ADAD Chapter 32: At the end of the free time

 Darius got out of his leathers, and into his Orestria uniform. He felt like a silly boy in it. For 100 years, he had worn leathers. Still, his short sword mastery was starting today, and it would last fifty years. 

One final push, and then I can do whatever I want. Go back home, marry Nastia, get a couple of kids. 

The 156-year-old demon smiled wistfully. It wasn't unheard of for Orestria students to marry while still in the academy, but he and Anastasios had wanted their families to be there for the wedding. So, there was nothing that Darius could do.

The class was full of familiar faces. Seeing as the new calming runes were bought up from the various governments around the world, and distributed to demons in need, Darius's runes had found their way to some of his classmates. 

"Loreth?" One of the instructors asked, as he neared him. "What are you doing in here?"

"I am here for the beginning of my mastery," Darius said with a bright smile. 

"You can't risk your life, boy. Come with me," Darius looked with confusion at the retreating back of the demon. When he didn't follow, the man looked back, and gave him a frown. That got Darius moving. 

"Professor, I don't understand. The headmaster approved me becoming a part of this mastery program," Darius said, as he walked behind the demon. 

"He is an elf, he doesn't understand," the instructor said simply. "I didn't approve you. Didn't you get the memo? Instead, you will be doing what you do best, and make new runes." 

"That is unfair," Darius snapped, but a curt look silenced him again. 

"You will also take healing classes, instead. With private tutors," the instructor said, not expecting any arguments. "We spoke with the Overlord, and he agrees that you should better the demon community, instead of risking your life." 

"Don't I get a say in my own life?" Darius asked, and the man chuckled bitterly. 

"You are one in a million. Your blood is a multinational treasure. Boy, you can forget all about risking your life. If you don't want to end up in a white room, surrounded by padded walls, then you will sit tight, and make new runes," the demon turned around, and his eyes softened, when he saw the hurt expression on Darius's face. 

"Is there no other way? Why have I been studying for, if I..." Darius began, but the man hit the wall with his fist. 

"Darius Loreth, do you think that the bloodlust is the only thing that plagues us, demons?" He asked, and Darius shook his head. 

"There are many illnesses because we eat organs during the bloodlust, but that can be avoided now. I don't have to be the one to write the calming rune. And the slugs can be milked for blood," Darius protested. 

"You don't understand, do you? What are runes for you?" The instructor asked. 

"A means to an end," Darius answered, confused. 

"They are more than that. Think, back during your stay at the rune house, how many students invented new runes?" The demon asked, and Darius's eyes widened. 

"Not many," he tried to remember the last time he heard about a new invention, but couldn't do so. 

"Not many? It takes the average runesmith at least one hundred years of research, to come up with one original rune. And then, they can't even make it into a tattoo," the sneer on the instructor's face showed what he thought about the other runesmiths. 

"It is not their fault they weren't born with blood like mine," Darius said, but the man just shook his head. 

"Do you know why your blood works the way it does, and everyone else's just stains their desks?" The older demon asked. Darius shook his head. "It is because you are only a half-demon. Your father was a demon, while your mother was a Fey." 

"You know who my parents are?" Darius asked, hopeful. His tail twitched in excitement. He could finally know who his parents were. Were they alive? Had they lost him?

"They are both dead. A couple of criminals, that history doesn't want to remember," the sneer on the older demon's face turned vicious, and Darius's shoulders sagged. 

"Can you at least tell me their names?" Darius asked. 

"Balder, and Helena," the older demon all but spat out the names. To him, they probably sounded like curses. To Darius, they were to be treasured. 

"Wait, if I am half Fey, how come I don't have wings, and am immortal?" Darius asked. 

"You shouldn't have even been born," the instructor said, and something in Darius felt fear. "But your father, the mad scientist that he was, experimented on you while you were still in your mother's womb. Your demonic characteristics won out, and you got immortality for his efforts. The two were captured soon after your birth. You nearly got executed, but then someone took you from the dungeons, and then hid you in Fairstar." 

A cold shiver ran down Darius's spine. Wait, if they had wanted to execute him for just being born, did they still want that?

"Who was the one to get me out of the dungeons?" Darius asked, and the man smiled at him. The sneer finally vanishing. 

"Who knows? If someone had gotten a wind of whom that person was, then they would have taken your place on the block," the older demon turned around, and began to walk down the hall. Darius didn't want to follow him, but he felt like he didn't have much of a choice. 

At least my short swords are still on me. My armor rune is still working perfectly, even after all these years. If worst comes to worst, I can defend myself. 

They entered a spacious room, with a single desk, and a lot of paper on it. Darius recognized it. It was rune paper. 

"Invent something by the end of the day. I don't like this. It was not your fault that both of your parents were sick in the brain, trying to get an interspecies child, but that is how things are," with that, the instructor walked out of the room, but didn't lock the door.