Fayrin braced himself for his master's attack. He wanted to rely on his self for once. All this time he's relied on the knowledge and abilities passed onto him from his father, but it was time he found his own battle instict.
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Taerick flew up to Fayrin and shifted his spear tip up in an effort to psych Fayrin out. Fayrin knew his master liked to toy with him, so he bounced the spear away easily with his sword. Fayrin knew it was too easy as Taerick spun around to his opposite side and kicked Fayrin in chest knocking the wind out of him.
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"Come on! Your whole body is a weapon!" Taericked shouted in disappointment, "I thought today you were gonna show me some worth."
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The crowd that has gathered starts murmuring about Fayrin, saying he was nothing special. Fayrin started having that feeling again, that he was weak. His blood began to boil with anger.
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Fayrin stood up, pulling his emerald from his necklace as his body began to glow. The emerald and diamond reformed around his hands like gloves, extending out ward into blades. He darted forward for his second assault must faster than before. Taerick could see the power growing in him, taking a defensive stance again.
Their blades clashed again and again. The force alone let out strong gusts of wind. This battle was mesmerizing the crowd now.
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"That's more like it!" exclaimed Taerick as they kept exchanging blows weapon to weapon.
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Fayrin's diamond hand began glowing again as he went full force. Taerick went to block, but this time he couldn't match the momentum to deflect and the diamond blade cut his spear in half and pierced through his legionnaire uniform. It left a slash, but drew no blood.
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People started to exclaim and cheer as they had never seen abilities used in such a way. Taerick took note and believed it might lead to Fayrin getting a big head. He began shaping the two pieces of steel left into swords. It was time for round two.
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Fayrin was still running on his high of anger as his body started pushing his limits. He darted forward towards Taerick, aiming both of his blade points to pierce. In that moment, Taerick quickly parried both of Fayrin's arms spinning him around to where his back was to Taerick. Taerick then pierced his other sword through Fayrin's back.
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"The sword went through and through," explained Taerick as Fayrin let out a grunt. His body calmed down and his gems reverted to normal as he lost consciousness. The battle was over.
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Fayrin awoke in the medical sect being aided by a pretty girl. The prettiest he had seen anyway. Her name was Myrra and losing that battle to be taken care of by her wasn't much of a loss to him anymore.
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Over the weeks, as Fayrin tapped into his rage to develop his skills, more often than not he'd end up in the medical sect due to battle injuries. Luckily for him, it was time to spend with Myrra.
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Fayrin was captivated by her smile and how gentle she was. When she looked at him with her emerald eyes, it was the only time he really felt happiness. She'd always tie her long red hair up with a bow when attending to him.
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"You must be getting better Fayrin!" she chuckled as she patched up a couple of scrapes on his knee, "You barely get hurt anymore!"
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"I try," retorted Fayrin.
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"To get hurt?" She joked.
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"Yes," said Fayrin stoicly, "Its the only way I get to see you."
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Myrra blushed as she finished her job,
"You know it doesn't have to be."
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Fayrin hadn't considered trying to see her outside of the Legion headquarters. He went silent feeling a little stupid.
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"Very true," said Fayrin regaining hit wit, "Then next time I see you we'll have to do something outside this place."
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"It's a date," said Myrra smiling as she escorted Fayrin out.
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Fayrin was walking down the hallway riding on his high of happiness over Myrra, that was until he came across hushed voices around the corner. As he got closer to hear, he could tell it was Taerick and another man talking heatedly.
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It was Gael, another authority commander, and he was reaming Taerick.
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"Day after day you waste training him to fight. He's already more capable that most. It's time he step up to be the new face. That was the deal."
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"I've been telling you for weeks," said Taerick leaning in closer angrily, "The boy is not ready. He's not willing."
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"Not willing? We let him into the most prominent organization in the land. His gifts have brought so many new wealthy investors. They're going to want to see him in action."
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"He's not a fucking show pony. He's still a child!"
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Gael stuck his finger out to say his final words,
"This was the deal you signed up for. Get him on board."
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Gael walked off in a huff as Taerick turned and punched the wall. Fayrin stepped out and let his presence be known,
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"I won't do it. I'm here to get strong, to fight. I'm going to be a demon hunter in the authority."
