17.

  The One hundred and Seventh demon hunter academy class had spent the beginning of the year showing themselves to be quite the formidable force of hunters. Hunters that would be greatly welcomed in the ranks of the forces of good against the below.

  Cole, Benny, and Gregor were on their way to one of the most important, and required, events in the academy. The Sorcery Aptitude inspection. Weapon summoning and basic fighting skills were one thing, but only certain hunters could bend the will of the physical world and perform feats unthinkable to mortal minds.

  Benny looked to Cole, “So we’re about to learn Magic? Second question is Magic real?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it’s real, and we’re not about to learn Magic, as you say, we’re about to learn if we can do Sorcery. Not everyone hunter can do it,” Cole said.

  “So Magic is real, how about that?” Benny asked, “What about Magicians?” Benny asked.

  “Magicians?” Gregor raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, they do Sorcery, are we going to be able to learn how to do stuff like they do? Are Magicians using this kind of Sorcery and not telling anyone?” he asked.

  “Depends,” Cole said, “Some are legit, know the ways of Sorcery as they bend the rules of the mortal oath to make a buck, they’re mostly harmless so the Order looks the other way, and some are just clever tricksters,” Cole said.

  “So, some Magicians are doing legit Sorcery, guys like David Copperfield?” Benny asked.

  Gregor spoke up, “Simple trickster, mere sleight of hand and illusion,” he said.

  “David Blane?” Benny asked.

  “Okay, he’s legit, he knows some dark Sorcery, he can do wild stuff,” Cole said.

  “Penn and Teller?”

  “Penn, no, he’s a trickster, Teller, however, is a sorcerer of the highest ability,” Gregor said.

  “How do you do Sorcery? Can I do Sorcery? I mean, I never expected a letter from Hogwarts, but if I can do Sorcery, I think I would have figured it out by now,” Benny said.

  Gregor held the door to the classroom open for his friends, “Being that you are of the Mortal World, you’ve likely lacked the ingredients necessary for Sorcery spells,” he said.

  “Ingredients? What like the eye of a newt and tail of a salamander, like in the old stories about witches?” Benny asked.

  “Something like that, come on let’s get our seats,” Cole said, leading Benny and Gregor to some chairs in the back row. Cole watched as Angelica entered, she was with one of her friends, Penny, and she had some sap carrying her books for her.

  “I’ll be sitting in the front row of course,” she announced, trying to pretend no one else could hear her, “As an angel, I have natural Sorcery aptitude, in fact, my Sorcery is actually stronger by way of my divine blood, don’t be jealous though, some of us are just blessed, what can I say?” she said as she took a dutiful seat at the front of the room.

  “I’m sure you’ll do great,” GUY said, “I got to get to Demonology, are you sure you have anything, I mean, I can cut if you need me to get something from your room, it’s no problem,” he said.

  “No, I have everything, but thank you for your noble service,” she reached up and put a hand on his cheek. Cole watched this boy’s knees get weak. “So, I’ll see you tonight, we’re having a study session in the library,” he said.

  “Of course,” Angelica said, “Studying is very important to our education, I’ll be happy to lead a study session with fellow hunters later, but I have class now,” she smiled, “I’ll see you tonight, you can go now,” she said, waving him away as he obeyed and left to rush to get his own books and head to his own class.

  “Oh man, your girlfriend is here,” Benny said, bumping an elbow into Cole’s gut as he saw Tav enter the class.

  “She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my not girlfriend,” Cole said.

  “Well, your not girlfriend is coming this way,” he said.

  “Hey, can I sit with you guys, I like to stay in the back of the class, less chance I’ll get called on,” she said.

  “Of course, you can,” Gregor said, “Cole, Benny?” he turned to the other two boys as Tav looked at Cole and smiled.

  “Yeah, sure sit with us, but you know the Sorcery Aptitude test is going to call all of us eventually,” Cole said.

