Jacob sat and pondered for a moment, Savant was an authority figure; so it was only natural for him to have his guard up. Appearing at his doorstep would probably make him initiate any contingency plan he had even sooner.
His mind raced through infinite ways to approach the issue, there was no telling how strong the man was, or what power he wielded, all that was certain for now was that the man had a very strong aura.
The solution popped above his head like a light bulb, it was one that, although Jacob found funny, was guaranteed to get Savant to lower his guard even if it was minutely.
'Jaran is more level=headed one, that's the appearance I would use.' He mused, his plan was simple, appear to Savant as one of his paid assassins and attack him when he gets close enough, hopefully, he would be able to finish the man in one punch.
[Shoutout to Saitama, pun very intended btw, I'm sorry, my humor is messed up]
With a single thought, Jacob's appearance changed, his hair, once white as snow, became a flowing sea of gold. His skin turned paler that it originally was, almost zombie-like.
He shrunk in height, the demon twins were about 5'11 each, his hands shorter, and so were his legs. All the memories that Jaran possessed, synced with Jirin's memories, flooded into his subconscious, he now knew everything they did; possessed every one of their powers and even shared their pain; a downside of his Devouring skill.
He slowly convinced himself to detach from whatever tragic memories he tapped into after transformation, he held a pale hand to his face, turned it around slowly, even his clothed had changed. Placing a hand on the horns that now protruded from his forehead, he formed a slight expression of disgust on his face.
He never particularly cared for demons, in his past life, they were entities that burned in hell as eternal punishment for their bad deeds in life.
He finally cleared the noise in his mind.
'Cool, this would be a very good skill going forward.' He thought to himself before placing one foot in front of the other.
_ _ _
Savant, who had been inside the small building, finally decided to step out for his routine smoke. He stood on the porch as he usually did, and care freely lighted one brown cigar.
He had already taken three puffs of nicotine when a subtle breeze blew past him, almost putting the cigar out. He turned to his right a familiar figure sat on the rails, gold hair and horns, a long black cloak that was thick enough, it didn't sway with the wind.
The figure quickly spun its leg around the rails and landed with a thud on the wooden panel beneath Savant's feet, causing the man to react subtly, standing a little straighter.
"Jaran? I thought you were dead." Savant spoke, taking another puff of the cig. His expression remained unfazed but his posture had changed.
"You sent us on a suicide mission, the boy was too strong. You're lucky all we did was terminate the contract." Jaran responded.
'Why would Jaran come here? Especially after all this time.' Savant pondered as he scanned around slowly.
"Is that a threat?" He asked, upon receiving no response, he continued, "How was I supposed to know that seasoned assassins such as the Helmand twins would be defeated by a fifteen-year-old child. Where is your brother by the way?"
"No threats posed, just making a point. Jirin had some business to attend to in Helmand."
Savant raised a brow, "What then, is your purpose for being here, Jaran." He asked.
"The boy you sent us after, he is no ordinary 'child.' He almost killed us. He is no ordinary beast, neither is he someone to be toyed with, I came here to tell you that we have been ordered by the Demon King to no longer accept any contracts from you." Jaran said, a bland expression on his face.
Savant studied him for a brief moment, this was certainly the Jaran he remembered, everything was exactly the same. The speech pattern, the posture, the appearance; it all matched the image of the demon that was etched in his memory.
However, there was something amiss.
"You came all the way here. Alone, to tell me that?" he chuckled lightly, stroked his beard and dropped his cig to the floor, putting it out under his foot. "How stupid do you think I am... Jacob?"
Jacob widened his eyes, flabbergasted that the man had figured his plan out in minutes. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could even get a word out a heavy thud landed on his cheek, sending him flying meters out, and into the jungle terrain beside Savant's house.
He smashed into a tree and fell to the floor, grunting and quickly rising to his feet, massaging his jawline lightly.
'Wow, old geezer really packs a punch, he almost took me out with one punch.' Jacob mused, he had turned back into his normal self.
"You see, it was really easy to figure you out, boy. Jirin and Jaran never go ANYWHERE without each other. Plus only a monster like you would possess a skill like this. What even are you!" Savant roared from his porch, but Jacob remained silent.
"Well that's fine. I have only your shallow pride and stupidity to thank for my good fortune."
He heard the man's footsteps as he approached the forest.
For the first time since leaving home, Jacob felt like he was about to face a real challenge.
"There are so many things you do not know about me Jacob Ironfell... I have no reason to hate you, you may feel my hate is forced. Neither is the case... I bear no emotion towards you. Ever since you were born, I was chosen...chosen to be the one to eliminate you... an anomaly on this world."
The man began to transform, his top burnt off and the left half of his body had become a molten state. Sizzling red marks appeared all over. His voice became deeper and echoed, it was as though he became instantly corrupted by something.
"You have no place here!"