FSE

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So here's chapter 14. Uh, read and enjoy!

Chapter 14: Skipping ahead

Will stopped in front of the doors to the principal's office for the third time. Breathing deeply, he knocked, and the doors swung open. As he entered, he saw that a big table had been placed in the center, with many werebeasts sitting around. As soon as he entered, all of them turned around, facing Will. He saw Mr. Everain sitting at the head of the table, giving Will a big smile. As he came closer, one of the werebeasts, a doe, gave Will a gentle smile, beckoning him closer.

"William, please tell the werebeasts here what happened." spoke Everain, gesturing at the werebeasts around. Will took a deep breath, and launched into his story.

After he told his tale, there was silence. Many of the members looked as if they were deep in thought, and some were muttering to each other in a low voice. Suddenly, the doe that smiled at Will coughed gently, and spoke up.

"So you were saying that her purpose was to destroy the bindings that held the demons back, and for that purpose, she needed the hearts of white beasts like yourself?"

Will blinked, and nodded. The members started to speak in small but urgent tones, some of them calling someone else from their phones.

"Did she say which demon she was working with? Did she say anything about where the potion recipe was?" the doe questioned him farther. Will racked his brains for the answers, but he couldn't remember anything.

"No, I don't think she said anything. But wouldn't the recipe itself be at where she works or lives?"

"We've searched the place, and found nothing. She is also very uncooperative, which is the reason that we questioned you about the whole issue."

Suddenly, there was a single clap, and everyone in the room whirled around. The werebeast that did so was Mr. Everain, the principal. He gave everyone a quick smile, and spoke to everyone. "Excuse me. I simply wanted to ask anyone if they had anything to ask Will?" As everyone shook their head, the principal nodded. "Then I assume that you have no objections to Will leaving? We cannot keep the boy here forever, you know."

After a moment of hesitation, all the members slowly nodded. With that, Will bowed to everyone, and left the office.

A month later

Will groaned, and slumped down. Several thick books were in a pile around his desk, almost all of them open. The white tiger groaned and leaned back, trying to massage his eyes. His roommates weren't any better. Jonas was snoring in the pile of books, and Todd's eyes were red. Even Jake looked a bit tired, his tail no longer swishing around, but hanging limply. This caused Will to take a look at his own tail, which was also limp. It wasn't surprising that everyone was in a rather bad condition, seeing that the exam was just around the corner. After the incident, Will moved rapidly up the classes, mostly due to his experience at swordplay and his natural compatibility with elemental magic and divine magic. While this meant that he was in a class with more people around his age, it also meant that the study material just got harder. The exam tomorrow was supposed to be practical, which meant that they would go into an artificial Sphere, inhabited by a demon, who had been captured by the teachers. Normally that would sound crazy, but the teachers would be around to protect the students if things got out of hand. However, it was alarming enough for Will to look over his notes for any spells that might help him out.

Although only a month passed in the academy, Will felt as if he spent a year in here, with all sorts of incidents happening around him. Looking back on his life, he had a hard time believing that a month ago, he was a normal human student, with the most worrying issue in his life any bad test scores. Now, he was a half-animal, half-human being, who went through at least 4 near-death occasions. As Will fell into contemplation, his head began to nod slowly, and the white tiger fell into a sleep.

The next day, Will woke up, and found himself slumped forward on his desk. Blinking slowly, he took a look at the clock placed nearby. The next second, he was running about in a panic, throwing things into his backpack at top speed. Before leaving, he dashed back in, grabbing a paper talisman. He held it for a minute, hesitating, but stuffed it into his back pocket.

"I'm sorry!" Will shouted as he burst into the classroom, just as the teacher was calling his name. Trying to ignore the smothered laughter and the pointed glares. He sat down hurriedly, trying not to stare at anyone else.

"Well, now that everyone is here, we'll go over the goals of the practical exam again. As you all heard, we'll be going into a Sphere that us teachers made, with a few minor demons placed within. Keep in mind that while they've been weakened to a certain degree, they are still powerful. I would like everyone to take these defense charms-" the teacher handed out a box with several bracelets in it, which everyone took. "And if you are facing a demon that you can't handle, please do not try to take it down on your own. If you feel that the demon is too strong, please evacuate the area immediately, and contact us. The bracelets that we've handed out also have a emergency signal function. Are there any questions?"

