11 Reminiscence (1/2)

The road was an overly swollen mess of aimless people and continuously tooting vehicles. The maddening and wearisome scene was almost killing Jered out of exasperation and annoyance. He hated crowdy places, oh how he hated them, the suffocating feeling would always drown him in an impatient need to get out of there. But what could he have done? That road was the only shortcut available to reach East Hills Avenue the fastest possible.

If it wasn't because he was worried about his sister's probable health issues he wouldn't dare to delve into that neighborhood that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with wealthy and unnecessarily arrogant people.

The last time he had been there, he had the displeasure to witness a middle-aged woman bragging about her husband's successful business and overflowing finances with a mocking tone to the other ladies of humbler conditions.

Sigh.

He gazed up at the sky, hoping to catch the shadow of his small feathery friend but found none. Once he got out of that abandoned building, leaving behind the burned corpses, his mind was so occupied by distracting thoughts that he hadn't time to clarify things with her that he swiftly left.

Luckily thanks to their bond he could feel her somewhere quietly following him, which made him breathe out in relief. It had never been part of his intention to depart from her, in fact, he hoped that she'd become his pet, not that she already wasn't, however, it was a forced connection due to a precarious situation.

Another problem that made its presence known was his now unlocked and unrestrained att.i.tude. He knew that Opak's soul piece worked, he could feel it slowly pervading his being and was.h.i.+ng away his fears and uncertainties.

It was good, he was pretty happy about it, he could finally be at peace with himself, and although he was still suspicious about the Shadow's potential exclusion of some details that concerned their contract, overall he was satisfied with the result.

However...

What was he supposed to do now that his unsealed emotions run free and wild? What would his family's reaction be when they'd find out that he actually has psychopath tendencies?

Obviously, he wouldn't start a b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.sacre in front of their eyes. Nonetheless, it was only a question of time before he'd get to the point where it'd be a lame attempt of his to try to hide anything. Eventually, weird things will happen, and he'd be compelled to tell the truth, or at least reveal only a small part.

He was just delaying the inevitable, he knew it. Still, he hoped that when the time comes he'll be strong enough to protect them. But what he hoped the most was their acceptance of the 'new' him.

Will they look at him with distrustful and fearful eyes? Will they break even more apart?

Was everything really doomed to be unchanged?

That dilemma slowly sprouted in his heart, giving birth to other negative and pessimistic emotions he'd rather not mull over. It was a touchy subject he hoped to not ever talk about with them.

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts he straightened himself and accelerated his steps, it was best to concentrate on what he had to do.

.

.

.

”Well...”

Here he was, looking disinterestedly and a bit queerly at the villa in front of him. It had nothing out of normal or somewhat eye-catching, however, what picked his attention was a strange and ominous s.h.i.+ft on the mana that surrounded it.

After becoming a magician he could finally feel the mana waves in the air, thus allowing him to gauge any differences that it might have. And based on his view of it, mana was a colorless energy which was present everywhere. Every single being or inorganic object somewhat had a fraction of it, and only a very small amount of people could perceive it.

He did remember though that when he was in the process of ranking up he glimpsed at his mana waves, and noticed that it was green colored, the same as Opak's, which basically refuted what he had just found out about it.

Was it because mana takes a specific color based on a person's attribute and affinities? Is it related to the soul or other aspects?

Whatever the case, what he felt surrounding the villa was a dark natured mana, the same as his, just much weaker and thinner.

Nonetheless, it worried him even more since whatever was the cause of this phenomenon was definitely centered on the family living in it, and right now his sister was amidst this strange occurrence, and the fact that she called because she was not feeling well, deeply disturbed him.

He needed to be cautious, but if he think it necessary he won't hesitate to start a bloodshed right here in the daylight. When it comes to his family he wouldn't care about consequences.

...

Knock! Knock!

Knocking twice on the wooden door he waited patiently for someone to welcome him.

Footsteps resounded and soon the door opened, followed by the shape of a handsome middle-aged man with slicked back black hair and bright hazel eyes. He was tall, reaching 6'1ft with a delicate but muscular frame.

What Jered noted right away though was that the dark energy was more concentrated around him than the house. Thanks to his affinity for it he could feel it way better than an ordinary magician, which helped him discover a few things about the man in front of him.

First, the man's mana intensity was a bit higher than his, which meant that at the moment the probability of him losing to this out of the normal man was higher than 50%, but so was his probability to escape. Still, he had his system that had mystical stuff and miraculous potions. Obviously, he still couldn't use all of its function but he did believe that whether he'd lose or not was still a question mark.

Second, he undeniably felt a not so human aura emanating from him, and the overwhelming scent of blood confirmed his already growing suspicions. Whoever he was, Jered had an almost absolute a.s.surance that he wasn't a human being, or at least he was not far from it.

However, at that moment he really didn't care whether he was a possible dangerous creature not so known to human eyes or just one of the countless secluded and obscure secrets striving to remain as such.

His sister was inside that house, which was presumably filled with unknown variables that could very well be threatening to him and his family. Since his sister already came in contact with them, nothing prevents them to do the same with him and his mother too.

There was a moment of silence as they stared into each other eyes. A flicker of surprise quickly flashed in his hazel eyes as he felt the intimidating mana around Jered. He also could feel its darkness, which somehow was so ridiculously high that his mind went blank for a moment before a myriad of hypothesis swirled in his head.

He put a bit of guard before steeling his gaze.

”You are?” He asked cautiously, feeling somewhat threatened by the handsome young man in front of him. His left hand that was on the door's handle slightly moved, closing the ajar door. He didn't know who this young guest was, but he seemed to be a magician strong enough to alarm him, and if a fight was about to break out he didn't want to involve his family in it.

”Jered. Jasmine's younger brother.” He answered calmly without revealing emotions that might betray the building rage inside him.

The man's eyes widened for a brief instant before he forced down a stretched gasp of shock. Thanks to the constant visits from her daughter's best friend he had come to become quite fond of her, to the point of almost seeing her as one of his own children, and from the looks in his wife's eyes he could ascertain the same went for her.

However, yesterday night, after a quick discussion between the entire family, they came to a decision that would change her life forever. After digging in a bit of her background, and finding nothing of concern, they decided to carry on with their plans.