Hell Contractor: Rise of the Last God

Sacred Blood.

Ayanda carefully observes his three cultivation bases, Taboo Slayer Divine Art, God Blood Lightning Sacred Art and Immortal Phoenix Sacred Art within his Soul Scape. Each base cultivation had a symbol, a Leviathan, a lightning bolt and a phoenix, which shine with a frightening presence. Ayanda can tell that the levels of each of the cultivations are definitely able to reach mythical, so he isn't too concerned about his two Phoenix sacred arts merging into one. He can also detect a a connection to Sango in the ring on his finger, which now has symbols engraved on it, which look like scales on an ancient dragon. Ayanda isn't sure what the symbols mean, but he sensed that they were something he had seen in his past sometime.

Sango is perplexed and distraught. Not only has he lost his God Blood, which is his risky revival chance in case he dies, he's lost his place amongst the God's now being reduced to a bare spirit beast. As far as he can detect, his connection to Ayanda is similar to Levy, but sadly, he has to rely on Ayanda to supply him with vitality, and also share the same life. Never in his existence as a God did Sango guess he would be reduced to this state. He could only beg for mercy now, as all of his thoughts and feelings were visible to Ayanda.

Ayanda was startled at what he could gleam from Sango's spirit once he opened it up. Sango was a genuine God, but as some point he tried to steal an artefact from the ruler of the God's, some shadowy being who would never appear in a human like form. Sango was apparently taking advantage of how powerful he used to be, but after he failed to steal the artefact, he had to escape into the human world by forcing himself to possess a human. For thousands of years, he was able to drift around, looking for more suitable humans to possess, until he heard about a prodigal warrior from the Phoenix Sect, named Lucky. 

Sango wanted to possess Lucky more than anybody since he was the master of the Phoenix Sect who lived a wild, flamboyant lifestyle, but had the strength to back up his wild ideas. Lucky mastered his Phoenix Sect's Burning Phoenix Sacred Art by the time he was ten, and even developed the Celestial Phoenix Song Sacred Art by the time he was fifteen. Sango had also heard rumor's that Lucky was able to tame a rare mythical beast which was from the West, a Star Shadow Chimera. Once Sango tracked Lucky down inside God's Prison, he thought he could ambush the young master, but sadly, Sango was not only seen through instantly, but Lucky trapped his soul into his ring as an experiment during his years of studying his Celestial Phoenix Song Sacred Art.

When Ayanda saw the dark, muscular but handsome man who trapped Sango, he realized that that man is the strange ghost who he absorbed the Celestial Phoenix Song Sacred Art. He also felt that Sango had found him much earlier than he thought, which meant that whenever Lucky died, it was some time after Lucky got trapped by him. That means that he was working on a way to merge Burning Phoenix and Celestial Phoenix Song Sacred Art's, but never had the chance to since it was never recorded in the scroll.

"Sango, I expect you to be honest now. If you don't tell me how to promote God Blood Lightning Sacred Art, I'll find a spirit beast to feed you to." Ayanda had seen through Sango's devious past, and now knows that he's dealing with someone who will only be truthful as long as they can live. Ayanda won't give him any room to try his tricks.

"... If you can find more spiritual vitality, that could help boost your cultivation, but unfortunately we're in The Dragon Province. Spiritual vitality is more common in the Banish Empire and to the west." Sango replied with frustration. He had to obey Ayanda or else he felt that he could really be fed to a spirit beast and die, he couldn't take anymore risks. "But if you're able to find a wild mythical beast, you could drain it of it's vitality, and also have me help you draw out it's spiritual vitality. It won't be a lot, but it will be a definite help." Sango insisted honestly.

"Is there no other way?" Ayanda felt that finding wild mythical beasts to hunt wouldn't be easy right now, maybe once he passed. But was he didn't enjoy was the risk behind promoting God Blood Lightning. If he needed wild mythical beasts now, that would mean he would have to hunt more in future just to reach peak mythical level with the sacred art. He doesn't have time for all of that. He needs to find a way to secure spiritual vitality without having to rely on unpredictable external sources. But for now, Ayanda had to focus on returning to Dark Dragon Academy as soon as he can in order to register in time for the final exams.