Will hesitantly raised his paw. "Are you sure that this is safe? I mean, it still sounds very dangerous."

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mr....?"

"McKnight. William McKnight. But still, with demons, you never know, right?"

At this point, the teacher looked visibly annoyed. "Mr. McKnight, let me assure you that the place is absolutely safe. The demons have been cursed with spells that restrain their strength, and we've handed out these defense bracelets for that very reason. I'm 100% sure that you'll be safe." the teacher glared around the class. "Any other questions?"

A hyena raised his paw. "How are we going to be graded?"

"You'll be graded on how well you handle yourselves in combat. We'll be taking a look at the way you cast your spells, along with your abilities to handle real combat." the teacher stood up, and beckoned everyone. "This way, everyone." As everyone followed the teacher in a line, Will reluctantly stood up, trailing behind at the end. As he stepped through the door, he felt a slight disturbance in the air, a kind of a dry breeze with a slight tremor. He was sensitive enough to tell when he was entering a Sphere, which was a slightly unusual case. As he stepped in, he found himself in a city, and not a building that they were supposed to be gathering at for a test.

"I thought that Spheres matched the real world perfectly." Will spoke to himself as he slowly turned around, looking at the place. For some reason, the Sphere felt rather..... brown. It was as if he was looking at a old photograph.

"They usually do. Cases like these are the odd cases." spoke a voice behind him. As he turned around, he found himself face-to-face with a lioness, who he recognized.

"Hi, Miss Sara." Will spoke, facing the lioness that saved him before

"Just call me Sara, Will." Sara spoke lightly, flicking her hair.

"What are you doing here?" Will asked.

"Didn't you know? I'm supposed to be one of the teacher that will keep an eye on you lot." she saw Will open his mouth, and plowed on. "No, I'm not a teacher. But I'm one of the few who can fight both long range and close range, and I also have a Idea, which helps. So I'm more like a substitute teacher except that there aren't any missing teachers."

"Oh." Will swallowed. He was about to speak again to the lioness when he heard a shout. As he turned around, he saw five pillars of dark energy rise from a distance, which began to form a pentacle.

"What's going on?" Will shouted as he whirled back to Sara.

"That energy.... No way! It's impossible!" she shouted instead of answering, immediately summoning her weapon- a large container looking like a cannon itself- and dashed toward the pillars. Will took a look at everyone else, who were all shouting hysterically, some even crouching on the ground and huddling. He waved his paw and summoned his own weapons, and followed the lioness. As he leaped, he focused a bolt of energy on his foot, making it burst slightly when it reached the bottom of his paw. This resulted in a small burst, which propelled Will forward. As he leapt forward, he concentrated again, this time making several energy panels scattered all over the air. Using these, he managed to bounce his way to the running lioness.

"So what is that?" Will shouted as he neared Sara.

"It's a summoning spell! And a really powerful one! But it should be impossible!" Sara shouted, skidding to a halt. As she did so, she set the container on the ground, and grabbed a big rifle as the right and left sections slid apart. However, the blasts from the rifle did nothing, passing through harmlessly. Will reached into his power and made a slight tear in the reality, preparing for what was one of the strongest spells that can be cast.

"Otherwordly energy, burst in a ray that wipes all life, and eliminate my enemies! This is my order, Arcane Maximum Burst!" Will chanted, keeping in mind that the longer the spell, the stronger the effects of the magic. The Arcane type spells usually involved tearing a little hole in the boundaries of reality, and letting in the energy from other worlds, usually from powerful sources such as supernovas. While he was casting the spell, the pentacle darkened completely, and a jet of black light shot down. At that moment, Will released his own spell, which collided with the black energy. Immediately, Will's legs buckled, and he nearly collapsed. Keeping even with the black light was extremely draining, perhaps more draining than anything he have ever done. As he struggled to keep the spell going, another blast of energy struck the dark energy. Will managed to turn around, and see Sara pointing the container at the energy. He remembered that the container also could be used as a cannon and a shield.

"Will, use your Ideas! Get in close, and do whatever you can!" Sara shouted.

"But you can't hold out for long!" Will shouted back.

