Night falls, and I quietly leave my room with a small backpack and a disguise manually donned. Though teleporting would be much more efficient, it’s not practical since it takes a lot of mana and leaves behind traces of mana usage. If only the traces of mana didn’t reveal the spell that was used…

Even though I have a high quality mana stone for a ring, and therefore a supply big enough one could say I have an infinite amount of mana, I’m not willing to risk suspicion. If the fake Principal knows I can teleport, he will have a leg up on me later. After all, teleportation magic is one of the hardest dimension spells there is.

I head over to the forest area within the school grounds and walk through much overgrowth in the event that I’m being followed. Since living things absorb their own mana, traces of mana usage disperse much quicker in places with many living things, especially like within a forest. Just to make sure I’m not being followed, I hold out a hand and say, . A spherical gem forms within my hand, reads the number zero, and then crumbles back to dust. Now certain that no one is around me, I say, . Another gem appears within my hand, this one shaped more like a teardrop. It’s point spins around a bit before settling in one direction.

Jakos appears to not be in a magic jam zone.

I put the gem in my pocket before leaving the forest on the side close to the border of the school grounds and then climb a tree near the iron fence that surrounds the entire school. The branch that I climb to just barely overhangs the fence, and I deftly leap off to land on a soft patch of grass. My ankles sting a little. I’m starting to regret my life choices.

Taking out the gem again, I confirm my direction before jogging off. At this rate, it would take hours before I reach the nearest town in this direction. I sigh. If only this was the weekend instead of the beginning of the week, I would have a much easier time disappearing in school. Since I’m pressed against time, I can only take shortcuts now.

I look back after what feels like half an hour. The school fence looms in the distance, but the forest I came from is barely visible. There’s no helping the use of a flying spell, even though it drains mana. I take out the stone and place it in a clear ball, where it floats in the center and continues pointing in one direction. Then, tapping into the mana of my ring, I say, and imagine myself floating up. My body feels lighter and I can no longer feel the ground beneath my feet, and the wind doesn’t blow into my face, indicating a barrier has been erected. Looking back, I watch as the school becomes but a dot in my vision. Turning back in the direction my compass is facing, I shoot across the sky.

Even if the fake Price knows I used this spell, there’s nothing to tell what kind of spell it is. After all, I created it, unlike the teleportation spell.

Though I’m flying at fighter jet speeds, it takes a while before the compass moves. Eventually, it points straight down, and I slowly descend. The landscape is barren with only one thatched roof hut as a marker. I land silently and release both spells. Inside of the ball, the gem disintegrates when I reach the doorway of the hut.

I rap on the door three times. After a minute, the door opens to a man with dull eyes and shaggy hair. He looks me up and down before roughly saying, “What’s a smoll puhson like you doin’ out in a place like this?”

“You’re Jakos?” I say, not attempting to change my voice.

His eyes widen. “Who’re you?”

“I’m here to help you.”

You would figure with those words, Jakos would at least listen to what I have to say. Instead, he immediately throws down a smoke bomb. Well, I could see how a small person donned in complete black with a hood to cover facial features would seem a bit suspicious. Before it hits the ground, I yell, , and it stops an inch above the ground, unpopped. The man has already turned to run, and I yell, “Would you rather be caught by Meer or Lethos? I bet they would torture you before leaving you out to dry somewhere, alone in the wild!”

He stops running, turns, and walks back defeated. “What do you want? How can I trust you?”

“I want to know where your base is located and what the plans of your group are. Did you let out the demon and how did it appear in the Sorena Royal Academy with you all the way out here?”

Heaving a sigh, he turns into the hut. “Leave.”

“If I could find you, so could they. Do you have a jam stone on hand?”

He hesitates, then turns to the side. Soon enough, I can no longer feel the mana in the air. Then, he turns back to me and beckons me in.

Upon entering, I notice a round, black stone sitting on a table in the direction he was facing. It emits a dull light. “Why didn’t you use this earlier?”

“No point. If they use dogs, they’ll find me soon ‘nough.” He sits leisurely on one of the two chairs and I follow suit.

“You don’t care about dying?”

“I’m waiting for someone to show up.”

“Who?”

He eyes me suspiciously. “Natasha.” I don’t say anything and he continues, “She sent me to infiltrate the group. A few days ago, I left the hideout with a demon in tow to expose that the group exists. The authorities shouldn’t keep this under wraps for long. It’s not safe.”

“How did it appear in the academy?”

“It disappeared from the binds that I put it in on my way here.”

“What’s the group’s goal?”

“The higher ups never exposed the goal, only telling the lower rungs that it’s to keep demons from ever appearing again.”

“Since you couldn’t get information, you decided to report back to Natasha first on the information regarding experiments. What did you find?”

On the table, his hand clenches into a fist. “That group is turning people and animals into demons to experiment on them. They’re learning to control the demons, and they’ve already killed many people trying to do so. All of the demons seem to have one idea in mind, regardless of whether or not they're savage. Once a day, they all turn to face one direction.”

“What are the landmarks?”

“A few cities and the Sorena Royal Academy.” No way, right?

“Where is the hideout located?”

“It’s within the natural magic jam zone on the Eastern Mountain Range.”

I nod. “What time do they all face one direction?”

“It’s around when the sun is the highest in the sky.” That was the same time the demon appeared on campus.

“The Natasha you mean is Mage Broffenberg, right?”

He pulls a chain around his neck to reveal a dog tag. I inspect it and see words in the runic language translating to something like, The only butler I, Natasha Broffenberg, will ever place as head, Jakos. “She gave me this on the day I left to infiltrate that group. So who are you?”

I lower my hood. “I’m Nova Allandis, her sole disciple.”