Chapter 1
It was already another shitty day for Kyle Coldharr. He had just woken up in a cold sweat, the sheets stuck to his skin. His already white skin was ghostly pale and slick. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, beating against his ribs like a beast in a cage. He sat up in his bed and looked around the room in a nervous panic. Everything was just as he had left it when he fell asleep. The room was as clean as he could make it, it wasn’t his fault that his bedroom was old and worn. He had a scruffy, torn rug on the floor that made it easier to walk on the cold concrete at night or in winter. Kyle looked towards the window, the missing shard and cracked glass reminded him of how disliked he was.
A soft whistling could be heard from the hole in the glass, the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. As Kyle’s breathing slowed and his heartbeat calmed he felt a stinging pain in the palms of his hands. He quickly realized he had dug his own fingernails into the soft flesh of his palms. The salty sweat seeped into his wounds and it felt like his hands were on fire. Kyle released his grip and felt a warm energy radiate through his body. Slowly, a black gooey substance seeped out of his wound and encased the 8 crimson slits on his hands. The black substance disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, the wounds gone with it.
“I’m not powerless… I’m not…” Kyle said, flashes of his deranged dream flooded his mind.
Kyle peeled the thin blanket off of his sweaty skin and flung his legs over his bed’s edge. His mattress, if you could even call it that, was more like a long pillow. It was soft enough but not very supportive, he could feel the hard iron bars of the rusted bed frame dig into him while he laid down. As Kyle stood up, he started his morning stretches. He lifted his arms up and stretched as high as he could. Kyle was really tall, he stood at 6’8” tall and while he stretched he grabbed onto the ceiling to help him balance. Kyle could feel his joints cracking and popping. He groaned as he bent over and touched his toes, his spine like a bag of popped corn.
The cold air and the crappy bed always made his body ache in the morning. Kyle walked over to a rickety door that had a fist sized hole in it, he was prone to getting angry. He slid the broken door open and grabbed his school uniform. It was a plain grey jacket with a blue trim. He also grabbed a plain white button-down shirt and grey slacks that matched the jacket. Bending over he picked up a pair of black combat boots. Kyle also had a mirror in his closet, the mirror was cracked but he looked anyway. His dark brown hair was disheveled and messy, it was kept just long enough that it stayed out of his eyes but still looked good. His brown eyes looked tired, even through his cracked reflection, it was obvious.
Kyle then turned around and stubbed his toe on his desk. It was a heavy wooden desk with a small lamp, the only light source in the room. After Kyle spit a litany of curses and pushed the desk out of the way, he made his way to the door. The room was so small he needed but a few steps to get to any corner of the room. He opened his door and it creaked loudly, like it hadn’t seen a drop of oil in decades because it probably hadn’t. Kyle yawned as he stepped out into the hallway. It was a long, concrete corridor that had quite a few other doors but none of them were other bedrooms. They were all storage rooms and custodial closets. Kyle wasn’t just mistreated by the other students, the faculty was just as prejudiced. A chilling breeze seeped into Kyle’s body.
‘Always cold in this hellhole’ Kyle thought to himself
Kyle carried his clothes and walked two doors down to a room with a sign of a water droplet on it. He opened the door and stepped inside. His “bathroom” was an old converted custodial closet. A toilet and a shower head were out of place next to the shelves of chemicals and collection of brooms and mops. The door had no lock but that didn’t bother Kyle anymore. He had long since memorized the daily workings of the local custodians and knew he had at least one hour before anyone would even come to this corner of the school. Kyle quietly stripped naked and stood beneath the shower head. Turning both knobs, the water sprung to life from the old pipes. Next to Kyle on the toilet’s back he grabbed a bar of soap and began to wipe off the thin layer of sweat his nightmare gave him.
