Chapter 25: Special Semester

  The past four months of Ace’s life were full of firsts. Being boxed in by a Cursed Phantom, leaving home, then getting stabbed and falling into a deep sleep full of thoughts and dreams.

  Ace didn’t know how long he had lingered like this, locked in stillness. He felt like a creature of the deep, adrift in an endless, black sea. One day, he started to rise upwards, swimming from the abyss towards consciousness, into a world so bright that it made him close his eyes again.

  Ace wiggled his toes and took a deep breath, only to feel like something was wound tightly around his chest cavity. He raised his left hand and rested it on his face, shielding his eyes from the light that poured into his eyes. Instead of being graced by the warmth of his body, cool metal kissed the skin of his eyelids.

  He sat up immediately when he saw his arm.

  “Whoa, don’t sit up that quickly. You’ll feel woozy.” Felix was in front of him, looking him over with concerned eyes.

  “What’s happening?” Ace mumbled, examining his arm and touching his body. “It’s very tight, I can’t breathe. Feels like something is poking me everywhere...”

  Dr. Lee stepped into his line of sight. “I think we might have to do a bit of refitting,” he said. “Take off your shirt.”

  With some difficulty, Ace managed to pull the shirt over his head. “What am I wearing?” he asked as he touched the covering on his chest. “What’s this?”

  Neither of the two answered his question. Dr. Lee got to work and started adjusting a series of straps. The pressure on Ace’s chest lifted slightly, but the feeling of probes being stuck in his body did not. “Relax your hand,” Dr. Lee instructed.

  Ace did what he was told. Dr. Lee grasped his hand and gave his arm a good shake, instantaneously relieving the pressure. Ace sighed in relief.

  “Looks good,” Dr. Lee said.

  As the fog lifted, Ace took a closer look at his arm. Matte black metal plates with rune-like symbols carved on them encased it. As he moved it, the plates shifted, giving him a full range of movement. Hints of white peeked out from under when he tried flexing his fingers. “What’s this? Why do I have this?” Ace asked again, turning to Felix.

  “Ah, er…” Felix turned to Dr. Lee and signalled for him to leave.

  When it was just the two of them, Felix drummed his hands on the table and pushed a bento set towards him. “Eat first,” he said with a smile on his face.

  Although Felix was smiling, Ace could tell that something was up. Nevertheless, he dug into his food. “Dr. Lee said that your wounds have fully closed,” Felix started. “You remember how you got injured, right?”

  “Mhm, but I had a weird dream. Saw Kazuya’s mom in this empty classroom.”

  “Well, erm… That’s very interesting,” he said slowly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Felix gulped, wringing his hands. “What is it?” Ace pressed.

  “You’ve been cursed,” Felix blurted.

  If science allowed it, Ace’s eyebrows would have shot through the roof. “I’ve been what?”

  “When your mom was pregnant, it seemed like you absorbed your twin, so you got two cores. You awakened one, and the other is a normie core. You got hit in the normie core and now it’s a Cursed Core,” he explained in one breath.

  The fishball that Ace was about to chew on fell out of his mouth. “Your left arm attacked people while you were unconscious, so Dr. Lee and his team made this special armour for you,” Felix went on. “Those runes are what we use in talismans to seal and contain Cursed Essence.”

  Felix reached out and closed his hand. Ace winced when his skin got poked again. “Try to use your Essence.”

  Ace concentrated as hard as he could. The runes started to glow. “What this thing does is that it presses on your pressure points to reroute the Essence,” Felix explained. "I have noticed that when you use your ability, you either open up your palms really wide or clench your fists. I told Chakrit about it, and he managed to make this rerouting mechanism work!”

  Ace nodded silently, trying to comprehend whatever Felix just unloaded on him. He stared at his food, unable to bring himself to finish it. “You said that it got cursed and attacked people. Isn’t that bad? Didn’t you tell us that having a Cursed Core is like having an infinite generator? Am I dangerous?”

  “No, no, don’t say that,” Felix put a hand on his shoulder. “With this, it’ll prevent it from acting up again.”

  “No! No!” Ace shrank away. “I read that-”

  “Ace!” Felix raised his voice, snapping him out before his mind started to spiral. “We have taken sufficient precautions; it’ll be fine. You’ll be fine too.”

  “Really?”

  “I’ll guarantee your safety,” Felix said solemnly. “The Elders have also agreed that all we have to do is keep a closer eye on that arm. Being a vessel doesn’t mean you know how to cultivate Cursed Essence.”

  Ace’s heart slowed, and he unclenched his hand. The streams of blue faded away. “Trust me. You’ll be fine.” Felix offered him a chocolate bar he had taken out of his pocket.

  “It’s all smooshy,” Ace remarked as he took the chocolate from him, feeling a small smile tug on his lips.

