“Are you ready to come today?” The text asked, one of many that Lara had received over the weekend from Joseph. She had replied every time with a dismissive message saying that she was away for the weekend.
She hadn’t even gotten time to go see Jasper before she began making her way to the hotel that she had stayed at previously. She spent time at the lobby signing in to the guest registry before she returned to her room on the third floor.
Surprisingly she hadn’t been intercepted on her way, but she was equally disturbed as getting into her room there was a package left on the desk that was opposite the bed. “Room service?” she guessed, picking up the chunky parcel and tearing it open.
Inside was a leather arm band that seemed to be rather well made that had a small circle on the top that contained the rune itself like some form of commemorative armband for having gone to the theme park.
“A bit tacky.” she thought with a soft hearted chuckle, taking a picture of it to send on to Jasper and Mitch. She assumed he would want her to be wearing it so she clipped it around her wrist and put her sleeve over it.
Once the message was sent she tossed her belongings onto the bed and left to try and find where Joseph was, he had mentioned that he was always available for anyone in the group to come visit at any time.
She had spent some time searching the floors, finding he had taken up the meeting room on the top floor where he had placed out the same devices he had used to ‘detect’ any magical ability she had.
“Nice to finally see you again.” He said as she entered, sitting on the far side of the room with the desk that was usually used for meetings set up in front of him with some general office supplies on it.
“Well I got all my stuff sorted, so I’m back.” She said in a rather confident manner “you've been having fun without me?” She asked, pointing to the smaller desk by the windows that overlooked Carlow town's business estate.
“I’ve just expanded it all.” He replied with a somewhat confident tone to match hers but mostly excited to be telling her. “I have tested a few of our inner circle to see if anything worked, and a majority of them have some form of ability to sense natural magic.”
“So I’m not that special?” She asked, knowing that it wasn’t hard to string along some bullshit and make people think they are feeling something when they weren’t. Hell some might have even had the natural ability to sense magic but the test he had in place had very little ability to actually let someone feel magic.
“Oh no, don’t worry.” He assured her as he walked closer to her, rubbing his hands together as he talked “None of them were able to activate the rune. We have been trying for some time.”
She was rather unnerved at the idea that he was attempting to pull them into this. Before she had time to respond to him the doors opened again “Hey, we came for the check up.” said a familiar voice.
She looked back to find Shaun and Emma from Mitch’s school had arrived. They seemed rather tired. “We won’t be around until the afternoon tomorrow.” Shaun added “we have school.”
“Oh that makes sense, of course.” Joseph replied, pulling up a large notebook that he opened and placed on the desk. “Just right here.” he pointed to an empty space on the page that had a log of seemingly everyone who had come here. It had information such as their name, age, address, and when they had last checked in.
“What’s all this for?” She asked, struggling to hide her deep disturbance at such a ledger.
The two seemed to pay no heed to her as they finished signing in and waved before leaving as fast as they entered. “See you when you can get back!” Joseph called them before addressing her question. “It is mostly to see who is most interested in the cause. It saves me having to call up people to be rejected.”
“Ah, I see.” She responded, still uncomfortable by the idea but she had to stay on his good side until this was over “Sounds like a good idea, how many are currently training?”
“A handful.” he replied, turning the book around and counting out the number of unique names “About ten.”
“Well a smaller group is easier to manage.” She said, taking a seat across from him, once again his tone seemed to change when he talked to her compared to the two that came in.
“Of course, it means I can personally train those who come to me since people often come once every two days.”
“And are they required to sign in?” she asked, reaching for the book which had her sleeve slide up slightly, revealing the band.
“Oh I’m glad to see you liked the gift.” he said at first, sliding the book over to her “Only once a week, so I know they are still dedicated to the training. Don’t want to be wasting time”
Once again she was only disturbed by his answer, taking mental note of it to report later. Though she was at least assured in the notion they were speeding up the investigation. Mitch had planned that within the next few days they would be looking to disband the cult.
“I have to say.” she began, her throat closing up and hand beginning to tremble slightly as she noted the lack of that demonic presence about him now. “Sometimes when I am around you, I get this really weird feeling, like when I touched the water.”
While she was expecting some form of aggressive response he seemed rather surprised more than angry. “You can feel it too?” he asked, hushing his tone before he said “Close the door please.”
