Nine

Vanya and Yavin escaped the astral plane while panting heavily. Thankfully, they arrived in an empty street, so no one noticed that a couple of teenagers magically appeared out of thin air. Yavin could hear again the noise from his surroundings from the buzzing noise of the electricity lines from above to birds chirping. He heard also someone shouting from the direction of the school ground. They were back in the physical realm.

His right arm returned back to normal again leaving no traces of the red-orange aura from earlier while his left hand was still being held by Vanya.

"You really have to tell me what other creatures are out there back in the astral plane," Yavin pulled out his hand from her and crossed his arms.

Vanya looked from her left to right checking her perimeters if somebody could hear them then faced Yavin.

"As I've mentioned earlier, there are other entities residing in the astral plane. In the academy, they call these creatures, The Unwanted."

Yavin's brow raised after hearing the strange word. "The Unwanted? What are they?"

"They are old entities. Some say they are as old as the Ancients. Their bodies are made of shadows, and their shapes and figures vary. Some are human-shaped or animal-shaped, but one thing is for sure, they are very dangerous individuals where they will suck the life out of you."

"But, why they didn't come to us when we made such a ruckus in the astral plane last night?"

"The reason they didn't come to us is that we had a demon as a company. For some weird reason, these entities don't like the presence of demons in the astral plane," Vanya pulled out her cellphone to check out the time, and her eyes bulged.

"Damn! We're running late. I hope you're happy now after testing your powers. But we really have to go now."

"Well, I only tested one of my powers, so -" Yavin halted his speech as Vanya shot her a deadly glare. "Yeah, I think we have to go now. So where's this academy located?"

Vanya turned her back on him and pointed her finger in a certain direction. From where they were standing, the vicinity near Rockvale High was flocked by residential houses, but on the opposite end, Vanya was pointing at the silhouette of Mt. Starborn.

*****

One of the most famous landmarks in Rockvale City was Mt. Starborn. According to historians, the mountain was created million years ago when a meteor fell on earth, thus the name Starborn. The mountain was rich in biodiversity, so many scientists and tourists flocked the mountain to explore the wilderness.

Vanya and Yavin walked their way to the mountain path as the distance between the school and the mountain was thirty minutes walk.

Dark clouds were already forming by the time they'd arrived at the foot of the mountain. Yavin could feel some sweats sticking on the back of his neck. Though as soon as they got closer to Mt. Starborn, a cool refreshing air began blowing in their direction.

"Do we really have to hike towards the academy?" Yavin complained.

Vanya just rolled her eyes at him and walked ahead of him. "The academy is well hidden deep inside the mountain. Don't worry, we won't get lost. We just have to follow a certain path," she assured.

Just like what Vanya'd mentioned, she was following a certain dirt path while strolling the greeneries of the mountain's forest. From afar, they could hear various insects chirping around. As they treaded deeper in the forest, Yavin could hardly see his surroundings already. That was when he pulled out his cellphone and turned on the flashlight feature. After noticing it, Vanya also pulled hers and continued following the path.

"How far do we have to walk?" Yavin panted. His body was not used to these extreme movements wherein they had to hike to this mysterious school.

"Few more meters," Vanya replied.

After a long and grueling walk, they found themselves in a large clearing. At the center of it was crumbling rubbles of the former foundation of a once majestic place.

Yavin remembered from the tales of the resident of Rockvale City that somewhere inside Mt. Starborn laid the remains of the former monastery when this city was colonized, and the friars constructed a monastery inside the mountain away from the chaos of the city.

"Wow, I can see how very safe this academy of yours," Yavin said sarcastically as he roamed his eyes around the vicinity.

Vanya simply ignored him and went ahead of him walking straight to the rubble remains of the monastery.

In front of the rubbles, there still stood the remaining remains of once an imposing wall, and at the middle of it was a metallic rusty gate left hanging open. Vanya pushed the gate making some creaking sounds, and as soon she entered it, her figure simply vanished into thin air.

This made Yavin stopped. Where did she go? he thought.

He tried following her and pushed open the gate also.

As soon his feet landed on the premises, his heart almost skipped a beat.

Right in front of him, the monastery that the people in Rockvale City was telling was back in full glory. The corridors stretched before him with lighted windows indicating that there were people inside.

Looking at his around him also, the whole area was lighted by lampposts. People milled the ground. He tried to find Vanya's figure and finally found her at the foot of the main doorstep of the monastery.

As soon as Yavin approached Vanya, she could tell from his face that he has a lot of questions for her.

"So welcome to the Knightwatch Academy. Aside from being a school, it is also a residence to some exorcists," she started.

"B-But? How come the monastery? I don't know where to begin! Where are we exactly?" Yavin looked like a lost kid from Vanya's eyes.

"The moment we entered the gate, we entered the astral plane again. Remember, the plane is an exact replica of the physical realm. In here, the once wrecked remains are all returned to their former glories."

"Wow!" Yavin was in awe looking at the imposing shadow of the monastery before him.

"So no normal humans can't enter the academy unless magic run course through his or her veins. If you're normal and enter the premises of the monastery, you will just find yourself in the middle of wrecked ruins. But for us, exorcists with magic in our blood, we will be transported to the astral plane, and the school will be visible to our eyes."

Vanya beckoned him to come inside as she pulled open the giant oak door. Inside the building, they were greeted by a large staircase leading to the east and west wing hallways of the second floor. Around them, they were flocked by paintings hanging on the wall.

Yavin could see climbing the stairs while busy looking at their tablets. Some of them were still in high school wearing their school uniforms. He recognized some of the uniforms, but others were a complete mystery to him. People wearing casual clothes and business suits who were much older than Yavin strolled the hallways too.

He noticed that Vanya was moving again, so he tailed after her. Vanya turned on the opposite wing and pulled open the door. Another long hallway stretched before them with large frame windows on the side, giving them the view of the outside world.

They passed several doors until Vanya stopped in front of a door and pulled it open.

They both entered the room and found themselves in a large empty room. The whole room was painted in white from the ceiling, walls, down to the floors.

And in the middle of the room, Yavin spotted three figures standing and waiting for them - two women and one man.

"You're both late," one of them said. It was the woman in the middle. She looked a bit older than Yavin. Maybe she looked somewhere in her late twenties. The imposing woman who was a foot taller than him, had long blonde hair past her forearm. She was wearing a navy blue cloak jacket paired with black pants.

She gave Yavin a piercing stare with her sea-green eyes.

Vanya stepped forward and bowed at the woman. "Apologies, Professor Mad. We got sidetracked." She looked at Yavin and introduced him to the woman.

"Yavin Poder meet Professor Mad Virtues, one of the most experienced professors at Knightwatch Academy."