Suffocating

“Everything feels…heavy, why does it feel like I am in an ocean? My body feels like its floating yet its grasping for air at the same time.” and as I opened my eyes, I was indeed in an ocean slowly descending towards the unknown.

 

I have soon reached the deepest part of it, I saw a figure fully wrapped in white cloth, his head was covered with a blank mask while being wrapped within the white cloth and was bound by chains, he wasn’t moving at all he was just there.

 

I was about to approach him but then I felt chills ran down my spine, it felt as if there was another being watching me, someone or something else is in here and as I slowly looked behind, I saw another me.

 

He was approaching me, and even though I was able to move while I was slowly descending here, now I cannot I am being frozen by my own fear, I am him and he is me yet he is exerting a much more sinister aura to the point that I can’t help but endure.

 

We finally meet eye to eye and to observation, his eyes are different.  His eyes look dead yet at the same time I can feel him seeing everything about me. He then slowly whispered “Do you know who that is? Do you know who I am? Realize the truth, only then will you be set free.”

 

I was pondering over to what he said, he then pierced my stomach, I looked at him and while I was slowly being weakened by the grave wound he gave me I still spoke, “H-how, y-you p-piece of s-, w-who a-are you?” as he removed his hand inside my pierced stomach, I collapsed down and just saw him leaving.

 

I finally woke up with cold sweat running down my whole body, I examined my stomach just to see if it was still intact and I know I shouldn’t be surprised but am I glad to see my stomach not having a hole in there.

I changed into a meditative position in my bed in order to relax system. The fear I felt in that dream is still present, “Who was he? Why did he do that? And who was that bound figure?” While mumbling those questions, I then proceeded with the meditation.

 

After feeling like some time has passed and my system finally calming down, I checked the time and to my surprise its 10am, I am way past my 1^st subject so I rushed towards the bathroom and gave myself a light bath, hurriedly dressed myself properly and grabbed my school stuff. I ran like hell towards my school, yes, I ran because it was near my apartment.

 

I finally arrived after running like hell and caught a lot of students looking at me since I was full of sweat and was panting a lot. First day of college and yet here I am, late well not just late but very late. I looked at my registration form in order to know where my next subject is going to be held, it was currently my 3^rd subject ‘World History’ and the room chosen for it was next to the Principal’s Office, I arrived almost late to the subject and they were almost done with the self-introduction.

 

The professor noted my near tardiness and asked me to introduce myself to the class so I did, “I am Ashen Clover, 20 years old and my magic is…” I wanted to skip this part but I can’t this world of ours has long been embraced by both magic and technology, yet I don’t have normal magic.

 

All I have are these eyes that can see and predict around 1.5 seconds into the future and the ability to copy abilities that my body can do. If it is beyond me then I can’t copy it or if I forced it, my eyes would bleed and a huge mental strain would then follow.

 

“My magic is eye magic.” Yet I still said it, I guess that whatever happened back then during my high school days would repeat in here, Id be ranked bottom and discriminated because of my magic.

 

“Eye magic? Does anyone here know what eye magic is?”

 

The Professor then asked this towards everyone, I could hear them mumble all around each other, I may have a trashy ability but my ears are as good as a wolf, I can hear them saying stuff like,

 “Eye magic? Just tell us that you basically have no magic, what can that even do?”

 

“Looks like we found our bottom ringer.”

 

 “Good thing that there is someone worse than me, I’m safe.”

 

Well, this doesn’t surprise me that much. When I was still a child, I was considered a prodigy since it was an unknown magic and unknown magic means almost no known counters for it, but as time went on my magic didn’t really develop that much. I was left behind by all my classmates; all of their abilities grew while mine stagnated.

 

“Okay class that’s it for today’s self-introduction, Mr. Clover take a seat and we will start our first lecture.” Professor then pointed a chair in the middle row, I saw an empty chair near the wall at the opposite end of the chair by the window and sat on it, our professor then proceeded with his lecture. It’s the first day yet here we are, having a lecture.

 

“Okay class, Good morning and before we start with the lecture I will have to announce something first. Since our school Magitech is best known as the school that produces geniuses every graduation, may it be in battle or by wits. They have announced that you 3^rd years will be allowed to enter the Librarium Sanctum in order to enhance all of your abilities. As you all know the Sanctum is known for containing every bit of magic known to humankind. We will be visiting this tomorrow so please try not to be late hmm?”

 

As the Professor was about to end his announcement, he stared at me since I was already fashionably late. He then proceeded with the lecture, our lesson was ‘The turning point’ It was a retelling of how humankind has survived the betrayal of the dragons with the Gods help.

