I felt like I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried to breathe in, My lungs remained empty. I tried to struggle but an invisible force was holding me down. I’m dreaming, I thought as I laid in the darkness, choking on the lack of air. I knew that it was a dream but for some reason, I felt that if i didn’t wake up, I might really die. 

My eyes sprung open as air rushed into my lungs. My head felt dizzy as I looked around, realizing I was still in my dorm room, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least, I tried to. Just like the nightmare I had awoken from, My chest felt heavy and my breathing was stifled. I looked up and realized that something was pinning me to the bed. As my vision focused, the blurry shape atop me began to register as my mind shook itself out of its sleepy stupor. 

Laying curled up on my chest was Serenity. She was sleeping peacefully with her head nestled against my upper chest. While she was rather short and far from heavy, the full weight of her body pressing into me had made it difficult to breath and apparently, woken me from my slumber.

I sat up and she rolled off of me and onto the bed. She began to stir and groggily rubbed her eyes. I looked at her disapprovingly as she yawned, “What's the deal? Did top bunks go out of style last night.” She looked at me and muttered, “I was having trouble falling asleep.” “Yea, good for you, that explains nothing though. Do I look like a cat bed” I asked. 

“Maybe you should become one.” She said indifferently. I grabbed her shoulders as I shook her and said, “Also, what kind of bodyguard almost kills their client in the middle of the night. I almost died.” She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “the world would have been a better place.” This girl was going to make me cry. 

“Hey Serenity” I said as I let go of her shoulders, “Do you have a problem with me?” when talking to me during our first meeting, she had been rather thorny. I couldn’t figure out what her angle was. Was this girl just really blunt or did she actually hate me. 

“You are a necromancer, someone who uses the dead for your own advantage.” She said as she looked up at me. “Do you hate necromancers?” I asked. It was certainly possible as some of the people who knew of my powers and on stage alias had been creeped out upon first meeting me. “Necromancy is scary. My job was always to kill but necromancers use the undead which can’t be killed. Also, they’re creepy perverts who like to do lewd things to zombies.” 

“Listen that last one is incredibly untrue but about the whole controlling the dead thing, necromancers are a bit more nuanced.” I got up from the bed, and pulled out a notebook and pencil from my desk. “Necromancers use two types of necromancy. Bound and unbound necromancy.” I began drawing a Venn diagram. And labels the two circles bound and unbound. “Bound necromancy is directly controlling or summoning the dead. Puppeteering actual bodies and the like by manipulating a dead person's soul. It’s rather difficult and sometimes taboo which is why I don't use it.” I wrote down several examples in the Bound necromancy section before 

“Unbound necromancy on the other hand is creating artificial undead like zombies and skeletons using the earth. You can also create simple artificial souls using the ambient soul energy all around us.” Serenity tilted her head as her ears fell back. “Soul energy?” I began to draw several images. “Yea you know the aura or soul soup that exists all around us. It's stronger near graveyards or haunted houses. Most people can't see it but it’s there. Anyway, unbound necromancy creates undead by molding the earth and soul energy around a necromancer to create skeletons or zombies, like I do on tv you know.

“So they are not real bone people?” she asked. “Nope” I replied as I smiled. And showed her the Venn diagram. “What about the middle?'' she asked, pointing to the section where the two circles met. “That’s kind of a subsect of necromancy that involves manipulating your own soul.” I thought back to my recent battle with the two assassins. “You can use it to do things like infuse your blood with your soul energy to manipulate it or transfer a portion of your soul to possess something or someone.” 

She looked over the diagram and shuddered. “Necromancers are pretty strong huh.” “They can be, but I’ve only met a few. There aren't  many out there and most of them are recluses.” I said, “So I’m not really that scary, see!” She chuckled and shook her head “No just stupid.” That was uncalled for, but I was somewhat glad she was opening up to me. Hopefully, I also lowered the chances of her killing me in my sleep. I went to the bathroom and began applying my patented disguise which consisted of black hair dye and my glasses.

