"Erebus! Shadowdash! Now!"
Erebus created a duplicate of itself with its shadow, attacking the python from behind which made it lose its grip on Maverick.
Rowan leapt forward, grateful to Erebus for the distraction.
His statistics suddenly appeared in front of him.
'This is 10% of my power?' He thought.
Rowan released the Cursed chain, which held the python in place, and its magic was deactivated.
"He did it! It's over!" Someone yelled.
Rowan confirmed that Argentrix was easy to defeat while only using 10% of his power.
Asher fell to his knees as he felt a sense of relief and jealousy wash over him.
Not long after the incident, Rowan was gifted the title of Academy Captain. The level of achievement had just begun.
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"You're bothered by that?" Kaito asked.
Asher had grown comfortable around the squirrel, but was not ready enough to reveal his secret.
"I feel like we've been torn apart because of this school, I feel distant; he is becoming his person!"
Asher let out a frustrated sigh and buried his face in his pillow. "Wow...Academy Captain..." He muffled.
"Asher, I may not be as mighty as Erebus, but I can at least share my knowledge with you. The only person who can limit you is yourself, think about it."
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Asher sprang up from his bed, "Oh well, I'll leave now" Kaito vanished.
He went to the door, gently pulling the handle, and slightly opened it.
He blinked in surprise, not expecting to see Remi standing at the door, almost looking frightened, with a pillow pressed against her chest.
"Hey...Asher"
Without hesitation, he opened the door properly and welcomed her in.
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"You're sure you saw the 'thing'?" Asher asked.
Remi confirmed that she had seen a demon at her window and was afraid to sleep in her room.
She felt like she was being haunted and had been experiencing this a week after the defeat of Argentrix.
"Yeah", Remi replied.
This piqued Asher's curiosity, but he thought about something.
"Why are you telling me this?" He asked.
There were a lot of adults she could've reported the case to, but she didn't.
"You're the only person I can trust right now. Something tells me you can handle this"
Asher looked bewildered, 'That something...must have been Kaito, and if it is, I'd kill him,' he thought.
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Rowan had committed himself to nonstop self-training with Erebus every day.
"Let's take a break for now, buddy."
Rowan sat on the bench where Fang had been watching.
He felt like Fang had taken a liking to him, and he hated it, but not entirely.
"What, are you done now?" Fang asked, offering food to Rowan.
Other students could tell that Fang liked Rowan in that way, but Rowan couldn't see it. All the thought was that Fang was weird.
Rowan accepted the food and began to eat.
'You look so cute right now, I could eat your cheeks, ' Fang thought, smiling from ear to ear while staring at him.
"Did you eat yet?" Rowan asked.
The unexpected question sent Fang's heart racing, as he felt his face grow hot.
He shifted his weight on the bench while fidgeting with his fingers. 'He cares for me? No! Fang! Don't go ahead of yourself!' he thought.
Asher looked up at him, "Dude, are you okay? You're sweating"
"Uh...never mind, it's nothing".
It was pointless.
If Rowan found out how Fang felt about him, would their relationship as just friends be destroyed?
"We have our first task tomorrow, I heard we'll be going to the Nevermore Forest". Fang said as he checked his stats screen.
"Nevermore Forest..." Rowan repeated as he kept the food aside and rubbed his knuckles.
"I was told by my parents that my grandfather was a Sagea explorer and researcher. He went there to check it out, but never came back".
"Oh...I'm sorry about that. It is horrifying after all. The Umbrax students were chosen to go first at dawn," Fang said.
DOOM
Rowan froze in fear, and his chest tightened. Asher would have to go first.
"Why is that?! They're the least experienced!"
Fang was surprised at Rowan's reaction, "I don't know about that, but you have to chill, someone from the Order of Veil is going with them. Lord Malovik"
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The night drew closer as Asher and Remi awaited the arrival of the creature.
"It's so dark in here", Asher mumbled.
"This is how I go to sleep, I love it when it's dark, now be quiet", Remi whispered back.
They hid themselves behind the bedside to get a better view of the creature when it arrived.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of the window opening as the wind blew.
The creature jumped onto Remi's bed. It had a wide grin and large red eyes, and was about the same size as Kaito.
Remi saw its grin and immediately looked back down as she tugged the hem of Asher's shirt. "Hey, whatever you do, don't look-"
It was too late. A Pyropex Griffin.
Asher's eyes had met the Griffin's, and he was hypnotised.
His mind went blank.
"Asher? No!" Remi exclaimed.
The Griffin led him from their hiding spot to the window.
"Hey! You idiot! Snap out of it," Remi called out as she reached for a torch. She turned it on and noticed the griffin flinching.
Remi gasped at the realisation, but Asher had climbed the window and was about to jump off.
"Hey! Don't do it!"
The Pyropex griffin spat on Remi, its saliva paralysing her entire body as she struggled. "Damn you!"
The griffin screeched, commanding Asher to jump off, and he did. It then spread its wings and followed.
Remi's heart sank, and she remained wide-eyed.
But her fear evaporated in an instant. "Dispel!" she chanted, and the paralysis spell broke.
Remi hurried to the window and watched Asher go about hitting the ground. As she yelled his name once more, she saw something unreal.
An Ignifax had caught Asher and eaten the griffin mid-air.