  “There, there,” Felix said, poking his cheek playfully.

  “But if I have to wear this all the time, won’t it smell?”

  Felix beamed and lifted a heavy case, thrusting it into his arms. “That’s why Chakrit made ten sets!”

  Isn’t that a bit excessive? Ace set down the case. “So… Kazuya, is he okay?”

  “He’s doing some physiotherapy. Leonhart gave him a prosthetic leg, and he’s getting used to it.”

  “That’s good.” Ace looked up at him. “When can I join the rest? I’d better start training or I’ll fall behind…”

  Felix avoided his gaze. “Not soon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve decided you need some special help,” Felix explained. “Given the circumstances, I got a good friend of mine to help you catch up.”

  “H-How long?”

  “Thirteen weeks.”

  “That’s a whole university semester!” Ace exclaimed.

  “I didn’t decide on that duration. He did. Now, get changed and I’ll bring you to him!” Felix eagerly handed Ace his clothes as well as a haversack with his belongings. “He should be here already.”

  ***

  “F-Felix, I’m scared…” Ace tried to hide behind Felix, but he nudged him forward.

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  Felix had brought him to the old gymnasium that was undergoing renovation. He mentioned that it was where he used to train. The warm dawn light bounced off the dust particles that hung in the air. Ace spied a lonesome and gloomy presence at the far end of the spacious room. He squinted and caught the gaze of a pair of piercing green eyes, which watched them keenly as they entered.

  Ace gulped and clutched his retracted staff close to his chest.

  “Just stay here,” Felix said and approached the stranger cloaked in darkness. Ace watched Felix wave his arms energetically, a wide smile plastered across his face. After some back and forth as well as encouragement on Felix’s part, he managed to drag the newcomer out from the shadows.

  “Introducing Mr Ambiguous, Dante Higashino! The ex-sorcerer brought out of retirement by yours truly!” Felix said, putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling the man down slightly so they were of the same height.

  He’s tall, Ace gulped.

  “Good afternoon, Ace.” The blonde-haired man brushed off Felix and bowed. His voice was deep and had a slight rasp. Every word he uttered had the same tone, to the point that he sounded uninterested.

  “Hello,” Ace returned the gesture, “Mr–”

  “I believe this man would have filled you in on what I am here for. Before we start, I would like to say that there is no need for formalities. You can just call me by my given name. No ‘sensei’, no ‘san’, nothing.”

  “Isn’t that a little rude?” Ace blurted.

  Dante answered his question with silence.

  Although Dante was only slightly taller than Felix, Ace realised that the height difference between him and Felix did not feel as jarring as that between him and Dante. His formidable presence made him even smaller. Unlike Felix, Dante was dressed more formally, wearing a black blazer over a burgundy turtleneck. Ace noticed that he wore three identical rings, all pitch-black with red ornate carvings. However, the one on his left index finger was the only one that seemed to pulse, unlike the other two on the right hand, giving it the illusion that it was alive.

  Ace craned his neck to look up at Dante and met his piercing green eyes. Dante had a major case of eye bags as well as a small mole at the corner of his left eye.

  That jawline can cut paper, Ace thought to himself as he tore his eyes away. He caught a glimpse of his reflection on his staff. The God Hands certainly broke a couple of patterns when they chose me.

  There was a small voice in him that told him that he had seen Dante somewhere before. However, no matter how hard he racked his brain, the answer eluded him.

  “I left the Sanctum because of personal reasons. Reasons you have no business knowing,” Dante said. “However, I got called back by your teacher.”

  “You should be honoured that I went over to get you,” Felix said. “He was my friend–”

  “An honour that I would rather not have,” Dante cut Felix off.

  “He’s an Aberrant as well. When it comes to this whole Aberrant jig, he’s more experienced than I.” Felix added without missing a beat, giving a hearty slap on Dante’s shoulder. “An Aberrant teaching a fellow Aberrant just fits so well! What a stroke of genius by yours truly!”

  Dante rolled his eyes and side-stepped away from him. “There is one thing you need to understand when you are under my guidance,” he said. “Felix and I have completely different mindsets. I hope you are clear about that.”

  “Okay…”

  “While I disagree with the higher-ups’ byzantine way of handling things, I still believe in some form of rules and regulations,” he added. “During these thirteen weeks, I’ll be training you. One hair out of line and I will hand you back to Felix.”

  “I’ll work hard!” Ace promised. “I won’t waste your time.”

  Dante let out a long exhale. “Before we formally start lessons, I want to see your… level of mastery.”

  An evaluation test? But I didn’t prepare for it! Ace stiffened up on the spot. His mind and body felt sluggish from the long hiatus, but judging by Dante’s tone, he had to perform.