After his shower he felt much better, well at the very least he didn’t feel entirely bad. He grabbed a couple of rags from the shelves next to him and dried off. He quickly got dressed and sat on the toilet to put on his boots. After delicately lacing them up he left. The hallway echoed with the sound of his boots hitting the floor. After a decent walk he came to a pair of metal double doors. Kyle pushed the metal bars and the doors creaked open. He was greeted by the fresh morning air. Kyle had entered a large courtyard, to his right and in front of him were two large, four story buildings. Windows covered the towering walls but Kyle couldn’t see anyone inside them. Everyone was still probably waking up on the other side of campus in the dorms.
The courtyard seemed to have a soft glow as the morning sun bathed it in light. In the center of the courtyard there was a stone fountain surrounded by stone slabs that served as benches. Besides that there wasn’t much around besides grass fields and a couple of trees.
‘This place is quite beautiful without all the people’ He thought to himself.
Kyle figured it was still too early for breakfast so the canteen was probably still closed. He decided to go for a quick jog around campus. He went left and turned around the corner, following closely to the wall next to him. He passed his cracked window and sped up, it made him angry to think about it. Kyle ran along the building and the scenery didn’t change much. Then when Kyle turned the corner again he could see the tops of skyscrapers in the distance. The city where he was born, Tysill, the largest city for miles in any direction. Kyle was a senior at his school, Tysill Academy. It was a prestigious school that was founded by the same person who founded the city of Tysill. Normally, someone like Kyle would never be allowed here but he was a special case.
Kyle kept running until he came upon a fence, then he turned again and ran along the fence. To his left were the dorms, every other student was still there. Kyle took a quick look and saw a couple of faces watching him from the window. He gave a quick wave and then threw them the bird, not slowing his stride in the slightest. He kept running until he got to the corner of the outer fence. Only then did he slow down to catch his breath, this jog wasn’t that difficult for him but he didn’t want to push himself too hard just after his shower. As he started to walk towards the largest of the three buildings, he noticed a stream of students walking between the dorms and the other building where the canteen was. He was about 10 feet away from them when a short girl caught a glimpse of him. Her face lit up as she turned to walk to him.
The girl had shoulder length black hair, it was curly and bouncy. It framed her light brown face perfectly. She had emerald green eyes and even though her hair covered them, Kyle knew her ears were slightly pointed, as if someone sliced the tips to sharpen them.
“Hey big guy, couldn’t sleep?” She called out to him.
“Hey Katia, yeah rough dreams, decided to go for a jog before everyone came out to bother me.” He called back, he couldn’t help but smile when his only friend was with him.
“How’d you sleep, Kat?” He asked trying to shift the attention before she asked about his dream.
“Like a Goddess, my roomie has been kissing ass, she wants a Darksmith masterpiece.” Katia replied, laughing.
Katia Darksmith, Kyle’s best friend since primary school. Her family are extremely wealthy artisans and craftsmen. Hence she is far better respected by her peers than Kyle Coldharr, resident nobody. They continued their chat while joining the line to get their breakfast. Inside the canteen there was a long line of about 200 students in front of a long buffet of food. The left wall was where the buffet sat, to the right of that was a large hall full of tables and chairs. The right wall was made almost entirely of glass, it filled the room with a natural light that was supplemented by indoor lights. At the buffet they had every kind of breakfast food available, from fruit to sausage. People filled up their plates but Kyle just wanted to get out of the line quickly. He grabbed a purple, apple shaped fruit called a Perusian Pear and a small package of large almond looking nuts.
He turned around and came face to face with the last person he wanted to see. Derrick Vulcan, the guy who made it his personal mission to give Kyle hell everyday until graduation. Derrick was the popular pretty boy, star athlete and raging douche. He had jet black hair that he kept cut short, his eyes were a sky blue and he had a square jaw and flawless face. He was around 6’2”, Kyle assumed it was because he was shorter that he hated him so much. Derrick shoved him out of the way with enough force that he dropped his fruit and it rolled away.
