Astrius Academy Central Building

(Moved from Academy Dorms cause it makes sense to do this here)

Atrix had to apologize to the teacher, Mr. Blandsworth, who had to possibly have the worst name in the history of the universe since his first name was Ima, and then took Meeko along and took their seats. Atrix notable got several glares from the males, but also various gazes of affection from the females. However, the moment Atrix had entered the classroom, Meeko might have noticed the air around him change.

He was completely ignorant of all the stares, and focused heavily on his work. Even the teacher noticed the dedication, enough that he "forgot" to mark them as late out of admiration. He then began talking about the history of Origin, beginning by going over the base timeline. He spoke about the formation of the world, being created from mere concepts from the void itself, and all the life on it formed from those concepts as well. It was believed that Origin was actually made from a piece of the core of the Source of everything, and that in some way, all life originally formed from this place before it emerged from the void, from Origin, which is why its always been so diverse.

He started going through early culture, and how it developed, and of the various races on Origin: Elves, Dwarves, Humans, at some point Beastkin showed up too. Then there were Goblins, Orcs, Dragons, and so on. There were also Angels, Demons, Fairies, and so on. And among them, there were also countless variations. Demons and Angels however could appear like humans, but had several forms they could switch through. And then, during this overview, they began to speak about one of the most important events in Origin.

"And then, over one thousand years ago, believed to be around one thousand two hundred years to be exact, Demon King Millen was attacked by the Hero while in the capital, and the battle raged for days until finally, Millen was defeated...err, slain. He attempted to use a smokescreen to escape, but the Hero stabbed through the smokescreen at intense speed until she used her holy sword and stabbed through the Demon King, killing him. She then sealed his body deep within the ground, under where Millenium Plaza now stands. To this day, it still exists down there, the corpse of the Demon King, killed to prevent any chance of resurrection. So we no longer have to fear his evil. After that, the Hero left her sword with the kingdom, and went off to travel the world to help people and explore the region".

"Excuse me! Sensei!"

"Yes?"

"What was the name of The Hero?"

"Unfortunately, the name of The Hero was stricken from the records, apparently by her own request. It is just known that she disappeared from records after that incident".

As this conversation unfolded, Atrix had taken down a bunch of notes.

He was not even aware that one of the students had thrown a paper airplane into the back of his head....or the various hurtful and insulting words written in it.

Meeko did his best to pay attention in history. This planet seemed to have quite the history. Meeko was seated next to Atrix, so when the paper airplane hit him Meeko grabbed the thing with his tail so that the teacher didn't notice. He read the nasty things written on the paper before crumpling it up and turning to glare and bare his teeth at the kid who had thrown it. He suppressed his urge to hiss at the boy, but his eyes were clearly getting the his rage across.

Meeko had never felt the need protect anyone before. He felt something strange inside him. It was as though something was inside him trying to get out, something that wanted to punish the boy who wrote the hurtful things on the paper. He did his best not to act on these urges and push whatever was doing this down, however the thing inside him didn't like this either. A startling growl came from Meeko's stomach. He looked down at the noise and saw the notebook he had been taking notes in was now filled with the words "Make them pay. Make them suffer." But Meeko was more startled by the fact that his arm, which was normally human looking aside from the claws, was now covered in mangy silver fur and his hand was now a gnarly claw. He shook it and it seemed to go back to normal, but it seemed the teacher had noticed the noise his stomach made.

"Is there something you'd like to add, Mr. Maow?" He asked in a sarcastic voice seeing Meeko shaking his hand.

"No, sir. Just a hand cramp, sorry."

"Okay, well just pay attention."

Meeko went back to taking notes as feeling began to subside.

Atrix for a moment thought he sensed something, but ended up not realizing what it was. This did actually snap his attention back so he realized something had hit him, but he was used to that. He did notice Meeko seemed a little agitated though. Atrix then considered a possibility...and got a bit upset. He quickly but quietly whispered to Meeko.

"Hey, you okay? Someone didn't do something with you...for being my friend, right? If they did, I am really, really sorry then!"

If it was only something small, Meeko would be a bit okay. But this was an advanced academy, which also meant bigger pranks and retaliations. While stuff like getting tripped, having your books knocked out of your hand, and snatching and keeping away things like backpacks and so on did happen, it certainly is not something rare to see an Eldritch Horror that someone summoned pop out of a water bottle, wrap its tentacles around a student, and after its done, if they were lucky in a state where they were roughed up. However, there were also times were students ended up with ruined clothing or worse. There were also times where they could get hurt.

Because there was advanced magic and technology involved, although they would prefer students getting along and not messing with each other, the higher ups were more okay with humiliation rather then the students getting hurt. To them, it could at least be something forgotten or grown from if its just embarrassment, but it would be considered bad if a prank went wrong, and they lost an eye, or even got a broken leg or maybe even lost an entire arm. Compared to those possibilities, embarrassment was better.

