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Chapter III: The Marked One

  On the eerie streets of Occasio district: a boy fends for himself by stealing from shops, and living off scraps.

  With no home to go to, and no parents to look after him; Xavier had to make the most with what little he had.

  He had to be crafty, because he had little to no mana reserves, and he had to train hard, in order to keep up the pace with those that did and Xavier envied them so; he always dreamt of a life that allowed him to move so gracefully and effortlessly with mana.

  Xavier saw the amazing feats that Sorcerers could pull off using mana: casting storms, summoning beats, overcoming illnesses and fatal wounds, all at just the lift of a finger, but the more he admired and envied sorcerers; the more he realized how far-fetched of a dream he had.

  Xavier, was all alone; at times that reality got to him, and would often break into tears.

  When he realized that no one actually cared for his wellbeing, Xavier worked harder and would often go into town in order to look at the statue of the sorcerer supreme; dreaming that maybe one day, if he showed his worth, then he too would be showered with love and praise. Xavier just had to find a way to work around his mana problem.

  One day, Xavier overheard a conversation between two locals; they talked about a man in a black cloak with silver hair, that often moved around from town to town carrying charms with him.

  They suspected the man of being a sorcerer because of the charms he carried, and even spoke of how such charms aided in their mana reserves; words that Xavier himself, never knew he had been longing to hear.

  His sights were set, and his goals were clear, but it was not going to be such an easy task; from what Xavier heard, the sorcerer was unknown, mysterious, and potentially dangerous. Unknown, even amongst the top one hundred sorcerers global; he had no records, he left no traces, he made, no, sound, he was the epitome, of a walking ghost; knowing this, the locals often avoided him, so as not to cause any trouble.

  One day: a man went into a tavern fitting the exact same description as the man described by the locals, and he carried with him, various precious charms.

  After identifying his target, Xavier knew he had to make his move, and make it quick; seeing as this could be the only chance he'd ever get, but he had to be subtle, and cautious about it.

  Xavier slowly made his move, but unfortunately for him; the man was quite clever, and skilled.

  The man quickly caught wind of him, and grabbed Xavier by the hand, flipping him over and sending him crashing on the floor.

  Without a second thought, the man grabbed a knife from his utility belt, and hurled it towards Xavier's head.

  In that moment, Xavier awakened a power within him that he never knew existed; his right eye changed appearance, and he saw the knife heading towards him, almost motionless.

  "Wait, was this man really going to kill me?" Xavier thought to himself.

  Xavier moved out of the way as quickly as he could in order to avoid the knife, and it struck the wooden floorboards instead.

  The man shrugged it off, grunted, and proceeded to get himself a drink, "Can't an old man quietly have a drink after a long day? Fucking thing doesn't even exist," the man muttered to himself.

  "Hey! You can't just throw a knife at me like that and then carry on like it was just another day, you nearly killed me!" Xavier exclaimed.

  "Listen kid," irritated, the man turned to Xavier, and his expression took an immediate change after noticing his right eye. "Well! Would you look at that! right under my fucking nose!" the man exclaimed and rejoiced.

  "Fuck are you on about old man? You're not making any sense," said Xavier.

  "Tell you what? How about, I pay for your next meal as compensation. All on me, and I'll even forget that you tried to steal my charms earlier," the man said.

  "Me? Steal? I don't know what you're talking about," Xavier replied.

  "Ah, quit messing with me kid, get over here. Why don't we have a little chat," the man joyfully said, as he patted a chair next to him.

  "The names Gasper kid, what's yours?" Gasper asked, as Xavier took to the chair next to him.

  "Xavier," Xavier replied.

  "You're quite the hungry fellow now, aren't you?" Gasper said, as he watched Xavier feast away on the snack bowl close by.

  "Well, yeah. I am broke after all, I don't even have a house. That's why I was going to steal from you; have to live off something, you know?" Xavier replied, still stuffing himself full with snacks.

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  "What about your parents kid, where are they?" Gasper asked.

  Xavier stopped eating, "Well, I don't really know. Never met them before. There was this one lady though? But we had to part ways, and she, never really told me why," Xavier replied, and continued to eat.

  "I see, you're in quite the situation. How about, you come along with me, and I can teach you a few things about sorcery, what do you say?"

  "Are you kidding? I'd love to learn sorcery. Only problem is, I have almost no mana at all. So, you're going to have a hard time."

  "Low reserves? is that why you tried to steal my charms?" Gasper asked.

  "Pretty much yeah," Xavier replied.

  Gasper chuckled, "Nah, don't listen to the Locals kid; they don't know what they're talking about. These charms serve a different purpose, and, seeing as you're here now, I'm guessing they worked," said Gasper.

  "The eye must be eating away at most of his mana reserves, which means; he must've been from one of the clans that got massacred a few years back," Gasper thought to himself.

  "But don't worry about that kid," Gasper gave Xavier a playful jab on the shoulder.

  "Sorcery isn't about how much mana you have, but how well you can utilize it. Leave all that mana bullshit for the Euthenians to argue about; for now, you will be just fine."

  "Ugh, the Euthenians," Xavier rolled his eyes, "Don't get me started," and the two shared a laugh.

