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565. Grown Up

Oriur woke up to the sounds of wood shattering and metal crashing.

He jerked up, raising his head to face the metal doorway. The room was dark, and the blinds were shut. His gaze drifted to the clock by his bedside. It was still early in the morning, so he refused to peek out the window.

The sun would be incredibly bright at this time— at least, from this elevation. So Oriur didn’t like to pull back the curtains to his room during the morning. Instead, he liked to lay here and relax. Except it wasn’t relaxing.

Not when he could hear the sounds of fighting right outside of his room.

Oriur sighed as he rolled over in bed. He heard the muffled roaring. The fighting continued, and he remained lying there as he tried to cover his ears with his hands. Clawed hands. Not the fleshy Human hands that could barely cut anything open with their tiny fingernails.

That was right— Oriur wasn’t a Human. He was a Wyvern. A young Wyvern who had a pair of rowdy siblings.

He got to his feet as the fighting continued, and he knew he wasn’t going to be falling asleep any time soon. He pushed the door open to see a pair of figures tumbling down the hallway, locked in combat. He stared at them.

Oriur took on his siblings as they snarled and clawed at each other.

Novis and Bellum. They were both Wyverns like him, but they were noticeably larger. Their hides had fully grown out, and Bellum even had a pair of nub-like protrusions poking out of her back. They were both about the size of an adult Human, while Oriur was still about two-thirds of their size. 

He looked on as they continued to brawl, growling at each other the entire time.

“Give it back!”

“No— it’s mine!”

“I saw it first!”

“You just took it from me—”

Novis and Bellum argued as Oriur shook his head. The two of them were arguing over scraps of food. Raw meat— not even cooked or seasoned. They must have stolen it from the kitchen. 

Oriur would’ve stopped them, but they were both far higher-leveled than he was.  So he just stalked past them as he headed to the kitchen. Well— it wasn’t really a kitchen. It was a makeshift kitchen. 

This wasn’t really a house. It was actually an office. Or rather— it had been an office. It was now repurposed as a… sanctuary. A place to house monsters.

Oriur came to a halt right by the dining table. He stared at a figure already seated at the head of the table. He stared at the swaying tail— he saw the green scales and the elongated face. She was a monster. Just like him. More specifically, she was a [Krokodis]

He simply nodded at her as she beamed back at him.

“Good morning, Oriur. Me eating breakfast. You want some?”

She raised a bowl of meat chunks at him, and he shook his head. Instead, he grabbed an apple and munched into it.

“No thank you, Ms Kron. I’ll have this instead.”

“Mm, more for me!”

Kron shrugged and continued chowing down on her food. Oriur sat awkwardly across from her as he nibbled on the red fruit. The two of them sat in silence as his siblings continued fighting in the background. He would occasionally cast an awkward glance at the [Krokodis] as a clock standing on the kitchen counter ticked with each passing second.

He really wasn’t sure what he could say to Kron. He had tried to hold a conversation with her plenty of times before, but they were always short and strange. Like there was a disconnect. Although— Oriur sometimes wondered if it was a problem exclusive to him. After all, Novis and Bellum didn’t seem to have any problems with speaking to her.

However, the [Krokodis] was mama’s friend. She was also uncle’s friend. And she was nice, even if odd. So Oriur didn’t take any issues with her. It was just hard for them to form a connection. That was all.

But that was true for everyone here. Oriur always felt out of place. That was why he longed to explore the rest of Mavos Academy— to visit the world below.

He closed his eyes, and he heard the fighting stop. A sharp voice interrupted both the snarling and growling of his siblings as he glanced back.

“That’s enough.”

Oriur stared at a tall, stern woman as she dragged both Novis and Bellum behind her. The two young Wyverns were scowling with their arms crossed, not looking at each other. But they didn’t struggle. Even as the woman plopped the two of them down onto the chairs next to Oriur.

“Both of you— apologize to each other. Now.”

The woman crossed her arms. She had the appearance of a middle-aged Human lady— maybe in her mid-thirties— and she adjusted a pair of glasses on her face. But despite her looks, she was certainly no Human.

Oriur knew that it was just an illusion. As did his siblings. Which was why they acquiesced.

“Sorry…”

“Hrm, sorry…”

Novis and Bellum murmured at each other. The woman just nodded as she took a step back.

“Good. And there will be no more fighting over food. Is that understood?”

“Yes Ms Centina…”

Both the young Wyverns groaned at the same time. Oriur just stared at the veil of a Human woman. That was right— she wasn’t really a Human. She was a Centinel. And just like Kron, she was a friend of both mama and uncle.

Oriur turned to face Centina with a smile.

“Good morning, Ms Centina.”

She returned a warm smile as she took a seat next to Kron.

“Good morning to you too, Mr Oriur. I apologize for not stopping your siblings’ quarrel sooner, but I was busy with a task Headmaster Skyshredder had given to me.”

“Oh, it’s fine.”

Oriur glanced down the hallway, then back at Centina.