 

This has been discussed all my life and I can almost memorize it like how Koen that time’s dragon king and was dubbed as Hell Incarnate decimated nearly half of humankind and his royal guard, Laveria famously known for the nickname Valkyric Warrior and she was said to be of beauty as well, since dragons have the innate ability to turn themselves into humans whenever they wanted.

 

Which would then mean that it was easy for them to get into our ranks and just decimate us with a surprise attack. As the professor was discussing our lesson, I could somehow see him getting enveloped by disgust, I could feel him, since at one point the dragons did so much to help us developed yet they thought that they could rule over us?

 

At one point the Professor stopped and pointed at me, he asked me to stand up and answer his question. “Ashen did you know that there was one dragon reported to be missing during the whole war? Can you tell me his name?”

 

While thinking over it I did remember reading something about it online, it was a post made by the historians, they said that if this dragon was present during the war then our losses would have been greater and the battle would have turned towards their favor, if I remember correctly his name was related to the color white. “Ah sir if I remember correctly was it, Weiss?” I answered his question with a pseudo confidence.

 

“Correct Mr. Ashen, though you may not have a remarkable magic since it is unknown to me and even to your classmates, perhaps your magic will be known once we visit the Sanctum tomorrow.” I sat down and while I was looking back at him, I saw the Professor smiling for a bit.

 

An hour has passed and finally our 1^st subject was over, next up on the form was…right my most hated subject ‘Mock Battle’ I guess I have no choice but to attend it since I need to catch up with my grades, I have no problem academically but when it comes to physical things such as fighting, and casting, I have no use.

I entered the classroom and was greeted with scornful eyes, I guess it has spread that fast huh, about me, having an unknown magic.  I changed schools in order to at least get a fresh start but it seems to have no effect at all.

 

I was about to sit down at the corner of the class, when I saw one of my male classmates staring at me, he looked at me as if he was filled with curiosity instead of any malicious intent towards me like my other classmates.

 

Our Professor soon entered the classroom and introduced himself “I am Professor Lavenza and I will be overseeing this subject Mock Battle, please note that during battles anything is allowed for a real fight, anything can happen. I will only stop the fight once either of you has been incapacitated. Did you all get that?”

 

 “Yes ma’am.” We all shouted this same response.

 

Professor Lavenza then soon brought out this large box which is commonly used for drawing names it looks like she has space magic. Seeing that she brought that large box out of nowhere, and as I suspected Professor Lavenza then asked us to write our names in a small paper.

 

I then proceeded with writing my name on a small paper and passed. While passing my name I somehow got this bad feeling that something big is about to happen, it was as if my whole body knows that I am about to get my kicked.

 

As soon as everyone was finished passing their names, Professor Lavenza started to shake the box in order for the names to get randomized, she then used her space magic to create a small hole where a hand can fit in order to get a name inside the box.

 

She gets her hand out and says the name out loud “ASHEN CLOVER.”  I was surprised by this, it seems that I will be fighting first I just hope that whoever I’m fighting is someone I can deal with since I can’t really trust my own magic.

 

Professor Lavenza then drew out another name and shouted it out loud “SUMIRE TAKEMICHI.” as soon as I heard the name, I whispered to myself. “Just my luck; Why am I fighting the number 1 student among the 3^rd years? She even has that entire tech she can use…Can I even win?”

 

After the drawing of names, Professor Lavenza used her Space magic in order to transport all of us in an area where we can fight to our hearts content. “Students, Ashen and Sumire please prepare accordingly and Ashen I heard that you have no personal weapon so I am lending this sword to you.” She tossed me a sword that is just the right weight and length.

 

Professor Lavenza then asked Sumire “I take it that you already have your personal weapon with you?” Sumire then nodded with full confidence as she is bringing out her weapon, a beautifully crafted Katana that has a length of about 60-65cm and a pair of Mag-Sleeves, which basically amplifies the users arm strength and magic.

 

“Are you two ready?” Asked Professor Lavenza,

 

“Yes ma’am.” We both answered.

 

 “3”

 

“2”

 

“1”

 

 “BEGIN”

 

Sumire then began with a forward leap towards me and so I activated my Eye magic, everything then began to move slowly and since I have only 1.5 seconds I decided to move to the left side and swing my sword at her back since she is almost near me and is holding her Katana up leaving her wide open.

