And so his voyage to get rid of Jasmine's unfinished meal began. Speaking of her, she was not satisfied with having to stay behind. She had made it plenty clear by stomping her foot and pouting. Fortunately, she listened to the voice of reason—which wasn't the Shadow—and relented. Jered drove for about ten minutes before the woods came into sight. Due to the wee hours of the morning, the rustling trees appeared more ominous. 

He wasn't scared of wolves, really. At least not when he could fire a 'Mana Beam' through them. However, Jered had barely any mana left. Probably not enough to even cast a sub spell. If he could become as strong as Rainey, things would be so, so much easier. He turned the car off and stepped out. The woodland was eerily silent, not that he cared. He was there to dump the body and evacuate as fast as he could. 

After Jered pulled the corpse out of the trunk, he dragged it towards the thicket. The dim light and dense shrubbery gave him enough camouflage in case someone saw him. The bumps on the terrain tore holes on the bag as he hauled it along. A soft breeze swept by. It was weird. As he threaded further into the depths of the boscage, a ripple of mana tickled his senses. 

He was forced to stop. 

It was too dark for him to make anything out, but he was sure something was lurking around the foliage. If only his mana had fully regenerated, he wouldn't have needed to be so cautious. Whatever it was, it seemed content watching him from afar. The rustling of the trash bag faded as Jered stopped, eyed his surroundings, and bolted into a sprint. Only a fool would stay there to investigate. While he was mana-drained, he could still sense, smell, and hear the mana around him. 

He had to get the fuck out of there.

As a matter of fact, the heavy thudding of some bipedal creature running after him rang out as soon as he dashed for the car. 

Thankfully, Jered was still relatively near to the exit of the woodland, and for some reason, the creature halted its pursuit right at the woodland edge. He hopped in the car, turned it on, and quickly sped off into the distance. Through the rear-view mirror, Jered saw two golden eyes glaring at him from the darkness of the woods, "What the hell was that?" he clenched his jaw, his chest heaving back and forth. 

Jered had read 'A Record of Magical Creatures'—well, he absorbed it—and as far as he knew, only three creatures matched the cursory description he managed to come by. A Leprechaun. A Lycanthrope. Or, in the worst case possible, a Wendigo. With his Adept tier, Jered was confident that a Leprechaun wouldn't be a hassle to get rid of. Besides, they weren't hostile creatures.

So, if he ruled out the first option, then the creature Jered just stumbled upon was either of the last two. He wondered if Ashy Petals had any inkling of what was going on there, or if they were even involved. It just didn't make sense that something like that was in the human plane. What about Rainey? Fuck, she had yet to reply to his messages. With an irritated sigh, he stomped on the accelerator. Things were so out of control. 

He already had a lot on his plate, whatever lived in the woodland didn't concern him. It shouldn't concern him.

When he got back home, Jasmine was waiting on the porch. The car's headlights washed over her, and she immediately sprung up to her feet, "Jered..." he barely had the time to step out of the vehicle that his sister threw her arms around him. 

He hugged her back, "I did it. Everything's should be fine. I made sure no one was there, and that no cameras saw me."

Jasmine drew a sigh of relief against his chest, "Thank you..."

He tightened his hold on her, and she gladly sunk in his embrace, "No need to. We're a team, aren't we?"

"Yes, Jered..." she smiled, her eyes closed, "We are."

He looked up at the sky, watching as the sun peeked out of the horizon.

"So, what happens now?"

He looked back down at Jasmine, who was batting her eyes at him.

"Hmm. I'm afraid that you'll have to stay at home, and avoid going out. I would even suggest you skip classes, but mom would notice that and ask questions."

She averted her gaze, "What if... what if I get hungry again?"

That was inevitable, but Jered couldn't afford to have Jasmine kidnapping random pedestrians to satisfy her appetite, "I do have an idea, but it requires a lot of strong-will and cooperation from both of us," he ran a hand through her hair, and she almost purred at the soothing touch, "Let's not think about that for now. But please, if you feel like you can't control yourself, tell me. I don't know how dangerous your situation is, or how strong our enemies are. We need to be extra cautious."

Jasmine nodded. What he said was reasonable. Not to mention that he was going out of his way for her. She doubted anyone else would have stayed by her side knowing what she did, and most likely will do again, "Okay..." she said softly, enjoying the warmth of his chest and the chilly breeze ruffling her chocks.  

