2

At the end of the day, I go through the motions of taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and heading to bed. I don't have any hobbies, and I really only enjoy going to bed, so once training is done for the day, I usually go right to bed.

Most professors know by now that giving me something to study at home will not only result in the forfeiture of whatever they give me, but I won't even use the information given anyway.

I don't qualify for any of the dorms, I don't have a tutor who's taken me under their wing, and I don't have a home of my own.

I just wander into the basement of the Order's monastery and climb into the simple bed in the small room that's been mine since childhood. It's sparsely decorated and simple, but that's because I have no interest in going through the effort of making it look nice.

All the decor in the world won't change what it is.

I stare at the ceiling and sigh, letting myself close my eyes and try to focus on how to relax.

To turn my brain off.

Sleep, come to me. I'm ready.

Unfortunately, before I can go, that's about the time someone knocks on my door.

The knock sounds casual, lighthearted and unassuming. I'm the only person who uses this room to sleep in, but the visitor could belong to any number of people.

The person knocking, however, is someone very specific.

"Caden," Master Thomson says as he pushes open the door. "Just who I was hoping to find."

As if there would be anyone else here.

I slowly get up, looking over at the man. "...I haven't done anything wrong."

Master Thomson ignores my reply and instead puts his hands behind his back. "What did I tell you during lecture earlier today?"

I blink.

Master Thomson smiles. "Were you not paying attention? Or perhaps you chose to ignore what I was saying. Your favorite thing to do, right? It's certainly what you do most often."

"You were talking about different ways to use an Exorcist Candle, that's all."

Master Thomson makes a big show of being disappointed in me, and he sighs heavily. "Do you take anything seriously, Caden?"

"Not much, I suppose." I shrug.

What's the point of taking training seriously that I can't utilize, anyway?

Master Thomson stares at me, shaking his head. "Your mother seized every opportunity she had to learn with zeal. But you--you don't appreciate the honor of being inducted to the Order at all."

"The Order honors my blood. I didn't choose to have this blood."

"No, you didn't." Master Thomson crosses his arms in front of himself. "And as a result, you remain ungrateful."

"Ungrateful?"

"That's right. Ungrateful. Here you are, blessed by the spirits themselves, with a pure exorcist mother and a lineage most would beg to have, and you choose instead to remain flippant and disdainful. A man cannot hope to reach enlightenment without respecting the duty his spirit ordains."

I stare at him. "Am I going to enlighten myself into having pure blood? Will my respect retroactively give me a spirit gift of some sort?"

Master Thomson narrows his eyes at me. "Caden."

I shut up. I'll get nowhere by trying to argue.

If I could get anywhere by arguing about the Order's inane ideas, I wouldn't be stuck here learning information that will only ever be good for me to teach some pure-blooded child of mine one day.

I don't even know why it needs to be me doing the teaching. Surely the mother could do it?

"There is something very special I must talk with you about." The classmaster announces.

Special? What does he mean?

For the first time, I'm actually curious.

Special isn't something that usually comes out of his mouth, or anyone's mouth, in relation to me.

"Follow me." He says, and turns around and leaves my room.

I rise to follow him out the door, glancing back briefly.

This tiny basement room is the only place I've called 'home'. I don't have much attachment to it, but it is still the only thing I have.

My father apparently didn't stick around after he got my mother pregnant.

Or he died.

She wasn't clear, apparently, except to say it involved the Gloom.The easy guess when mixing humans and the Gloom is that a Gloom Dweller just went and ate him.

But...given my mother was such a powerful exorcist, that doesn't seem likely. The Gloom has a negative impact on the human psyche - staying in its presence or proximity for long enough makes the regular humans erratic, violent, and all around moody.

Considering her job description it's entirely likely my father, whoever he is, simply got up and left one day. Probably even before he knew she was pregnant.

My mother died having me.

After her death, the Order took me in. They gave me this room to live in, they dressed me, they fed me, they trained me.

And in return, all they expect from me is to carry my bloodline, nothing more.

And they're not interested in letting me do anything other than that.

At least I'd understand if they demanded I stay hidden and learn how to avoid Gloom Dwellers - after all, those with blessed blood had better tasting souls to Gloom Dwellers, and those Dwellers don't particularly care about the 'tainted' part except that it makes it an easier meal. 

But no.

Apparently, I'm a 'priceless asset', and I'm meant to learn to fight with Exorcist Tools regardless of the fact that I can't even activate them.

All in the hope that one day, I can contribute the spirit power within my bloodline to someone who deserves it. The stronger the exorcist is at the time of conception, the stronger the child, after all.

I'd have thought my lack of being able to use any spirit powers at all would make me a flat zero no matter what...but I'm not the expert. The Order is. Allegedly.

I think it's more likely they just want me busy with meaningless assignments all day while they plan out my life for me.

Anyway, considering all of my use to the Order is in my future progeny, the fact that I'm being led somewhere special for any reason at all feels strange.

The hallways we pass through are large, decorated with tapestries and paintings, but that's par for the course in this place. Everywhere I look, there are art and antiques and historical pieces that the Order collected over the centuries.

A lot of them are purely ceremonial and hold no real meaning.

The Order is, ultimately, the same. The Gloom Crisis is long behind us, and most Gloom Dwellers are already dead, and so most of the things the Order does are pointless now. Just useless decoration and ceremony done simply because they've always done it.

When I think of it that way, it's no wonder I'm a part of it.

The Order is absolutely full of useless things like me.