Conquest Of The Fallen: Dark Dominions

DONG! DONG! DOOONG!

The ringing bells of the academy tolled as Israfel made his way through the ghostly streets for the spired citadel. He was glad he had showered first at Yemaya's hotel room. He wouldn't have time to hit the dorms before slipping in for class.

With the Grand Tourniquet Inn in his rearview, Rafel fondly reminisced on what he had done all night to four devastatingly hot women as his carriage pulled up to the citadel.

It was a pompous gray tower of several storeys and held various enigmatic classes for students, suited to the avatars of the four Arcs:

The blue [Pegasus] of water and spirit.

The rising [Phoenix] of fire and blood.

The golden [Griffin] of sun and wind.

The grim [Raven] of shadow and death.

As Rafel hurried in after several mage pupils of the academy, he heard the announcements on air, and recognized Erika's coy voice paraded through the mic glyphs. "Hello, and good morning, school of magicals. A quick tip to the First Years this bright day: the tests are beginning this week. This will be part of our assessment for the school year.

And each witch must show a good start for a chance at leveling up with their mates come fall season.

First Years are of course assigned Sophomore counselors and mentors in the Alumni board, for guidance through the assessment period. This is your Student President, signing out for the day. Stay magical, Corynthians!"

"Shit." Rafel muttered as he ran up stone stairs.

Tests?

He didn't think it would hit so soon. But alas, two quick months had gone by. An assessment for the term was fair. If he had been at the dorm the past few nights, he would've surely heard of it. But again, he wouldn't take back a single minute he'd spent with the ocean goddess and her harem.

Rafel leaped the entire case up to the next level with his [Kangaroo Mutant] Hell Art. He didn't want to be late for his first class.

He cleared into the corridor with the lime floors just as the soft chiming of the clock striking nine hit the tower. Rafel was the last one in the classroom. It was [Dark Arts Cultivation]. For his bi-magical aura as a member of the Raven Arc, he needed to ace this course. If he did, he might even get a chance with the well respected Sentinel Corps in his Second Year.

The tutor of the DAC Historia, Dr. Blood, was in front of the room and welcomed the students.

"Good morning, my young witches. I look at you all, and I see promise for our Empire. While we may yet be in the muck of tyranny from the Usurper, in your eyes, there is yet hope. The future of the continent does not rest in the hands of Hellions. And no, this is not racist. I am a demon too."

The classroom broke into soft laughter as Rafel quietly dipped into a free seat. He pulled off his midnight jacket to hang over the back of his chair, thinking on how the Usurper Dr. Blood spoke about was one of his girlfriend's dad. The child of the most hated political figure in all the nine realms went to the academy.

If this didn't say all about the liberal ways of the [C. A. W], Rafel didn't know what did.

He was repping Raven Arc in his onyx blazer today.

"—which is why you need to take this course seriously. Most of you here are Phoenixes and Ravens, but DAC is no less important than the sunfyre and skyling the Griffins study. There's a reason each day has a night. You all here, you are the night. You are significant." Dr. Blood was saying.

"Good. Now, we begin. Your assessment for DAC class is to reanimate the deceased Familiars that shall be handed out to you."

Rafel heaved in his seat. 'Thank fuck.'

Reanimation was easy. Easy enough for him. Stepping it up a notch—or at least, several, would be resurrection, but he was glad Dr. Blood didn't ask that. In reanimating the dead, the bodies were still cadavers. Living solely depended upon the master who had sired the creature.

Reanimated monsters were zombified. They had no life of their own.

In the instant their masters were killed, the creatures just as quickly fell back to decomposition.

'And luckily for me, I've been reanimating fiends since I popped the first head of that fucking Mauler in Hel's amphitheater.' Rafel smiled to himself. He looked around. His classmates didn't share his jolt. They had crestfallen expressions. No way dudes liked test week. Among, the only person in his clic was Rosamunde.

She blew him an air kiss when Dr. Blood wasn't watching.

Dr. Blood's TA, a slender mermaid with her own scales visible to her forearms, went round the class with trays floating in the air around her by water magic. For every table she walked past, she would flick her studded wrist, and one of the trays would drop down before a student. She smiled warmly at Rafel's chair. And Rosa rolled her eyes.

The trays were silver and wide, and held cadavers.

The Teaching Assistant finished her rounds and Dr. Blood began speaking again.

"Before you all, you have your creatures. These organisms you shall be reanimating, with your own intrinsic mana, in an afforded timeframe. Look upon the beasts."

Everyone in the class turned their gazes down to their surgical trays. But on the sides were no instruments for breaking skin. No. This experiment was to be conducted without physical contact. Dr. Blood began moving between tables, watching his students observe their specimens.