 

However, while I was moving towards the left side, I saw her eyes following me. I guess there really is no tricking the number 1 3^rd year student. As I was about to swing my sword at her back she immediately activated her magic which was Teleport magic, a cousin of Space magic and retreated from her current position.

“I guess it was true that your Eye magic is only able to predict 1 second into the future and that you are only able to comprehend simple attacks” Said by Sumire, it seems that she was testing out my magic. Well, anyone would be curious at first since it is after all an unknown magic.
 

“However, you seem to have trained a lot, you are a bit different from every person I have battled with. You have a calm heart and is able to judge things accurately.” Of course, I had to train hard. My magic isn’t useful and I had to somehow pass things in Magitech in order to graduate and fulfill my promise.

 

“Now enough with the chitchat and fight me seriously, Ashen Clover.” As she finished saying that she taunted me with a small “Come at me with everything you have” gesture. In order to not come off as a rude individual, I then responded with “Alright I guess I have no choice, in order to pass and graduate I will fight you with everything I have.”

We have finished with the ‘testing out the water’ phase, I then proceeded to change my stance, and since I had no personal teacher or mentor, I only had games to rely on. I switched to the Witcher style, it was perfect for defense and counters seeing that she is the offense type, I needed a style that would counter her the moment she tries to land an attack.

 

She then proceeded to use her teleport magic to make her moves be unreadable. However, I have memorized her teleport magic’s sound, all magic have distinct sounds and so the moment she reappears is the time I can strike since she is vulnerable during that time.

 

I closed my eyes and relied on my hearing, after a few seconds I then heard her Teleport sound and immediately opened my eyes, swung my sword at there and to her surprise she didn’t expect me to be there. I saw her panic a bit then recomposed herself. “It seems that my eyes didn’t deceive me, you are an interesting fellow.” After saying that she then amplified her magic.

 

I didn’t know what kind of amplification she did but all I can do is prepare myself once more and it seems that she is going to repeat that strategy again so I have to rely on my hearing sense once more. I heard the sound again and swung my blade but she wasn’t there so I activated my eye magic again and it seems that she was able to fool my ears.

 

She was right behind me and so I swung my sword a complete 360 but she wasn’t there again, it was as if I was chasing her afterimages. It took me a while to get it but it seems that she amplified her teleport usage allowing her to use it almost immediately after casting. So I changed my stance in order to match her speed.

 

Souls style, another stance I mimicked from a favorite game of mine this one has a faster counter style than the witcher style which only counters when the opponent attack is in the beginning motion, Souls style counters once the attack is about to reach me, a dangerous stunt but is needed in order to defeat the Sumire or at least have a chance.

 

I put myself in a defenseless position in order to maximize the Souls style’s potential, everyone in my class and even Professor Lavenza was baffled for my fighting style. After a few second, I heard another teleport sound but I didn’t react in order to lull her into a false sense of victory.

 

I felt her immense pressure as I sense the blade about to reach my shoulder, I turned around immediately and parried her attack and punched her in the stomach. Dirty I know, but I wanted to at least have a chance. It then made her pissed since it was a dirty tactic and to my surprise she let out her 2^nd magic. I mumbled to myself, “Really? A second magic and it’s an offense type at that! Man, the Gods must really hate me.”

 

“What kind of fighting style is that Ashen? And here I thought you were an honorable fighter. No matter, I will teach you right here and now what it means to fight the number 1 fighter of our school.” I saw a burst of lightning enveloping her as if it was a cloak, “How cool.” I whispered to myself as I have made peace with my defeat.

 

 

I then prepared myself like usual even though it was not going to be enough and as I was about to change back to the witcher style, I was grabbed and thrown into the distance, it hurts like hell and I could feel my bones cracking and my blood slowly flowing out, I even started coughing blood. “D-damn it, is t-this h-how i-it ends?”

 

 

*Sumire’s POV*

 

“That dirty bastard how dare he use that kind of street fighting style with me? Anyways, it seems that I went overboard I better go check up on him.” As I was about to go to the place where I tossed him, I suddenly got chills running down my spine. I shouted “ASHEN, ASHEN ARE YOU THERE?” it was too cloudy to see anything.

 

As the cloud of dust is slowly beginning to clear up I could see Ashen up and standing, it looks like he’s okay? I think? “HEY ASHEN COME ON!” I kept on shouting but it seems like he isn’t responding. Did I overdo it? As I was about to get near him my body froze in fear.

 

I could faintly hear the words coming out of his mouth “Rakshasa’s Path” as soon as I heard those words, the clouds of dust disappeared and I could see that his wounds have healed and that there were strange markings on his face and his messy hair has turned into a mix of black and white colors.

