Author's Note
Okay, This is just a story concept. I've been working on this concept for almost a year and I'm not sure if you'll like this, so let me know if you want more. Thank you for any support you may give, and I hope you're all doing alright in this trying time.
Chapter 1
Okay, let me get introductions out of the way. My name is Hunter Herrero and I’m a self-taught mage. I’m six feet tall with dull bluish-gray eyes and black hair. Most people normally see me with a jacket on that has the word ‘Army’ on it with my rectangular black-framed glasses. I always wear jeans just because I don’t feel comfortable in shorts, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wear them. I mostly wear boots because, to me, they are extremely comfortable and easier to put on compared to shoes; mostly because they had a zipper on the side and I didn’t have to untie them. Another thing about me is that I have been studying magic for the past two years.
It all happened by accident, to be honest. I wanted to buy the Necronomicon by H.P. Lovecraft to read the short stories by him, but I never expected to get what I got. At the time, I thought that it was a book version of ‘The Notes on The Necronomicon’ as I found on the internet.
I showed one of my friends and they dared me to try out one of the spells. Suffice to say, we were pleasantly surprised; however, when one of my friends tried, he failed along with the rest. I have an affinity with magic which began my studies into the art itself. I eventually got cocky with it and went to school while manipulating fire in my hand which I was ogling. I remember that day because I practically shattered my science teacher’s logic just by showing her that simple spell. Unfortunately, when I entered high school, I was a target for pestering because of my unique talent that seemed to have infinite uses.
People asked me to teach them and I did, I tried, but they just couldn’t which pissed them off. They were yelling at me and demanding that I teach them properly even after I explained it to them. I also told them that they may not have an affinity for it which lead to them demanding the book I used to study my magic. I refuse, obviously, but many were adamant to take it and use it for their gain. It doesn’t help that I can summon it to my location whenever I want, so it doesn’t matter if anyone takes it. It got worse, but I won’t go into detail about it since it’s still a sore topic for me.
This continued as time progressed and I had to move to my dad’s house to live there. I, in turn, focused on my magic studies even more, but I refused to do anything in public except for some minor help that wouldn’t be noticeable. I told my dad and he was skeptical about it until I showed him what I was capable of. He was amazed to the point where he asked me to teach him something, but I refused to in fear of what happened back in my home state. He saw the fear I had in my eyes when he asked me and let the question go; however, the damage was done and I locked myself away in my room almost all the time, studying.
My grades began to slip when I studied more that was inside the book and not what was required. He tried to confront me about it, but he described how I looked like a zombie from how little emotion I expressed to the point where if I slouched in a chair, I would look like a fresh corpse. That was because I lost all reason to continue with my school studies after I realized how dumb they were and how useless they are. History is important, but when has anyone used it in conversation, English is nothing but reading that we learn to do in elementary school, and science will never be used unless I decide to become a scientist. I saw the reality of what I’ve been doing for years and realize I’ve been wasting my life on petty dreams that won’t help me in the long run. It sucked and I realized, just how meaningless one person will be.
One in a billion will be a legend, but that would never be me, and magic won’t change that at all. That reason was why I wanted to join the military and be the best I could be, but there would be a rare moment that might never happen and I won’t be what I set out to be. A legend that is immortalized in history as a hero that could help others despite his weaknesses; that was what I wanted to be. It was what I inspired to be. That will never come to be... ever. That was when I started to become a proper recluse outcast. The is was when my downwards spiral of self-destruction began; not through rage, but isolation.
I cut off all contact with everyone outside my room when I was home, I stopped talking to anyone and everyone, and I would refuse to be anywhere near people. All of that caused my depression to grow and all hope of social interaction was gone. I stopped putting on a fake smile and went to school half dead every day.
That brings me up to here, where I currently am during lunch at school where the book that ruined my life was firmly clasped in my hands. Throwing it away was a risk and see how many people wanted it was crazy. Some so many people wanted power, money, and fame that they would try and steal it, so I made it my mission to keep this book away from the prying eyes of anyone as its sole guardian. I studied it to learn more about it and how to use the spells within to protect it at all costs... all costs.
My eyes were in focus at the grimoire that was the average size of a textbook, but was leather-bound with papers and light enough to hold in one hand easily; despite the three thousand some pages in the book. In the center was a goldcrest box with a purple opal gem within the cover. The pages looked old but felt new much to my amazement after how many times I read this front to back. Even going as far as to read H.P. Lovecraft’s notes he wrote within the sides of the pages.
I turned the pages in hopes of finding a spell that can work as teleportation to arrive at school much sooner depending on the situation with the bus. Where was I people would ask, the roof; a place where no one is allowed to go due to school safety rules and shit like that. I know a hovering spell and a flotation spell so it doesn’t matter much to me. Even if I fell, those spells will allow me to safely float to the ground unharmed without any resistance.
I felt something, something strong and has enough mana to pull off a fourth-rate spell and still have enough to do a ton of second rate magic. My head shot up at that, but the feeling disappeared just as it appeared, suddenly and quick. What was that? Was it another mage, or someone with a hidden magic potential? For the first time in a year, I looked less than dead. I took a deep breath in and released it over and over again to keep myself calm before checking to see if I have any company before jumping down.
