Falling Into A New Life

Hello once again, nobody at all. I have absolutely no doubt that if anyone was reading this, they stopped by now. Probably thought this journal would corrupt them or something. If there is anyone who has continued to read, don't bother. The only secrets this book contains are my own, and they can't help you. Of course, in this life there isn't much that can...

The next day I got my shit together. No more of that pansy, mopey, depression bull-shit. I was surrounded by monsters that wanted nothing more than to kill me, torture me, and deceive me for their own purposes, and I wasn't having any of it. I vowed to do anything to guarantee my survival when it came to them, so I could find a way to destroy them all. They thought they could control me, mess with me, BETRAY ME. I wouldn't stop until I got revenge. I was going to rip apart everything they built for themselves here, even if it took me centuries to do it. In other words, I found something to believe in, to carry me through any horrors this world could throw at me. Because if I managed to save this world then surely, I would be forgiven for all the sins I had committed. Surely any act I was forced to do would be forgiven in the end, I just needed to forget the means and focus on my new goal.

With that in mind I left my room, taking my map and schedule with me. In the three weeks I had been in this world, I spent half the time sleeping and the other half in my room. I spent most of the day walking around, looking at the doors for my three classes, and talking to demons. Most of them tried to belittle me, saying I only won the fight out of luck, Alderra was just a weakling, things like that. I just smiled a toothy grin to acknowledge their claims, I knew it was the truth. Well, not the weak part. What they said didn't matter to me, because I wouldn't let luck be what saved me again. For some reason they all looked away after a while, visibly unnerved. I guess they aren't used to seeing a demon with a wide eyed smile. It just made me smile more, until they silently walked away.

The weak ones tried to get on my good side, congratulating me, talking about hanging out and ganging up on those weaker than 'us'. You know, average demon stuff. I learned that once a month the second years are made to team up, and fight in the coliseum. That way all the weaker demons are slowly removed. After around six months, there is a tournament with only six winners, two from every class. I guess that was what frost meant when he said the weak were just sustenance. I asked how there could still be so many demons around if so many died, but they all said this wasn't the only academy, and demons don't die from old age. Guess after a few hundred years that number really adds up. I ended up just smiling and saying maybe to their requests, keeping my bridges open.

After I felt I learned as much as I could, and triple checked that knowledge, I went back to my room. I decided to practice my magic, since I wasn't used to my new strength yet. I would need every edge I could get if I was going to win this game. For the last few hours I had, I spent making the room freezing cold, then warming it back up again. I also moved around the 'heat' and tried to get a good feel for it. When I was confident in my control, I went to sleep.

Class wasn't what I expected, I actually had fun. The first class was enchanting. Basically you take your mana, and 'purify' it so it's more pure or something. Unfortunately, it took a ton of mana to do. You had to combine both your types of mana, and compress it until you were left with a 'purified' version. Don't know why they referred to it like that. After you had done that you put that compressed mana into runes you had written down. With it no longer attached and affected by you, the mana was free to fully listen to the rune. This enabled runes to do things you normally couldn't, like keeping something from reading your journal, even though you aren't aligned to illusions. Most of the demons around me didn't care, but I knew how amazing something like this could be. I made sure to memorize where they said the book for it was.

The next class was about branching off your magic, it talked about the different ways you could control an element. Like using electricity and water to create and control storms. It also talked about what combining your different manas could create. Like combining earth and fire for magma, or for obsidian. The teacher talked about a demon that could grow obsidian out of the ground like it was nothing. For those of you who don't know, broken obsidian is one of the sharpest things ever. Like cut through you like you're air kinda sharp. Someone just waving that stuff around willy nilly could really hurt you, but someone directing it just right? I don't even know how you could block him for long, let alone beat him. Most of the class memorized where that book was with me.

The last class was training, and I got a wonderful surprise. The classroom was a big circular room, that looked like a small version of the coliseum. The teacher told us that there was too many second years in this class, so starting tomorrow we would be fighting. Every demon would be paired against another randomly, and the matches would last fifteen minutes or until one us died. There were 30 demons in our group, when there was only supposed to be 24. So matches would keep going until six demons were dead. Judging from the lack of surprise from everyone there, this was how demons trained. We were then told we could either stay there and train, or go relax for the rest of the day. Most stayed to train, but the others left. Preferring not to show what they could do just yet. I just sat there for an hour, memorizing the types of magic I saw.

