Days and nights melded together as if there was no gap between them. Sleep was a luxury that Sean wasn’t allowed during the night. It came in the early hours of the morning or the late hours of the night. Waking up at what should be way past three o’clock in the afternoon was also a regular occurrence. And that was a good thing, he supposed. He was always an insomniac back when everything was normal.

Then again, there was no way to not get exhausted lately.

He often pushed himself too far in his pursuit of studying and today was one of those days, very much like his time back in high school and university.

His subject this time was different, though. This was Magic and that meant something grandiose and great. Something that Sean once viewed as fantastical was now starting to seem very much like everything else he studied.

It was starting to seem like a subject in school, especially with the tone that it was taught within the Spellbook.

Good thing that he liked studying.

Opening the Mind —the last topic in the first chapter, on the other hand, took a drastic turn. It was very much like a non-fiction book about success now, complete with references he barely understood and oversimplifications of what the future held for him.

When pursuing the true nature of Magic and the manipulation of fundamental laws of the world, it is of essence to open one’s mind and to be ready to accept all that is known of it. Curiosity is a virtue but doubt is not. By all means, go on and search for answers to questions that have yet to be answered, but remember that the ones that get the answers often do so at a great price. It is our solemn duty as fellow Practitioners of the Arcane Arts to respect their sacrifices and to use their discoveries to their utmost potential.

Was the Spellbook telling him to simply memorize the formulas?

It seemed dangerous to try and search for answers on your own, with how the book made it sound. Sean was starting to wonder who exactly had written this book. There wasn’t really a convenient way for him to find the author, was there?

As if answering his questions, the System brought out a screen that had only a single line upon it.

Author Name: Doctor of the Arcane Arts, Serine Preudle of the 94th Generation

The name sounded peculiar. It was certainly nothing that he’d heard before but also sounded somewhat familiar, almost human. It was just a feeling he got when he read it.

Still, he hadn’t expected the last chapter in the section that explained the basics of Theoretical Magic to be some philosophical nonsense. He’d assumed it’d be something similar to Mindscape with its fancy name. Who knew that the reference was metaphorical, especially when other things were not?

He felt his consciousness return to his body, for the first time of his own will. Sitting in a library in the middle of the night, looking like you were asleep, was an easy way to say ‘don’t bother me’, apparently.

Sean opened his eyes to darkness. There was ample room in the Haven due to the vampires dragging back whoever came to the Undercity. The number of people left there was to give off an image of normalcy and to lure in new prey, apparently. Some people had come after they’d reclaimed the Haven, though, but they fit into the dormitories —it had enough room to house at least two hundred or so people, after all.

Some rooms were for four, some were for six and some were for ten but there were only around a hundred people.

‘Only a hundred’.

It was weird to say that, but then again, there were a lot of people in the city. There were over five hundred thousand people in Nerea. Some stayed in their homes, he supposed, but even thinking about more than ten thousand of them being dead was… disturbing.

Maybe more were dead, courtesy to the mosquitos.

From what Clara said, Sean doubted that the vampires were planning on killing them. In fact, she was assuming that it’d be in their best interest to keep them alive. That raised a funny question, though.

Were there the equivalents of ‘vegans’ among the vampires? The ones that were against ‘human cruelty’? It was a disturbing thought, but one that managed to give him a chuckle.

It was disturbing how easily he’d decided.

Why was he being so selfish?

Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t taught to be selfish. If he was alright, then things would work themselves out. That’s what his father’s motto was, and as much as Sean hated it, he was finding it more and more realistic.

Could he even afford to worry about others?

Chris, he was worried about. Liz too. From what he’d read from the encyclopedia Aunt Charlie helpfully found for him, he knew that to turn either into a vampire or a werewolf, you had to be ‘pure’.

That was a glorified way of saying ‘virgin’.

He was pure, for now.

The others? He didn’t know much about Rex, Jason, Marie, and Max but Sean was sure that everyone other than Marie had gotten laid at some point. Marie might have also done that. Chris and Liz were proven, with how Liz couldn’t be turned by the Noble and his scathing words.

