Mundane Terror

Barnock's eyes scour over the people, eventually returning to the demon, "Why have you done this?!"

Diablo begins laughing uproariously, "Because you are weak, and I am strong. It's the way of the world, isn't that right... Descendant of Bul-Kathos?"

Barnock grits his teeth, "You will leave this place and return Talia and Kamal to me now." he states.

Diablo flexes his claws and eyes Barnock as if he were an insect, "You may have good blood, but you are not my equal. Your women are here, I'm sure if your love for them wasn't "skin-deep" you'd recognise them." he says, causing Barnocks eyes to widen.

He stares at the torture device and spots a small earing attached to one of the bits of flesh remaining on the corpses... It was feminine, but without skin, genitals, or eyes he couldn't recognise them. But, with the earing, he knew who it was...

Barnock "Kamala... DIABLO! YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" He screams in rage, charging the demon and preparing to bury his axe into its skull.

Diablo simply sweeps a claw at the Barbian however, cutting off his arm and causing him to drop the weapon... "You are pathetic."

Barnock feels the burning pain of having his limb cut, but ignores it and picks up the axe with his other arm... Again, it's cut by Diablo, but Barnock attempts to kick the demon...

Eventually, all that's left of Barnock is a toothless, limbless torso... Even then, he spits blood at Diablo in an attempt to cause him harm, even if it is completely hopeless. Somehow he'd not bled out yet, but he guessed it was just Diablo trying to prolong his agony.

Diablo looks down at him with amusement, "You have been interesting, I want to see how far you can delve into despair." he says, pulling Kamala's skinless body of the rack and placing it beside Barnock... He could hear her rough wheezing and pained groans, she was alive, and it was a nightmare.

Barnock tries to speak to her, but her eardrums had been ruptured, filled with blood and any hope of her hearing him was lost. Without a chance to think, Diablo speared her through the back and out of her stomach with his claw, coating Barnocks face in blood.

Barnock "NOOOOOOOO!" he screams, his eyes going red with rage as he loses all sense of self. Diablo's expression turns cautious as Barnock continues roaring like an animal, getting angrier and angrier with no tangible results.

That is, until the world starts distorting around them, his rage made manifest by the destruction of this hellish nightmare.

(Terrifying Transition)

Mathias was more cheerful than usual today, it was finally time for his magical affinities to be tested at the academy. This would dictate whether or not they'd teach him at all, and whether or not he'd be forced into a life of mundane work.

He'd always thought of himself as special, he could feel different kinds of magic and elements moving around himself. They may be invisible to most, but he could feel them, as if he had a sixth sense based on sensing magic.

He'd been bullied all his life, his parents dying at an early age and himself being forced into hard manual labour. This was his one chance to make something of himself, and he believed he had the capabilities due to his unique talent in magical detection.

The line to get tested was long, but he'd come early enough to not have to wait hours like the sorry souls behind him... He did have to skip work for this opportunity, but he'd likely not have to return should everything go as planned.

An hour of anxious waiting later and he was at the front of the line, standing before a woman who held a large crystal ball in one hand. She smiles and gestured him forwards with the other, rubbing his cheek and looking deeply into his eyes.

"Hm? You aren't to like the others, let's see if your ambition matches your talent" she says in a sagely tone. "Place your hand atop the orb."

Mathias does as he's told and they both wait there for a moment, he'd expected the orb to light up or at least do anything. The woman seemed to have been expecting it too as he brows furrowed, she let him stay there longer than the before him had, but still no result... He felt his heart stop as she brushed his hand off of the crystal ball, an indifferent look in her eye.

"It seems I was wrong about you, you're worse than even the most stupid of the peasants today. Be gone with you, I have no time for Skamelars, especially those who present themselves as otherwise."

...

Mathias "B-but... I can sense magic, surely I'd be able to use it?" he quickly asks, feeling like his world was shattering around him.

The woman scowls at him, "Bah! What good are you sensing magic without being able to use it? Begone! Or I'll remove you myself!" she exclaims, the people behind him jeering at him as he slowly walks away, tearing beginning to crawl down his cheeks.

It'd been a year since then, since he'd lost hope at being anything but a useless peasant... He didn't have the strength that everyone else did, his body was thin and frail, not suited to manual labour. Yet, he was forced to do it to feed himself.

He'd continued trying to manipulate magic, even after that mage had scolded him, but he'd had yet to see any results. Truly, it was as she said, he had no talent for it.

One day while he was lifted bags of grain, an armoured warrior came rushing through town, ordering all the young men of age to start preparing to leave... They'd apparently been conscripted by the lord to fight against some kind of monstrous enemy.

Mathias had thoughts of hiding to evade being summoned but felt that there'd be no point... He'd either die here of some disease, maybe even being murdered by one of his many bullies. Or he'd die on the battlefield, fighting for "Something", even if he didn't know what it was.