How had humans prospered for so long when they were all so unbelievably fragile. There was so little they could do to actually defend themselves. In that moment the woman before him seemed to be reaching for the knife stand near the sink.

  "Nihilate."

  Blood and guts spewed out of her like a river of crimson confetti. It had been too efficient. It needed to be far more drawn out if he was going to get anything out of it. One shot one kill just wasn't enough

  Were they all so fragile? Was he that fragile? It really made him wonder if there was some reason why he was the superior animal despite the profound emptiness howling within him. The man in the hallway let out a scream before turning to run.

  "Nihilate, nihilate."

  Flesh and viscera struck the wall opposite the man with a wet squelching noise. It still wasn't sparking that fire within. It still ended too quickly. Should he have given the man a chance to fight back or something? Two shots and they had stopped being an animal for good. Maybe he had to find tougher targets.

  Many days passed him by before another night like that greeted him. Didn't they realize they had to fight back if they actually wanted to have a shot at surviving? The man before him was huddled in the corner of the room and screaming out for mercy.

  "Nihilate, nihilate, nihilate."

  The ceiling above the pair of twitching legs before him turned red. Had they so little to live for that they gladly embraced the void the moment it greeted them? He wasn't experiencing that weird stinging sensation anymore and he was beginning to almost miss it.

  This home was no different from the last and would end up just as empty by the time he was done with it. As he reached the top of the stairs he spotted a screaming figure running towards him brandishing a golf club. But they would never actually reach him.

  "Nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate."

  The golf club ended up hitting the floor before the now limbless head and torso. It was disappointing somehow. That was the closest his heart had gotten to skipping a beat in quite a while, but it still wasn't really doing it for him.

  Had the emptiness grown hungrier than before? Was that why this wasn't enough or was there some profound lesson that needed to be learned? 'At least Jane still makes my heart flutter,' he thought as he blew the lock off another door and stepped into the house before him with his hand already pointing towards the form laid out on the living room couch.

  "Nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate."

  Well the couch would need some intensive cleaning, or it would if not for the fact most of it had gone the way of the body that had been laying on it. Completely and utterly destroyed. Was he supposed to make some joke about couch potatoes now or something?

  There should've still been another person hiding within the home. They could run and they could hide, but they could never truly escape. Eventually he found them in the kitchen as they were struggling to get the back door open and make their escape. They should've been faster.

  "Nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate, nihilate."

  Bloody craters dotted the wall before him. There wasn't even a body on the floor to make a remark on. Had he outgrown the desire for senseless carnage or was he just getting numb to it? At the very least it was getting far too easy.

  He had made remarkable progress over the last few weeks, but in that moment it finally clicked for him. He got to work on it the moment the thought struck him. Reconstructing the shape of the nihilation without invoking it was difficult, but after a few attempts it actually took shape.

  Somewhere deep within him he could feel the exact form that made up the magic that was the nihilation. And it remained there even when he filled it with power. Like having a casting of the nihilation at the ready whenever he would need it, but without the threat of the power inside lashing out should his temper run hot.

  "I guess you're finally a real mage seeing as you've figured out spellcraft," Jane said as she stepped into the empty kitchen.

  It was certainly different. The nihilation that dwelled inside him felt different from the ones he had invoked previously. It felt like he could call upon it without even a hint of effort. Like a live bullet in the chamber. He could even control the amount of power he put into the shape, but for now he was content to leave it filled to the brim.

  "So that's a spell then? I thought it would be more impressive," he muttered to himself.

  "It's a very simple spell, although what makes it so superior to what you've been doing is that it will do all the work for you."

  The only worry within him was that the spell might go off without warning if he thought about using it. He could feel his nerves acting up just thinking about it. But the panic building inside faded the moment Jane put a hand on his shoulder and planted a kiss on his cheek.

  "No need to fret, a spell can't do anything unless you actively try to use it," she whispered to him as she rubbed the small of his back.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  They left the building holding hands. The crisp autumn air blew through their hair as they walked. He was a real mage now that he had graduated to actual spellcraft, but it only made him realize how much more he would need to grow. One spell surely wouldn't be enough for him to make Jane unstoppable.

  They went their separate ways once they reached the train station. It felt lonely riding the train without Jane, but the fact he would see her in his dreams made it all the more bearable.

  As his house came into view he stopped in his tracks as he laid eyes on the two people in suits standing in the driveway of his home. They looked like the prototypical image of office workers or government employees. Their outfits were almost as soulless as his own, but what really stuck out to him was that he had felt them before he even saw them.

  "Holy shit you look just like Pietro if he was a head taller!" one of the pair exclaimed as they walked over towards Al.

  The one that had spoken was a man with long auburn hair who stood only a few inches shorter than Al himself. The other one was a shorter woman with dirty blonde pigtails and a round freckled face.

  For some reason the auburn haired man gave off the same weird vibe the two women on the train had. Like a light invisible pressure that made the hair on his arm stand up. The biggest question running through his head at that moment was if these two would sense the power within him like those two women had.

