Chapter 8: 8: Hunt

I didn't noticed it the first time due to my nervousness, but the seat of this car is very soft to sit in, which is to be expected in a mix with a limousine, but it's surprising how many things we don’t notice when we are nervous.

Another notable thing is that even while driving on water at high speed, the car hardly sways; I wouldn't even suspect we’re on water.

“Mr. Seth, I have a question, why am I sitting in the back seat?”

“The front seat is for the driver only, passengers sit in the back. There are pickles ready in the minibar.”

Is that... his way of trying to please others? I open the minibar and grab a jar of pickles to eat a little.

"What address are we going to?"

“My sister wrote down the location of the disappearance and the child’s school; we’re heading to Pollo Giaccente Primary School. Frankly, who chose that name? "

Accent Chicken... is it a school or a kitchen?

“The name of the missing girl is Astra. First, we’ll check with her teachers and classmates to see if they notice anything strange, then we’ll investigate the streets.”

“Mr. Seth, even if some of them saw something, the Blessing would correct their minds or prevent it, right?”

“That’s why we’ll talk to her classmates. As you should know, children have a certain ability to see through the Blessing.”

I lower my head, feeling depressed.

Yes, I know that; I just prefer to forget. I put the jar of pickles back in the minibar.

“Out of curiosity, what memory did you got stuck in when you first used the glasses with the prayer?”

How he? The answer came right away.

“We all get stuck on a memory the first time, always the most important one we have.”

So i wasn't a total failure this time.

“The memory I got stuck on is when I saw the Mystic for the first time; a Baptizer saved me from a Litch.” I tighten my hands together, not wanting to talk about my sister’s situation.

“I understand,” I can’t pick up anything from his tone of voice, nor can I see his face.

“In my case, the memory I got stuck on is when I made my first golem work; it’s probably the happiest moment of my life,” I can’t help but smile upon hearing that.

“Mr. Seth, why did you choose to work with Golems? It’s not something common in the church.”

“Hmm, that’s a good question. Why do you only know how to blow things up?” That stings.

“We are all born inclined to certain types of abilities, preferences, and hobbies. My sister has an almost ridiculous selective memory; she forgets to take a shower for a week but can quote the entire legislation of a country she’s never visited. It’s frustrating but at the same time impressive.”

I did noticed a bad odor when she got close, and I wisely choose to keep that thought to myself.

“Anyway, I’m more skilled at creating golems and magical objects than in other branches, and it’s also the branch that excites me the most. So, I pursue it. What excites you, Saulo?” By the end of the question, the vehicle finally reaches solid ground.

What excites me the most?

I look at both of my hands and then at the briefcase beside me.

Throughout my training, I don’t show any talent other than blowing things up. I’m not in good physical condition, my learning rate is slow, and I’m not good at producing golems, talismans, or weapons.

I’m also not good at memorization, armed combat, or... wait!

“Despite wearing glasses, my aim is excellent!” I finally remember something I’m good at!

“Did you train with regular weapons or magic?”

“In training, we couldn't use real firearms because of the chance of missing and hurting someone, so we used toy weapons, blunt arrows, and focused energy shots.” Those are good memories. I don’t have the best cadence with firearms and arrows, nor the greatest range with magical shots, but I always hit where I want!

“As far as I remember, your grades aren’t good in that area either,” that hurts to hear.

“My shooting cadence is very low, but they never complain edabout my hit rate, sir.”

Seth nods slightly. I wonder what he’s thinking.

We cross a few more streets until Seth brakes, turning off the car and telling me to get out. I grab my briefcase and do as instructed.

I park near the school, at the end of the street.

“Get the badge ready,” Seth pulls one out of his pocket, and I do the same.

I follow Seth toward the school, which is on the left side of the street, with a stationery shop in front on the other side.

What a clever scoundrel!

The top of the school has a sign with the name, i stop in front of it and look up to read.

Pollo Giaccente

That’s a terrible joke.

I see Seth entering through the gate and i follow him inside, noticing that he is talking to a man at the reception who looks to be around my age—probably an intern or something.

Seth shows the badge and explains the situation. The young man goes to call the principal.

“I hope this is quick,” I sit down in a waiting chair.

“Haste is your enemy, Saulo; anxiety will damage your intestines,” I can’t tell if he is joking or not.