There was a barrier in place that prevented the taking of embarrassing photos and videos, as well as uploading them, but that did not stop the embarrassment. In truth, one thousand years ago, training used to be done like that as well, using that same magic spell they use for Physical Development. THis way, their squires would do their very best to train, while not risking any life threatening injuries or even any injuries at all. But because of the humiliation, no one took it easy.

The rest of the class seemed to go on by, but at several points Atrix asked and answered questions prominently. He was a very good student it seemed, and they soon got through things like the introductions to the math, sciences, and literacy (think English) subjects. The better he did though, the more the girls admired him, and the more ire he got from the boys.

As they were nearing the end, Atrix thought of something, and began whispering to Meeko apologetically.

"Also, Meeko...I am sorry. Given you are my room mate, and pretty much my only friend, and because this place has a boy's dorm, well...you will probably end up having to go through an extremely embarrassing Freshman prank and...well, they might see, so...I am really sorry for causing you a bunch of issues! I mean, we have Physical Development after this too, so we would have to go to the changing rooms...so I am really sorry!"

Even Atrix could clearly see that the other male students were unhappy...well, only the older ones who tended to get jealous. There were many who just didn't want to get involved because the jealous ones were usually the tough guys, and in terms of pranks, having your naked body exposed was only considered highly bad for girls. For boys, although all children who were under thirteen, it was only seen as something harmless but still mean.

However, unwelcomed harassment while in that state afterwards could be treated as a severe crime. Humiliation was one thing, but there was a very hard barrier after that which was enforced.

And if one was unlucky to do it on Academy Grounds, the Director himself might come to administer punishment.

Meeko got himself calmed. He whispered back to Atrix, "No, they didn't do anything to me yet. And don't worry too much about what happens to me. Some people are just jerks and I figured at some point people would find out about... That. I'm more worried about you, the things they say are just mean. I just got mad at them is all and I might need to see the headmaster to make sure I'm not sick. I'll probably go after gym." He explained.

"ALright...its just...I really don't want other people suffering because of me...and, maybe should I come with you?"

The rest of the class went by relatively smooth, though Atrix was still worried for Meeko. Did he miss something? Did he let something happen to Meeko and he was just shrugging it off? Atrix might be a genius capable of constructing advanced level magic, but he was still a ten year old boy. He was already showing amazing resolve and mental strength for not having broken down when everyone he knew, loved, or cared about was slaughtered in front of him. Well, he did sort of break down, and it caused some problems, but he recovered.

And of course, because Atrix was only ten, his romantic interest had not really awakened yet as he had not found anyone for him to form a crush on. Therefore, he was a bit surprised, and a tiny bit scared, when Meeko told him that all the girls did like him. Right now, all he wanted was friends and family. Which meant Meeko was currently the only important person to him.

Atrix was not thinking about this right now, but Meeko who was older would probably be the one who ended up scouting a girlfriend for him later on.

After class was over, Atrix had just finished packing up his stuff and headed towards the doors with Meeko. Well, he was holding Meeko's wrist in his hand, but Atrix was physically weak and if Meeko wanted to he could easily break free. They had fifteen minutes until Physical Development started, and they had to make it to the gym and get changed.

Along the way, some of their seniors glared at them with smiles. "Hope you are preparing yourself mentally for the Annual Freshman Pranking...if you try to run, you may find yourself getting humiliated for an entire week..."

The bullies couldn't really threaten to beat them up since it could go badly for them, but just this they could get away with even with teacher's present. After all, they were careful. And Atrix had been bullied by them before, so his face got a bit red with embarrassment. He felt like lashing out, but didn't.

"Just...just ignore them. I think it will hopefully be fine".

Meeko was more aware of the bullies and was keeping his guard up. He didn't care about the looks, but he felt like he would snap if anything physical were to happen. In fact this was the reason he didn't mind Atrix grabbing his wrist, it kept Meeko from getting too angry at the other boys. He walked into the boys locker room and got changed quickly and waited for Atrix to get changed too. He didn't want to risk a repeat of earlier. When he was finished they went to the gym to wait with everyone else for the teacher to show up.

The changing rooms were a place where Atrix was harassed a lot as well, but through some manner of goodwill, or maybe it was the fact that Meeko was standing too close to the door and too far away from them for them to try anything to him as well, nothing ended up happening. This was not a guarantee to last, but for today it was halted.

After getting changed, Atrix came out with Meeko to the gym. He was doing everything he could to ignore them as much as possible...

And then, suddenly....the Gym Physical Development Teacher arrived.

"Alright. So, unlike the normal Gym classes others might take, this will be a lot more effective, but also a lot more extreme. Please keep that in mind. Now, first of all, I want to know what everyone is capable of. That is why..."

Suddenly, a warp gate opened up and a weaker class Eldritch Horror popped out. However, there seemed to be a barrier separating the end of the gym they were gathered at, and the rest of the gym, that prevented it from even noticing them.