That left a grand total of one person he was sure wasn’t laid.

Being a loser was a blessing this time around. Most of the people he knew weren’t ‘pure’, that was for sure.

The topic of being turned always led to something that Sean didn’t want to do —letting people know about the fact that he was leaving. Especially his mom and Chris. They were the only people he’d feel bad about leaving. Maybe Aunt Charlie as well, but that was more of an afterthought than anything.

Floating in the eternal darkness was something that made him relaxed. Sean was never afraid of the dark, but only the things in it. That was literal, considering the questionable stories that his father used to tell him, about monsters that fed on humans.

When he knew he was the only one in the dark, within his Mindscape, it was nice.

Regardless, it was time to ‘wake up’. He’d told some people that he wasn’t sleeping, but in fact, studying Magic. That was the minority, though. There was no need to tell them what he was doing. Teaching them Mindscape could be useful for them but he didn’t want to endanger them.

Mindscape let him have twice as much time as before but that came at the cost of not being able to instantly react to things.

Sean wished he’d known of this before his Skill evolved.

Would he even be able to stop a Skill from evolving?

Could he devolve it into a lower-ranked version?

Those were risky.

On one hand, if he stopped a useful Skill from evolving into an even better one, he mightn’t be able to evolve it anymore and lose access to that altogether. On the other hand, if his useful Skill started evolving into specific ones with a larger advantage but a drawback just as large, it might be worth it to have the weaker version.

Soon, he’d move onto Mana Configurations…

It was exciting, like knowing that he’d soon be learning a topic he’d been waiting to learn for long.

That was for later, though.

Now, it was time to have a conversation that he wasn’t looking forward to. Telling your mother that you were leaving, never to return, wasn’t the best way to say goodbye. Just lying to her or not telling her about his departure wasn’t an option either.

It would be his turn to be on the lookout with Uncle Jeremy soon. Fully mechanical clocks worked but the ones that operated with battery did not. If the end of the world was what it’d take for him to have a pocket watch that he’d wanted to get ever since he was a child, then so be it.

The exterior was an ornate one, dark gray in color. He had to wind it every twelve or so hours is what they told him but he guessed it could run a bit longer than that. However, the interior was just like any other clock. The big hand pointed at one and the small one pointed at nine.

That meant he had around fifteen minutes to himself.

Sean let out a breath.

This sort of life didn’t give him room for a breather but he liked it, at least. Better than rushing from one assignment to the next. There was a bit more variety now, even though it was deadlier.

He was getting used to it now.

At least this way, he had something to do without electricity. Working out wasn’t something he could imagine himself doing, but he had to learn that breathing method one way or another. Constantly inhaling a large amount sounded impossible but his father said that it was indeed possible.

Given what else he said was possible, including monsters, which Sean had never taken seriously, having been proven to be real in the most blatant manner possible, it wasn’t hard to believe.

That, and he could apparently do it.

The door creaked open as Sean pushed it and he walked into the dark corridor. He didn’t even bother to light it up. Using Magic in his Mindspace didn’t drain any Mana but it still felt like his Mana was low —that inexplicable feeling of fatigue that he couldn’t help but associate with low Mana reserves.

As such, he wasn’t looking forward to casting any Spells just yet.

Having a cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt but he’d just end up eating some canned food or a chocolate bar in the grand scheme of things. Eating healthy wasn’t an option when you weren’t growing your own crops.

They were in the school building and the people left were housed in the dorms —in a separate building.

In the main building, meaning the one they’d raided not long ago, only hunters were present. Them and the few others that were back at the manor.

Yellow light clearly from fire could be seen from an open door further down the corridor. That was the meeting room, apparently. Sean had never ventured higher than the first floor when he did come to meet Madison.

The sound of chatter could be heard but he couldn’t make them out until he was inches away from the doorway.

“…is fine. We can manage,” said his mother. After a slight pause, she continued, “Jeremy and you are the only ones that know a thing about them. Just directions won’t be fine. You have to be actually recognized by them to not be shot down the moment you walk into a base.”

