an illusion of mind

Arron tried his best to dodge but the red streak of lightning was simply too fast, he couldn't dodge a punch straight to the face.

It didn't take long for him to find himself sprawled on the ground again.

"You lost again junior~" Veronika laughed at him.

Arron just sighed, "It's a shame Bella isn't here..." Arron didn't know why but the day after Bella left training earlier than usual she apologized to him and told him she couldn't train with him for a while, which in turn left him stuck with Veronika as his training partner, and she was ruthless, why did Bella have to leave!

He didn't know why, did she not like him? was he too weak to be her training partner? he didn't know he just simply looked up at the sinister woman in front of him.

"How are you so fast anyway?" Arron asked on a whim, Veronika was fast, really fast, he didn't know how Regina dealt with her in the tradition of trials because her speed was just off the charts.

"Why should I tell you?" Veronika looked over him while he was sprawled on the floor and smirked, "You know what, since your my junior and you're a little cute~ I'll tell you~" Veronika said as she sat down on a bench.

Arron couldn't catch that last part quite well so he just sat up on the ground and turned to her.

She held up a finger in an explanatory tone, "I have an ability." She said simply.

Arron's brows shot up, "you're a sorceress?" Arron asked slightly surprised, those weren't very common...

"No, silly~~ you're such an idiot Arron you know that?" She said her smile widening.

"Just because I have an ability doesn't mean I'm a sorceress, Every sorcerer is an ability user but not every ability user is a sorcerer." She said resting her head on her hand.

Arron tilted his head in confusion and Veronika just sighed.

"I'll say it in a way your idiot self can understand." She twirled her finger next to her head as if mocking Arron.

"So basically an ability can be a lot of different things not just the instinctual hold over a magical element, an ability can be almost anything." She explained as she too a drink of her water bottle.

"Like teleportation, Telekinesis, etc." Veronika said as she put a hand on her chest as if gesturing at herself.

"Mine is speed, simply put, I'm a speedster~" She smirked as she put her water bottle down next to her.

Arron tilted his head, "So your simply just... fast?" Arron asked confusion evident in his tone.

"No, are you daft? just like any other ability user, I can train my ability and gain mastery over it, I get faster and faster the more I run and train my ability, and often most than not, an ability can unlock different branches of itself allowing for different ways to use the ability." Veronika finished as she stood up.

"An example can be my enhanced perception, It's not my mind that's strong but it's a branch of my speedster ability, once it's activated my mind becomes faster than my body for a certain while, Back in the tradition of trials that Regina friend of yours forced me to use it with her cheep tricks." Veronika gritted her teeth as she slammed a fist into her thigh.

Arron just smiled awkwardly, Oh boy, looks like Regina sure made her mad...

"Anyways let's get back to training, we've had enough of a break." Veronika said as she walked forward and took her position.

Arron sighed and got up picking up his sword, he was definitely getting beaten up...

Evelyn sat in class, deep into her thoughts, she read a book in waiting for the teacher to arrive.

"Watcha readin~" A bubbly voice said as a hand snatched her book from her.

Evelyn just looked blankly at Regina who was reading the title of her book, "I didn't mark the page I was on, You ruined my progress." She said her tone calm and collected.

"Eh? I did?" She looked between Evelyn and the book in her hand, "Well who cares~ You can just find the page again no?" She smiled as she put the book back on the desk.

"What do you want?" Evelyn crossed her arms narrowing her eyes on Regina.

"Do I really have to want something from you to come and talk to you?" Regina said smirking leaning closer to her.

Evelyn remained quiet, calm and collected as usual, Regina frowned and backed away, "You're no fun, always calm and collected..." Regina said pouting a little bummed out then she sighed, she waved her hand and just walked away, "I don't like boring people." She said as she left to annoy someone else.

Evelyn returned to reading her book, Did she just want to annoy me? reminds me of my younger siblings... or half siblings...

Evelyn was the heiress to the dukedom, she was next in line because her mother was the duke's first wife, her father Julian was strict with her unlike with her siblings, that's why her half siblings from other mothers turned out a little annoying and can get on people's nerves, Evelyn had grown accustomed to that.

And as for her mother... she sighed feeling a little sad, her mother had disappeared due to unknown circumstances, nobody knew what she was like, she disappeared when Evelyn was a mere 6 year old, Evelyn could hardly remember her face it was blurry in her memory.

Nobody knew why she disappeared one day she just disappeared for no reason at all, her father himself didn't know how she disappeared, perhaps part of why he was so strict with her is because she reminded him of his wife...

Evelyn gritted her teeth, why do I have to deal with his emotions for him?! if he feels like that then why do I have to be the one that gets the strictest treatment?

Julian has 3 wives his first disappeared the second one remains but the third one died, she bore no children so the only siblings she had were from the duke's second wife.

Julian obviously preferred his first wife more than the others, because after the birth of her siblings and the disappearance of her mother, he turned colder, more distant, Evelyn wished he wasn't like that, the more she thought about her situation the more she got suspicious of her mother's sudden disappearance...

could it have been an assassination?... No, No assassin is that good to escape from the duke forces for this long, Not even Denzel the best assassin in the world could escape from the duke's attempts at finding his wife for this long...

They still hadn't found any trails it's like she just upped and ceased to exist...

Evelyn was brought out of her thoughts by the door to the classroom opening and the professor walking in, he greeted the class and immediately started the lesson.

Mr grey was always like that, he was the serious type who didn't joke around with his students.

Evelyn paid attention to the lesson, she made sure to take in every single word he said, Evelyn was gifted, not just her ability but also her memory, she had an almost perfect memory, once she saw something she would almost always remember it, the reason she called it almost perfect is because she could not remember her mother's face if her life depended on it...

