Jeffery sat on his desk, his eyes glued on the spell book in front of him. Ever since his cross fire with his wife and sons, reading the book was the only thing that gave him comfort and he was now clearly addicted to it. With every spell he mastered, he could feel the surge in his power, the sensation of invulnerability, and dominance, taking over him with every word he read.
Spells he never thought existed, were bound within these pages, and it seemed with every page he read, another was being written. A pool of unending knowledge was what this book offered and it made him long for more.
He was depressed about loosing his family, but this book offered something much more better than what a family could have ever offered him, Power. He loved the unending growth in his strength but something still bothered him, the child, and the Lance.
Every spell he mastered, was added to his arsenal in preparation for his comeback. The humiliation of being bested by a child had scarred him much more than he had imagined. And on the other hand, was the Lance of Longinus, which could take away his newly found love. Those two Brothers of Stigma were his natural enemies, and he would make sure they get what's coming for them.
Rose stood by her master's side, constantly watching him and making sure he didn't overwork himself. And whenever he did, she was there to replenish his mana and make sure he was okay. She was the perfect secretary.
She had watched him break himself over his family, even if it was just for few hours. It had been days now, almost approaching a week and he was doing okay, better than usual at least. The house was now quiet, with only two of them now occupying the entire edifice.
Even though it wasn't always full of life, hearing a human voice kinda soothed her and reminded her of life, but this emptiness and quietness was torture. It was like being dead once again. Jeffery never moved from his seat apart from times he needed to attend to his body needs. Her attempt to revive herself were gradually fading from her eyes everytime she watched Jeffery study this book.
She couldn't revive herself because she needed someone to perform the spells. She would be revived in exchange for the spellcaster's life. The balance between the two worlds must be maintained, and she already knew without a second guess that Jeffery wasn't even considering her, or even thinking of bringing her back to life.
She didn't even want to think of reminding him. This man was heartless, and was cold enough to kill his wife. He would have probably ended his son if he hadn't escaped. She loved the form she possessed at the moment, it was way better than being dead.
Rose definitely knew that asking Jeffery for the revival spell wouldn't end well for her. One wrong word and she could get sent back to the underworld.
She wasn't going to admit it, but she definitely missed the old Jeffery. He wasn't human anymore. She could notice and see that his attachment to the book grew with every page he read, it was as if they were becoming one with every spell Jeffery performed. But she dare not speak, or try to talk him out of it. She knew better than to do so.
***
It had been approximately five days since the Jeffery incident, Alexander had relayed the information about their mother's demise and the incident sorrounding her death, and Daniel had taken it surprisingly well, better than he had expected. He knew Daniel never really got along with their mother because of her cowardice, and enfeebled nature whenever it came to Jeffery, He too didn't quite like it.
However she had died a heroine. She had overcome her fear of Jeffery just at the right moment. If she hadn't intervened or being there, then he probably would have been dead.
They had a funeral for her to bid her their final farewell, and hoped that she found peace wherever she was.
Everyone was getting along pretty well apart from Richard and Wilson. Richard never really felt safe around the boy and it seemed Wilson didn't take a liking to him either, and only few of them knew why.
Richard drew power from hell, and hell and angels didn't really go along with each other.
Daniel had began training the instant he could stand on his feet. He Couldn't possibly dream of beating Jeffery as weak as he currently was, and his friends aided him in his quest. This wasn't only his battle, this was a battle that could decide not only the fate of the sorcery world but even the fate of humanity as well. This was a war that they couldn't afford to lose.