 

“He-hey Ashen calm down, it was just a mock battle come on…” I told him this for fear has overwhelmed me, I could no longer think properly.  He looks like Ashen but at the same time his magic isn’t recognizable, I thought that he only had eye magic? Yet why…why is a demonic aura oozing out of him?

 

 

 

*Professor Lavenza’s POV*

 

“What is this feeling I’m getting? It’s as if a God has decided to come here but with a much more sinister feeling? Wait, is that Ashen?” As soon as I felt the same magic I was feeling a while ago pointing towards Ashen, I rushed over to their fight and while I was heading over there, I couldn’t help but feel the fear getting stronger while I was getting near there.

 

“Sumire, what’s happening? Why is Ashen like this?” I asked Sumire but it seems that she cannot properly compose herself anymore, there was still a bit of distance towards the two of them yet he is able to overpower her with fear alone. “ASHEN WAKE UP, HEY ASHEN!” I kept on calling his name out but it seems that he is no longer in his proper senses.

 

“I’m sorry Ashen, but you leave me with no choice.” I decided to get near him and knock him down but it seems that it won’t be that easy, he is still on guard and I may have no choice but to face him seriously.

 

As soon as I was about to attack him, he stared at me blankly then whispered “Even you are no match towards me.” as soon as he said those words he let out a powerful blast from his body which hurled both me and Sumire away from him.

 

He then got into a proper fighting stance and I could tell that one mistake could lead to my death. I decided to fully bring out all of my available magic, Space, Light and Dark magic. I first transported Sumire and everyone out of the battle arena since they are a liability and they might get unnecessarily hurt during this fight as well.

 

After transporting everyone out of here, I locked him down first with space magic but he easily broke out of it by slashing literal space itself, I was left with no choice but to combine light and dark magic in order to fully incapacitate him.

 

I casted one bright light in order to blind him and dove into the shadows in order to strike from behind and right as I was about to strike him, he grabbed my hand and threw me overhead. It was one simple throw yet it was enough to make me cough out blood, it seems that everything about him has been amplified even his Eye magic.

 

It seems that this is going to be hard, remembering that his eye magic has the ability to tell the future; it seems that I need some backup with this. I grabbed my phone and contacted the faculty office in order to ask for some help with this but it seems that no one is answering.

 

I guess that this is all on me now and right as I was about to attack him, I saw one Professor enter my arena without my permission. “Who are you? Identify yourself.” I asked the Professor his name, “Oh I’m Professor Wit, I saw your missed call in the office and also felt this strange aura back at Magitech so I decided to follow it, to my surprise it’s all coming from him huh?” He answered meticulously.

 

“Yeah I need some help with this; he has the ability to see the future so beware. Oh and I’ll be asking you questions later as to how you managed to get in here.” I told him this since it was suspicious as to how he was able to get in here easily. “Sure, no problem here.” He answered with confidence.

 

While I was about to attack he then told me to focus on the offense while he will focus on support magic to which I agreed. He then proceeded with casting on Metal magic and turned it into chains in order to suppress him and then followed it up with Ice magic to fully contain him he then shouted with,

 

“I’VE WEAKENED HIM UP USE YOUR STRONGEST OFFENSE MAGIC OR ELSE IT WON’T WORK HURRY I CAN’T CONTAIN HIM FOR MUCH LONGER!!”

 

To which I obviously complied, he damaged me to the point where I ended up coughing blood letting it drag on any longer will be dangerous so I used up my strongest offense magic, ‘TWILIGHT MAGIC’, ‘STRIKE OF THE TWILI’ Twilight magic is the combination of my Light and Dark magic and it is my strongest so this should have at least knocked him out if not dead.

 

“Good job Professor Lavenza as expected of Magitech’s Genius of the 18^th generation.” said by Professor Wit as he was praising me. “Shut it Wit, anyways you were even impressive where did you learn to manipulate your magic like that?” I asked him curiously since turning making chains out of metal magic and imbuing them with magic power is something I haven’t seen before.

“Oh that, I learned that back when I was still training with the mages from Netherlands, they told me how you can apply magic even further towards your own creation and make it even stronger.” Said Professor Wit.

 

“Really Netherlands? What made you think about working here in the Philippines? Wait no answer me that later, I’ll carry Ashen first to the school Clinic.” I hurriedly ran towards Ashen and to my surprise, his body has already healed but he was knocked out cold. We got out of my space magic and ran towards the Clinic as fast as I can.