Many in the room got frogs. A few got cats and mutts. Rosa got a komodo dragon; Rafel wasn't surprised.

He got a crow.

But he was surprised by the nerdy boy in the red jacket beside him. The poor lad got a grizzly. The brown bear almost didn't fit on his table. "No way he's gonna raise that!" Someone murmured. Rafel sent his neighbor a quick sympathetic smile, before turning again to his own still crow, and the macabre feathers on the bird, black as the blazer hanging off his seat.

Dr. Blood, the teaching Professor of the DAC class instructed his young witches in the making.

"You know the drill; infuse your dead Familiar with potency of dark sorcery from your Mana Cores. I advise to pull on your greatest source of magic for this. For teens your age, it is mostly emotion. Use it. You can channel however you want. Word of spells or silent casting.

Whichever is fine. Just make the creature live again. This is your test.

As since the dawn of time, every Dark Magus and Magess learned to conquer necromancy, for it is the elemental form of the Dark Arts. Your evolution from your current roles as [Apprentices], [Novices], to [Caster] depends on this demonstration. This, is the witching hour.

Take note of the timeframe. You will get not a second more. Okay, folks. I think we're ready." Dr. Blood raised his hand, signalling for his TA to hit the stopwatch. "—AND GO!

Your time starts now. Twenty minutes, people. TWENTY MINUTES."

Rafel sat back on his seat and watched everyone work. The boy; his neighbor had worked up a sweat, and so far, his bear only twitched a limb. "Wake up, you fat cunt!" The boy sulked. Rafel laughed, but did fuck all about his own Familiar. It wasn't out of overconfidence or anything.

Frankly, he was just bored.

His 12yr old self had being animating [Golem] from mud just to pass the time until his Aunt was through with her office hours as Queen of the Underworld.

He could raise the crow in a second.

He caught Dr. Blood's interested eyes on him. His TA's as well. But hers was a smidge more interested. He noticed the added warmth there. It wasn't until the fifth minute to stop time that Rafel finally pushed up his stool and put his hand over the black bird, palm down.

He had spared fifteen minutes to his colleagues.

[Ding!] Peitho tried to interfere.

Rafel cut her off politely. 'It's fine, Peitho. I got this.'

He felt his [Mana Core] charge with demon energy. He felt the magic ebb in his chest, like a ball of fire growing in the gullet of a dragon. The red flame surged in his chest. Until Rafel could hear it: a little, fiery heartbeat, chucking away to the ticking clock. He didn't even need pull on the boon of Lilith's [Resurrection Amulet] for this.

Thinking on what his Auntie had done to Corazón, memories of her wasn't his happy place.

Rafel abjured her out of his mind and slammed the door on her fat ass.

He didn't even know his work was done, until he heard it.

CAW! CAW!

Rafel looked down to find the bird flapping its leathery, obsidian wings and cawing for him. It tapped its beak a few times on the tray and hopped up for Rafel's forearm. Talons clutched into his skin. The reanimated crow met his amber eyes with its black ones.

CAW!

"Time's up!" Dr. Blood pronounced.

Rafel heard murmurs arise just as quickly. A majority of the DAC class had been successful in bringing their dead creatures to a semblance of life. Rosamunde sat with a healthy komodo dragon trailing her lap. Even bear boy had the grizzly sitting at his side, on the ground beside the table. It was nice to watch, if you fancied the darker things.

Dr. Blood looked around with approval in his crimson eyes. Now that the students had gotten used to his blood-filled gaze, he wasn't scary anymore. "Well done." He applauded them. "Well done." The boy with the grizzly bear as Familiar spoke up. "But it ain't fair, Dr.

Blood. Why'd the hell did I get a goddamn bear, and the others got fucking pets!"

Dr. Blood only smiled and looked steadfast into his eyes. Enjoy new adventures at мѵʟ

"Magic ain't fair, kid, especially...dark magic."

He took the boy's accent. And when the class rumbled up in chuckles, he lifted a hand to quiten the din. "We trifle with the arcane, young blood. You can't expect the magical world to go the way you want. Even the mortal one isn't fair. You get what you get, my young wizard, and you learn to make the best of it—or in this case, the worst.

This is the point of this test.

Alright. Leave your Familiars be. Class dismissed!"

The bells rang loudly. Chairs scraped as everyone shuffled out. Rafel ran into a soft body on the way out. The warmth alone made him pause. "What the shit?" He jibed. "Can't you look where you're go—" The words fell out his lips when he met eyes bluer than the ocean.

"Corazón!" He brightened, visibly.

She was stiff in her reply. "We need to talk."