“He’s out!” Hope, sat up abruptly while inhaling deeply. Mental and physical fatigue filled her with weariness, but a satisfied grin still remained.

As a Dreaming Witch, she specialized in tracking others. Although it was by no means an omnipotent power as spells needed to be cast ahead of time to make a target susceptible.

At the same time, Rusalka exhaled a sigh of relief. “It is good that the tracking spell still works.”

“I think he’s starting to notice,” Hope replied.

“That means nothing,” Rusalka responded. “If anything, it proves that he does indeed have a the bloodline of a witch running through him. The High Mother will be pleased to hear.”

“But he’s… I think it’s hurting him. He sees a woman each time.”

“His mother?” Rusalka inquired.

“Yes, I think so,” Hope answered quietly.

“That may become a problem… We shouldn’t take any actions that may harm him. I’ll consult with High Mother Evanora to see if we should finally introduce ourselves.”

Hope’s face brightened at Rusalka’s statement, making the latter visibly uncomfortable.

“If that’s all then I’ll be on my way.” Rusalka dismissed herself under Hope’s kind gaze, finding it to be too much.

“...I think you’re a nice person, Miss Rusalka,” Hope said as Rusalka disappeared from the room.

…

I finally made it back home some time later.

After being examined, given my account of what happened, and filling out paperwork, I was released.

As I stood in front of the door to my apartment, I couldn’t help but notice things didn’t feel quite real. I let out a sigh as I entered and tossed my carrying case to the side. The combat suit inside was shredded beyond belief so there was no point in treating it with care.

I dragged my feet toward my room and collapsed onto my bed, but I didn’t rest just yet. Instead, I removed the ivory ring and watched as it quickly turned into a book.

Current Amount Of Souls: 1730

I stared at an impressive amount of souls. The cost to advance as a Death Bringer would be nearly three times the amount I currently possess, but I still found some comfort in getting this far.

I felt that if I killed that Dark Arachnid, my current amount would be way higher. Even with the Demon’s Brand to help me I don’t remember doing much damage to it. I realized it was wrong to expect a different result and now that I was able to think clearly… fighting that giant spider head on wasn’t smart at all. If I gained its attention for a little and used the power of the brand to flee, I would’ve had a drastically different result.

“Idiot,” I murmured to myself.

All I had to do was give Jameson and Sophia time to get away. Who said I had to have a fight to the death?

“Maybe it was the stress,” I mumbled, seeking to justify my own actions.

Inwardly, I resolved to run from a fight I wasn’t confident in winning. With that in mind, I began to look through the book in search of any skills. I was interested in a few, but there was no urgency to purchase something immediately.

“That’s right, I need to perfect what I already know before learning more.”

Yeah, nothing that’s built on an unstable foundation will last for long. With that in mind, I turned the book back into its ring form and stretched out on my bed. I was a bit curious so I decided to use Spirit Sight on a whim.

My vision immediately shifted into a backdrop of cloudy grey, but everything that was living held a white outline.

“Huh?!” I sat up as I stared in the direction of my next door neighbors, clearly making them out through the wall.

I wasn’t performing any voyeuristic acts, nope- well, technically...- Anyway, that’s not important. It’s not like I could see any distinguishable features, just silhouettes and shapes. For some reason, my dear old neighbors seemed to be glowing brighter than anyone else in my building. Whether it was life force or the strength of their souls, they stood out noticeably more.

“Wait a...- Hold on!” Something in my own apartment caught my own attention. My vision returned to normal as I climbed to my feet and ran toward my fridge.

I flung open the door and grabbed the fruit basket. It was the item that stood out when I used my Spirit Sight and I didn’t need to guess why.

I dumped all of the fruit onto the counter and inspected the basket closely. At a glance, it seemed to be a plain wicker fruit basket. Looking closer, the way it was woven did appear to be deliberately intricate. I flipped it to examine the underside and was filled with shock. A very small set of runes were carved into parts of the basket. They were less advanced than the runes I was familiar with, making them far harder to decipher.

Think. Think. Think.

Do I run? I didn’t know what sort of effect the runes had for one. I hadn’t felt any changes in my health so they probably didn’t have any negative effects. Was it used to monitor me? That’s the only thing that made sense.

I was afraid to say anything aloud, so I carefully put the basket onto a table. As for the fruit, it was all thrown away because I wasn’t willing to take any risks.

I knew Rosemary and her daughters had to have some questionable circumstances, but who would’ve guessed- Actually, now that I thought about it, I let my guard down because Rosemary seemed like a nice mother.

I inhaled deeply and try to think of what I knew already. Clearly, Rosemary and her daughters were connected to the school my mother attended. So, I had to wonder if they discovered me because I began investigating it. It made sense, but I felt that a lot was missing from the picture.

“Damn it.” I ruffled my hair in frustration while pacing back and forth.

Whatever the case was, I decided to exercise much more caution toward them until I figured out what to do. I’ll just have to let them think I’m still ignorant toward their actions for now. I would make my move once I could figure out what they wanted.

…

I spent the next few days without doing much other than some online shopping. Well, I practiced Penelope’s Dance out of habit but I was mostly waiting. There was going to be a funeral for grant and I was set to attend. Although Jameson messaged me to say it was fine if I didn’t want to go, I wanted to go anyway. My previous purchases included a black suit. Nothing fancy, just something appropriate for a funeral. It wasn’t my first time attending one after all.

“Damn it,” I mumbled bitterly while buttoning my shirt.

I felt that I could’ve did more to save him if I just…-

Frustration. That’s what I could feel bubbling up as I thought of my behavior in the ruin. There was so much I could’ve done differently to avoid all of this. I guess that was the beauty of looking at a situation after it had already occured.

A sudden knock at my door set my thoughts on pause as I moved to answer it.

“Who is it?” I asked as I approached.

“Sunny… Sunny Goodman.”

The answer made me stop in my tracks.

“I just…- Did something happen to you? I haven’t seen you so... I came to check on you is what I mean to say…- Listen, you know what, maybe this was a bad-”

I opened the door before she could finish.

“Sunny,” I greeted her with a nod.

She took a moment to exam my clothing before coming to her own conclusion.

“Someone die?”

“Yeah, a friend,” I replied with a dry smile.

I wanted to ask who she really was but I kept my mouth shut.

“Sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

It was a familiar phrase. I remember hearing it at my mother’s funeral, but I wondered why others were sorry. After all, the grief of the matter didn’t actually hit me as it should’ve.

There I was again, drifting off. I focused on Sunny, carefully studying her face.

“Hey, I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but you don’t seem too upset.” She quietly scanned me in return.

“It’s because I’m not,” I gave an honest response.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and upon checking, I could see a message from Jameson. He, Sophia, and Emma were all coming to pick me up so we could all go together.

“Look, I have to go, but it was nice talking to you, Sunny.” I put my phone away and headed toward the building’s exit.

“Yeah, I…- I hope you feel better, Casper.”

It sounded genuine enough, but I couldn’t exactly trust someone whose mother tried to monitor me.

I stepped outside and inhaled a breath of cool air. Pretty soon after, a car arrived and the window rolled down.

“You ready?” Jameson asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded and climbed into the back.

Emma and I sat in the back of the car while Sophia and Jameson were up front. The mood was as expected, melancholy filled the air between us. No, not us, them. I was felt like an outsider. We drove in silence until Sophia spoke up.

“Emma… do you want to-”

“It can wait.” Emma cut her off.

Jameson glanced at me in rear view mirror with a look of concern. It seemed they had some sort of discussion that related to me, but I didn’t press. I simply leaned my head against the seat and watched the scenery as we drove.