"That's why you should do it now, when I can hold it up long enough for a good shot! Do it!" Sara shouted. Reluctantly, Will released the spell. and slumped down on the ground. Forcing himself up, he held his paws out, focusing on summoning his weapon. The twin blades materialized, fully unsheathed. The sword sheaths were placed on his hips. Gathering his remaining Mana and Spirit energy, Will leapt upwards. This time, he channeled his powers into one of the swords, letting it absorb and contain the energy. He then directed the stream of energy to the very tip of one of the swords. Then as he approached the dark light, he stabbed at it with all his might, letting the energy burst out in a tremendous flash. As he did so, he felt his sword drive home, as a being in it let out an agonized roar. After the explosion died down, Will tried to land on his feet, but stumbled, the panel he made to correct his landing collapsing immediately. As he fell down, Sara set her weapon down and lightly leapt, grabbing Will.

"That was quite impressing!" Sara spoke, letting Will down. Will then took a look behind her, and his eyes widened. "Get back!" he shouted, pushing the lioness out of his way, striking down with both of his swords. The swords clashed with another blade, a black blade with red marking all over it. Before he could look at it closer, it let out a red burst of its own energy, throwing Will back. As he tumbled through the air, he saw a winged figure rise in the air, and then shoot down toward him. He only had enough time to cross his blades before the demon slammed into him, making him crash down into the ground. Will gasped in pain, winded from the impact. As the dust cleared, he saw a dragonlike being above him, pressing the sword down. Will could see a deep injury on the dragon's arm.

"Tcheh, an injury from a child. I'll admit that it wasn't bad, but far too weak." the dragon demon spoke casually, pressing the sword down even stronger. Just as Will was about to be cut from his own sword, a blast of energy hit the side of the demon's head, followed by multiple shots barraging the demon. As the pressure weakened, Will managed to roll away. He saw Sara blasting at the demon with the cannon, creating a dust cloud that kept the demon out of sight.

"Will, go warn the rest of the class! I'll keep him busy!" Sara shouted.

"But what about you?" Will shouted back, trying to be heard over the explosion.

"I'll be fine! Just go and....." before she could finish her sentence, the demon in front of her, with only the side of his head singed by the first blast. Sara only had enough time to throw up the cannon as a shield before the demon's fist hit home, throwing her back. When Will could see her again, she was unconscious on the ground. At that point, Will felt fear. He then realized that the demon in front of him was stronger than any other demon he met before. He started to tremble, a sob forcing its way up to his throat.

"What, you're still here?" before Will could react, the demon was right in front of him. fist cocked back. Then the demon struck, but a flash of blue energy surged from his arm, forming a barrier. When the demon's fist struck the barrier, the barrier immediately shattered, but the demon's fist did not hurt Will. At that point, he remembered that his bracelet had a defensive charm on it, along with a emergency signal system. Will shook his head, and before the demon could strike back, he leapt backwards. As he did so, he reached for a small holder on his belt, and clicked it open. Several paper charms shot out of it, whirling in the air for a while before coming at the demon.

"You think you can stop me with these toys?" the demon shouted, his throat glowing red with fire. However, before the demon could attack, Will immediately held up his paw, chanting faster than he ever did before.

"Chains of light, bind the darkness, hold it fast, and protect me from harm! Fire, earth, wood, gold, water, resonate! Chain bind! Elemental blast!"

The demon was immediately bound with chains made out of energy, one wrapping around the demon's muzzle. Then, a white circle formed on the ground. The five elements were coiled like a snake, then started to fuse with each other, forming a gigantic tornado. The tornado of pure power tightened, and exploded. Will immediately pressed one of the beads, and a ball of fire shot into the air, where it exploded with a large noise and a flash. As the smoke cleared, the demon looked slightly stunned. Will took the initiative and summoned his staff, a four feet long wooden staff curved at the end with a jewel in the curved section. The staff increased his powers by a little, with the jewel acting as a booster. He pulled out a vial of energy replenishing potion from his pocket and swallowed it, trying not to throw up at the bitter taste. After the drink, he felt a surge of power course through him again. A blue aura that swirled around him indicated that he was at his full strength, perhaps even more.

"Arcane Stream!" Will shouted, and a blast of pure yellow energy hit the demon. As he kept up the spell, he slowly moved backwards, shouting out for help as he went. As he kept up the spell, he could feel the demon moving towards him, slowly but surely. He shouted again, and this time, he could hear answering shouts far away. Suddenly, a slash of black energy struck Will on the shoulder, resulting in a jet of blood. Will lost control of his spell, and the demon moved forward, grabbing Will's shoulder and slamming him down on the ground. He screamed in pain, the dark energy radiating from the demon's claws feeling like acid. The demon leaned in closer, breathing heavily. Will could see the demon sweating, with his scales badly singed.

