The coldness of the steel in his hand made him twitch. The power that poured from it made him wary, and the voice inside the sword kept echoing in his head.
"Who are you?" Alexander asked the being inside the sword. Maltilda, the girl that was escorting him to his class, looked confused. She heard no voice, but for some reason Alexander was talking to the sword.
’I have no name. It was stripped from me at the end of time, and all I know is the coldness and loneliness inside the sword,’ the voice echoed in his head once more.
"Who are you talking to, Alexander?" Maltilda asked.
"Can’t you hear the voice?" he asked, sounding more like a madman to her.
"No, I hear nothing. You are just standing there talking to a sword," she said.
Alexander just stared at the sword. He strapped it to his waist and tried to change the subject with Maltilda.
"Oh, then just forget about it. I’m sorry about that," he said.
They left the library which was still in shambles after the magical energy from the sword blasted every book off its shelf.
It was an awkward walk to the classroom. Maltilda wanted to know who Alexander was talking to, but he didn’t even know where to start.
The moment Alexander stepped into his new classroom, all eyes were on him. His eyes shined bright and everyone was focused on his height that had grown to 6 foot 5 since he was turned into a Nergal.
Each student bore different expressions at him. Some looked hostile and others looked kind, but most of them were curious to know who he was.
Maltilda showed him to an empty seat, and as soon as he sat down a bunch of boys approached him. Their uniforms had golden stripes on the shoulders, and they had on smug looks.
"Hey. What are you?" a boy asked, sounding more hostile than curious.
"You mean who am I?" Alexander tried correcting the boy.
The boy looked angry and slammed his fist on Alexander’s desk. "You think I’m stupid? I mean what are you? You are clearly not human," the boy said, grinding his teeth.
Alexander looked surprised since not a lot of people could tell he wasn’t human, and the only way the boy could have figured it out is if he sensed that he didn’t have magic in him, which was amazing considering the average sorcerer could not tell the difference between magic and Uzu.
"I don’t know what you mean. I’m fully human," Alexander tried to shrug off the question. "You have confused me with someone."
The boy grabbed Alexander by the collar and pulled him over the desk.
"Don’t try acting smart with me, demon. I know what you are, I know about your kind’s unholy blood," the boy said, but Alexander simply rolled his eyes.
"I hate idiots like you. Thinking you are superior to others just because you were born looking a certain way. In this vast world with hundreds of races, why would you, a tiny human, think you are superior to others?" Alexander asked.
The boy smiled and released his magic energy, pushing everything around him with his aura alone.
"Fine. I challenge you to a duel. I will show you how superior I am," the boy said. "You will find me in the arena, demon," he added as he walked out of the room.
Alexander straightened his uniform and let out a sigh.
"Are you alright?" Maltilda said with concern.
"Yes, I am. So where exactly is the arena? I’ve only been there once so I might get lost," he said with a smile.
Maltilda’s brow wrinkled. "You aren’t seriously thinking of fighting him, are you?" she said.
Alexander took out the chaos sword he had found in the library and said, "I don’t back down from a challenge. So where is it?" He didn’t want to say it, but he was more excited about trying out the chaos sword in this fight.
Maltilda broke under pressure and decided to take Alexander to the arena.
Everyone in the classroom stood up and followed behind them, excited to see the duel.
ONE CALLED DARKNESS
The arena was packed with students. Their cheers echoed around the school, and the boos were just as loud when Alexander walked in. The new student fighting a semi-pro student, this fight had already been decided in their minds.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Maltilda asked, still concerned about him.
"I’m sure about it. I’ve fought a few times before, so I think I will be good," Alexander said as he stretched his body.
The other student that challenged Alexander walked in, holding a magic staff in his hand.
When Alexander pulled out his sword, everyone in the audience laughed.
"Why are they laughing?" Alexander whispered to Maltilda.
"Are you only an augmenter?" she asked and he nodded. "That’s why they are laughing. No augmenter has a chance against a sorcerer like Martin," she said.
The boy who challenged him was also laughing.
"Shall we begin, you barbarian," the boy said as he pointed his magic staff at Alexander. The moment Alexander nodded in agreement, the battle began.
The boy fired a beam of light at Alexander, but he cut it in half. He jumped into the air and went straight for the boy’s arm, but he teleported out of the way before the sword touched him, but the ground the sword landed on shattered, leaving the kids in the audience surprised.
The boy finally realized the danger Alexander posed. He took his staff and fired a barrage of spells.
"ECILS!" the boy screamed and compressed air was sent flying toward Alexander, slicing him upon impact.
The air sliced through his uniform and cut deep into his skin, and the battle seemed over as Alexander was covered in blood and wounds.
But the students in the audience started noticing Alexander’s body slowly healing, and within seconds he was up. He moved so fast that the boy he was fighting didn’t even notice before Alexander hit him with the flat side of his sword, sending him flying into the wall.
The moment he crashed into the walls of the arena, a huge bang echoed throughout the school.
"You bastard!" the boy somehow stood up from that. "If I had not placed a barrier around myself, you would have cut me in half," the boy said with a huge smile.
His eyes were bulging out, and before Alexander had the chance to speak, the boy disappeared from sight. He reappeared above Alexander’s head and kicked him on his head. Before he even hit the ground, the boy fired a beam of light on Alexander’s back, which sent him deep into the ground.
This wasn’t an average student Alexander was facing, and he finally realized it.
’Use my powers, child,’ the sword spoke to him, but Alexander tried to ignore it.
’I said use my powers!’ the voice echoed in his head once more. Alexander held the sword tight and drew the magic from it into his body.
He saw something when the sword’s magic entered his body. He saw a world being destroyed by a dark being, and its power was frightening, but he also saw a familiar face. "Merlin?" He said to himself.
In this vision Merlin stood next to a man that looked exactly like him, but his eyes were golden unlike Merlin’s green eyes. This man wore a golden crown and thousands of knights stood behind him, and above them a being covered in darkness flew.
The vision stopped and he was dragged back to reality. "What the hell was that?" Alexander uttered.
’Now use my power to destroy that brat,’ the sword said, and the bloodlust within it could be felt by Alexander.
At that moment, all he cared about was winning this fight. He jumped out of the hole he was plunged into, and when he stepped back into the arena, something was different about him.
His entire white uniform turned black, and his shadow glitched. The moment he took his first step, every kid in the audience fell to the ground, and the opponent in front of him soiled himself.
The power was so intense that it could be felt throughout the kingdom, and within seconds Perseus and Merlin had arrived.
"What the hell is that, Merlin?" Perseus asked Merlin, as he looked at Alexander, but the look of terror was plastered all over Merlin’s face.
"It’s Darkness," Merlin said as his hand twitched from fear. "It’s Erebus."