Hell's Academy

"This Shrine used to be called the Terror Shrine." Branette said, pointing to an opulent hall that seemed to blind Howard and his group with its endless treasures. "Apparently, the founder of the Terror Shrine was obsessed with scaring others. Boo!" Brannette walked into the room and gently tapped the walls, causing light to shoot in from four different directions.

"She also had a thing for Ki Enigmas. If you ever want to learn how to find some, Howard, feel free to ask me. They're really good at impressing girls, trust me," Branette winked at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him further into the treasure room. Stopping by a large pillar and tapping it. "However, what I'm about to show you is a thousand times cooler than a Ki Enigma."

"You really stayed her 100 years trying to fix something," Barabin looked up at down at Branette's beautiful body, feeling a sense of longing that had for a long time disappeared into the shadows. "What happened to you at the East Branch? Why did you never contact me?"

"Horned Nation needed me to be a leader and not a lover," Branette opened a doorway that seemed to appear from thin air. "I spent lots of time the last few years imagining us together. However, what I found here is much more valuable to the Horned than me spending a little time selfishly indulging in kissing you." Branette tapped against the wall three times before a pathway appeared.

Two grey hallways appeared in front of them which also revealed a staircase in the center that seemed to go through the roof. Looking up, Howard felt a strange sense coming from the room up above. Like something was pulling him off the ground, calling him to enter.

"You aren't ready for that room yet, Howard. Maybe in a few years?" Branette gently guided him forward with a subtle and gentle touch. Compared to when she met him ten minutes ago, the changes could be night and day. Inside of her hands, a gentle wind had formed, causing Howard's body to be revitalized from the gentle force emitting from her hand.

Wind Ki Users that entered into the B rank could use air like threads to fix internal injuries like the one's causing Howard much pain and anguish. Unfortunately, when Howard had tried to use Ki Projection, a thousand microtears had lacerated some of his internal organs because of his overexpendeture of strength. Normally, a Horned would heal immediately on the inside and out, but because Howard had activated a powerful skill much stronger than his body could handle, his body had temporarily lost its ability to rapidly patch up old wounds.

Unfortunately, even Horned that pushed themselves to the borders of life and death would eventually succumb to the darkness. Since Horned used Ki to heal themselves, if they pushed themselves too far in training, they could damage their Ki Reactivity.

Ki Reactivity was just a fancy way of saying having a connection to the Ki Frequencies in the air. Of course, a Horned would really have to push themselves past their limits to cause the cellular damage required to mess with Ki Reactivity. However, in Howard's case, trying to unleash a skill many times his level had done just that.

The damage was extensive enough that Brannette couldn't help but curse internally. Even though he was the demon king, he was still a Horned. She should have never tried too hard to unleash his potential!

"Are-are you okay?" Howard said, looking up at Brannette, feeling a gentle breeze entering him and nourishing his soul. "You look so worried about me, but I feel fine."

"We're almost there," Brannette pointed to the end of the hallway. "In that room, is research that the Aresoul doesn't know exists. You ready to see the fruits of my labor!"

"Was it really worth making us think you died for 200 years," Barabin opened the door in front of him, and walked into a room with a few tables that had thousands of papers stacked to the ceiling. "You-you realize Sally was your friend too, right? Reslan still asks about you occasionally thinking that you left because of him!"

"Howard, what do you feel in this room," Brannette ignored Barabin and pointed over at the wall. "Do you also think I wasted my time? Aren't all these piles of paper, impressive."

"You-you look to me like you're doing research on Ki Cells," Jenny said, walking over to some carvings on the stone blocks. She couldn't believer her eyes. "This-this is so advanced! If only you had the technology we had back at the West Branch. Omg! This gives me so many ideas!"

"She's-she's into biology," Howard said, gently clutching Jenny's hand and hoisting her away from her pursuits of knowledge. "So, what's with the suspense. Why did you wait here for 200 years?"

"Yes, please tell us," Barabin gently walked over to Brannette as she sat down on a large chair. "I-I really liked you Brannette. Frankly, I wished you were dead some days so I wouldn't feel so bad telling Sally I loved her."

"Hmmm, still on the love stuff?" Brannette gently pulled on her sleeve, causing her beautiful pale skin to reveal itself. A small diagram had been drawn on it that seemed to possess an almost surreal complexity. Thousands of little markings ebbed and flowed together like merging snakes. Touching down on it, Brannette smiled, blowing a kiss to Barabin before a small doorway appeared floating next to her. "This-this was worth it in my opinion. I call this a Channeling Door. It's much smaller than what the Aresoul can use, however, without that defensive trinket over there I would have never been able to figure it out."

Brannette tossed a trinket into the air, causing Barabin to gulp before he snatched it with his fist. Looking at the doorway, he scoffed, turning around and crossing his arms.

"Very impressive. However, what's a little doorway? Are you telling me you figured out how Channelors can cast magic. I thought that was impossible."

"It is impossible," Brannette said, shaking her head. "However, it's also not impossible. Did you know the reason why Channelors aren't able to cast magic?" Branette pointed down at the diagram on her hand. "It's because we cause all the Ki in the air to destabilize when we activate it. The reason we can't store Ki is simply because we are too powerful."

"The Aresoul, unlike us, can only barely use Ki, but because of that have a much gentler touch. We cause all the Ki around us to chemically change. Whether its turning it to fire, ice, wind, or earth, the fact is we literally change the Ki into a different state. However, what if we had a way to have a gentler touch? The founder of the Shrine had a theory called the theory of control."

"If we could figure out how to control what we use to control Ki, we could store Ki just like the Aresoul. Unfortunately, after 200 years of research, I only figured out how to make a small doorway."

"Does it in any way increase our strength?" Barabin said, "What exactly do we need magic for when I can already cause a gigantic mountain to rise into the sky! That's it, Brannette? Really? You stayed here only for that!"

"This doorway may be small, but it's really good at defense," Brannette waved her hand forward, causing the door way to open before a light shot into Howard's body causing him to glow. "Hit-hit Hoeward with all your strength, Barabin. Trust me, you won't be disappointed."

"That's it?" Barabin said, shaking his head. "You spent 200 years trying to figure out how to create a white shield. How often can you make a new one?"

"It's the diagram right? You use a special ink to get the Ki in your hand to move in a certain pattern that naturally absorbs the energy in the air very slowly. I get it! It's brilliant!" Jenny rushed back over to Howard, realizing that she'd let go of his hand. "However, I agree with Barabin. Why spend so much time working on it?"

"It's because every little thing helps," Brannette said, gently moving her hand forward before a scythe appeared and cut into the gap between her and Howard. Striking against the vein in his neck, Howard could only turn slightly to the side before the force would've cut of hiss connection to the world. However, rather than that, the white light flickered on his body before dissipating into the shadows.

"I'm going to give you some ink. Jenny, you seem technically minded, draw two of these diagrams on each of their hands. Once a week, you'll all have two shields that automatically activate. Now, tell me it was all useless again and I'll kill each and every one of you! What I did matters!"

"Brannette, I apologize, this is great," Barabin leaned in and gently kissed her on the forehead. "It's a shame we couldn't have worked on it together. I would've loved to spend 200 years with you cooped up in the dark."

"You're married," Howard said, smiling and pulling on his hands. "Anyways, don't we have to go? I'm starting to feel very worried about something and I don't know what it is."

"I'll be here for the next 50 years," Brannette said, blushing as she felt the space he'd kissed on her forehead. "Come visit some soon, will you? It was nice seeing you again Mr. Barabin. Next time, spend more time with me in my office."

"Howard, we're going," Barabin grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the exit. "Some things you love you got to leave behind. Jenny, when we get to the bus, I'll give you two hours to draw those marks on each of our hands. Then, you're spending time with Howard for the rest of the night."