"Maybe it's the fallout from all the disasters last year, but these Specters just keep popping up like weeds."
"I've been slammed all summer..."
It was late into the night. Geto Suguru, dressed in his black Academy uniform with his hair tied up in a half-bun, was walking the streets like a zombie. Despite being physically and mentally drained, he was still on patrol, hunting for any Specters that might appear.
"Got a hit. Specter energy."
He stopped in front of a pitch-black alleyway and stumbled inside, swaying slightly.
"Thought it'd be a routine cleanup job."
"Didn't expect a 'colleague' to beat me to the punch."
"I've never seen that ability before. His energy signature feels exactly like a civilian's, yet he's got a Specter—one pushing Grade 2—pinned to the wall, totally immobilized."
"Because of how my power works, I really need him to hand that thing over to me."
"But the moment those deep blue eyes locked onto me... that inexplicable pressure... for a second, I almost thought it was my best friend."
"But no, it's that 'weirdo' I met once before."
The guy who rejected the invitation from the Academy, the so-called "Cradle of Sorcerers."
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Geto was still lost in thought, but by the time he snapped back to reality, his wallet was lighter by a thousand bucks.
Once the cash was in hand, Kenmei Isayama promptly canceled his ability. Without the "Telekinesis" holding it up, the half-dead Specter face-planted onto the ground, unable to twitch.
"What a sucker."
That was Kenmei's assessment of the guy who had suddenly appeared behind him—the one smiling like a total frat boy.
He actually paid a grand for a half-dead monster without even trying to haggle.
If that's not a "sucker," what is?
Kenmei had originally planned to test the second effect of [Soul Devourer] to see how much Mana it would give him.
But then this second guy showed up, saying he wanted the kill.
Kenmei obviously wasn't going to let him freeload. What, you Academy guys think you can just bully people? You see a monster and think you can just take it without paying up?
He recognized the guy, too. It was the second-year from the Tokyo Sorcery Academy, Geto Suguru—one of that noisy trio.
The three of them who instantly turned into "good little soldiers" standing at attention the moment their teacher yelled at them. It was hard not to remember them.
"I don't know what you want with this ugly thing, but if you really want it, you gotta pay for it."
With over 230,000 Points in the bank, Kenmei didn't really mind parting with a monster that would only net him about 100 Points.
So, Kenmei quoted a price. He threw out a number.
"One grand."
"This was my kill. If you want to take it from me without putting anything on the table, that's gonna be a hard no."
And then, Kenmei watched Geto pull out his wallet.
"The Sorcerer Association treats you guys like dogs, but the pay sure is nice."
Geto was just a student, but Kenmei saw a stack of "Benjamins" in that wallet—at least forty or fifty bills thick.
"Dropped a grand without even blinking."
The guy was so casual about it that Kenmei started wondering if he had priced it too low.
He stuffed the cash into his pocket.
"Well, I guess coming out tonight wasn't a total waste."
Unknown to him, Geto was also feeling a bit ridiculous right now. He had just handed over a thousand dollars because of two sentences from this guy, and deep down, he actually felt like the guy made a lot of sense.
But money spent is water under the bridge. Agonizing over whether it was worth it would only cheapen his status as a Sorcerer.
Geto had an image to maintain.
In reality, this was mostly due to Kenmei's passive psychic influence intensifying after his upgrade to Theta Class.
Especially after the [Psychic Codex] transformed into the [Redemption of the Rubric], unlocking all schools of psychic powers for him.
Telepathic energy was unconsciously radiating from Kenmei. It was weak, but it added a certain layer of "persuasion" (read: hypnosis) to his words. It was completely involuntary.
Against someone mentally exhausted, it was super effective.
Geto had fallen right into Kenmei's verbal trap. His brain went, Yeah, that sounds fair, and his body just reacted, pulling out the wallet for an all-you-can-grab buffet.
"Sigh... there goes tonight's overtime pay."
Geto sighed and raised his hand toward the Specter on the ground.
His tone turned icy.
"Purge."
The empty alley was suddenly whipped by a phantom wind, stirring up a massive storm of cursed energy.
The Specter lying on the ground couldn't dodge. Powerless, it was completely swallowed by the massive surge of blue energy.
The skull-faced monster inside the storm began to sizzle like it was dipped in acid. It disintegrated piece by piece—bones snapping, flesh melting—until every inch of it was broken down.
Just this level of raw, crushing power output showed that Geto was already far beyond the level of an average Grade 1 Sorcerer.
The massive commotion and the wretched screams of the Specter echoing in the alley made Kenmei, who had already walked a bit of a distance, stop and look back.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"What a grudge. Talk about torture."
Sorcerers really do have twisted minds.
The Specter only lasted less than three seconds before completely melting into the energy storm, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.
When the alley returned to darkness, aside from the half-eaten corpse nearby, no one would know that a near-Grade 2 Specter had ever existed here.
Geto retracted his energy. He had compressed the Specter into a small, dark blue sphere of energy.
"There's nothing special about what I see."
He stared at the ball in his hand. Inside, the skull was tumbling and clawing, letting out silent screams of agony.
"Just the same old ugliness everyone knows about."
"Knowing that, I still chose to save the masses."
"Since the day I became a Sorcerer, that's what I've told myself."
"So, I have to get stronger."
Geto lifted the small ball, opened his mouth, and forced it down his throat whole. Even though his expression twisted in pain, he forced himself to swallow.
"No one knows the taste of a Specter."
Because of his specific Ability—Cursed Spirit Manipulation—he hadn't spent that grand for fun.
He bought it to eat it.
"Purge, consume, repeat."
He didn't even know how many Specters he had swallowed by now.
As Geto finally managed to gulp down the coconut-sized soft sphere and stood there gasping for air, Kenmei, who had been watching in silence from the side, asked the question burning in his mind.
"What's it taste like?"
Geto wiped the corner of his mouth, still panting.
A helpless look crossed his face as he replied:
"Like swallowing a rag that was used to wipe up vomit."