"...I will see how you fare against this Eldritch Horror! Don't worry, its a weaker class, but don't let those tentacles get on you. Let aside the uncomfortable feeling, this one is not one of those Eldritch Horror's that just traps you in those tentacles....it will try to crush every single bone in your body, and turn you into paste. Now, we will be here to stop the fight if you get into danger, but...best be careful. This will be graded, but keep in mind this is your 'COmbat Ability' Grade. In other words, you can improve this grade, but you should try to aim for as high as you can. Now, first up...Atrix Akir!"

As he called his name, Atrix took a step forward and started doing some stretches. There was also a very faint, nearly undetectable by enhanced physical senses, and impossible to sense through magical senses, shadow watching from the distance holding a letter he recently received, but that was somewhat unrelated.

However, there was something else that, while almost as hidden as the shadow, would be a lot more prominent for Meeko. That was the air around Atrix Akir. When Atrix was doing his stretches, Meeko could catch a glimpse of his eyes...and see a determination. It was similar, but not the same, to his studying determination. It was...stronger...and was fueled by something deep inside him.

"Atrix Akir has obtained the bonus points!"

"Huuuuuuuh?!"

This was not Atrix that replied, but another student.

"Although you wont always have time, if you know a battle is coming, it is best to prepare for it as much as you can. First student to realize that gets bonus points".

Unfortunately, it seemed like those bonus points also drew him ire, but he completely ignored it...and stepped through the barrier.

Almost instantly, the Eldritch Horror attacked, launching all of its tentacles and it's teeth at him, along with it's tongue. It moved at a speed surprising given his physical makeup and size, and it had tenacity that even shocked the teacher a little. And it charged...

....at empty air? Atrix had just been there a moment ago, but now he was not!

"Spirits, bring forth the blades of judgement!"

Atrix had now appeared over him, having apparently jumped an entire two stories into the air. Thankfully, the gym was five stories tall. Additionally, seven spectral blades floated around him.

"Judgement Blades!"

All those blades shot into the tentacles, except for one at the main body. However, it sacrificed several tentacles to dodge the one lethal strike, and even dodged the blade's secondary movement Atrix had set as a trap, charging right towards him. Atrix quickly took out three marbles from his back pocket, and threw them at the Eldritch Horror.

"Grid, Figuration Nine!"

Suddenly, several beams of light shot out from the marbles and formed a grid. Even though there appeared to only be three marbles, the beams also reflected and refracted off empty air, and formed a containment grid to stop it's advance. Atrix had completely sealed it's movements...

"Gah!"

However, he then got hit with one of the severed tentacles, knocking him into the wall. His gym clothes seemed to absorb the damage, and his endurance was far better then his strength so he was able to not get disqualified. After that, he quickly summoned some sort of light or energy in his hand as the Eldritch Horror was finally able to navigate around the grid.

"Astroia!"

Small and tiny orbs of light shot out from those hands, leaving glowing trails as they sped. It did not look very powerful at first glance...however...

When they impacted, they all exploded, and vaporized the Eldritch Horror into nothingness.

"...well, I guess that is one way to prove combat ability, even if it was mostly power. The Eldritch Horror did outsmart him, after all".

Even though Atrix had won, the teacher still saw through Atrix's lack of experience. Even if he had power, the Eldritch Horror had set a trap for him, and outsmarted him despite being a lesser species. Atrix still got a great grade, but he was seen through completely by the teacher. He also requested they bring up another Eldritch Horror, since he didn't actually expect the first student to kill it.

Meeko felt the air around Atrix charge with determination as he stretched and got ready to fight the creature and he could see the fierce determination in his eyes. However even Meeko was oblivious to the shadow figure.

He watched as Atrix fought the creature. He was good, but it was clear he had rarely been in life or death situations, but it was also clear that he could handle himself should the need arise.

"Great job out there. For a first timer, that was awesome." Meeko smiled at Atrix

The teacher went down a list of the students with no noticeable order to it. Meeko watched as one student after another went up against the creature and most weren't able to kill it. One student in the group of those between Atrix and Meeko fights was able to kill the beast. Meeko took note that the beast was either a fast healer, or that there was a healing spell in play so that every student went up against a full powered monster. He also noticed that the monster learned from each students attacks and that if another tried to use the same attacks, they would fail. The teacher saw that Meeko was observing this and made note of it.

"Up next, Meeko Maow." the teacher called.

He stretched, as every student had after Atrix, before walking up to the barrier. His multi-colored eyes were filled with glee that bordered on giddiness. He looked as though he were about to play his favorite game. Some of the students were scared by that, other scoffed thinking he was being cocky. But Meeko had more fighting experience than most would have thought.

He walked through the barrier after making himself intangible aside from the bottoms of his feet and his claws. The creature attacked at him instantly. All the tentacles and teeth flailing at him as the students expected him to go flying across the room, the attacks simply went right through him like he wasn't even there.

