Demons Within: I level up endlessly-Chapter 41: Purgatory Realm

Daniel whispered to the empty room. "He tried to kill me." But then, another thought came into his mind. It was a scary thought.

"What if they kick me out?" If the Academy expelled him, it was over. He would lose his access to the portals.

He would lose the chance to get stronger. He would never be able to find the monster that took his sister, Chloe. He would never be able to save his mother from the aliens who had enslaved her.

His stomach turned, and a wave of nausea hit him. He felt sick. "Please," he whispered. He didn’t know who he was talking to.

Time passed very slowly. There were no windows in the cell. There was no clock on the wall.

He stood up and paced around the small room. Three steps forward. Turn. Three steps back. Turn.

He did this for a long time.

Finally, the lights in the ceiling buzzed. They got brighter. It must be morning. Daniel stopped pacing.

He stood in the middle of the room. He faced the heavy steel door. He wiped his face with his sleeve.

He tried to clean off some of the dirt and sweat. He waited.

Clank! Clank!

He heard footsteps outside. It sounded like boots on metal. There was more than one person.

Beep! Hissss!

The electronic lock opened. The heavy door slid to the side gently. Daniel squinted his eyes against the bright light from the hallway.

Three figures stood in the doorway. Two of them were guards. They wore heavy black armor that made them look like robots. They held shock batons in their hands.

The tips of the batons glowed with blue electricity. The third figure was a man. Daniel had seen him before, but only from far away.

He usually stood on the high balcony during assemblies. It was Principal Michael Wexford.

He wore a dark blue suit. He did not look like a teacher. Instructor Baldwin was not there. "Daniel Rivers," the Principal said.

His voice was deep. It resonated in the small room. "Step forward." Daniel took a step forward.

He didn’t look down, but he didn’t meet the Principal’s gaze either. His eyes lingered somewhere in between, a silent admission of fault.

"You have created a big mess, Mr. Rivers," the Principal said. He walked into the cell. He put his hands behind his back.

"You assaulted a fellow student. You used unauthorized combat skills inside the Academy. You disrupted the peace."

He stopped a few feet away from Daniel. His grey eyes were cold.

"The student you attacked, Bran Pegasus, is in bad shape," the Principal said. "He is in critical condition. The healers are working on him, but his recovery will be slow. You broke his face."

"With respect sir, he deserved it," Daniel said. "He is a traitor."

"That is not for you to decide," the Principal snapped.

"We have laws here. We have order. If every student decided to give out their own justice, this Academy would be a slaughterhouse."

The Principal walked around Daniel. He looked at Daniel’s torn uniform. He looked at the dried blood on his hands.

"Under normal rules," the Principal continued, "this level of violence results in immediate expulsion. We would take away your status. We would wipe your memory of this place. We would send you back to the slums where you came from."

Daniel’s heart hammered in his chest. Expulsion. It felt heavy.

"Please sir, i cannot leave this place," Daniel said. His voice dropped lower. "I have a family to save. I need to be here."

"Everyone has a sad story, Mr. Rivers," the Principal said. He did not sound caring. "A sad story does not give you the right to break our laws."

He stopped in front of Daniel again.

"However," the Principal said slowly, "Instructor Baldwin has spoken for you." Daniel blinked.

Baldwin?

She had looked so disappointed in him last night.

"She believes your talent is... unique," the Principal said. "She watched the video of your fight in the hallway. She saw the force you used. She believes you have potential that is too valuable to throw away." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The Principal took a small tablet from his pocket. He tapped the screen.

"She also told me what you said. You claim that Mr. Pegasus killed your team. You claim he is a traitor."

"It is the truth," Daniel said firmly. "He killed Ragnar. He killed Sophie. He trapped them."

"Perhaps," the Principal said. "But we have no proof. And without proof, we cannot punish him. However, we cannot simply let you go unpunished. You nearly killed a boy in front of everyone."

The Principal put the tablet away.

"Therefore, the Board has decided on a different punishment. You will not be expelled."

