Chapter 2:Learning who you really are
Nagumo Hajime wasn't feeling too well after walking out the front door, feeling more drained than normal when walking to school, but that's not important.
Nagumo knows for a fact something happened last night, he is not sure if that monster he fought was real or not. But he knows he was attacked by something and it wasn't natural to this world.
He went the normal route but keeps an eye on his surroundings as he feels more threatened than ever. It wasn't like his dreams when he had the ability Sense Presence, a power that gives a better understanding of the surroundings and sense life signs along with being able to sense beings who can utilise basic camouflage abilities. More like feeling the world around him is now different.
Nagumo looks around but still finds nothing as he walks to the school like normal, but still feels drained when walking which shouldn't be possible as walking to school wouldn't drain him this much. He walks through the gate, passing a few of the student Council members, handing out files or something to the passing students.
Nagumo shakes his head, feeling a weird sensation when he is near them, Nagumo looks at them as one of them holds a filer but he turns away before quickly passing them without giving them a second look. He runs around the corner before hiding in the shadows. Nagumo lets out a sign of relief, not feeling as drained as before.
"What's happening to me, why am I more tired? And why am I feeling better now?" Nagumo thinks as he lay in the shadows for a bit, reliving as he looks at the sunlight.
Looking at his hand he sticks it out the sunlight, as the hand bathes in the warmth of the sun he felt weaker, like his arm was getting tied. Pulling it back he finds the arm works better in the shadows, moving his fingers and making a fist to get a feel for his hand.
"I feel weaker in the sun, what's wrong with me?" Nagumo asked himself, looking at his hand as he looked at the sun, then looked at the council members at the gate.
"What's this feeling near them?" Nagumo asked as he closed his eyes, trying to remember what the feeling was when he was near them.
He felt something was different with them, like someone holding a weapon or someone who looks like a predator compared to normal people, it wasn't right. Compared to everyone else Nagumo can't feel anything different from them but as a student council member he can feel their emotions, desires and passion compared to everyone else. Feeling the student council member now.
Nagumo gasps as he opens his eyes in panic, feeling them again even when he is a distance away, he stares at them, as if they are doing nothing out of the ordinary, just handing student fliers as he shakes his head.
"Something is wrong with me, I need to see the nurse after this" Nagumo said, stepping out into the sun as he groaned, feeling the draining effects of it but he powers through it.
He can get through the day without falling asleep and he can get through the day even if the sun is draining his strength.
LINE
"I think I died last night," Nagumo said to Nurse Shizuka Marikawa, who raised a brow at him.
"That's called a goodnight sleep, Nagumo," Shizuka said, doing her paperwork, seeing nothing wrong with him.
"I'm serious Shizuka, something is wrong with me, the sunlight makes me tired, and I'm somehow sensing emotions or something from certain people, it freaking me out" Nagumo said, trying to say how important his health is as Shizuka looks at him before getting up.
"Hmmmm well you don't have polymorphic light eruption, or sun poisoning as people commonly know, but that hereditary. And I don't think you're an empath" Shizuka said, looking over Nagumo, trying to see anything wrong with him.
"Empath? What's that?" Nagumo asked, trying to get the answers.
"Empaths have the unique ability to sense and absorb others' emotions, which typically makes them extremely caring, compassionate, and understanding people, which you're not Nagumo, Sorry" Shizuka said with a wink as Nagumo groans.
"Look Nagumo, if you feel unwell ask your parents to take you to a doctor, cause I can't really diagnose or anything" Shizuka said, she is just a school nurse, she can help a student with medical needs or injuries but not diagnose anyone.
"It's not just that, I have been feeling weird for a while now, not medically at least," Nagumo said, holding his hands on his face as he sits on the bed as Shizuka sits across from him.
"Maybe talking about it would help, you never know" Shizuka offers her ear as Nagumo shrugs.
"There's another reason I don't sleep much, lately every time I sleep I have dreams" Nagumo explains as Shizuka leans in listening.
"Night terrors?" Shizuka asked, maybe that is the reason he doesn't sleep much but Nagumo shakes his head.
"No, more like memories, I see myself in another world, with some people I never heard of, I get abandon in a dungeon, I had to fight and kill monsters just to survive, but I got hungry and I started to eat the monsters I was fighting, it different every time, something I get killed, eaten, raped or all three at once, other times I survive but became a worse monster, it random. And that scared me" Nagumo explains his lack of sleep, his dreams get different every time, most of them are not pleasant to remember. As Shizuka looks at him, standing up, she gives Nagumo a hug.
"It's ok Nagumo, everyone gets dreams like this, it's normal. Things like these are caused by stress and anxiety, you just need to relax more Nagumo, try to calm down and talk to someone about these things, you'll feel better trust me" Shizuka hugs him as she tries to calm him down but Nagumo doesn't hug her back.
"What about my dreams, I keep having them over and over again? Drugs?" Nagumo asked if there was a way to not have dreams.
"There are no drugs like that, but maybe you should get it out of your system," Shizuka said as Nagumo looked at her.