Ayanda takes off again, this time running with his Immortal Phoenix Sacred Art. He found that his speed is much faster than the God Blood Lightning Sacred Art, as long as he gains more momentum and glides through the air to find the shortest path. His body has now merged with the feather robe, becoming an invisible pair of wings behind his back as he begins to soar into the air with each step. He feels like he can keep on flying forever as long as there is wind beneath his wings, and he flies at a low altitude towards a majestic set of buildings behind a huge gate decorated in black dragons carved out of stone. "Dark Dragon Academy" is clearly seen by Ayanda who dives to the far side of one of the buildings, which is shielding another old worn down set of apartments. They're connected to a private training ground as well as a garden, with a garage that has an antique hovercar being repaired inside. Ayanda swoops in to land in a rush, scanning for Mr. Han's presence, and once he sees he's clear, he rushes into the apartment next to the garage into his room.

Ayanda's room isn't particularly messy, but he does leave his work out gear and weights around to keep himself busy, besides that he keeps his room very neat. He quickly showers to get ready for class, throwing the relic map underneath his mattress, then proceeding to hide the tusk knife and plain looking hobo nickel in a secret hidden compartment that he custom built into his desk. Ayanda has used this mainly to store anything he's taken from Mr. Han like the relic map, but since he's probably been caught, he can use it for the treasures he acquired. Mr. Han would definitely be suspicious of him if he had those on him, he figured he could at least make up a story about Levy.

The school bell rings for lunch, so Ayanda decides to see Mr. Han after registering for the exams, so that he can't be punished to severely once Mr. Han gets back home. Ayanda dashes out, now dressed in his purple academy uniform, blazer and black pants, but he's wearing trainers so that he can run on foot without revealing his new sacred arts. Ayanda had to pretend to still be powerless since he doesn't want to deal with the headache of people finding out he has a companion beast now. Rather save that for the final exam.

Ayanda has just re-entered the academy grounds when he hears a familiar voice calling for him.

"Ayanda!" a sweet voice caught his attention.

He stops to turn and find Bright, dressed in her training tracksuit with the academy logo on it. She has a few dead leaves stuck on her shoulders, and a twig sticking out of her afro. She's smiling with her perfect smile which could lift anybody's mood.

"Bright! Sorry I was M.I.A, I was out on a training trip." Ayanda sheepishly admitted. He wanted to flat out lie to her, but Bright was much sharper than her honest persona let on. She knew Ayanda better than most of the other students who look down on him, so he was worried she wouldn't be easy to convince.

"Don't bother." Bright put up her hand casually, "Mr. Han told me you were gone, even he was clueless about where you went, so I won't ask questions." she said earnestly. She looked into Ayanda's eyes deeply before stepping forward to inspect his face. "Whatever you did, it looks like you really did get stronger." Bright turned around to wait for Ayanda to start walking.

"Ha ha, yeah, well.. It was a rough trip, trust me. You probably wouldn't have enjoyed it." Ayanda felt relieved and continued to make his way towards the academy Registration Office, so he can apply for the final exam. By his estimation, he probably will only have three days to catch up on the supplementary training. 

Bright follows along silently, while pulling the broken branch out of her hair and brushing the dead leaves off, before noticing that Ayanda is walking towards the Registration Office. 

"Is he registering for the final exam? But, does that mean he has a companion beast now?" Bright's mind calculated the most plausible reasoning considering where Ayanda is heading. As far as she knew, a few other seniors would also be registering late only because they're out on trips to gather resources to promote their companion beasts as well as their sacred arts. Some have the privilege of having a representative do their registration on their behalf, like Bright. But for Ayanda, and considering he's an orphan, even if Mr. Han is his guardian, he would still have to go in person to register himself and his companion beast.

