Henry would've been spotted if he was any less cautious. Moments before the ghost eerily snapped her head to her torso backwards, Henry detected a weird flow of Mana. Henry hid the moment he sensed the abnormal Mana movement, and his wariness paid off. As for whether she was friendly or not, Henry was unwilling to take that risk if she was not. He did not have the means to hit a ghost, so until then hiding was the smarter option. Ding, the Systems alert popped up once more and thankfully the sound could only be heard by him.

[Quest progress - 25%]

There was no more time for dawdling around, Henry decided to escape. Henry kept his senses full alert while walking down the hallway. Prepared to dash into one of the many classrooms at a moments notice. Henry no longer turned on the flashlight mode on his phone as that was too dangerous. His Mana sense would suffice until he escaped and while going down to the first floor he noticed something about his Mana sense. It seemed to act as both an extension of his original senses and a unique new sense on its own. Focusing the Mana sense through his eyes, Henry found it looked like a weird combination of infrared and x-ray vision. Sounds of what could only be a loud fight was heard up ahead near the exit.

Henry ducked into a classroom, and sneaked his way closer to the battle. Then two people entered his Mana sense, or more accurately one person and a ghost entered his Mana sense. Henry's blood ran cold, that person had five times the average amount of mana. Henry immediately calmed down after realizing that person's Mana signature differed compared to the reflection-less student's Mana he saw earlier today. This person was also a young woman, and she had special equipment that caught Henry's interest.

She threw talismans constantly while battling against the ghost and seemed primarily on the defensive. She had on light armor engraved with many inscriptions where Mana flowed seamlessly. In a pouch tied to her waist was a bottle of Mana filled ink and a brush, but Henry's focus was on the talismans. They seemed to create barriers of Mana, or at least that what it seemed like to his Mana sense. His buried curiosity ignited and Henry decided he had to see what the fight looked like with his own two eyes.

Cautiously he peeked at the duo's fight and watched in awe as the young woman threw talismans after talismans with extreme precision. The talismans created a barrier that consisted of Mana and compressed air. Henry pondered why the talismans didn't flutter around because they looked as if they were made with yellow colored paper. Henry quickly returned to his stalking- spectating of the battle after his pondering was getting him no where. He noticed that the young woman looked some what familiar, but he couldn't remember where he might've seen her. Just as he was admiring her beauty, the young woman suddenly shouted in his direction.

"Come Out! I Know You Are Hiding!" A frown adorned her pretty face, and Henry froze.

—

Mia's bob cut bounced as she blocked the ghost's slashes with her barrier type talismans. She has been losing a steady supply of talismans since confrontation. What she had thought would've been a simple extermination has devolved into a losing battle. She didn't want to lose anymore money, those talismans weren't cheap. Even though her family gave her a discount with the amount of talismans she using right now, she expected her bank account to run dry anytime now. Plus if she can't complete this commission another failure would be put on her track record. While it didn't seem that bad, the commissions she would receive in the future will continue to decline even further. With lower commission rates the amount of money she could earn will continue to drop. This would continue until Mia becomes so broke that she could no longer afford to create more talismans. Then she can only face supernatural situations with no equipment which was equal to walking to her doom! Mia couldn't help but lament her unfortunate fate and the dumb tradition her ancestors created. However, all those problems vanished when Mia's wind radar talisman picked up another presence behind the ghost.

"Come Out! I Know You Are Hiding!" Mia frowned hiding her desire to gut the bastard hiding. She just wanted an easy commission, why did everything have to be so complicated. Mia's attention split between the two entities caused her to wear out quicker. One out in the open and another hidden in darkness. Her talisman's supply was already at half, she needed to retreat soon. But, just as she was about to run away the person hiding revealed himself.

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"A Student!?" Shock plastered Mia's face which quickly morphed into concern as she shouted, "Run!" However, the dim wit stood there unmoving with a cocky expression. The ghost was not an idiot and within a second her claws were moments away from decapitating him.