“Watch where you’re going, Coldharr!” Derrick snorted, his group of friends laughing behind him.
Kyle ignored him and went to pick up his fruit when it suddenly burst into flames. The fruit boiled and charred and a sour aroma hit Kyle’s nostrils as the heat licked his hand. He backed away and watched helplessly as his breakfast was charbroiled. It didn’t upset him in the least, Derrick making his things combust was a normal occurrence for him.
“Thought you might enjoy it better if it was cooked, Coldharr.” He snickered from behind Kyle.
Derrick snapped his fingers and the fruit suddenly stopped burning. Kyle picked it up anyways, it wasn’t even hot anymore under his touch. The burned skin crumbled and stuck to his fingers. Kyle brushed off the burnt skin and found that most of the inner flesh was still edible. He turned to Derrick, nodding as he bit into the fruit. It gushed a sweet, tart juice into his mouth that made his tongue tingle. He always loved the taste of Perusian Pears but they were even better cooked.
“Thanks Vulcan, you’d be a good lunch lady with this amount of skill.” Kyle smirked and walked away, he could already feel the heat of Derrick’s anger.
Before anything else happened Katia stepped in between the two and casually followed Kyle, she knew no one would dare touch either of them if she was there. Kyle went to a far corner of the hall and sat at a small table by the window. She quickly joined him, a plate full of sausage and eggs.
“He’s gonna kill you one of these days.” Katia frowned at Kyle, she couldn’t understand why he had such a death wish.
“He won’t, he’s afraid of Black just like everyone else. I can take a beating but that’s as far as he’ll go.” Kyle shrugged, tossing a handful of the nuts in his mouth.
“Are you excited for the Awakening?” Katia asked, trying to change the subject.
“Why would I be? So I could hope for a little more power just so I can get beat by someone stronger still?” Kyle shrugged again, taking another bite of his charred fruit and pointing to Derrick.
“You never know you could level up like your br-” She cut herself short as she saw Kyle tense up.
“I’m sorry Kyle I didn’t mean to-” She tried to recover.
“It’s fine don’t worry about it.” She failed.
The rest of the meal was drowned in an awkward silence. After they finished eating Kyle said his quick goodbyes and got up and left. She was his best friend but he wasn’t in the right mood for company. He went back to the courtyard when he caught a glimpse of something grey out of the corner of his eye. It was a blur that went around the corner, his heart quickened a bit. Kyle quickly chased it but when he turned the corner nothing was there, just grass and his cracked window. He turned around to head back and came face to face with Derrick once more.
“I think we need to teach you another lesson, Coldharr.” Derrick’s face was twisted into an evil grin.
“Dammit…” Kyle tightened his jaw.
Derrick swung hard, his first punch landing in the same spot as always. Kyle felt his jawbone shatter as he fell to the ground. He curled up and covered his head as the group of bullies surrounded him and started kicking and stomping on him. He could feel his forearm break as Derrick stomped on his arm. His ribs made every breath feel like he was being stabbed with a jagged knife. Kyle felt a warm liquid bathe his tongue, it tasted like metal but he easily recognized the taste of his own blood. The beating lasted longer than usual, a solid 10 minutes of pain felt like hours when you were the one getting your bones broken. At the end Kyle felt someone’s hand grab him by his hair on the back of his head.
Derrick lifted him by his head and looked him in the eye.
“Don’t forget you belong below me, Darkie.” Derrick whispered.
‘Prejudice prick’ Kyle thought in defiance.
