Can't spell witchcraft without craft.

"They say older siblings are the smartest, I suppose that's true for you." Jihi replied at a curious Jasper.

Ever since he got lectured by the cloaked mage, Jasper kept coming back everyday, asking for more answers from Jihi.

Unlike the open book Ned was, Jasper was mysterious, more polite than his mother, and He was a persuasive talker with storytelling skills.

And Jihi happened to enjoy his company, something about Jasper made the mage curious, and Jihi could sit with him now without their hood on, it was a small relief.

"Thanks, I guess." Jasper replied gladly drinking his tea, he was surprised to find out it tasted good, he was pre-warned by Ned.

"So, what does my favorite human Omega wants to know today?"

" Jihi...in dark magic, what is a Body-Crafter?"

The question took Jihi by surprise, "Wow! how the hell you knew such a thing existed?"

"From Garrick, I had a deep talk with him the day after Yurei attacked mother, which was almost a week ago."

"And how come talking to him, led to such a grim topic?!"

"Garrick Said, that when he broke up with Fernando so suddenly after their Weird relationship.

His friends badly wanted to know the reason why, so he told them Fernando was an abusive lover and that he practiced dark magic...on extreme levels..."

"But? there's more to it?" Jihi asked.

"Well, *sighting* he couldn't tell them exactly what type of Dark magic.

What pushed Garrick to end the relationship, Was his experience at Fernando's Shack." Jasper replied.

"A Shack?"

"Apparently our Mister Bardales owns a Shack alongside with a shed somewhere in a forest.

Understandably since it was a traumatic experience, Garrick couldn't remember the location.

Shortly Before their break-up, Fernando took Garrick to that forest, it was summer and instead of going to the beach with his friends, the two lovers somehow planned on going to the forest to camp for a week.

Garrick said that upon arriving to that location, he felt extremely frightened by the Aura of place despite how neat and peaceful it seemed.

Usually Shacks are in a disastrous conditions, but Fernando's was actually well taken care of." Jasper said.

Interested, "Hmm, go on!" Jihi replied.

"Though he was welcomed into the Shack, Garrick said Fernando forbade him from going near The Shed next to the Shack, saying it's infested with bugs and he needed to clean it up on his own.

Though Garrick offered to help with cleaning countless of times, Fernando refused every time.

Besides that, Everything else was going fine at first, the two enjoyed their trip together.

At the morning they'd walk around, do some exercises and sport, they'd eat or do anything worth doing under the sunlight, and at night Fernando would Play music for them or he'd tell Garrick ghost stories to spook him, since Garrick is easily frightened.

Garrick said that this trip was one of the few time that Fernando didn't treat him like a lovesick lover, he was kinder, a lot nicer and it made Garrick feel like they were just like any other normal couples for a change."

"So what happened that sparked the breakup?" Jihi asked.

"Well, Here comes the horror part of the story...so on their last night of the trip, a sleeping Garrick woke up to some weird noise, It never happened before and he tried brushing it off at first, until he realized Fernando wasn't laying besides him.

So he got up and tried his best not to make a noise as he left the Shack, just in case something or someone bad was around and he needed to watch out.

Garrick then walked a bit outside, before he noticed the shed had a faint light coming out of it." Jasper said.

Excited to hear more, Jihi didn't noticed their tea has ran cold, "What happened next! don't keep me waiting!"

"Well, Garrick did what every stupidly curious horror movie character would do in this situation, he went to investigate the light.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to get in since the door was slightly Opened which allowed him to peep in, but Garrick immediately realized he was wrong for worrying about Fernando, as Fernando was inside the shed holding something in his hands while smiling at it."

"AND?!"Jihi said while munching.

It made Jasper paused on telling the story "Jeez! we're talking about someone's traumatic experience here! why are you stuffing five biscuits in your mouth at once Jihi?!" he Asked.

Still munching on the crunchy treat, " just finish the story! *munching* or I won't give you any answers!" Jihi replied.

"FINE! Ugh, like I said Fernando was inside wide awake, and Garrick said he heard him speak to himself saying that he couldn't wait to get his pay on this new project, and that his client would definitely love her new body...

And upon further looking, Garrick realized that what Fernando was holding all along in in his hands, was a grown woman's head!" Jasper said.

" AAAAAAAh WHAT THE FUCK!" Jihi screamed unintentionally, and Jasper blinked twice in surprise.

Clearing Their throat, " Uhum, I'm sorry about that, please continue." Jihi added, smiling anxiously.

Suspicious, " As I was...Saying, Garrick was scared shitless, he tried looking further through the opening and saw what looked like a body inside, slummed over in the corner of the shed, he couldn't see the whole body just one side of it, like one leg and arm.

So terrified by what he saw, Garrick hurried back to his bed, and he pretended to be asleep.

He kept his mouth shut about what he saw, Garrick said he didn't feel comfortable confronting Fernando about what he saw, since he's literally at his mercy now, and sleeping in his property, he feared for his life."