  With the students seated, the professor entered. Professor Bates was a portly fellow, with a long ponytail and fat cheeks, “Good afternoon students, I am professor Bates and I am here to test the new class for their aptitude with Sorcery,” he said, writing his name on the chalkboard, “Sorcery can be a powerful weapon against the forces of the below, but even if you find you don’t have an aptitude, you can still be a Hunter of the highest order,” he looked over the class and his eyes met Coles. Cole shook his head and silently begged the professor not to put him into the conversation.

  “Longdren, you know your brother Christopher is one of the aptest users of Sorcery I’ve had the pleasure of teaching,” he smiled, “That said I also taught your brothers Cecil and Colin, they were less than stellar in the art. I would say that your family possesses an average capability for Sorcery, with six brothers it was bound by probability that one would be proficient, so don’t think I’m expecting anything of you,” he said.

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  Cole bit his lip and just nodded, “Just here to learn,” he said.

  “I should hope so,” Professor Bates went to the side of the room, to an old oak chest he opened and removed several vials from, “For the aptitude test, I’ve several vials of pure demonic blood. Brought to us thanks to the works of the great hunters in the academy’s employ. Monster blood, teeth, claw, hearts, and all the fleshly reagents of the Demonic Race, with the proper knowledge, can be used to bend the physical world and perform acts of Sorcery. I have acquired enough vials for all of you to come up one by one, and show off what you can do,” he said. Professor Bates raised his hand and looked over the audience “The first to test their skill will be…” Cole shifted back in his chair, hoping he wouldn’t be picked first as he was in Weapon selection. The last thing Cole wanted was more attention on himself.

  “You know what, do we have any first generations? I want to show that Sorcery is obtainable to anyone, despite generations of the practice, despite your blood or lack thereof,” he said.

  Cole looked over and saw Benny raising his hand, slowly and with a bit of nerve, “First generation,” he said, standing up, “I don’t know anything about Sorcery, I saw a few hunters perform it, but I’ll be honest I have no idea how this works,” he said.

  “Come on up, come on up,” Professor Bates said, taking a vial of demon blood and opening its top. Every vial had a top and a small dropper on it. Benny made his way to the front of the class.

  “We’ll be using demon blood today, hold out your dominate hand,” he said.

  Benny obeyed, holding out his right hand. Professor Bates drizzled a few drops of Demon blood on the top of his hand and asked, “Try to raise a book from the shelf,”

  Benny closed his eyes, not knowing what he was doing, and concentrated on the shelf. To his surprise one of the many tomes on it shook off and fell to the ground, “Woah, did I seriously just do that? How did that happen?” he asked.

  “Demon Blood carries the power of the below, that power can be bent by mortals to our own ends. Bring a vial of Demon blood into a hunt, and you can find you can do amazing things,” he went to Benny’s hand and dripped a few more drops. With his finger, Professor Bates drew a circle on Benny’s hand, and then with two swipes drew a cross in the circle, “Try again,” he said, “Get me one book, doesn’t matter which,” he said.

  “Okay,” Benny held up his hand, closing his eyes as he pulled for one of the books. One book did fly up towards them, and the rest of the shelf jumped out and fell to the floor.

  Benny caught the book, “That seems way more powerful, it’s like how we summon our weapons,” he said.

  “Yes, that is the power the symbology can give, to draw a Demon’s blood in a symbol on your body can give great and exciting powers to you. However, Demon blood is quite the commodity to obtain. When you go on your field hunts be sure to not underestimate the power the blood of the demons you slay can give you,” he said. Throughout this class, you will learn several simple symbols that you can paint with Demon Blood that will give you access to many abilities. He went to his desk and retrieved a towel, coming back and reaching for Benny’s hand and wiping it clean.

  “Who’s next,” Professor Bates scanned the crowd after shooing Benny back to his seat, “You, Longdren boy,” he said, “Your family has your own Sorcery, divine blessed, though I’ve noticed your brothers, save for one, have never been that adapt with the craft,” he said.