Before Bright can find out anything, a trio of academy students are walking out of the Registration Office. Ayanda and Bright recognize the three students, they're all prodigy's like Bright, but are aiming for the number one position which is up for grabs this year. Amongst the possible frontrunners, the three in front of Ayanda could be considered. There's Vudu, a bald student with a dark complexion, but his face has a tattoo of a skeleton traced over his entire face, matching his skull, Yethu, a tall, quiet girl with long braids stretching down her back, carrying two wooden training sabers on a vine shaped hilt, and Nez, an older looking brown skinned ruffian with bleached hair, with a piercing on his nose. All three of them eye Bright mainly, hardly taking notice of Ayanda.

"So Bright, out to scope the competition, huh?" Nez said in a loud voice, moving closer to Bright in his untidy attire. He's wearing his uniform, but he's defaced most of it and is even wearing a T-shirt with profanities instead of a white shirt.

"Nez, what makes you think I'd have time to check on any of you?" Bright replied with a cold glare to Nez, prompting him to stop his advance.

"We'll see if you regretted not doing any intel on our companion beasts." Vudu said creepily. He had a dry, raspy voice, sounding like a dead soul crying for life.

Bright gave him a disgusted look, when Yethu instantly stepped out ahead of Nez and Vudu to make her way past Bright. She remained silent and composed, with Bright ignoring Yethu dismissing her. 

Nez was still ticked off that Bright wasn't taking them seriously and Yethu try to taunt Bright, but couldn't do much since the academy rules prohibit fighting on campus. As he was about to say something, he realizes that the person that was with Bright has vanished, and he can sense their presence is now behind him and Vudu. he quickly turns to catch Ayanda trying to sneak in the Registration Office like a coward avoiding a fight. 

"Hey, you're that Worm guy right?" Nez asked in a lowered voice to Ayanda, holding back any outburst. He suddenly felt that something wasn't right, that someone who supposedly got no companion beast was able to get past his senses. Even stranger, was that he could tell where Ayanda was, but the moment his attention was drawn away by Yethu leaving, Nez could only pick up on him when he was close to the door. To him that made no sense at all.

"It's Ayanda." Ayanda's response was firm, even though he was pretending to be cowardly. His reply also held a certain tone than grinded against Nez's senses, making him feel like he was being spoken down to.

Before Nez can say anymore, Bright walks past them to help Ayanda inside. "You don't have to worry about those fools." she added as the door closed behind them. Nez remained still with a puzzled and annoyed look.

Inside the Registration Office, Bright was pushing Ayanda swiftly towards the final exam registration desk, with Ayanda hardly resisting. Within the bustling administration office, there were multiple levels, all with different bureaucrats paid with agile companion beasts shuffling packages and rare secure boxes with sealed items. As students, they were restricted to the first floor which deals with registrations, the higher levels are for the coursework they will be allowed to select from once they graduate, and some of those items will be used during their later years.

Ayanda and Bright reach a very open and spacious waiting area, with a queue demarcated already, but its empty. Ayanda hops away from Bright quickly then makes his way to the front of the queue, with Bright hanging back to watch. He pulls out his academy ID card, and the plain clerk behind the glass window scanned his ID, double checked that it was Ayanda himself, then allowed him through to the testing area to confirm his companion beast level, and sacred arts. Dark Dragon Academy, much like all educational institutions and even the military, have sophisticated technology that has been developed across various states which enable humans to analyze companion beast levels, as well as the cultivation bases individuals have. For students, the level of technology is somewhat basic, but the technicians of the highest standard, so there is very little room for error.

Ayanda is being tested by the Chief of the Ancient Vitality Research Department, Professor Nhlanhla, who's dedicated over fifty years in researching long lost sacred arts which humans have become far evolved from at this point. His work also goes into understanding the different vitality types that exists, and developing theoretical probabilities for the Phoenix Sect's top secret research. He's an mature and aged man, with a few light scars on his brown wrinkled skin. He has an eccentric demeanor, but is an unparalleled genius when it comes to his field, and his work today is simply sampling data from Dark Dragon Academy to log into his genetic charts.

