"Like what?" Alan asked as Nathan gave Samantha a kiss.

"Like that," Nathan told his father.

"We just returned," Keith informed Alan. "If you'll notice, Katie has a little more muscle and a little less fat on her now. That's from six hundred days where she trained in martial arts for an hour and a half each day."

"You three really just left?" Alan asked.

"Yep," Keith answered, then looked at Nathan, who was still kissing Samantha. "And Nathan really missed Samantha. And was upset he forgot to kiss her before leaving."

Nathan aimed a hand in Keith's direction and shot off a force push, which the psychic stopped with a barrier.

"Don't forget to call Master Torzin," Keith said. "So that we can get started on that."

Nathan pulled away from Samantha, then gave her another quick kiss before pulling out his phone and calling his martial arts instructor. Their last two runs went by quickly for them as they pushed themselves into their project even more heavily. The only breaks they took were to eat, sleep, train, and other necessary things. Katie had felt like a third wheel to them, though Nathan made sure to pay attention to her in the showers and at night.

"Why is he calling Master Torzin?" Samantha asked as Nathan walked away.

"Something that came up while we were in the run," Keith told her. "He wants to use the mentor's forge. While he's on that call, Mr. Hunter, I wanted to know about the, ah, progress on buying a location to use as Hunter-Ingram Magitech?"

"You're one of its founders," Alan said. "You can ask that. There's an old factory and warehouse complex outside of town that is up for sale. If you two want me to own part of the company, I can buy it now. Otherwise, Nathan will have to purchase it with his funds."

"How long will it take for everything to come together for us?" Keith asked. "For us to be able to move into it with our business? We need the space pronto."

"Its owner is one of my clients," Alan told him. "And I can pull some strings to have things done a little quicker. Normally, arrangements for a large business to set up shop can take years, and your business is going to end up rather large."

"Yeah," Keith said. "We'll have the federal government backing us. With some at the state and local level aware of what's necessary to keep the secret, we can probably get some of the negotiations as well, but we really need the property now."

"Why?" Alan asked.

"We're going to build a permanent gate," Keith told him. "And we need to get started on that pronto. Hunter-Ingram Magitech's main facility is where the gates are being built, and we need to get started on that now."

"Why?" Alan asked.

"Master Torzin said he has some mithril in his separate storage," Nathan returned. "I'm going to head over there and get started. Keith, you're coming with me. Katie, you gossip with Samantha."

"That's an incredibly sexist thing to say," Samantha said.

"Why is it sexist?" Nathan frowned. "I'm just telling my girlfriend and other harem member to gossip. Isn't that what you were going to do, since Katie spent so much time with me?"

"You probably should have used a different word," Keith told him. "And why am I coming with you?"

"I might need your help."

"Right," Keith said. "I suppose we're leaving without getting some rest. See you guys… whenever we return."

"The rings will probably take a couple of hours to make," Nathan said. "I'll try to get the amulets done as well. We should be back by midnight at the latest, dinner at the earliest."

Nathan grabbed a banana from the bowl on one of the kitchen counters on his way to the garage, and Keith followed, grabbing a banana as well. In Nathan's car, they ate the bananas on their way through town.

"Where is Master Torzin's forge?" Keith asked.

"At his house," Nathan answered. "It's a little outside of the main part of town. Rich country."

"And you aren't in rich country?"

"The other one."

"Ah," Keith said, then his eyes widened as he realized where Nathan was referring to. "Wait, the one where-"

"Yup," Nathan said.

"I'll handle the police when they show up," Keith sighed.

"Thanks," Nathan responded. "He said we can have whatever's in the house, by the way. For food. You'll probably have to make something yourself. He might be three hundred thousand years old, but he's a terrible cook."

"So does he have food?" Keith asked. "Or is it just freezer stuff?"

"He has food," Nathan stated. "I sometimes ate after training, and I wasn't eating that frozen crap he did for himself."

"Okay," Keith said. "Wait, they'd call the police even with having seen you there multiple times?"

"Yep."

Keith sighed again.