"Wind!" A talisman blurred out of Mia's hand and put a halt to the ghost's attack. The student only then realized he was moments away from death when he fell flat on his ass. A headache struck Mia while she blocked a swipe from the ghost. The use her bloodline ability came at a cost unlike her talismans. Mia didn't want to leave the kid but such thoughts were useless if she couldn't do anything about it.

—

Henry quickly came to his senses. He had become arrogant. The Mana sense given by the System was nothing but fluff. Henry was still just a regular student without his Mana sense and now he fully acknowledged that fact. Henry noticed that the lady depleted half her Mana to save him and was struggling against the ghost's relentless swipes. Henry didn't want to ditch his savior to die if he could do otherwise, so he spoke.

"I have a method that might enrage her!" Henry hoped she could use this to do something.

"You can see her!? Wait, of course you can. Quick tell me how!" The lady words showed that a plan was already forming in her mind.

"That's not possible without enraging her! " Henry couldn't just tell her the names, the ghost will definitely hear it and he would become sliced meat. The lady glared at him before sighing. The ghost's assault was burning through her talisman supply too quickly. She decided the kid could only rely on himself after making such a claim.

"You will die if this doesn't work." The lady grimaced. "The talisman on you can survive one more swipe. That should be me enough time to act." Henry was beginning to have seconds thoughts, but he was already in too deep. He could only hope this method worked. The lady blocked another swipe before she ordered,

"Now!"

Henry lifted his hand and flipped the bird at the ghost with a smug look on his face, "Balford and his music teacher send their regards."

The ghost's slammed head into the barrier. Her jaws split wide apart as sharp teeth grew from within when it snapped shut. The barrier shattered as the ghost's malice and hatred could be felt just from her piercing gaze.

"Wind!" Dozens of talismans blurred past the ghost and a giant barrier formed between the two. The ghost however didn't care, she shrieked clawing and bashing her head against the barrier. The lady was stunned, but didn't forget to remind Henry,

"The barrier will last less than 5 minutes at this rate. We no time, if you want to live listen to what I am about to say. Don't make any turns and don't let her lose sight of you. Now go!" Without hesitation Henry sprinted down the hallway. The lady escaped nursing her temples in an attempt to soften her bludgeoning headache.

Henry focused all his attention on his Mana sense to navigate through the dark. His steps echoed throughout the empty hall ways with the shrill screams coming from behind. The classroom at the very end of the hallway was his destination. Reaching it he swung the door and barged through but, after entering something made him pause. Desks and chairs were thrown into a corner of the room without any care. The room also contained many crimson inscriptions which were carved into the walls and floor. A bloody shriek broke him out of his stupor, he remembered he was on a timer.

He grabbed one of the detached metal chair leg and smashed it against the window. But, a foggy red barrier blocked the chair leg and it flew out of his hands. Fear began creeping up Henry's spine, his breathing grew heavy. His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. However, Henry was unwilling to die so miserably. Grabbing the chair leg once more he swung at the window. Once, twice, thrice, and more until his palms became bloody. Blood… A flash of understanding passed through Henry's eyes. He focused on the inscriptions on the floor using his Mana sense. There was no reaction, but Henry was sure the inscriptions were the cause.

Out of frustration he threw the chair leg at the window, but it bounced back. Then he saw it, a few of the inscriptions activated before the impact. However there were too many and not enough time destroy them all. A plan swiftly formed in his mind and he picked up the chair leg. He swung at inscriptions which bore any similarities to the pattern on that lady's talismans. Finally all of them were now scratched up and could no longer conduct mana properly.

A piercing shriek punctured Henry's ears. It was free, Henry knew he would die if he did not act. He launched himself into the window wrapping his arms around his neck and head. The pane shattered, cutting into his skin and tearing his uniform. Without having to look behind him Henry knew from his Mana sense that the ghost didn't follow him out. Henry would've never guessed that getting cut by hundreds of glass shards could invoke such joy. He limped as he ran from the old school building into the cover of the many bush and trees.