Chapter 9: The bad omen
The next day started very much in the typical fashion. Erin left for work while Nate left to do whatever he did in his free time. It had taken Asato an additional amount of time to make a perimeter check of his property to check for residual energy and to cleanse it.
Magical beasts, plants and different types of energy did not mix well at all. This could lead to bad overall outcomes for everyone present.
That was not something Asato wanted for now.
The school dragged on with the usual fanfare and Asato made use of the time to arrange the things he would need inside his head. Besides, he needed to make arrangements in the school and apply for leave.
His grades were excellent, his attendance was nowhere in danger due to the regular usage of shadow servants. It left plenty of leeways to get easy off.
The usage of shadow servants was ruled out as soon as it came up. The conditions of the journey were not determined, and if possible Asato would like to keep all the force at the shadow mansion to prevent the leakage of crucial information.
That sadly meant that it could not be spared on mundane things like school.
Haru crossed him a few times throughout the day but both pretended to be strangers. They both were in different classes with very different personalities and circles, so unless they planned ahead to change it all, rumours would fly quickly.
It would be bad for both sides, so they avoided that at all cost.
After a not very innovative day, the sight of the shadow mansion was a welcoming sign. The closer it got, the grander its facade looked.
The mansion had transformed from its shadowy look from the first time to a grand building facade made of stonework with grand victorian windows.
And yet the infrastructure was very Asian oriented but gardens at the entry and long corridors that opened into an internal courtyard which had water and exotic plants.
It was the scenery of colours that contrasted with the name of the place. It blended well with the legendary building of the local legends.
“Welcome back master. No one else visited while you were away” the shadow person who greeted Asato informed him of the status of the day.
At this point, it was a routine to keep in touch with what happened behind him. Most of the things that happened were not really interesting, but they were important in working the whole estate.
Asato made his way toward the room where the body of the dead was being kept. The special room was heavily guarded against all the magic from outside to not contaminate it.
But there was a silent feeling around the air that gave him goosebumps. It felt like foreign magic had invaded the air around the surroundings, and it was not a friendly type of magic either.
It felt chilling and oppressive to his senses.
Picking up the pace, Asato made his way toward the room and stopped right before opening the door. Then thought better and made his way around the corridor toward the forest side.
There was someone inside and whosoever it was, they were not friendly at all.
“Alert everyone, we have an intruder inside” Asato whispered and the shadow man nodded to carry out the order.
With steps as light as a cat, Asato made his way toward the backside of the room and took a look inside the window.
It was dark inside, nothing visible between the cloud of black. Asato could not feel anything from it like most of the magic and yet he knew that it was cold inside.
His senses tingled with the knowledge and he did not know what to do with that specific information at all.
Gathering his magic, he opened the window and the black smoke made a dash toward the opening. Taking his chances, Asato focused the power in the surrounding to bend and form a net around the smoke.
Silver threats formed in the air, solidifying in the form of a net around the smoke, but it proved to be too evasive. It shifted and broke in parts.
The smoke looked too solid to his senses and yet it flew like a liquid all around.
Seeing his efforts in vain, Asato decided that he would have to try another method for the time being. The power changed and the wind picked up, the very surroundings burst out in blue flames.
And yet, the smoke was unaffected.
There was nothing normal about the smoke. If this was not affected by either side’s power then the only option left was the architect’s power.
Asato narrowed his eyes as he called forth his scythe and lunged at the smoke in his surroundings. Using the wind, he gathered it up in a single spot and struck with the scythe.
Right in the middle of the smoke. It solidified for a few seconds, the shape now much more recognisable as an elf demon. There was a small smile on that green face before it dissipated into ashes.
“Master, should we help?” A shadow servant emerged as he willed one to come. Somehow, something had managed to breach the defences around the mansion without his knowledge.
How had such a creature struck past the array of the room?
It didn’t make sense at all. The power should not have allowed for it at all. Nothing of significance came to his mind at all.
But it did. The faint trace of power he had felt before the meeting with the bureau felt much similar to this power. In fact, Asato was willing to bet that the power source of that time and this time were the same.
But how? If this was hidden at that time then how come Asato didn’t find the traces. Where had the power hidden so well to elude his senses?
There was no external factor that could influence such a large area and Asato was sure that he did a tight check to look for anything he might have missed. Besides, with such a constant eye in this room, how had anything entered inside.
Unless something had never entered inside but had been triggered when he placed it there.
Now that posed another batch of questions but also gave him an idea.
“Get me a detection compass and inform me as soon as Erin arrives” Asato ordered a shadow person at his side who bowed to confirm.
Once that was done, Asato made his way toward the open window and observed it for a few seconds. It felt normal. Now that the cloud was dead, no traces remained.
But the feeling of wrong was still there in the air.
“The compass master” a shadow person appeared at his side, carrying a small circular device in his hands. With a nod, Asato retrieved the compass and dismissed the shadow.
The compass worked in the same way a normal compass did. The only difference being that it pointed toward a specific magic signature you were seeking.
It was not 100 % accurate all the time, but it was reliable enough to be used in such a situation. That and all other methods of doing the same were either too time consuming or incomplete. The compass was the only one he had developed so far and that too because he already had the blueprints to work with.
The tricky part here was not the design itself, but the usage. For the compass to work, you had to provide it with a sample which was easier said than done. Once the power had passed, it was too difficult to recreate.
But Asato tried his best to make the power as similar to the thing that had attacked him as possible. His own nature of a natural reject helped a lot in this case since his power origin was also not natural.
And the needle in the centre began moving as soon as he supplied enough of a sample. At first, it pointed at him which was disappointing. Asato almost closed it as a failed case before it began moving slowly again.
Once he saw that, he followed the direction it was pointing.
His hypothesis was on point as the needle pointed directly toward the center of the room where the body laid.
Asato called forth a shadow person to check the body for anything that could prove to be the source but came up with nothing.
At this point, ideas began sprouting in his mind which made him wonder. Was he approaching this whole thing wrong? Was there really nothing in there?
Then the black and red caught his eyes. Asato could have sworn that the pattern had been different the last time he saw it.
It felt darker now, the bloody red more prominent than before and it seemed to be bleeding out of the body and into the spreadsheet below the body.
Asato leaned in to have a better look but a flash of black made him duck to the side.
Right in time to avoid a black claw. Another cloud of black and red emerged right before his eyes and solidified into an elf. It had the appearance of an ordinary elf you could find in the wild.
But there was a certain sense of madness in those blank black eyes, the face a mask of disparity and senselessness and Asato knew that no matter what happened, the elf was dead before it even formed fully.
His feeling of wrong not because of the magic, but because the creation of such a creature went against the natural order of things. The elf was not something that was supposed to exist in the world, a parasite on the natural magic.
And thus something he needed to eradicate at all costs possible. The scythe was raised and swung with all his power and a thud was produced as the magic of the scythe met the floor, the cloud of black skillfully avoiding his attack.
There was one and then more emerged, surrounding him in a sea of black. All of them emerged from the body which would result in a problem.
He needed to seal the body first before he dealt with everything else. But he would need to reach there first which looked to be too difficult in the sea of black which was hell bend on attacking him.
One of them almost managed to nick him in the arm before there was a jade between it and his arm.
“Yo, I heard you needed my help. I brought extra help too” Erin was here with Nate in toe.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone