Black Coin

VI

[Chapter 6: The Abnormal Student, Falling Sky]

Seven sat on the edge of his bed in the ore-walled room, while staring intensely at the black coin. He held it between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing it until his skin turned white. Nnngh. He poked the hole in the center of the coin. He shook it next to his ear. Clink. Nothing happened.

"What did you do with it?" he muttered, his voice sounding hollow. "That was a Spirit Armament. My first one. And you just... swallowed it." He felt a deep frustration boiling in his gut. In this world, an armament was everything. it could be a sword, a shield, or even a pair of boots that made you jump higher. Having it stolen by his own necklace was a cruel joke. He checked his golden status screen again, but under 'Spirit Armament,' it still said 'None.' The black coin was being stubborn.

He didn't have much time to solve the mystery. The rules were strict: all students had to return to the portal station after four hours. He took a few minutes to catch his breath, while feeling the warmth of the ten spirit points still buzzing in his veins. Then, he stood up and walked back to the small Portal in the middle of his Room.

Vrummm—Zip!

The world twisted and then snapped back into place. Seven was now back in the human overworld, while standing on the white ceramic platform of the school station. The air here felt thick and heavy compared to the thin, and icy air of the spirit dimension.

He stepped off the platform and immediately felt hundreds of eyes were on him. Most of his classmates were already gathered in the hall. While some were still in the spirit dimension. They looked clean. Their uniforms were neat, and they were chatting excitedly about the shops they had seen or the cool statues in the settlement plaza. None of them looked like they had actually fought anything.

Then they saw Seven.

His shirt was shredded at the shoulder, and soaked in a mixture of dark red blood and melted snow. His skin looked pale, and he was covered in dirt and grime. He looked like he had been dragged through a meat grinder.

"Whoa, look at Seven!" a boy named Leo shouted, while pointing and laughing. "Did you trip over a trash can in your assigned plaza, or did a wild cat decide you looked like a scratching post?"

"Man, you look like garbage," another student chimed in. Hehe. "I bet he saw a rabbit and got so scared he fell down a flight of stairs or something. Typical markless loser."

Seven didn't even blink. He just walked past them, with his face like stone. Step. Step. Step. He found their laughter and amusement pathetic. They had spent their four hours playing tourists while he had been fighting for his life.

Near the front of the hall, the teachers were waiting. Mr. Han looked at Seven and adjusted his glasses, with his face full of confusion. He knew the portal wasn't supposed to work for Seven at all. But standing next to him was Miss Bernice, who was also confused. She was a tall woman with sharp, and observant eyes.

Bernice stared at the blood on Seven’s shoulder. She knew the statistics. Only 00.01% of people were born without a mark, and they were strictly forbidden—and physically unable—to enter the spirit gates. Yet, here was Mo Seven, looking like he had just survived a death match in the frozen tundra. A particular location in the spirit dimension.

She didn't bother to say anything out loud. She didn't join the other teachers in their whispering and gossip. She just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, while watching Seven as he took his place at the back of the line. She could feel that something was different about him.

"Abnormal," she whispered to herself, with her voice lost in the noise of the mocking students. She decided right then that she wasn't going to let this kid out of her sight.

---

.....

*****

The hyper-hover school bus drifted away from the spirit gate station, its anti-gravity pads were humming in a low, vibrating tune. Hummm-vruuum. Inside the bus, the air conditioning was blasting, but it couldn't hide the smell of sweat and dried blood coming from the back seat.

"Look at the 'Hero' of the Frozen Tundra," Jax mocked, while leaning over his seat to point at Seven. "Did you try to hug a cactus, or did you just lose a fight to a snowdrift?"

The bus erupted in laughter. Hahaha! Good one! Even some of the girls giggled into their cam-braces as they swiped through galactic social media. Seven didn't bother to look at them. He leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window, while watching the neon signs of Hope City fly past. His fingers were wrapped around the black coin, rubbing along the strange carvings. "What are you?" he thought. "Are you a ghost? A weapon? Why did you eat my spirit armament dust?" He felt like the coin was a big puzzle that he couldn't solve.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, Zero!" Jax yelled, while being annoyed that he was being ignored. "Maybe he’s gone deaf from the cold," Kael added, throwing a crumpled piece of paper at Seven’s head. Thwip. It bounced off his ear.

Seven didn't flinch. Instead He was staring at a distant speck in the afternoon sky. It wasn't a bird or a civilian on flying sword. It was coming down fast, while trailing a thick plume of black smoke and orange fire.

SCREEEEEEE—BOOM!

