Jasper walked at the back of the group as they progressed down the sidewalk. Arya stuck around him for the first hour or so but eventually went back to the front of the group.
After an hour of walking by himself behind them, one of them dropped back. This one hadn't spoken around him yet. It was a younger man who seemed to be only a couple years older than Jasper. Jasper was about 10 meters behind the back most group member.
He had lime green hair that was short and stuck up slightly. He had a smirk on his face most of the time and felt approachable. He was smaller being only about 5'8 and 165. Jasper knew to not underestimate anyone. "The name is Weston, but you can call me West." He extended a hand as he matched Jaspers speed.
Jasper took it and shook it. "Jasper."
"I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't worry about Micah. He's just got the same thoughts the average person does. I actually grew up with a kid who had a necrotic affinity. He was my best friend. But after he found out his affinity he, uh…. He's no longer with us. Anyway, I'm saying I know it ain't true. Although there's stereotypes to different affinities, I've met plenty of very chill fire affinities." He chuckled at himself.
"Thanks… I guess." Jasper said.
West cringed at himself a little. "I just meant you're normal, to me." He explained.
"Oh, thank you. I didn't know what to say. Two days ago I was a normal person, and now, I'm an evil person who's been evil his whole life." Jasper said.
West seemed to not know how to reply and the conversation entered an awkward lull. Jasper scrambled to fix his conversational mistake. "I mean, if I was evil this whole time, I should've been doing way worse shit. I would've had more fun." He said with a smile. He sensed he should make social connections with these people, and he peeled back some of the shyness that had grown. These people were much stronger than him, and he felt a natural inclination to not speak how he would normally.
West laughed, "What kinds of things did you get up to?"
"I used to sneak around a lot and mess with my siblings. This one time my brother two years older than me had a girl over. The day before he'd torn a project apart that I had to submit to my tutor.
I'd spent 15 hours making it and was so pissed. I was looking for anything to get him back, so I caught every bug I could find around the property, and let it loose in the room. She thought his room was a pigsty and never came back." Jasper retold. He had a small smile on his face as he thought of the memory.
West tilted his head slightly. "Where would that rank on evil things you've done. Like a 1-10 rating." He asked.
"Probably a 9. I haven't done anything that awful. I can't imagine what I could've done to be worse. My siblings outdid me no matter what." Jasper said.
Weston shook his head. "Siblings... Hey, just so you know, Aryas older sister is the vice Captain of the clan. She's the one we're taking you to see if the clan wants you. Aryas status is quite high. She'll downplay it all she can." Weston informed Jasper.
"Is she the leader of your group? The orange haired guy seemed to have a lot of sway." Jasper said.
"She's the leader yeah. Brackton is the second strongest, but he's a well respected spirit tamer. He is the strong and silent type. Hes also saved everyone's asses once or twice." Weston explained.
Jasper could tell he had genuine respect for Brackton. He nodded as he looked ahead at the powerful man. Weston looked at Jasper. Weston would attend the huge events the Lord held often. He was from an elite family in the capital city.
He remembers all of the impressions each one of the Lord's children gave off. The oldest, a powerful, unpredictable spirit tamer. The second oldest was a vice captain of a powerful clan. He remembered Jasper because he was the youngest. He always seemed distracted or not mentally there at the events.
While his family would be celebrating a great win for the family, he'd be watching the clouds with a bored look. He lacked the serious factor all of his siblings had. "I'm curious. How did you get disowned?" Wes asked suddenly.
Jasper glanced at him. "I respect another curious mind... I'd been sent to my room after the ceremony. I spent a little less than a day in there before my mother and father entered my room. That was probably the 3rd time they've ever been in there. My father explained how me having a necrotic affinity would hurt the family, and their position.
He told me I was no longer a part of the family, and requested I never speak of them again. I packed my bags and left." Jasper explained. He wanted to say everything out loud. It felt almost fake coming out of his mouth.
"Just like that? Damn. That's cruel." Wes said.
Jasper shrugged. "Eh it's ok. I'm almost getting over it."
"Already? How close are you to getting over it?" Weston asked.
"Like 25 percent." Jasper replied.
"That's a lot less than I thought it'd be." Weston stated.
"Me too." Jasper said with a smile. Suddenly a piercing tone came from everyone's pockets. Jasper quickly pulled his spirit box out to see a large notification flashing on his screen. 'Grade 4 spirit tear. If you are unprepared, please evacuate. Clans have been contacted.' The big text and pulsing yellow outline made Jasper anxious.
Spirit tears were tears in space that allowed spirits to cross directly from the spirit realm. This meant random, and many times frenzying spirits were poured out in large numbers and devastate unready spirit tamers. Though there was a lot of danger to them, they were also a highly sought after treasure as the spirit tear tended to bring in higher quality, and inherently stronger spirits.
Many times completely unique species were discovered in spirit tears. Clans would race to them to quell the spirits and make a profit. If the spirits were allowed to frenzy, with time spirit tears will keep heavily adding to the population of wild spirits and eventually cause a spirit wave.
The last time one happened to his homecity he was too young to remember it. The group looked at eachother. "Do we participate?" Luna asked.
Arya glanced back at Jasper. "This is what we've been waiting for. A stage 4 tear would challenge us well. And with all the people in the area from the lords ceremony there should be a lot of spirit tamers showing up. Do we know what big clans are in the area?" She said. No one knew.
"We'd be putting Jasper at risk. It might be best for him remain on the road." Luna commented. Jasper cringed as he almost spoke up.
Weston beat him to it. "I'll have some spirits protecting him. This would be a big growth opportunity for him. It's not like beginner spirit tamers won't be there." He offered. Jasper knew the beginner spirit tamers would have the highest mortality rate, but this was a good place for him to get his first wild tame. Spirit tears tend to have completely random affinities come out of them.
There would be at least a couple of necrotic spirits. A stage 4 tear meant it would be lucky if they were Pygmy spirits.
Otherwise, Jasper doubted he could tame it. "I'm interested in going. I'll stay way in the back and pick off Pygmy spirits and support the back line. I don't wanna die either, but this is my first chance to get stronger." He explained his point of view.
The group exchanged glances before coming to a silent agreement. Weston snapped his fingers and two large spirits appeared on either side of Jasper.
A large hedgehog that had bristling spikes all over its body sniffed the air. It's skin was a dark brown and its eyes were beady and rodent like. It's plump but dangerous body was about 4 feet tall when standing on its 4 legs. It sniffed the ground and nuzzled Wes.
The other spirit had a red hot carapace that glowed with fire energy. Its tail rose toward Jaspers head. A scorpion with glowing eyes and a torch like tail stood there silently. Jasper could feel the heat radiate off the creature.
He turned to Weston and nodded. "I think I'll be safe in the back line. Beautiful spirits." He said.
Weston smiled. "Thanks. Let's get going before this things over already." He said. The spirit box pointed off the road into the northeast.
"Double time." Arya said as she entered a light jog. Her light jog looked a lot like a sprint to Jasper. The rest of the group fell into line behind her. Jasper remained in the back as he slowly got left behind. His pace was a little slower but he knew where he was going. His hands started to sweat in anticipation.