She knew this would be the best chance to get the information out of him so she quickly rose and closed the door. “What is it?” she asked in a similarly hushed tone, matching the severity he gave the topic.
While she was expecting a bizarre topic, or an admission he had been making deals with a demon, she wasn’t expecting the bizarre turn it took.
“You can sense it, so you know there is another being that is sometimes here, right?” He asked, though she was rather unsure how he would have sensed a presence unless he did actually have some innate abilities such as her own.
“Yes. I noticed it at the halloween party, the first time you showed us the rune and when we met up at the old cemetery.” she listed, thinking back on all the times she felt uneasy around him for more than the usual reasons.
“He was there those times. The angel that came to me with this revelation.” While his claim was absolutely absurd and any normal person would immediately dismiss him as insane, she knew just how dangerous this belief was.
“An… Angel?” She asked. She was just as confused as anyone who had no idea about spirits about this one. Though she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
“A figure that comes to me at night.” He assured her, leaning over the desk to take out his phone. He brought up a message that was from an unknown sender that said “Check out the Reed manor, you will find something there,” followed by an exact address of where it was.
“Come on.” she replied with a bit of a sceptical brow raise “Anyone could have sent this message.” There was only so much she could blindly agree with him on until it became suspicious.
“I thought the same. I have taken tips a few times from fans for places to visit, so I decided to go anyway.” He said. Putting his phone away he got out of his seat and walked over to the window “But when I got there I could feel something was off… That’s when it came to me.”
“What came to you?” She asked, it was clear by now what it was to her but she wanted to hear his explanation.
“The angel.” he said, turning back to face her. Continuing his hushed tone he moved closer “I did my usual scan of the building. Recorded my intro and got some establishing shots before I went inside and the place was a mess. It looked like a warzone.” He began to explain.
“When I eventually made my way to the master bedroom It was waiting by the rune, and it spoke to me. It told me the secrets of the rune and told me I had to spread this knowledge.”
She felt a chill run down her spin as she pictured it, a demon forcing a human to create this cult. “Did it suggest the sign-in book, and inner circle?” She asked, doing her best to maintain a straight face.
“Of course” was not the answer she wanted to hear, but it was clear whatever it was planning needed a large group of people to possibly feast on, sacrifice, or just kill for sport. It was hard to know how a demon would reason.
“Why is it not here now?” she asked.
“It said it had business to take care of. It’ll come back eventually to check on our progress.” He finished explaining, returning to his seat.
“Did It say anything about where it was going?” She asked, collapsing her hands together and clenching tightly “I’m not sure I could believe it until I see it.”
“Well it said that it had some business to attend to, but refused to tell me what it was. I can be sure to come get you when it returns if you’d like.”
She wasn’t sure if she truly wanted to meet a demon face to face but by now if it hadn’t sensed her ability to feel it then it probably wasn’t powerful enough to when they were face to face.
She nodded in response and said “Well I might go get something to eat and then rest up before it gets back. Haven’t had much time to relax all weekend.”
“Of course, feel free to order room service. On me. Enjoy a relaxing break.” He replied, getting out of his seat to walk her to the door. “If you need anything else, give me a call.”
“I’ll be sure to.” she assured, though having no plans to ever call him unless it was absolutely necessary.
When she left she waved to him while the elevator doors closed. She kept a warm smile up until the moment the doors were fully closed and she could relax. Letting out a heavy sigh as she relaxed her posture.
Now was about the time she took her phone and sent a quick message to Jasper concerning the demon not always being here and that Joseph knows of its presence and is even convinced that it is some form of angel coming to his side.
“Can demons interact with electronics?” was one of the largest questions on her mind, and one Jasper more than likely had an answer for.
While she had to wait for his response she took time to rest in her room. Though even the room felt hostile and difficult to relax in. At any moment this ‘angel’ could enter her room where she had no idea what to even do.
She created a follow up message that stated how uncomfortable she felt here and wanted any form of advice for what to do if it did approach her.
“For now, remain calm and continue your work.” Jasper responded after some time.
Mitch added to the response with “If you play oblivious there's nothing it can do. It clearly is avoiding hurting anyone if Joseph is still alive.”
Over the course of the next few days not much had happened other than some general ‘training’ with Joseph while at home Mitch was working on his master plan to finally put an end to the cult in a way that no one would have to die.
“‘You sure this would even work?” Jasper asked, his mock scepticism mostly trying to poke holes in his plan to make sure it was actually fool proof.