“Sir, I don’t know if you remember, but we are a bit short on time,” I grip the handle of the briefcase.

“Actually, we still have two days. Sure, the ideal is to finish this before to prevent more deaths, but he can only perform the ritual in two days,” I stare at Seth as he says this while picking up a three-year-old fashion magazine.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“How so?”

“My sister and Assan must have already noticed, but our target wants to summon the 170,” he says this while flipping through the pages of the magazine.

“And you know that because?”

“Simple, seriously, summoning demons depends on the quality of the Energy Lines, or Ley; the higher the quality, the better the demon. His choice of Venice, a city linked to water, specifies the type of demon, and the quality of the line, due to its proximity to the Vatican, indicates a strong demon,” he explains as if it is as simple as two plus two.

“Okay..., but why two days?”

“It’s when the Moon will be in Scorpio,” he turns the page of the magazine and whistles.

I’ll pretend I understand what he means.

Two minutes later, the school principal appears from the hallway, alongside a teacher.

“Good afternoon, Sir—” she looks in my direction before continuing, “Police officers, what do you want?”

Hey!

Seth naturally takes the lead.

“We came to investigate the disappearance of Astra, a student at this school. Is her class here?”

“Why do you want to talk to the kids?” The teacher steps forward.

“The children spend more time with her since they are classmates. I would like to ask if Astra mentioned anything strange to them,” Seth puts away the magazine, likely realizing he doesn’t project a professional image.

“Professor Karl, please take them to Astra’s classroom,” the teacher clearly dislike the idea; he probably has something against police officers but guides us nonetheless.

The principal comes with us, occasionally staring at me.

I know I’m young, but this illusion must be flawed!

When we reach the classroom, Seth requests that the principal and the teacher wait outside.

“This is my class; you’re not going to talk to them without my presence!”

“Mr. Karl, I understand you’re worried and shaken, but children tend to avoid being honest in front of an authority figure they recognize. So please, stay outside. Saulo, let’s go.”

Seth enters the room, and I follow him, closing the door while glaring at the irritated teacher.

Seth addresses the front of the classroom while I stay by the door.

The class has thirty-three children in it, with thirty-four desks—one of them empty. Everyone is seated, some holding cell phones while gossiping, others playing video games, and three in the back of the room are eating cookies.

Seth picks up a piece of chalk and taps the board three times, calling the students’ attention.

“Good afternoon, I’m Officer Seth, and we’re here to investigate the disappearance of your classmate, Astra.”

Some children immediately begin to gossip, two don’t look at him, and the ones at the back hide their cookies.

“I would like to ask if Astra mentioned anything strange happening recently, or if you saw something unusual,” I notice that Seth takes a sapphire out of his jacket pocket.

None of the children answer, but some shrink back, clearly scared.

“Don’t worry, what you say will stay in this room, and you will also be rewarded,” Seth drops the sapphire on the floor, which disappears as if it has fallen into water.

Suddenly, a little boy stands up.

“Are you really going to find Astra?”

Seth remains silent, probably thinking about whether to confirm it or just say there’s a chance.

“We will, and we will punish whoever kidnapped her, I promise.”

The little boy smiles.

“Last week, two guys in furry coats came near Astra at the school exit. I started screaming at them, and then suddenly, Professor Karl appeared like a rocket and scared them away!” That Professor Karl seems popular.

“It’s true, Professor Karl scared them away with some really cool kicks,” another child suddenly speaks up.

Seth is jotting this down in my notebook.

Hey, when did he grab that?

“Kid, do you remember what color the coats were?”

“Um, I don’t remember exactly. I think it was dark brown,” Seth nods his head.

“Alright, I will inform the professor and the principal that you all will have the first two periods free as a reward,” the children scream with joy.

Seth and I go outside the classroom, where Seth thanks them for their understanding and informs them of the reward.

‘What the hell?”

“Alright, Karl, let the two periods be free. Anything else police-related?”

“No, we’re leaving now,” said and done, we exit the school.

Outside, Seth starts walking back to the car, stopping by the hood where he sits down, deep in thought.

“Mr. Seth, can you return my notebook?”

“Sorry,” he hands me the notebook.

“And now?”