“Fine, but I’m taking Hiram with me. Sean fixed up a motorboat, didn’t he? Let’s just hope that he can fix up cars as well. Getting to them without a vehicle is basically impossible,” said his father.

Wherever this conversation was going, he wanted to hear it to the end.

“You need to do it quietly. If Charlie finds out, she’ll insist on coming and we absolutely cannot manage without her,” said his mother and silence ensued. Then came the sound of footsteps.

“Bleh, why do we even have to stick around? It’s obvious those assholes are planning something down there,” said the gruff voice of Uncle Jeremy, “Better carry around your gas station with you.”

“We have to get in contact with them and hope that they have any means of contact that is fast enough to relay information across the world. Until then, we have to assume that the world case scenario will come to pass if we leave or can’t contact them in time,” said Sean’s mother.

Someone was leaving?

“Ha, it’s the worst fucking case scenario already. Most of our weapons don’t work and I’m guessing theirs don’t as well. Honestly, what can they do that we can’t?” asked Uncle Jeremy.

“They’re effective and well-trained. The same can’t be said about us. They have who-knows-how-many contingency plans and probably have something ready for losing electricity,” said Sean’s father —Jack.

“That and gas, and even gunpowder. Edmund’s been making their tech for years and even he would be hard-pressed to make a weapon that can function now other than these crossbows we got here,” said Uncle Jeremy.

There was another stretch of silence.

“What? I’m telling the truth,” said Uncle Jeremy, “They got all those cool chemical stuff but since somehow gas and gunpowder ain’t working, those stuff probably won’t even matter. Hell, turning to God would be better. The Vatican is probably faring better, and that says something.”

“Stop letting your hate for them cloud your judgment,” said Jack through gritting teeth.

“Oh, I’m not. You’re relying on them far too much, brother,” said Uncle Jeremy, his words filled with venom, “They’re human. What made them special is gone. Back when the world was functioning, yeah, I’ll admit, they were practical and far better than us. Now? I doubt any of them’s fucking stabbed a knife into the heart of a vampire, let alone got into a fistfight with a darned werebeast. And I did, you know that as much as I do. So did Charlie. We survived battles with the odds stacked against us. That’s the difference between us. They stack the odds in their favor but we fight through it, no matter the odds. In this world, they’re only human.”

“Yes, and you saw Sean and the others. They murdered sixteen of them. They’re kids, Jeremy. They aren’t human. They’re better and scarier. And trained soldiers with that sort of potential? The monsters are as good as gone,” said Jack, “You can feel it, can’t you? We’re getting closer to what only Charlie could do with each passing day. It mightn’t be noticeable, but we are.”

“And what about the monsters? That means they’re getting stronger as well. Hell, what if they can suddenly walk in daylight and become immune to silver? They started off stronger than us and probably get stronger at the same rate as us. This is a lost cause,” said Uncle Jeremy and the sound of glass being placed on a table sounded out. Probably some sort of alcohol.

Killing sixteen of them…

That was indeed a lucky battle. One mistake and they could have lost Max. Another mistake and probably all of them might have died then and there.

“Yes, but the mindless ones are easily manageable. They aren’t smart enough to get much stronger. Whatever Nobles can do, it’ll be an uphill battle for us either way. The werebeasts are gone so our odds are higher than ever. If there are any left, they’re on our side,” said Jack.

Then came the sound of something loud slamming on the table. The argument stopped.

“We can assume that Amarok is dead if the werebeasts got killed off. He wouldn’t allow his pack to go down. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made the deal with the Coalition. Now, go get Sean and leave. It’ll be easier to travel during the night. They won’t expect it,” said Emma rather loudly.

Coalition?

He supposed it was about time to enter the room, and maybe the conversation.

“I’m already here,” he said and finally entered the room. The light didn’t blind his eyes, as it wasn’t too bright. It was just a single lantern sitting in the middle of the table. There was a map spread over on the table and some messy lines were drawn there. On top of the map was a small piece of paper with some calculations done on it.

The room was rather simple. It was a long table with twenty or so comfortable seats. It was a room where meetings among the teachers and the school staff were supposed to take place, he assumed.