“I think it’ll work perfectly.” He said as he held onto the small baggie that he had been given by Ian that contained a series of tiny devices. “We just have to get in there and place these tiny things.”
“And how, pray tell, do we do that?” Jasper asked, his scepticism only rising as he rested his elbows atop the dining room table. “We aren’t exactly invited, now are we?”
“We can get Lara to distract ‘em, we slip into the building and put these onto the rune.” Showing the bag that specifically contained several micro LED’s.
“A bit bold, what about the guards?” Jasper proposed.
The guards were an issue and Mitch didn’t have a plan to be rid of them. He hoped that Lara could distract them too, but in the end there is only so much that she could possibly do.
While he contemplated the next move in his plan Jasper just laughed loudly and rested back in his chair, swinging it slightly as one hand kept a hold of the table for balance “Come on, can’t even think of using me for your plan?”
While yes, it was something he didn’t factor in, he felt strange about giving orders to his grandfather and mentor. “Well, what could you do?” He asked, having a few ideas of his own but thought it best to ask the professional.
“This is your job.” Jasper stated in a surprisingly less than usually serious tone. While he had been naggy and often a bit condescending with Mitch’s choices on this case so far, he was rather nonchalant about taking orders here.
“I see…” Was all he could respond with at first, mulling over his options as he made a quick doodle of the manor on a sheet of paper he had. “So we can’t enter through floor one for obvious reasons.” marking the front entrance and back door connected to the kitchen. “At least not without Lara making a distraction.”
“Of course.” Jasper promptly agreed, sitting upright once more with his arms crossed “So what about the guards?”
“I think that brings up a question in itself.” Mitch thought aloud, quickly doodling the upstairs layout and roughly where he remembered the rune being kept. “What can you do with someone while projecting?”
“Now you are starting to ask the right questions.” He replied with a laugh that could only be described as an ‘old man’s wheezing.’ It was a little concerning, but Mitch didn’t delve into that just yet but he made a note to bring it up later.
“But there is a much simpler answer for all of this. One of those guards is a friend of the family. He is going to be the one who will let you into the event in the first place.” Jasper reminded him, tapping the table a few times until Mitch caught on.
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“Right,that makes sense. Then we can get the micro LED on the rune while he distracts the guards for us…” He mumbled as he erased his previous plan.
Jasper seemed to fidget at the table, constantly looking about the room rather than focusing on Mitch. He would pick up his cup often and bring it to his face only to blow on it and place it back down a moment later.
“You good?” Mitch asked, raising an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic behaviour.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” He chuckled, waving off his concern with a physical gesture. “Just waiting for a client to arrive. Now, back onto the topic. When I can get up to the guards and lead them away, what do you plan to do?”
“If I can get in, that’s the easy part. All I need to do is introduce enough minor imperfections into the rune that will cause any mana pumped into it to be null and void.” He explained. His mug had gone cold by now, but he mimicked Jasper by picking it up and blowing on it before putting it down once more. Mostly to mock him though he didn't seem to notice.
Jasper did the same and tapped the side of the cup a few times once he put it down as he thought over the plan “So, tell me how this imperfection will come about.”
“We just have to get them to cut it enough.” He shrugged, taking out his dagger from his pocket “Just small ones around the outer rim and a few on the inside. It won’t look like much to a passer by, but it's more than enough to destroy the rune magically.”
While Jasper was thinking about it he took a moment to pull out his phone and check his groups again. Joel and Saoirse were in the middle of a conversation about the upcoming family festival and the chat with Shaun and Emma was barren, the last message he sent still being read from a few days back.
He decided to chance his arm and leave another message into the chat, a simple “Want to hang out sometime next week?”
He wasn’t expecting a response but there wasn’t too much else he could do by this point. With a heavy sigh he put his phone away and turned his attention back to Jasper who had finally picked up his cup to take a sip. The look of disgust at how cold it was, was enough to give Mitch a laugh.
“Maybe don’t blow on it so much.” He said.
Though surprisingly he got a more stern look than his usual demeanour. “Come on, let’s be sure to make this plan fool proof.”
It was shocking, and it did cause him to hesitate for a moment but he just shrugged and agreed. “Fine, let’s go over it one more time.”
“I think it might be best if we get Joseph out of the manor entirely.” Mitch said after a moment of thought “It removes him as an obstacle.”
