Chapter 8 - Hyperion

"Greetings. I am a recruit of Sky Angel Academy. On behalf of a recruiter of the academy, I would like to extend an invitation for you to join us at our table," the noble mage boy said, bowing. "My name is Reginald of House Tanner. Will you join us at our table?"

"We would be delighted to join you," Meng Ce said as Shu stared at him. "Tell Mister Gillian that we will join him soon."

"How do you know his name?" Reginald asked.

"My boy, we scholars are more than we seem. You saw my young junior defeat a man at a higher stage of cultivation, letting himself be struck by dozens of swords and emerging unscathed. Furthermore, I am much more powerful than Mister Gillian. I believe he told you that. One thing you should know, my young mage friend, is that Practitioners have higher senses than the average human," Meng Ce explained.

"Ah, yes. I will take heed of your words. We will await you shortly," Reginald said, bowing and hurriedly leaving to join his companions.

"I thought you did not want to interact with them," Shu said.

"You put on such a good show that they had to make the first move," Meng Ce replied. "You should also know something. While it is good to kill your enemy, you should not do so in front of witnesses. Survivors will report to their allies, and you will meet enemies you never even knew existed. Many clans have faced innocent deaths because one member killed the wrong person. Those bandits are nothing. Bandits are less than trash. No one cares if such scum die. If you want to survive, you must not stand out until you are sure you have the strength to fight your enemies and conquer them utterly. Your father is a Spirit Master. No empire or nation dares to anger the Yan Empire. Not to mention, there are very few people, most of whom are hidden experts, who know that our ancestors still live. They might not know about the Great Ancestor, but they should know about the other fourteen ancestors."

"Can that Gillian hear what we are saying? Like you can?" Shu asked.

"No. Unlike him, I always carry a magical treasure that covers my body up to twenty feet. Even if I yelled in his ear, he would not hear me unless I allowed it. This magical item was made by your father. Worry not. Our conversations will always be free from prying ears," the general assured.

"What do we have to gain from making connections with them? Sky Angel Academy? I don't like it already," Shu said.

"You don't have much of a choice. Your food is being set at their table right now," Meng Ce said as the host arrived with Shu's food and placed it among the people of Sky Angel Academy. "Besides, it would be good for you to make connections with them now. You might see each other again in the future. This is just an investment. You have nothing to lose. We will still head into Wightwood Forest, unless they tell us a more intriguing destination for your training."

Shu said no more as they walked over to the others. His body was assimilating the spirit energy he had absorbed from the leader. Shu sighed inwardly as he felt only a slight increase in power. He hadn't realized before, but his subconscious wanted him to absorb enough spirit energy to take the very life force of the bandit leader.

He didn't know if it was the influence of the Living Spirit Technique, the memories of the baleful aura from Rain Slayer, or his demonic genes. He just knew that it felt good. Too good. More than that, he felt that he would never be satisfied. It scared him. It was a different kind of hunger. A very dangerous hunger. He didn't dare tell the general.

"Hello. Welcome. Thank you for accepting my invitation," Gillian smiled as he and the recruits stood as Shu and Meng Ce joined them. "Young scholar. I am very impressed. To defeat someone with a higher stage of cultivation, only someone who knows his capabilities can achieve such a feat. Most depend on their spirit techniques or spells."

"Thank you," Shu said. "I learned how to fight from my senior. I cannot reveal my identity, as I'm sure you know. I am simply known as Agemo (Ah-geh-mo)."

This was the name the spirit had in his former life. It was the name he remembered most intimately and did not want others to know that he was Lu Shu. In the event that he made enemies, they would look for someone known as Johannes and not Lu Shu. Not that they were a danger to his family, but Meng Ce was right. Life is very difficult when making enemies along with their unknown allies. He was not Agemo Miura anymore. Whoever Agemo Miura was, only fragments of his memories remained.

"Agemo, it is nice to meet you," Gillian said with a smile. "May I have the pleasure of knowing the senior scholar's name?"

"My name is Jing," Meng Ce said as he looked over the seven recruits. "What brings you all to Wightwood Town? Just passing through?"

"That's right," Gillian said as they all sat down. "I travel through many nations to recruit talented children for Sky Angel Academy. Full humans or half-breeds, rich background or not. Our academy only cares about the just and the talented. Nothing else matters. I managed to recruit three mages and four new Practitioners this year."

"It is not wise to teach them both paths. If they choose both, they master neither," Meng Ce remarked.

