The doorbell rang just as he sat down for breakfast. He glared down at his toast, eggs, and bacon daring them to go cold before he came back. For a second, he thought about using an application of black flare to keep his breakfast warm before discounting the idea. He'd burn down the house, then he'd be in debt and homeless. The doorbell rang again forcing him to shovel his food in instead of abandoning it to the cold.
"Keep your panties on I'm coming." Nero shouted between bites of eggs before opening the door.
He blinked once then twice at the lady on the other end of the door. She was a dirty blonde with pale silver eyes and a necklace of corks around her neck. 'Got Crumple-Horned Snorkaks,' was plastered on her black t-shirt in white with a large question mark. The woman wore a large grey hat and dressed in cowboy boots and booty shorts.
Nero closed his door sighed and prepared himself then opened it again. This time the woman blinked at him. He noticed a stick poking out from her hat situated behind her ear like a pencil. By the occasional bursts of mana from it he deduced it was a magical focus.
"I'm Nero, are from the Jefferson College of Wizardry?" Nero asked.
"Luna Lovegood and no, I'm from England." The woman said. "Jefferson only pays me the most to search for Crumple-Horned Snorkaks." Nero leaned against the door blocking her entry. Luna released a sigh. "I'm a zoologist, I teach magical habitat conservation studies at Jefferson. I'm sorry you need this more than me." She took off her cork necklace and placed it around his head.
"Why?"
"You're full of wrackspurts, the worst case I've ever seen. Let's go I need to take you to Dean Hopkins, or he'll let the nargles cut my funding." She pulled on him and he didn't move an inch.
"What does Nurgal have to do with your funding? Is wrackspurts a magic sickness?" Nero asked.
"No a nomage can have it too." Luna said.
"Why should I go to Jefferson?" Nero asked.
"You don't have to. Ilvermorny has a better curriculum if you like rails and nargles." That was the second time he heard that word and it sounded less like a god's name. He thought it would be funny if a bit of slang became a god by accident.
"Is a nargle anything you don't like or anything that wants to take something away from you?" Nero asked.
"Yes," Luna said. Nero nodded and let the witch go on. "You could try going to Hogwarts in England. You have plenty of magic, but they are more rails and nargles than Ilvermorny. Jefferson may have nargles but rails aren't an issue. Hopkins is good about keeping the nargles away if you get results." Luna said and stuffed some chewing gum in her mouth.
He noticed she said Hopkins and not Jefferson itself.
"So, lots of funding and freedom in exchange for profit for the school." Nero said. Luna blew a bubble and popped it. The sound was louder than a gunshot and echoed for miles. She let the gum fall out of her hand and showed off the pink blob.
"This is grumpy wumpy dog call. They are attracted to the sounds of gunshots." I was paid 100,000usd to invent it. Grumpy wumpys disappear after battles are over and the bullets flying made it difficult study them. Nero turned his head to the side to see a hellhound.
Blazing flames lit up its eyes and it stood easily eight feet tall from paws to top of its ears. Upon seeing Luna, a look of utter heart break took over the hound. Its ears flattened before it began to whimper.
"Why would they pay you 100,000usd just to make a hellhound call. It looks ready bolt already. If you aren't studying it in its natural habitat isn't the gum a waste. It would have made more sense to make a blinder that could protect you in a war zone." Nero muttered.
"Yea many of my colleagues pointed out the same thing. You need another necklace." She conjured a cork necklace with a wave of her wand. "It's easier to make an attractant than to create a mobile ward scheme that not only hides the user but also deflects high caliber rounds and high heat explosives. Then there are the land mines. Jefferson wants results not money pits." Luna pointed out.
"Well do you want to take a look at Jefferson?" Luna asked. Nero turned his eyes to the hellhound. It began to sniff the air. Nero let out a sigh before approaching the monster.