They finished the drive to Master Torzin's house, a two-story building spanning a quarter of a city block with an even larger yard surrounding it.

"I do not envy the groundskeeper."

"I've never met them," Nathan admitted. "It was always just Master Torzin and me."

"And your parents weren't worried about him being a pedo?"

"My father was the one who made my kills disappear or look… different."

"Right," Keith said. "And since you guys didn't know he was an ancient demigod, that was enough for you guys."

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He didn't voice that Nathan probably also thought before finding out the truth he could manage to kill Master Torzin, should the man do something wrong. They knew that was wrong now, but it was still what the demigod had likely thought.

Nathan pulled up to the gate and rolled down his window, reaching out to punch in a code and swipe a card. The gates opened, and he pulled forward, parking in front of the house.

"Not in the garage?" Keith asked.

"He has a four-car garage," Nathan told the psychic. "And the car he drives around doesn't fit in it."

"He has five cars?"

"He has a couple hundred," Nathan told him. "Master Torzin really likes his cars. He keeps four in his garage and parks the fifth out front. Or out back, depending on his mood. Also, the gate won't close until after I leave and swipe my card again. Master Torzin has some way to close it after entering, but I don't. It's annoying."

They exited the car and made their way up the steps to the front door, and Nathan looked down at the pair of keys he pulled out, then back to the knob and deadbolt.

"Use your magic sight."

Keith did, and saw that the keys and locks were enchanted.

"I guess that's part of why he's not too concerned about security," Nathan said. "Despite having mithril on-hand. His vault for it must be enchanted as well."

"He must have paid someone to do this," Keith said. "Since he's not that good at enchanting, by his own admission."

"Yeah," Nathan unlocked the house, and they entered Nathan made his way to the security alarm and deactivated it, then looked at Keith. "Make yourself at home, I can handle the forging. There's a bathroom down that hall, and the room he trained me in is a few doors past it. His bedroom's upstairs, third door on the left-hand side. His office is across from that. Feel free to raid his porn stash, though I don't think there's anything gay in it. There are a few toys, though.

"I'm heading out back," Nathan said as Keith snorted. "His forge is a separate building. I'll be back for something to eat once I finish the rings, then I'll work on the amulets."

"Give me the keys and keycard," Keith told him, and Nathan frowned. "For when I deal with the police."

"Here," Nathan handed them over. "Don't lose them."

"I won't," Keith said. "Good luck."

Nathan nodded, then left, and Keith made his way upstairs and to one of the guest bedrooms. In there, he stripped naked, then stretched with a grin before returning downstairs to explore the place while waiting for the police to show up. As Nathan had promised, there was food in the kitchen, so he fixed himself a quick meal of ice cream and waffles, then proceeded to eat it as he wandered around.

The house, he noticed, was enchanted heavily against damage. When he looked out the windows at the wall and fence surrounding the property, he noticed more enchantments, but they were too far to properly make it. Further exploration revealed the purpose of the wall's enchantment – and the reason Nathan didn't have a way to lock the gate back up.

There was a total seal enchantment on the property. The moment the gate locked, it went into effect. A total seal enchantment bound the property, making it impossible to enter or exit without a key. Nathan's keycard was likely a key for it, and the keypad an additional key. Enchanted technology, which impressed Keith. He made a note to examine it some other time or ask the ancient demigod for how he acquired it. No doubt the magitech mage who created it came from another world. If so, the pair of enchanters would want to locate that world quickly and build a permanent gate to it.

A total seal enchantment bound a property completely to the point that only its master was at full power. Anyone else, it acted upon to suppress the power of. Master Torzin didn't allow Nathan to lock the gate because such a spell being placed upon Nathan would have likely awakened the younger demigod.

As Keith continued to explore the house, the doorbell buzzed, so he made his way to the front, sticking his spoon back into the bowl of ice cream as he answered the door.

"Hello, officers," Keith greeted the pair of officers standing on the other side. "Can I help you?"

