Chapter 7

  Bloodline Hunt: Part 4

  A train rode atop a golden light that stretched across the night sky, illuminated by the fragments of the shattered moon. Several separate rays of moonlight bathe the city of White Horn. One of the fragmented lights shone directly on a second-floor window of a house as if the world itself was waiting for the leading actor in a py to appear.

  Anna poked her head out the agape window, checking if anyone was watching. It was three in the morning, an hour when even a city that never sleeps may yawn—a perfect hour to make a move without worrying about prying eyes.

  Confident no one was looking; she squeezed her tiny body out the window. The wind suddenly picks up and wraps around Anna, safely carrying her to the ground.

  Other than the howling wind, the neighborhood was quiet. Abaddon inhales the cold night air, enjoying the serenity. Only at this hour could he be himself and not have to pretend to be someone else’s sister or daughter.

  Abaddon looked down at his hand. A tiny light hovered in his palm. “Time to figure out what you are.” Abaddon clenched his hand and ran off into the night.

  A military jeep drove down the street, its headlights catching Abaddon’s attention. He quickly dove behind a nearby car. The soldiers carefully examined the road as they went by, using their fshlights to search for any children that might’ve snuck out of the dormitory.

  Abaddon waited for the vehicle to go further down the street before continuing his mission. Anna’s childhood memories helped Abaddon navigate past the simir-looking streets. After a few turns, he stood in front of an archway with the engraving, Everspring.’

  Immediately upon entering, it became apparent how the park earned its name. Vibrant flowers decorated the snowy ground, and verdant green trees obscured the outside world.

  Abaddon thought that magic might be keeping the flowers alive but remembered Anna coming here with her mother. They would help the neighbors pnt flowers that thrive during each season.

  While admiring the view, Abaddon once again manifests the light in his hand. A cold gale blew through the park carrying a faint sound of someone sobbing. He clicked his tongue, annoyed that someone else was here. He tossed the light away and headed towards the sound of crying, curious who took his spot.

  A haggard-looking man sat on a snow-covered bench. He wailed loudly, only occasionally stopping to take a sip of alcohol.

  “How could they?” The haggard man’s words were slurred and slowed. “How could they kick me out of my house after everything I had done for them?!” In a fit of rage, he sms the gss bottle on the bench smashing it into thousands of pieces.

  “They think I’m useless just because I’m drinking a bit. Maybe if I quit my job, they’ll see they need me.”

  Anna watched in disgust as the drunkard chugged another bottle and smmed it onto the pavement. Immediately he reached for another one. In his periphery he noticed a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him from a dark corner of the park. “Ahwah!’ The man let out a weird cry, stumbling backward, falling off the bench. “Get away! I’m… I’m armed!” He shouted. The drunkards grabbed the broken bottle with shaky hands.

  "I see." Abaddon smiled amused by the small shard in the drunkard's trembling hand. She raised her hands and slowly backed away.

  “Hey, wait.” The drunkard rubbed his eyes, realizing it wasn’t a monster but a little girl. “Aren’t you too young to be out this te?”

  "Shouldn't you be with your family?” Abaddon asks. The drunkard’s already flushed face turns completely red. The little girl’s dismissive attitude reminded him of the fight he got in earlier with his daughter.

  “Someone needs to teach you, kids, some manners.” The drunkard stomped towards the little girl. Abaddon sighed as he turned to face the guy.

  “I pn to let you go, but I guess-“Before Abaddon could finish speaking, the drunkard swung his hand in a wide arc. The guy smiled, expecting to hear a satisfied sp echo through the empty park, but it never came. Confused, he looks down to see his wrist bleeding profusely.

  “Ah, so that's what it was.” Abaddon sighed in admiration. The little light that followed him around transformed into a familiar sword. A twinkling night sky decorated the dark bde. “Stargazer, right? I never imagined I would see you again.” Abaddon swung the sword around. Even though the sword was made for his past life body. The weapon felt weightless and somehow fit perfectly in his little hand. Abaddon could almost hear the eccentric bcksmith who made the weapon ughing in the back of his head.

  “W-What going on?” The drunkard stared dumbly at the little girl. It took a moment for his muddled brain to register the girl cut him with the sword, even longer for him to realize he was in danger.