He picked his newspaper off the porch and rolled it up. The dog froze upon seeing the item in Nero's hand. The eight-foot behemoth took a step back upon seeing the twelve-year-old approach. Nero had no idea what was up with this monster. Either it could sense how powerful Nero was or it had trauma involving newspapers.
"Nero stop don't hurt him." Emily yelled. She stood between him and the hellhound. He could have nocked her out of the way, stepped around her, or any number of options. Instead, he lowered the newspaper.
The dog continued to whimper and licked her hand. "That's a good boy, don't worry my big mean brother won't bother you." Nero felt himself sigh.
"Fine but the dog's your responsibility." He approached the witch. He turned his glare upon the hellhound and pushed the full weight of his mana and killing intent upon the monster. The hellhound quickly rolled over and showed its belly. Nero let out a sigh and withdrew his will.
"Let's go," she offered her hand and they teleported away.
He felt the sensation of being squeezed through a tube and stretched across existence. It reminded him of dying. The sensation of dying had felt a lot like teleporting. For a second, he wondered if that's what happened. Did he die and get reconstructed at another location? With a pop they were in an empty shack.
Not for the first time he wondered if Luna Lovegood was a teacher. She could be a magical child rapist who sent letters about some school, kidnapped children, and raped them. That was a very real thought. The letter seemed legit but now that they were in an empty shack, he was having second thoughts.
Dust blasted against the walls from the displaced air. Spiders scurried up their webs and rats panicked all around them. The legitimacy of this location was dwindling by the second. This was certainly an inconspicuous location. Where was the line drawn from inconspicuous and suspicious?
The door opened to a squat creature with long pointed ears entered the room. It wore a three-piece suit and smiled with a mouth full of spikes. A silver cane with a human skull was clutched tightly in the creature's hand and heavily relied upon.
"Greetings Mr. Nero. My name is Bone Gnawer Hopkins, I'm the dean of this fine institute of learning. If you and Ms. Lovegood would step out of the Teleportation room, we'll get down to business." The creature said with a tug of its scar covered lips.
"Where are we Dean Hopkins?" Nero sucked in a breath and felt the increased elevation. High elevation normally meant mountains. His ears popped repeatedly to adjust to the pressure. It was irritating but not the worst sensation.
"We are on the Jefferson College of Wizardry's grounds. To save time we'll refer to this place as Jefferson for short. Currently, we are in a dug-out portion of Mt Blanca heavily warded to hide our location from the tax collecting muggle world." The creature spat heavily on the ground at that.
"Agreed, fuck taxes." Nero said. The dean looked back over his shoulders and his scarred lips struggled to upturn.
"I feel a kinship with you already young man. I'm sure Luna has already colored our institution in her own shade of personality." The creature stopped and turned his head. "Allow me to be clear. We pride ourselves on results and the freedom to try anything. Here at Jefferson taboos that restrict other institutes hold no sway. Our only morale restrictions are will this profit us, improve the school's reputation, or further research. If your actions adhere to at least the first tenant, then we will support you with all the resources that you're worth to us." The dean attempted another smile before stepping out with his cane.
"How many resources am I worth?" Nero asked. The Dean snorted.
"Mr. Nero you were quite the popular discussion a few years ago. You have more mana than the last three lord class wizards put together. Every magical government in the world demanded your magic to be stripped. The US magical government conceded to baring you from a magical education. But Jefferson isn't under the US magical government's jurisdiction still we are taking a risk. We expect quite the payout from you." The creature flashed his teeth.
"Don't mind him Nero, Goblins love drama. Just learn quickly and find a field you know you can progress, and you'll be fine." Nero stared up at the sun and thought about what he'd do.
His own needs came first but that didn't mean he couldn't use them to help this school either. Right now, the school was taking all the risk. He could respect that. Unless this was all a lie. He needed a tool to quickly restore his mana even when the sun drained him. Refueling his mana was the biggest hurdle right now.
"Am I free to learn whatever I need to get results?" Nero asked.