Meeko started walking toward the creature as it furiously tried to land an attack. He held out his claws, scratching into the tentacles that flailed at him and injecting them with his neural toxin and the creature began to shriek in pain as the poison began to attack the pain centers of it's brain. Meeko stopped right in front of the creature's body, it was still trying to hurt him to no avail as his toxin took hold causing even more pain. He reached up to the creature's chest making his right hand intangible and reached into the creature's chest. He found a pulsing organ and he realized it was the heart. He grasped it in his hand and made his hand tangible once again. He pulled the heart out through the beast's chest. It let out a horrifying sound before falling down dead.

Through the whole test he remained eerily calm. The teacher made some marks on the paper. "Staying calm under pressure, good job. Having a plan ahead of time, also good."

"Thanks." Meeko smiled and gave the teacher the heart. "Here you go. I think the science lab might be able to use this."
He took his seat again and he watched the other students face the creature.

"That was....awesome".

Compared to Atrix, who had large amount of magical power and knowledge, but low experience, Meeko who was the opposite was amazing to him. Even he could clearly see that Meeko had tons of experience he lacked. After all, even though he was a master of magic, he had only just turned ten and was only just able to start serious training against monsters.

Compared to his blunder in failing to realize the severed tentacle could still move, Meeko had anticipated everything.

"That was amazing! How did you learn to fight like that?!"

Atrix was so impressed, he could not help but get excited. He started to step forward...but then seemingly slipped on nothing but the floor. This time, no one said anything though, but that slip hardly seemed natural.

However, one student seemed to randomly trip on his own leg all of a sudden when he walked right into the training room, and the Eldritch horror immediately attacked. The teacher was forced to stop it. "Please be careful of your own coordination".

After that, once everyone was finished, he decided to have them do some warm ups by running laps around the gym. However...

"You wont always have the luxury of footwear in a fight, if it happens during an emergency. So do it barefoot".

Atrix looked over at Meeko as they started running.

"I guess they really do help prepare you for everything, huh? Anyways, that was really cool what you did!"

Meeko couldn't help but smile as Atrix got excited. He was just so darn cute.

"It wasn't easy to get off that planet, and I wasn't his first experiment." Meeko smiled down at Atrix. "I was younger than you when I started fighting for my life. I've spent the last eight years just trying to survive."

Meeko could feel magic but given the circumstances it seemed normal until Atrix and the other kid tripped. He didn't think much of it and then the teacher told them to start doing laps barefoot. Meeko grinned again as he preferred that to shoes. He kicked his shoes off and began to run with the others. It looked strange to see a twelve year old boy running around with a completely feline set of legs, but truth was he was completely feline from the waist down anyway.

He was incredibly fast compared to the other kids, but not the fastest.

After the several dozen laps, when they coult put their shoes back on, there were countless other exercises like push ups, pull ups, and other things that Atrix generally sucked at. Although he was good at running, jumping, dodging, and all that, he was bad with things that required strength. It was almost...pathetic...to watch. Clearly, he was more towards speed and intelligence then physical strength, to the point where he might as well just be laughed at. Between his strength and his looks, there was practically nothing manly about him.

"And the Magus Converted....yes, it would be attached to the Central Processor".

But even know, Atrix was working on designs and what not, focusing on the days at hand. He was the sort of person who could actually work himself to death after all.

And so, until everyone was covered in sweat, the class continued on. Things got a bit strange here and there, but it was overall proving to be a combination of normal, and paranormal.

Meeko didn't do to bad with the running, the other stuff was all that difficult for him either. While working out his mind was fixed on his partial transformation in class earlier.

"Can I talk to you, Meeko?" The teacher asked while Meeko was doing sit ups

"Sure." Meeko replied.

"I noticed that you were the only one out there today that didn't use any sort of magic. I was just wondering how you go intangible like that."

"Oh, that. I was a science project that escaped."

"Dang! I was sure it was some sort of micro phase shifter. But anyway, way to be original out there good job."

"Thanks." Meeko smiled to himself, happy to have earned the teacher's respect. He looked over at Atrix and watched him trying to do pull ups. He felt bad for the guy and wondered if he should help to try and get him into better physical shape.

"You know...its just occurred to me, isn't it rather impossible for anything to seem strange or stand out here?"

So far, in addition to Elves, Dwarves, Beastkin, various aliens, a few that appeared to be of Draconic Origin, some cyborgs, a few full blown robots, those of the Angel and Demon Races, there were a number of uniques among those even, but the sheer number made it staggering. After all, it was a huge amount, and this was just what they had seen in their classes. Obviously, there would be others as well.

Not only were there those who could use magic, but some used cybernetics, or robots. Tools were not forbidden unless stated by the teacher, such as the Grid Marbles Atrix used earlier. It seemed like there were quite a number of oddities.

"Compared to all of you, I am just a human nomad with a sad backstory...and the one who gets bullied..."

Atrix being considered normal would be a mistake, but at the same time it was true the only thing that made him stand out was his looks. Yes, he was a magic genius capable of utilizing highly complex spells and had a mana pool adult mages would be envious about, but he had not shown anything truly abnormal yet.