Derrick gave him one last punch in the face, breaking his nose and flooding his mouth with even more blood. Kyle spit the blood in his face, which caused Derrick to throw him into the wall face first. Kyle’s left eye was swollen shut but he could still see Derrick and his boys saunter off. He laid there and counted to thirty before daring to do anything, then he closed his eyes. In his head he could see a clear image of his body, he could sense every broken bone and bruised limb. His whole body was quickly overwhelmed by a warm, fuzzy feeling. He could feel the energy flood his veins and radiate over his injuries. From the outside, all you could see is Kyle’s veins turning black and his injuries disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Kyle started with his arm, with his right hand he squeezed around the broken bone, pushing it back into place as the black goo healed it. Then he wrapped his fingers around his nose, quickly pulling and twisting it back into place. Again the warmth surrounded his nose and the pain disappeared. He repeated this process until his body was again fit as a fiddle. He stood up and dusted himself off. Kyle walked over to the fountain and checked himself in the reflection of the water. His lower face was caked in blood but besides that he was clean.
“I’m getting good at this, not a single drop of blood on my uniform.” He smiled, his reflection displayed crimson teeth.
Kyle dipped his hands into the water and washed the blood off of his face, he scrubbed but his skin was rosey and he couldn’t tell if it was left over stains from the blood or if his skin was irritated from the scrubbing. Someone cleared their throat behind him, clearly trying to get his attention. Kyle turned away from the water and his heart skipped a beat. The girl standing before him was breathtaking. She had wavy blonde hair that went down to her lower back and a soft, kind face. Her eyes were hazel colored and looked so innocent. She was quite short, Kyle was sitting and she was barely taller than him. She was about 5’3” and had a small frame.
“This is a fountain, not a bathtub.” She said with a lot of attitude.
“Water is water when you’re caked in your own blood.” Kyle said as his face went pale.
‘Just another spoiled brat’ He thought.
“Blood? You got in a fight this early in the morning?” She questioned, clearly she came from a sheltered past.
“Can you call getting jumped by six people a fight? Look I don’t mean to be rude but I just wanna be alone.” Kyle retorted, she may be cute but she was quite naive.
Before giving her time to reply Kyle walked away. If he didn’t get going he’d be late for his first class. Before entering the nearby building he quickly stole a glance back at the girl. She looked quite stunning in the morning sunlight. He shook his head, never slowing his stride.
‘I don’t have time to get my heart broken by some princess.’ He thought to himself.
Kyle quickly arrived at his first class of the day, Human History. He had arrived a couple minutes early so he could avoid getting attacked before class again. He found a nice desk far in the corner and pushed it even farther away. He took a look around the class while waiting for the teacher to show up. There were around six rows of six desks that filled up most of the room. All the desks were facing a single wall with a large black board used by the teacher to write on. The left wall had a row of windows and along the right wall there were a couple of bookshelves filled with text books.
There were a couple of other students already at their desks, other weak kids who weren’t as lucky as Kyle, at least he could heal himself. The boy had red hair and pale skin, but one might think his skin was blue from how many bruises he had. Another girl had a cast around her arm, she was probably poor and couldn’t afford to see a healer everyday.
A melodic tone had rung out and suddenly the class was flooded with students, a cacophony of conversations closely followed. Kyle put his head down and covered his ears. He hated everyone here, their very voices were like nails on a chalkboard. Suddenly the room fell silent and he knew the teacher had arrived. Kyle raised his head and straightened his back. This teacher was just as bad as Derrick, he had it out for him just the same. The man was extremely short, standing barely past 5’7”. He had thin grey hair that he swept over his balding head. He was surprisingly muscular but still Kyle was sure he could break him with one arm. He smiled at the thought of beating up his bastard teacher.
“Welcome to probably the last Human History class you will be attending. As most of you probably know, the official Awakening is tomorrow. Afterwards your schedules will change to specialized classes until graduation.” The man said warmly, smiling as his eyes panned across the class.
Then his eyes fell on Kyle, his smile dropped like a rock.
“Mr. Coldharr, care to share with us the reason you’re so happy?” He called out, his smile returning.
‘Just had to single me out on my last day.’ Kyle thought as the smile slowly slipped off his face.
“I’m just glad to be leaving your class, Mr. Brick.” Kyle replied, faking a more innocent smile.
