Semester Finals

After the semester finals tests came to an end, I was finally able to relax. The past three days had been stressful, although there was only one death from the demon attack, I wasn't happy with that number either. I was unable to sleep again, as my PTSD was affecting my sleep, and now there were new dreams.

I was restless. I felt like the time I spent during the past five months was almost wasted. Even though Titus and I were able to swiftly kill the three demons, they had enough time to kill someone before we had even arrived. Thinking about this, what if they hadn't fought Titus, and instead split up to cause as much death as possible?

'It's not enough... I'M not enough... If the Hero isn't able to do it, I need to be able to make up for her discrepancies.'

The remaining two days were somber days, where I was walking around recruiting different individuals. Other than Ryan, I hadn't found any worthwhile prospects from the other bottom feeders. They were all just addicted to the feeling of power. They weren't people I could trust.

I gave those folks a mixture that made them fall asleep, but also induced memory loss. The dosage was controlled, so they would lose their memories of going on rampages and that I was the one who gave them the potions. With this, there began to spread a rumor of a mysterious potion master that appeared to the lower ranked students. 

He was said to cast a spell to make you forget where you met him, but the potions he gave out were incredible. This news reached the teachers, and they scoured the drone footage, but they would never find anything. I used the jammer to great utility over the three days, so I was clear of suspicion.

As Titus and I were practicing hand to hand combat, a drone flew over to us, and a message began to broadcast.

"All students, congratulations on finishing the semester final. Regardless of the outcome, we commend you all on being able to finish the test without help, but it is now time to head back to the Academy. Follow the drones to the South Coast, where we dropped you off on the first day, and we will sail back to the port city."

Titus looked over at the drone for a moment, during which I took the opportunity to sweep his legs and bring him to the ground. He immediately tried to react by jumping to his feet, but I already had my pistol pressed against his forehead.

Him and I were both panting, as the spar had drained our stamina, but I looked at him with resolve.

"If you get distracted so easily, you'd be dead in a real fight."

Titus looked at me, before closing his eyes and putting his hands in the air.

"You're right. I lost."

I put my gun back into the holster, and grabbed his hand to help him up. We packed up our campsite, and headed down the mountainside. When we broke through the forest, arriving on the beach where we saw a large boat and teachers, Hannah happened to walk out of the forest not far from us. 

She stopped mid conversation, staring at Titus and I. I also held her gaze for a moment, but I soon heard a voice call my name.

"Darius Crow. The headmaster wants to talk to you in the lounge. Now."

I wanted to see how Hannah was going to react under my pressure, but Professor Gram interrupted that. I handed my two bags to Titus, apologizing for leaving my stuff with him, and walked up the boarding ramp. I followed Professor Gram in silence, and simply stroked the handle of my pistol as we walked, when suddenly he spoke.

"...Good job."

I almost stopped walking when I heard those words come from Professor Gram who continued walking without missing a beat.

"Dealing with the demons. When Alice told us that you would be more than enough to handle it, I argued that it was a risk we couldn't take, but I saw the body of the girl... I was furious, thinking you had slacked off, but then I saw the bodies of the demons..."

He then turned to me and looked me in the eyes. I could feel the sense of respect one would have shared with a combat buddy. Someone you risked your life next to on the frontlines of battle.

"I'm glad you didn't give those fuckers an easy death. That's all I had to say. Keep up the good work."

He then turned and opened a door. Once I stepped in, I noticed Headmaster Abraham sitting at a table directly ahead of us. When we walked in, he simply smiled, and gestured to the seat across from him.

I walked over, noticing that Professor Gram wasn't joining this conversation, and sat down in the seat.

"My my. Alice really does know how to train them. You're much scarier than when I first met you those five months ago."

I saw him sneak a glance at my pistol, which had changed in appearance slightly, there was now a textured grip on the handle. I then saw him look at my vial belt.

"Wyverna Hibiscus... No doubt from Alice's garden... You are a skilled poisoner I presume?"

I knew what he was asking. I nodded, and concocted two potions. One was the memory loss mix, and the other was the berserk potion I gave to the students on the island. Reports of what was going on had just reached the boat, and it seemed the headmaster had an idea who the mysterious potion master was.

He reached out and examined both. He took a small sniff of each, taking a moment with his eyes closed, before he handed them back to me. 

"You are indeed quite ingenious. Utilizing so many different plants to achieve those effects. You must have some reason for doing those tests on the students?"

When he finished his sentence I felt a slight pressure coming from him. He was making sure I was not hurting students.

"I do. Also they weren't tests. I had already tested out the drugs, these were the final products. I didn't hurt anyone either. They were all healed after they took the potions."

I explained, looking him in the eyes. After staring at each other for a few moments, in silence, the pressure I was feeling disappeared and the headmaster laughed.

"That's good. Then we have nothing else to talk about... Also, good job dealing with those demons. We took their bodies and we're looking into any clues we can in their backgrounds, but there usually are no results from it. So we don't expect much... You'll be allowed a week's break. Well, everyone is going to be going on a month long break, but you'll be allowed an extra week."