Of course, Atrix himself did not know about who his real father was. But, if he learned that Demon King Millen, the Demon King vilified by history, and who should have been dead for over one thousand years, was his father, not only would that probably not excite him, but it would also probably get him bullied even more if found out. Or, it could make people afraid of him, but even then that still might increase it. After all, they might think along the lines that if they showed they were superior to the carrier of Demon King Blood, their reputations would get boosted and they would become even more popular.

And then, scooting closer to Meeko, he whispered something while trying to be supportive and friendly. "So, there is a chance no rumors might spread at all about you".

Atrix, who was bullied a lot had a lot of rumors about him. He didn't know if Meeko was concerned about that or not, but even Atrix who had such low self awareness it was ridiculous was aware of some of them. Like, the one where he had magically charmed the entire female dorm.

So he mentioned that to Meeko, just in case he was worried or not.

Meeko gave a somber grin. "I've only been here a day. There may not be any rumors, yet, but trust me there will be eventually." Meeko ruffled his hair like a big brother would. He knew a lot about bullies as well and he knew that they always found something to pick on him for.

The class was coming to an end and Meeko got the sneaking suspicion that something was up. He noticed some of the other boys pointing at them and whispering. He noticed a couple of them snickering as well. He leaned into Atrix. "I think those guys are planning something." He whispered to Atrix. "We should keep an eye out for anything fishy."

As the class ended, and Atrix was headed back to the changing rooms Meeko responded and told him those warnings. He wasn't happy with what was coming but he had expected it. "Although they probably plan to be mean specificly, it's probably not just me. Most likely, it's the Freshman Pranking or Hazing. I don't know about the girls dorm, but I hear this happens every year with the boys dorm. And even though i was living inside my lab in the lab district for the month or two prior to starting classes, I am still a Freshman too. Since it's still my first year".

The part where he was living in his lab was probably concerning given his working habits, but that was not the concern right now.

After entering the changing room, everyone started changing and showering off the sweat. Unless it was a species that didn't sweat, then they just got changed completely and left to the envy of everyone else.

Atrix was just a tiny bit embarrassed but somehow was not overwhelmed by the fact he was shorter then everyone else. But that was likely part of his lack of self awareness.

"Oh, I just realized this is the time people normally have lunch".

Atrix was suggesting to get food, but the way he phrased it exposed something dangerous in his recent eating and living habits.

As the class ended, and Atrix was headed back to the changing rooms Meeko responded and told him those warnings. He wasn't happy with what was coming but he had expected it. "Although they probably plan to be mean specificly, it's probably not just me. Most likely, it's the Freshman Pranking or Hazing. I don't know about the girls dorm, but I hear this happens every year with the boys dorm. And even though i was living inside my lab in the lab district for the month or two prior to starting classes, I am still a Freshman too. Since it's still my first year".

The part where he was living in his lab was probably concerning given his working habits, but that was not the concern right now.

After entering the changing room, everyone started changing and showering off the sweat. Unless it was a species that didn't sweat, then they just got changed completely and left to the envy of everyone else.

Atrix was just a tiny bit embarrassed but somehow was not overwhelmed by the fact he was shorter then everyone else. But that was likely part of his lack of self awareness.

"Oh, I just realized this is the time people normally have lunch".

Atrix was suggesting to get food, but the way he phrased it exposed something dangerous in his recent eating and living habits.

"You're just now realizing that this is when people eat lunch?!" Meeko said to him. He was less aware now of the other boys and whether or not they were looking at him. Even if he didn't really believe that rumors wouldn't be spread, he was somehow comfortable after what Atrix had said.

"You need to be more aware of your needs. Maybe if you ate on a regular schedule, you wouldn't need to eat as much. Pay attention to your body, it knows what it needs and I might not always be here to make sure you eat and sleep right." He scolded in a big brother sort of way.

After quickly showering off and getting dressed in his normal clothes he waited for Atrix and then walked with him to the cafeteria. It was a bit of a walk across the campus and the whole time he was on high alert waiting for whatever the freshmen prank was or any other prank that may be directed toward them. He knew that, given how girls had a thing for cute animals and his outstanding performance in the class today, Meeko would soon be a prime target for pranks and ire as well. He only hoped that Atrix didn't get caught up in the crossfire.

There was something in the air that didn't quite feel right. Meeko's hair and fur were standing on end. "Something isn't right." Meeko warned as he froze in place. "We need to get away from here. Something's coming." Meeko warned.

"Well, I mean. I have been very busy! Part of it was working on that Warp Gate in my room. And a few other things. I already have my own lab area even. Ah, speaking of which, I should do some more check ups on that Golem design. And maybe, that prototype Plasma Converter. Oh, and maybe I should fix that Toaster that runs off of air".

