A week had passed since Jack had made his first experiment with his new flames. An entire week where he had went every day to the hill to train until the sun began to set and he was too exhausted to continue.

Sadly in all this time he hadn’t been able to find out more about the black flames. They remained simply inextinguishable though Jack felt that there was more to them than that. He had however made some progress with his healing flames. After some tries he had learned that his current limits were quite narrow. Shallow cuts and scratches would be healed effortlessly while deeper cuts would change to be less severe, but anymore and the flame became useless as its power would be spread too thin to actually do something. And he couldn’t summon enough of the flame to change that, even if he used the maximum he could access before losing control, the flame wouldn’t grow bigger than his thumb and the effects didn’t increase much either.

What had changed the most however was his actual ability to use the flames. After all this training he was able to shape them much quicker and for less energy. An important improvement if he ever got into a fight.

Sadly because he kept spending so much time outside his cultivation hadn’t grown by much. He had managed to refine all his Qi with the ‘Blazes of the Netherflame’ and the rune had nearly doubled in size, being now as big as a large marble after it had to expand its web like tendrils in a sphere around itself, but there was no way to tell when he would finally reach the third level of the Qi gathering realm. Once more Jack cursed his large Dantian and the insane amounts of Qi he needed for each level.

And then there was the last, completely unintended consequence of his training, this one being easily the most sever of them.

“Could you please get away from me?”

With an exasperated sigh Jack turned towards Rin. Somehow she had managed to switch her place in class to the one on Jack’s right side and was watching his every move with an intensity that was honestly disturbing. She even tried to follow him after school, but with a small usage of his Qi he had always managed to get away from her.

The only one even more disturbed by her attention than Jack was Sam. He who was still sitting on his left kept glaring at Rin. Jack didn’t understand why he did it, but it annoyed him to no end. And now he was caught between the two of them and was tired of it.

As if he was feeling that Jack was thinking about him Sam used this moment to ask him a question.

“Jack, can you come home with me after school? Grandfather said he had to talk with you and that it was urgent”

‘Right, Sam had said last week that he wanted to talk to me. I wonder why? I guess I can make a small break in my training’

Jack nodded and a smile formed on Sam’s face. Only to turn into a frown as he looked over Jack’s shoulder. Turning around Jack looked into Rin’s eyes that were focused on the two of them and he knew immediately that they would have an unwanted follower this time. Jack sighed.

---

The training hall was just as it had been the first time Jack had visited it. An old, almost decrypt gym that looked as if it had been abandoned years ago.

“…” Silently Rin looked at the building and Jack could almost feel her judging its state. And Jack wasn’t the only one who noticed it. Out of the corner of his eye he could feel Sam’s gaze became colder. The hall had been his home since he was a child, so he didn’t like it if people judged it for its appearance.

Upon entering Jack quickly went to search for the old man, Rin and Sam followed behind. As it was still the middle of the day the hall was empty. Compared to the afternoons the silence was deafening and each of their steps echoed through the wide room. Quickly Jack’s steps guided him to the door in the back of the hall.

The old man was in his office. As always when Jack came to it he was surprised how tidy it was. The desk was devoid of papers and so clean he could see the light reflect on it. Small cabinets behind his seat were filled with documents, each marked in a neat handwriting and sorted by date. Honestly it felt a bit creepy to Jack who was used to sharing his desk with half a month worth of books and homework.

The old man lifted his eyebrow curiously as he noticed Rin following Jack, but he immediately returned to a calm grin.

“Can I please speak alone with Jack? Sam, young lady?”

Sam nodded and left the room. After a hesitant look at Jack, Rin followed him out. With a serious look on his face the old man turned to Jack.

“Jack, I got a letter from your grandfather. He and your grandmother are coming back”

“…”

Confused Jack looked at the old man. It was interesting that his grandparents finally decided to come visiting, especially since he had never seen before, but was that something that needed calling him here?

A frown crept on the old man’s face as he sensed Jack’s confusion.

“Jack, what do you know about your grandparents?”

“Not much”, Jack admitted, “my parents didn’t talk much about them even if I asked. I barely know their names”

With a sigh the old man leaned back into his chair. He mumbled a small curse, barely loud enough for Jack to hear it with his cultivation enhanced hearing.

“Dammit, Daniel, do you truly hate your father so much?”

He turned back towards Jack, a small frown on his face.

“I don’t know how much I should tell you about them, given that your parents don’t want you to know. What I however can tell you is that trouble keeps following them on the foot”

Jack frowned, that certainly didn’t sound good.

“Can you tell me at least something?”

The old man thought for a moment.

“Well, I guess a bit won’t do any harm. Let’s see, back when your grandfather and I were still children we…”

---

POV: Rin

Rin watched as the door to the office closed. She didn’t like to let the demon out of her view, but she didn’t have any choice right now. Something about that old man was making her nervous. There wasn’t Spiritual Energy around him, so he at least wasn’t a demon, but her senses said undoubtedly that he was dangerous.