Relief washed over Daniel. It was so strong that his knees almost gave out. He was staying. He still had a chance. He could still save his mother and search for his sister.

"But," the Principal added, his voice turning hard again, "you cannot stay here. Not like this. You are too dangerous. You rely too much on your skills."

He pointed to the guards. "Bring him."

The guards stepped forward. They placed heavy magnetic shackles on Daniel’s wrists. The metal cuffs clicked shut. They were cold and heavy.

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked. "To serve your sentence," the principal replied.

They led Daniel out of the cell. They walked down the long, grey corridor. Other students who had been locked up for something or the other watched from the windows of their cells.

They reached the elevator at the end of the hall. The Principal used a special key card. The elevator didn’t go up to the school. It went down.

As the elevator went down, the air grew colder. When the doors opened, they were in a place Daniel had never seen before.

This portal was scary. It was made of black obsidian stone. The energy swirling inside it was not bright. It was a dark grey color.

Instructor Baldwin was standing near a control panel. She looked up as they entered.

"This," the Principal announced, his voice echoing off the high ceiling, "is the Purgatory Realm."

Daniel stared at the black portal. He could feel the cold coming from it.

"What is it?" Daniel asked. "It is a prison dimension," the Principal explained.

"It was created for staff or students who have power but no discipline." He turned to Daniel.

"The Purgatory Realm is a dead world. The System does not reach there. The moment you step through that gate, your connection to the Vanguard System will be cut."

Daniel’s eyes widened. "Cut?"

"No stats," the Principal said. "No skills. No inventory. You will go in as a human. Just flesh and bone. Just Daniel Rivers."

Daniel felt a chill run down his spine. He had relied on his stats for everything. His strength, his speed, his senses, they were all tied to the System. Without them, he was just... normal.

"You will serve a sentence of Six months," the Principal declared.

"Six months. You must survive in that wasteland with nothing but your wits and your will." Baldwin stepped forward.

She looked at Daniel. "It is a dangerous place, Daniel," she said softly. "There are other prisoners there, exiles, criminals, people the world wanted to forget."

"If you die there," the Principal said seriously, "you die in real life. There is no emergency exit. There is no medical team to save you."

There was absolute silence in the room.

"But if you survive," Baldwin said, her eyes locking onto his, "if you six months and find the exit portal, you will return to the Academy. Your record will be cleared. And you will be allowed to enter Phase Two."

It was a death sentence. Or it was the hardest test of his life.

"Do you accept?" the Principal asked. "Or do you choose expulsion?" Daniel looked at the black, swirling vortex.

If he left now, his family remained lost. Daniel took a deep breath. He squared his shoulders.

"I accept," he said. The Principal nodded. He signaled to the guards. "Unshackle him."

The guards tapped a code on their wristbands. The magnetic cuffs on Daniel’s wrists clicked open and fell to the floor.

"You can take nothing with you," the Principal said. "No weapons. No armor. Just the clothes on your back." Daniel unbuckled his belt.

He placed his D-Grade Vibro-Knife on a nearby table. He took off his D-Grade Deflector Vest. He felt naked without them. He was just wearing his torn shirt and pants.

"Go," the Principal ordered. Daniel walked toward the obsidian portal. The closer he got, the colder the air became.

As he passed the control panel, Instructor Baldwin stepped into his path for a brief second. She just leaned in close, and her voice dropped to a low whisper the Principal couldn’t hear.

"One piece of advice, Daniel," she said. Her eyes were intense. "In Purgatory, you are not a Divine Warrior. You are just a man."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed tight.

"Prove to us that you are more than just your skills. Prove that you are a Vanguard. Survive."

Daniel nodded.

He stepped up to the edge of the portal.

Grey mist brushed against his boots. He closed his eyes and stepped through the black curtain.

The sensation was immediate. It was violent.

[SYSTEM ERROR: DOMAIN SUPPRESSION ACTIVE]

[WARNING: CONNECTION UNSTABLE]

[WARNING: SYSTEM DISCONNECTING...]

[CONNECTION LOST]

The notifications flashed on his Databand, and then it went off.