I walked to the nearest trash can and threw away my disposable tray along with the temptation to die and take the book with me so no one can ever find it. Got off track, I went to my next class that was math, or, more specifically, a geometry which shares no purpose in the real world... holy crap I’m cynical. I had to walk by the school’s football stadium where a prep rally was about to begin for school pride week. What caused me to stop and linger on it a bit longer than I’d like was when that same man again, but it was stronger this time; much much stronger than anything I had. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared much like last time. I was now curious about this new development that, somehow, involved my school.
I didn’t waste time and simply went to class with a curious expression on my face from this most recent development. I was doing the classwork that consisted of volume and perimeter of 3D objects and trusts me when I say it was hard to figure out. We were given the formula for it but finding it was even harder especially once we had to find what shape a plain would make if it cut the object. So... many... moments of anger. I redid it so many times that I stopped studying the book to complete.
After that, I gained a contemplative look that suggested heavy thinking and my thoughts on the situation at hand. I was ultimately confused because if another mage found me then why are they hiding or not waiting for me to get out of school. It would make sense if they would wait for me to get home and ask my parents to see me and all they have to do is show some magic. I went to the grimoire finally and flipped through the pages swiftly to find some of the strongest first-rate I could use. My mana pool wasn’t too large so taking some like that head-on would practically be suicide if I don’t use anything strong enough. I found what I was looking for, but it would drain my mana pool drastically; it would either kill me for my negligence of my mana or would leave me extremely exhausted. I prefer the latter over the former so I’ll have to watch carefully and play this like ‘Dark Souls’: examine the attack pattern of whatever it was and find openings to attack, but only if it’s a danger.
Eventually, the PA system came to life as one of the front office workers said, “Would everyone walk to the football field for ‘School Spirit Week’ prep rally in a nice orderly fashion.” That didn’t happen because people are thick-headed and don’t know the meaning or orderly... at least they walked, so that was a plus.
I waited for the halls to get a little less crowded before exiting the room and calmly walking down the stairs with a content expression on my face for the first time in years. Each deliberate step was another anxiety-filled moment of flight or fight which I was struggling to force down. What did I have to fear? I could just take whatever it is and show I’m not to be fucked with. Why couldn’t I just kick this anxiety to the curb and just go through with it?
I went to the stadium as requested, finding the nearest available seat that was open and would leave me a lot of room for attack. I was prepared to fight if need be so I prepared a spell in my hand to hit them with everything I got. I watched the ROTC walk by and I sighed at my missed opportunity to join that, but I still got next year.
I sighed in relief after finding that it was nothing while trying to think of what that was before I felt it once again, but this time it disrupted the speakers the staff was using to talk to the students. My spell was primed and ready to fly at the nearest hostel thing that would attack. I never knew that that chance would come sooner instead of later as the ground cracked in the field.
The entire entity emerged from the ground like it was being pushed through the rough dirt that coated the dirt around the field. It looked vaguely like a boss from Terraria and it Venus flytrap counterparts in-game and in reality. Many vine-like appendages shot from the ground and lifted the base into the air as it screeched like a banshee causing almost everyone to cover their ears.
“Ignis Rugiens!” I yelled as a giant inferno engulfed the monster despite my shaking hands from finally seeing this beast face to face. I jumped down the bleachers while using a floating spell to gently glide down to the grown. My nervousness was obvious, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice to fight since I know that I can beet it.
I prepared another spell as it screeched Loudly as it put out all the fire that engulfed it only to find me standing defiantly in front of it. It lunged at me which I rolled out of the way before yelling, “Ignis!” Small balls of fire were launched at the beast with unrelenting force, but it’s exterior was too tough for me to punch through with the flames.
One of its vines struck me in the side with the force of a semi-truck sending me across the field and creating a small ditch with my landing zone. I tried to get up while ignoring the pain that shot throughout my body before I looked at the monster with hate. My eyes widened when I found that it was attacked once again with another vine from up top with tremendous speed. I was lucky to roll out of the way because the shockwave from the attack sent me flying into the bleachers. Everyone was gone... good.
I was huffing as the creature waited for me to stand and ready myself for an attack while standing to buy myself some time. I pointed my palm in its direction before shouting, “Ignis Rugiens!” The Inferno consumed the monster as I healed myself up and checked my mana. My eyes widened when I found that I could only use ‘Ignis Rugiens’ two more times. I had to use it sparingly when I have an opening to use it on.
(Third person — Auditorium)
Students were in a panic after that plant-like monster rose from the ground and it going up in flames. Someone hand the great idea of sneaking out and live streaming the fight on Facebook. They smiled wickedly and snuck out when no one was looking to see the gift and make it big on social media. They didn’t understand the full gravity of the situation.
(First-person — Stadium)
“FUUUUUCK!!!” I screamed as my first-rate shield slammed against the ground as one of the vines grabbed my leg. I was like a mace with how I was being flung around and with each impact was a small crater where I was slammed. I was glad that I wasn’t being slammed on the ground for once before I was flung back and then forwards where I made contact with the football goal thing before impacting the scoreboard which caused it to fold in on itself. I looked at the goal thing and found that the side I hit was snapped off and was so close to empaling me.