"Indeed. That is why we only teach them the basics. A mage with a strong body should be able to fight back in close quarters with enchanted weapons. Of course, they are no match for Practitioners. However, they have a better chance of survival. As for Practitioners, we only teach them how to use magic scrolls," Gillian explained.

"Of course. Magic scrolls. Scrolls containing prepared spells. Anyone can use them, with or without mana," Meng Ce nodded. "Of course, it is only useful if the Practitioner runs out of spirit energy. It is also ineffective to any adept mage and Practitioner."

"Indeed. We only teach them the basics so they are more prepared to fight such foes. The more you understand your enemy, the easier the fight. Thus, you must learn to fight like your enemy in order to accomplish that," Gillian said. "My three mage recruits are Reginald Tanner, Jiro Li, and Marcella Cruz."

"It is nice to meet you," they all said, bowing.

"It seems that the names are also similar. The only difference would be history and magic and spirit energy instead of science," Shu thought.

"These four here are the Practitioners. Their names are Frankie Rivers, Mino Park, Johannes Will, and Lana Wayne. Once all seven of these recruits reach the age of thirteen, they will officially be students of Sky Angel Academy," Gillian said proudly.

"You recruit them now to secure a steady amount of students per year. People who apply before the term must be less talented," Shu observed.

"It is as you say," Gillian agreed. "We prefer everything to be in the open. If you are strong, you must have the power to display it. If you hide your abilities, you cannot join the academy. We train defenders, not assassins. We need all the defenders we can get to fight the Hyperion."

"Hyperion?" Shu asked.

"Ah, of course. They have not reached this far east before," Jiro, the other mage boy with light brown hair and blue eyes, sighed. "The Hyperion are monsters. Not monsters, as in magical beasts, but actual monsters. They're not demons either. Once, they were a race of angels, winged humanoids capable of using the most powerful light magic and light spirit techniques. They ruled over a single continent far to the west and were a very prosperous and powerful race. Their fates ended tragically when they declared themselves as gods. According to legend, the sun and stars took their blessings from the angels and cast them away from their light. In darkness, they dwelled until they emerged a few centuries ago as the Hyperion."

"Trust me. However angelic they used to look, they look far from it now. They only live to feed and kill," Frankie spat. "They have killed far too many people over the centuries. Even my hometown was destroyed, and I barely escaped due to Jiro's magic awakening."

"Yeah. It was too close. I saw my parents die, and something in me snapped. Next thing I knew, I woke up with Frankie shaking me violently, asking if I was alright. I saw the monsters dead around me. I remembered the flash and I knew. I knew that it was my magic that slayed them," Jiro snarled. "Sky Angel Academy is only about three kingdoms away from the nearest Hyperion territory. I joined them to become a God Eater."

"You're going to eat them? That sounds a little barbaric given the name of your academy," Shu said.

"Ah, hold on. What he means by God Eater is that those Hyperion considered themselves gods and became what they are. A God Eater is someone trained to combat and kill them. You know how some people say 'Eat my sword' or 'Taste some of this!' That's where the name God Eater comes from. I'm Johannes, by the way," a Practitioner with bright red hair and brown eyes grinned. "There are few academies dedicated to fighting the real enemy, the Hyperion. Most nations are at war with each other or among other races. They fail

to realize the true threat."

"Sounds like a noble cause," Shu said silently.

"The Hyperion are, in fact, real gods," Meng Ce said as he sipped a cup of tea served by the host. "They attained godhood by slaying a very holy creature in the Mortal Realm."

"You know the true history? As expected of a scholar, even with the suspicious background," Gillian praised. "They were going to learn later, but they are recruits, so I suppose I should tell them the story."

"They're really gods?" Mino asked.

"Fuck that. How can such vile fiends be gods?" Jiro spat, while Frankie nodded in agreement.

"Calm down! Let Master Gillian speak," Marcella snapped, silencing them. Even though she was a mage, she was the most powerful of the recruits and had a nasty, short temper.

"The Hyperion are indeed an angelic race. They were not gods but stole the godhood of a holy creature. That creature was blessed by the Heavens, and the Heavens punished the angelic race and made them Hyperion. The weaker the Hyperion, the less angelic and humane in appearance it is. They can transform like magical beasts," Gillian said. "The goal of the God Eaters is to slay the Hyperion and reclaim the land they took over. We protect the citizens and train future God Eaters to continue our goal."

"To kill a Hyperion, one must use a weapon with celestial aura," Meng Ce commented. "Does Sky Angel Academy have many of them?"