“Well you’re not gone yet, I’ve got a test for everyone today, after you complete your test you may be released until your next period.” The class erupted into an excited murmur.
“Yes, yes I’m sure you are all excited to be leaving me but I must urge you to take the test carefully. If you fail this test you will have to return here for the rest of the semester for private tutoring until you can pass so be very thorough.” Mr. Brick explained.
Suddenly an avalanche of paper blew across the class and perfectly landed in front of each person. Kyle pulled his pencil out of his pocket and got to work. It was a multiple choice quiz, easy as pie. Probably designed to help the big oafs with rich parents. Kyle filled bubble after bubble, flipping the paper after only 3 minutes. He took another 3 minutes to fill out the otherside. He stood up and walked across the class with a smug expression on his face. Sure to make eye contact with Derrick who had only finished the first half of the page. When he reached the teacher’s desk he dropped the paper with a satisfied look on his face.
‘Eat it, Mr. Brickhead.’ Kyle thought.
“Mr. Coldharr, I doubt you have sufficiently answered all of my questions in so little time.” Mr. Brick said, his face turning red with anger.
“You’re free to check my work, sir. I’m quite confident in my answers.” Kyle said, his smug smirk making the teacher even angrier.
“Fine then, answer my questions without the sheet.” Mr. Brick said, picking up Kyle’s test.
He had hoped to embarrass Kyle by showing the whole class he knew nothing.
“Whom amongst the Gods was the first to receive the blessings of the True Goddess, Life?” Brick started.
“Zacharias of Light, yet he shared his Godhood with the Shadow King, Domirak. They became Gods together.” Kyle said, not breaking eye contact.
“Which city has been known to house all four races, though most recently hosts only Humans and Beastmen?” The teacher continued.
“The Dwarven city of Othredround, also known as Dwarves’ End.” Kyle replied quickly without a moment's hesitation.
The teacher became beet red, but it seemed he was more embarrassed now than angry.
“What year did the First Gods break the chains of slavery and begin the rebellion against the Elves?” The teacher asked the final question.
“3346 by Elvish calendars but it is considered year 1 CE by Human calendars. I noticed you did not give an option for the Elvish date so I wrote it in.” He finally said.
The teacher simply fell back into his chair, he had never been so disrespected by a student, and certainly not by some lowborn Darkie.
“How?” Was all Mr. Brick could say.
Kyle leaned in so only the teacher could hear.
“While you were busy coddling your rich brats in the front I had plenty of time to read your text book. I had memorized it weeks ago.” Kyle whispered, he was so prideful as he could feel victory in his grasp.
Kyle turned to leave, he took one last look at Derrick who looked just as angry as he was stupid. He gave him a quick wink and left, knowing full well he just earned himself another beating before the day’s end. As soon as he left the classroom he practically skipped down the hallway. He was soon back to the courtyard when he noticed that the girl from earlier was still by the fountain.
‘Damn how is she still there? I was hoping to get some time by the fountain alone.’ Kyle thought.
Kyle was about to turn and leave when she spotted him. She waved at him and smiled, making his heart feel heavy. He really didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t used to people being so friendly with him. She got up and started walking towards him, he was gonna run but he couldn’t get his legs to work.
‘Shit shit shit she’s coming here! What do I do?’ Kyle's thoughts were erratic.
She was only a few steps away when Kyle heard something.
‘FEED.’ a strange voice quietly echoed through his head.
“Hey-” She started to talk.
“Did you say something?” Kyle quickly blurted out.
“Uhh… well I was just about to say hello?” She said, her eyebrow cocked up in confusion.
“Oh... yeah… hey. I was just gonna go relax by the fountain.” Kyle was now extremely awkward.
“Well then I’ll join you, I wanted to talk to you about earlier.” She smiled softly.
‘Earlier? What happened earlier? Is she upset that I rushed off in the middle of our conversation?’ He quietly panicked.
