Great chapter!!! Can't wait for the story to continue! I sorta wanna beat Jacob's ass...I have a feeling that the price paid for drinking the green potion was the taking away Ho-o's help and giving Jacob the ability to absord all of her power without killing him...It's just a guess but I also believe that the dead guy, Lord whatever, wants to get the sword(spoken of by the seer) in the vault beneath the city(crystal prison). By killing Adam, Jacob will have all of the power of Ho-o at his disposal, with that power, I can see Lord whatever(sorry cant spell his name, but I really don't like him) taking over control of Jacob's body and stealing the sword...
I am sad about the death of Brian but anticipated it through Adam's visit with the seer...I think I might have been a little more saddened by it if Adam and Brian's relationship had been fleshed out a little more...I just didn't feel the emotional concection with Brian that I do with Jacob(even though Jacob deserves a good flogging for being a dick...lol)
Like I said, I really have found this story to be very good and can't wait for the continuation! Keep up the good work, and thank you for posting this where avid readers like myself can read these types of stories!!!!