"We received a call," the officer said. "That a couple of suspicious boys were entering this house, which belonged to someone else. We-"

"Yeah, that's Gabe," Keith took a bite of his ice cream. "He's my cousin and my boyfriend's martial arts instructor. He's out of town for awhile, and asked us to check on the house. Also said Nate could use his forge, so he's there right now. Also, this house requires a keycard, a nine-digit code, and two keys to get into. In addition, there's a security alarm, which you also need a code to. Nate punched in the code before heading to the forge, so I know it was just a neighbor who decided that since someone who was here at least three times a week until a month or so ago showed up, it was time to call you. Now, if you don't mind, I was busy snooping through my cuz's porn collection when you showed up, and I want to go back to it. It was full of lesbians, but it's a rather large collection, so I want to see if there's any gay that randomly got added to it."

The officer opened his mouth to speak.

"See," Keith continued, his eyes beginning to glow. "My babe is a real twink, but also a real stud. He's pretty damn hot, but he's also real particular about the guys he'll sleep with. He's also real particular about the porn he'll look at, but he likes twinks, especially blond ones. Being here while my cuz is gone is my first chance to ever try and sleep with him, as our parents are homophobic, so neither of us can do it at our homes because of the risk, and if we rented a hotel room, well, that'd show up on our accounts."

He picked up the keys from the table by the door, then demonstrated they worked for the door.

"As you can see," he continued, his eyes still glowing. "I have keys to the house. Actual keys, not lockpicks. And this keycard," he picked it up and showed it to them. "Goes to the gate you passed by. Nate must have forgotten to lock it behind him. So there's really nothing to worry about. Gabe – the owner of this house – is my cousin, and Nate is his student, he takes private martial arts lessons. I can show you a picture of us if you want? Nate's pictures are posted up in the martial arts room. Every time he advanced a belt, Gabe took a picture of him in his gi with his new belt and posted it."

Which Keith thought was amusing, considering how difficult it must have been to convince Nathan into the pictures. Just getting Nathan to let him take the selfie of them during their 'training' for Nathan's interactions with people was a pain. A picture for what Nathan would have definitely considered pointless was a miracle, and Keith held a new level of respect for the ancient demigod for managing it several times.

"No," the officer looked at his partner. "I think that's enough."

"Yeah," his partner responded. "That's enough. Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir."

"Thank you," Keith smiled.

"No problem," the first officer said. "Have a good day, and good luck with… your plans. Make sure to be safe."

"Always," Keith told him. "But would mind keeping it a bit secret? Everyone just thinks we're friends, and we'd rather keep it that way until we can get away."

"No problem," the officers responded.

They wished him a good day and good luck once more, then left, and Keith closed the door. He sighed as his eyes stopped glowing, then he slumped down, staring at his bowl of ice cream.

"Fuck," he swore as hard as he could. "And there's the killer headache."

He grimaced as he set the bowl beside him so that he could rub his temples, his eyes squeezed shut as tightly as he could. He hated using magic to manipulate and influence the minds of others because it always resulted in a killer headache for him. At least with the officers, after the spell wore off, they wouldn't question things too much and just assume it was correct, especially since Keith was naked and did have keys to the house. They noticed the keypad on their way out, too, and would probably contact Master Torzin to ask about his 'cousin', who would – he hoped – verify the story.

The pain in his skull and his mind itself continued for some time, and at one point, his cell rang, but he ignored it. He wished his spells were more permanent, but doing that caused even greater pain for him. The one and only time he had succeeded in a permanent alteration, it was a minor affair. A slight change. A bully who felt guilty about it. A slight manipulation to increase the feelings of guilt over hurting others, putting an end to the bully's nature. It didn't work on everything, and a more serious – and less regretful – bully wouldn't have been affected by it for very long.

When he performed a permanent alteration that time, Keith had nearly gone into a coma. He vomited for a few days while in constant agony. His father just let him feel the pain, claiming he couldn't waste money on the medical bills. That man was the one Keith really wanted to do a permanent alteration to. None of his tech was at home because of his father. He'd built up a secret base for himself, where he locked himself away most of the time to avoid that man.

Footsteps approached Keith, and the psychic did his best to push down the pounding in his head as he looked up at a bewildered Nathan.

"Why the fuck are you naked?"