I sat in the back of the class lazily staring out the window. I had no reason to be here. But my desire for revenge was the only thing that made me attend.

No idea what I'm talking about? I'm talking about this new school I am now attending, one specifically designed to counter the Infest. How I hate the Infest.

I guess I should explain a great deal of information. The school I am attending is called Darkrise Academy, and you should know that it's not a school, but an academy. The academy was designed to teach kids with special abilities like me how to fight off the Infest. Which brings me to the next subject.

The Infests.

I loathe them. The hatred in my heart is just so enormous, I have to restrain myself from pulling out my blade and head out to hunt the Infests. I should explain what the Infests are too.

The Infested, or Infests for short, are demonic, twisted manifestations of what were once humans. Actually, that's not entirely correct, but that's the main idea of what they are. They come in all shapes and sizes, and they all share a common trait in killing normal humans. They also share a common trait of being so damn ugly.

With that, I should tell you the role they play in my hatred for them. When I was about 5 years old, my mother and father took me to go play in the park. Back then, I didn't worry much about the future, or had any skills at all. We were ordinary people, living safely under the protection of the students and army of Darkrise Academy. Until when it was time to leave the park. That's when tragedy struck.

My parents and I were heading back when an Infest with wings dropped from the sky. My parents instantly shielded me and yelled out for help. But there was no one near us to help or hear.

All of a sudden, I could feel a cold, hard stare on me. I shuddered and turned around. What I saw then was burnt into my mind forever.

There was an Infest with a large jaw which showed all of his jagged teeth. He smiled at me, and his pure black eyes gleamed maliciously at me. I was too frozen with fear to do anything. A few more Infests came and surrounded us.

"No... there shouldn't be this many Infest. It's unheard of. We aren't even special. Well, not specials as in powers of magic..." My dad murmured worriedly.

"Honey... if all else fails, make sure our little boy survives." My mother grabbed my father's sleeve.

That jolted me out of my stupor. What? What did she mean by survive?

I backed away from the Infest towards my parents and bumped into them.

"Mommy? I- I'm sc- scared." I grabbed my mother's leg and held on. The Infests were getting closer to us. I could remember thinking about how I wanted the Infests to go away.

"Aaaaah. Iiit looksss liiikeee weeee'veeee foouuunnd oouurrrrsssselvessss aaa goood meeeaaal." The winged Infest spoke, using the horrible screeching sound akin to nails on a chalkboard.

I screamed.

It wasn't girly, nor manly. It was an eerie scream, one that made me question my sanity even to this day. It was inhuman, nothing of this world. It scared me. It was a scream of pure anger, a feeling I had never experience much of before back then.

The Infests stared at me. Then they stared at one another. Something passed between them. There was no doubt in my mind what the thing they shared was.

Kill them.

The Infests lurched toward us with inhuman speed. They ripped me free of my parents and toss me onto the ground, where I struggled to get up. I managed to stay conscious to see my parents pleading with the Infest. The Infests slashed off one of my father's arm. Blood poured from the gash in his wound. The color of it will remain in my mind forever.

The Infests swarmed them, obscuring my view of my parents. Their screams of agony and pain echoed in my ears as their lives were ripped away.

One of the Infest noticed I was watching them in horror. It grinned and I recognized it as one the one with the large jaw. I shivered in fear as I backed away slowly, struggling to get away.

I didn't make it in time.

It reached me in a flash, and opened its mouth to bite off a part of my body. I remember my right eye strangely burning as I threw up a hand to somehow stop it. I closed my eyes as to not see the Infest coming towards me, and I screamed inhumanly again. The pain in my right eye flared and I fell to the ground, consciousness slipping away.

I heard shouts and explosions as screams penetrated the air. I couldn't tell if they were mine, my parents, or other people.

The last I heard before I fell unconscious was a voice in my head very different from the normal one in my head.

It said: Let your rage consume you.

Back to now.

I was starting my first day of Darkrise Academy after 7 years in an orphanage/Infest training facility.

It was my choice to stay there. I wanted revenge against the Infests for ending my parent's lives.

I was staring out the window when I heard someone call my name.

"... Dren are you here? Dren?"

I jolted out of my thoughts and faced the front of the class where my teacher was calling out roll. She was a middle aged lady, dressed in business attire and looking very professional. She had no make- up on, but her dark brown eyes matched up with her black hair that flowed down just below her shoulders. She a cute face, if I had time to notice that. I guess if I was one of the normal students that attended, I would notice my teacher's beauty.

But as fate would have it, I had no time for foolishness such as that.

"Here."

I replied calmly. Heads spun around to face me, since I didn't respond promptly.

"Ah yes. The student with the hidden past. I hope you won't cause any problems here. At Darkrise Academy, we don't tolerate misbehavior." The teacher scolded me. I hadn't even done anything except to reply late.

"Yes Ma'am. I won't do it again." I said lazily. The students stared at me with a gaze full of awe, annoyance, and pity. I stared back evenly.

The teacher gave me a little look before continuing.

"As you know, my name is Ms. Slyce, and I will be your homeroom teacher as well as your headmaster of your faction. There are four levels, each with 3 factions. You all are new here, so you belong in the first level, Rank 1, and in my faction, Red Soul."

Someone raised a hand.

"Yes, Tsyua?"

The girl who raised her hand spoke. "I assume that the other factions are Blue Soul and Yellow Soul?"

"Indeed."

I glanced out the window again. I couldn't wait until I went to Infest Defense class. The class where I could train my hidden power freely.