"Can I ask for a favor?"

The headmaster took a sip from his cup in front of him.

"Depends on what it is."

"Titus Freeman. I want him to be given an extra week too."

The headmaster peered at me from over his glasses.

"Ah yes... Titus... Your henchman?"

He asked, setting his cup down lightly.

"My ally. He helped with the Demons, and he'll likely continue to help in the future."

The headmaster thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head.

"That's fine. Just know if he dies helping you, the Academy will push all the blame to you solely."

I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't against that, but I disliked how the Academy operated. It felt shady. However I simply nodded, and stood up from my seat. 

"If that's all, then I'll be leaving. I'm tired."

The headmaster simply smiled and watched me leave the lounge. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but to be honest I didn't want to know.

I walked back to the beach, where all the students had finally arrived, and rejoined Titus. I knew Hannah was staring at me, but I ignored it this time. She needed to know I was not worried about her all the time. I portrayed a larger worldview, hoping she would learn to do the same.

"Everything alright?"

Titus asked when I came up and got my bags back from him. I simply nodded and looked around. I spotted two girls with harrowed looks of despair, and recognized them immediately.

Two of Shannon Ashton's friends. They ran to look for help the moment Shannon was attacked, but they didn't help her. The guilt of her death, and their own cowardice must have plagued them. I felt bad for them, since I knew they simply didn't have the strength to help, but I didn't approach them. 

They would have to deal with that themselves. I had my own problems. I then happened to make eye contact with Ryan, who then approached me slowly.

Once he got close to me, he began to open his mouth.

"Stop."

I said, before he could form any words. He was stunned with his mouth open, so I decided to explain it simply to him.

"We'll talk about it on the ship. Not in public."

I then went back to looking around the all the students, and noticed everyone had arrived. I then began to walk onto the ship, before the teachers then told everyone they could board the ship and to take their time to relax since their break would start now.

To that, a bunch of students cheered, many of them were not aware that someone had died during the test. They were simply normal teenagers enjoying their winter break. Once on board, the three of us walked to the room Titus and I shared, before closing the door.

I sat tiredly on the bed, and Titus also fell down exhausted on the bed. Ryan was awkwardly standing by the door, unsure of what to do, when I spoke first.

"What do you want Ryan? I thought I told you that you had until we got back from break to think about your decision."

Ryan bit his lip, before a newfound resolve appeared in his eyes.

"I don't need a month to think about it... I want to join whatever it is you're doing."

To this, I opened my eyes, and sat up slowly. I looked at him, and stared at his eyes intently. His gaze wavered, but he never broke eye contact under my pressure. 

I looked him up and down. I noticed he didn't have good shoes. They were old and had holes in them from wear. I figured his financial status wasn't great either. I shook my head and looked at him in the eyes again.

"Shannon Ashton died."

When Ryan heard this, he was so shocked his mouth hung open, and he blankly stared at me waiting for me to say it was a joke.

"She was killed by demons..."

I could see the wheels in his brain turn, as he immediately linked it to the events on the first day of the school year.

"The ones who attacked at the welcoming ceremony?"

"I don't know about the same, but probably."

He hung his head in quiet reservation.

"Where are the demons now? The teachers didn't say anything about them just now?"

"They're dead. Ryan, remember when I said you would never gain recognition for your actions?"

He nodded.

"We killed the demons. Unfortunately we were too late to get to Shannon, but we were able to prevent more deaths... Yet with such a noble deed, we receive no praise or recognition... But we don't regret doing what we did. We will continue doing these things, without recognition. So I ask you again."

I stood up and stood directly in front of Ryan.

"Do you want to join us? We are murderers. Liars and schemers. Thieves if that's what it takes to save people. Can you do that? If not, drink this potion and go back to your room. You'll forget everything about us and you'll go back to your life."

Ryan then stood holding the amnesia potion, and quietly thought about everything I just told him. While he was busy making a life changing decision, I took out my prized pillow, and lay my head flat on it. Closing my eyes and relaxing.

After a couple minutes, as I had finally fully relaxed and was about to drift off, Ryan finally spoke up.

"I don't care about recognition... Shannon was my friend... She died a miserable death at the hands of demons.. I swear, I'll help you kill as many demons as I can."

I opened my eyes and saw Ryan standing over my bed, holding the potion in his hand, outstretched to me. I smiled, and took the potion back from him.

"Go and rest. Or if you're too restless, take that potion I gave you the other day, and workout for a few hours. You should feel some change. Now go, I'm tired and have been looking forward to sleeping for days now."

With that, I rolled over and went back to closing my eyes.

I heard Ryan open the door quietly, and lock it behind him as he left. I then heard Titus's voice from behind me, on the other bed.

"He seems like a good guy... Are you sure he'll be able to handle it?"

I was silent for a while.

"I don't think it matters... I think more importantly that he has it in him to endure it... I think each of us breaks eventually, but we're able to endure it to keep going."

With that we both stayed silent, and it wasn't long before I drifted off while snoring lightly.