laugh. "That and my kind don't usually come out from our forest..." He trailed off.

"Oh! Cool. Me. I'm a city folk." Jackson said sliding a hand through his hair. "And speeds the name of the game when it comes to my Attribute." He went to say more but the ship began to shake before eventually coming to a halt. A loud click was heard as all the doors opened and a pair of large metal stairs popped out allowing everyone to exit. "Oh. I guess we're here?" He said shrugging as he stood up.

"Guess so?" The other man said shrugging.

On the other side of the ship, Dawson's eyes opened slightly when he felt a hand shake him gently. He looked up to see a girl gently waking him. "Umm..." She said clearly terrified after she saw what he did to the last guy that woke him. "We... We're here..." She trailed off jumping back in fear as he stood up. "You could say thank you..." She trailed off.

Dawson ignored the girl as he turned walking away. As he walked he grabbed the bags of that other fellow he knocked out. To a normal person, they would seem heavy. Dawson let out a tired sigh as he stepped out into the lighting.

The girl had short messy dark black hair that almost reached her shoulders. She had what looked to be very dead yellow eyes that held a look of curiosity. Her skin was extremely pale as if she didn't get enough sun. Bags we're under her eyes as she turned her head with a curiosity. She wore a black shirt with a black fur jacket and black pants. Her outfit had a white outline.

Dawson watched her waiting for her to follow him outside. "I'm just gonna go the other way..." She said simply as she turned to leave.

Dawson frowned as he watched her walk away. Everyone on the airship was around Nineteen to eighteen but, the girl looked to only be sixteen years old. Why was a child here? And what was wrong with her? She looked almost like... Dawson ignored the question as he stepped out of the airship fully. The sky was a bright blue and birds could be heard chirping in the distance.

People exited as they all murmured and chatted amongst one another. Dawson stared at every person that exited. He studied their bodies from there muscles to there legs. He looked at everything including there gut size and if they were a female their breast size though there wasn't anything sexual about it. He watched how every man and woman seemed to walk. "A lot of styles..." He said at last as a smirk crossed his face.

"A lot of what?" Jackson questioned as he stood behind Dawson. "Are you some kind of pervert?" He questioned when he noticed Dawson was eyeing up several people.

Dawson looked Jackson up and down for a second. "Your body is rock solid." He noted. "Yet it's still lean? You trained it for pure speed..."

Jackson covered his chest up with his arms as he took a step back. "I feel strangely violated." He said simply as he held a slight smile. He seemed like a person who would always smile. Someone who would find almost any situation funny. "I'm Jackson by the way!" He said holding his hand out.

Dawson reached up shaking the boy's hand. "Dawson." He said giving his name.

"Well? Mind if I walk with you to the assembly hall?" Jackson questioned.

Dawson turned away already walking off. "Do whatever you want." He stated simply.

"So... Uh... Those are a lot of bags your holding?" Jackson noted. Poor Dawson was holding nearly twelve bags. And none of them looked light. "All of them yours?"

"No," Dawson said simply.

"You wanna tell me whose they are?"

"No."

"I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship..." Jackson said sarcastically as he dodged a swipe from Dawson.

Meanwhile at another exit.

The girl who had woken Dawson up was stepping out. She looked around for a bit as she stared at everyone. "Cool..." She said trailing off as she watched several people leave.

Many people wore strange outfits from suits of armors to fancy rich suits. Some carried small weapons while others walked around with massive boxes that carried their gear. Some were small and lanky and others were big and bulky.

The girl's name was Shelly Zämbē and, she had never seen so many people in her life. She stared out with curiosity at everyone.

"Umm hello..." A voice said from behind her. Shelly turned around finding another girl standing there. She had long blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. The girl held a frown on her face as she stared at Shelly. "If you don't mind will you move?" The girl snapped.

She wore a dark brown shirt with a brown jacket that was wrapped around her neck so it hung off of her like a cap. She had brown pants and wore black gloves and black boots. She wore a military styled brown hat with a gold badge on it. A cutlass styled sword was connected to her side. Her skin was flawless and lightly tanned but, not enough to make her to dark. She held a frown on her face as she looked at everyone as if she was better than them. And currently, her gaze was fixed on Shelly.

"Oh!" Shelly said in realization. She was taking up the stairway stopping anyone from leaving. "Sorry!" She said quickly as she walked down letting the other girl down. "I'm Shelly-"

The girl turned already walking away. "Why would they let a child here." The girl asked rolling her eyes.

"You can at least give me your name..." Shelly muttered.

The woman apparently heard her as she spoke. "If you must know brat its Reich Bombe. Now leave me, alone kid." The woman snapped not even bothering to turn around.

"I'm not a child..." Shelly muttered crossing her arms. "I'm Nineteen like everyone else... I'm just short..." Her body was just a bit under developed since her accident.

"Ahh don't mind the brat." A voice said walking up. Shelly turned to find a man standing next to her. She recognized him as that guy who kept getting motion sickness. He had run past her clutching his stomach at one point. "I'm Nick! Nick Ale!" The guy said holding his hand out. He held a slight smile on his face.

"Shelly Zämbē," Shelly said smiling as she shook his hand.

