It wasn't long until Bruce saw Tyran skipping into the cave, torn and tattered with battle injuries, but grinning and carrying the cluster in tow. There was a stream of dark spirit energy evaporating by its cheek.

“I must have finally got out of range of that guy's ability!” It said, locking its eyes onto him, “Man, that was a lot more fun than I expected…”

It was now or never. Bruce had already established that Tyran was a loose cannon; unpredictable. The plan was always to find a way to prove his worth as fast as humanly possible, and the difficulty of that task was about to ramp up.

Joanne and Terry have already begun work on that drug. It’d be rather embarrassing if I were to die before completing my part of the plan.

Without a single warning, Tyran got into a fighting stance, morphing its arm into a blade, and piercing the air right next to Bruce’s neck. Its speed was outrageous, but he couldn’t allow himself to waver in such a critical moment. Even as he felt his heart almost pounding out of his chest, he kept himself one-hundred percent still.

“It was fun,” the rogue said, “But I didn't get to kill anybody, you see.”

“...That’s rather unfortunate,” Bruce responded.

“You probably know already, but I only insisted on going cuz I was bored. I don't even care about whatever this thing is.” It waved the cluster around like it was a toy as it spoke. “So in short, you’re gonna have to let me end you. So I don’t start having withdrawals later, y'know?”

“...What If I told you there was a way I could allow you to freely live out your innate desires all you liked, but the method is an ability that only humans can perform?”

“I’d lead you on to make you think I gave a fuck, then I’d start a fight and kill you.” It pushed the blade further. A singular drop of blood started to trickle down, staining the collar of Bruce’s shirt. “What do you think a human could even contribute to what I want in the first place? You should know exactly why us rogues think you things are disgusting.”

“I’m aware. Rogue spirits are no different from the spirits that reside within us humans. The only difference is that you aren't influenced by the heart. Not the organ, but the capacity to feel things like empathy. Oftentimes those emotions can create doubts within humans that, by nature, conflict with our spirits, which is where our purest desires are born. Spirit energy is the manifestation of that. People who are more in tune with their desires in any given moment are able to control the energy they have much more effectively and efficiently. ”

“And that emotion makes you weak,” It snapped back, “We do what we want, even if we have to step on each other’s toes. We never doubt our desires, and do anything possible to see them through. That’s the best way to live.”

“I agree.” For the first time, Tyran didn’t have an instant retort. It squinted its eyes, confused by Bruce's words. Even Sharir perked its head up to listen in. “The human heart is nothing but a hindrance,” Bruce said, stone-faced, “That's why I've been working to discard my own.”

He maintained composure and eye contact for what felt like an eternity. The first one to crack was Tyran, giving him a smirk and retracting her arm back to its default state. “You’re not off the hook yet. Talk. But if I don't like it then it's curtains, buddy.”

Thank God, Bruce thought to himself. He wiped the blood off of his neck and adjusted his collar. For the next few moments, he’d be in the driver's seat. He'd have to use the opportunity to the fullest. “A rogue's innate desire. The first thing they become aware of at the moment of their birth,” he said to Tyran, “From what I've gathered it's simply to…have fun, correct?”

It nodded its head in response. “By killing and fighting. I'd fight a rogue too, but humans are much more fun.”

“...And yours?” he asked Sharir.

“...A world where rogue spirits stand at the apex. Beings that allowed themselves to be swayed so easily have no right being the dominant race."

A peculiar answer. The desires that rogues were born with originate from spirit energy that escape from humans after all. I suppose there are certain cults that worship rogues as deities, Bruce thought, though I've never come across one myself... No matter.

“Well," he continued, "Both of those things would benefit greatly from the destruction of the Spirit Hunter Association first and foremost. However, even with the immense strength you both possess, you'll die if you try to take them on. That's where the cluster, and this girl come in.”

Tyran pointed towards the girl, who was still lying unconscious on the floor. “You’re telling me this thing is important?”