At least the room didn’t have another exit, so she would be able to see when the demon left it. Not that that made her any less worried. The demon had shown that it was able to escape its watchers without any problem. Even she herself had to admit defeat before its speed. But at least I class she could now keep a close eye on it, now that she had changed seats.

She looked over to Sam. The boy was still glaring at her like he had ever since she had changed her place to get closer to the demon. She didn’t understand him. Why was he always looking at her like this?

Rin hesitated for a moment. The boy was close to the demon, so if she could befriend him she might be able to get him to talk about its secrets.

“Erm, I believe we haven’t talked so far. My name is –“

“I know who you are”, Sam cut her off. Rin’s eye twitched at the rude tone. Still, she tried to continue.

“Can we please –“

“No, we can’t. Listen, when I first saw how you looked at Jack, I thought you would be interested in him and had simply problems to show it. But when I observed you more, it became clear that you have some sort of grudge against him. I don’t know why or when it happened, but I won’t help you against my friend. Goodbye”

With this he turned around and started to walk away. Enraged Rin looked after him. Why wouldn’t he listen to her? His friend wasn’t even a human to begin with! Before she knew it she was behind him and grabbed his shoulder.

“Listen here you-“

Rin stopped talking as Sam, for the first time, really looked at her. Sure, he had glared at her before, but it was nothing compared to now. His eyes were filled with a soul searing intensity that made a shudder run over Rin’s back. Startled she let go and jumped back. Instinctively her hand reached down to the metal rod on her side. It was the hilt of her sword and she could use it to summon it. A small thought and she would be armed, ready to fight of the boy in front of her.

But in the last moment she controlled herself. Summoning her sword here would have consequences for her, but even more for the boy. He was innocent, just a boy who made the wrong being his friend, it would be wrong to pull him even deeper inside by showing something like magically pulling swords from the air.

Suddenly the boy started to grin, a deranged grin that made him look slightly insane. It made Rin shrink back.

“Want to spar? Just that you know, I won’t accept a ‘no’ as an answer”

As Sam lifted his arms and went into a fighting stance Rin thought that maybe she should have summoned the sword after all.

---

Back to Jack

“…And then we simply covered it all up as an accident. Ha, those idiots were never seen again in the city” The old man concluded his story laughing. Jack wasn’t really sure what he should think about it, the story of his grandfather and the old man fighting a small crime ring was certainly interesting, but it was still a frightening thought that a pair of teenagers was somehow able to win 20 to 2. At least now he could guess what the old man had meant when he called his grandfather someone who attracted trouble. But there was something that interested him now even more than before.

“If you two were so close, why are you here and don’t live near him?”

“Well, that is simple. Markus doesn’t live anywhere. He’s traveling the world, creating trouble everywhere he goes. I don’t believe he has lived in one place more than a few years a time since he left his home. I on the other hand grew tired of it after a while. I settled down and had children and before I knew I was old”

Jack snorted. The old man might look old, but he certainly was stronger than most people even in the prime of their lives. Even the cane he had was only for punitive uses and not because he needed it. An absentminded grin was on the old man’s face as he continued, still lost in thought.

“Markus would visit me often back then and when he got a wife that shared his wandering tendencies they even build a house in this town and settled down for a few years. Our families were very close. We even had an agreement that his child would marry my son. Sadly he only had Daniel as his child, so we had to bury that plan. And with Daniel’s dislike of his father we can’t even marry our grandchildren”

“Not to mention that Sam is a boy, too, so it wouldn’t work either”, Jack commented with a grin.

The old man blinked in surprise. “Obviously Sam wouldn’t work, but he isn’t my only grandchild, you know?”

“Wait a moment, you mean you have a granddaughter?”

“Sure I have. She is only a year younger than Sam. I’m surprised you have never heard about her.”

“So, is she anything like Sam?”, Jack asked curiously. Why had he never heard that the old man had a granddaughter before?

“Like Sam?”, the old man smiled. “Well, I guess you could say that the two of them are similar. It’s just that she has quite the temper. Believe me, if you ever see her enraged you will beg for -”

A crashing sound cut him off as the wall behind Jack exploded. Jack jumped up and twirled around, only to see a leg pushing through the wall. That sounded more imposing than it was, as the wall was merely a few centimetres thick. Still, it was an impressive sight.

“- mercy. Sam! Don’t destroy the building, we can’t effort the repair costs as they are already!”

“Sorry grandpa, things got a bit out of hand here”, Sam’s voice came through the hole. He sounded… excited? The leg got pulled out of the wall and Jack could see the training hall again. A few new indentions had formed and Jack wondered for a moment how he hadn’t noticed anything before.

But that thought vanished as his view fell on Rin. She looked as if she had seen hell. Her clothes were tattered and bruises covered her whole body. What surprised Jack the most thought were her eyes. She looked as if she would start to cry any moment.