"So Shelly! What brings you to Oleander?" Nick asked as they began to walk. "Why would a young girl like yourself want to become an Enforcer?"

"I'm not a child!" She snapped before suddenly smiling. "And I want to become an Enforcer to do good!" She stated as she looked up at the sky. "When I was a child Sister Lay used to tell me stories about the Enforcers..." She said as she reached up playing with a cross that she had around her neck. "They always seemed like they could do so much good..." She said smiling. "I was told stories about the Heroes! They seemed so strong that I just had to meet them! I always wanted to turn them into-" She stopped suddenly letting out a nervous laugh as she dropped her cross back into her shirt. "I just want to meet them!"

"Cool," Nick said nodding. "I never really heard too many things about the Enforcers. I know that some of them will fight amongst themselves." He said shrugging. "A lot of people join in order to fight some of the Heroes."

"Well, what about you?" Shelly asked. "Why did you join?"

Nick shrugged slightly as he reached up. "I just wanted to prove a point." He said grabbing his hat. He pulled it up reviling a pair of goat horns. "Not all Manus are bad people." He said smiling. "Some of us can fight back our animalistic nature."

"I've never seen a Manus before!" Shelly said surprised. "Most Manus lived out in the woods. They were said to have been created by black magic when a person fused a Man with a Demi. They are supposed to be insanely strong and have unique abilities that aren't a by-product of Mantra or Attributes!" She said listing off everything she knew. She briefly wondered what his insides would look like.

"Wow! Kids done her homework." Nick said surprised.

"I'm not a kid!" Shelly whined hitting Nick in the arm.

"It was just a joke!" He laughed avoiding her other attacks. "By the way!" He said suddenly. "Do you know where we are going?"

"No, I was following you."

"Oh... Well, I was following you..."

"We're lost aren't we."

"Yes. Yes, we are."

(Five Minutes later.)

Dawson looked around the large room that was packed with several people. There must have been a few hundred people.

"Pretty cool right!" Jackson asked when they saw the ceiling. The ceiling was constantly changing going from one color to the next. "My gramps knows some cool wizard guy who was able to do that. Pretty sick right?"

Dawson ignored him even though he did agree. "So many strong people..." Dawson said trailing off as he stared at several people. "My hunt will be glorious."

"Yeah don't talk like that it's too strange," Jackson said placing a hand on Dawson's shoulder. "You sound like a villain."

"I prefer monster," Dawson said turning away. For a brief moment, he thought of his grandfather. He turned looking through the crowded of people. "Found him." He said walking through the crowd. "You! Boy." He said walking up to a person.

The boy turned around his eyes widening when he saw Dawson. It was the same guy he had punched into the wall for waking him. "You!" The boy said accusingly as he took a step back.

Dawson ignored him as he dropped the bags on the floor. "Here's your stuff. Next time find someone else you carry it all." He said before turning away and walking off.

The guy stood there seemingly shocked before he began to inspect his stuff.

"Oh. That was really nice. Guess you're a good guy-" Jackson was cut off when Dawson reached up slapping him across the head. "Owe!"

"I didn't do it as a good deed. I Simply used it as a quick way to train due to boredom." Dawson snapped. Apparently, he didn't like the idea of being a hero.

The door behind them burst open as several more people walked in quickly. One fo them Dawson recognized. It was the girl who had woken him up. He wasn't able to think about it too much though as up on the stage a man walked up.

The man looked to be in his late twenties and had short brown hair and one eye that was brown. His other eye was covered up by an eye patch. He walked with a cane and had a brown beard. He wore a fancy suit and just looking at him Dawson could tell he was strong. It excited him when he saw all the teachers. All of them seemed to have a level of power he had only ever seen in his grandfather's human form. Though his grandfathers monsterfication was far stronger.

"Alright, kids!" The man snapped. "Listen up. Headmaster Sturm couldn't be here today so I'll be talking in his place." The man said simply. "My name is Sue Wo." The man stated. His one eye stared instantly at everyone seemingly taking them all in. "You will address me as Professor Wo. I'll be frank with you. Many of you won't survive tomorrow. You'll be put through Hell as we test you. If you wish to leave then go now. We are only looking for the best. We will not be holding your hand here. I know that many of you have had experience with Demi before. Forget everything you learned. In the battlefield, you will see new Demi that the public aren't aware of. Every day new ones appear and every day it is our job to stop them. While here at Oleander you will learn new skills as well as skills to help you out in the real world. This will not be a vacation. You must have a strong mind and a strong body. If you are expecting this to be nothing but combat than you will be wrong. This is still a school. As such you are required to take several Math, English, and History classes. You will also have to deal with other threats such as people." His eye glanced out at everything. "For now that is all." His eye briefly glanced over to Jackson for a second. "Find a partner to bunker up with. You will all find spare rooms in the next room over. Get a good nights rest. You will be starting tomorrow."

"Well..." Dawson said once the man was done. "This certainly will be interesting." He said smirking slightly. He was already set for combat.

"It certainly will..." Jackson agreed nodding. "Hey wanna bunk together."

"Do whatever you want." Dawson snapped turning away. A slight smirk crossed over onto his face. "The Hunt begins tomorrow." He stated.