Ron spoke up, his voice cutting through the murmur of the classroom. “Everyone, this is the new student I mentioned—John!”

  The other Spirit Wielding students all turned curious eyes to the transfer student, sizing him up. Mid-semester additions to the Spirit Wielding Class were few and far between.

  And quite a few of them recognized him, too—

  after all, his supposed bound spirit awakening had been a huge spectacle, only to turn out a massive fiasco…

  “John, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

  “Sure!”

  John perked up at once, clearly ready and raring to go.

  “Huh? What are you doing with a dictionary?”

  Ron blinked, confusion crossing his face.

  “Uh… it’s my speech script.”

  “??? ”

  Ron’s eyes flew wide, utterly dumbfounded.

  The students below him froze too, leaning back in unison in shock.

  “Ahem…”

  John paid them no mind, clearing his throat and opening the dictionary. “Hello everyone, I am—”

  “Perfect!”

  Ron cut him off mid-sentence, his voice bright. “That was a wonderful introduction, John. You can take your seat now!”

  At his words, thunderous applause erupted from the classroom…

  “?”

  John stared, dumbfounded. I didn’t even get to say my name…

  Also, what’s with the applause?

  “Alright, everyone’ll have plenty of time to get to know you later.”

  Ron smiled, nodding toward an empty seat at the back of the class.

  “…”

  John sighed in defeat, slinging his bag over his shoulder and trundling toward the seat with his “script” in hand.

  “Boss John! Over here…”

  William struggled to hold back a laugh, nodding at the seat next to his own.

  He couldn’t help but recall John’s freshman year introduction—rambling and never-ending, it had left their homeroom teacher looking like he was about to have an aneurysm…

  “William, what’s with that look?”

  “I’m just sad for you, that’s all.”

  “Then I’ll give you a private introduction later.”

  “Boss… no need, really! I already know you inside and out…”

  William glanced at the “dictionary” in John’s hand and shivered involuntarily.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Ahem…”

  Ron’s voice boomed from the front again, cutting through their whispered banter. “Alright, I need to say one thing—John is just an ordinary human.”

  Silence fell over the classroom in an instant.

  Even the students who’d known about his awakening fiasco were stunned. They’d thought he’d somehow awakened a bound spirit after all.

  But he was still just a regular person?

  An ordinary human in the Spirit Wielding Class?

  This guy must have insane connections…

  But Ron’s next words answered their unspoken questions.

  “That said, his strength might be a bit higher than all of yours.”

  “Strength? A bit higher?”

  All eyes snapped to John, sharp and questioning. Was that the only reason he’d been let in?

  In an instant, challenging glints flashed in every pair of eyes.

  An ordinary human being placed above Spirit Wielding students? This was backwards, plain and simple.

  “No welcome gift, just straight to the pressure?”

  John raised an eyebrow, muttering to himself.

  Ron was practically throwing him right into the firing line…

  Ron grinned, clearly doing this on purpose. He knew exactly how strong John was, and he’d figured the boy would be the perfect motivator for the rest of the class.

  But then,

  John mouthed a phrase at him, his lips moving silently:

  I’m not responsible if I kill someone.

  “…”

  Ron froze, a cold dread washing over him. Instantly, he wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake.

  Was this kid actually serious?

  Just then, a middle-aged man holding a textbook appeared at the classroom door, gesturing at Ron with his eyes.

  “Alright everyone, class is starting.”

  Seeing the homeroom teacher arrive, Ron had no choice but to leave, resolving to have a serious talk with John later.

  The middle-aged man stepped into the classroom, his gaze flicking to the unfamiliar face of John for a moment before he said nothing more.

  “Alright everyone, let’s begin today’s lesson…”

  William leaned over, whispering quietly. “That’s Mr. Li—he teaches all our theoretical lectures.”

  “Today, we’re going to talk about bound spirits.”

  Mr. Li turned on the projector beside him, and the lesson began.

  At the words, John perked up, leaning in attentively.

  Even if he didn’t have a bound spirit himself, it never hurt to know more—especially if he ever needed to punch a Spirit Wielder…

  “A bound spirit is the most important thing a Spirit Wielder has. It is your ultimate weapon against vicious ghosts!”

  Mr. Li said firmly. “As your Spirit Power grows, so too will its strength. Once you become a Grade 1 Spirit Wielder, it will unlock its first Cursed Art!”

  At the mention of Cursed Arts, starry-eyed longing spread across the students’ faces.

  “But its combat power isn’t just limited to Cursed Arts.”

  Mr. Li continued. “Even its normal attacks can deal significant damage to vicious ghosts.”

  “Furthermore, the moment you summon it, you will be blessed with supernatural power—your strength, stamina, reflexes, everything will be enhanced across the board!”

  John nodded to himself at that. It explained why Ron had caught his punch so easily with that human-skin glove of his—it had been the supernatural boost from his bound spirit.

  “But for all its benefits, summoning a bound spirit comes at a cost.”

  Mr. Li’s tone turned serious. “Even if you do nothing at all, it will drain your Cursed Energy. Attacking or using a Cursed Art will drain it at an even more terrifying rate.”

  “To put it simply, Cursed Energy is like your mana in a video game. Once it’s gone, you won’t be able to summon your bound spirit at all—and it takes time to recover.”

  The students all nodded, the analogy making it instantly clear.

  “That’s why you must stay calm when dealing with supernatural incidents! Never attack recklessly. I don’t need to tell you the consequences if you run out of Cursed Energy, do I?”

  Mr. Li said, his gaze sweeping the room.

  “There are plenty of cautionary tales about this. Some Spirit Wielders, out of pure fear, unleash a flurry of attacks at thin air before a ghost even shows up…”

  A small chuckle escaped John at that, drawing every eye in the classroom to him.

  “Uh…”

  John stared at their solemn faces, leaning over to whisper to William. “Why isn’t anyone laughing?”

  “Because that’s basically all of us.”

  “…”

  They might have bound spirits, but they varied wildly in mental fortitude—some of them weren’t even as steady as the Intelligence Division students…

  Before long, the morning classes were over.

  “Alright, that’s it for today’s theoretical lecture.”

  Mr. Li picked up his lesson plans, his voice grave. “I hope you all remember what I’ve said. It’s a matter of life and death.”

  With that, he turned and left the classroom, and the room immediately erupted into chatter and noise.

  “Boss John, what’d you think?”

  William raised an eyebrow, grinning at him.

  “Not bad.”

  John nodded, genuinely impressed. He’d actually learned a lot.

  After all, they were the main force of this era, and the authorities held nothing back—they taught them everything there was to know about the supernatural.

  “We’ve got combat training this afternoon. Probably won’t be much use for you, though.”

  “Not much use?”

  John raised an eyebrow, grinning mischievously. “C’mon—I live for combat training!”