There was Uncle Jeremy, lounging at one edge of the table, legs placed on the table. His mother stood on one end next to his father and the other uncle whose name Sean assumed was Hiram sat somewhere in the middle.

There was ample room for them to have enough space between each other comfortably.

“Great, the kid’s been listening to us all along. Saves us time,” said Uncle Jeremy as he shrugged. That wasn’t sarcasm.

Sean could see his father gritting his teeth, as he always did when he was pissed off. Was it a good time? Well, there wasn’t all that ‘good’ of a time to walk into the room.

“It’s the fuel. It needs to have Mana put into it so that it can work again. I might be able to prepare enough for an entire trip depending on how much we have,” said Sean and took a look at the map. The line connected Broica with a point along the shore of Italy.

Thanks to his geography teacher almost failing him back when he was in high school and thanks to the context, he could figure out that was roughly where the Vatican was.

They had to drive almost a thousand kilometers, that much he’d seen from the calculation done on the paper. That’d take around four or so full banks with a smaller car. He wasn’t sure of it but that was close, he assumed. That also meant it was a lot of fuel to carry around and imbue with Mana.

“It’s basically what makes Magic work,” explained Sean, just in case they didn’t understand. Then he remembered that the System had Mana Points included in the Character Screen.

Sean saw his parents tightly hug each other before his father finally turned to look at him. He stared at Sean for a second and hugged him.

That was a weird feeling.

If Sean knew his father even slightly, he was a man that hated things like these. He was a cold asshole that rarely, if ever, showed any sort of affection. When he did, it wasn’t aimed at Sean —it was aimed at his mother.

“Go on. I’ll go on patrol with Emma,” said Uncle Jeremy, lazily waving his hands at them.

Sean looked at his mother over his father’s shoulder and saw her nod. Then he noticed that he was almost the same height as his father. They were close before but now, he was even closer.

What the hell was happening?

Why was his father behaving like some sort of… normal father?

***

They stood outside. It was dark. The time was slightly past 2 o’clock and the moon hung up in the sky. He hadn’t run into the mosquitos ever since the apartment, even despite being so close to the river.

Maybe they were limited to the southern part of the city?

The Morris Manor was in the northern part —where all the rich people lived. The other side was a bit different. Some parts were luxurious and some parts were almost slums. That was where the average middle-class citizen strived to live in if they were to stay in the country.

“What?” asked his father as they strode through the parking lot. Sean had been staring at him oddly ever since the hug, meaning for the last three or so minutes. He finally stopped next to a nondescript white car —one of many.

“You’re acting weird,” said Sean, not even bothering to hide his thoughts.

He was acting erratically ever since he came to the manor. First, him somehow smiling. Then he actually hugged him —something he hadn’t done after his third birthday. Somehow, Sean almost missed his asshole of a father. That’d be good enough reasoning to justify his leave.

But when he was acting like this?

Sean didn’t know how she could justify it to his mother. It made him feel guilty.

“I am,” said his father. Sean noticed that he had a stubble now. He was clean-shaven in his earliest memory and mere days ago.

Sean looked at him in the eyes. He was an asshole that couldn’t come to terms with his own faults and was borderline abusive with his short-temper. He’d never hurt Sean before, though. Most of the hits were light as if to send a message than to vent frustration. Still, somehow, Sean was never afraid of him.

That was the part that made Sean think of him more as an older brother. Even if you were beaten up by your older brother numerous times, your mischievous side still wanted to press his buttons. Sean didn’t intentionally want to piss his father off, though.

He was just never afraid of him, despite his numerous outbursts throughout the years.

At least he’d like to believe that he wasn’t. When his father was hitting him, he wasn’t scary. It was when he wasn’thitting him when his father became far scarier.

He was neither of the two now —it was an alien feeling.

“I mightn’t be coming back, son,” said his father.

It was a word Sean had never heard when his father was talking to him before. When he was talking to others, his father often used it, but not with him. He always called him by his name.

“I see,” said Sean.

There were no emotions shown on either of their faces —that was the father Sean was used to. He always had a stoic expression on and yelled at him every chance he got.