The sound was like a mountain shattering. A small, and jagged aircraft smashed right through the top floor of a skyscraper three blocks ahead. Glass rained down like glittering diamonds. The ship didn't stop there. It plowed through the building and slammed into the center of the road, skidding across the asphalt with a shower of sparks. Screeeech-CRASH!

The bus driver slammed on the brakes. ERRRRRRRRK! The bus came to an instant, and jarring stop. Students were instantly thrown forward, while screaming as they hit the seats in front of them. Thud! Oof! Help! "Everyone stay down!" Miss Bernice shouted immediately, her voice cutting through the panic.

Outside, the street was a scene from a nightmare. People were revising or abandoning their hover-cars and running in every direction. Patter-patter-patter. The peaceful atmosphere of the city is now gone. A thick fog of smoke rose from the wreckage of the ship.

Then, the metal hatch of the crashed ship hissed. Pshhhhh. And A massive hand gripped the edge of the door.

Seven’s heart stopped. Gulp. He had recognized the creature immediately from his military history classes. It was a Rakshasa, a low-level soldier of the alien Rakshasa Race.

The alien crawled out of the wreckage, and it looked eerily human. It had two arms, two legs, and a face just like a human, but its scale was terrifying. It had the mass and size of a mountain of muscle—like the Hulk from the old comic books. Its skin was bruised and bleeding purple ichor from the crash, yet it moved with a rather deadly grace.

The most striking thing was its hair. It was jet black and spiky, while standing straight up as if it were constantly being pulled by an invisible magnet. While normal hair would fall or sway, this hair defied gravity completely. On each of its thick forearms, five jagged bone spikes protruded like organic daggers, while dripping with dark fluid. Gasp. The alien let out a wet, and guttural roar. GRAAAAAAAH! It was extremely injured, its chest was heaving as it clutched a deep wound in its side, but its eyes were full of pure, animal rage. It looked right at the school bus, its nostrils flaring.

"Oh no," Seven whispered, his hand tightening so hard on the black coin that it started to feel warm again. "It’s not dead."

Miss Bernice didn't even wait. She smashed the emergency lever on the bus door. Pshhh-clack! "Out! Everyone out now! Run away from this place!" she screamed. The students scrambled over each other, with a mess of elbows and panicked shouting. Stomp-stomp-stomp. They flooded onto the street like water from a broken pipe.

Seven was running with the crowd, with his boots hitting the hot asphalt. Huff. Huff. He looked back over his shoulder just as a cloud of dust begun to settled. The giant Rakshasa was limping toward a pile of smashed concrete and twisted rebar. Under the debris, was a little girl who was trapped. Her face was covered in grey dust, and she was sobbing. "Help! Mommy!" she wailed.

Waaaaah!

The alien didn't care about her tears. It raised one of its massive, and spiked arms, the five bone daggers glinting in the sunlight. It looked like it was going to squash her like a bug.

Seven’s feet slowed down. Skreeee. His heart was hammering against his ribs. Thump-thump. He knew he should keep on running. He was just a markless kid with no powers. But his body wouldn't let him leave the little girl behind.

"If I die here, I’m dying a hero again," Seven thought to himself, with a bitter smile touching his lips. "Those gods hated it the first time. Let’s see how they like a second round."

Just as he turned back toward the monster, the black coin on his chest instantly went crazy. It started vibrating so hard that it made his skin itch. Buzz-vruuum! A thick, and purple-black smoke exploded from the coin. It wasn't just smoke; it was the silver spirit dust from the Snow Wolf, but it had been changed. It was darker now, looking like it was stained by the coin’s power.

The dust swirled around Seven, sticking to his skin like magnetic ink. Zip! Snap!

[Notice: No God Spirit Armament obtained. Armor-type]

The golden voice rang in his head, but Seven didn't have time to even process it. He felt his body being encased in something cold and incredibly light.

In a heartbeat, he was no longer a kid in a shredded school uniform. He was covered in full-body black wolf armor. The metal was matte black, absorbing all the light around it. The helmet had a jagged, wolf-like snout with glowing purple slits for eyes. And Sharp, metallic fur-spikes ran down his spine and shoulders. His fingers ended in razor-sharp claws that hummed with a dark energy. Ving! Seven didn't know what spirit class this armor was. He didn't know if it was strong enough to stop a low level Rakshasa. But he felt a surge of raw, and wild power flowing through his muscles. He felt like a predator.

"Hey! Ugly!" Seven roared. His voice sounded different through the helmet. It sounded deeper and metallic. Grawl.

He didn't wait for a response. He dug his metal-clad toes into the street, while cracking the pavement, and launched himself forward. BOOM! He was a black blur, racing toward the giant alien before those bone spikes could reach the crying girl.

[End of Chapter]