As Atrix started to get condensed in his own thoughts, he was completely ignorant of what Meeko was sensing at the moment. That was because Atrix actually had a great sense for danger that was a threat, but in terms of bullies and pranks, he was inept at sensing those. With the occasionally exception.

As such, Atrix had not even yet realized that it was starting to become eerie, almost like they were isolated from the rest of the campus for a moment, or that bullies were coming to "greet" them as Freshmen already...with various surprises in tow.

Finally realizing what Meeko said, Atrix managed to snap to attention...but found himself being grabbed from behind.

Meeko also felt himself being grabbed from behind. He went intangible, but not soon enough to shift the hoodie the bullies grabbed and they pulled his shirt and hoodie right through his chest leaving him shirtless. He turned to see the two bullies, one still holding onto Atrix. "Well, well, well. Looks like we caught the baby genius and his pet kitty." one of them taunted.

"Let him go." Meeko snarled as he retracted his claws and put them up in a defensive position. "You bastards saw what I did to the Eldritch Horror, I could easily do the same to you."

"You wouldn't kill another student."

"My toxin isn't deadly, but it will hurt enough to make you wish you were dead. Now let him go."

"Oh we'll let him go. We'll also let our little pets go too, let's see if you can out run them." The two bullies let go of Atrix and shoved him at Meeko. "You two need to learn your place here. Babies and kitties shouldn't be getting attention from the girls, not when there's real men like us who deserve their attention."

"Girls?! That's what all this is about, girls?!" Meeko raised his voice in frustration. "He's ten and hides in a lab all day. He's too young to worry about girls and I don't even..." Meeko paused in shock at what he had almost said. "I'm only twelve, you don't need to worry about me either." He quickly covered his tracks.

"Well let's see how well you do against these." the two boys opened portals and two small breed dragons covered in cybernetic enhancements flew out with shrieks. "You might want to run."

They were already pulling things off of Atrix as they grabbed him. "You know, I heard of this one year, where they made every Freshman boy walk all the way from one side of the campus to the other naked. This could be seen as quite merciful, you know? In a sense, its training even".

They let Atrix go before they had finished, but his sweatshirt, pants, shoes, socks, and underwear had been completely pulled off, leaving him....totally covered by his shirt. Actually, no one had really noticed this yet, but Atrix's shirt had gotten longer then it was five seconds ago...completely covering him. One of the bullies, who had a video camera, clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Damnit. Even if it gets blocked, its still great to record the reaction".

"I will take care of this using the Academy's training spell....Flamefist!"

Flamefist was normally a fireball shaped like a fist that came towards an enemy to burn them, but because he invoked the Academy's training magic as well, it would only burn away the shirt. The shirt did burn away...but sparks flew into the camera and the eyes of the bullies by chance, hurting them and setting the camera on fire.

In that time, Atrix just pulled his pants and sweatshirt on, stuffing everything else in his backpack as the cyberdragons attacked. He immediately dodged. The Cyberdragons were actually cloned dragons genetically modified to stay small, and then augmented with cybernetics. Simply put, they were small, but still dangerous, and powerful. However, what the Dragons targeted weren't quite them...the Dragons seemed to have two objectives: Pin them down, and tear off everything. After all, even if they were bullies, they wouldn't immediately jump to beatings on a large scale like this, especially since it would increase the likelihood they would get in trouble. So it was their belongings, and limbs, that were being targeted.

However, Atrix who lacked combat experience in the slightest didn't realize that. Meeko, given his increased experience, might, but not Atrix. Atrix thought they were attacking, and to be exact, threatening Meeko. Meeko, his only friend here so far. And it gave him...a flashback of sorts. Of a memory that was sealed away...of his bloody hands, after his clan was wiped out.

"Stop trying to hurt people you jerks!!!!"

"What the...".

"Shi...."

"Da...."

Suddenly, Atrix's shadow exploded. It blasted into all three bullies, knocking them far away, and also took out a few of the closest Cyborg Dragons....but more were still coming. In addition, Atrix's episode only lasted a few seconds, and now he saw the Cyber Dragons were in very large number...and coming after them.

"Run!"

Unaware of just what power he used, Atrix told Meeko to run and began running himself.

Meeko felt his own anger overtake him. It felt like he was absorbing some of Atrix's anger and he was suddenly unable to hold back the beast within. His whole body shifted the same way his arm had earlier in class. His clothing exploded off his body as he turned into a giant, silver, saber toothed cat and fell down onto all fours.

"Get on." he said in a voice that was now more growl than words. He then picked up Atrix and threw him onto his back.

Meeko began to run as fast as he could with Atrix clinging to his fur. He had no idea what triggered his transformation, but he knew he had to get out of the halls before the students got hurt by the cyber dragons following them. As he ran he felt the heat of fireballs flying by his limbs. Then came the lasers. He felt the burn of one of them as it shot a beam right into his tail. It singed the hair and the smell was terrible.

