After that fight between the Spirit inside me and Kayne, training was over for the day. I didn't see Komi or Juan for the rest of the evening, and Katia was still in the little box in my room. And just like that, the week came to an end.
...
"Come on, get up, Marvens!" said Juan, knocking on my door.
"Hurry up or we'll be late!" Komi added.
"Late? Late for what? It's not even 10 yet," I replied.
"Do you even know what day it is today?" Juan asked, sounding disappointed.
As soon as he said that, my brain kicked into gear and reminded me—it was Monday.
"Give me ten minutes!" I shouted.
I rushed to get ready as fast as I could, and then we all headed off to school.
"Hey, I was wondering—what did you guys do after Kayne knocked me out?" I asked.
"Not much. He just explained the prophecy to me in more detail," Juan replied.
"Ah, so now you understand that we'll need to push ourselves past our limits, right?" I said proudly.
"As if I wasn't already trying to surpass them," he replied arrogantly.
Komi laughed and added,
"Don't worry, Marvens. He didn't mean it in a bad way. You'll get used to Juan. You'll see—he's just a harmless little teddy bear." She giggled.
After what they'd said, I couldn't help but laugh too.
"I really hope that moment comes soon. But I hope it'll be the same with you, Komi."
Komi blushed a little and said,
"Uh, yeah, don't worry—it'll happen. Anyway, we're stuck together until we defeat Glucux."
"Yeah, no choice but to hang out with losers like you until we exorcise that damn Spirit!" Juan added arrogantly, flashing a toothy grin afterward.
"By the way, did you bring Katia with you?" Komi asked.
"Of course I did, but wouldn't it be funny if I pretended I forgot and then pulled her out during break?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," I said, my face uncertain.
"Don't tell me you forgot her!" Komi shouted.
"It's not my fault—you guys stressed me out this morning!" I replied, trying to defend myself.
"Don't blame us!" they both yelled at the same time.
We kept talking like that until we reached the school. Juan went to his class, and Komi and I headed to ours.
This time, for some reason I didn't understand, the whole class was looking at me—but not with disgusted faces. I sat in my seat next to Katia, and we chatted a bit before the teacher started class.
"Alright, let's begin. Please return to your seats and turn to page 137 in your notebooks," the teacher said.
The whole class obeyed.
Then a message crackled through the intercom.
"CODE BLACK, I REPEAT, CODE BLACK. AN ARMED INDIVIDUAL HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING. HE IS ACCOMPANIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—"
The intercom started making weird noises.
"Marvens, listen to me. I think it's a human accompanied by Spirits who just entered the school," Komi whispered in my ear.
The whole class started screaming, moving around, panicking. It was probably the same in the other classes.
"What do we do?" I whispered back.
"It's simple. I'll message Juan to leave his class and handle the Spirits on his floor. You and I will exorcise the ones on ours."
"Leave? That's way too dangerous!" I said.
"Do you want to go out and exorcise the Spirits, or wait around while people die because we didn't do our job?" she said seriously.
"But the cameras will see us fighting in the air during a Code Black—they might think we're with the intruder," I argued.
"No, they won't. When we use our powers or when a Spirit gets close to any electronic device, it stops working until everything returns to normal."
Honestly, I didn't want to go. I kept coming up with excuses because I was terrified of dying in this fight—especially since, technically, I'd never actually been on a mission where I had to fight a Spirit.
"No time to think. Activate your eyes and follow me."
Komi activated her electricity power and used a small dose to knock out the entire class from her desk. Little electric shocks spread out and hit all the students. They all passed out from the shock.
Komi got up and ran to the door, whispering,
"Come on, we're out of time. Activate your eyes and let's go!"
Despite the stress, I activated my eyes and followed Komi.
"Damn, Katia would've been really helpful right now," said Katia.
"Actually, I did bring her," I admitted.
"Alright, head that way. I'll go the other direction. Make sure you destroy all the Spirits with Katia. When you're done, meet me at the junction between the first and second floors," she said.
"You sure you'll be okay on your own?" I asked.
"Yes, don't worry—I'm ranked pretty high, remember? Alright, see you soon," she said, running off.
I'd totally forgotten that Komi was a Whisper-Blade, which meant she knew how to exorcise Spirits. I just hoped the Spirits wouldn't be too much for her.
I took a deep breath, grabbed the box, and said,
"Come on, wake up. It's important!"
The box trembled in my hands, and then she came out.
"What's going on?" she asked, yawning.
"Long story short, someone broke into the school, and according to Komi, they're accompanied by Spirits," I said, panicking.
"Alright, I get it. Where are Komi and Juan?" she asked.
"They went to exorcise Spirits—each on their own side."
"Well, let's go then. We don't really have a choice," she said, speeding off in the direction Komi assigned me.
We ran for about thirty seconds before encountering a Spirit. It seemed weak—there was no energy coming from it.
"Alright, I want you to fight this one with your power," Katia said.
"What? Why?" I asked, terrified.
"Just do what I say. No backtalk."
I was scared, but I trusted her. I knew if anything went wrong, she'd be there.
"Imagine you're fighting in a VR game or just a regular fighting game. You're good at those, right? Try to copy the attacks and combos," she told me.
I knew she was trying to help me succeed in exorcising my first Spirit.