As if she was sensing that he looked at her she turned her head away and walked away with stiff steps. A few moments later Jack heard the door of the hall opening and then closing. Rin had left.

---

After Jack had said goodbye to Sam he finally started to walk home. For a moment he had thought about going to train instead, but it was too late for that, when he would reach the hill it would start to get dark.

Slowly he walked through the streets. He could feel the cold winds and knew that it would soon get even colder, but with Jack’s cultivation he wasn’t bothered by it. And even if he would freeze it was almost impossible for him to be infected by mortal illnesses.

When Jack reached the street in front of his home he noticed for the first time that there was something amiss. A small crowd had gathered in front of his home and just as he was watching an ambulance left with howling sirens.

Jack paled. Before he knew it he ran as fast as he could towards the house, even going as far as infusing Qi inside his legs to be faster. The worry that something had happened to his parents drowned out every other thought. He had already lost his parents once in his old life and he definitely didn’t want to experience it again.

It was only when Jack saw his mother standing inside the garden that he calmed down a bit. That is until he saw the state she was in. Her normally carefully styled hair was disturbed and on her clothes were red stains. Blood. Her eyes were red and she looked as if she had cried.

“Mom!”

Jack’s mother looked up as he called out to her. Quickly he waved his way to through the crowd before he stopped right next to her. Immediately his mother clutched Jack into her arms as if she was trying to find a hold. Jack could feel her sobbing. He wanted to help her calm down, but he had to know what happened here. Luckily his mother let go a moment later and distanced herself a bit.

“What happened, mom? Was dad…”

His mother shook her head.

“It was Larry”

‘Who the hell is Larry?’ Confused Jack looked at his mother. He was sure he had never heard of someone with that name. But she simply continued.

“I had just left for a moment to go into the house, then I heard him scream” She visibly shuddered at the memory. “I run back and he was there lying on the ground writhing in pain. The blood… god there was so much blood… and his arm…”

She trailed of, her face a nauseous green and a haunted look in her eyes as she looked over to the side where a big pool of blood covered the ground. Frowning Jack looked at it. Whoever this Larry was with this much blood loss there was a good chance that he had died. But how?

Jack’s first suspect was Rin or someone from her organisation, but he immediately let go of that thought. When Rin had first met him and threatened him in school she had stopped because there were children nearby. Would someone like that attack someone innocent? Obviously not.

Suddenly a stray thought came to Jack and he cursed mentally. He had completely forgotten about it, but what about the cat? Already before the crack had opened up he had suspicions that she was absorbing Qi, but now several weeks had passed where the house had been filled with Qi. Had she finally become a monster ready to kill humans?

Trying to find something to prove his suspicions Jack walked over to the pool of blood. He could hear his mother telling him to stay away, but he ignored it for the moment.

‘Hmm… Strange, it looks to clean for a monster attack. Just straight lines of blood outwards and no ripped of pieces of flesh…’

Looking at it, Jack concluded that it probably no monster attack either. Maybe it had been something mundane? After all mortals get hurt all the time. Still, it was near the house, so his protection should have –

Jack stopped his thoughts as his eyes widened. A terrible suspicion welled up inside of him. He looked to the side towards one of the bushes next to the entryway. Behind it he had buried one of the runes of the defence formations.

And true to his fears the bush had lost several branches, cut with surgically precision. It was the trail of a wind blade. He thought back to what his mother had said. She had left this Larry alone for a moment and that was probably the moment in which the man stepped inside the formation. And true to how he had created it his formation had detected the intruder and neutralised him.

A feeling of guilt welled up inside of Jack. He had made a terrible mistake. He should have guessed that some innocent people would come inside the formation without being accompanied by his parents. But he had simply set everyone who entered unsupervised as a target.

Jack got pulled out of his stupor as a pair of policemen came to him and lead him away from the crime scene. He hadn’t even noticed them arriving. Thankfully the policemen were quite understanding with him and one of them guided him carefully towards the house, obviously thinking that he was in a state of shock upon seeing the blood.

Slowly Jack walked back into his room. He barely had closed the door behind him as the phone on his desk started to ring. Hesitating for a moment Jack accepted the call. Rin’s voice came from the speaker.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I know you are responsible for this demon! You almost killed that man. The next time I see you will be the last time.”

With the slamming sound the call ended. Jack stared at the phone for a moment, then his face distorted in an angry grimace.

“FUCK”

Yelling out he threw the phone against the wall where it shattered into countless parts and left a small indention.

He hated feeling guilty like this. Because of him someone innocent had lost his –

Jack’s thoughts stopped abruptly. Did Rin say just now that he had almost killed that man? That meant he was still alive, though he was probably severely wounded.

With a new resolve Jack balled his fist. Yes, he had made a terrible mistake, but he wouldn’t sit here and do nothing. He would help that man, no matter what.