  In a secluded location, somewhere in a forest; Steppenwolf stands behind his throne, gazing upon the finest suit of armour, he spent years trying to perfect.

  The moonlight that shone through the skylight, brought out the suit's extraordinary features, amidst the backdrop of beautifully stained glass.

  A silver suit of armour: made purely out of the strongest, deadliest, mythical metal ever known to man, Beelzelite. Named after one of the seven princes of hell himself, Beelzebub.

  It took after his name because of its unique ability to absorb any, and all forms of energy from its surrounding environment.

  With an infinite charge to weight ratio; makes it the perfect material to use against a sorcerer with powerful magic attacks, and high mana reserves.

  Footsteps echo as a sorcerer walks into the room, disturbing Steppenwolf's thought processes.

  The room was still significantly dark despite the moonlight and the only visible thing was the sorcerer's silhouette, as they took to one knee. "My liege: the next sorcery semester is underway, what are your orders," he asks.

  "Your orders remain the same: you are to infiltrate the schools, and retrieve the one in possession, of the other, truth-seeking eye. Do you understand me?" Steppenwolf replied, as he continued to gaze at his armour.

  "My liege: we've been in and out of school's multiple times, and yet we still yield no results, it's a waste of time," The sorcerer argues.

  "Patience, young one. I know very well there was a survivor that night. The boy is still out there, somewhere, and it's only a matter of time before he shows himself." Steppenwolf spoke in soft soothing tones.

  "As for the others: send word, it's about time they looked for the twin cyclops. Gus needs to fix their eyes onto the suit."

  "Why can't I go with them? We're literally the same age and yet you give them the more important tasks."

  Steppenwolf slowly turned around, "You think that the search for the eye isn't important? It's the most crucial part! Never address me with that kind of attitude again!" Steppenwolf replied, with tones of slight agitation.

  "Oh, and before I forget. Tell Riley it's about time for his training session," Steppenwolf said turning around, dismissing the sorcerer.

  The next morning, Gasper took Xavier to a sorcery school: the two walked through the front entrance, heading into the school courtyard, and it appeared as though there was some sort of commotion going on, evident by the large crowds gathering.

  Two tall buildings located on opposite sides of the courtyard were damaged, and had gaping holes in them.

  "I don't have time for your games Dave!" a pale eyed sorceress exclaimed from the broken building to the right.

  "Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Dave exclaimed, emerging from the broken building to the left, shirtless, and landed into the other one.

  The building collapsed, and the two were seen fighting in the school halls.

  The female sorcerer was quite a good combatant: with a few quick, and elusive maneuvers, she was able to get a hold of Dave's arm; twisting it, she delivered two kicks; one to his abdomen, and another to his face, throwing him back into the school courtyard.

  Dave slowly got up, preparing to use magic, and so did pale eyed sorceress in retaliation, but before the fight could escalate, the school principal intervened.

  "Can you two please stop for one goddamn minute!" She exclaimed, capturing the attention of everyone present, as she had a sharp, commanding voice, and wore round glasses that were hard to miss.

  "Alright! nothing to see here! get back to your classes!" she ordered everyone present in the courtyard, and as everyone slowly began to leave; the crowds paved way for two, very enthusiastic sorcerers, who stuck out like a sore thumb, smiling and chuckling, much to the principal's non amusement.

  "Well, well, well if it isn't Jena!" Gasper exclaimed, but Jena wasn't so happy to see him.

  "You! You know, you're the reason why my job is ten times harder than it already is!" Jena exclaimed, with an air of frustration.

  "What could I have possibly done?" Gasper asked.

  "You're the one who's always bringing in these, crazy students!" Jena replied.

  "Who, Dave? He might be a loose cannon, but isn't he your top student?"

  "Second best: Annie has him beat in a few categories, and one of them is certainly keeping a shirt on," Jena replied.

  Jena then noticed Xavier, and turned in order to take a good look at him, "And who's this? Another one of your, maniac pupils?"

  "Pupil? Yes, maniac? Well, I'm yet to find out" Gasper replied.

  "What do you mean? Find out? When did you two even meet?" Jena asked, and the two replied simultaneously.

  "Yesterday!"

  "Ugh, idiots," Jena said, with slight agitation, and showed the two to her office in order to fill out Xavier's application.

  After they were done filling out the application, Gasper asked when Xavier could start.

  "Seeing as you two most likely have nothing else to do, he can start today," Jena said, carrying a fake smile.

  "I can show him his homeroom class, but first I'll have to hand him the school cloaks. Clan cloaks are not allowed for just any to wear."

  "Alright kid, this is it. Now I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am still going to train you personally. You're just here for formalities sake, competition, and so they can teach you the basics. So, always remember; the greatest sorcerer to have ever lived, never went to school," Gasper said, as he bent over slightly in order to address Xavier.

  "I wouldn't listen to him if I were you," Jena added.

  "Please Jena, you're just bitter because I'm the better sorcerer here."

  "Don't worry gramps, I got this!" said Xavier.

  "That's the spirit!" Gasper smiled, placing his hands on Xavier's shoulders.

  "Anyways, we're wasting time here, let's get you that uniform and get you to class now, shall we?" said Jena.

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