During his magic control course, while most were focused on the lecture, Chris decided to enchant his jacket. He focused his mana on the invisibility spell. At least that’s what everyone else thought it was.

Consider what you see in everyday life. What you visualize is simply the light from the sun, shooting down in tiny rays, and bouncing off of objects. What you see is that light, after having bounced off an object, entering your eye.

This was the fundamentals of his idea. By creating a thin circle of mana around his body, he could take the light rays that connect to it, and then create a copy of the light ray on the other side of his body, skipping him entirely. It allowed for the viewer to see what is directly past him in any direction, but it took a lot of focus. Even after training for months with it, Chris couldn’t just do it without thought, unlike his strengthening magic. Even back when he was almost caught at the training arena, the spell quality was shoddy at best. Due to his panic, it was probably distorted and flickery.

He focused on his spell, making sure that every single detail matched up with his best work, and when the jacket began to glow from his mana energy, he held his jacket as closed as he possibly could.

His teacher noticed him not paying great attention, and asked him a question about something Chris had learned when he was eight. He answered, and the teacher huffed, “Even if you think you know this material, please pay attention. You never know when it's something you don’t know if you refuse to even listen.” The grouchy man hobbled his way back to the board.

Chris looked around the room, and he noticed Edwin Herval wasn’t acting like himself. He was quiet, subdued even. His head was slumped down, and he was fidgety. Really fidgety. Chris knew how boastful this kid was first hand, but he had never seen him act so, afraid. After class he met up with Jenny, Haven, and Lily during the break between.

“I think something is wrong with Edwin. He’s not acting like a prick, he seems almost scared,” Chris was concerned.

“Isn’t that a good thing? He won’t be so damn annoying in fire magic class if that’s the case,” Haven stated, smiling at this news.

“I get it, you don’t like him, but keep an eye on him for me please. Something isn’t sitting right. Ever since I caught that church member watching our match in the stands, I’ve felt like I’m being watched every now and then.” Chris sighed and pleaded, “Please trust me, I need you to watch him for me, but make sure you stay safe yourself.”

“If the great demon himself is so concerned about it, we’ll keep an eye out. It’s the least we can do,” Jenny agreed.

“Yea, I-I don’t really have a problem with him, so if something is wrong, I’d like to h-help if I can,” Lily spluttered out.

And with that the meeting was adjourned. They continued going to class, pretending like everything was normal. During Chris’s final period, Magical Engineering he felt something. There was a strange spike in mana in the air, coming from where the battle fields were. After class, Chris sprinted over to the fields, and met up with Jenny and Lily.

“Hey guys, how’s it going, you ready for dinner?” He shouted, then began to whisper, “Anything happen? I felt a spike in mana in the area.” Chris nudged Jenny.

“Oh yea, I’m starving,” Jenny was a terrible actor, and the stiffness was unprecedented. “I didn’t notice anything, Edwin was still nervous, but after firing off some firebolts he seemed to calm down a little.”

‘So he calmed down after reaffirming his strength. Plus a strange mana signature in the area. It seems like he might be being targeted.’ Chris pondered for a moment before snapping back to reality.

“Well if that’s the case let’s go to dinner,” Chris hollered, and Jenny and Lily followed suit. They met up with Haven in the cafeteria, and exchanged information. Basically, no one knew anything other than he hadn't stopped acting weird. Haven admitted he didn’t really pay attention, and no one else sensed anything.

After dinner, Chris told everyone to go to their rooms and wait for him. He decided that he would tail Edwin and see what was going on. Chris turned invisible, using his newly modified jacket for the first time, and followed him back to his room. He may be stalking him, but he wasn’t a creep, so he didn’t follow him in. Instead he just listened from outside, using sound magic to amplify what was happening.

“Not again, not again!” Edwin began to sob. It seemed like he had been holding it in as best as he could all day. “What am I gonna do? There’s nothing I can do. They’re here.” And then silence. Chris listened in, but couldn’t hear anything. He creaked open the door, and found the window open, and no one to be seen. He ran over and peered out. He saw a few people in masks carrying a large, boy shaped bag. ‘How totally inconspicuous,’ Chris thought, sarcastically.

Chris walked outside, creating as high as a platform as he could to see as far as he could, and watched them. They moved quickly, probably physical enhancement. And there was one who could use sound magic, without a doubt. There was no other way to create a silence like that otherwise. He saw them enter a shabby building a ways away, and quickly grabbed his friends.

“Edwin was kidnapped, and the people who did it are skilled. Strong physical enhancement, and stealthy,” Chris began to relay the information to the group. “I don’t plan on sitting by. I don’t want to be next. Besides, he may be a prick, but he still is a fellow classmate. I won’t beg you to help, but if you’re willing to, follow me.

Jenny and Lily were nervous, but Haven followed Chris out the window without hesitation. Lily began to shake, “I don’t think I can do this, but I don’t want to let everyone down.”

“If you can’t handle it, stay here. This is dangerous, and if you falter under pressure, it puts us all in danger. We need someone here anyways. If we don’t come back within twenty four hours, let the teachers know alright. Stay safe, and don’t make yourself obvious,” Jenny pat Lily on the head, and followed out, racing down the mana steps Chris left behind. She wasn’t going to let some little boy outdo her.

They walked together, slinking passed the school gate, and marching straight into the lion’s den. Once they made it closer to the destination, Chris commanded everyone close. “I’ve been working on something today, and I think it’s best if you each have one as well.” Chris handed Haven and Jenny a crystal. He didn’t have the time to weave them any string, but he did borrow some crystals from his teacher just in case.

“Is this to boost our magic or something? I guess that’s somewhat helpful,” Jenny seemed disappointed that it wasn’t something better. “No, it's not like that, don’t pull mana from it, you’ll break it. Push mana into it, and see what happens.”

“Whatever you say boss man,” Haven grinned and then was gone. Jenny almost shrieked, but Chris quickly put his hand over her mouth. Haven popped back into view again. “What did that do if I could ask, my vision went black, but I could still kinda feel where I was.”

“It’s my invisibility spell. You’ll need to stick close until you get used to it. Remember when I couldn’t hit you when I first learned it, but you couldn’t find me either?” Chris reminded Haven. “Yea I guess so,” he responded. “Well this one is special, I used sound magic to create a sort of false vision. The light can’t get through the mana wall, but sound still can. I overlaid a sound magic field within the spell, so you can still find your way around if you pay close attention,” Chris realized this was going over Jenny’s head, “Go ahead and try it, and you’ll see what I mean.

She disappeared. Chris couldn’t hear her, but he could still feel the magic signature. She reappeared, fallen onto the ground. “Oww, that freaken hurt. It is so hard to move around when you can’t see your own body,” Jenny whined. “But, I do see what you mean. My only question is how you did this?”

“I can’t really go in detail, especially since this little escapade is currently still going on. If you want to learn, I can teach you later, but for now grab a hold of my hand, so we don’t get separated,” Chris gestured outwards. They both grabbed onto each hand, and then vanished together.