"Try to do something to get it out of your head, something creative, writing about it or drawing it, even acting it out, make something productive out of it Nagumo" Shizuka smiles at him, hoping this will help him express himself and feel better about himself.
"Express myself," Nagumo wonders, thinking about what Shizuka said as Shuzka nods.
"So here what you do, talk to your parents, maybe see a doctor if you're feeling unwell and try something creative Nagumo, something that makes you feel in control and free to express yourself, and if you feel the need to talk then come to me and we can chat ok?" Shizuka said, wanting to help Nagumo, and is more than happy to talk to him if he needs too.
Nagumo looks at Shizuka with a calm face, taking a deep breath as he nods to her.
"Thank you, I'll try a few things and maybe we can talk later," Nagumo asked as Shizuka nodded.
"More than happy too, now lunch is nearly over" Shizuka said, seeing the time as Nagumo nodded. Getting up to head to the next class, as Shizuka watches him leave, hoping he gets better after this.
LINE
In the old school building of Kuoh academy, Rias Gremory was in deep thought.
Just a little while ago she, along with her peerage, fought a few stray devils, the fight was not all that difficult, they defeated the first two stray in less than five minutes, but one got away.
The stray ran away as soon as they arrived, leaving the first two to die as they had to track the last one to a contraction sight.
When they got there they came to the sight of a dead stray with a dying Kuoh student.
To her it was a fail on her part, she and her peerage should have stopped the stay before it led to this, and before they could intervene it seems the stray got some unfortunate victim.
To her shame she couldn't recall the victim, she knew he was a student from her school but what she saw impressed her. Seeing that an average human kills a stay devil at all is beyond any modern human, despite dying in the process it was still impressive antherless.
The cause of her distress is that she reincarnated that boy as a devil, it wasn't out of pity, far from it although she did feel guilty not arriving earlier.
The victim is called Nagumo Hajime, she had to look him up, and he is nothing special. His presence is so inconspicuous that despite being classmates she had trouble recalling his name.
No she was moved by him, Rias saw the damage the stay was in, a chuck of his face missing, nails all over its body and its head chopped off. Amazing a normal human can do, Rias felt that such a person deserved some kind of reward.
But here lies the problem, all members of her peerage have some outstanding power, while Hajime didn't possess anything like that, he doesn't have sacred gear nor did he inherit a special bloodline, his physique was also rather lacking, a single pawn piece was more than enough for him.
However Hajime seems resourceful, using the environment and makeshift weapons to kill stay devils, Hajime could work out if she works on him. She just needs to figure out how,
Well no use brooding over the past, if Hajime doesn't want to be her servant then she'll let him go once he matures as a devil, getting her piece back.
Rias will give him some time to get used to his body before officially introducing herself as his master.
LINE
Nagumo walks home after finishing school, feeling a little better after talking to Shizuka early. He really needs to talk to his parents about this and see a doctor too.
But that's the latter right now Nagumo feels a little better emotionally at least, still feeling a little drained when being under the sunlight but he is slowly getting used to it. Really the main issue is his dreams.
Maybe Shizuka is right, he should get it out in the open. Talking to someone or making something out of it, never came to him. After all, who would believe he was attacked by a monster straight out of a resident evil game. But he should do something about it, write a story or draw it out.
Hell maybe join an art club or something to talk to others about it.
Nagumo chuckles as he looks at his hand, remembering one of his dreams as he recalls one of his main powers when dreaming.
"Transmute' don't know why they said it is a weak skill, meaning I can control, transform and manipulate any kind of ores, minerals or materials in any way or shape the user desires. I could make rock to gold or diamonds like in Fullmetal alchemist" Nagumo said, remembering the anime and manga as alchemists are not so different from Transmute.
"Hell I could control someone's blood, humans have iron in their blood after all" Nagumo remembered reading a biology book on the human body. He laughs as he holds out his hand and pretends to go a 'spell'
"ahah honestly how stupid can I be, Transmute' Nagumo plays around wave his hand forward pretending to be himself in the dream with intend in hand.
But something amazing happened.
Weird circle appeared out of his hand and a pillar of rocks and dirt started to form in front of him. Freaking him out.
"What the hell?" Nagumo jumps back in shock, never seeing a pile of rocks and dirt from out of nowhere in front of him. He looks around the area, trying to see if this was a joke or something.
"Ok you got me, this is funny, and where are the cameras?" Nagumo said out loud, hoping this is a joke as he looks to see no cameras or anything near him. Looking at the pile he walks slowly to it, scared something might jump out to get him.
Getting close to it he touches it with his legs, before stepping back. Nothing happens as Nugumo steps forward to look it over, seeing nothing but a pile of dirt and rocks in front of him.
"Ok, this is weird," Nagumo said, not sure what to make of it as he held out his head, trying to remember what he did early.
"Transmute," Nagumo said, holding out his hand and remembering the feeling from before as another pile of rocks and stone appeared before him. Looking at his hands in shock as he looks over the piles before him.