“I’m thinking about the types of creatures it could be. They are the height of two adults with furry coats; given the time, they aren’t werewolves or vampires…”

I sit in silence on the hood of the car, letting Seth think.

“Maybe a dhampir or a shapeshifter…”

I look up as I wait.

“Who knows, maybe an Erinyes, since we’re in Italy, or a Telkhine…”

Looking up, I notice something moving on the roof of the house in front of us.

“Mr. Seth.”

“Maybe they are just men too…”

“Mr. Seth!” I grab him by the shoulder and shake him.

“What is it?”

“There’s something on top of that house!” I point to the house.

In an instant, Seth jumps to the top of the house; I can barely see him.

“Saulo,” I can hear him from up there.

“Say it, Mr. Seth!” I shout.

“Follow me,” and then he takes off running across the rooftops.

“What the—” I run after him, trying to keep him in sight.

Seth leaps across the houses at high speed while I run down the street, trying to keep up.

I lose sight of him every three houses but see him jumping in the distance shortly after and resume following him.

What’s the speed prayer again?!

Suddenly, my mind races; various thoughts and memories flash through my brain quickly, scenes from different lessons until I focus on one. I stop running and begin to repeat the prayer.

“Among these beings is something like glowing embers; they move like true blazing torches darting back and forth among the living beings, and from the midst of the flames come fierce lightning and sparks.” I can feel the energy of Shekinah entering my body and moving.

“And these living beings move with great speed. They go and come like a lightning bolt.”

Flames spring up around my body; the energy of Shekinah strengthens my muscles, focusing on my legs. I take a deep breath to regain my breath after the prayer, and then I take off running.

My speed increases dramatically; I am able to rush through the streets and run at the same momentum as Seth on the rooftops. I also don’t cause any damage or gusts of wind as I pass thanks to the prayer's protection, which allows me not to affect the environment as if it nullifies friction.

Eventually, Seth stops jumping. I run up the wall of the house and stop beside him, the flames dissipating as soon as I brake, the power of the prayer deactivating. I fall, sitting on the ground, exhausted.

Seth looks like he hasn’t even been running or jumping at high speed; we’ve run almost a hundred meters per second, and he isn’t even sweating!

Seth hands me a bottle of water. I drink half of it before getting up.

“Where are we?”

I look out over the roof of the house and see—well, the sea. We are on the other side of the city area, right on the edge.

Seth signals for me to be quiet with his finger, grabs my chin, and makes me look down.

There are three extremely furry humanoid beings in the middle of the street; the corridor is closed off, with only the water or returning back to the street as exits.

Seth pulls me away on the roof of the house and sits down.

“There are three low-rank Yoguais, lupine, easy to deal with.” I stare at him.

“How should we proceed?” I put my briefcase on the ground and open it, revealing a small rod.

“Use Wisdom of Solomon 5:21; I will countain them. Do your best not to let them escape.”

“Understood!”

I grab the rod with my right hand and raise it in front of me.

“Like arrows shot from the taut string of a bow, the rays will come from the clouds and fly true to the target.” The rod then increases in size, forming a ring with a string, transforming into a bow.

Seth has already grabbed his cross and brought it to his forehead.

“You shall not eat of it; cursed is the Earth because of you; in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.”

“The Lord God, therefore, casts him out of the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he is taken.”

“Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herbs of the field.”

“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it you are taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Seth's body glows softly, and then a large mass of clay forms around his body, becoming a perfect mold of him, every miserable detail of his face, his eyes, his sunken cheek, short hair, scars, nose, and eyes—all identical.

Then the mass of clay solidifies, transforming into armor that covers his entire body.

“Mr. Seth?”

“Be careful, they are coming.”

I turn, and what I see are the three creatures in the air wielding swords; they land on the edge of the roof, staring us down. I take two steps back, startled.

But I have no reason to be afraid; Seth walks past me, his body having grown in size to now stand two meters tall, completely armored in rock, with a large cross visible on his back.

“Pay attention, Seth; this will be your first combat lesson. The first step to dealing with a Yoguai is to disarm it. Do you understand?”

My hands are wet with sweat, my body is trembling, my heart racing—am I feeling fear?

No, I am excited; I will finally get to show what I am capable of.

“I understand. Let’s go, sir!”

And with that, my first battle begins.