When the tickets were bought, they sat on a plane and left off. Lucy sat quietly on her seat, took out her notebook, and started drawing some elves. Gabe was listening to his mp3. That is, his mp3 was on, but he was sleeping.

They arrived after an exhausting 22-hour trip. Immediately after they hopped off the plane they went to the rented lodge and fell asleep. Gabe had a weird dream that night. He dreamt that he was in that same lodge, but that he woke up and for a split second saw a figure on the window. He couldn’t remember a thing after. They woke up around noon and, realizing they were late, started rushing around the whole room trying to find their toothbrushes and clothes around the suitcases all over the room. “But wait, late for what?” – You’re wondering. Well, the Academy only rented them the shack for a few days, everything else would go on their own account. Well, Lucy’s account, to be precise. So they had only several days to go interrogate the old man, find all the evidence and, eventually, find the demon.

After a good half an hour of searching and getting ready, they went off. By the instructions, they went to search for the old man in his house. They stumbled upon an old shack, a really old one from the looks of it. The roof was decaying, almost collapsing on the shack itself. The tin on it was rusty and broken, rain drops still falling from its holes from last nights’ storm. The walls were all wooden, a very thin layer of wood by the looks of it. On the door an old rusty handle and an even older knocking handle. They knocked on it, with every knock echoing in the forest behind.

An old man opened the door. He was very skinny, every rib showing clearly, with a long silver beard and no hair. He was very short in growth and had a hard time walking on his right leg.

-I know what you’re here for. I still have two weeks to get that money! – said the old man.

-No, sir, actually we’re here because you called us for the ghost that you saw.

The old man’s voice started to crack.

-Oh, so you’re here. I’m-m Mike Kalu-u-ie. And I’m guessing you ar-r-e the child-d-ren they se-e-nt to kill that. . . .thing. Yes it’s r-real. I saw it. Saw the-e thing back in the woods. Finger-r-s big as an arm, he has. Long hair, skinny body, moves as fast as lightning, he does.

-Sir, you weren’t drinking before the event, were you?

-No, why does everyone keep asking me that?! I’ve got a proof, I do. My dog – Caesar - came with me. The darned thing got him. I tried to shoot it with my rifle, but failed. It was too fast. All I heard after was a loud squeal and I found some blood there afterwards. It killed him, I know it, I do. Poor Caesar, he was my good companion for a decade now. A German shepherd I picked up from an old friend of mine. He was still a little pup then, and this thing still worked. – He said barely moving his right leg. – Please, if you happen to find him, give him back to me. I know the chances are slim for him to be alive, but we have a history together, I couldn’t bear to leave him out there alone, with that . . . thing.

-And which direction did you think ‘that thing’ went in?

-Well it definitely went for the forest. So fast I couldn’t see it move, just caught a glimpse.

-Well, thank you for your time and cooperation. Goodbye.

-Later, kids. Good luck. You’ll need it.

-Thanks – said Lucy, then turned to Gabe – good thing you kept your mouth shut back there. Thought you’d say something wrong and the old man would lose it. If he didn’t already and we’re just on a wild goose chase.

- Yeah, I just kept quiet ‘cause I was dozing off when I looked at the forest.

-What?

-Eh, I do that a lot. I just get lost in my thoughts like that.

-Oh. Well that happens to me too, a lot. –Lucy said. They just stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

-So, what do we do know? – Asked Gabe.

-Well, that’s all for our lead. It wasn’t very much, though he is clearly traumatized. I’m still not sure if he’s mentally ill or not, so I don’t know if we can trust his lead. We'll send a message to the Academy and see what we can do next.

-Sure. So, back to the lodge, I guess?

-Yea. . .

They went to the cold lodge. It was only the beginning of fall, so the weather was changing very fast. It was hot enough to go without a sweater in the morning, yet now Lucy and Gabe couldn’t even feel their fingers and toes.

With a small struggle, they finally succeeded to start a fire in the old, decaying fireplace. They lied down under the covers of their beds until the room got hot enough. Lucy took her phone and messaged the Academy. What, you thought that demon hunters with supernatural powers didn’t use phones just because they can use eagles? Damn, you’re dumb. Phones are much faster.

-So, you got your first level permit lately, huh? – Lucy asked after she wrote the letter for the Academy, wanting to stop the awkward silence. But she regretted it almost immediately after she realized how stupid the question was. ,,Of course he got it” she thought ,,he wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.”

-Yea, though it really means nothing – To Lucy’s surprise, Gabe reacted well. Although he realized the stupidity of the question, he didn’t want to act rude.

-The level one’s aren’t really that big of a deal. – He continued – most of them are harmless, so they just send us here primarily for the investigation, so that we could do a simple exorcism later. They’re mostly ghosts and poltergeists. All of the other level one’s are mostly possessors, so they aren’t really that big of a deal. Some holy water and a Bible quote and it’s done. They can only possess a corpse, anyway, so it’s not like you’re killing a living creature. What I really want is to get to level two as quickly as I can. There I can finally fight a demon, and not just cut it and be done with it.

-Oh, so you like fighting, eh? – Lucy asked.

-It’s not the act of fighting itself, it’s that it’s pitiful to kill something that can’t defend itself. I’d rather give ‘em a fair chance. So how about you, what level permit do you have?

-I have a level five permit.

Gabe almost jumped out of his bed, his eyes gaping.

-Really?!

-Well I have finished the Academy a year ago, so I guess that my level is ok.

-Ok?! Most people only get to level three by that time. And leveling up gets harder the higher level your permit is! How did you do something like that?!

-Well, my job is to help newbies like you to gain levels, and sometime it occurs that a high level demon appears when a low level one is expected.

Oh yeah, the level permits. Haven’t mentioned that, huh? The level permit you have is the level of demon you can hunt. You can only progress in your permit level by killing the demon of the level you have or higher. For example, if you have a level four permit, you can only get to level five by killing enough level four demons. Demon hunting of a level that is higher than a person has is strictly forbidden, unless the person has no other choice but to confront a higher level demon. So, with that knowledge, let’s continue.