Chapter 3 - Terra

============

Hello, new reader.

This novel isn't really what you may call an exciting work. It's slow-burning, maybe dull, a bit hard to read, and has slice-of-life elements. Not really the elements of a popular novel. Despite that, I still hope you give it a try for at least the first 20 chapters.

Anyways. On to the story. Please, enjoy.

============

-----

"Good morning kids!" Yoshiko greets her class.

"Good morning Uegaki sensei!" The fifteen or so third graders of Suginami Orphanage greet enthusiastically.

"…" Yoshiko cannot help but smile and clap her hands together once in excitement at finally receiving an advisory class, despite the small number of kids in her class.

It has been three years since she graduated university and she is feeling fortunate to already be a classroom adviser as a 25 year-old.

"Oh! Please welcome principal Kinjo too!" Yoshiko gestures to the principal who has taken a seat in the back of the class.

"Good morning Principal Kinjo!" The kids greet the man who they have seen in the welcome ceremony earlier in the morning.

"Good morning kids. Uegaki Sensei? Everybody seems to be here? Please start." Principal Kinjo says while also taking out his notebook to write down his observations for Yoshiko's assessment.

"Thank you, principal! Now kids. Your first subject of the day is the general history of the world. As it is only the first day of the school year, we won't be using your textbooks." Yoshiko announces.

"Yes!" The class is pleased.

"BUT. We just can't do nothing the whole period, right?" Yoshiko says.

"*groan*" The children are disappointed.

"Hehe. Well. What I'll do instead is to give you kids an idea of this subject. Okay? Now… Does any of you know what day it was yesterday?" Yoshiko starts her class with a question.

"Sensei! Sensei!" A few students raise their hands.

"Yes, Eiji?" Yoshiko calls out to one of them.

"It's… Obviously Sunday! Sensei!" Eiji replies smugly.

"*sigh*. I know it's Sunday. But yesterday was a holiday as well. Do you know what holiday it was?" Yoshiko clarifies.

"…" Eiji comes up empty.

"Sensei!" The students want to steal the opportunity to answer.

"Yes, Misaki?" Yoshiko passes the question to a female student.

"It was Martyr's Day!" The student proudly answers.

"Correct! What exactly is Martyr's Day, Misaki?" Yoshiko asks.

"Uhh… The... day we honor the heroes that died in the Great War!" Misaki answers.

"Good. Please take a seat, Misaki. Now does anyone know what happened in 'The Great War?" Yoshiko asks the class.

[[[ Terra, Solaris Star System, Monday, 17th day of the third month. Year 2020 of the common era, or year 146 of the 'Post Great War Era'. 2020 years after the birth of some religious figure, 168 years after the birth of the first Human Superioris, and 146 years after the great war.

The great war that happened in the year 1874 of the common era involved three main forces.

The forces of the Heavens, Hell, and the human mortals of this world. Before the war, this world had various religions that worshipped various gods. Unknowingly to them, their gods are just the various incarnations of the most powerful angels and demons.

The humans of this world worshipped their gods since time immemorial until one day, the forces of Heaven and Hell started havoc upon the mortal world. That havoc, dubbed as 'The Great Harvest' by historians, involved both the Angels from Heaven and Demons from hell harvesting souls of the powerless humans by pure mass murder.

Humanity felt betrayed and hopeless.

All hope was not lost however. When the gates of heaven and hell opened, it resulted to what is called the "Superioris Phenomenon" which gave random people various supernatural abilities that were only deemed fantasy up to that point.

Supernatural abilities like controlling fire, water, air, thunder, and ice became widespread in various strengths. Rare abilities like mind control and mind attacks also appeared. The human evolution did not stop with those powers, there are those who were granted with incredible physical, mental, and even psychic capabilities. These newly evolved humans outnumbered the lesser demons and angels, making the fight a bit more balanced, thus starting the 'Great War'.]]]

"Do any of you know of the Superioris Iwamoto Takuma?" Yoshiko asks the class.

"Yes! Yes!" Eiji raises his hand, proud this time that he knows something.

"Yes Eiji? What do you know about him?"

"Sensei! Iwamoto Takuma! Class A Superioris! He is one of the most powerful water manipulators in the Japan! Last month, they said he took water from Arakawa River and he made rain pour for a whole afternoon in Nerima! He saved people from that big fire there!" Eiji proudly reports.