It was weird she could never remember her mother's face... She could remember what her mother was like... Skye Lumine... beautiful teal coloured hair that was different from hers and her father's hue of colour but still close... cheerful, Bubbly, she always had a smile on her face, she was kind... loving caring and she would always hug Evelyn to her chest and read her stories... So why... Why can't she remember her face?!

"is something the matter miss lumine?" Professor grey brought her our of her thoughts as she paid attention once more and realized that she was scowling at the professor, her face reddened and she immediately apologized.

"Sorry mister grey, I was just... distracted..."

"Very well, I can't punish you for not finding interest in the lesson, I can only advise you to pay more attention." The professor said as he turned away from her and continued the lesson.

Evelyn opened her mouth to speak but she couldn't find words, so she just sat back down her face reddening even more, she was embarrassed she couldn't control her expression...

She decided to push the thoughts she had for later...

And pay more attention in class...

Regina looked at Evelyn as she bowed and apologized for not paying attention, and she frowned, Moron... she thought as she looked back at the teacher.

Regina wanted to know more about Evelyn because she seemed interesting and powerful, since she helped them in the Tradition of trials and fought off two seniors on her own.

But Regina just found her boring...

Regina shook her head and looked back up at the blackboard, her eyes gliding over the letters on the board remembering each and every single one.

"Boring." Regina couldn't be any more bored at this, sitting in class, learning things that she already knew, how boring was that?

She would rather more-

Her trail of thoughts was suddenly cut off by a sudden explosion that shook the entire academy grounds, she jumped to her feet as did others with yelps and grunts, she ran to the window and looked outside her heart racing as a maniacal smile spread across her face.

"Just what I needed~~~" Her smile widened as she looked outside at the demons destroying the academy grounds and demolishing the buildings of the city surrounding prism.

The professor spoke up for all to hear, "Everyone remain in your seats it is dangerous to go out-" Professor grey was interrupted by a giant claw breaking through the wall behind him and slamming him outside the building, surprisingly he managed to block the attack as a loud clang was heard from his saber but he wasn't spared from the knockback.

He was sent flying through the classroom and sent outside into the chaos, the demon that smacked him walked out of the hole it made in the wall and jumped after him.

The students in class remained horrified and absolutely shook, most of them had never seen an actual demon so to see one smack the professor outside, the last thing they would do is listen to what the professor told them and they started to panic.

Evan stood on top of the desk and shouted for all to hear, "Everyone calm down! We do not want to panic in this situation!" Evan wasn't as scared as everyone he had seen demons before, and ones close to the empire by this margin too, he wasn't afraid and combined with his leadership skills he was completely fine although a little surprised...

"N-No! I'm leaving!" A male student shouted against Evan's orders and made his way to the door, "If you want to die! don't bring me with yo-" he was suddenly cut off by a loud crunching noise and everyone stood still looking at the horrible seen in front of them.

a clawed hand went through the boy's neck, the room was quiet for a long time before the claw pulled out of the student's neck and a demon walked in, this demon was a tall and lanky with shadowy skin and a wide smile that showcased white sharp teeth.

It was a shadeskin, Everyone began to scream and shout as they pulled out their weapons, some couldn't even stand straight as it was their first time seeing actual death in front of them...

Arron was especially affected by this as he touched his cheek and felt the warm blood of his classmate on his cheek.

An arrow was shot straight at the demon as broke it mid air.

Another was shot from another side of the room as Maria and Gormar stood arrows pointing at the demon, Gormar was a natural born fighter as he was a half elf he was a hunter since the beginning he inherited his familiarity with nature from his elf side and his strong mind from his human side, he was one of the first to act along with Maria, an odd girl she was, she utilized a bow just like Gormar and she was skilled with it, she rarely spoke to anyone she always kept to herself but no one can deny how good she was with her bow.

More arrows shot at the demon as it blocked and broke them mid air, a sudden beam of light shot towards the demon as it blocked it barely, Amana held her rapier in her hand as she stomped forward a scowl on her face, she was still salty about being kidnapped by those demons and she was going to take revenge.

That would have been the case if not for the four more shadeskins that appeared in the room from the shadows they grinned at the students and they started attacking.

A staff slammed into one of the shadeskins before a dagger stuck through it's throat killing it immediately, Regina smirked as she stood over her kill, black blood oozed from the demon as she jumped back.

"Kill them, they are demons, don't hesitate." She said as her smile widened, some students were creeped out by her tone but they knew she was right.

A fist slammed in the chest of one of the shadeskins sending it crashing into the wall cracking the mana reinforced wall from the impact.

An arrow was imbedded into the already downed shadeskin finishing it off, bringing the total of the shadeskins down to three.

The three remaining ones attacked immediately roaring loudly as they slashed and attacked several students who barely managed to fight back.

A pink gigantic blade materialized out of nowhere and slashed two shadeskins cutting on of them in half and severely wounding the other, but a beam of the same pink energy stabbed through it's brain killing it immediately, standing there was Evelyn as she eyed the last shadeskin who had several burn marks from Amanda's light magic before she eventually stabbed it through the neck and killed it with her rapier.

"Everyone we need to find a safer location than this classroom, their goal seems to be to just kill off as many students as possible..." Evan said as he gestured for them to move with a calm expression.

"...I-I..." one female student shook as tears streamed down her face, "I can't... They killed Barry..." She gestured at the corpse of the student on the floor, "Do you not feel anything?! Are you not scared?!" She yelled at the prince.

"Of course I'm scared and most of us here definitely are... But we must move it's the only choice we have unless we want to end up like Barry..." Evan said glancing at the corpse of his former classmate.

The students nodded one and started filing out of the classroom one by one...