“How would you plan to do that?” Jasper asked, though he knew the answer already.
“A date of course. Lara says she is nervous about the event and invites him out to dinner to calm down.” Mitch explained.
“Right, so Lara takes Joseph out on a date.” Jasper began, nodding to Mitch to continue.
“Then we make some noise downstairs to lure the guards.” He waited a moment for the next nod, then continued. “Once you and our man on the inside distract the guards, I will sneak in and scuff up the rune until it can’t activate anymore. I’ll then add some micro LED lights along the inside, slip out and then we wait for the media press conference the next day to come in and show him up.”
“Banks on Lara’s ability to get him away from the manor.” Jasper questioned “A man such as himself might be far too paranoid to leave. He would also be sure to check the rune before going anywhere, would he not?”
“I’m not so sure, remember what she said about him?” He asked, slowly moving his cup aside so he could lean on the table. “He seems to like her a lot, so I think the chance for a date will have him out for the night. Lara goes on to get him black out drunk so he won't have time to check anything by the time they wake up”
“That doesn’t take into account how Lara feels about doing something like that.” Jasper added, almost feeling like he was trying to throw a wrench into his plan at every step.
This was enough to annoy Mitch, a snide comment slipping out “And I certainly am not comfortable with offering someone a life or death choice without knowing about the death aspect but here we are.”
He was expecting this to turn into an argument with how Jasper responded to his last comment. Strangely enough it didn’t. Jasper just laughed and slapped the table “Fair point. Do you want to tell her, or will I?”
Mitch was left flabbergasted for a few moments, not only was he trying to mess up his plan but he seemed to be just purely unpredictable.
“I guess I will?” more of a question than confirmation, but it was enough for Jasper who nodded and got up. He slid his seat back against the table and said “I am going to start the paperwork then. You get home and rest, if all goes to plan we can go tomorrow night.”
He didn’t give Mitch enough time to respond before he was gone. It felt like he was doing that quite often lately.
Taking the cups and teapot he made his way into the kitchen so he could clean them off before leaving. “Hey Nan.” He said as he entered and saw Sophia cutting up some onions on the centre table.
“Hello there.” She said, extending her hands for a hug but in a way where her onion coated hands wouldn’t touch him.
He gave her a half hug before he put the cups into the sink and emptied out the luke-warm pot of tea. “Is something going on?” He asked after a few moments, feeling the need to specify since there was often a lot going on. “Grandad seems a bit weird today.”
“He is a weird man, dear.” She said, focusing intently on slicing and dicing the onion into small chunks. “But he has been stressed lately with paperwork and setting up.”
“I guess that makes sense, yeah, he’s been doing most of the paperwork while Lara and I were away.”
“From what I heard you should all be done soon anyway.” She responded, sliding the onions into a bowl before taking out the peppers to start. “You know, people may not thank you for your work…” She began “But it means the world to everyone, even if they don't know it.”
Her attention turned from the peppers and to him, knife set down on the table and one arm leaning against the board “I appreciate all the work you both do.”
It was enough to cause a brief pause, a sentiment he had not heard before. It almost caused a few tears to well up, while he knew he wanted to be thanked for his work, he never knew how bad.
She moved in and gave him another handless tight hug before she returned to her meal preparation. “Now, tell me. How is it coming along?”
“Tomorrow should be the big day, at least this week,” he said once he managed to break out of his trance. Putting the cups away he placed the teapot beside the sink and went over to the door “But I gotta run, I have my own set up to do for tomorrow.”
“Take care, and be safe on the way home!” She called out as he left.
“I will!” was his last call out to her before he exited the manor and took his phone out when he was in the street. Once he shook off the sullen feeling that swelled inside him, he dialled for Lara and waited for a response as he made his way home.
“Hello?” He eventually got in response when she picked up by the very end of the phone's ringing cycle. She sounded surprisingly alert and coherent for this time of night but it wasn't his place to judge her sleeping habits.
“Hey, Lara?” He asked, while he could recognise her voice he had to be safe with hw sensitive this topic was.
“Yeah, hey Mitch, what's up?” She asked once she recognised his voice. Often they had to use private numbers to call one another just in case someone became paranoid enough to start checking phones.
“You alone?” He asked, chuckling to himself at how weird that would sound in any other situation.
“Yeah, I’m in the hotel room. Talk away.”