After a few minutes he manged to lead the cyber dragons to the sporting field on the back side of the campus. He had more room to maneuver in the field. He stopped briefly to let Atrix off. He turned to face the dragons and saw there were only three of them at the moment, but he had no idea how many were coming. He was also oblivious to the fact that the students were now packing into the stands to watch the impending fight.

He charged at one of the dragons and tackled it to the ground. He dug his claws into the dragon's hide injecting it with his toxin. He still had his powers in this state, something he noted mentally. The dragon let out a blast of fire as it shrieked in pain, but Meeko was able to dodge it as he sank his teeth into the dragon's neck and ripping out its throat. "One down." he growled as he looked to the other two. He hoped that Atrix had some tricks up his sleeves. That shadow blast he had done earlier would be helpful right now. But it didn't seem like Atrix had control of that. Meeko vaporized into a cloud of smoke and the dragons got confused as they tried to lock onto him, but they couldn't find anything to lock onto. He rematerialized on the back of one of the dragons and ripped it's wings off like they were made of paper. He then stuck an intangible claw through the back of its head and grabbed the dragon's tongue and pulled it through the back of its head and tied it around his neck strangling the dragon. Meeko was beginning to enjoy embracing his inner beast and a smile spread across his feline face. He also was embracing his protective instincts that he didn't know he had. He never had anyone to care about before, but Atrix was his friend and he didn't deserve this kind of treatment just because he was adorable. He didn't care what the bullies did to him, be he wasn't going to let them hurt his friend. There was still at least one more cyber dragon to take care of, maybe more if they had a lot of clones and Meeko wasn't even short of breath yet.

Around the same time that Atrix activated that strange and mysterious power, two large pillars of light shined from the center of the city...to be exact, they came from the statue of the Hero slaying Demon King Millen, and the Governance Castle's Crypt where the Sword of the Hero lay sealed inside an otherwise empty coffin. However, Astrius Academy which bordered the ocean and even had its own beach and port was further away from the center, so the people might be unable to see it.

And at this time at the Academy...

Meeko was not even sure what to do anymore. Meeko had changed, his own powers erupted. Things were degrading at a worse and worse level. The Cyberdragons continued to swarm, since apparently they made a lot of them, Meeko had gone beserk. Atrix was getting annoyed. And now, there were people watching. Additionally, the Cyber Dragons were increasing in their violence and ability, and continued to aim for Atrix, at this point not burning burning his clothes but him as well. And as the pillars of light began to glow brighter and brighter, Atrix felt his own powers rising uncontrollable...he wasn't even sure what was going on...

"Its a good thing he told me immediately...alright people, times up!"

Suddenly, there was a ripple in the fabric of reality. The Cyberdragons remaining each got a blast of some sort of red blot, consuming and destroying them. At the same time, a strange seal appeared under Atrix and Meeko and began draining them of any excess energy so long as they remained inside. It would also have a calming effect. And the power Atrix felt building up seemed to vanish instantly.

To think what the headmaster told me was true...

Looking at Atrix specifically for a moment, he sighed before turning towards Meeko and the bullies...and increased gravity in their zones enough that it would force them to the ground.

Looking down on everyone, floating in the sky on his own without any assistance at all, was...someone who no one there knew at all it seemed. He appeared to maybe be around twelve, and unlike Atrix was normal height so that was clear. His appearance made him seem a bit more mature though, almost like he was older. And right now, he stared down at the four of them.

"You three...although pranks of an embarrassing or humiliating nature can usually go overlooked since they are not physically harmful, you took this way out of hand, and these Cyberdragons are clearly way too dangerous, as their animal side started letting them get too aggressive in the end. And you, Meeko Maow was it? And you are Atrix Akir right? You two are roommates if I remember what I heard right..."

There was no reason this person should know Meeko by name, let alone recognize him while he was in that form, or his relationship with Atrix, but it seemed like this person knew all of that.

"Although you certainly have reason to be angry, and a right to defend yourself, unless this becomes an official dual hurting each other is not allowed. That form you are/were in, maybe I am assuming too much but that looked like a beserk form you would not be able to properly control, and while those guys were jerks, if you went and hurt them after this single incident of potential physical harm while in the moment, it would be bad for you as well".

This person, who radiated a certain power and charisma, had come in to stop all of this. He was also another person who did not seem hostile to Atrix. In truth, Atrix almost felt hostility from him for a moment, but that faded almost instantly. But, he felt compelled to be interested in this figure.

"Who...who are you?"

The other boy looked away for a moment. "Uhhh...its kind of a weird name. I guess whoever named me must have hated me or something at the start, but I have decided to take it with pride since the person was strong".

"Huh?"

"My name....is Millen. But usually I just go with Milo to avoid the look your face....oh, your not making it. That's a first...I actually feel really happy about that".

The stranger in question, who goes by Milo but his full name is Millen, was in truth the Demon King Millen who died over one thousand years ago. And had showed up to break up the fight, while standing in the air in an epic fashion.