The dean chuckled. "Absolutely, this is a college we don't hold your hand and all classes are voluntary. You can choose not to sign up for a single class and choose only to work on projects for the school." The dean took another step forward and paused. He tapped his cane against something.
A rock flowed into reality. Upon the rock were hundreds of signatures. Above those signatures in English were the words Jefferson College of Wizardry. They stood bold in the stone. No further lines covered the rock only signatures.
"We need no creed or threats by signing your name you throw your lot in with us. The only thing that we can promise you is freedom in exchange for results." The goblin said.
Nero took an offered quill and carved his name into the rock. He felt no malignant magic or attack. Only the protection of wards and the revelation that this was perhaps the best choice he could make.
All across the campus large building reached for the sky like the hands of demons. A few towers stood erect half finished made from different materials. The campus stretched for miles with various contraptions, golems, and zombies roaming. When the Dean said freedom, he wasn't kidding. Monstrous creatures roamed the inside of the campus with various parts attached to them. Mixes of man and golem sat upon park benches holding tablets in their hands. Out in the distance was a massive hill covered in corpses, old machinery, and flying tomes.
"What's that?" Nero asked.
"The scrap yard." Luna said. "When something is deemed useless it is tossed in there. Occasionally, there is something useful there. No crumple-horned snorkaks though. They must not like the magic saturation." Luna muttered.
"Plenty of reverse Unicorns." She said.
"And many creatures that are far worse. I'd advise you to stay far away from the scrap yard without a master's degree in battle magic." The dean said.
They made their way to a large white painted building covered in pillars. A few pillars had fallen that weren't necessary, but they were left. Parts of the building were burned while other parts were untouched.
"How old is this building?" Nero asked.
"It has moved over a hundred times since the fall of Rome thus far this institute has kept it for over two hundred years. Be careful of the residents they offend easily." Dean Hopkins said.
"Welcome to the magical library of Alexandria." He said.
Nero was stunned. "Wasn't this place burned down?"
"It got better." Luna said.
Two double doors barred his way. When they approached the doors opened revealing teams of elves working nonstop to move to place research papers in the right categories. The library was filled with researchers pulling books from shelves and hustling to their own private rooms to plan out their projects.
"Good morning Dean Hopkins is our new student?" A house elf asked.
"Yes, our young man requires a slate." The Dean said.
"Luna why is the dean showing me around?" Nero whispered to the witch.
"He is the only impartial party in the school. Any other professor would try to either put you in their camp or give you miss information to have you killed. This way there are less student deaths." Luna said.
"What about using students?" Nero asked.
"They'd try to induct you into their gang. If you weren't useful, they'd use you to attack another gang or bullied you to go scrap mining for them." She shrugged her shoulders.
This place was a little more dangerous than he thought. He was presented a blue tablet with a crystal screen. Magic radiated from it connecting the slate to the others. It was a tablet before tablets were invented.
"Place your hand on the screen." Nero did so and it lit up. After the scan it quickly booted up and updated.
"Nero this is your life. All you school information will be loaded on this slate. Your school funds, debt, contacts, books, and schedule are on this slate. Don't let anyone take it from you." Nero felt some of his mana slip into the slate.
Now as is tradition we will leave you to your own devices. Make friends, enemies, and business partners but remember you are all students of Jefferson." The goblin said.
Just after the Dean left, he felt dozens of eyes on him. He followed the subjects until he found what he was looking for.
The demonology department was a massive section in the library. Over a dozen rooms full of books made up the sections. There were more texts and articles about the nature of demons than there were most school libraries. He traveled through the section finding parts about demon smithing practices, common demon diets, rites of manhood, social norms, ideologies, languages, known mathematicians, and spells. He plucked a few books before heading over to the exorcism section. After compiling a short list of what he needed, he began his own research on demons.
A group waited outside his door.
His slate connected to his mundane bank account and showed him when the 18k dropped from his last job. With a few clicks half of that was paid to cover the interest on his debt. He ordered a new suit. Most of the exorcism books called upon angels or god to combat demons. If not that then they relied upon Buddhist chants or Taoist techniques.
