The Talentless Boy Who Challenged the Devil

CHAPTER NINE: LIMP BODY OF KAEL

Kael had learned three things since arriving at Veylcrest Academy.

The first was that talent determined a student's worth.

The second was that wealth could turn even the cruelest behavior into an acceptable offense.

The third was that nobody cared when the weak were mistreated, provided the person mistreating them was strong enough.

He discovered the third lesson that morning in the western training courtyard.

Yesterday's examination had ended like all the others. No awakened talent. No explanation for his strange reactions. Nothing to prove he was anything more than a talentless student who had somehow earned a place at Veylcrest.

The memory followed him through his morning duties, souring his mood with every passing minute. 

He carried practice weapons toward the equipment hall, gripping them so tightly that the wooden handles pressed into his palms.

A sharp crash interrupted his thoughts.

A broken training sword lay scattered across the stone path. Beside it, a first-year student had stumbled against a weapons rack, his oversized uniform hanging loosely from his narrow shoulders.

Standing over him was Emily Vane, a second-year student whose body reinforcement talent allowed her to channel magical energy through her muscles.

Her family was wealthy, her combat record was impressive too, and her reputation for bullying lower-ranked students was even more impressive.

“How dare you break it?” Emily seethed.

The boy scrambled upright. “I didn't mean to. Someone pushed me, and I lost my balance.”

Emily glanced at the broken sword.

“That weapon costs more than your family's annual income!”

“I'll pay for it.”

“With what?”

Her friends laughed.

The boy lowered his head. “Please. Give me time. I'll find a way.”

Emily seized his wrist and twisted it behind his back.

He cried out.

“Perhaps we should break something of his,” Darius suggested from beside her. “Maybe he'll understand how expensive mistakes can be.”

Several students had gathered to watch. One complained that the boy should have been more careful. Another muttered that Emily was making too much noise before morning exercises.

But no one dared to move close to them.

“Let him go.”

Emily turned, a smug smile forming on her lips as Kael lowered the weapons he was carrying

“What did you say?”

“He apologized. Let him go.”

She released the boy's wrist. He stumbled away, clutching his injured hand, but Emily's attention had already shifted to Kael.

Her gaze settled on the blank emblem stitched onto his uniform.

“Well, look at that. The academy's newest charity case has decided to play hero.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

But Kael ignored it and made to leave, but stopped suddenly.

“Was breaking his wrist going to repair the sword?”

“No,” Emily replied with a smirk. “But watching him suffer might improve my mood.”

“Then you should find a better hobby.”

The laughter died, and Emily's friends exchanged glances.

She approached him slowly, like she was measuring her steps

“You have a habit of inviting trouble, don't you?”

Kael said nothing.

“I heard you couldn't awaken even the weakest talent.” She looked him over with open contempt. “Yet somehow, you think you're entitled to lecture me?”

“Huh!”

Her fist struck his cheek before he could react.

Pain burst across his face. Kael staggered, catching himself against the weapons rack as laughter erupted around him.

“Get up, talentless fool,” Emily said. “Even an F rank is better than you.”

Blood filled Kael's mouth.

He straightened slowly, his cheek throbbing.

“Are you finished?”

Emily's expression hardened.

She raised her hand again.

Before the blow could land, a deep bell rang across the academy.

Once.

Twice.

Then the entire courtyard shook beneath the force of a third strike.

The laughter stopped an, and a red light flared above the main building, spreading across the protective runes carved into the academy walls.

A voice boomed from the enchanted speakers.

“EMERGENCY ALERT. HOSTILE FORCES HAVE BREACHED THE EASTERN DEFENCES. ALL STUDENTS REPORT TO THEIR COMBAT POSITIONS. CIVILIANS ARE TO BE ESCORTED TO THE INNER SHELTERS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

For one suspended moment, nobody moved.

Then the courtyard erupted into chaos.

“An attack?”

“From where?”

“Get the weapons!”

Students scattered toward the equipment hall. Instructors rushed past them, shouting orders as the academy's protective barriers ignited above the rooftops.

Emily lowered her hand.

Her expression had changed. Whatever satisfaction she had found in humiliating Kael disappeared beneath the urgency of the alarm.

“Move!” Darius shouted at the gathering students.

Kael grabbed a practice sword from the weapons rack, but an instructor passing by snatched it from his hand and replaced it with a proper steel blade.

“If you have no combat talent, stay behind the inner barriers,” the man ordered. “Do not get in the way!”

He said quickly and ran.

Kael stared after him.

The first explosion came from beyond the eastern wall.

A flash of red magic tore across the sky. The protective barrier shuddered, and the sound of splintering stone rolled through the courtyard.

A second explosion followed.

This time, screams accompanied it.

Kael's grip tightened around the sword.

The academy had never been just a place for students to discover their talents. 

Veylcrest existed because the world beyond its walls was dangerous. After all, humanity had enemies who could tear through ordinary settlements before help arrived.

The students trained to become the people who stood between those enemies and everyone who could not defend themselves.

Now those enemies had reached their gates.

And Kael had no idea what he was supposed to do.

“Ren!” he shouted.

The thin boy emerged from the crowd, his face pale.

“Here!”

Kael grabbed his shoulder and pulled him toward a group of younger students being directed into the main building.