“Good, good. We have a solid plan now. But it requires some hefty work on your end.”
“What do I need to do?” She sounded rather concerned now.
“Well… It goes a little something like this.” He began.
Night fell across the town of Carlow, a cold breeze seeping its way through a small window on the middle floor of the manor where a window had been left slightly ajar from Sophia’s round of cleaning.
Small potted plants lined the windowsill that hardly were clinging onto life from Jasper's constant neglect. Sophia was the only one keeping them alive and even some days she would forget to water them with how big this place was.
The shrouded figure stood below the home, watching and waiting, a half cackle escaping its vessel as it stared up at the window. In this form it was able to simply float up and place its shadowy tendrils outstretched onto the glass where it would form in a more solid hand shape.
It had been stalking the house for some time, and found this was the best time to enter once she forgot to close the window.
Instead of opening it, it slid through the crack in a dark myst that would allow it to form once again inside. “We shall be done with you for good.” It thought, having followed Jasper home from several of the events they had attended and tonight was its plan of attack.
It took a very brief glance around the office it stepped into, a large desk on the side furthest from the door with a chair, books spread across it, and writing utensils. There was a large rug on the ground and behind the desk was a wall-sized bookshelf that hadn’t a single spot free for any more.
Now the shadows began to fade and it took on a physical form, a humanoid man with smooth skin, long wavy hair and a large set of white wings plastered to its back and a set of basic robes seen in scripture. “Now, quick and quiet and I can return.” was the last thought it had to itself before across the room a loud cough could be heard, followed by someone clearing their throat.
“A rather fancy transformation.” Jasper said as he waited in the back corner of the darkly lit office, stepping forward to be more visible in the moonlight that flooded the office through the window. “Now I hope you know the law around here for breaking and entering.”
“What the..?” The demon asked with what could only be described as utter astonishment, its voice echoing as if two speaking over one another.
“Entering a building with intent to commit an offence.” Jasper began, holding a book in his hand that he seemed to be reading from. “It is an offence to enter a building or the vicinity of a building with the intention of committing an offence or interfering with property. Under the definition of this offence, it is enough to be on the property, for example, in the back garden or the driveway of a house. But, in any proceedings against the accused, it is up to the prosecution to prove that the accused was there with the intention of committing an offence or interfering with property. If you are found guilty of this offence you will be liable on summary conviction to a class C fine, or to a maximum term in prison of 6 months, or both.”
The demon simply stood in awe as this mortal so casually lectured him about the law when he had clearly seen him transform and enter through a mist. “What is this man?” It thought as Jasper stood calmly holding his book.
“Whatever it is, this man must be put down.” It concluded. It searched for a moment, eyes darting about the room before it noticed the cross on the wall and he raised his hands up to clasp them in prayer “Please sir, I am not here to cause trouble.” It said in as soft a tone it could muster.
Jasper closed the book and placed it atop the desk as he walked over to lean against the front of it. “Well then, what is an angel like yourself doing here?”
The demon struggled to find an answer, its mind racing with several questions such as “Why was he waiting here, in the dark.” and “was that window being open on purpose?”
Jasper just nodded at him and said “Well I guess Irish laws wouldn’t exactly apply to an angel, right?” running his hand along the book atop the table.
“Of course my child.” It stated, having studied some literature in its quest to gather power. “Now tell me, what do you think I am here for?”
It was about now that Jasper was getting bored with this game and said “Now I wasn’t done sir. While Irish laws may not apply to angels, my family has specific rules for dealing with your kind.”
The demon felt something that a creature of its kind has rarely ever felt… Fear. Watching this frail old man speak to it like it was no more than a stray that was in his way.
As it stood in shock Jasper paced forward and said “You really tried, and it was an admirable attempt. But you have no idea what you have messed with.”
There was no response, only a horrified look to the window. As it attempted to rush towards it Jasper pointed to the floor below where a rune that was concealed by the rug began to glow before bursting into a pillar of light, blocking all exit that way.
Though it managed to narrowly avoid the light which had begun to seer its form away the light that emitted from it began to cause more of the room to glow in a similar fashion.
“You truly are a low born demon.” Jasper said, watching as the walls, ceiling, and floor all began to light up with hundreds of runes throughout the room. “You didn’t even know about what we do.”
“There is no way an old man like you can do anything against me!” It began, its tone far less civil as it no longer needed to pretend.