I didn’t react as I should’ve as I pulled myself away from the scoreboard and used a flotation spell to glide down. My breathing was ragged and shallow from the constant fighting and despite what I would’ve done; I decided to fight instead of run. The monster slowly made its way to me. Its flower-like head hiding it’s rows of teeth as it’s monstrous form was dragged through the soil.
It was completely unharmed because of its rough exterior that had a few scorch marks from the fire attacks; none of which did any damage. Me, on the other hand, was battered and bruised with cuts and gashes on almost every part of my body. I growled in frustration from its nearly unharmed form as I formulated a plan to create weaknesses. I used a levitation spell to pick up the goal and snap it in half which put quite a strain on my mind before coating the sharpest points with fire. In a moment of most idiocy or a show of brains, I threw the polls at it which, surprisingly punctured right into the hard exterior, but they weren’t large and I only had enough mana for one more ‘Ignis Rugiens’ after that seemingly endless use of the shield spell, or, more accurately, six shield spells.
I ran away from the plant-like monster and to the bleachers while formulating a plan to get in close to score a direct hit. The only problem was that I had to run the full length of the field which won’t be easy due to that plant's quick and strong attacks that have cut a building in half. Not kidding since my school has a three-story building along with the main campus and it demolished the first two floors in an extremely quick attack. Without warning, I ran towards the bleachers as fast as I could while the feeling of ruble impacted my back with unrelenting force, but I refused to stop in fear of what it might to at my current range.
It changed drastically after I passed it as one of its vines impacted the ground ahead of me. The dirt created a thick cloud of dirt which I promptly ran through only to get swatted back by a vine that hit me directly in the chest. I lied down in pain while trying to regain my senses because it beat me senseless. I eventually could see again only for me to immediately roll out the way of an oncoming vine before it could hit me.
I raced to my feet to escape a devastating downwards strike that kicked up a large amount of dirt before sliding under an attack meant for my torso. Each step felt like a great accomplishment as the beast let loose a flurry of attacks that would’ve, and should’ve killed me, but each time something was about to hot me, everything slowed down to a crawl allowing me to dodge the attack much easier.
Eventually, I got to the ramp that leads to the bleachers and ran on to the metal structure as the vines lashed out at me; cutting the metal like a hot knife through butter. I was gasping for air as my lungs burned from lack of exercise due to my studies into the secrets of the book. Each attack wasn’t what I wanted as they were meant to cut through not be blunt. The plant monster would send an attack towards me that I wouldn’t be able to avoid causing me to take it, much to my ire and pain.
“FUUUUUUAAAAAAH!!!” I yelled in pain from the devastating attack before it went for the attack I was going for. However, it was beginning to heal its weaknesses so I needed to be accurate when I move my plan into action.
It struck the bleachers as I went higher up to get more of a lift. The attack pulled the concrete from the ground and, in turn, threw me into the air and towards the plant monster. I landed exactly where I wanted to as I grabbed one of the open wounds before sticking my arm into the other one before it could close. Its wounds constricted around my fingers and arm and squeezed tighter and tighter while nerve impulses shot through my arm to cast the spell while I moved my arm into a snapping position. It stopped constricting on my arm for a moment to regain energy before I yelled, “Ignis Rugiens!” I snapped my fingers and the inside burst into flames from the raging inferno that was released inside the monster. It opened it Maw and flames shot from it like a volcano as it was scorched from the inside out.
Unfortunately, my arm was still constricted within the beast and was currently being cooked within an open fire. Since the monster was mostly a plant, it burned faster than I did which I used to pull my arm out as it slowly turned to ash. I was screaming my head off due to the intense burning sensation that rocketed through my arm from the second-degree burn. A coating of flames still danced over my arm which I was scared to put out due to adding paint to my already burned body.
“Too hot for ya!” I yelled to the already ash turned plant monster that was slowly scattering to the wind. I took in deep breaths to regain all the lost oxygen from my system before attempting to walk away.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work as I felt my body began to fall through the ground before my feet hit the ground. I was... curious by this new predicament as I gently cradled my burned arm to prevent further pain. What I didn’t expect was for my eyes to land on a tall animal-like biped with black and purple fur on their body which was covered with a long black cloak that his their face. I couldn't tell if they were male or female but the leather-like wings were easy to spot on their back.
My heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard throughout the room I found myself in that had a few others that had an eagle-like head and seemed to have fur from the neck down, another seemed to fit the description of the minotaur from mythology, one looked like a miss colored dog with tribal paint over its fur while some looked like normal humans; all were in robes reminiscent of those of mages and I was surrounded by a group of eighteen.
“Ahh, another demon. I guess this was a success.” A voice that was hard to tell if it was male or female said as I grew an irritated expression on my face. Did they just assumed my race and commented on what I was... without asking me.
“I’m a human ya fucker!” I yelled in anger and throwing my arms up; my southern accent coming out a little from that bout of anger. What I didn’t realize was the three behind me that seemed shocked and appalled, but I pushed that to the back of my mind as I threw my arms came back down and my arm making contact with my clothes. The extreme pain that shot throughout my arm caused me to grunt, and hiss, in pain from the burn.
