Jacky was no longer sprinting through the halls in the search of the powerful daemon residing somewhere in the South Wing. She was riding a big pitch-black cat-like daemon that raced through the school. Any daemons that tried coming at her were swiftly exterminated with a single swing of her spiked bat and added to her collection if they looked the slightest bit useful. As a summoner-type magjistar, the more options she had in a fight, the stronger she was.

Eventually, she found herself turning a corner with her cat daemon and nearly running into two people. “Stop!” Jacky ordered the daemon as she got a better look at the two. What the hell were these two doing so far deep in the South Wing? And why the hell was Her of all people being piggybacked by this... Nobody?

The way he looked at her with that blindfold on... Jacky felt tingles in her spine just staring back at the short boy. Was it possible he was a freak just like Zoey? Jacky would never admit she was afraid of someone but for some reason he made her feel uneasy just like how she feels around Zoey. She gritted her teeth and immediately rejected this notion. Accepting that one person around her age was superior to her was more than she could handle right now. After all the training, learning, and shit she went through at magjistar school, Jacky absolutely refused to believe that two people who never even stepped foot in magjistar school could surpass her so soundly.

“What happened to her?” Jacky needed to know who was strong enough to take out someone she considered her rival.

“Follow me and I'll tell you.” Joseph ordered before continuing to walk toward one of the entrances of the South Wing.

“...!” Jacky bit her tongue that wanted to swear at the shorty. “Can’t protect her and fight daemons, huh?” She suddenly smirked.

“I can, but it is bothersome. She isn’t exactly light...” Joseph cursed that he never took his master’s physical conditioning training seriously.

Sure, he learned various martial arts like karate, taekwondo, aikido, and others but Joseph mainly focused on learning the techniques and how to properly perform them rather than training his body alongside learning the martial arts. The young prodigy thought it was beneath him to emulate human-based martial arts to such an extent. His strength would be boosted through channeling his mahna throughout his body allowing him to show strength beyond his body’s natural limit. But maybe it was time to add just a little physical conditioning... Victor’s Apprentice was really heavy...

The two talented magjistars began traveling alongside one another while the third peacefully rested. Eventually, Jacky decided to help Joseph lighten his load by summoning a gorilla-like daemon to carry Zoey. Joseph didn’t thank her, which pissed Jacky off who demanded him to thank her for helping him out. At first, he thought about refusing to express his gratitude but as he felt his shaking legs, he decided to swallow those words that were about to spill out from his mouth.

“Thanks.” Joseph softly muttered.

“You’re welcome.” Jacky grinned. Maybe that uneasy feeling she got earlier was nothing more than a fluke. His body was really weak if he couldn’t even carry someone as tiny as Zoey. But then again, they were nearly equal in height. Hell, Zoey may even be a couple of pounds heavier than the shorty now that she looked closely.

“Why were you headed this way? Most of the daemons are near the others.” Joseph asked.

“Hey, you. Before you start asking me questions, how about you give me a damn name first?” Jacky replied back.

“Joseph.” Joseph was a little annoyed with her attitude but she did help him out somewhat, so he wouldn’t try and cause an issue with her. Even if she’s a little annoying.

“I’m Jacky. Maybe you heard of me?” She grinned.

“Nope.” Joseph wasn’t lying.

“A funny bastard, huh?” Jacky was embarrassed. “Whatever, why were you two so damn far away from everyone is the real question.”

“She.” Joseph pointed at Zoey. “Wanted to find the strongest daemon and fight it.”

“And she lost?” A smile popped up on Jacky’s face.

“Haven’t you noticed that it isn’t hot anymore?” Joseph answered with a question of his own.

“...” Jacky clicked her tongue, annoyed. “So, she won but just barely?” Jacky didn’t notice any obvious injuries on her body. Did Joseph heal her?

“No. She won without much trouble. It was the fights after that got to her. Apparently, she has a bounty on her head. Someone wants to capture her and they put up a lot of money to get the job done.” Joseph shared. He was curious to see what her reaction to this news would be.