“Help them get inside.”

“What about you?”

“Just go!”

Ren hesitated before obeying.

Kael turned toward the eastern courtyard.

The fighting had already begun.

Beyond the shattered outer archway, figures in dark armour surged through the smoke. Their weapons glowed with sinister magic, and dark markings crawled across their armour like living shadows.

The academy defenders met them head-on

A broad-shouldered instructor drove his spear into the ground. 

Golden runes burst beneath his feet, sending a wall of earth and stone crashing upward. Several attackers were thrown from their feet as the barrier divided the courtyard.

“Hold the line!” he roared.

Students moved into formation behind him.

An A-rank student raised both hands, summoning a pair of blazing rings that spun above his shoulders.

 With a sharp motion, he sent them flying into the advancing enemies. Fire swept across the courtyard, forcing the attackers to scatter.

Another student brought his palms together. Blue light spread beneath the defenders' feet, hardening into a shimmering shield just as a volley of dark arrows struck.

The arrows shattered against the barrier.

For a moment, humanity held the advantage.

The defenders pushed forward, their weapons flashing as they drove the invaders away from the entrance.

 Instructors called out commands, directing the stronger students toward the gaps in the enemy formation. 

Lower-ranked students carried wounded people toward the shelters, while those with defensive talents reinforced the barriers.

In the midst of everything, Kael watched, trying to understand where he could help.

A wounded instructor lay near a fallen pillar. Two students were struggling to drag him away while dark arrows rained down around them.

Kael ran toward them.

“Grab his other arm!” one of the students shouted.

He did.

Together, they pulled the instructor behind a broken stone wall. An arrow struck the ground where Kael had been standing moments earlier, sending fragments of stone against his back.

But he barely noticed.

The instructor's uniform was soaked with blood.

“Get him to the healers,” Kael told the students.

One nodded and hurried away with the other.

Kael turned back toward the battle.

He could hear swords striking shields, the roar of summoned flames, the crack of magical barriers under pressure. 

Everywhere he looked, students were fighting for their lives.

He had spent so long wishing he could prove that he belonged at Veylcrest.

Now that the moment had come, he could barely find a place for himself.

He rushed toward a fallen student whose leg had been trapped beneath a piece of broken stone. 

The boy was screaming as an instructor fought to hold back two attackers nearby.

Kael dropped to his knees and tried to lift the stone.

But I didn’t move.

He changed his grip and pushed harder, his arms trembling with the effort.

“Help!” the boy cried.

“I've got you.”

Kael's muscles burned.

The stone shifted a little, then settled back into place.

He tried again.

A shadow passed over them.

“Get down!” someone shouted.

Kael threw himself over the trapped student as a dark blade swept through the air above them. It struck the stone pillar behind them, splitting it from top to bottom.

The impact sent Kael tumbling across the ground.

His sword skidded out of reach.

For several seconds, he could not breathe.

When he finally pushed himself upright, the trapped student's cries had stopped.

Kael turned to see the boy lay motionless beneath the broken stone, blood running from his temple.

“No.”

The word escaped him quietly.

He crawled toward the boy, reaching for his shoulder, but a burst of magic struck the ground beside him. He was thrown backward again.

“Move!” an instructor shouted.

Kael scrambled away as another wave of attackers flooded through the breach.

The defenders had begun to lose ground.

The enemy had changed its approach. Instead of charging blindly into the magical barriers, the attackers spread out, forcing the academy students to divide their strength. 

Some hurled dark magic at the shields while others slipped through the gaps, striking from the sides.

A student summoned a wall of ice, trapping three attackers inside it.

But before he could turn to the next attacker, a fourth enemy appeared behind him and drove a blade through his shoulder.

The student screamed as his ice wall cracked and collapsed.

The attackers broke through.

“Close the eastern passage!” an instructor bellowed.

Two A-rank students rushed to obey. One raised a massive hammer wreathed in golden fire, smashing an attacker into the ground. 

The other summoned chains of light that wrapped around several enemies and dragged them to their knees.

For a moment, they seemed unstoppable.

Then the chains began to darken.

The captured attackers rose together, breaking free with a violent surge of magic.

One of the A-rank students was struck across the chest and hurled into a wall. The other barely raised his weapon before a dark blade sliced through his defence.

He fell, and the enemy advanced over them.

Kael stood frozen.

These were the students everyone admired. The ones whose talents filled the rankings, whose names were spoken with respect, whose power made the rest of the academy believe they were safe.

If they could be defeated, what chance did he have?

A scream pulled him from his thoughts.

A young student was crawling across the courtyard, one hand pressed against a wound in her side. An attacker approached her, raising his weapon.

Kael moved before he could think.

He seized his fallen sword and charged.

The blade felt heavy in his hands. He had practised with it, but practice had never prepared him for the sight of someone about to die.

He swung with everything he had.

The attacker turned at the last moment. Steel struck steel, and the impact nearly tore the sword from Kael's grip.

The enemy looked at him.

Kael saw the contempt in his eyes.

Then the attacker kicked him in the stomach.

Air burst from Kael's lungs. He hit the ground hard, pain spreading through his ribs.

The enemy raised his weapon again.

And thrust it deep into Kael's chest.

Then his eyes snapped shut as his body went limp.