“O-oh, Sorry. Let me help you with that.” They walked over to me and held a hand over and under my arm without touching the burned appendage. I felt a soothing feeling spread throughout my body as a steady calmness began to take my emotions before the aforementioned arm looked just about healed, but it still looked like it was burned horrendously. “Any better?” I nodded with a content smile while looking at the most normal arm.
“Yes, many thanks, but I’m gonna have to wrap this up before I even think about going into public. I’m... not one for attention.” I said as I snapped my fingers and the grimoire appeared out of a magic circle that had a singular triangle.
“I can see. That and I know that you are quite proficient at first-rate magic.” I nodded before they continued. “As I thought. Tell me, to whom do I owe the pleasure of teaching you the basics?” I smiled sheepishly before responding in a quiet-ish voice.
“I’m self-taught,” I explained before he smiled and walked over to me with a grin. I didn’t detect any malicious intent with my eyes scanning him like a computer scans code. Each step held now the sense of bouncing or excitement as he didn’t walk flatfooted like most people.
“Quite the accomplishment for a student to grasp the basics on their own! Now we have to teach them because almost no one knows that there is magic like the unicorns that can be used by other species.” That gave me pause as I quirked a brow in response to my confusion. Not by that statement, but also by the simple question almost everyone who has seen an isekai anime would ask if they were in this situation.
“Unicorns? Other species? Where... exactly am I?” I questioned as his answer both elated me and gave me a sense of fear that wasn’t easy to suppress. Unfortunately for me, my fear overtook my excitement and awe.
“The nation of Equestria in the world of Equus.” And just like that, I went into a full panic attack at my current predicament.
“No, no no no, nonononononononononono! I have finals soon and my sister graduates at the end of the month and... and...” I had a tough time breathing as my body began to shake uncontrollably and a sense of dread entered my mind. The world soon began to spin as panic settled into my very being to the point where I was about to collapse as it was slowly getting worse.
“Oh my... j-just calm down.” He was right, I needed to calm down or I could just pass out due to lack of oxygen. How do you calm yourself... Right! Take a deep breath in and release it slowly. Continue until you can feel your body slowly calm down and the world stops spinning; then you can finally address the situation without passing out.
“Okay... oooooooookay... I’m good now.” I scooped up the magic book while continuing the breathing trick as I felt a hand rest on my shoulder which wasn’t from the cloaked creature in front of me. What shocked me more was when I heard the extremely familiar voice.
“Are you alright darling?” I know that voice from a specific show, but I’m in Equestria in a closed room with seemingly no way in; then how did she get in here! “I’m just as shocked as you, but I don’t think that would be the appropriate reaction.” My eye twitched as I turned to her with the most pissed off expression I had.
“Not appropriate! On the globe of the world where I’m from, there is no Equestria and the world isn’t called Equus, it’s called Earth! My species have explored the entire planet by air, sea, and land and have even taken pictures from space and I’m not one of those pictures was the nation of Equestria! So don’t say that my reaction isn’t appropriate for this situation because I’m not even on my home FUCKING WORLD!!!” With my anger thoroughly vented, I was huffing from the yelling as the familiar mare was slowly tearing up from me ripping her a new one with my anger. “I... I need to go somewhere other than here.” I growled as my recluse nature was slowly coming back to the forefront of my mind.
“You should apologize for darling-“ A darker version of the crying mare said before I got a germ grip around her throat and pulled her to eye level. She could see the hidden rage boiling within from my little rant.
“Piss off and let me leave so I can. Calm. Down. Understand?” She nodded while trying to loosen the death grip I had around her throat. I released her from my hand as she stumbled back as I walked away while flipping my hood above my head and sticking my hands into my pockets while keeping my head down.
I found the door on the right of me and, instead of being a normal human and opening the door normally, I needed to release more anger by literally kicking down the door and wandering the halls of this building. Suffice to say it would be a while for me to calm down or not depending on how my depression converts it into.
(Third Person)
The three others who were summoned were either crying, trying to understand what just happened, or coughing to see if her airway was still useable. The one crying took a tongue lashing like no other in Equestria from someone who was rather angry with her for not knowing his situation. The one coughing has finally taken in a good intake of air to fill her lungs with oxygen after having a male handle her so violently in such a way, and from someone so much smaller too. The last one expected the human to just crawl in a corner and die after that panic attack, but what he did blew all of her expectations out the window with dynamite. The one thing that they all saw was the predatory glare he gave the crying one when he was ranting about the full scale of his situation.
“Why are we here?” The confused one asked while getting the attention of the closest cloaked figure. The confused mare was the tallest of the group standing at a good eight feet tall with a night like a mane and tail with an armored dress and a large scythe behind her. The scythe was almost as big as her standing at seven foot ten with black whips coming from the handle.
“You three are here to be his roommates for a lack of a better term.” The cloaked figure said before pulling the hood down to reveal a thestral mare with a gray coat, a purple mane, and light blue eyes. This took the two, who had control of their emotions, by surprise as they had thought that she was a stallion. Seeing this, she rolled her eyes with an amused smile while giggling a little. “I bet you thought I was a stallion. Sorry, but I’m a mare. My voice makes it hard for most species to tell what I am when I have my hood up.” She began to walk towards the fallen doors in search of the male that has just recently left through the doors he kicked down.