He went for the Taoist techniques because they seemed the most mechanical. They required the user to form a celestial soldier. This soldier was powered by the user's personal belief and mana. Chants and rituals could be used to further empower this soldier to fight off demons, spirits, insects, wild animals, and dangerous environments.
Nero heard a knock at his door while he was taking notes. He checked his watch and saw that only a few hours had passed. After book marking his progress and closing the book he got up and opened the door. A tall glass wearing man stood with a few lackeys at his back. He smiled like a cat cornering a mouse.
The guy wore a jacket with Jefferson plastered on the chest.
"What do you want?" Nero demanded.
The young man's eyes showed with a second of confusion before his backup calmed his nerves. He smiled in the dumb way only weak man with friends did. Nero tapped his foot waiting for a response.
"I'm Kevin Route of the demon summoning club and we noticed you had a similar interest to our own. If you do us a favor, we could tutor you in the finer points of demons summoning. Some ritual materials are hard to get especially if you don't know who to ask." Nero rubbed at his face. This was obviously a trap.
Knowing the finer points of demon summoning isn't his greatest need. A skill that allowed him to bypass demon shields and force demons from their hosts was valuable. He had that with the celestial soldier. It would only take some upkeep. Basically, the deal this club offered wasn't worth it.
Unless he wanted to use demons himself. Holding a demon to their contract wasn't against his sensibilities. Entering into a contract you are aware of isn't the same as being tricked.
"What do you want?" Nero asked.
"There are some crystals that only grow in the scrap yard. Get them for us and we'll teach you everything we know about demon summoning and binding." The guy said.
Nero took out his slate and tapped deals and entered Kevin's name. The guy frowned the whole time. "How many crystals, do you have a picture of them, and when do you want them?"
Nero looked at the profile picture and easily matched the guy's face. He logged the request onto the system.
"Three crystals, here is a picture, and by tomorrow." A picture of black crystals growing out of a corpse appeared on his slate. They were tiny no wider than a #2 pencil and only half the size. Within the clear crystals was a swirling black mass.
"Black Madra Crystals were declared contraband by the ICW. What do you know about demon summoning and binding that I can't look up?" Nero asked.
Black madra crystals don't occur in nature. A madra crystal is the crystalized prayers of hundreds of people striped of an intended god. They can be used to bolster any deity's divinity. They too are contraband. Black Madra crystals were in the introduction to most of his demonology texts. Those black crystals were needed for most demon summons. While madra crystals are the pure crystallization of prayers, black madra crystals are the crystallization of the darkest wishes. Giving one to a demon summoner was like handing a nuke to a nihilist on their blackest day.
"True you might be able to look up most of what we know but we have experience. With us you can save a lot of time by watching us perform rituals, and we can guide you through them ourselves." Kevin said.
The look of a man planning betrayal was clear in Kevin's eyes. This was his attempt to get rid of competition. Still it could be entertaining to flex on the pleb. Rising above his competition was another way to increase his value to the school.
"I accept." Nero said. The deal was made and sent to the Dean's office for review.
"We'll leave you to prepare for tomorrow morning. By the way do you know what happens when you fail to meet your end?" Kevin asked. Nero nodded his head. No, he had no idea, but he wasn't going to show weakness to these guys.
He closed the door and began to work through the hand signs for congealing the celestial soldier. With every word and hand sign he pushed his mana into the ritual. Nero spoke the prayers and began the creation of his own celestial warrior.
Mana Core lvl2
Mana Circuits lvl5
He opened his eyes, but no warrior greeted him. After two hours of feeding mana into the form and praying for a protector it was still too early. Time was needed for the mana and prayers to congeal over an ideal. Though with the mana he'd pushed into the construct it would be powerful.
His thoughts traveled back to the scrap yard.