  “Since even your family deems you useless, I suppose no one will miss you.” Abaddon took a step towards his victim. The drunkard fell backwards finally realizing the girl was aiming for his life.

  “Stay still.” Abaddon’s eyes glowed a deep red. The red glow fills the drunkard’s vision and, eventually, his thoughts. Abaddon shudders at his work. He never was a fan of charm spells. Even less now after the investigator used it on him.

  “Magic is a fascinating thing, isn’t it?” Abaddon stabbed Stargazer into the ground as she approached the frozen man. The sword dissipated into particles of light before rematerializing back into his hand.

  “Look, isn’t this incredible? I should’ve paid more attention to the bcksmith when he gave me this weapon.” Abaddon kicked a beer bottle on the ground, annoyed at his past self. The only thing he could remember was the bcksmith saying something about the weapon being made from shards of the broken moon.

  “If I had known that madman could create such a masterpiece, I would’ve had him create weapons for my army.” Abaddon sighed in disappointment. With a flick of his wrist, Stargazer once again vanished. “Oh well. At least one mystery was solved tonight. Now, it’s time to get to the main event.”

  Abaddon closes his eyes and mutters something under his breath. His hair flutters as a sudden breeze swirls around him, lifting him off the ground, the tattoo of a massive beast formed on his body. The markings grew hotter and hotter as if it was trying to sear itself deeper into his skin. Abaddon ignores the pain and presses his fingertips together, finishing the spell.

  Summon: Typhon

  A bright hot gold light erupted from Abaddon, expanding rapidly, threatening to swallow the entire park before. Suddenly the wind dies, and the all-consuming light abruptly vanishes. Abaddon fell to the ground. He franticly looked around, expecting to see a monster the size of a mountain, but the only other person in the park was the drunkard still locked in his spell.

  “It failed? How is that possible?” Abaddon was nearly tempted to tear his shirt off to see if he still had the tattoo. But he knew that was pointless as he could still feel the mark. The tattoo was proof of the oath he made with Typhon. It would only vanish if either one of them broke the oath or if one of them died.

  Someone, somehow, was preventing him from connecting to Typhon. The moment Abaddon came to that conclusion, he looked up at the sky, beyond the shattered moon, he could see a small green light.

  Abaddon sighed, not only did he have to worry about the investigator looking for him, but there was something stopping him from contacting his most valued ally. He could feel the walls closing in around him. He only had one option left.

  “You’re a lucky man.” Abaddon presses his finger onto Drunkard’s forehead, pushing him into the snow. “Very rarely do I give second chances to someone that slighted me. Take advantage of this situation and better yourself.”

  Another spell left Abaddon’s finger piercing Drunkard’s brain. The magic that locked him in pce slowly began to fade away.

  “Wha?” The drunk man looked around, unsure what was a dream and what wasn’t. Almost reflexively, he grabbed another bottle of alcohol. “Bh!” The moment a drop of liquid touched his tongue, he dropped the bottle, reeling back in disgust.

  The haggard man looked down at the broken bottle, perplexed. The drink that used to comfort him when he was at his lowest now tasted horrible.

  His heart grew heavy as all the horrible things he said to his wife, and children came rushing back to him. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry.” He dropped to his knee, the weight of his mistakes nearly crushing him. I’ll do better! I swear!” The man roared as he ran off into the dark.

  Abaddon watched the man scurry back home, somewhat curious if his spell would be enough to fix the situation. He takes one st look at the haggard man before heading back home. “I guess it’s about time I had a chat with my ‘father.’”

  .

  .

  .

  “Tch!” Anna clicked her tongue, growing more frustrated. Two days have passed since Anna decided to have a personal talk with Aiden, a task that seems almost impossible now. Since she hasn’t seen him at home once. In fact, Anna hadn’t seen Aiden ever since the academy opening ceremony.

  To make matters worse. No one seems to have a way of contacting him. Not even his wife, Olive, has a way of reaching him.

  “C’mon! One more p!” The gym instructor roared before blowing a whistle. The kids let out a weak groan as they ran past Anna. Everyone single one of them threw a jealous gnce at her. Anna stared back at them, equally envious. Because of her illness, she is forced to sit out on any physical activities.