  “Let us see how well Felix has taught you,” Dante said, taking off his blazer and handing it to Felix. It turned out that he was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck and a harness which served as a holster to store a sword. Something resembling an arm compression sleeve covered his left arm.

  “Be gentle with him,” Felix said. “Remember what I taught you, especially the trump card!”

  Ace broke out in a cold sweat. He wanted to dig a hole to bury himself in there and then. “To pass, you have to land one hit,” Dante said. “You may start whenever you are ready.”

  Ace took a moment to assess Dante. He was tall, which meant that he should aim for the legs. He lunged forward and took a swipe at them with his staff.

  Dante stepped aside with ease and effortlessly dodged his consecutive attacks.

  “You just thought, ‘He’s tall, so I’ll strike his legs to make him fall’,” he said. “Simplify your thoughts too much, and your next actions become easy to read. Low-grade phantoms will rip you apart.”

  Ace let out a frustrated shout and aimed for Dante’s neck with his staff. Dante leaned back, and in the next moment, he found himself holding nothing but air.

  Eh?! Ace glanced at his empty hands. Before he could react, Dante grabbed him by the collar and tossed him aside.

  “You are as good as done at this rate.”

  “I’m not finished yet!”

  Ace clapped his hands together and looked up at the ceiling.

  “Vision Magnification: Ollie!” He enlarged his dog and brought it down on Dante.

  It made Dante look.

  Ace seized this opportunity to close the gap between them, giving himself a boost by concentrating the energy in his legs. He hunched and aimed to get a blow from down below.

  The trump card.

  “Hit him where it hurts!” Felix cheered.

  Two things happened. First, Dante caught his fist. Second, he slammed him down face-first onto the cold, hard gymnasium floor, twisting his left arm behind his back.

  The metal armour creaked under the pressure. Ace slapped the floor until Dante released him.

  “Ooh!” Felix winced as a winded Ace sprawled on the floor. The vision had dissipated above him, blue Essence fluttering toward the ground.

  Dante cast a dirty look at Felix. “I will not fall for unclassy shots like this.”

  Ace groaned as he rose to his feet. His body ached, and his pride was bruised. He did not do as well as he thought he would.

  “Hmm…” Dante took out a palm-sized notepad and a red pen. “I would give you 15 out of 30 for content and 10 out of 20 for language. 25 out of 50.”

  Why is he grading me like he’s grading an essay? Ace felt his stomach churn as he watched Dante scribble in the notepad.

  “Your use of distractionary tactics to get near me salvaged your grade,” Dante added. “Your incantations, however, were rushed and sloppy.”

  “He just woke up,” Felix pointed out. “You don’t have to be that harsh…”

  “You fight like you are swatting flies. Lousy.” Dante stabbed the pen on paper with finality.

  Ace bowed his head. “Thirteen weeks, nothing more.” Dante turned his back on him. “It is not my fault if you fail to make full use of it.”

  We don’t really click, do we? Ace thought as he massaged his sore back. He regretted eating before this, as he almost threw up when he got thrown by Dante.

  Dante snatched his blazer from Felix. “Get your things. We won’t be staying here for the time being,” he said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Yokohama.”

  Ace’s hair stood on end. The way Dante said it sounded as though Yokohama was a slaughterhouse.

  ***

  “Ah, before you go, I still have something to say.” Felix dusted off Ace’s shoulders. Dante stood to one side, letting him finish whatever he had to do.

  Felix spoke to Ace in a hushed voice. “I know he’s a bit scary, but I promise that he’s not. He’ll warm up to you for sure. Besides, you guys are the only Aberrants in this century. I’m sure there’s lots to talk about!”

  “But his face,” Ace whispered, looking him dead in the eye. “Why is he so grumpy? He looks like the guy from Sesame Street! T-The one with the thick eyebrows… Maybe not that thick.”

  Felix clapped a hand over his mouth, stifling a laugh. He could swear that Dante glared in their direction. “It’s a pretty good way to put it, but he’s like that,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

  “You said he’s your friend, right?”

  “To be exact, we’re in the same class. We’re of the same age as well.”

  “He’s thirty?!” Ace’s voice cracked with incredulity. “He looks forty…”

  Felix snorted. Dante was definitely staring at them. “Alright, I don’t think he likes to be held up,” he patted Ace on the back. “Have fun!”

  The young sorcerer joined Dante’s side. Both stepped into a one-way teleportation array that would take them to Dante’s car, which was parked far away from the Sanctum. Felix raised his hand to bid farewell, but decided to put it down.

  “See you later!” Felix activated the array. A warm orange aura filled the gymnasium until the teleportation was complete.

  Only Ace waved goodbye, but that was fine.

  All that mattered was that Dante was back and Ace was going to be alright.