Abel studied.
He continued to study the books given to him, absorbing knowledge from them like a sponge in water.
The world of the Supernatural was something that was both easy to understand and difficult to comprehend.
Raphael had escorted him around the underground building, showing him the training room and his living quarters.
It was a large room, about twenty feet long and wide.
It had a large bed, a desk and lamp and a bathroom setup.
"So, how do you like it?" Raphael asked.
Abel on the other hand seemed to be distracted.
Under his armpit were a pile of books and manuals he was going to spend the night reading through.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Raphael jumped right into Abel's face, scaring the man awake.
"S-sorry. I got distracted!"
"Yup, I figured. You're more distracted than April and that's saying something" He shrugged before slowly leaving the room. Just as he was to close the door, he turned around and added.
"The library is down the hall. I'll take you there tomorrow. But I have a word of advise"
Then he turned and gave a warning look. His eyes darkened, something far different from his happy go lucky facade.
"Knowledge is power, but too much power is poison. Have a good night's rest Mr Abel"
At Raphael's words, it felt like the lights in the lamp shook and bent.
The door closed shortly after.
Abel frowned. Raphael's last words rang in his ears and mind.
What did he mean by poison?
But he shrugged as he sat on the chair next to the desk.
He opened a book known as INTRODUCING THE MIND TO SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
And so, he began studying.
***
Northern Borough. McAlister's Street.
The serene environment was quiet and peaceful at night.
The streets were well lit and the traffic little.
A small drizzle had just fallen, given the ground a sleek and smooth reflection.
In a building just near the edge of an alleyway, a figure dressed in a brown suit and trousers sat on a sofa in a dark and quiet living room.
His handsome face was partially obscured by the darkness around him as he studied a book before him.
Just then, a soft gust of wind blew from the window, throwing his curtain upwards.
The man wasn't phased by this, his eyes still on his book.
Soon afterwards he sighed, closed the book with a soft thud and turned to face the mirror placed directly opposite him next to the smoldering fireplace.
The mirror reflected everything before it, including a figure in black robes who stood behind him.
"Chrono! What brings you here at this ungodly time?"
"Is there anything godly about the time for you?" a voice that seemed indiscernible of gender replied with another question.
The man sighed and chuckled. He crossed his left leg on his knee and replied
"Well you have a point. Now tell me, why have you come directly to me without seeking an audience in writing?"
His eyes began to glow golden, a transcendent aura spreading as his presence caused the robed figure to shiver.
"I apologize for my unannounced arrival, but the news could not be passed to you by word of mouth… the Higher ups of the Walkers have held a council. They've found some clue to that …. Incident"
The man's face seemed to scrunch up like a squeezed paper, before he sighed.
"This… is serious news. I thought you all covered all the holes? Even with the ritual of concealment, this is too soon"
The figure shrugged before slowly walking away.
"I have delivered my message. The council will now be on our trail soon enough. The Elders have decided to rush things as is. You must be quick and more careful"
Then as the robed figure turned away, it suddenly stopped and added.
"Ah, the Order has made a move on some person at the Hospice of the Mentally Unstable. Look into why"
"I don't take orders from you, false Shadow!" The man grunted in reply before closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the figure in the mirror had disappeared without a trace.
The man stood up and walked towards the mirror before him.
He placed his hand on the surface, rubbing on it before speaking an incantation in an indescribable language.
FA EL'AT UM ABYSSIA
The mirror surface shuddered as he walked into it, disappearing from sight…
***
That night, Abel was studying diligently. He'd now gained an understanding of some supernatural terminology and aspects that seemed both unbelievable and questionable.
For example, the difference between a Spirit, a Ghost and a Soul.
The article he was reading explained all of this.
Spirits were entities that could not be seen, heard or interacted with by normal circumstances. They were independent beings who crossed the veil between the mortal realms and the Spirit Realms.
Ghosts were the leftover remnant consciousness of a person who had died, but hadn't fully been transferred into the Spirit Realm.
Souls on the other hand were more complicated. They were the anchor that connected a Ghost to its body, and also the link that allowed Spirits to manifest in the Mortal realm.
A soul, as stated, was very valuable. Evil entities could contaminate the human mind through this link. Divine power could also be transferred via this link.
Abel was enthralled by this topic, that he spent over three hours on this topic alone.
Even after all this, Abel didn't feel tired or drowsy at all.
He continued reading until he was just at the end of the book, when he decided to check on the time.
It was 10:20 pm.
"Huh? How come? I thought I'd been reading for more than three hours?"
When Abel was taken to his room and he had started reading, he had checked the time.
It was 9:18pm.
Meaning he had spent about an hour finishing the book before him.
But Abel knew for a fact that in his internal clock, three hours should have passed.
This was quite abnormal, at least, his internal clock told him one thing, but reality seemed to say otherwise.
Abel decided to do a test. He decided to read another book for about an hour in his head, and then check the time afterwards.
So he took another book titled THE VARIOUS REALMS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS.
He began his study and went about one hour studying about the different planes of existence.
In it, he found that reality as he knew it was divided into four known dimensions:
The Mortal Realm
The Divine Realm
The Abyss and,
The Spirit Realm.
These realms sometimes have sub dimensions with their own rules and laws.
One thing was constant. Only the Mortal Realm was subject to the rules of time.
In the other Realms, all of time happened at once.
So an instance in one of these other Realms could be a minute, an hour, a year or even an eternity in the Mortal plane and vice versa.
His head pondered on how time worked. It was as if one was thrown in an empty void with no direction or solid footing.
One wouldn't know where up or down was.
Just as he finished the lengthy introduction, he decided to check the time again.
Now he was taken aback.
It was about 10:58pm.
Just over thirty minutes. This was practically impossible. It felt as if time slowed down when he read.
"This… isn't normal"
Abel saw the absurdity in what was happening to him. When he was in college, one thing he could do was to approximate how much time he needed to study down to the minute.
So when Abel knew he had spent an hour, he knew he had spent an hour.
But currently, it felt like his reading speed had basically doubled.
This was very abnormal.
But it also was very good.
Whatever supernatural phenomenon was happening, he was all for it.
'Now I can read more books' he thought to himself before smiling.
Tonight will be a busy night.
***
A few hours later, the call of slumber hummed through Abel's brain.
His eyes tired, his brain weary.
His hand stopped at a page he was to read. His eyes widened as his nose picked up a particular familiar odor.
It was a perfume he knew all too well.
He turned his head instantly to look behind him.
He saw nothing.
'Am I hallucinating?' he thought. Just then, he turned to face the book, only to see it replaced by a pile of ash with a bracelet of seashells on top of it.
His eyes widened as fear gripped him.
He knew this bracelet all too well.
"Sis… Sheila?"
Suddenly, the temperature of the room skyrocketed.
He could feel his hands burning, his eyes beginning to heat up.
He looked outside the window and saw that it was daytime.
And in the sky, two suns shone in their full glory.
One Golden and bright
The other Blue and dark.
And in that dark second Sun, an eye slit formed.
The slit looked directly at Abel, who roared in rage.
"You fucker!!!"
And then, reality snapped like a broken mirror.
Everything returned to darkness, cold and uncomfortable darkness.
A door opened from within this darkness and a figure walked out dressed in a long coat and holding a cigar.
"Huh? How the hell did this happen?" Rathcliffe asked in surprise.