“B-but why us?” The mare who was choked by the kid asked while still confused by this new information. She had an eloquent navy blue dress with the main color or navy blue, light blue, and white. Unlike the other mare, she was shorter by a few inches and she had a rapier on her side.
“I summoned him on purpose and sent a monster to attack him as a test to see what level he was at; However, he is still suffering from depression that has made him shut himself away from the rest of society because of his magic. I may have summoned him on purpose, but you three were a one in a million because any pony could have helped him. You were chosen to help him or destroy what’s left of his happiness, which is little your choice.” She disappeared around the corner and followed the emotional beacon that his body released naturally.
That gave the mares a lot to think about in terms of what was wrong with the human. He seemed to be just fine when he first appeared, disregarding the burned arm that still had little flesh attached to it, but would never look the same again. Yes, he got angry when they assumed he was a demon, but who wouldn’t be a little angry if someone assumed who you were. All they could do was wait for him to calm down to see what he would do next.
(First Person — Outside the building)
“Ignis!” I yelled as small balls of fire impacted some trees around me with rapid succession. Despite how I was nearly drained of all my mana, I felt all of it be restored when I came here and it was gradually refilling after I used a spell. Unlike on earth, I didn’t have to sleep to regain mana so it didn’t matter how much I used since it would be restored quicker.
That, however, didn’t quench the burning flames of rage that roared within me. I unconsciously added a bit more mana into the spell causing the fireballs to turn into firebombs that could get shout out from my hand. Many craters surrounded me from the explosions as a small forest fire circled me from the self-made clearing. The heavy smoke rose into the bright blue sky that Celestia and Luna had dominated over for who knows how many centuries now. The smoke closed around me as sulfur rained from above from the explosions. It burned my nostrils was such a putrid smell that was reminiscent of cigarettes.
My anger that fueled my explosive attacks gave way to sadness and grief from my actions on earth as the flames finally slowly closed in on me. My eyes released a few tears while I tried to hold in my whales of grief before the hardened exterior broke down. With a cry, all my mana was expelled from me in a strong explosion of fire, air, and lightning as my sadness caught up to me after years of running from it. For the first time in my entire life... I was truly alone.
My cries brought forth a torrent of wind to prevent the fire from spreading as I felt an arm wrap around my comparably small form. I didn’t deserve this after how I pushed those two away like that. I didn’t deserve this after how many times I pushed my own family away after learning magic. This was all caused because of that damn book.
“There is no reason for you to feel this grief.” That same guy said causing me to look at him to see what he looks like. Much to my surprise and embarrassment, that he was actually she and I was held close to her chest.
I blushed as her comforting warmth washed over me and calming me down from my sadness. My tears still flowed like a waterfall, but I was much calmer than I originally was as I sunk into her for comfort. I let out everything I had repressed for the past decade after this shit. I buried my face into the side of the mare as tears slowly soaked her cloak.
After a long few minutes, I finally released her as she held me closer since her comfort was helped my mind adjust to my situation. Just her being there was reassuring that some will help me in my time of need. “Feeling any better?” She asked as I silently nodded, my words caught in my throat in fear of saying anything wrong and pissing her off. “What? Cat got your tongue?” She giggled as I gave her a playful glare that made her giggle a little more from the gaze.
“No.” I finally said as I mustered up as much courage as I could to speak. “I’ve... I’ve always had the fear of saying something wrong.” I moved away from her to prevent any... Uncomfortable occurrences to happen. What would she expect from a eighteen-year-old male in the highlight of his life?
"You don't have to worry about that. I won't judge you for it." She scooted closer causing me to move the same amount of space away from her. Though the comfort wasn't unwelcome, my fear around others was slowly amplifying due to my paranoia.
"N-no. You are the first person, pony, thing I spoke to in the past year." I wasn't lying about that part because of my reclusive tendencies and paranoia, but that was life... I guess.
"Oh... Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'll always be here for you." She stood up and offered me her hand, but I refused it and got up on my own. She lowered her hand as I began the trek to the building I was summoned in. "This could've gone better." She caught up with me as we walked side by side, the distance between us was like a chasm despite it only being only one foot, but to each their own. "I just remembered." I looked at her for a moment as she began to explain something that I was not completely aware of. "This school teaches combat to fight against the monsters you fought in your world. We do so that no others will have to." I stopped for a second as anger grew within me as it went from a gentle, contained current to a large, uncontrollable typhoon. She just admitted that they cast the spell that sent that... thing to my school and almost killed a few students. I guess they were lucky I was there at the cost of my arm.
"What." Gone was my calm and meek tone, it was replaced with one that had a deathly, deep, and monstrous voice that seemed out of character; even for me. A chill when up to her spine as she turned to me to see the barely contained rage bubbling underneath the quickly breaking dam that was my mental control. "You. Did. WHAT!!!" I yelled will my rage boiling over from the blatant decoration of her summoning that monster to my school.
"L-look. We haven't perfected the spell and it has a mind of its own and summons a random creature to test the summoned be for they are. If we could summon them without the trial, them we would!" She was preparing for something as if she was gonna fit hit, but I'm not like that and if they didn't have a choice then I guess it was alright. It was still stupid though.