"Yes. We also pass down weapons and Practitioner weapons with celestial auras to other students. These recruits all have weapons with celestial aura," Gillian said with a smile as Shu pulled out a book from his storage bag and quickly browsed it. The convenient thing about storage bags was that if the item existed, a mere thought or description would allow identification. The item's information would appear in his mind, and he could choose and select one to pull from his storage bag.

"Hyperion," Shu murmured as he began reading a book detailing known Hyperion anatomy, lifestyle, strengths, behaviors, and weaknesses.

"Why come to Wightwood Town then? There are no cities nearby that should be on the way west to the academy," Meng Ce asked.

"I received an intelligence report that a group of Hyperion managed to worm their way this far east. It seems they are searching for something. They were not detected, so they must all be at the first stage of Spirit Shaman equivalent. How many, I am not certain. Their spirit energy is so weak and minimal, I am surprised they made it this far without an expert killing them," Gillian brooded aloud.

"Then they must be traveling underground," Shu said, drawing everyone's eyes to him as he read his book and noticed their stares. "What? If they managed to get this far, then it could only be through traveling underground. They're weak, if what you say is true. If I were leading weaklings into enemy territory, I would travel stealthily in a manner that would be difficult to detect and trace."

"Are we coming too?" Jiro asked, bloodlust appearing in his eyes.

"We should be," Lana said. "How else do we get to the academy and verify that we are recruits? I think we took a detour because he wants us to get battle experience and verify if we truly wish to become God Eaters."

"Smart lass," Gillian said approvingly, laughing. "Yes, it is true. Not many are God Eaters. You don't have to join a martial sect or academy to become a God Eater, but they are the ones who can give you the weapons and training you need. Most God Eaters come from academies like Sky Angel Academy. Only by killing a Hyperion can you call yourself a God Eater. Another reason we are called God Eaters is that Hyperion have demonic cores in their bodies like magical beasts. Scholar Jing and Agemo, I would like to ask you to assist me and the recruits. I believe you are headed into Wightwood Forest. Our destination is the same. If the Hyperion go any deeper, you may continue to assist us if you like."

"This is a good opportunity for my junior to see a Hyperion. Even if a small or medium-sized army of Hyperion really did enter the forest, the two of us can easily handle them and let them kill the strays," Meng Ce agreed. "Very well. I thank you for this opportunity. I am also concerned, as a citizen of the Yan Empire, about why the Hyperion would come this far east."

"That's great! We get to kill Hyperion!" Jiro shouted, startling the other people in the restaurant with his sudden outburst.

As the people of Sky Angel Academy left to prepare, Shu was finally able to eat his food. He rubbed his stomach and began devouring his meal, not minding the lack of grace while he ate. His white tiger jumped onto the table and ravenously devoured the meat Shu had set aside for it.

"Shu, the likelihood of a small to medium-sized army is high if they are traveling underground. You must stay near me. Even if your body is nearly indestructible, you are still susceptible to soul attacks, attacks that ignore physical defenses. Hyperion are feared in the west for a reason," Meng Ce warned.

"Heh. I'm fighting fallen gods. Me, a mortal, fighting gods. It's just like the stories," Shu said as he finished his food and leaned back in his chair. "I understand, Master. I will use Rain Slayer, but I won't reveal my spirit techniques. Can baleful aura weapons kill the Hyperion?"

"Good decision, and yes, baleful aura weapons can. However, the Hyperion will target you first. They are evil incarnate, so they are attracted to similar forces like baleful aura, which is created through taking life instead of saving it. Also, if you need to use spirit techniques, use the Dragon Monkey Bracelet instead. This is a good opportunity to use it in combat. They would expect you to have a magical treasure more than knowledge of a spirit technique," Meng Ce said. "The time for your training will now begin. From now on, even when you sleep, let your spirit energy flow throughout your body. Keep it regulated at low levels. The more you let it flow, the more your body grows accustomed to it and will be empowered. Tomorrow, we hunt the Hyperion and try to discover their agenda."

As the general asked for the bill, Shu was trembling. He was not trembling from fear but from excitement. He would be able to absorb the spirit energy of the Hyperion. They should have spirit energy as they have demonic cores. He would also gain more battle experience. Most of all, he got to explore and fight gods. One day, he would become strong enough to hunt the Keepers of the Dead that followed him all the way from Earth. For now, he would settle for being a God Eater in his spirit form. Then, he would kill whatever being they were.

"Hyperion," Shu sighed as he petted his white tiger magical beast. "I never heard about such creatures in any movie, book, or novel. Should be fun."