“But where’s Uncle?”

Normally, uncle would be the one to break up Novis and Bellum’s fights. But for whatever reason, he wasn’t here right now. Centina sighed and massaged her temples.

“Willy isn’t here right now. He’s busy… because of his new position.”

“Oh.”

Oriur deflated. Uncle Willy— the only person he could truly connect with— wasn’t here. Not right now. Because he was busy. He had spent most of his time up here together with Novis, Bellum, and Oriur for the past year.

Clayton Skyshredder had been kind enough to give them a place to stay with Kron and Centina. But while it was a home, it was also a prison. Only Willy had ever left the tower. But now that Mavos Academy had resumed its curriculum, the [Will O’ Wisp] had grown busy. And Oriur had felt alone ever since he had arrived here.

Mama left. Her clone was taken away.

And now, uncle was starting to leave too. 

The young Wyvern understood that mama and uncle couldn’t look after him forever. Between his siblings, he was the most understanding of their circumstances. Novis and Bellum would often argue and fight over it— even as they leveled and grew stronger to some day follow mama.

But Oriur wasn’t too interested in evolving like his siblings did. Instead, he wanted to explore Mavos Academy. He wanted to descend down from this tall tower to interact with the students below— to become a student of the school himself.

Unfortunately, he could not. And that was why, even as Oriur sat with this group of monsters, he felt alone.

 

---

 

“Is this it?”

Rachel asked herself as she stood outside of the club room. She looked down at the pamphlet, before shaking her head. She wasn’t even sure if she should have come here. But when she read the description of the club, she felt compelled to at least check it out.

Because it was the Demon Research Club. 

The young girl hesitated— she never thought such a club would have ever been allowed here in Mavos Academy. And yet, it existed. So she was drawn to it. Because of the possibility that it could be what she needed.

The reason Rachel had enrolled into Mavos Academy in the first place was because she wanted to find a way to get to Salvos. And that was why this Demon Research Club could lead the young girl to the silver-haired woman.

But there was a slim possibility that Rachel might be misunderstanding what this Demon Research Club was doing. It was entirely possible they might have been anti-Demons— that they were researching how to slay Demons and the like.

And that was not why Rachel was here. She would quickly excuse herself if that was the case. But since she couldn’t even study space magic here in Mavos Academy just yet, she took in a deep breath and nervously pushed the door open.

The moment she entered the room, she was greeted by a bright light. It was evening, but the blinds were shut. There was a bright magic crystal glowing in the center of the room, and the desks were set to the side. A small crowd was gathered right behind the magic crystal, sitting on the floor with their legs crossed.

The gathered students blinked and turned to face Rachel as she closed the door behind her, entering the room.

“What’s a little girl doing here?”

“Is she lost?”

“Wait, I think I know who she is— she’s a student here!”

“Seriously? But how?”

“Well, I heard the club president was also—”

“Hey.”

A voice called out. Rachel paused and turned to face a figure approaching her. She recognized him. He was the blond man who had given her the pamphlet to join the club. He smiled at her as he crossed his arms.

“So you changed your mind?”

“Um, I was just curious. That’s all.”

Rachel shifted back, glancing around the room. She felt nervous— she wasn’t sure whether the members of the club were pro or anti Demons. But she just steeled herself as the blond man proffered her a hand.

“I’m Jonas. The club vice-president.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Just take a seat right there. We’re a brand new club, so we have a lot of other students trying us out too. But don’t be intimidated. We’re quite casual here. The orientation meeting will start soon.”

“Right…”

Jonas gestured at the group of seated students. Rachel nodded, settling down right before the magic crystal. Her eyes narrowed. Even though she wasn’t a master [Mage], she could tell that it was a projection crystal based on the sigils etched onto its crystalline surface.

She waited as she sat on her own at the group’s fringe. A few heads glanced her way— whispering about the fact she was a literal child. But Rachel was used to it by now. She waited along with the rest of the new potential members of the Demon Research Club.

Attending the orientation didn’t mean that the students here had to join the club. They could leave at any point in time if they didn’t like what they saw. Rachel, for one, knew that she would make a quick exit if it turned out that everyone here were working to become Demon Slayers.

“When are we starting anyway?”

Rachel asked herself. And as if in response,  a side door slid open as a third-year student emerged. 

She had blonde hair and was relatively short— evidently younger than the other students attending Mavos Academy. If Rachel had to guess, the girl was a teenager. 

“Greetings.”

The blonde girl spoke as she strode up to the magic crystal. She placed her hands on her hips with a grin plastered on her face.

“I’m Valda— the president of the Demon Research Club.”

Rachel blinked as there was a flash of light. A bright figure followed after the blonde girl, floating through the room with Jonas. A ball of flames. A fiery light.

A Grand Spirit.

And Rachel’s eyes grew wide as she stared at the [Will O’ Wisp]. Valda took a step back, gesturing at ball of flames.

“And this is our club supervisor— Willy.”

“Hello.”