If there were black madra crystals in the scrap yard, then there were probably demons looking for them or drawing passive energy from them. That could be where all the zombies came from. There were a lot of students here. Why isn't there a market for the black madra crystals? He could assume there was one and the danger wasn't in getting the crystals themselves but getting the crystals could be so dangerous that a market isn't feasible.
While the sun remained high in the sky, he continued to mutter his mantra. The sun sank over the horizon forcing Nero to put down his notes. He tossed the books he'd barrowed into the collections bin.
Under the full moon mana flooded his system restoring him. It was the perfect time; it was his time. A light sheen covered his body almost imperceptible to the naked eye. After a day of mantras and pouring his mana into the celestial warrior it began to form. For now, it was only a light aura around his skin. Still Nero felt protected.
Mana Core lvl3
Mana Circuits lvl10
MP 751k
Why did mana give prayers weight? From what he could gather mana was the energy of the mind. It was forced used to make something happen. That was what it all boiled down to. Mana violently imposed a mage's will upon the world. Mana and reality were opposing forces.
He could conclude that the prayers could then become spells. Those spells in this case prayers when directed towards a deity could empower that deity further. Only there weren't that many mages and nonages had very low amounts of mana. That put a serious hole in his theory. He needed to read reports of other mages who created celestial warriors.
Nero stepped through the gate to the scrap yard and felt an immediate change in mana. Winged fairies made of flames terrorized their surroundings setting things on fire and flooding the air with their fire mana. Steel golems rose from corpse pits snatching the little terrors from the air and drowning them in boiling old blood. Rivers of blood flowed freely from the veins of fleshy giants malformed with too many eyes and mouths. Parasites grew from the fleshy creatures ballooning with blood and occasionally bursting. Mosquitoes swarming in their millions surrounding the poor feeble living creatures that left the masses of flesh drained them to skeletons. One zombie stepped on a rune and explode in an eruption of lighting. Angelic creatures ripped apart a zombie's corpse devouring its remains. Inky black shapes crawled across the ground with sickly yellow eyes attacking anything that got too close. Giants prowled through the scrapyard occasionally snatching up poor feeble golems and tossing them in their maws. The squeal of steel against steel scraped against his eardrums. In the distance of the magically expanded scrap heap larger monsters made of countless fleshy bodies and metallic constructs watched their realm. These were the master of the scrap yard. Titans that thrived in this terrible environment.
The second he entered the scrap yard he went into stealth mode. He moved in short burst of just under the speed of sound into the the shadowed territory. The smaller childlike demons with the yellow eyes made up the outer layer of the territory. After passing some invisible line larger demons formed. Unlike the smaller child like demons these creatures stood on two feet. Their yellow eyes were always searching for intruders. They were more than ghosts but less than physical. In the center of the area surrounded by a group of these demons was a single black crystal. Three mighty demons glared at each other, but none went for the crystal.
Light shined around his body and he struck. His fist impaled the first demon shattering its phantasmal structure. Cracks opened across its body and gallons of black blood poured out of the wound. The demon shrieked and while Nero stabbed a thumb through its eye and used it as a a club to smash the other two with. He snatched the crystal and began to retreat.
The demons shot after him while he turned to run. He pushed himself hard picking up to his full speed and leaving the demons behind. Nero stuffed the crystal into his pocket and sucked in a breath. His celestial warrior kept the crystal's aura at bay for now.
From the safety of a pile of broken golems he watched the demons charge into another's territory. A vicious battle began, and the ground was soaked with black blood. Nero snuck through the carnage and plucked the next crystal.
His golden celestial warrior's aura was beginning to fade. Keeping the crystal's contained was taking all the energy it had. Once he too the third crystal he'd have to move quickly. Once back through the exit the demons wouldn't be a problem. Nero turned his head to the side. How did Kevin plan to steal the crystals from him? Anyone who could get the crystals would be a force to be reckoned with.