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Taerick lowered his head to finally tell Fayrin the truth he hadn't offered up before,
"Look kid... They're not going to let you do that. To them, you're just a prized possession to show off and exploit for profit. They'll want you in the authority but as a Highsgard. Meaning, you'd only be called upon to show off your abilities and stand around for the rich to look at."
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"No!" yelled Fayrin, "I will not. I don't care what I have to do. You have to stop this. You were supposed to look out for me!"
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"Damn it kid! I am. That's why I'm telling you!" shouted Taerick back in Fayrin's face. He backed off grabbing his head trying to think. A conclusion that he didn't take likely, came to him,
"A wayfarer. It's the only way."
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"What?" asked Fayrin.
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"The wayfarer sect is small and it's rare that new ones are appointed, but they're free to roam the lands as long as they show evidence that they're doing work for the legion," Taerick explained as he ran the plan through his head trying to figure out how to pull it off,
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"We would have to do it as soon as possible before Gael can sabotage us. I've got a guy that can help get you marked and I can get you resources."
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Fayrin was upset that all this felt like a betrayal, but he knew it wasn't really Taerick's fault. The more he learned about Legion, the more he wondered of their motives and reasoning. Maybe his father left for these reasons, but it was to hard to figure that out right now.
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"We'll have to make this happen within a couple days, meaning, your training is done boy," said Taerick placing his hand on Fayrin's shoulder. Fayrin pushed it off,
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"Get me to your guy now then."
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Fayrin couldn't take any risks anymore. He wasn't going to become a glorified prisoner of this institution. So he got marked. As Taerick was taking care of other business, Fayrin packed what little stuff he had, and left in the dead of the night.
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At that time, he was focused on his revenge. He didn't think about Taerick and how he'd have to explain his absence and why he was hunting demons. Nor did he mean to leave friends without a word, like Myrra, to wonder why he didn't tell them. Fayrin was gone from legion and over the years more and more forgot about the once popular prodigy.
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There was silence as Fayrin's story came to an end. He looked at Aedden who hadn't said anything just yet, so Fayrin continued,
"This organization, I just, I've lost faith in it. But there's no one else to turn to."
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Aedden finally interjected,
"What your father did was a blood spell. Blood magic."
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Fayrin knew Aedden wouldd get to the right conclusion, but was hoping that trust would still be there,
"That's right. I use blood magic. I'm a blood magic user. I'm not a prodigy. I'm not evil."
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Aedden tried to find where in Fayrin's story it said how he did any of it, but nothing stuck out,
"But how? You perform no spells, use blood, or anything. What?"
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"When my father passed the knowledge he had to me, it showed me how special the gems were. My father was able to infuse the gems with his blood making them transmutable. His blood is my blood, so I'm able to use them all."
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"And Taerick never suspected this through your training?" questioned Taerick.
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"After all this time I'm sure he might suspect, but when I was learning how to master each gem, I was, in fact, learning. I had to learn how each one would react and change while manipulating the blood. I truly didn't understand until I tapped into my rage."
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"I see," said Aedden, who went quiet again. He started to smile clutching his head, "This is crazy."
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Fayrin didn't say anything, not knowing if he made the right choice in confiding with Aedden, but the time to dwell and talk it out were over as screams came down the hallway from the room they were in. Aedden walked out the door to see what was happening and Fayrin slowly followed.
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Baely was running towards the two covered in blood. Behind her came a small demon, its claw reaching out for her. It almost got her, when in the blink of an eye, its arm flew away from its body. Aedden had darted forward creating an emerald katana. He then pierced through the demon's heart, dropping it dead.
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"Headquarters is under attack!" exclaimed Baely as she helped Fayrin walk faster towards Aedden. Aedden kept his sword up, not letting down his guard.
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"Stay right behind me," instructed Aedden as they started making their way through the hall.
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Around the corner were bodies of Legion members, eviscerated, body parts everywhere. A handful of demons were still running around in the hallway trying to break down doors, that is, until they noticed the group.
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Aedden shot forward, cutting demon after demon down. His suit was starting to become blood stained,
"Filthy creatures."