"I applaud that, That's survival instinct!

Personally I wouldn't pose myself as a threat to someone in the middle of their territory." Jihi replied.

"Agreed, it was obvious that the body Garrick saw that day was a dead one, he walked on a what could've been a crime scene...so he remained silent about it until they came back from their trip the next day." Jasper said.

"I understand he didn't confront Fernando but humans like him, don't they usually report such an incident to authorities once they feel safe?" Jihi asked.

"I asked him the same question, he said he couldn't do much, he knew previously that Fernando was a dark magic sorcerer but the brunette convinced Garrick at the time, he didn't use it to harm people.

Fernando even let Garrick witness a curse breaking ritual he performed on a little boy, whose parents asked for Fernando's help as final resort."

" Judging by everything we know of Fernando's character, it is funny to think he'd save lives instead of ending them." Jihi said.

"Although Garrick says he had his disturbing moments with Fernando, he actually vouched for Fernando on that matter.

He said the reason he trusted Fernando in the first place when they got together, was that Fernando seemed loving and kind Especially towards kids and elderly people, often helping them without demanding a profit." Jasper replied.

" I see, so he made a whole different persona to appear like a good person to Garrick."

"Probably, that's why Garrick didn't report him when the two came back, he wanted to make sure of what he saw that night."

" Let me guess, somehow the explanation was body-crafting?" Jihi said.

Nodding, " Exactly, according to Garrick, he managed to uncover Fernando's true profession to be a Body-Crafter." Jasper replied.

"What did Fernando pretend to be his actual job then?"

"A psychic, medium...stuff like that." Jasper answered, "Now tell me...what is body-crafting?" he added, finally becoming the one asking the questions.

"As the name implies, it's crafting bodies." Jihi replied, finally sounding more serious.

"Tell me more Jihi."

"it's one of the many forbidden acts of dark magic, as name implies it needs a body, a dead body, in order to create a new one from it."

"So killing is involved?"

"Well yes and no, acquiring methods are different.

you don't necessarily have to kill someone to get their bodies, especially since the goal is to make a duplicate of their body."

" I don't understand? is this something the victim wanted it?"

"Precisely! Body-Crafters are business people, clients with what's considered imperfect bodies, would seek a body crafter to give them a new one.

Practicers of this profession need the original body of Their client, to make the new body from it.

The original body is used as both reference and materials.

As a result the physical appearance of the new body will be the same as the old, if that's what the client wants.

however, any imperfection would be fixed for example, if the client was missing a part of their body like an arm during an accident, the Body-Crafter would make the new body with both arms.

And Body-crafting sometimes, is used to save someone's life.

It's possible also to make a younger body for elderly clients, however it's impossible to use the services of the Body-Crafters more than once, so this method can't be used to gain immortality." Jihi explained.

"It can't be used twice? why?"

"You can't make the same masterpiece twice, and expect it to have the same impact, can you?"

Jasper's ears were heavily focused at every word he heard, he found the information extremely creepy but at the same time fascinating, "So you can't get a new body twice... I can't believe this, it sounds reckless to just hand over their old bodies, it's like basically trusting the crafter with their lives? how Do these crafters Do it?"

"They start by taking away your soul, using a spell and preserving it for as long as the body-crafting lasts, the crafter is left then with your dead body to use it for work.

However one of the reasons why this practice was banned and considered dangerous, was the fact that although most Body-Crafters are business people and they use the safe preserving spell to do Their job.

Some actually kill their clients, by traditional manners, or use the bodies however they like without the client's consent.

And often those sinister crafters, do it because they aren't looking to do a job, but rather steal a body, and use or modify it as an experiment." Jihi responded explaining.

"Ugh, I knew this wasn't going to be good! is there a way to tell if someone got a new body?" Jasper asked.

"There is, usually because crafting involves use of certain ingredients.

Those with new bodies gain the ability to regenerate when they get injured, even if you cut their heads off, they can just reattach it back like nothing happened."

Horrified "What the hell?" Jasper spoke, his eyes were bugging.

"Worse, the clients with new bodies, all develop a taste of blood and flesh, they become all cannibals at the end." Jihi spoke, "Plus, sometimes not always, they can get bewitched by the crafter themselves, the client could end up becoming an unwilling minion to the person who crafted their new body." They added.

"How long does crafting lasts?"

"it depends, many factors play in like the skills of the crafter, the body of the client, and the new body requirements...but if the crafter is someone skillful and has done this many time, it can take about a week to make it happen, especially a crafter that's at an advanced level of Black magic Skills."

"How can you explain all of this to me without getting spooked, but when I told you about Garrick's story, you panicked?"

"I haven't personally seen a case of a New body, nor met a crafter! i was told about it from the previous Jihi." Jihi spoke.

"Previous Jihi?"

"Didn't your mother tell you that that Jihi is just a title? it's not my actual name?"