“Of course.” Internally, Bruce was smiling to himself. Tyran’s interest had been piqued. All he had to do was stick the landing. “The amount of spirit energy that a person holds naturally increases with age, even without training. The ability to use it is sealed at birth to avoid self imposed injuries, but its natural growth cannot be stopped. Everybody's growth rate is different.” Feeling confident in himself, Bruce stood up, and began pacing around the cave, finally alleviating himself of the discomfort of sitting on stones. “For quite a while now, I've been searching for a human with both a low amount of spirit energy, and a low growth rate. I happened to stumble upon the girl here, but before I could make any moves of my own, I discovered she had already been kidnapped by someone else.” He turned to look at Tyran, who smirked back at him and started casually waving the cluster around again.

“I found it interesting. It was my first time seeing something with little to no spirit energy. But where exactly does it come into play, Mr. Talks-a-lot?”

“The cluster is two things. It's a mass of highly volatile, constantly converging spirit energy. Only a being composed completely of spirit energy, such as yourselves can touch it without your hands disintegrating. It's also an egg. The spirit that'll be born from there will grow up just like a human baby, and when it's fully developed, it will almost certainly be as powerful as both of you. That will take some time, but if it is given a developed body right from birth, it’ll be able to adapt and learn much faster…”

Him, Tyran and Sharir all turned their gaze towards the unconscious teenager on the ground. “I'm beginning to understand,” Sharir said. There was the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

“I'm glad you're beginning to see my vision. This is the test I've given myself to prove that I'm capable of discarding my heart,” Bruce responded, “Can I take your expression as confirmation of a collaboration?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

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ADRIAN HUNTER

It was super quiet in that hospital room. The beeping of the various hospital equipment was the only thing preventing total silence. Adrian hadn’t been hospitalised since his little incident with the tree and the paddle pool when he was six. He was sure he'd matured a bit since those days, but reflecting on the past few hours was starting to make him doubt that a bit.

He’d spent his time there laid on his back and staring at the ceiling with the blankest of blank expressions on his face. A lingering feeling of emptiness loomed within his chest. Both of his arms were bandaged up. He could still bend them to some degree, but anything excessive brought back not only physical pain, but the memories of his failure as well.

Isabelle and Alex had their own beds in the same room. Alex was opposite Adrian and Isabelle was on the same side in the corner closest to the door. She’d fallen fast asleep as soon as they got there. When Mr. Harrows dropped them off, the hospital staff informed them that they had a right to individual rooms, but the other two said they didn’t mind staying together. Adrian’s mind was blank at the time, and he couldn’t remember if he even answered the question or not.

…I should probably get up and talk to Alex.

That was the fifth time he'd told himself that. Him and Alex’s argument was what got them into this mess to begin with, but when the idea of having to admit fault crossed his mind, he wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. In the end, it was Alex who ended up breaking the impenetrable silence between them.

“Yo.”

Almost involuntarily, Adrian sat up to face him. “Yo.”

“Your arms feeling any better?”

“Um, yeah. They’re…they’re getting there. How about your head?”

“It's better.”

That it was. One benefit of being able to use the spirit arts was the latent healing ability it granted. Nothing crazy. It just meant that Alex's wounds were a little less severe looking than if he was a regular person. “...Cool.”

They sat in silence for a while. Adrian awkwardly shuffled around, looking for something else to say. It's not like he hated silence. Back at home, he could sit with Mira or his dad without saying a word for hours on end. Now though? The only thing the silence brought along with it was a wave of guilt. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but it was like some higher power really really didn't want him to.

…Dad would be the bigger person in a situation like this, right?

“Hey, Alex-”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out.

Another weird silence. Adrian tried to search Alex’s face for any hint of dishonesty, but couldn’t find it. He was dead serious. “Wait, why are you…Oh, actually, no. I remember.” The life-or-death situation they were just in actually made him forget how difficult Alex was being before the mission.

“I never wanted it to go that far," he said, guilt written all over his face.

“It's…fine. It's fine. I feel like I needed the reality check in hindsight. When I barged into your fight back at the mansion, I was seriously starting to think that spirit hunting was gonna be easier than it really is. I've got my head screwed on now, though.”