"Yes. But what I want to talk about is Iwamoto Takuma's great great great grandfather, Hidetora. He was one of the heroes who sacrificed himself in the Great War for Japan." Yoshiko says.

"Sensei! How powerful was Hidetora? What class was he? Is he as strong as Takuma?" Eiji asks, his superioris nerdiness coming out.

"There were no Superioris Class during the great war. But I can say that Hidetora would have been Class A just like Takuma. But Takuma should be stronger." Yoshiko explains.

"Oh! Then! Then! If Takuma was in the great war, he would not have died like his great… great… great… grandfather!" Eiji says.

"Eiji…" Yoshiko almost yells at Eiji's ignorance.

"You can't say it like that. Iwamoto Hidetora was one of the strongest Superioris during that time in Japan. Without his sacrifice, humanity would not have become stronger. Without him, Takuma would not have been born with powers." Yoshiko says.

"Oh…" Eiji can barely process Yoshiko's words, but he has grasped enough of Yoshiko's sentiments to understand.

"Do you understand?" Yoshiko asks. "…Yes sensei…" Eiji can only say.

"Good. Moving on…"

========

Many ancient organizations who had the knowledge of the arcane and magic also revealed themselves to the world and started spreading their knowledge to banish both Demons and Angels.

When it comes to the efforts against demons, there are three main forces involved.

The 'Brotherhood of Adam' of the Middle East, has the knowledge in the arts of making sigils that is used to lock in or lock out demons in and from a certain location.

'The Knights of the Church' of the Catholic religion has the knowledge of imbuing weapons with runes, making them deadly to demons.

Finally, the various Shamanic orders of East Asia has the knowledge of talismans that are just as useful as the sigils of the brotherhood, or the runes of the Knights. They also have the knowledge in exorcism.

When it comes to combating angels, archaeologists and historians finally put their knowledge in use.

They managed to figure out that some of the ancient Indian, Chinese, Sumerian and Mesopotamian texts they have been sitting on, are useful in banishing, trapping, and killing angels.

========

"Sensei!" Misaki raises her hand for a question.

"I saw the statues in Asagaya Shinme Shrine! They said that the kannushi's (Shinto priests) and miko's (Shinto priestess) can banish demons! From what you said, does it mean that they fought in the great war too?" Misaki asks.

"Yes! With their knowledge in magic in addition to some of the kannushi and miko being Superioris themselves, they are even more powerful and important than some superioris heroes!" Yoshiko says.

"COOL!" The class is impressed.

"I want to be a Miko someday!" Misaki declares.

"A Miko. They're useless now because there are no demons left." Eiji scoffs.

"That's not true! There are still possessions!" Misaki argues.

"Really? Did that shrine maiden tell you that? She looks like a liar to me." Eiji says.

"What did you say?!" Misaki stands up and on her palm, she materializes a ball of flame the size of three candle flames.

"I said she must have been a liar." Eiji says as he materializes small wind vortices around his feet, ready to flee in case Misaki attacks.

Two other superioris children also make a move to protect themselves and other students who are not superioris: one materializes an earth shield using two tiles from the floor, and the other transforms her desk to a shape of a small door.

"You two! Calm down!" Yoshiko reprimands the two to stop the argument from breaking out into a fight.

"Yes sensei…" It is not Yoshiko's words however that stopped Eiji and Misaki from fighting, but the two seeing the fear in the eyes of the non-superioris students in the class.

As soon as Eiji and Misaki cancel their conjurations, the class calms down.

"Eiji. I know that shrine maiden and she's a nice person. Why are you saying that when you don't know her?" Yoshiko says to Eiji.

"Sorry Sensei." Eiji sheepishly apologizes.

"And you, Misaki. Violence is not the first resort." Yoshiko turns to Misaki.

"Sorry sensei… but he's been rude and annoying!" Misaki says.

"Did he ever harm you?" Yoshiki asks.

"…no. But-" Misaki is about to argue but Yoshiko cuts her off.

"Is he bullying you?" Yoshiko asks.

"…no…" Misaki cannot argue.

"Then will you take responsibility if you hurt one of your classmates?" Yoshiko asks.

"…" Misaki can only look down in shame.

"Okay." Yoshiko drops the matter for now, seeing Misaki reflecting.

"Are we calm now, Everyone?" Yoshiko asks, stopping herself from shaking from the close call of the two superioris kids from fighting.

"Yes Sensei!" The class respond, making their teacher internally sighs in relief.