The professor looks over to Ayanda being led into the testing area, which has measuring devices to monitor basic strength, muscles, as well as read into his companion beast. There isn't much to it, but the area is separated from the rest of the lab in order for the examiners to analyze the results in real time. 

"I'm Professor Nhlanhla, I'll be overseeing your test today." he looks over Ayanda, and with his keen eyes he can faintly sense that Ayanda has a bit of spiritual vitality radiating off of his body. It's very difficult to sense even for the best trained warrior, as spiritual vitality is another realm of sacred arts to master. In the Banish Empire, the Abyss Sect has a multitude of average spirit beast masters who are skilled enough to even make mythical level warriors wish they would never encounter them. The only drawback is that spirit beast masters usually don't fight up close, they remain hidden in order to draw the spiritual vitality they need for their techniques. Professor Nhlanhla is intrigued to see if Ayanda has cultivated any sacred arts that use spiritual vitality.

Ayanda is guided by the professor who quickly runs him through the outline of the test, and then they get started right away. There' nothing special about the initial parts of the test, as even Bright barely wants to try and peek inside. But once Professor Nhlanhla announces that it's time to test the companion beast, Bright quickly jumped up in order to leer inside playfully, but with sharp eyes. 

Ayanda was hesitant at first, but he knew sooner or later he'd have to bring Levy out. Only now he's worried about Bright being around, but he knows that she isn't the type to make that much of ta fuss. Ayanda sighed, then summoned Levy out, which immediately shocked everyone in the room. Not only have they never seen such a companion beast, Levy's glare made them feel as if they were being looked down on by some arrogant emperor. Even as a crocodile monitor, Levy was very stoic and intimidating, even though he was about the size of a grown cat.

Bright saw Levy and frowned. As far as she knew, within The Dragon Province, there were hardly many reptilian type companion beasts, mainly due to how dragons are the apex reptiles, and the only known subspecies are all capable of flight. Looking at Levy, a wingless reptile, Bright got the sense that there was far more to his appearance, but it was annoying for her to look at Levy's face, since it seemed like he really wasn't interested in what was going on. 

"Alright Ayanda, command your companion beast with the following instructions." one of the examiners handed him a list.

Usually, companion beasts seem youthful and joyful when brought in by students, but today was the first time all the examiners had ever seen a companion beast like Levy, who clearly held disdain towards them testing him. Even as they were asking Ayanda to instruct Levy through the test, Levy seemed to be in contempt the entire time, barely putting in any effort. He scored unbelievably low on all the tests, but that's because Levy doesn't have any vitality, so his energy is insufficient for him to flex any of his muscles. At the moment, his cultivation matches Ayanda's level, so his score wouldn't be amazing.

When Professor Nhlanhla was reading the results of the tests so far, he was utterly disappointed. Ayanda's score was decent at best, but even his companion beast didn't seem particularly special. "How can someone like him actually have any spiritual vitality?" he asked himself, as he was at a loss for what he's found so far. The examiners announced that they are going to test Ayanda's sacred art cultivation bases, and that made Professor Nhlanhla simply turn away lazily to read through other students results. He was so disappointed in Ayanda, he told himself that a student like him most like has half a cultivation base so far at best, not even a complete one.

But as he was focusing on the results, Professor Nhlanhla heard Bright scream in shock while rushing into the testing room. The professor didn't mind if student's waited for their friends, but he has a strict one person at a time policy, simply for keeping the test accurate. Professor Nhlanhla was about to shout at Bright, but when he saw the sacred art cultivation base read out screen display three brightly glowing symbols revealing Ayanda's complete bases, his jaw dropped to the ground as he lost his composure and fell off of his chair.