The World I Knew Isn't The Same Anymore

Chapter 13 Mock Battles

The first week of October is coming to an end. It marks the time of year where the trees are shedding their last leaves, the wind grows chillier and people begin decorating with pumpkins.

Bree sits silently partly slumped down in her seat of the class lecture hall. She's cozily wrapped in her white over sized sweater making her darker features pop out even more. Sitting on either side of her is Izabel and Lacey, behind her sits Chase and Ethan and some of the other boys: Cade, Justin and Aiden.

Most of the class is silent or scrolling through social media on their phones, as it is Monday morning and the majority of them lack sleep from the night before. She hasn't mentioned the events of the weekend to anyone, and Chase has kept pretty quiet about it too. It seems as though the rest of her classmates are oblivious to the events as well.

When their professor, Stan, enters the room the students seem to shut their phones off and straighten themselves up in their seats. He's quite a big guy, broad shoulders and muscular legs. His skin is dark and his head nearly shaved, and his eyes are the most interesting to her as they seem to be a light hazel color, lighter than the hazel in her eyes.

Stan sets the black coffee he was holding down on the table top behind him, then claps his hands to get everyone's attention. "Good morning class," his voice radiates through the hall. "Who can tell me why demonology is important?"

It's ironic to see her class mates raise their hands, as it's such a typical behavior that grows on children in regular public schools. But this school seems to be anything but regular.

Stan points towards Jane and she's the one to answer, her voice delicate and thickly coated in a French accent. "Because demons have different tiers, different abilities and poisons. You kill demons in different ways, and you should know what you're up against when going into a battle."

"Correct!" Stan booms. "We know there are lower level demons, greater demons and princes of Hell. Some are airborne, water borne, thrive on the grounds or in fire. Now how do we kill a demon?"

"With an enchanted weapon," Chase is the one to answer this question, blurting it out without having a hand raised. "A blade, gun, whip, etcetera."

Bree remembers him telling her this before, and something in her itches to get her hands on one of these enchanted weapons. She recalls that Chase has a particular interest in weapons - especially guns.

"You are correct, Chase," Stan reinforces. "Now what happens when you are faced by a demon without any weapons? Or if you cannot fight with a weapon? Or what if the demon is stronger than your typical weapon? What do you try then?"

The class remains silent for a moment, and even Bree knows that they've been trained to fight and kill with weapons. The magic that they wield is a more like a tool.

To everyone's surprise, Francis is the one to raise his hands. He's known to be quiet and reserved and not a big participator. "You kill them with your magic. For down worlders that's a bit harder to do - unless I suck their blood dry but demon blood isn't very tasty," he makes a sound that sounds like a chuckle. "But for people like Izabel, she has a great chance at winning, especially because demons hate light."

Bree pokes at Izabel's shoulder and gives her a proud smile, and Lacey reciprocates the same gesture.

"Absolutely correct!" Stan sounds fascinated. "The majority of what we learn is to kill with weapons, as they are highly affective, but in the upper level classes you learn to utilize your god given abilities. It is true that many of the demons you may encounter in this world are lower levels, but there are chances you may encounter one that requires much more skill to defeat."