"Good. But class, what Misaki said is right. Even though the demons no longer roam the earth like they used to, there are still weaker ones that are very hard to detect and catch. These demons possess and eat humans to become more powerful." Yoshiko says.

"…" The class unanimously get goosebumps from Yoshiko's words.

"Ah! Sensei!" The principal interrupts. "We should avoid scaring the kids, yes?"

"I understand, principal." Yoshiko nods in understanding.

"Class, any questions so far?" Yoshiko asks.

"Sensei! I heard angels and demons are even more powerful than heroes. How did we beat them?" Eiji asks.

========

The fight that had been fair for two years, toughened up the humans. They managed to formulate strategies and tactics in fighting Angels and Demons more effectively and minimizing losses.

Just when humans are starting to recover from their losses from 'The Great Harvest', more powerful angels and demons started appearing in the mortal plane, joining the battle. The humanity is slowly losing hope yet again.

Not all Angels and Demons are alike however. Two individuals, each from Heaven and Hell, became the saving grace of humanity: the Archangel Saraqael, and a Prince of Hell named Zograthan.

The two's mutual love of knowledge made them friends since the time of the first humans, Adam and Eve. Throughout eons, they have both seen the good and evil side of humanity and they concluded that humans in the end, are the purest of all God's creations; easily corruptible and easily purified.

They have grown fond of humans and do not want to see them gone. With their love for humanity, the two have been formulating a plan as soon as the forces of Heaven and Hell started preparing for 'The Great Harvest.

While the Angels and Demons have been growing their powers by the souls they harvested, Saraqael and Zograthan have been blending the magic of heaven, hell, and the mundane to something they can use.

Once they mastered their new magic, they proceeded to gradually plant sigils in the gates of heaven and hell in the hopes of closing them.

Fortunately for them, the angels and demons are drunk in human souls to notice. This made them finally complete their last step and finally closed the gates of heaven and hell using the energies of those two realms themselves.

Closing those two realms however were too much for Saraqael and Zograthan. Their angel and demon graces were drained and they became mortals.]]]

"Saraqael! The traitor angel! Zograthan! The traitor demon! I've heard of them! They're heroes too, right?" Eiji says in recognition.

"Yes. Eiji. You can say that they are." Yohiko smiles.

"Traitors? What happened to them? Were they killed by angels and demons?" Misaki asks in sadness.

"No. They escaped, and lived." Yohiko answers, making the classroom lively.

"They did? Are they still alive today?" Eiji asks in excitement.

"No. After escaping to our world, the two of them seek help from their friend in the Knights of the Church. The knights protected them and wrote down what they did to save us. According to the Knights, Saraqael and Zograthan grew old and died not long after closing the gates of heaven and hell." Yohiko says.

"Oh…" Eiji and the class is saddened by the answer.

"Yeah. Well. Let's give a round of applause for the heroes that helped the world become what it is today."

*APPLAUSE* The class, including the principal, clap their hands.

A few moments later, the class calms down.

"Sensei!" Another student, Kenta, who is an earth type superioris, raises his hand.

"Yes Kenta?"

"Where do villains come from?" Kenta asks.

"…" Yoshiko and the class is taken aback at the question, before recovering.

"…" Yoshiko looks at the principal and the principal considers for a moment.

The Suginami Orphanage, being one of many orphanages all throughout the world, is filled with children orphaned by parents killed by villains. Kenta bringing up the subject may potentially be sensitive or even trigger trauma in some of the children.

"Sensei?" Kenta, receiving no answer, asks again.

The principal, noticing that no student is looking his way, writes 'Proceed with caution' on the air in front of him using soil from a nearby flower pot.

Yoshiko reading the massage, nods.

"Well, Kenta. Like I said earlier. There are still demons here in the world. If they possess a superioris, that superioris will become what we call aberrant. These aberrant superioris become villains." Yoshiko explains.

"No…" Kenta shakes his head.

"Pardon?" Yoshiko is not sure if she heard right.

"Not every villain is a possessed superioris, right? My mom and dad… the villain who did it… they're not possessed…" Kenta says, his hands trembling.

"If there is no demon possessing them, why are they doing evil things? I don't understand." Kenta adds.

"…" Yoshiko notices that not only Kenta feels the same way, and half of the students in her class are experiencing discomfort.

"Aherm…" The principal finally interrupts.

"Class. Kenta's question is difficult to answer. But what I can say is that… There are simply bad people in the world. Superioris or not.. It is hard to understand, but that is how people are."