"Well, I thought I passed out, but my mana went berserk and Dad had to seal my power". I say as I finish my story.
"Amazing". Lucille said as she sat back in her chair looking stunned.
"Why was this version of the story never told"? She asked.
"Well, the heads of the houses know the real story". Zee said.
"But we decided against telling the public as a way to protect Malcom and his family, we didn't want any kidnapping attempts on an eight-year-old so we kept this story highly confidential".
"Makes sense" Lucille nodded.
"That power. What was it"? Principal Vaughn asked.
"From the way you described it, it was a special power among the demons, and I've never even heard of an Oni being able to transform".
He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a half-drunk bottle of liquor, he sighed heavily as he poured himself a drink.
"We know that the seven deadly sins all can transform once they release their true power putting them in a league of their own, and a few species of low-class demons, but knowing that there are also high-class demons that are capable of it as well is a little disturbing".
"If it makes you feel any better I don't think it was an ability he inherently possessed."
Lucille said as she watched the hole in the wall slowly repair itself.
"Why do you say that"?
"I have all the data available on the "otherworldly invaders", and not just information available to anyone but also classified shit that people died for to confirm".
"Such as"?
"The transformation for demons and angels work in two ways that we know of so far, the first one involves them purposefully limiting the amount of power that they use to conserve magical power".
"So when they "transform" they're simply reverting to their original form"? I ask.
"Exactly." She answers.
"From what we know this is triggered either after they raise their power to a certain limit or if they fulfill specific conditions, it's annoying to deal with because we don't yet know which of these are the case as there haven't been many instances of them using their released forms since this war started".
" Do we have photos of what they look like at least?" I ask raising my hand
"No, we don't know how, but everything within the immediate vicinity was instantly vaporized as far as we know".
"What about the second one"? Zee asks, also raising her hand.
"You realize you don't have to raise your hands right"? Asked Lucille, looking between the both of us like we were children.
"The second "transformation," she continued."
"Would be the ones the mana beasts use though it's more like an evolution than a transformation".
"How so"? I chime in.
"Well to succeed in pulling off this evolution, a low-class mana beast would have to continuously accumulate mana as a prerequisite, this could come from them eating other creatures either their level of strength or higher or it could happen if one lives in a mana rich zone,"
"Once one gets enough though they immediately undergo a high-speed evolution, permanently altering their form and power to a higher level, causing low-class beings to transform into mid-class or higher depending on the amount of mana gathered or external forces".
"So what was so different about Razan's transformation". Principal Vaughn asks.
"He was already a mid-tier high-class demon, at most he could only raise his strength to high-tier high class, and in doing so the only physical transformation that should've taken place was him growing an additional horn".
"When demons increase their power the number of horns they have increases and when angels increase their power the number of eyes they possess grows in number". Principal Vaughn says.
"Correct," Lucille said
"High-tier demons and angels have a more difficult time achieving this feat as the power needed to move up even a single level is near incalculable."
"So, from the way it's described, Razan's transformation in itself is proof of there being a power entirely separate from his magic, as when Malcolm and Kevin absorbed his energy he reverted to his normal form."
"Also the fact that he "reverted" back means it was to have been a temporary change."
"It couldn't have been or his body would've stayed the same."
Lucille was now standing, pacing around the room as she spoke out loud sounding more like a conversation she was having with herself than one she was having with a group of people.
"Have you been able to use that power since then"?
She abruptly stopped pacing and turns to me eyebrow raised.
"Weirdly enough, no. I've tried summoning that power again for a few years after but I can't even feel its existence anymore, I have no idea what happened." I answer.
"There's still too much we don't know". Principal Vaughn sighed, pouring himself another drink.
"Between being driven to extinction, and the emergence of magic, humanity just doesn't have the manpower needed to investigate our enemies, we have a few dedicated scientists who are studying the biology of these creatures but unfortunately every discovery leads to millions of new questions".
He emptied his cup and glanced over at the bottle once more before shaking his head and putting it back in the desk drawer.
