Chapter 4

John and Howard were moving across the roofs at great speed, where they were going was known only to themselves.

—Fool, fool, bastard," John whispered.

Suddenly, their goal appeared in the distance. A small gap in space and time, through which they were going to pass from this world to another.

— Come on, - John waved his hand, entering the portal.

An incredibly beautiful place opened up in front of them, huge arrays of incomprehensible material, a huge castle in the very center and a beautiful view. It was Riku, an infinite space containing billions of Cursed Spirits.

— Bastard, what are you doing? John shouted as soon as they were in Rikuu.

— The same question for you, baba!

— You don't see, it's not our goal!

— So what? He can blab everything!

— And what? Aren't we here to kill Jade? What will we get from the fact that he will come first!?

— Fuck you!

— Close your mouth and listen carefully. If you touch a real child again...Yes, from any world, I'll pull out all your limbs while you're alive, understand?!

— There's nothing left of our polite Johnny, eh?

— None of your business! Even Buddha will start swearing with you. Go ahead.

In front of John and Howard stood a huge palace, built so kosher that it became bad. Carvings on the cornices, statues of strange creatures on the sides of the gate and a massive staircase leading to an equally massive door.

John and Howard entered. Inside, it was just as spacious and nauseatingly kosher. The walls were hung with various paintings in gold frames, and the ceiling was supported by pillars. The two men went further down the corridor, to a door in the middle of the wall opposite the entrance.

To the great surprise of those who did not know, this room was incredibly simply built, there was a long throne in the middle, on which a man in a black robe sat.

— John, Howard, come in.

—Yes, sir," Howard bowed.

— Get up, Howard, - said the man on the throne, waving his hand, - and you, I see, are brave enough not to bow before me, - the man smiled, looking at John.

John paused, letting out a barely perceptible grin.

— Ta-ak, what did you come with? Let Howard lay it out.

— Sir, we came to Jade's house, but he was not at home. There was only a boy of about nine years old at home, I tried to interrogate him, but...

— But what? The man on the throne asked.

John's grin was too obvious this time.

— John... Howard began.

- what?

— Him...he threatened to kill me.

The man on the throne laughed softly.

— Fine, bellisimo! Okay, next time Miss Murder will go after the boy.

- what? John's eyes widened and his heart sank, "She's going to kill him!"

— Don't be so afraid, I won't let her. We still need this boy. Go ahead.

— But...

— I said, - John felt a sharp stabbing pain in his neck, it pierced him in an instant, but its effect affected not only the neck, but the whole body, - go.

— Well, how are you doing, Jade, is he alive there?

— Yeah, in places.

— That's fine. The training is over. Judging by my calculations and observations, your first stage will awaken after...now.

- what?

— Nothing. Well, try to enter the Spirit mode.

— Play, Foreplay.

Jade felt a surge of strength. Warmth covered him, armies of goosebumps ran over his skin, and the hair on his head stood on end.

— Congratulations, my dearest friend! a man with an accent shouted.

— Wow...Interesting...

— Well done, Jade. You've already reached the first stage. Of course, I had to sweat, but still the goal was achieved.

— Can I continue training?

- Not today, your body is loaded too much even for your age. Your loads were superhuman when you were already at the peak of your training. Excessive sweating can cause side effects, and blood loss from injuries is...half a liter.

— That's a lot...

- Yes, the average person holds four liters of blood, so if you lost another one and a half, an irreversible process would begin. However, it seems that I underestimate the capabilities of the Cursed Spirit," at the last sentence, there was something like an apology in the man's voice.

— Nothing. I'm already fucked up myself. I'm going home to Thomas.

— To whom?

"Huh, long story."

"We have plenty of time, my dear friend."

— Just like that, I picked up a boy on the street, I had to adopt him, otherwise the guardianship authorities would have kicked my ass.

— How noble.

— How terribly noble. Goodbye, Vincent.

— See you later, dear friend.

Jade went outside. It was getting late. The sky is covered with thick clouds, it will rain soon. A blue haze hung over the place where Vincent's office was located, in the distance everything seemed black because of the small visibility.

"Oh, this place is beautiful in the evening," Jade said, glancing at the old apartment building with white walls.

A pleasant atmosphere hung in his head.

So a few minutes passed. A pleasant walk to the mansion relaxed Jade, a pleasant wind ruffled his hair and blew away sweat.

— Toma-a-s!

Jade opened the door loudly, entering a passerby. Thomas was still sitting on the couch, looking at one point with an incredibly meaningful (and even funny because of this) look.

"Thomas, have you been sitting there all day?"

- no.

— And what have you been doing at least?

— Well... uh...

— Huh...okay. Do you want to eat?

- yes.

— I'll give you potatoes with meat...

— It ended.

— I see. Do you have a bottomless stomach there?

Thomas smiled a little.

— Okay. I'll cook something now.

Jade looked into Thomas' face as he left.

— Hey, Thomas.

The boy looked up.

— Why is so sour? Puget smiled.

— I'm not sour, - Thomas also smiled, looking away.

— Wait.

Jade went into the kitchen.

— So, hmm. What are we going to eat, a wonderful question, to which I will answer now...Hmm...

Jade snatched the book from the expensive refrigerator and looked there.

— Well, well, well, chicken baked with potatoes under a delicious seasoning. Drool from one name flowed out. Okay, let's get started!