“A bounty? Who the hell did she piss off to get a bounty on her head by other magjistars!?” Jacky was in disbelief before remembering a certain event carried out by Zoey and her master. “Ah, never mind. Dumb bitch shouldn’t have gone around bullying others.” Jacky soon nodded in understanding.

“Are you two friends?” Joseph somewhat agreed with her vulgar words. There was no reason to go around picking fights in the magjistar society when that energy could be focused on exterminating daemons for the good of humanity.

“Rivals.” Jacky would be damned if anyone called her and Zoey friends.

“...” Joseph didn’t even need his eyes to know that was a lie.

Just through instincts, he could tell there was a qualitative difference between Jacky and Victor’s Apprentice. If Jacky was considered a prodigy, Zoey would be a mutant. However, Jacky wasn’t bad if he ignored her attitude. Right now, her summoned daemons were very useful in protecting them as they walked through the halls. He didn’t have to waste any mahna and Jacky seemed relaxed enough that keeping three summoned daemons wasn’t anything for her reserves.

“So we’re going to drop her off to someone that can heal her?” Jacky wondered. If it was up to her, she’d drop the bitch somewhere safe and go back to hunting daemons.

“I don’t believe we have a magjistar that can heal in the South Wing. Healing magjistars are rare enough.” Joseph responded.

As far as he knew, there was only one major clan of magjistars that specialized in healing magji and that was because their connate magji basically forced them into being healers. Finding magjistars that choose to learn healing magji was unheard of. While magjistars could learn multiple types of magji, they had to be closely related to the first magji they learned otherwise it’d be impossible for them to learn others. Those with connate magji related to fire could possibly learn magma magji or solar magji.

“What’s the plan for her then?” Jacky asked.

“I’m going to see if there are any more bounty hunters after her. If not, I’ll watch over her until she wakes up.” Joseph answered.

“Guess this is where we split, huh?” Jacky didn’t want to watch over that bitch.

“Thank you for your help.” Joseph kept his goodbye short and to the point as he hefted Zoey over his shoulder and continued down the hallway, this time reinforcing his body with mahna.

“Weak! Hahahaha! These humans are so weak!” A daemon maniacally laughed as he clutched a magjistar’s still heart in his clawed hand.

Multiple daemons of all shapes, sizes, and colors were rampaging through the East Wing. Led by a female daemon with large wings, they were able to rip through the magjistars without much effort. Her magji allowed her to secrete musk that seemed to strengthen the daemons around her while weakening the magjistars fighting against her. One whiff was enough to disrupt a magjistar’s ability to fight. Hallucinations, lack of control over their bodies, seeing double.

Those with magji suited to counter the aroma swiftly retreated to share the information with the other squads. They were outnumbered and not strong enough to slaughter the daemons. So, they chose to return at a later time with bigger numbers to handle a troublesome daemon like this.

The female daemon’s magji was strong but it couldn’t do anything against those running away for their lives. All the weaker daemons under her were also useless. They were only good for being annoyances. None of them seemed to possess unique abilities like her.

“Well, I better prepare for when they return.” She ripped away the top half of her clothes, revealing her bountiful breasts to any that wished to see.

Invisible pheromones began to flow from the inside of her body to the outside through the pores on her skin. The gas was slow but it slowly began to spread throughout the entire East Wing. She smiled as she eagerly waited for the return of the humans. For the first time in a long while, she’ll be able to have a plentiful feast.

“I can’t wait.” She licked her lips.

“Hmph.” Hanma flicked the blood of several daemons off of his blade.

With his connate magji to have his entire body go incorporeal, he was mostly invincible against these simple-minded daemons in the North Wing. His blade has probably tasted the blood of almost a hundred daemons so far. Ahead was a powerful daemon that seemed to have killed multiple magjistars that were in his squad. From what he could see, it looked like easy prey. Big, strong, and stupid. Perhaps a fight against it will help him when he goes to regain his dignity against Zoey. She was strong, incredibly so. This guy didn’t look that weak either.

“I will make up for my failure, Zoey Winters... Even if I have to go through hell just to defeat you.” Hanma vowed to himself.