I sighed as I just walked away from the mare with my head down and my gaze to the ground. I didn't bother talking after my outburst as she tried to get me to talk so many times. I didn't relent because I know that she'll just leave like the rest. Despite what she did for me, I didn't trust her much, not after what happened last time I let someone close when I met them, but I guess since I'm in Equestria, I could attempt to break my cynical behavior.
"I guess if your not gonna talk I'm gonna explain what you're going to need for this school." She walked in front of me with a smirk as I quirked a brow in curiosity. She smiled and reached into her cloak before unsheathing an eloquent short sword. "We need to get you a weapon."
"Wait, what?" I said as her sword reflected light from the sun at me. I squinted my eyes and blocked them from the sun so I wouldn't have two sources of light hitting my eyes.
"As I said, we kill monsters like the one you faced. To kill them, we need the right tools to weaken them so our magic can take care of them for good." She sounded proud of herself, but I facepalmed because I knew that she would confuse anyone with that explanation. I mean, she used far too many words.
"So you weaken them with a weapon before using magic to kill them." A long, uncomfortable silence ensued as we stared at each other. I was so close to laughing out loud because of this, but that would be rude; however, I never really cared about that.
Before I could even say a word, she crossed her arms and turned away with a pout. God damn it, the light is still in my eyes. "S-shut up." I chuckled which seemed to be something new to her as she looked at me in disbelief. "You chuckled." I nodded before I continued on the path that led to the hidden school.
The school is hidden by an advanced sealing spell that counseled in a field of invisibility so no one can see it. The path was recently made by me since I made many explosions close to the entrance to help burn out any rage. When I get pissed, I sometimes get destructive, but only if pushed far enough and let me tell you that a pissed me is like dealing with Satan. I won't deny that, at one point, I had to go to therapy for my anger which I should probably consider for my depression.
I looked at the mare for a second as her blue eyes scanned the area for any threats which I guess should be concerning, but I don't care. I'm just gonna do what I normally do when I'm in a situation like this: adapt. I mean, I can adapt to any situation because of the easy-going attitude that allows me to be flexible in any possible change... Unless it's big like a moving mountain. Now that I think about it, that sounds pretty awesome to have an actual moving mountain... Off-track. One example of a big change in me being summoned by her, but that was mostly because of pain and exhaustion.
"I didn't realize how quiet you were until we walked into the school. I thought that you would be amazed by the exterior of the building." The mare said as my eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise as I finally realized that I was walking on an expensive-looking rug with muddy shoes.
I was too caught up in my thoughts to even realize it as creatures of different races and sizes roamed the hall while some stared at me in amazement. "Wha... But... Ah, fuck it. I don't care anymore." I said while walking away from this situation while ignoring my thoughts of how the outside looked.
"So... What rate are you at and how? All I know is that you are self-taught." She was curious considering that I have been studying it on my own for the past four years. I thought back to everything I know and how I began this.
"When I first began, I couldn't hold a spell for more than a few seconds before passing out from excessive mana use. I used some of the exercises such as the original crude method of expelling all my mana and going a little farther past my limits each time. I did eventually find a way to expand it much farther and help with control and second nature usage which was exercising while using my mana to float various materials around my room. It helped my stamina, and help me learn to maintain the spell.
"As time went on, I learned that I could do multiple tasks with the use of magic, but I needed more mana. Around this time, I figured out that constant mana connection is required to keep the spell running which was why most spells don't continue unless I kept a constant mana connection. This was around the time I finished the first month of my self imposed training and I could hold the flame for about two minutes, but it would drain me even faster as I trained and I couldn't train it at school due to me not wanting to look like a fuckin idiot. Luckily, my middle school didn't assign homework so my family didn't have any regards of me practicing magic if I didn't light the house on fire.
"In the third month, I went to school with the book while holding an open flame in my hand and most people thought it was a trick. That was before I accidentally lit my jacket on fire, but that wasn't apart of the plan. I still remember that I messed with my science teacher in eighth grade by showing her magic does exist. She didn't believe me and said that I'm doing that with a tool. That was before I levitated her desk without anything falling. Now I know that the bigger the object you levitate, the more mana you need to keep it afloat so that was a fun day. I honestly didn't expect to spend the rest of the day in the nurse's office, but I showed them.
"I didn't realize how much of a mistake I made until I went back the next day to a group of people asking me to teach them. I tried, I did, but they just didn't have an affinity for it which resulted in me being hounded by them so they could beat me up for lying. They got more and more to follow them, so I left school after about an hour getting there. For the rest of that school year, I would be hounded by the students because of the magic and some would steal my book, but I could summon it back at any time.
"Once I got into ninth grade, I moved to live with my dad with a fresh start; however, I kept to myself and preferred for it to stay that way. I continued to study magic just in case I ever needed it and for the next three years... I secluded myself in fear of others figuring it out. I kept up my training and eventually got to rate 2, but now I got it down to an exact science. I can cast an almost infinite amount of rate 1, a few in rate 2, and one in rate 3." Ya, rate two drains me quickly, but rate three destroys my mana reserves to the point that I collapse from exhaustion.
"Damn, must've been rough." I shrugged because I eventually got used to it, but I digress. It's in the past now and none of them can hurt me... Mostly because some went to prison for assault.
Eventually, we made it to a large door that had the image of a sword above it before she used her magic to open the door. When I say large, I mean large because this was around forty to fifty feet tall with eloquent gold designs. Holy Shit, Equestria has an abundance of gold. If humans got a hold of this, gold would be worthless.