When I returned to my room, I spent a few hours thinking of new spells, and learning more about enchanting. I went to sleep an hour early so I could be well rested. Even if every match ended with a death, there was still a 20% chance I'd have to fight. I made sure to be prepared.

The next day went by much like the first. Most of the other demons didn't care about the enchanting, but they all paid attention to the class after it. Even then, most were to excited for the final class. I'll admit, even I couldn't focus on what the teachers were saying all that much, not with 'training' around the corner. Thankfully the teacher didn't talk for to long, instead he handed out books on branching out, and just told us to study them. Some didn't even bother, and I didn't think they would last long, because I still remembered what Frost said. For demons knowledge is literally power. For some reason the more about magic you know, the more you can use.

I spent most of the class thinking of how I used my magic, and how I could improve. I either actually used fire and ice, or I manipulated something around me, by pouring my mana into it and changing its temperature. I thought back to how I made that miniature tornado. I had just made the air warmer and colder then let it move naturally. But what if I instead poured more mana into what I wanted, without using said mana? If I manipulated enough of my mana residing in something, could I control that something? When I tried poring either fire or ice mana into the air, it was used up to change its temperature, I even tried using an equal amount. I just couldn't stop my mana from using itself up. I even tried picturing runes to hold the mana in, but I couldn't manipulate it after.

Since using runes was a bust, I tried to think of other ways I change my mana. I only came up with one, purified mana. I compressed a good 7% of my mana and then sent that into the air. I smiled as it didn't disappear right away, though I was confused as to how it acted. Instead of just hanging in the air, I could see it moving and flowing around the room. But I couldn't force it to do anything. It was like the wind had a mind of its own, and refused to be controlled by me.

(Dang, I was really hoping that would work... I just wish the air would move.) As soon as I finished that thought, I watched in awe as my mana swirled around, rapidly moving through the room. As the wind moved, my mana was slowly used up, but before it vanished I swear I heard a voice.

"Is that all you wanted? You should have just asked."

I didn't try anything else for the rest of class, before rushing out of the room. I ended up being the first one to Training, but I didn't care. I was to stunned by what I thought I heard.

Once everyone had arrived at the class, the teacher pulled out a sheet and put it on the wall. It showed the schedule for all the fights that would or might take place. My name was placed third, by something named black skies.

"Looks like you will be my victim." I heard a rumbling voice say behind me. It was the giant parrot from before. I looked it in the eyes and spoke calmly.

"I'm only a victim in having to look at you, but your heart will make my suffering worth it." The whole class did a classic 'ooooh' and my new enemy growled at me. I just smiled that off little smile of mine and walked away. After I found a seat, I waited for the fights to begin. I wasn't disappointed.

The first fight was between two weaklings. The floor didn't even change very much and they wasted all their mana in 'flashy' ways. They had to resort to pure physical violence pretty quickly. In the end the bigger of the two won and walked back into the stands. No one was impressed, and It was obvious they were actual second years. There was no way they moved up from strength. The second fight though, that was fun to watch. It was between an anthropomorphic mosquito with three heads, and a normal looking wolf with scarlet hair. One side became super rocky, while the other got clouds and a slight rain. It looked like one used rock and wind, and the other water and lightning.

When the fight started the wolf immediately tried to pounce, expertly navigating the terrain, but three heads brought up a wall of earth it couldn't jump. Before the wolf could react, three heads brought up even more walls and starting closing them in. Before it could be sealed, wolf moved a bunch of water into his new cave. With a loud thump, the walls connected, trapping the wolf. What came next was a battle of wills as three heads forced the walls closer and closer, with wolf trying to force them away with the water. But since the walls were made of earth, they absorbed the water and slowly inched closer. Feeling my fur stand on end, I looked up. The clouds from wolf's side had moved above three heads, and were slowly filling with lightning. Three heads didn't notice, and I knew who the winner would be. After a few minutes wolf came barreling through the walls with a roar, having used the water to drill through them. Before three heads could attack the lightning struck. Wolf reached it almost immediately and started to devour its heart. The demon hadn't healed enough to move, and was completely helpless.

The class cheered at Wolf's display, while Black and I got ready for our fight. I looked him in the eyes the entire way down the steps, constantly smiling. My mana was all regenerated thanks to the wait, and I wasn't going to let this fight play out like my last one. I wouldn't mess around, and I would take every opening I saw. If it meant living another day, I would even devour his heart.