All-in-One System: All I Need is Erotic Coins

Chapter 30 The Trickster

?The walls were shaking, the ground too, and a roar sent shivers down the spine of all the students, and the professors too!

That was not all of it. Darius, someone powerful, could also sense the danger emanating from that roar. He was the first to act, saying, "professors, take all the students to the underground area, NOW!"

Damian was not stupid, and he understood it was a beast, a powerful one.

"The roar is coming from the library. Could it be inside that room, protecting the key this whole time?" he thought.

The students followed the professors, yet before they could even leave the school's kitchen, a part of the school's main building got demolished! The library was no more, and the walls, roof, and everything around the library scrambled as a beast tucked its head off the school's roof.

When that happened, the school went into total chaos! The students screamed, afraid it would be the last time they would breathe. Even the professors could not keep their calm down.

*Bang*

The roof above their heads was sent flying, and when everyone looked up, they saw it!

A massive red salamander! It had a rugged skin, two big yellow eyes similar to that of a snake, and dragon wings!

Its body, from head to tail, had approximately 25 meters! Isac, the professor responsible for teaching the students, knew about that creature, and it was not good!

"This salamander is an A grade beast! Only Sr. Darius can think about going against it!" Isac said, increasing the fear of everyone present.

The same way abilities had their grades, beasts also did, but in a different way. Abilities had a grade of 1 to 10, while beasts had letters.

A graded beasts were truly powerful! It was akin to something like a grade 6 ability user, which was even higher than the professors!

Darius unsheathed his sword, staring directly at the salamander. He knew he was the only one that could face the beast, so he yelled once again, "take everyone out of here, fast."

The scream woke everyone up, and the professors returned to their task of sending everyone to the underground area. They left the kitchen and went to a specific part of the school's courtyard.

At first glance, it had nothing, but one professor took out some bushes, revealing a hidden metal trapdoor.

"Everyone inside! This bunker has supplies for us, and it is the safest place we have right now!"

Everyone went down a ladder to get insides of the bunker. In the meantime, Darius was fiercely fighting against the red salamander.

Darius waved his hand, activating his ability! The gravity around the salamander increased, making it harder for the beast to move or attack!

He waved his hand once again, and the gravity around his body diminished. Darius was now faster and way stronger than his normal self!

That was his ability, one that was graded 6, close to grade 7! It was what made him known, and what made him powerful.

"Eat my sword slash," Darius said as he jumped toward the salamander, slashing his sword mid-air.

It was not a common sword, but a magical item created with materials straight from the dungeon! Meaning it could hurt the salamander, and so it did, cutting its left leg.

Darius expected more. The skin of the salamander was harder, meaning it was not an ordinary one! Still, blood was leaving the wound, and if Darius kept fighting like he was delivering slashes, it would be only a matter of time until he won.

Damian was down there, praying that Darius would be the victor. Everyone else was doing the same thing.

They could only hear the noises from the battle happening above their heads, but they could not help it in any way! That was a daunting situation, and one Damian disliked.

He wanted to do something about it, to control his fate, yet he could not.

"This means I can only get stronger to not depend on anyone!"

Time seemed to slow down, and after a while, the noises from the battle stopped. No one knew who the victor was, until the bunker's trapdoor opened, and Darius appeared, all hurt with his clothing almost completely gone.

His body had many scars and burns, presumably from the fire the salamander breathed.

"It is safe outside. You can come out," he said.

They all looked at him like a savior and was what he was! If Darius was not there, then certainly all the students and professors would die fighting against the salamander.

"Damian, I was so scared," Aurora said, moving closer to Damian, hugging his right arm as they went up, leaving the bunker.

"I know, I know," Damian cuddled her hair, "we are safe now."

The school's situation was dire. All of them knew it because the moment they left the bunker, it was right before their eyes!

Destroyed buildings, massive holes in the ground, and burnt trees. It would take at least 2 months for the school to recover its previous pride, but it was still better than vanishing forever.

Darius could barely walk, and he gathered his strength to say, "I will have to leave to recover my strength. Professors work together with the students to rebuild this place. Classes will continue, but diminish them, as our primary goal is to first fix the school."

After that, Darius left, walking to an unknown area of the school, one only he knew.

The goal he handed was the right one. Classes could not stop completely, but rebuilding the school to guarantee safety to all the students was necessary.

Damian would be one student helping rebuild the school if the event had not caught him.

He was walking around in the courtyard, alone, to see how much damage the salamander caused to the school.

"Crazy, isn't it?"

A melodic voice entered his ears. It was Vanessa. One reason Damian went to a remote area of the school, strolling around, was to have Vanessa come to meet him.