They stood there for a while as the wind rustled the trees planted along the road. It was an oddly relaxing sound. Finally, the silence was broken by Jack.

“Take care of your mother. She needs the rest,” said Jack and walked up to the car. He pulled out a key from his pocket and opened the car. The lock itself was mechanical so once the driver’s door opened, all the doors did. He pulled on something and the gas cap of the car popped open.

There was a hollow feeling in his chest.

What was he even supposed to do?

He tried to tell himself again and again that he would go to Clara and become a monster on the night of the full moon. Yet, his heart was urging him to stay. This pissed him off. This was a situation that couldn’t be avoided —he hated them from the bottom of his heart, with his entire existence.

The guilt made him remain silent as he filled the fuel tank with gaseous Mana. As if realizing something important, Sean’s eyes snapped open and before he could even notice it, Mana Sight was on.

It was the intent behind it that made the System comply.

Was it even the System that complied? Was he himself capable of doing it in the first place, and was the System only responsible for granting it to him? That was a question for another day.

He could see the light blue color of gaseous Mana hitting a black liquid, straight through the metal of the car. The dark liquid, which Sean assumed to be petrol, absorbed the light blue light and slowly gained color. Sean poured in Mana until it couldn’t grow any brighter and the gaseous Mana started to come back out of the hole.

Sean caught a whiff of it and could smell the reinvigorating smell of Mana and he felt the headache that had been plaguing him before go away. Then he caught the scent of something else —gasoline.

Mana Channel: Aerial

You have learned the method of channeling Mana into objects through the medium of air. Objects will be more easily filled with Mana due to your mastery of channeling and no excess will be used.

Skill Rank: D-Rank

Skill Mastery: 0%

Skill Type: Magical

He got a Skill.

Did using Mana Sight have anything to do with it? Or was it the repetition that let him get the Skill?

“That’s convenient,” said his father as he watched the gaseous Mana leak out of the hole, snapping Sean out of his thoughts.

He didn’t answer, though. He couldn’t. It felt like there was something stuck near his throat. That let an awkward silence rest over the duo. This time, it was broken by Uncle Hiram. He didn’t really speak to Sean all that often, but his voice was loud. He was a loud speaker, Sean wagered.

“Got some extra fuel here,” he said loudly.

In his hand were two containers that held fuel. Sean could tell from the shape alone. He placed both of them on the ground near Sean and he watched eagerly, with a grin on his face.

It didn’t take Sean long to fill them up. He hadn’t even spent a quarter of his Mana —otherwise, he’d have gotten a slight ‘pop’ feeling if he could call it that. It was like an in-built mechanism to tell him that he was using Mana.

Sean saw Uncle Hiram grab the key from his father’s hands and take a seat behind the wheel. If his memory served him well, his father had three brothers: Uncle Jeremy, Uncle Hiram, and one other. He was the second youngest. They only had a single sister, though, and that was Aunt Charlie.

He wasn’t allowed to meet with his father’s side of the family much. He knew more people on his mother’s side. Right before he left, his father turned to Sean, after slamming Uncle Hiram’s door shut.

“I never wanted you to become a hunter,” said his father and let out a deep sigh, “It messes you up in ways that you couldn’t even fathom. But maybe that is for the better now.”

Almost forcing himself to speak despite the annoying feeling, Sean spoke out, “Don’t die.”

His father only nodded and walked over to the other side of the car and slammed it shut. The car turned on and Sean saw them ride away.

Would his father return?

He didn’t need to worry about his family before. They were badass hunters that couldn’t die, or at least that’s what he told himself. That only left Clara to worry about back when he was in Veidrheim.

Now, Sean knew full well that Clara wouldn’t be in danger. So the worry he had for Clara ended up turning into worry for his family. As much of an asshole his father was, he was a part of his family —someone he grew up next to and hadn’t left the side of for the entirety of his life. Sean hadn’t lived a plentiful life but at least it wasn’t in poverty, so he’d done his duty.

What the hell was he even supposed to do now, when the guilt was eating him from the inside?

He turned his mind to other matters —to Magic and the secrets of the world.

Why was he able to grant Mana to petrol? What did it imply?