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He swung his katana making the blood on it shoot off. Further down, more human voices could be heard. The group travelled towards them.
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It was Gael and Taerick fighting back to back against a mob of demons. The two were taking down wave after wave but there was just too many. One demon remarks,
"These are of the High 13, target! Must kill!"
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Space began to grow between Taerick and Gael. Gael was an amethyst user and was fighting with a long sword type weapon, but once the gap between him and Taerick grew, one of the demons jumped his back from behind, slashing Gael's throat with its sharp claw.
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Gael dropped his weapon to clutch his severed throat and a group of demons mauled his body. They began ripping him limb from limb. Taerick fell back on the ground holding a steel axe he had made to fight. He looked over at his pupil that he knew couldn't fight them all and shouted,
"Run!"
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"Not again..." Fayrin thought to himself, but Aedden wasn't having it. He left Fayrin and Baely there to fight alongside Taerick.
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He tore through at least ten demons, making a pathway to Taerick. He put his hand out and Taerick grabbed it, being pulled to his feet. Taerick nodded as a thank you and began swinging away with his axe. The sheer number of demons was overwhelming, but the two were able to slaughter the remaining in the hallway they were in.
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When the fight seemed over, that's when they came. The rumbles of the ground shaking as something grew closer. It was a demon larger than all of those they had fought so far. It's shadow was all the group could see at the edge of the hall.
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The demon began walking slowly towards them and it was holding something but they couldn't make it out. Then the demon slapped its hand against the wall where a symbol appeared and began glowing. A demon sprouted out of this created gateway on the wall. The large demon kept doing this as he grew close enough for Fayrin to see the face that's haunted him for so long.
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"Oorvuk!" Fayrin shouted as Taerick and Aedden looked back at him.
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"This is the demon you've been hunting? The one that killed your father?" questioned Aedden.
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"Yes," said Fayrin as he began glowing with rage. Baely clutched him knowing he was still in no condition to fight.
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"He's summoning demons. Practicing necromancy as a demon himself. It's unheard of," said Taerick as Oorvuk grew closer. He noticed what was in Oorvuk's other hand, a grimoire, "That's how he's doing it! We need to get that book from him!"
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"First the High 13, then the Legion. You will fall," spoke Oorvuk pointing towards them as his group of recently summoned demons ran forward to attack.
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Taerick charged in an offensive stance and Aedden went with him, side by side, cutting down each demon with ease. They made their approach on Oorvuk with Taerick going left and Aedden going right. Oorvuk jumped, dodging Taerick's swing of his axe, and spun to kick Aedden. The kick smashed Aedden into the wall, temporarily disabling him.
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Oorvuk seemed to be going in for the kill on Aedden when Taerick swooped in, lopping off both of Oorvuk's arms. Oorvuk screeched as his arms fell to the ground and his blood spilled onto the grimoire it had held. The grimoire ignited into red flames and disappeared. Aedden recovered and pushed his katana through Oorvuk's front, bring the demon to it's knees.
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Fayrin let go of Baely and walked towards the demon he's been longing to kill all these years,
"Remember me?"
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Oorvuk took notice of him,
"Ah yes, I didn't recognize you. What a pleasant coincidence that you're here. You get to see another mission of mine come to a successful end"
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"How can you have a mission if you don't have a master?" questioned Taerick, "That's his thing right? No master?"
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Oorvuk chuckled looking Fayrin up and down,
"I believe he's responsible for your condition. At least you're still alive."
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Fayrin was burining red. Oorvuk was a masterless demon and now he's saying he's had a master. It was hard to believe after all this time. Fayrin's train of thought was interupted as more screams were heard. Other demons were still causing chaos.
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It was at that moment Aedden beheaded Oovruk. Fayrin and Taerick were both shocked. There could have been more information to be learned. Aedden looked at Fayrin,
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"I'm sorry. I'm sure you wanted to do that yourself, but there's many people in danger here. A demon summoning demons is new to all of us, so I was taking a chance."
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It was lucky break after all, as it seemed the demons were tied to Oorvuk in a different way than how humans and demons are. With Oorvuk's death, the other demons starting disappearing. The screams stopped and the night of the demons was over.
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