My Turn

Not even a second had passed since Quinn's last interaction with Void, when the latter said that he was going to take control of the body; Quinn felt like he was rapidly losing control over his body as his hands fell limp and his body was wobbling as he sat before his desk. Before his consciousness could slip away, he managed to utter but a few words, questioning Void's actions: 'What... are you doing...? Void!' Quinn tried to bite his tongue, but his jaws would not move the slightest bit, and thus, in a final attempt to regain control over his body, he screamed internally, 'Shadow Heart! Do something about this, for fuck's sake! Void!! Heed my words...! When I get back... the first thing I'll do is fucking kill you... if you dare...'

Unable to finish his threat, Quinn was no longer under control of his body and fell into a deep slumber; his whole body fell limp for a moment and his head was about to bang against the desk. However, right before the point of contact between the two, his body stopped and recovered slowly. Quinn's body took a sudden and sharp breath, 'Hhh, this is what it feels like to breathe? Instinctual... but, it is rather pleasant.'

As though he was just born into Quinn's body—which he was—with no prior experiences with an actual perfected mimicry of a Human body, Void was subtly moving and stretching his newly acquired body. Quinn's hair changed from a greyish-white to the darkest shade of black, and his irises: the same eerie black.

'I do not know if you can hear me yet, but you must understand that this was the best and safest choice that we had available,' Void thought, comforting none other than himself, 'Your mental state is vulnerable and that will only accelerate the Shadow Heart's counter's progress—your progress towards the Awakening... . This option was a gamble too; after all, normally, Shadows are akin to mist and have a Physical Consciousness, which allows them to outright alter their original body, move from body to body or any Astral Plane and more. But, I know that you are different, Quinn. It worked out, and we saved you from rushing into your Awakening... for now.'

The abrupt change in Quinn's appearance did not seem to alarm or confuse anyone near him for whatever reason, so Void did not have to worry about that.

As Void assessed his control over Quinn's body, which was flawless, a student approached the desk that he occupied; "Umm... excuse me. That's my seat," said the boy.

'Oh,' Void began to ponder for but a second. 'What would Quinn say here...? It must be something like:'

"Fuck off."

———

After a hard time understanding the students in his class and the rules to be abided, Void had just found his seat when the homeroom teacher arrived. Needless to say, Void was having some trouble with the physical aspects of the life that Quinn was leading; it was to be expected since Void was a natural-born Irregular Shadow that never had any physical experiences with a material body.

'To think I would need to use eyes to observe my surrounding... . How did Quinn bear to live like this; it makes me feel sick,' Void eyed the teacher's movement as he walked to the teaching area of the lecture hall.

[Adolf Heim]

[Race: Vampire Lord]

'Ah-hah. One of the Family Heads: a Vampire Lord teaching students? Interesting. Come to think of it, 6 of the Lords were not present at the ceremony and examination; what might be the cause of that? It is known that there are 16 Familiy Heads at the Lord level—out of which, only 10 were seen in the entirety of the Capital; a total of 9 Vampire Elders, with 8 belonging to the Table and the last being a Hermit... 7 were present, including the Headmaster. Could something be unfolding without the people knowing?'

The homeroom teacher, Adolf, stood in the centre of the teaching area as a holographic screen seemingly materialised to be indistinguishable from a physical board. He ran his eyes through the hall, looking at the information of every student using a Sensory implant that allowed the staff of the school to access the same. His eyes, glowing with a soft orange glow—iindicating that he is accessing a target's information—stopped at a certain individual. Of course, it was none other than Quinn, the notorious student that has been bunking lectures for 5 days since the first day of the academy.

"Ahem-!" The old Vampire cleared his throat, "Student Quinn Maw; this is your first class in 5 days, yes? Although I do not care about the reason for your absence from the academy, I do happen to care about the effect that this might bring to your academic status. I hope you have the basic gist of what all of the professors have taught the other students of the Zenith class."

"Of course, My Lord," Void stood up. "You may call me professor, student Quinn. Apart from that, I had asked all of the students to prepare for a practical class focused on the practise of resonating with Energy and harnessing it as another main source of power other than Mana used for your Abilities. I had instructed all of the students to study my thesis on the manifestation of Energy in a being by means of artificial awakening; for all those without Energy, today, we will be changing that.

"Student Quinn, since you have been absent for so long and have yet to partake in any of the class activities, why not come down here and demonstrate the manifestation of Energy?"

Complying with the simple yet annoying request, Void silently descended the nearest staircase down to where professor Adolf stood await. "Ah, I have asked everyone but you; pray tell: do you happen to possess Energy and the means to manifest it at will? Since this is merely an aptitude test for what kind of Energy one possesses and the means to provide one with the methods to cultivate it, it does not make sense to proceed if you already possess Energy."

'Well, I'm in a bit of a pickle, I suppose,' Void mused, 'I definitely cannot claim that I wield 3 Energies at once; that will only cause a disaster and it just does not make sense for me to expose Quinn like that. Origin Energy is also just out of question because of its importance to the beings of this Realm and its relation to Scion; and, even using Origin Energy is a risky move because of the presence of that other Origin Energy user that may or may not be related to Scion. Arcane Energy... is a special case since there have been no Humans that have been gifted with an affinity towards it, and so far, only Vampires with special knowledge and wisdom have possessed this one; thus, proclaiming Arcane Energy might cause an uproar—not just inside of the academy.

'Although I understand Quinn's thirst for conquest, glory and a strong opponent, I never understood the use of not hiding his prowess. I am sure that Quinn does not seek fame—like the kind he would have if it were disclosed that he possesses Arcane Energy—but instead, a means to draw out a strong opponent. Disguising Origin Energy as another kind of Elemental Energy would have been easy if not for that person... . Well, it might worsen Quinn's already-notorious image, but it is really the only viable option. As long as he is a student in the Royal academy and has a clean background, it will not be a problem... probably; hopefully.'

Void held his hand out such that his palm was facing the ceiling; right as the professor was about to question Quinn's action, a black flame like no other warped into existence, on Void's hand. The flame had a dense, almost liquid-like centre of pure, swirling blackness; it did not feel like it could burn, but rather, it was as though it could just outright anihilate anything it touches. Surrounding the black core is a faint glow of deep crimson, barely visible. Dark, smokey tendrils that rise from the flame make it look like the black flame is devouring the light itself; it feels like the smoke is creating a small, partial vacuum that shifts the air. Unlike normal fire that rises upwards, the black flame looked like it had weight to it as it curled downwards.

The mere sight of such an otherworldly wonder that defied the normal understanding of any of the mortals of the Realm left professor Adolf's mouth agape and speechless. "Th-this...! D-demise... Energy!"