Kyle walked over to the fountain trying to just think about the reflected light from the rushing water. He was desperately trying to distract his mind from the panicked thoughts. He sat on one of the stone slab benches and she quickly sat next to him. His back tensed up as he stood as straight as possible. His cheeks turned a tinge red and he was starting to sweat where sweat should not be.
‘Dammit I hoped she would sit across from me. Is she what smells so good?’ Kyle’s nose was invaded by a sweet floral scent.
“I wanted to apologize for running off earlier.” Kyle said, in what he hoped was, a calm voice.
“No problem, I figured you just wanted to be on time for class. I actually wanted to apologize for scolding you about the water. I didn’t know you were hurt.” She said with nothing but sincerity displayed on her face.
‘Is she really so easy to read? It’s like she’s never had to lie to anyone.’ Kyle was dumbfounded by how honest she seemed to be.
Kyle had long since learned to read people's faces and expressions. He could tell if someone was just trying to manipulate him. This girl, however, seemed entirely genuine.
“No it’s fine, I should have just gone back to my room to wash off.” Kyle said, interrupting his own complicated thoughts.
“You’d walk all the way back to the dorms to clean up?” She looked confused.
Kyle couldn’t help but laugh, only confusing her more.
“You’re new here aren’t you?” He said, after he finished being amused.
“Yes, I was mostly homeschooled by my father but he enrolled me during the first semester this year so I could make some friends and become more social.” She said with a sheepish smile.
‘Enrolled halfway through a semester? Just how powerful is this chick's dad?’ Kyle had even more questions, but one stood out more than the others.
“Kyle Coldharr, what’s your name?” Kyle said, extending a hand.
“Morana Black. Nice to meet you, Kyle.” She beamed, taking his hand and shaking it.
Kyle’s face went pale as he realized who she was. Black. All the dots connected and he became even more nervous.
“Morana Black? As in the youngest daughter of Dillion Black, the God of Punishment?” He was shaken up, he felt kinda dizzy.
Morana’s smile fell, she had seen far too many people change their tune when she said her last name. She hoped he would be different. Clearly she was wrong. Her eyes fell towards her feet so she missed the wide smile creep across his face. He wasn’t afraid of her father as she thought he was. He was simply ecstatic to meet someone new like himself.
“That means you’re a Dark Attribute as well right?” Kyle asked.
“Well yeah, you are too?” She said as a dark substance formed a ball in the palm of her hand.
Kyle saw the ball and got genuinely excited. He raised his hand concentrated real hard, he could feel the warm energy flow through his body and collect in his hand. Then black tendrils licked out like a spider web and formed the perfect image of a flower head. Her eyes went wide at the display.
“Such a pretty flower, you must be good with constructs.” She said with a huge smile.
“I don’t like to brag but I am pretty good with my magic.” He puffed out his chest.
He saw the ball that was in her hand shudder slightly, then it changed shape and slowly started to resemble the flower in his hand. Soon enough, they both held two identical flowers. They were lotus flowers. Kyle could feel his heart quicken. It had been a long time since he had met someone new like him. Then something occurred to him.
“How did you know I was a Dark Attribute?” He asked.
“You were covered in blood but uninjured. Seemed pretty obvious.” She scoffed.
‘Maybe she’s not as ignorant as I thought. She needs to go though, I don’t want it to be my fault she gets ostracized.’ Kyle thought, grimly.
“Well you should go before someone sees you with me, daddy’s name only counts for so much.” Kyle said, staring at his feet.
Morana furrowed her eyebrows, she knew he was right but it didn’t make it hurt any less. She really was riding on her family name. She had so many friends here but how quickly would they betray her? How quickly would her group of friends turn into a nest of vipers? She looked at him, waiting for him to do or say something, but he just kept staring at his feet. So, without another word, she got up and left.
‘She doesn’t have to suffer like me, she shouldn’t have to.’ he thought as he watched her walk away.
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