"Another bit of unfortunate news is the direction of the scientific study has only been focused on how to most effectively kill them using technology and magic, a few scientists and military specialists here and there have proposed trying to communicate and learn from a few of the more humanoid species but due to the nature of the current situation many believe there's no way we can coexist peacefully with them".
He pulled a vape from his pocket and took a few puffs as he contemplated something.
"Honestly I'm looking forward to your match against the Sacred Four even more now". He said as he exhaled the vape cloud.
"You're fighting against the sacred four"? Zee asks confused.
"Why"?
"I'm tired of this Zee," I tell her.
"I always knew how bad the war was, and I thought that by the time I was ready to fight in it, I'd be doing it side by side with my brothers and parents."
Zee's eyes welled with tears as she grabbed my hand.
"But Michael and his band of rancid dickheads took that from me,"
My voice breaks ever so slightly as I say this, a bit of emotion seeping through the cracks.
"I know I'm not the first or only person who's lost someone in this fucking mess, and this may just be me acting like childish little bitch, but I won't be able to live my life as long as they're all alive."
I feel tears well in my eyes and my anger slowly rising as I speak.
" I will NEVER be able to eat, sleep, or even shit comfortably if I know that they're doing the same, so I'm going to kill them all, and if they're good enough the sacred four are going to help me".
"ARE YOU CRAZY"!! Zee yelled at me, slapping me in the back of my head.
"Fucking shit" I complain.
"I DON'T WANNA FUCKING HEAR IT. CAN YOU EVEN FATHOM HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED TRYING TO GO AFTER THEM"?!
"It doesn't matter," I respond.
"I'm not changing my mind and you can't stop me, that means you can either get out of my way or you can help me".
"OH IT DOESN'T MATTER, REALLY? YOU THINK YOUR PARENTS WOULD WANT THIS? YOUR SIBLINGS?" Zee shouted.
She was standing now and though she was screaming the tears in her eyes betrayed her showing her true emotions.
She stopped and closed her eyes taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down
"I- I know what you're going through," she says as tears fell down her face.
" You watched as your entire family was killed, your mother who was like a sister to me, you're father, though we had our differences, was a great man, and your brothers who I loved like my own children."
"The same thing happened to me when I was a kid, and for the longest time I was in a dark place,"
The tears streamed down both our faces as she struggled to keep her voice even.
"B-but you're all that's left from them, please Malcom, I-I don't want to see you die as well I don't want you to lose yourself like I did to revenge.
"I'm sorry Zee, but you know how I am, they've been slaughtering us for over 200 years now and I'm done running and hiding."
Principal Vaughn handed out some napkins so we could wipe our eyes, and we gave her a minute so she could regain her composure.
"How are you planning to accomplish that feat though". She asks skeptically
"After I've recruited the sacred four, we're going to find the remains of city 8,"
"Why"?
"I need to see if my parents left any notes or clues to what the next stage of my training is supposed to be before they….. they died, my dad was telling me that it was time to take things to the next level."
"Do you know what he meant by that"? Lucille asks.
"He never got the chance to tell me, same with Mom I know she also had something planned but I have no idea what it was, I need to go back there."
"Are you sure you're ready for that"? Zee grabs my hand and looks me in the eyes.
"I have no choice but to be,"
"Then prove it," she said, standing up and walking to the door.
"What"? I asked in confusion as Lucille, Principal Vaughn, and I followed her out of the office.
"I understand that you've healed and feel that you're ready to fight now but you need to prove to me that you have what it takes to face to do so, if you can't even put up a fight against me how could you ever hope to face them".
"If it'll make you happy fine."
She stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face me, she looked angry but underneath it, I could see the sadness in her face.
"I am the commander of the human alliance army," she said through gritted teeth,
"I could very easily make it so you never even smell the frontlines of the war, and so can many other high ranking officials of the foundation, you need to prove that you have the ability or potential higher than that of any other person in human history for you to achieve your goals,"
She turned around and kept walking down the hall.
"You're gonna have to be ready to face the entirety of the foundation every step you take, if not you're just a grunt with big dreams waiting to die a meaningless death."
As she moved through the hall two people clad from head to toe in high-tech armor appeared behind her moving in unison as they walked through the halls.