The large horde of demons attacked one of the other groups and the battle royal began. The nine largest demons killed their allies. While the demons were powerful Nero was too fast for them to keep up with. Their shields didn't defend against the light of a celestial warrior. Even one as new as his own allowed his blows to bypass demon defenses. Then again, these demons had no bodies. They were only dark intentions merged with blood.
A group of many eyed corpses grew the crystals. Collars covered their necks and scars littered their bodies. Nero couldn't look at them for long before he felt strange thoughts slip between his ears. He reached down and plucked two crystals from the corpses. Each was twice as large as his other two. He placed one of the whole ones in his pocket and broke the other one until it resembled his other two. Then he left the scraps.
Nero felt his aura fade. Every demon's attention suddenly turned to him. He ran while a horde of demons chased him. Some were picked off by the Scrap yard's predators while others slipped into other demon hordes during the commotion. There wasn't anything he could say or argument he could use only running gave him any chance for success.
The heads of the scrap yard giants were on a swivel. They watched him but not one pushed up from its throne. He figured he was lucky. Blasts of demonic energy landed like rain. His back was pelted the whole time but that only made him run harder. If he didn't keep moving, then he'd get swarmed by them.
He looked back after crossing the ward line, but he wished he hadn't. The demons were congealing into a single mass. A feeling of fear swept through his body as the mass condensed into a humanoid form. Three yellow eyes covered its long cone shaped head. Black writhing tentacles flowed down its head like hair. Two reversed legs stood it upright and it shrieked in hate and revenge.
The creature leapt forward and slammed its claws against the wards of the scrap yard. It failed to penetrate them and only scorched its hand.
"Well that's interesting." Nero turned to the voice.
"It isn't the strongest demon I've seen." Nero said.
"Demon is a difficult word to define. It could mean a fallen god, and outerversal entity, or merely a spirit that wishes to do harm. This creature isn't a demon at all. Its classified as a guardian spirit." The old man turned to Nero. "How rude of me, I'm Professor Memnock, I teach phantasmal species and item classification here at Jefferson. I also sponsor the demon summoning club." The teacher held out his slate and showed Nero the quest. The Professor clicked complete.
The guardian spirit bashed itself against the wards repeatedly. "I'll get you for this." The creature spoke. It pressed its claws against the burning wards. "You'll come back here, and I'll get you."
Nero pulled out the three crystals and handed them to the old professor. The complete sign flashed on his slate.
"Kevin was a little overzealous with his challenge. One crystal would have been enough. Jefferson is a dangerous school when your alone. If you don't make any progress, you'll be expelled and forced to pay back your debts. Most students die out there. You aren't most student. Why don't you join the Demon Summoning club? You've shown interest in the art." Professor Memnock said.
"What if I only wanted to learn more about demons, so I can crush any practitioner trying to cause trouble?" Nero asked.
"Then it would be best to train you as diligently as possible. We aren't brutes or cultists here at Jefferson. Thralls to a demon's will have no place in this school." Professor Memnock said.
"Will I have to take your class?" Nero asked.
"I'd prefer you didn't. Dr. Lee has an interesting class on Taoist Mantras and celestial warrior summoning. You should give it a chance." Professor Memnock said.
"Mine wasn't much use." Nero muttered.
"Yes, you forced a ton of power into a young concept. Power is important but your celestial warrior has no foundation. I'd advise you perform mana less mantras until the concept is older."
"Does that have something to do with how gods are formed?" Nero asked.
"That is a great question. But gods don't exist they are merely lord class wizards who gained a reputation." Nero stared at the professor.
"That doesn't make any sense." Nero said.
"If that is so then write a paper make some tests and let the science of academia work. I'd be careful about changing what every wizard knows." Professor Memnock said. "Meet Kevin in the ritual room tomorrow and he'll begin tutoring in the ways of demon summoning. Be careful with the greater black madra crystal in your pocket. If anyone from the ICW catches you with it, it's a life sentence in Azkaban. "
Nero pulled the massive crystal from his pocket. What could he summon with this?
Author's Note: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter leave a review and tell me what you think.