Understanding

(A/N: ' ' = Thoughts. There are a lot of them in this chapter. Also, patreon.com/TheGreatestHunter in case you're wondering where to find great content.)

'Well, that was quite productive.' Jeremy thought to himself, as he watched the fading Emily dip out from his view and become the voyeur that she had always secretly yearned to be, vanishing with a slow flair.

'She can't help but be flashy.'

'I wonder how difficult it would be to bring that gorgeous ghost back to life?' He couldn't help but think to himself, as he sat on the floor, his back against his bed, and threaded a chain through the loop on the talisman, making himself a very stylish necklace.

He could feel...nothing, as he put it on and wore it around his neck. No fluttering lights, or levitating hair to speak of its magnificence. However, that didn't mean that he didn't know of its power. No matter how unimpressive it looked on the outside. 'She chooses to be so flashy with her entrances and exits, and yet she can't even make a golden light and floating hair effect show when I put on this talisman of power (his new name for it). Very weird girl.'

With the necklace secure, he took the book in his lap and decided it was time to learn something new, and while he wasn't expecting to be able to perform any spells, he wouldn't discount himself before trying. After all, he was no long the original Jeremy. He was Super Jeremy and there was no telling where his talents lie.

So, with that, he was off on a hero's journey. Learning and reading everything he could in a montage like no other. Though, the specifics will be left out, due to that being a whole bunch of words that might later have to be retracted, since the author does not yet know what he wants Jeremy to find.

Though with that being the case, there was one thing in particular that Jeremy was looking for, and it wasn't long before he found it amongst the incredibly well organized book that seemed to only show information pertaining to the topic that the individual sought out.

For instance, if he wanted to learn about various plants, the grimoire would go through Emily's collected knowledge on that subject. But, since he was only looking for information on enchanted swords, or blessed swords, or swords that can cut through a vampire like butter, the grimoire took him to a section pertaining to enchanting. Since, Emily never actually enchanted a sword, for some reason.

Quick montage of him sitting, flipping through pages, and committing everything he saw to memory, and he was officially fucked.

But not because he didn't understand it. No, he was fucked because he did understand it and that was the problem. He came to understand that he could do none of it.

Enchanting, or imbuing an artifact with POWAH was more so about channeling energy into an object and connecting that energy to a will, in order to establish a function. Like Emily establishing a "connection" between her spirit and the talisman.

The problem was that in order to do this, one had to be capable of channeling the energy into the artifact, through their own internal energy acting as a "connection" point. Which, is a natural thing for a witch to be able to do. Just chant some stuff, let your will do its work, and connect to the energy in nature and channel it all into the artifact.

Now, from a reader's perspective, this fine...because they are more than likely a witch.

But, from a non-witch's perspective, it's just a bunch of useless information. Like a phone number on a piece of paper. You see the number. You understand the number and its use, area code, and are able to memorize it. But, if you don't have a phone, what the fuck are you going to do with a number.

And with that, Jeremy sat, wondering just how much time has passed since he started reading and wondering why he spent so much time learning a number without a phone.

'You can always borrow someone else's,' a voice that sounded as sweet and melodic as a chorus of sirens whispered in his mind. A voice that he recognized as his own. 'Of course. I'm a genius.' He thought to himself, as he saw the sun beginning to show in the morning sky. 'Well, I guess that's how much time has passed, and did I really not turn the light back on after Emily left?' He noted, as he looked around at his dark room and resisted the urge to rub his tired eyes.

'Wait, I wasn't the one who turned them off in the first place. Emily, while trying to be cool, fucked around and made me spend the night straining my eyes without even realizing it.' He thought to himself, as he closed the book and got up to stretch his stiff body. Noting the fact that he was seated directly where the light from the window shone into the room and understanding why he never once acknowledged his lack of proper illumination.

'Well, despite Emily and her silliness, I still got a lot of stuff done and effectively confirmed my status as a no-mag.' He let out a light sigh. A part of him truly hoping that he had some affinity for the magical arts, now that he was Super Jeremy. But no matter how many short, harmless spells he recited as he memorized the contents of the book, none of them reacted to him. No glowing light and no floating hair. So, definitely a bust.

*Sigh* 'I really wanted to avoid needing to deal with any witches, but if I want to get my harry potter on, then it's likely the only way will be for me to become a siphoner of some sort, who can absorb magic and use it, but not have my own...and in order to do that, my knowledge of magic will need to go deeper than I've ever been...and more than likely will take a lot of time, since that definitely, according to the witches, goes even further against "nature" than just being born a siphoner.

"What a drag," Shikamaru said from somewhere in the omni-verse, and Jeremy could only agree.

"Okay," he said to himself and the world, as he finished his light stretching and got ready to take on a new day, by taking off his clothes and getting into the bed. "Don't look at me like that," he told the air and any voyeurs watching. "The sleepy mind is a slow mind. The tired body is a weak body." He closed his eyes. Allowing his wise words to float in the silence and with any luck, educate any gorgeous ghosts that needed to get learned.

(Line break)

"Jer. Jer. Jeremy" He heard the harpy calling out to him. Pulling him from his slumber and begging for a fist of love to come raining down on her head for her transgressions.

"What?" He asked and demanded. His head still buried in the pillow, so his words slightly muffled.

"Tyler is here. He said you took something from his house." Elena informed him, sounding slightly reprimanding and a little bit scolding, but with a touch of concern.

'Even before they died, she loved to play her bossy boots roll.'

"Tell him, I'm sorry but the person you are trying to call is not able to come to the phone righ..."

"Jer this isn't a joke. What if he tells people you're stealing now?" She asked him.

'Well.............'

"He's clearly just here to stir up trouble over Vicki. No doubt mad that she's been hanging around me lately, and I'm pretty sure she stood him up last night, so tell him to fuck off a while and I'll play catch with him later."

"Play catch. You guys play catch? And stop cursing."

"It's every boys dream to play catch with their father. Tell him I'll play later. Now, you fuck off to. I'm trying to sleep." He told her, throwing a pillow at her head without ever looking back, while at the same time throwing the covers over his head.

"You know what, you deal with it." She huffed, and threw the pillow back at him, as she stormed off. No doubt to tell Tyler a polite version of what he just said while smiling awkwardly like she's just as troubled as he is.

'Her natural talent for dealing with people is exceptional. Must be them doppelganger genes. Super strength? Nah. Speed? No thanks. Just give me the ability to wrap the world around my finger and I'm good to go. If I wasn't me, I might be jelly of such a handy ability.'

He laid there for a while, contemplating his choices and wondering if he should get up.

(Line Break)

Hours later, after a very nice rest, he got up, Tyler completely forgotten, and ready to take on the world.

'I feel like I'm forgetting something...no that's not right. I feel like, I'm ignoring something. Well, no point in fighting against my instincts. My PC is operational and secure. Now, it's time to do some investigating, shopping, and with any luck by the end of this week, I'll have all the security I need to install around town. The only question is, will I have to go around doing it myself, manually.... *Sigh*

Compulsion is truly wasted with them.'