"Come on, Jaz. We need to go inside," he whispered.

She was reluctant but eventually acquiesced, "Hmhm."

A few days flew by. Things were far from normal, but Jered and Jasmine were adapting. He skipped school a couple of times, using the time to train his spells. However, there was just so much he could do in his room. Therefore, he had to drive to a large, deserted place in the middle of the night, and let loose. It was exhilarating to see his flames go up so high, burn so bright, and surround him like a crown. 

Yes, that was the feeling. Why was he bothering trying to be normal? 

'Don't use it as a cover. Use it as a shield.'

His father's words rang out in his head. 

Jered closed his eyes, sat down, and meditated according to 'A Guide Towards Mana Mastery'. It was something he began to do only recently, and it greatly helped him further develop his spells. Moreover, due to his growing 'Mana Manipulaton', he finally managed to fuse two spells together. 'Mana Beam' and 'Vizier's Light'. It was slightly tricky because mana was inherently very volatile energy, and 'Vizier's Light' was hard to control. Hence why 'Mana Manipulation' was such an essential spell.

[You have learned the Adept-Tier spell 'Giza's Gaze', Lv.1]

"Status."

[Name: Jered von Jacobs] 
[Age: 16]
[Race: Human/? ]
[Class: Twilight Conjurer | Type: Magician] 
[Title: - ]
[Rank: Adept | Unlocked Veins: 2] 
[Magic Density: 2] 
[Mana Pool: 167]
[Soul: Mortal | Average]
[Sin: - ]

[Library]
—Special—
[Soul Eater]

—Neophyte Tier—
[Mana Orb, Lv.44]
[Mana Beam, Lv.35]
[Everyday Charms, Lv.MAX]
[Mana Manipulation, Lv.25]
[Fireball, Lv.20]

—Adept Tier—
[Vizier's Light, Lv.20]
[Fire Wall, Lv.12]
[Giza's Gaze, Lv.1]

—Elder Tier—

—Royal Tier—
[Pharaoh's Flame, Lv.1]

Neophyte-Tier spells were easy to level. He also couldn't help but grin at the fact that most of his spells were fire-related. So that was his path, huh? Jered stretched, the charred, broken chunks of metal crunching under his shoes as he moved. He had chosen an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere as his training facility. He had spent most of his days there, unleashing mana everywhere. And now the building was barely standing. The support pillars were crippled, the windows shattered, the walls cracked, and the floor littered with broken machines. 

While the mess around him was foolproof of his progress, now he had to look for another abandoned building. Great!

Jered walked out of the crumbling factory and drove back home. Jane was still sleeping, while Jasmine was being suspicious with the laptop. He noticed her checking something on the internet almost obsessively. Well, as long as she didn't go out, then it didn't matter what she did. After a rejuvenating shower, Jered lay down on his bed. The next day was a rather important one. He had that 'meeting' Evelyn told him about. Since no one ended up knocking on his door, he figured everyone in the organization knew about the new entry. 

With a snap of his fingers, the lights went off.

He had to make sure to build a good friendship with all the members of Ashy Petals. Hm, especially Evelyn. She looked ambitious, and quite influential too. If he played his cards correctly, she would find a confidant in him. It would also give him a good opportunity to keep tabs on their investigations about Mistwood Town. If Jasmine ever entered their radar, he had to know it.

His phone's screen lit up as an upbeat suddenly melody rang out.

Jered summoned it into his hand. Surprisingly, the caller was Rainey. He quickly answered, —"Rainey? What the hell, what happened to you?"

—"Sorry. I've been awfully busy. Actually, something happened... hehe..."

His room's temperature began to drop. He frowned, —"Rainey... what's going on?"

—"Weeell... do you still remember that demonic existence you captured?"

He facepalmed, groaning, —"Yes... yes, I do. What about it?"

—"Oh, nothing much. It somehow managed to escape," Rainey said matter-of-factly, —"I was quite surprised. That pearl you used was by no means a cheap item. Isn't that amazing? It just shows how much potential that spirit has!"

Jered heard an ominous creak coming from his closet, —"And... where has she gone to?"

—"Hmhm. Considering who captured her... I believe she should be there, next to you."