“Me too,” Alex said, “I lost sight of why I came here for a while there. Being the strongest or whatever, it'd be useful for sure, but... It's not a necessity.”

Adrian tilted his head to the side. “Why did you join the Academy?”

Pausing for a second, Alex took some time to look out the window before answering. “You know the school pays us for doing missions, right? My family…My mom and two younger sisters. We're not that well off, so I’m planning on sending most of the money I earn to them. More missions equals more money to help them out.”

“Ah, I get you. What about your dad? Is he…?”

“Fuck knows where he is,” said Alex, tightly clasping his hands together, “I don't even know if he's alive…”

Adrian could sense that he probably should have kept that question to himself, but found that hearing Alex's story made him appreciate his own upbringing much more than he already did.

“Anyways,” Alex said, relaxing his body, “Just cuz I apologised doesn't mean we’re suddenly best friends. I have my reason to be here and that's all I care about.”

“Respectable, I guess,” said Adrian, smiling and rolling his eyes.

A knock at the door then caught his attention. Turning to look at it, he saw a nurse with a painful looking smile on her face. “You three appear to have some guests,” she said through her teeth. Following close behind her were three other students that Adrian recognised from the entrance ceremony.

Two of the girls who were involved in the argument that happened, Melanie and Lyla, and a stoic looking black-haired guy who's name he didn't know.

“Oh my God!” Melanie squealed in excitement. She was so loud and high pitched that it woke Isabelle up from her nap.

She frantically looked around, with her curly hair all frizzed up and covering her eyes. “Wha- W-who?”

“Hiii, what's your name?!” Said Melanie hopping over to her.

“Uh… Isabelle,” She replied, still trying to process what was going on.

“Izzy?! That's such a pretty name!”

“Thank you…?” She turned to look at the other girl, and was soon getting bombarded with a mountain of questions. Adrian missed the peace and quiet that was there before they’d turned up, but couldn't help but smile seeing Isabelle coming out of her shell a bit more.

The other guy that walked in with them, walked up to his bedside, with no changes in his muted expression. “Nice to meet you,” he said, giving Adrian a fist bump, “Neil Donovan.”

Adrian flinched for a second before answering. “Adrian Hunter. That guy over there is Alex.” Alex nodded his head from across the room.

Donovan, he thought, This guy's from a big shot family, just like Isabelle. Neil didn't carry himself in any significant way, and his nonchalant tone made it hard to read him for any specific emotions. Still, he seemed like an alright guy; Albeit, an unremarkable one.

“Alright, ladies,” Said a disgruntled voice from outside, “Let's try to keep the noise down. There are other residents here too.” It was Mr. Harrows. Adrian shuddered a bit seeing him walk in. He was certain that the little 'adventure' they had been on would get them into trouble. The teacher rubbed his chin and looked around the room, focusing on the three of them for a few seconds each. “I know you heal faster than regular people, but still... You're all in much better shape than I expected...”

Isabelle moved her arm around, testing what he'd said. “O-oh, yeah you're right. It does still hurt though.”

“Well, never mind that for now.” He opened a duffle bag he had brought along with him and took out three beefy looking white textbooks, and three black jackets, all branded with the letters 'S.H.A' in the corner. “You three are going to be staying here for a few more days, but I still want you studying. Start from page eight in the textbooks. That's the content we’ll be looking at for the next week or so.”

Adrian's eyes lit up as he clutched his uniform and took a look at the book's cover. “The young spirit hunter's survival kit - All the essentials and more.” All the secrets he needed to get stronger were in there. All he had to do was open its pristinely printed pages to find them.

“Alright,” Mr Harrows said, “I can't spend too much time here. I’ve got a meeting to attend to.”

“About us?” Alex asked.

“About recent events.” He gave each of them a stern look before taking his leave. “Make sure you read those books, you three.”

Recent events? Adrian thought, What the hell? If we're getting expelled then just say so.