  “So, you want me to come down there and embarrass myself?” Cole asked.

  “I want to see what you can do,” he said, “Come on down,” he requested.

  Cole, obeying his professor, got out of his chair and came down to the front of the class.

  “You’re from an old family, you surely know some symbols, go ahead, try one,” Professor Bates said, handing Cole the vial of Demon blood.

  “Okay, I know this one,” Cole drizzled some blood on his hand, and with his other finger drew a circle and long line from his hand and up to his elbow, “This symbol can let me do this,” he said, pointing to a practice dummy at the other side of the class and ripping out its hay stuffing.

  “Impressive,” Professor Bates said as the class applauded, Angelica leading the group.

  “Only impressive because it’s something that’s not moving, hitting a moving target with that spell is much harder,” Cole said, remembering Christopher trying to teach him how to use Sorcery on some demons his dad collected for them to train with. Cole took the cloth from the Professors desk and wiped the blood from his arm.

  “Professor,” Angelica raised her hand as Cole returned to his seat, “If I could, I would like to perform my Sorcery for you,” she said, “I am of Angelic birth, so my aptitude is so natural I need not even Demon blood,” she said.

  “An angel in my class, very interesting, you say you have your own divine power, no need for reagents?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Angelica said, stepping up and making her way to the front of the class. As she passed Cole on his way back to his seat, she gave him a smile that Cole returned with a roll of his eyes. She met the professor and took the vial of Demon Blood, squeezing a few drops on her hand, “You see, my divine power lets me purge the evil from this world,” she held up her hand, and showed the class how the demon blood fizzled and in small puffs of smoke faded from her hand. “And angel needs not use the tools of demons to bend this world,” She held her hand up, and then, just as if she was summoning her sword, she held out her hand and a book came to her, “Demonic ways,” she ran her hand over the title, “I should destroy this text, that is the way of angels,” she said as small fires began to ember at the corners of the book.

  Professor Bates grabbed the book from the angel and batted out the flames, “That’s quite enough, young angel girl, these tomes are important for our study, granted a demonic tome holds less weight than the word of the Divine, and while we practice with them, we can’t go destroying them,” he said.

  Angelica went back to her seat, sitting straight and feeling so proud of herself.

  “Next up,” Professor Bates looked over the class, and found Tav, “You, alabaster girl, why don’t we see what kind of Sorcery you can use,” he said.

  Tav had to swallow her nerves, “No, me, no I’m just here to learn, I’m not that good with Sorcery,” she said, “Everyone has to take this class, that’s the only reason I’m here, I can promise you that, I’m not one who you want to see use Sorcery,” she said.

  “We’re going to go through everyone today, step up, step up, let’s see what kind of Sorcery you can wield,” he said.

  Tav came to the front of the class. She took the vial of Demon blood and put just three drops on her hand, she drew a circle, and with a line going down the back of her hand and a light slash at the base of her wrist, she held her hand up towards one of the practice dummies at the other side of the class and closed her eyes.

  There was a pause, everyone watching as the dummy exploded. Tav opened her eyes, and Cole noticed a look of disappointment on her face.

  “That is power,” Professor Bates clapped his hands, “You could be a Demon Hunter of the highest order,” he said, “Who is your father? What blood do you have that could lend itself to magical talents as bold as this,” he asked.

  “Joseph Cosgrove,” Tav said, holding her head down.

  “Cosgrove, mighty hunter he was, you truly do carry the blood of the man who slayed the EverDemon,” he said.

  “All right Tav!” Cole said, joining Professor Bates in applause. Tav shot him a look, and Cole couldn’t help but smile at how embarrassed the cute Half-Demon, his not-girlfriend, was.

  Benny and Gregor joined in applauding and were then followed by the rest of the class. The only person not applauding was Angelica, who pouted her lips thinking that this kind of praise should only be reserved for the Creator and his servants of the divine.