Occult Awakening: From Commoner to Archmage

The sun was shining, and Mina was incredibly busy.

With the festival coming up in a few weeks, there were many people who were in need of the appropriate clothing, so she and her apprentices had been working constantly to take care of orders. She liked to finish everything early so she could have a full week off before the festival began.

The middle-aged woman placed her long black hair behind her ear and put on a smile.

"Alright now, Baron Tolkien, stay still for me."

She stretched a roll of measuring tape across the man's gross, pale skin. The Baron was one of her affluent customers, and also one of the most disgusting. Mina wished she didn't have to deal with him, but he was a paying customer, and all money was good money.

The worst part about attending to him was his perfectionist tendencies. He insisted that Mina herself handle his orders.

"I admire your delicate touch, Mina," Tolkien whispered as she leaned in to measure his chest.

Mina wanted to withdraw as quickly as she could, but she had to finish the job first.

'I bet Luca would be able to think of something to deal with him.'

A flicker of a genuine smile crossed her eyes as she thought of him.

The Baron noticed her smile and thought it was for him.

"Hehehe, are you stunned by my devilish charms? You know you can always come by my manor—"

His words were suddenly cut short by a visceral scream. It came from the man himself.

He crouched, limbs folding and contorting in unnatural angles.

Mina jumped back in shock. Tolkien was changing. She stared at his skin, which had always been unnaturally fair, but now thick layers of smoke seeped out of every pore.

"What in the world?" she muttered.

Boiling pink blisters and warts appeared all over the Baron's body. Dark mucus spilled onto the floorboards, seeping through the wood.

It took a long second before there was any other reaction. Then the creature pounced.

It leapt forward at Mina first. The creature's claws tore a clean swipe through the air, snagging a large chunk of her hair. She got away just before it could go further. By now the entire sewing room had erupted into chaos.

"Grab something to defend yourselves!" Mina yelled.

Her heart crashed against her chest. She reached for a small pair of scissors and held them wide in front of her.

'This cannot be happening right now.'

A small tear rolled down her cheek, but that didn't stop the mindless Baron from attacking again.

It jumped again, this time aiming for an apprentice who was running toward the passageway.

SPLURT.

Dark claws claimed her neck, sending her head sprawling across the room.

POP!

Its blisters burst constantly, melting the floor wherever it moved.

Dozens of weeks' worth of work were destroyed in an instant, but Mina could hardly care about the clothes anymore. She just wanted to be out of the room as quickly as possible.

The dark smoke pouring from its body was perhaps the worst part of the ordeal.

Hard coughs mixed with screams filled the room. Mina's eyes teared up when the strange miasma clouded her vision.

'i… can't… breathe.'

"URGHH!"

Occasional bloodcurdling screams rang through the smoke. She stumbled around, covering her nose with a small piece of cloth.

SPLAT!

Blood splashed across her face, but she kept moving.

Then something strange happened.

The screams stopped. Silence filled the room. Mina stopped moving to look around, though the smoke still rolled up and down.

Was it over? Had someone come to their rescue? Was it Luca?

Oddly enough, all she could think about was the boy she had practically raised as her own since his only family died.

For a moment, a glimmer of hope flashed across her eyes.

"Luca hel—"

Pop. Tssss!

A violent sizzle came from directly behind her. The same one that accompanied the creature's blisters.

"No…"

Pop. Tssss!

This time the sizzling came from her very flesh. Mina knew without a doubt that the creature was right above her.

The miasma cleared briefly. Her sewing room was soaked in blood and carnage.

Entrails were spilled across the floor and machines. Dark hair was scattered everywhere, sometimes ripped, sometimes still attached to heads that had been separated from their bodies. Each of those women had died with hopes, dreams, and fear in their hearts, and Mina could not bear to look at them any longer.

She whipped around to face the possessed Baron's body. It was a ghastly sight. His head was twisted in an unnatural angle to face her, looking like it was about to fall off.

Sweat rolled off her palms, making it difficult to hold the scissors, but she stared deep into its cold, unfeeling eyes.

A harsh voice escaped its lips, strained and broken.

"Do… you… wanna… come… to… my… mansion?"

Mina froze. Those were the Baron's last words.

"ARGHHGGHHH! I'll kill you, bastard!"

She brought the scissors down and plunged them into its chest. They sank into its flesh with ease, but her hope didn't last long.

FWOOSH!

It swung its hand mindlessly, and her head came clean off.

All it took was a minute. That was all it took.

The pungent iron-like smell of blood filled the entire room. There was a silence that came only with death.

BOOM!

The roof of the store collapsed with a loud crash.

A suited figure dropped through the opening, landing in front of the corrupted Baron.

Finley grinned as though he had no care in the world.

He wore a white suit and a black overcoat on top. Hanging from his neck was the Eye of God medallion, glowing faintly.

"It appears I'm a bit late. Hmm?"

He flicked a single finger forward, sending a storm of wind blades that tore into every part of the creature's body with ease.

Black blood splashed in every direction, and a single drop landed on Finley's white suit.

He groaned.

"What an unfortunate day to wear white."