What I saw was a griffin talking to Rarity, Nightmare Rarity, and Nightmare Moon. Rarity looked uneasy when standing beside her counterpart and her alicorn friend. Their heads turned to us when the door closed and I was now peeking out from behind her as they examined used.
"Oh, come on! Where was that self-confidence you had." The mare said as I silently chuckled from her claim.
"What self-confidence? Most of that was me just asking questions and the explanation." She rolled her eyes as I finally got serious... Somewhat. "Okay, okay... I don't like being around a lot of people. Two or three is fine, but more makes it shrivel up and die... Just like my will to live." I'm a dark person and that caught them off guard as they let out a loud 'WHAT!!!'. "It's as if you never heard a dark joke before," I mumbled before the mare pushed me forward towards the various blades and variants of the bow and crossbow.
There were so many weapons that I see from the long sword to a dagger, a great bow to a longbow, and a crude wooden crossbow to an eloquently made, platinum, sniper rifle like a crossbow. I looked at Rarity for a moment as I examined what weapon she had which was a short sword. All of us had magic so we didn't need a ranged specialist, but holy crap, the crossbows were tempting.
"What I wouldn't give for a rifle or pistol," I said silently as I practically marched up and down isles of weapon with debating whether I should get one, but ultimately second-guessing myself. Unfortunately, I hit my knee on the side of a display case, "FUCK!!!" I yelled in pain after I fell to the ground while holding the area that hurt the most.
"Are you okay?!" Rarity yelled in concern, but damn was this was a big room. That shit echoed forever.
"Yes!" Back to finding a damn weapon that was near impossible for me. "Why is this so hard?!" My frustration was growing by the second to the point I just have up and left with visible annoyance on my face. I stopped and walked back with my annoyance displayed as I saw a couple of words that reminded me of the Witcher games. Mostly because they looked exactly like the Wolven MasterCraft Swords.
I picked them up to examine them closer and saw that they were made of steel and silver, but the only indication of it being so was a couple of tags on the blades. One looked more like a traditional sword with a straight crossguard even if it was twisted while the other had an extremely curved guard. I found black sheaths for the swords; however, they were made to be placed on the back. An opening on running down the side of each exposed the rough interior and allowing the swords to slip in before having to be pushed in. I did so and realized that I would have to practice before actually going against someone or something.
I walked back, the swords in their sheaths, and held in one of my hands as I found my 'roommates' and the mare who seemed to be in charge. "I found these. They look like a set, so I got both." I said as I presented the two swords to the four.
"Simple, but it can be effective." I nodded while lowering them to my side. It wasn't easy considering that the swords were a foot shorter than me. Then I caught from something from the table I unintentionally kneed. It was a small box with an attached lid.
What I found shocked me as I put the swords on the tables and picked up the weapon in my hand. "No way," I whispered as I searched the area that it fell from and found a few things that were needed for it to work.
"What have you found darling?" Rarity or Nightmare Rarity asked as I showed them the weapon.
"It's Mk.19 Desert Eagle chambered in 50ae! I didn't think you had firearms here!" The levels of excitement I was radiating was substantial as I dropped the current mag – of course, they didn't unload it – and popped the chamber before locking the slide in place. The stray round was pushed back into the seven rounds mag with a little difficulty. "These things are a staple of power but it pales in comparison to 5.56, 7.62, and most definitely 50 Cal."
"Quit nerding out!" The griffin yelled as I closed my mouth realizing that I was ranting, but I think that's the most I've smiled in years. I may have also dropped the gun, but luckily it was unloaded.
"Okay... Got a target range?" I asked as the thestral mare gestured me to a side area connect to the room. It was a target range, but it wasn't what you'd normally see in the US, but it'll do. "Okay, you might want to cover your ears." No one did which annoyed me as I forced the mag into the grip. "I said to cover your fuckin ears!" Eager to not make me angry again, they did too with Nightmare's putting a shield-like spell over her ears. Why do I have circles and they don't?! Am I not good enough to hide them!
Ignoring my annoyance, I pulled the slide lockdown and aimed down the sights towards the closest target. The sway was manageable and I kept my wrist tight to prevent to much recoil before my finger slowly moved to the trigger. I haven't fired a gun in years so I wanted to savor the moment. I slowly squeezed the trigger and I couldn't help the smile on my face as I did away with the slowness despite the ringing in my ears.
The loud deep bangs sounded like music to my ears as I switched from one target to the next with each round fired. When I was out, I loaded in the next mag and went from 25, 50, 75, and finally 100 meters with great accuracy. After the slide locked back a second time I lowered the gun and my hearing began to clear. The targets would need some patching up after what I did. They should be glad I didn't find an AR and got those targets about a thousand meters. They were not easy to see, but I could still see it.
"How bout that," I said as I pulled a bullet out of the top spot and gave it to the mare. "For me to continue using this, I need plenty of these and," I pulled up one of the three mags, an empty one, and gave it to her, "and seven more of these. It'll be critical and running out of ammo is an easy way to die." I loaded the last loaded mag in and fired, but it didn't fire again.
I took apart the gun... The inside was rusted and multiple components in the trigger snapped.