To think I have a son! After so long! Ah, so glad I ninjaed all those cute pictures of him during this whole thing! And he appears to have quite the resolve and strength! Ahhhh, I have not had a real family in one thousand years! This is wonderful!

...and he real reason of coming here was to see the son that only he and one other alive currently knew he had.

Meeko was forced to the ground and his form shifted back to normal as the strange kid in the sky calmed everyone down. He felt the energy drain from himself as the boy floated above everyone. He was now completely nude in front of all the people in the stadium as his clothes had been ripped to shreds when he changed.

Meeko had heard a few things about the demon king, but had not really put it together about his name.

"Thank you, Milo. I wasn't able to control the change." He replied with gratitude for the boy not wanting him and Atrix to get in trouble. He was still confused by the fact that he knew his name, but this was a place of all kinds of strange things, so someone with psychic abilities wasn't a big surprise.

He quickly grabbed his gym clothes from his bag and pulled them on before more people noticed he was nude. He wanted to ask about what this berserk form was, it was as though he seemed to know more about who Meeko was than Meeko himself. He figured it would be best to wait for Milo to finish talking before bombarding him with questions.

Is he still unaware...ummm, as his father, I should do something about this...

Meeko was naked from his transformation and Atrix had been targeted by the Dragons. Additionally Atrix had several burns on his skin from the overzealous Dragons that attacked him...but he himself seemed unaware. Well, the wounds had actually already healed, only that outer layer with soot remained.

When Atrix finally noticed, to reduce the amount of embarrassment and exposure he coated the two of them to conceal their states. Additionally he used a massive excessive amount of mana to restore their bodies and clothes. Actually he was hiding another truth: Atrix's powers as a Demon King.

A Demon King was blessed with many powers and abilities, and once they learned to control them could do all sorts of things like fight off giant space alien invasions singlehanded. However, Millen also remembered how embarrassing learning how to use all those powers were. Millen had reached a point where he could use twelve different transformations but all had the same problem Meeko had. He had the power to control shadows, his blood, the elements. The Demon King Bloodline possessed a strong connection to the Void, granting powers that defied even magic. However, the powers had issues. For one thing, while the Demon King had the power to create, it had even more to destroy. Since he could potentially destroy himself, he had trained by trying to control his powers and focusing on "non-living"...which didn't end well for him emotionally.

So he knew Atrix would need a private space to train and get help, and could sympathize with Meeko.

But first...

"You know, making those two naked in front of everyone...I wonder how you would like it?"

Suddenly, as Atrix was now completely restored to how he was before this started, the bullies were left completely naked instead. Millen did a bit more then that, but wasn't worth mentioning all of it...but they would be puking a lot tomorrow as one of those.

The red blobs he used came back to him and entered his body...it was his blood. It seemed more then should fit on his body though.

"It's fine, but be careful in the future, scratching your roommate's face would be bad, or his belongings. Anyways..."

Millen seemed to jump off of the air and landed on the ground next to them.

"Wanna get lunch?"

Millen secretly tucked all the photos he was secretly taking of his son going to school and such in his pocket dimension. No one would ever know the truth.

Best day ever...

Meeko was surprised by the amount of manna that Milo was able to use when he regenerated their clothes and healed their bodies. He also couldn't help but laugh at the bullies getting what they deserved, though he would have rather dealt it himself.

"Lunch sounds great. We were just heading there before all this happened." Meeko answered, though it seemed that Milo was talking more to Atrix than to him. "I was wondering about what you were talking about earlier, you said that... thing I turned into was a berserk form? What is a berserk form? And on a side note, does that mean you know what species I am?" Meeko was naturally curious, but he often kept his questions to himself. However this Milo person who showed up from nowhere seemed to know quite a bit about him and Meeko couldn't help but ask.

Meeko had been born on a planet that was a hot spot for intergalactic black market deals. He was born in the equivalent of a puppy mill for alien species and his was just one of many to hold a resemblance to the felines of earth. He had no idea who his father was nor did he know what planet his mother was from. Until now, he didn't even know he had a berserk form, but he could tell that it wasn't a magical power, as it didn't block the use of his genetically created powers. But it didn't seem to be a genetically created power either.

As they got to the cafeteria Meeko thought about what Milo had said to him. He didn't think there was any danger of him scratching Atrix. Even in his berserk form Meeko was thinking of protecting him above all else. Even if Atrix got scratched by accident, there was little to no chance that he would get the toxin, as Meeko had to physically make the glands inject the poison. No, Meeko knew he would never hurt Atrix, Atrix was the one person around that he actually cared about.

The realization of that hit him like a ton of bricks. He finally met someone that he cared about, even if it was only like a little brother. He turned back to the two of them and listened to the two of them talk. Some thing seemed off about Milo's interest in the two of them, though it was mostly in Atrix, and Meeko could feel magic pouring off him. The kid was far more powerful than he seemed. But right at the moment he was on Atrix's side and wanted to keep him safe so he thought that power was a good thing.