  Her blood boiled just thinking about it. It felt like her body was tightly bound by chains, preventing her from taking a single step.

  Anna took a deep breath to calm her frustration and closed her eyes. Darkness didn’t engulf her vision. Instead, she got quite literally a bird’s eye view of the entire academy.

  A familiar she created earlier today flew closer to the track field, searching for anything unusual.

  Two soldiers were patrolling the track field, observing the children. Anna immediately recognizes them as the guards that dragged her and Aaron to the investigator.

  The bird’s eyes glow red as it examines the two men. Since the familiar was a part of Anna. It also had the ability to see magic like her.

  The two guards weren’t mages, but Anna could sense they were wrapped in magic. Seeing the vacant look in their eyes, she concluded they were under Jeze's charm spell.

  The bird continued to circle the two guards acting as Jeze's eyes, Anna pnned her next move.

  Even after investigating Jeze for two days, Anna still had no idea who she was dealing with. Thankfully, she managed to gain some answers during her investigation. Observing Jeze from afar, she came to understand two things.

  Jeze doesn’t know Abaddon is alive, but somehow, she suspects one of Aiden’s kids is the Mad Emperor. Two, Jeze she was also being watched either by Cire or another mage.

  If she is being watched so intensely, then I doubt she’s part of Eris’ army, whoever she is working doesn't seem to be on good terms with the Celestial that ruled this domain. Anna thought. The familiar continues to circle the two charm guards. She was tempted to deal with the brain dead guards and then Jeze herself, but killing her would just prove to whoever sent her that he was Abaddon. Someway, somehow she has to defeat Jeze without ever touching her.

  “How interesting,” Anna smiled, finding the situation somewhat amusing.

  “Um.” Anna felt someone tapping her shoulder. She quickly ordered her familiar to fly away before opening her eyes. A dark skin girl drenched in sweat stood before her. Her expression was a mix of concern and nervousness. “You’ll get sick if you sleep out in the cold,” Nandi said in a tiny, almost inaudible voice.

  Anna looked past the little girl; Exhausted children were sluggishly walking around the track field like zombies or lying ft on the snow. In the corner of her eye, she spotted the two guards still watching her from a distance.

  “Right, guess I was just a bit sleepy.” Anna scooted over, making space for Nandi to sit. Ever since the time they studied at the library. Nandi stuck to Anna like glue, although Anna didn’t mind as she helped her pretend to be a normal girl.

  “So...” Anna scooted closer to Nandi. “You’re training to be a specialist, right?”

  “Y-yea!” Nandi jumped, surprised. By Anna sudden intense interest in her. She scooted away to put some distance between the two.

  “I’m training to become a healer specialist.”

  “Oh.” Anna's eyes widen, her interest in the girl growing by the second. “And how exactly do you become a specialist?”

  “It depends on what kind of specialist you’re training to be. But usually, it requires intensive study in the school of magic you selected and any field that’s reted to it. Like for me, I need to learn about the human anatomy, drugs, and other medication, and order to become a proper healer.”

  Anna rubbed her chin deep in thought. “So, if someone is training to be an enchantment specialist. They’ll need a deep understanding on how the human mind works.”

  “I supposed so?”

  “I see.” Anna slowly nodded her head, satisfied with the answers. “You really are incredible.”

  “Wha-?!” Nandi jumped to her feet, taken aback by the compliment. “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s something I've been thinking about for a while. I’m impressed that you already know what you want to do at a young age. I was a bit older when I discovered what I wanted to do.”

  “Older?” Nandi cocked her head, confused. Anna's eyes widen realizing she slipped up.

  “I mean I didn’t know what I wanted to do until a few years ago. Anyway, is there anything else you can tell me about the specialist?”

  “Oh, of course.” Still taken aback by the compliment, Nandi brushed her hair back in a vain attempt to fix her bed hair. “Oh! There’s-“ Suddenly, Anna threw her hand in front of Nandi’s face catching a ball that almost hit her. “H-huh?” Nandi blinked rapidly, still trying to process what happened, Nandi’s eyes darted toward the direction the ball came from.

  A group of boys standing in a circle snickering to themselves. In the center of the group was Caleb. He gres at the two girls before turning back to the group.