"Nevermind." I would cry if I could, that hurt way too much. "No one took care of it." It's useless now and too good to be true. Why does my luck suck? "I'll just make... Something. That was disappointing."
I put the mistreated gun on a table and left back into the weapons room before I decide I was just going to use my magic. I may think of something later, but that wasn't now. Damn it, I can't get my mind off it. The utter bliss and then the crushing disappointment just felt so wrong to me, but what can I do. I sighed again at the lost opportunity, but at least I got to fire a gun again... Even if it was only for a few minutes.
I waited by the door so my new roommate sharpened their weapons as I continued to practice Ignis. I found out early in my studies that a well-practiced rate one can be more effective than a newly learned rate 3. Let my pants be the last victim.
Eventually, they came back as I was attempting molding the fire into different shapes and gaining a little more control over the element which I have yet to do above a simple fireball. I looked at my arm for a moment as the burned and bandaged appendage looked so surreal to me. Never had I thought that I was capable of that kind of damage. I sighed as I continued to practice and took my thoughts away from my dominant arm and the collection of second and third-degree burns that coated it. I'll have to start learning to heal if I want to have a chance at learning how to fix it or ask someone who already knows.
"Ready?" I asked as I let the flame dissipate into the air. They looked at me weirdly since it just looked like I was holding air, but it was one of my elemental affinities next to lightning and fire. "What's next?" I walked up to them calmly and finally realized I was much smaller than them. I probably realized this before, just forget... Eh, details.
"Next is to get you a focus. You didn't appear with yours so I expect you don't carry yours." The thestral mare asked as she leads us to a room with, I shit you not, staves and wands. "You may have made an improvised one on the woods, but it must've broken after that massive expulsion of magic."
"No, I don't use a focus whatever that is. This is what I do." I held out my hand and a single line circle and a ball of fire slow sprang into existence but grew too large for me to handle. Just like every one of my elemental constructs. "Damn it, not again," I whispered as I waved my hands, attempting to cool them down.
"Oh my gosh!" She said, a huge smile on her face as she looks at me. "You're a Necromancer! They're rare and from my knowledge, you're the last one!" Yay, I'm going to draw more attention to myself. Great, just fuckin great.
"Uuugh, kill me now." I groaned since I hate having any attention on me for any reason. "Maybe I should say this... I HATE attention of any kind unless it's familial because that's unavoidable."
"Why do you hate attention?" Nightmare Moon asked before, in one swift motion, I turned to face her while we continued walking.
"Maybe it could be the fact that when I showed my species, who normally don't have magic, I was physically, emotionally, and psychologically abused by teachers and students alike. I've been stuck in a hospital with a staff that wanted my power for their uses and actively tried to kill me... I learned about different medications because of it. And because of all that, I forced myself into isolation to prevent all that from happening... Again. Honestly, I'm prepared to die and I don't care if I do at this point." I said with one of the most neutral faces I stared back at her.
"Why would they do such a thing to a child?!" Rarity yelled and damn was it loud. I think my ears are ringing from the sheer pitch of her screech. Oh god, this is going to suck but I brought it up and now I have to live with it. Fuck my big mouth... Not like that.
"As much as I hate to admit it, that's one of the nicer aspects of the bad shit. I haven't mentioned the wars, the genocides, the terror attacks, or the number of psychopaths and serial killers." Was this a good idea, oh hell no, but I thought I could fuck with them a little bit so that they can understand the minuscule amount of danger they were ever in compared to the constant fear of death all humans became accustomed to. Hell, I was unfazed when a bomb threat was made against my school and when some drunk dumbass was waving around a rifle in the near neighborhood.
"Wars? What wars?" Wow, she was innocent about this topic. Maybe it isn't a thing in Equestria... No matter. I'm going to show them how good they have it compared to humanity.
"There have been many wars. Hell, the cause of the second world was was an almost total economic collapse worldwide." The Great Depression was surprisingly ended by one of the deadliest wars in human history... Is it odd that I find that ironic or is that common?
"Second world war-" I closed her muzzle and shushed her before petting her mane because I'm not letting this conversation continue.
"Stay innocent. I'm sure as hell not." I moved back around as I continued to walk with my hand in my pockets. I need a new jacket but I'll keep this one. I've had it for years and it holds sentimental value. I looked that the mare that has been with me since I came back to this school. "Excuse me, but I never got your name." The thestral mare looked at me before facepalming.
"Sorry, I guess I should introduce my self. I'm the principal of this school and my name is Moon Crest." Moon Crest said before she held out her hand and I sook it.
"Nice to meet ya, I'm Hunter, Hunter Herrero." My attention was moved to Rarity after the tapped my shoulder lightly, but she seemed... confused.
"Okay, so why is mare like you here in a prestigious school like this?" Rarity said before I sighed, but I guess I have been using a tone that made my voice go up an octave.
"First of all... I'm male. Human male." I looked over my shoulder to get a good look at my roommate before I gave her a fierce look that showed my determination. "And I intend at excelling past what I was previously capable of."
I continued walking before I was stopped at a door. Mostly because it opened for me without any of use reaching for it. I looked at the mare who lead us here and she gestured for us to enter. I walked in and stood in front of the class... Fuuuuuck.
