Adrian quickly learned that taking his eyes off of the rogue for even a second was a grave mistake. It was the reason he was taken so off guard when its arms extended all the way above the trees and grabbed both him and Alex by their throats. The speed at which it did so caused him to jolt backwards, and his grasp on Isabelle to slip. She yelped and used her quick wits to grab onto his arm before she fell, adding a great strain onto his shoulder while they were being held in mid air. At the same time, he was beginning to suffocate due to the increasing pressure, as the rogue dug its fingers into his neck. He tried to speak, but only managed to let out a feeble croak.

“W…when…did it-”

He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before the world started spinning. He saw the ground, then the sky, then the ground again, much closer than it had been before, and finally he saw bursts of light. The pressure on his neck was gone now. The rogue had probably let go after slamming them into the ground. For a second he lay there, frozen, but then his body tensed up as a sharp pain in his back finally caught up to him. Helplessly rolling side-to-side on the ground, he let out a horrific scream, and when it was interrupted by a raspy cough, clutched his chest as tight as he could. The bursts of light were starting to fizzle out now, allowing him to use his, now watery, eyes again.

The grass underneath him had been stained by spurts of blood from his coughs. The sight made him wince so he turned to his right instead. Isabelle and Alex seemed to be going through the same thing he was, coughing heavily, and in the most pain they’d probably ever experienced before. Adrian pushed himself onto his hands and knees. With his body still feeling like a poorly oiled machine, the strength to do anything more than that just wasn't there. In front of him, the rogue’s arms were still elongated, slowly wriggling through the grass like snakes, and making their way back to their original form.

"This is the best day ever,” it said. Its voice and proportions weren’t far off from any other girl that'd be around their age. A complete far cry from its monstrous strength and the wide-eyed, creepy grin plastered across its face. “One, two, three humans. All for me? I just keep running into them today.”

Its arms were fully back to normal by this point, but Adrian couldn’t breathe yet. He watched in horror as the fabric on the arm of the rogue’s jacket ripped apart, its arm deforming and bursting through the seams. Its veins pulsated faster and faster while It shrunk, grew, and finally rested into the form of a ridiculously long blade, still retaining the same skin-like texture as the rest of its body.

Then it stood there, perfectly still.

The three principles function differently for rogue spirits, mainly due to the fact that their bodies are entirely comprised of spirit energy. Despite overpowering them so easily, the rogue had used no unique abilities so far. It wasn't even immediately clear whether it had one or not. The only thing it had used was simple manipulation to change it's body's shape.

“Take your time with trying to run away," it called, "I enjoy the waiting almost as much as the fighting and killing part.”

Too much had happened in such a short amount of time and Adrian felt like his brain was going to fry at any second. Hearing Isabelle’s voice managed to bring him back down to earth. “W-we can’t do anything,” she whispered, “Our best bet is to run, but that thing won’t let us.”

Alex quickly chimed in. “What about the glowing orb thing behind it?"

“T-the cluster,” she said, turning back to look at it, “It’s highly volatile. Not safe for humans to touch. We need to get-"

“Whispering?” the rogue said, butting in, “But what about? Actually, maybe I don’t wanna wait. Lemme come over ‘n’ find out for myself!”

It began slowly marching towards them, dragging its blade through the soil. That maniacal smile remained, and with it, the fear of death that had hung over the atmosphere the second they landed.

Adrian’s breaths were becoming more rapid. His vision took a hit too, getting blurrier by the second. Even something as simple as supporting his own body weight became a chore because of the stress. Death was something he’d never given serious thought to before. Nobody close to him had ever died, and he’d never been remotely close to dying in his entire life. In that moment however, under the pressure of that rogue spirit’s presence, he felt like he'd come dangerously close to understanding what the word truly meant. Death, and the all-encompassing dread that came with it, had him within range. Of all the emotions swelling within him, there was one that trumped all of them by a huge margin.

Shame.

I joined the Academy for a reason didn't I? There are people back home who believe in me aren't there? If I can't do anything here, then what the hell were the last four years of training for?!

Finding his way back to his determination, the skill he thought he'd mastered long ago, was being tested for the second time that day. The maze of doubt had a few more dead ends than usual this time, but there was a singular thought that kept him moving forward.

Dad would be able to deal with this easily. I'm his son aren't I?

The enemy was better than him in every conceivable way. Would he even be able to keep up with it in a fight? He didn't know. Still, he dared to raise his shaky hand off the ground and activate amplification.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"W-what are you doing?" Isabelle whispered.

"Buying time for you and Alex. If it's occupied with me, you guys will be able to get out of here."

"Don't be dumb," Alex said, "Do you actually think you can win?"

Adrian kept his eyes forward. They shone with a shaky determination as he responded, "...I've gotta try anyway."

They probably tried to talk him out of it again, but he wouldn’t have heard it anyways. He’d already lunged forwards on a suicide run towards his target. He probably should have listened to them.

On the way there he could barely feel a single thing. Not the wind that was rushing past his face or his own fingers digging into his palm from how hard he was clenching his fist. Everything was muted. When he was right up in front of the rogue and ready to punch however, something inside of him; something from the deepest depths of his mind screamed out a command.