The two of us got dressed and headed out. We headed towards the Mana Stage where I would be meeting my opponent for the upcoming match. The fight was still a few days away but there would be an interview held  with me and my opponent today as a way to generate hype. As we walked through the massive courtyard that spanned the campus, I could feel my stomach rumble. I hadn’t eaten breakfast before I left which was turning out to be a mistake

"Do you want to grab breakfast?" I asked her as we began heading to the campus town and Mana battle stage. She nodded enthusiastically and the two of us found a small café. They probably wouldn't mind if we were running a few minutes late. Probably. I ordered a small coffee and muffin while she ordered a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage. "Do you have servants or slaves?" I nearly did a spit take as I chocked on my coffee. "No!?" She tilted her head to side. "But in your videos, you always say the living are my servants and the dead are my slaves."

She must have seen uploads or broadcasts of my raids at some point. "That's all acting. Like the fighting equivalent of pillow talk." I said while shaking my hand. "Pillow talk?" She repeated, her ears twitching. "A slip of the tongue. Forget I said that. Anyway, I'm basically just an actor so I don't mean any of those things I say" was she under the impression that I was actually evil this whole time? She nodded her head indicating that she understood and continued eating from her plate.

I paid for the meals and the two of us continued heading to the Mana Battle Stage. We reached the large entryway where a frantic Grace was waving at us. I hurried my pace and she grabbed me by the hand saying, "the interview starts in 10 minutes, we need to get you changed Alex!" She pulled me to the dressing room where I washed my hair dye out and changed into my costume. After securing the mask on my face and making sure everything looked right, I was ushered out of the room and down the hall. 

I stood for a few moments in a small backstage area before my name was called from up onstage. Three chairs had been set up behind a long table. The middle chair was reserved for the host and interviewer, a retired Hero by the name of Brandon who often provided commentary and analysis during live matches. I walked onto stage while running a hand through my white hair and sat down on the chair to his left. I crossed my legs and straightened my back while resting my chin on my left hand. It was a pose I was sure many of my fans would recognize. 

“And now were joined by the dungeon master Judas who will be hosting the raid this coming Monday. How are you feeling about the upcoming match Judas?” Brandon asked as he turned towards me. “hmm” I scoffed as I turned and looked directly at the camera in front of me. “I look forward to the upcoming match, after all, who am I to turn down a willing participant looking to join my ranks.” Brandon laughed as he replied, “I love the confidence, and that seems like a great segue to bring out our other guest. The Demon Princess, Angelica.” 

At that moment, someone stepped out of the shadows on the opposite side of the stage and approached us. She was a young girl who looked to be around middle school age. A growing white and gold dress was draped over her small body. The most surprising feature though were the two thin horns protruding from her head. Her teeth and nails also seemed to be far sharper than humans’. She was a demon through and through.

“How do you feel about the upcoming match Angelica?” Brandon asked as he greeted the young girl who had taken up the seat to his right. “I….. Will never lose to this scumbag.” She replies as she pointed a sharp tipped finger at me. The conviction in her eyes was honestly frightening. “A human who can use necromancy and a Demon with holy light magic. Many have said that this matchup between the two rising stars of the raid industry is inevitable. Do you feel that this match is fated Judas?” Brandon asked. 

So, she was a demon who could use Holy Light magic which was exclusive to humans. In a way, I guess that would make me her polar opposite. In a sense, this match almost did seem fated. “The strong gravitate towards me, not by manner of fate but through their desire to kneel before a superior being. She will learn her place like all the other dogs, I will make sure of that.” I replied. The anger on Angelica’s face grew visible as I spoke. “Judas, mark my words, I will defeat you.” She said, failing to hide her emotions as she spoke. 

The interview continued for a few more minutes with Brandon asking the two of us various questions. This Angelica girl was either an incredible actor not unlike myself or she genuinely hated my guts. I continued to taunt her with each question asked of me until at long last, the interview had ended. I returned back to the dressing room where I promptly changed back into my disguise and street clothes. After meeting Angelica, I had grown even more excited for the upcoming fight against her. I returned to my dorm room alongside Serenity and the two of us spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games.