"The hurt, you little bastard. It hurt a lot." Will tried to strike with his other sword, but the demon easily grabbed it and threw it away. Will tried to summon the blade again, and the blade slowly began to sparkle and fade.

"Oh no you don't. Dimension distortion!" the demon snarled and thrust his claws toward the blade. Suddenly, a dark smoke began to swirl around the blade, and the blade came into focus again.

"What, never seen a dimension slip?" the demon smirked, looking at Will's stunned face. "Now, what's your name? I make it my policy to know who I kill."

"W.... Will." Will stammered. He tried to not look afraid, but it was hard considering that the demon could easily kill him right now. Or..... maybe not. Will gathered all his energy in a single place, hoping for a massive blast that could wipe out the demon. It would probably mean that he would die from the energy required, but at this rate, he was going to die anyway.

"Well Will, pray for you god. I am Gusion, the answerer of your questions. My answer right now? It is death." Gusion leaned forwards, until his tongue flicked out and licked Will on the cheek. Will shuddered as the demon spoke on. "Pity. I do like boys like you. It's is really a pity...."

Suddenly, the demon whirled around, and blocked an attack from behind. Sara held out her cannon, which had a lightsaber like laser blade coming out of its end.

"Back off, perv." she snarled, stabbing with the weapon. However, the demon easily whirled to behind her and struck her on the back of her knee, making her fall. The cannon also crashed to the ground, where it promptly ceased to function.

"Now it's the real end...." Gusion held up a ball of black fire before he was blasted in the head again. Will turned around and saw a group of magicians standing a few paces behind them, periodically blasting at the demon in waves.

"Come over here!" one of the teachers- a jaguar- yelled. Will and Sara got to their feet, and managed to stumble to the rest of their group.

"That demon is too strong. But fortunately, he's been weakened. I think that we can keep him busy enough for you Idea users to do something."

"I can't use my sword right now. The demon used a type of a disruption spell that locked my Idea away. I still have the other though."

"I can use my cannon well enough, but I can't really do much in close range combat, or at least compared to Will or that demon." Sara spoke ruefully, staring at her weapon. Suddenly, an idea struck Will. He slipped his paws to the back of his pants, where he drew out a charm. Unlike others, the charm was actually radiating a white aura. When Will held it, he felt an immense, but familiar, power. It was like holding a gigantic, beating heart. He felt as if he was holding something that he once knew a long time ago, but then forgot about.

"I have an idea. But I need some time, and a few materials. Could everyone help me out, please?" Will spoke up, facing the others. The teachers looked surprised, but nodded.

"What's this idea that you have?" Sara asked. Will held the charm out as an answer.

"I'm going to make a contract with a god."

At Will's statement, everyone looked at Will as if he was crazy. Will was fully aware that a contract was nearly impossible, and dangerous. Even making a contract with an angel was considered as being suicidal, never mind a god.

"Will, you're crazy! I'm not letting you die!" Sara shouted.

"Look, trust me, okay. I'm going to make a contract with the White Tiger, deity of west and gold in eastern beliefs. I know for a fact that white tigers have a higher chance at managing the contract with him. I know that Gusion's weakened for now, but that's only because he's been weakened from our fights, along with the fact that the summoning drained his power! He's quickly recovering right now, and if he does, we're all dead! This is the best option!" Will shouted and glared at all the others. After a lengthy silence, Sara sighed.

"It's true. There's no other way that can save lives, but......"

"I'll do it. I can do it. Just trust me, and give me a few minutes." Will gave a determined look at the others.

"What do we do?" asked one of the teachers.

"Just keep him busy for at least 5 minutes. The contract has been almost fully established before I came here, so it won't take long." as Will finished speaking, there was an explosion followed by screams of pain. When Will spun around, he saw other werebeasts lying down in a crater, from where black smoke came out.

"All right, let's do this!" Sara shouted. As the light from the cannon materialized into a lance like object, she leapt forward, stabbing at the demon. As the remaining werebeasts began to chant and prepare their own spells, Will sat down and began to work on the most dangerous spell that he ever casted, and will ever cast for a while.