“AMPLIFY YOUR BODY!”

He obeyed, and coated himself with his flames in an attempt to protect his body. The next thing he knew tears had started streaming down his face as he fought against the powerful force of the rogue’s blade, pressed right up against his neck. His flames roared in response to the pressure and bringing his arms up to try and push it back barely helped in the struggle.

“I knew you’d be the first,” The rogue whispered to him, “I could tell by that look on your face. You’re the only one who would get emotional enough to do something this stupid.” Adrian grit his teeth as he felt himself being slowly pushed to the side. The grass was being pulled from the roots and gradually building up next to his feet. For now, his amplification was holding out, but it was only a matter of time. “If you think you’re being brave here then you’re wrong…” In an instant, its manic expression dropped into a cold, hollow stare. “Don’t let it happen again. Next time I might cut you for real."

It swiped its blade, sending him careening into one of the nearby trees. On pure instinct, he had weakened his amplification the second before he hit it so that his flames wouldn't cause a forest fire. It hurt like hell, but he controlled his reaction, trying his hardest to get accustomed to that stinging feeling. “M-my head,” he said, pinching and rubbing his face, “It’s still there…”

He had a shallow cut under his chin where the blade had been, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. The rogue obviously hadn't been using its full strength. If it had though? He shook his head at the mere thought. In the short time that he had spent recuperating himself, it was already slashing away at Isabelle & Alex who were both on the defensive against its relentless attacks. Knowing he still had to fight, Adrian pushed himself up, and started making his way over with a slight limp in his step.

An amplified kick from Isabelle managed to send the rogue sliding back a bit, but its laugh told everything they needed to know. It wasn't damaged at all. Still, now the three of them were surrounding it, amplification at the ready. Even if they were all coated in cuts, this should have been a best case scenario.

It should have been.

The rogue spun towards Adrian, extending the length of its blade in the blink of an eye. Even before he himself could react, Alex emitted a mass of water that covered the rogue’s upper body, holding it still with manipulation, and managing to restrict its movements.

“Hm?” The rogue said, trying to budge, “You can change how permeable the water is?”

The other two dashed forwards, with Isabelle was a little faster and slamming both of her hands against the rogue’s face, emitting a surge of electricity through its entire body. While it was shrieking in pain, Adrian pulled his fist back, but before he launched it forwards, it stopped screaming and gave them both a cheeky wink. “Just Kidding! It doesn't hurt that much!” It morphed its arm again, this time going back to its regular hand, but enlarged to a ridiculous degree. With ease, it broke out of Alex’s restraints and hurled a punch that caught them both. Isabelle made a terrifying sound in response. Something in between a scream and throwing up.

Adrian had been quick to coat his entire body with his flames, but she was already using emission prior to the attack. There wasn’t enough time for her to switch between the two arts. They both tumbled through the soil after being launched away. Isabelle was wide-eyed, dripping blood and saliva from her mouth while still trying to get onto her feet. “H-hold on, you're too messed up,” Adrian said, coming to her aid, “...You’ve realised it too, right?”

She looked at him briefly, then slumped back down to the floor, wiping the liquids off of her chin. After a few deep breaths, she spoke. “T-this is all just a game to that thing…If it wanted us dead, it would have slashed us just then instead of punching us.”

“And If it decides to stop playing, we’re finished.”

“Yeah... I-I lost my composure.”

After making sure that Isabelle was okay, Adrian looked back up to where the rogue was. Alex was in trouble, getting pushed back by its flurry of punches. Once again, he stood up without a word or moment of hesitation.

“...You’re amazing,” Isabelle said, “Aren’t you scared?”

“Are you kidding? I’m terrified.” Adrian looked down at his shaking hands. “I’ve been terrified since we were back at the mansion. But now that I think about it, that’s probably why I’m fighting so desperately.” He locked his eyes onto the rogue and got into stance to rush forwards again. “Stay here and recover for a bit, Isabelle. I’m gonna go save Alex.”

Emitting flames from under his feet to increase his speed, Adrian whizzed past the rogue and tackled Alex out of the way just before he was hit with another punch. He was barely conscious, with a busted lip and a lump on his forehead from where he was hit the hardest.

“I wasn’t finished with that!” the rogue exclaimed from behind, “Give it back!”

Adrian turned around to see the rogue giggling to itself with its enlarged hands raised above its head. He didn’t know how many times he’d done so already, but once again, he raised his arms and covered himself with his flames again. An dull thud could be heard the instant it made contact with the heaviest attack he’d ever been hit with before. He felt his knees wobble underneath the pressure, but upped the fire power as much as he could, and managed to keep himself from getting crushed. It was like a tug of war, with Adrian getting pushed downwards, then fighting past his limits to return the favour and raise the rogue’s fists even higher. Luckily for him, it still wasn’t taking the fight seriously, laughing like a kid as it played with its food.

Foolish confidence had turned to pure, unadulterated fear over the course of a few seconds. Every vein in his arms felt as if they could pop at any moment, and when he was hit with a sudden spike of pain in his arms out of nowhere, a terrifying reality began to manifest itself.

Slowly, but surely, he was losing control of his spirit energy.