"Did you know about the salamander?" Damian asked.

Vanessa played with a string of her hair. "I did not. We thought the door was the only protective mechanism."

Damian did not believe her words. There was no denial. His trust with her was gone after the sudden attack after he left the test area.

"What was that key, then? I helped, so I have the rights to know something about it," Damian said.

"I cannot tell you, because even I am uncertain about its origins. But I have a feeling it has the secrets to why the dungeons appeared, the beasts, and many more. Well, only time will tell."

"As I expected. You say some pretty things, but in the end say nothing."

"Are you angry, my dear? Did you dislike our time together?" Vanessa said as she got closer to Damian, whispering nasty things in his ear.

Now that both were close to each other, something happened! The key, which was still inside Vanessa's pocket, shone with a golden light.

"What is happening?" she said.

The key recognized its owner! Damian was the one who opened the door, so the key belonged to him and no one else! It flew out of Vanessa's pockets and went toward Damian's chest!

It touched it, and somehow merged with him, creating a tattoo on his right chest that looked exactly like the key!

"No, this can't be happening!"

Vanessa was lost. She had gathered some people to help her get the key, but other big organizations were after it too, like the Fingers. She had to get it and flee, but now a youth was with it!

She was confident about hiding alone, but with someone else? That would make everything harder!

"I did not do it on purpose! Can you take it out?" Damian said, gasping for air.

He knew it was a precious item someone like him should not have.

"Impossible! It merged with you. The only way to get it out is by killing you, and that also has chances of failure…"

They did not know what to do next.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here."

Damian and Vanessa said in unison, "who's there?"

There was something about that voice that puzzled Damian. He had heard it before many times, yet in that desperate time, it took him some time to realize.

"Theo?"

A blond youth with blue eyes. Theo became Damian's friend after that one versus one combat, and had helped him.

But then, Theo's face distorted, revealing it to be the face of an old man with wrinkles!

? "W-Who are you? What did you do with Theo?" Damian asked.

Theo laughed, and said, "me? I am the Theo you know, hidden inside this useless school, looking for a chance to get my hands on that key! I believe Darius told you me name, didn't he?"

Damian finally realized, "The Trickster!"

The person he thought was a friend was actually someone from the Fingers organization, a wanted criminal who was there looking for the key.

Maybe that was the reason he became friends with Damian in the first place? To get his hands on his ability!

"Correct. I was waiting for the perfect chance to get my hands on that key, but I never believed it would merge with your body. How pitiful. It seems I will have to kill you now, my good friend Damian!"

Vanessa heard it and was quick to react! She could not allow the key to go to the hands of that organization! She had to get it for herself, and it was better to be with someone like Damian than with someone like the Trickster!

Yet, even with her efforts, she did not have the power to face Theo. Vanessa's ability allowed her to control the matter.

She moved the ground beneath them, using her mind, trying to lock Theo in a sort of cage.

The earth locked Theo in place, and for a moment, Vanessa thought she had him.

"Yo! I am here," a voice came from behind her.

It was all but an illusion, and Theo was already behind her, moving a knife to stab her in the back!

Damian saw it, and could not allow such a thing! With his mind, Damian created force on the knife, making Theo stop in place, not having the strength to finish the attack.

Doing that was harsh, and sweat was dripping from Damian's forehead.

"Oh? Good job, Damian. But it is not enough to stop me," Theo said.

Then, another Theo showed up beside the original one, with the same dagger in hands, stabbing Vanessa before she could do anything.

"Aggr!"

Vanessa screamed in pain, falling to the ground with a wound on her back. It was not fatal if she got treatment, but would the Trickster allow that?

"Now, it is your turn, Damian."

In less than a second, Theo was right in front of Damian, stabbing the knife in his chest! The illusions created by him were powerful, and one never knew what was real and what was not!

That was the reason he was a wanted man in the underworld. An adversary, even Darius, would have a bad time fighting.

But Theo had a weakness, and that was fighting against multiple people at the same time!

Everything had happened fast, but the other professors noticed something was off, and they saw Vanessa on the ground, just like Damian!

Aurora and Magnus were there too, running toward them with the other professors.

"It does not matter. You will die now, and the key will belong to me. After that, I will escape. Darius is hurt, and he is the only one that can chase me!"

The Trickster had no intention of fighting, and was only waiting for Damian to have his final breaths, but then something happened.

The key tattoo on his chest shone again!

~~~

Author Note: A longer chapter as this is the last free one. I know, people enjoy free stories, but as an author I have to pay my bills...

Your support means the world to me, and I will keep writing good content that can send your mind away from the stressful routine.

<Master of the Cliffhangers right there>