  “!” A sound of a bell resonates throughout the entire field, signaling the end of the period.

  Anna gnced at the two soldiers. One of them jotted something down in a notebook before walking away. She silently cursed herself, wishing her body didn't react faster than the ball hit

  Should’ve let the ball hit her. Anna clicked her tongue, annoyed her body reacted before her brain did.

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course it's what friends do, right?” The two girls continued their conversation as they followed the other students back into the academy.

  "Fr-Friends!" Nandi jumped up to her feet. She pced both her hands on her chest to calm her beating heart. "I-is that what we are?"

  Anna ughed at the question. "What else would we be?"

  "Ah.. um." Nandi stammered. Anna grabbed the stunned girl's hand and dragged her back to the academy.

  “To be honest, specialists are looked down upon. Since we don’t receive a rank.” After regaining her composure, Nandi continued the conversation that Caleb interrupted.

  “Wait, really?” Anna raises an eyebrow, surprised. Most mages held their rank in high regard, as it was proof how skilled they were.

  “It’s because our abilities are situational. A specialist might have the abilities to counter a mage that happens to be a sage, but at the same time lose to someone who just learn magic.”

  Anna nodded her head and fell deep into her thoughts. When she met Jeze, she didn’t think she was that strong. But after learning more about specialists, she started to believe that Jeze was sent here because she has abilities designed to specifically deal with him.

  A delicious aroma hits Anna’s nose, pulling her out of her thoughts. At some point, without realizing it, both Anna and Nandi enter the cafeteria. After a long day of intensive training and studying, almost everyone was practically drooling, mesmerized by the smell of food.

  The two girls quickly found a spot in line before the stampede of hungry children could crush them. There was a wide array of colorful, mouth-watering food. Unfortunately, many didn’t get a chance to look through the selection as the people behind them impatiently hurried them along.

  Not particurly hungry, Anna only grabbed yogurt and a few fruits to snack on. Her eyes darted around the packed cafeteria her gaze eventually nding on a little boy sitting alone in the room's corner.

  “Ah!” Aaron’s moody demeanor instantly brightens when he sees his sister and Nandi approach.

  “You learn anything today?” Anna’s eyes glowed faintly, gncing at Aaron’s unusually rge amount of mana.

  “No, right now we’re just doing basic physical training.”

  “I see.” Anna squeezes the spoon in her hand, frustrated the school was wasting the boy’s potential. She wanted to cultivate the boy’s talent personally. But that was impossible since they were being watched. which gave Anna another reason why she needed to quickly to deal with investiagtor.

  While deep in thought. Anna peeled the seal off her yogurt. The white goop bubbles violently before suddenly exploding onto her face.

  The entire cafeteria erupted in ughter. “What’s the matter? Your parents didn’t teach you how to eat properly?!” Caleb chuckled.

  Anna wiped the yogurt off her face, utterly unamused. She didn’t need to use her eyes to know someone had cast a spell on her food. Ever since their first confrontation in the hall, Caleb has been harassing her from a distance. At first, she found it amusing that the boy was trying to get under her skin. But now, with an investigator breathing down her neck, she no longer had the patience to humor the kid.

  “I’m sorry, Anna. It's because of me that he’s targeting you.” Tears welled up in Nandi’s eyes. It was frustrating for Nandi to watch her friend being bullied by someone who tormented her for years.

  “Why are you apologizing? You’re not the coward that’s too afraid to face me.”

  “What did you say?!” Caleb sms his hands on the table. The cafeteria fell silent, sensing the tension between the two.

  “Huh? Did I not say it loud enough?” Anna stood up and looked Caleb directly in the eyes. “You’re a coward that hides behind your friend group. Are you afraid if you confront me head-on, I’ll ruin the little reputation you got from your family’s name?”

  “Ha!” Why would I be afraid of you? You’re too weak to even participate in any physical activity!”

  Anna’s eyes glow brightly. Caleb's food lifted off the table and smmed into his face.

  “If you’re truly not afraid of me as you say, then meet me after school. I’ll show you even with my condition, I can easily take you down.”

  Caleb wipes the food off himself. His face beet red from embarrassment and rage. “Fine!” He snarls. “We’ll settle this after school.