"Alright!" I shouted, running toward it.
The Spirit looked like a giant green slime—gooey but solid, faceless, bodiless, moving in hops.
It charged at me, bouncing rapidly.
My stress levels shot up. I couldn't focus.
"Imagine it's the one that killed me!" Katia yelled.
I shut my eyes, breathed in, exhaled, and imagined Seth's sword—this time with a flaming blade. I charged at the Spirit, picturing the man who shot Katia, and sliced its body in two in a single blow.
A moment later, it melted away, and a black stone with green specks dropped.
"YES! NICE ONE!" Katia yelled.
"Keep it down—Komi didn't knock out the other classes!" I whispered.
"Okay, exorcist," she whispered back.
We exchanged a small smile.
"But it's not over yet. You need to destroy the stone to get rid of it completely."
"Is it solid?" I asked.
"Based on the Spirits I've fought to survive—yeah, this one should be easy. You can probably crush it with one hand."
I was surprised Spirits fought among themselves. I thought they didn't.
"Alright!" I said, giving a "Perfect" hand sign.
I picked up the stone. It was heavy, but thanks to the strength of the Spirit that shared my name, I lifted it like it was nothing. Then, I crushed it into a thousand pieces with one hand.
"Alright, let's keep going!" said Komi, speeding up.
We fought about ten Spirits like that until we ran into one with a human form. It gave off insane energy.
"Alright, Marvens, let me handle thi—"
Before she could finish, Katia was thrown into the wall to our right.
"Katia, are you okay?!" I shouted.
"I'm fine, but I can't fight anymore. You'll have to take this one alone."
"Already? We just got started," the Spirit said.
The fact that it could talk, understand, and think proved it was at least a class B.
It slammed me into the walls, ceiling, and floor. Maybe its power was raw strength.
I felt like I couldn't beat it, so I went with my only option—I had to pass out.
This time, the other Marvens appeared beside me, looking at my body lying there.
"From what I saw, I'm guessing you passed out on purpose so I'd save you?" he said.
"Yes, please—I need your help!"
"Hmmm, no."
"What? Why not?"
"For several reasons. But mainly because if you call on me every time you struggle, you'll never grow."
"I get it, but just this once—please!"
"I said no, weakling."
Hearing him say that both hurt and pissed me off.
"Oh, now you're crying? Doesn't surprise me, coming from a wimp like you. Don't forget—if your friend hadn't been there, you wouldn't have even beaten that pathetic slime!" he shouted, staring me down.
"You disappoint me. I can't believe someone as useless as you is supposed to continue the prophecy."
"You don't understand!" I screamed. "You can't possibly understand the effort I'm making to improve!"
"Oh, I understand. I see and hear everything you do. Honestly, I think Kayne should stop training a failure like you!"
I felt my aura activate. I looked him in the eyes and ran toward him.
"You don't understand, you who are so strong without doing anything!" I shouted, trying to punch him with a flaming fist I had just imagined.
He stopped it effortlessly.
"You're still weak. I can stop your flame punch without even trying."
"I'm sick of your arrogance and your insults."
For the first time, I managed to imagine two things at once—my right fist on fire and my left hand made of antimatter.
The Spirit realized he couldn't stop that and dodged.
"I think you're ready. From the marks appearing on your face, looks like I did it," he said with a big smile.
Then I woke up.
"He pisses me off with all that garbage he says," I muttered.
I got up—before that, I'd been lying on the floor.
"Now I've got a new toy I can play with forever," said the Spirit.
"If I were you, I wouldn't talk too soon."
I ran toward him at the same speed I had when I fought Kayne.
I punched him with my flaming right hand. He blocked it with both hands.
"That all you got, loser?"
"Of course not, you weakling."
I charged my punch with all my strength, turned it into antimatter, and struck at light speed.
A small explosion erupted. Only the area around us was affected—no classes or even Komi behind us were harmed.
Katia climbed out of the wall and shouted,
"Marvens, are you okay?!"
I guess the explosion caused a blast that kept her from seeing me.
I waited for the air to clear and said,
"Get up. We need to meet up with the others—fast."
I felt a massive energy coming from the junction. She got up and levitated beside me. We ran toward it.
When we got there, I saw Komi arriving and Juan coming down the stairs.
"So you're the four heroes of the millennium," said a masked figure.
"Who are you?!" Juan shouted.
"I am the one and only Glucux, King of the Spirits!" he cried.
A freezing wind swept through the hallway, lifting dust and making us stagger.
An invisible pressure crushed our chests—like the air itself rejected us.
In an instant, all our energy vanished, leaving us helpless before the figure standing there.
"Oh no, I went a little overboard," he said.
"So it's you," Komi muttered.
"Silence, wretch. I already introduced myself. Don't make me repeat it," he said, turning to Komi.
"Anyway, I'm surprised you managed to beat the Spirits I brought with me so fast. But don't worry—I'm not going to attack you. Not yet, at least. Honestly, right now I could kill all of you in a single blow."
"Tell me, Glucux, how come normal people can see you if you're not human?" I asked.
"That's a secret," he said, putting a finger to his lips.
"Well, I think we've talked enough. Until next time, losers," he said, walking toward the exit just a few steps away.
He opened the door, then started laughing louder and louder as he walked out.
I think his laugh still haunts me to this day...