  Something inside him was stirring, but it wasn't the power. It was the irritation growing with every passing moment. All he really wanted to do was collapse in his bed, and their presence had impeded him.

  "Holy shit you even scowl like him."

  Oh that guy was going to get much more than a scowl if he didn't shut his mouth. He could feel himself unconsciously cracking his knuckles as the man continued barraging him with inane attempts at dialogue.

  "Wow, you actually look ready to throw a punch."

  "Al is so ordinaire he wouldn't hurt a fly, but please don't tempt him James," said his father as he walked up from behind the two.

  So they were all magic users, including his father. It was lucky he always controlled his facial expressions around him since he may have raised an eyebrow upon hearing the word otherwise. But why couldn't they sense him the way he had sensed the two of them waiting outside his house? That fact was what truly vexed him.

  "It's nice to meet you, Al, we're your father's coworkers," said the short woman with the pigtails.

  Her voice was somewhat nervous and she spoke in squeaky manner, almost like a mouse. What remained on his mind was how much longer they were going to drag this out. Was it not enough for them to just say their piece and then move out of the way? As it was, the situation was quickly becoming unbearable.

  "If you've got nothing more to say to me, then could you please get on with whatever business you have with my father and leave me out of it."

  He pushed his way past them and headed for the front door of the house. As he opened the door he heard James whispering something to his associate in the distance.

  "Would you look at that? He even speaks like Pietro."

  Did he really think that he actually spoke like his father on the regular? The only reason he had switched to monotone was because of his father's presence, so as to not show the old man any weakness.

  As he entered the living room, he spotted his sister watching some vain reality show on the television. More than happy to avoid a conversation with his younger sibling he traversed the stairs in silence.

  The shirt he had been wearing landed in the corner of the room as he threw it off himself and collapsed in his bed like a pile of bricks. The sensation was incredibly faint, but he could still sense those two standing somewhere outside his house.

  With the exception of Annie's uncle all the people he had killed so far had come from a list of people chosen by Jane herself. He hadn't seen fit to question why she had picked all those people in particular, but he could certainly imagine that they must have committed some grave sin in order to end up on the hit list.

  Realistically speaking the list had to end at some point. So far Jane didn't seem to have any problems coming up with new names, but there had to be some reason for it all. Perhaps it was related to the sadness he had seen in her eyes underneath the starlit sky. One way or the other he was her tool and would continue to serve as long as the love kept coming his way. It was a promise he definitely intended to keep.

  When he raised his head to look at the window he could see the shadow staring back from within the reflection. The thing hadn't talked in quite a while, but for some reason it felt like it was time for it to speak up.

  "The tall one suspects us."

  He quirked an eyebrow at that. James hadn't exactly seemed like the most observant sort. More of a sociable idiot if anything.

  "Somehow I doubt that he has anything to suspect from us," he whispered to the shadow.

  "Call it our intuition," it whispered back.

  Intuition? Nothing about the man had indicated that he held any form of suspicion towards Al. Quite to the contrary actually. He most likely harbored the all too common delusion that Al was an unusually tall copy of his father.

  He quickly put his worries to rest and closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the pillow. Was it a sign that he was overly needy if he wanted a framed picture of Jane on his desk? It would certainly light up the otherwise dreary feel of the room. Although his mother would certainly bombard him with all sorts of questions if he did that.

  The night was filled with pleasant dreams as he drifted off. So pleasant had his sleep been that the light of dawn failed to shatter his good mood as he awoke from the slumber.

  Making his way down the stairs, he paused as he saw his father entering the house. He must've been out the entire night if he only just got back home. He met his father's gaze for a short moment then stepped out through the back door at the opposite end of the hallway.

  Few things made an okay morning even better than a quick smoke on the patio during a chilly autumn morning. A strange thought shot through his head as he watched the clouds in silence. Could he light a cigarette with his magic? After realizing it would most likely just blow the cigarette up in his face, he decided to shelve that thought for the foreseeable future.

  He put out the cigarette in the nearby ash tray and let out a long sigh as something dawned on him. He had forgotten today was monday and that he would have to spend most his day in class.

  "Can't I just call in sick or something?" he said to himself as he went back inside to dress himself.

  Once he had gotten ready and had left the house, he heard the roar of a car engine from the street. As he stepped out of the yard he saw the short freckled girl that had been there the night before.

  She looked over to him the moment he had stepped out on the street and began approaching him. Well that was just great, she wanted something from him and he had no idea what.

  "I'm kind of in a hurry so make it quick," he said in an attempt to end the conversation before it began.

  "Oh, where are you heading?"

  "School, it's near pendragon avenue."

  'Fuck' he thought to himself. Her face had lit up the moment he said pendragon avenue. He'd have a hard time making up any excuses now.

  "You know I had some questions for you, so how about I drive you there?"

  As he admitted defeat and hopped into the passenger's seat, it dawned on him that this was going to be a very very long day.