“I am not sure how you can make such threats. If I was any normal human, sure, you would have been able to kill me with no trouble.” He began, giving it time to respond.
“I have dealt with mortals, and I can deal with you!” It choked, the runes absorbing most of the natural mana around him which made it hard for a creature such as himself to breathe.
“Then tell me, what’s the plan now?” Jasper asked, motioning around the room “If you haven’t figured it out yet, you are completely trapped. The moment you entered this room you sealed your fate.”
Before it had time to respond Jasper activated another rune below it which caused the demon to collapse, gasping for air as the very magic that sustained its being began to be sucked away.
Jasper moved back to take a seat atop the desk while he watched the creature write in pain. Soon enough the shadows began to overtake it with this facade of a form beginning to fade away.
He turned the rune off when it had turned back to its bare shape of a vague humanoid figure shrouded in shadows. The beast gasped once more though this time drawing in mana and air to be able to sustain itself once more.
“Part of me wants to say sorry here.” Jasper began, feeling a slight pity for it. “While you never asked to become a demon, and while your disposition is a product of nature, we cannot allow demons and humans to exist together.” He stood once more while it was regaining its balance “we are just food to you all, and we have taken measures to protect our people. Even if it means exterminating you all.”
As it stared up at him with a pained expression Jasper knew that it was fishing for that sympathy to help keep it alive. “No hard feelings, alright?” Jasper said as he stared down “This is just business”
“The door?” The demon thought, glancing about the room in a desperate attempt to escape but the door also had runes placed around it like the entire room.
“I’m sorry to say this is where it ends for you.” he turned off the runes about the room once more and took a step closer. “This was a trap, and you are already far too deep to escape now.”
In desperation once he regained part of his form he formed a condensed spear of natural mana with the intent to pierce both Jasper's physical and spectral form at once. “I will not be talked down to by a human!” It left no time to react before it sent the spear flying from under its right arm.
Jasper remained calm and allowed him to make the attempt, standing with his hands behind his back. The spear stopped inches from his chest as his own projection had caught it before it got close. “Come on now, every demon I have come across has attempted this.”
The demon was in shock, watching this old frail looking human so easily negate any form of assault. “You cannot be normal.” It said, its voices shaking while in vain it tried to crawl away from Jasper.
Jasper took a hold of the spear with his hand, clenching tightly before it shattered into pieces of natural mana that slowly fell back towards the earth like many spirits he had passed before. “You may think you are all powerful above humans. You didn’t stop to think if any humans were prepared for you. Why do you think we were snooping around the manor, or tracking Joseph?”
While it only stammered and searched for a response Jasper entered his body once again and stepped forward “I think it’s time we finish up here, don’t you think?”
As if something finally clicked, Jasper dropped his facade and rose his own mana by absorbing that in the room around them. Though it began to rise slowly, once Jasper was ready to finish this it flared up far larger than the demon could have any hopes of fighting against. It felt like a drop of water taking on an ocean.
It was frozen, fear overtaken its base instincts of survival. “Even if you tried to consume me. You would have no chance.” Jasper stated “A demon of your stature would die before it could even attempt to grasp it. A normal human is almost too much for you, that’s why you are gathering them up in this cult to begin weakening them so it's a far easier feast for you.”
It simply didn’t respond.. Or better yet, it was not able to. Staring at its inevitable death at the hands of a being far more powerful it simply accepted its fate. It was suffocating to be in his presence, the natural mana of the air was being drained so fast and in such large quantities it could hardly breathe.
“I guess the time for talking is over.” Jasper stated, taking his final step to put it out of its misery. “I am sorry, but everything you were up until now will be erased. All of the past lives you have lived mean nothing now that I am done with you.”
He didn’t bother waiting for a response and simply placed a hand atop the demon's form. Without need of his dagger he completely evaporated the demon into nothing more than orbs of condensed magic that would make their way to the earth once more. This time, however, he stood and took a hold of the nearest orb. “I won’t allow such a creature to be reborn.” He muttered as he stomped on a rune that lit the room up once more to destroy any trace of that natural mana.
He had gotten a message during this time, checking his phone to find it was from Mitch. “Did you feel that!?” the message stated “It might be trouble!” a second, far more recent text added.
Jasper couldn’t help but chuckle as he rapidly vented the mana he absorbed once more and replied “It’s nothing to worry about. Nick was working close by.”