"This is insane!" Nagumo yelled, seeing the pile of rock and stones before him before realising he was still in the streets.
"I need to get out of here," Nagumo said, running away as fast as he can.
LINE
Nagumo looks around after taking a few breaths of air in his lungs, seeing it was in the woods away from everyone else. He looks at his hands.
"Ok so I have magic or something, and I can control matter, or at least stone and sand" Nagumo said looking at his hands in thought.
Holding up his hands, trying to get a feel for the magic or something before, trying to bring it out without Transmuting anything, remembering his dreams from before.
"I need to focus," Nagumo said, sitting down on the ground as he crossed his legs and tried to meditate. Taking a deep breath as he tries to focus on himself and whatever energy within him.
Nagumo keeps taking deep breaths as he feels the air around him, feeling the ground under him, feeling the draining heat of the sun over him as he slowly gets a feel for the energy inside him.
Bringing his hand in front of him he focuses all his might in one spot, trying to gather the energy he is feeling in one spot, slowly he feels a wave or pulse passing though his body, the feeling the air changes as he focuses on one spot, now feeling something in-between his hands.
Opening his eyes Nagumo sees a ball of energy in front of him, a small blue of power or energy hovering in-between his hands, Nagumo lifts his hands to examine the energy.
"I feel the energy from it, not heat or anything but something. This has to be magic" Nagumo figures as he focuses more and more energy or magic into the ball.
As the ball or magic slowly grew bigger and bigger into the size of a soccer ball, putting his hand on it, he felt the magic as the hand passed though inside the ball.
Looking at it funny he focuses on the mass of the ball now, as the magic ball becomes somewhat more solid as he slowly gasps it. Feeling the ball of magic in his hand, throwing it up in the air as he watches it fly up in the air before falling down into his arms, and feeling more like a glowing ball now.
Standing up he plays with the magic ball, giving it a few more tosses in the air as he plays with its mass and size, increasing and decreasing the size of the ball or increasing and decreasing the mass of the ball.
Looking at a tree he gives the ball one more toss in the air before catching it and throwing it at a tree, the ball of magic went fast though the air and fit the tree like a bullet, taking a part off the trees.
BLLLLLL AAAAA
Nagumo watches in surprise at the missing part of the tree as the tree in question starts to shake before slowly tipping over as Nagumo runs out of the way of the falling tree.
FLLLLLAAAAAAA
The tree falls down the ground, crushing everything underneath it as Nagumo watches in amazement.
"This is both amazing and dangerous, what else can I do?" Nagumo asked, making his way to the tree as he remembered the spell early.
"Transmute," Nagumo said as he filled a part of the tree gathered out of his hand, wooded parts being put out of the tree as he practised pulling parts out of the tree.
Nagumo slowly learns to shape and cut using Transmute, making holes, shapes and slowly he makes drawings out of the fallen tree. Mixing and playing with his transmute as he slowly gets more tired.
"Ok that was fun, but I need to practise cause this is exhausting" Nagumo said with a tired breath as he sits on the ripped up tree after making a bench like chair into the wood early, Nagumo sits down tires as he relaxes and catches his breath.
Nagumo takes a deep breath and tries to meditate, seeing if he can regain some magic back or something, it worked before.
Taking deep breath Nagumo remembers the feeling of magic in the air as he breathes the magic in and out, slowly feeling the magic feel his lungs and body as he starts to feel much better after drawing breath.
Closing his eyes Nagumo left something weird in his chest, reaching for his chest only to feel nothing out of the ordinary but feels something there, like a book or phone stuck to your chest but he doesn't feel it at all.
He groans and takes a deep breath, trying to relax and get his strength back, breathing in and out as his mind begins to wonder.
Nagumo opens his eyes only to see a dark void in front of him, looking around he sees nothing but darkness surrounding him.
"What the?" Nagumo said, looked around but saw a red light source lighting the way.
"OK?" Nagumo follows the light source deeper into the dark void, not really seeing anything as he follows the light.
Follow it for some time until he reaches the source.
"A Pawn piece?" Nagumo said, reach out for a floating glowing prawn piece.
Yes the source of red light was coming from a pawn as he grabbed the piece, looking it over.
"Why a glowing chess piece of all things?" Nagumo asked himself as he examined it in his hands, putting a little pressure on it he heard a snap.
NAAAAAAAAAP
"The hell?" Nagumo asked, looking at the piece, hearing the noise but seeing nothing out of ordinary when ordinary in the weird magic thing.
Nagumo shakes the prawn piece seeing if anything would happen and he saw the prawn piece glow more red, now it is a glowing red prawn when it used to be somewhat transparent.
"What the hell does chess have to do with this? '' Nagumo shakes the piece before throwing it aside, seeing no use for it as he looks around the dark void.
"How do I get out of here?" Nagumo said as he took a deep breath as he opened his eyes to see it back on the tree bench he made as he looked up to see it night out.
"Ooo shit it late" Nagumo said, seeing it at night he got up and left to run straight home, remembering he need to be home before his parents worry as he ran through the woods and back to society.