"No way!" Narcha slammed her hand against the table, staring at her companion in disbelief.

This time, Hector didn't try to stop her outburst.

"Was this what you had planned all along?!" The warrior asked, getting up from her seat. "Gods, I should have known! I should never have let you bring him with us!"

Eiwin didn't reply, calmly waiting until Narcha was done with her screaming. Her silence, however, only seemed to anger the tall woman even more.

"Do you even know anything about this kid?! Have you not heard about all the strange things happening in that forest lately?!" She continued her rebuke with unending energy but was met by the same serene expression on Eiwin's face. "...This is not even the first orphan that we've come across during our travels! Are you planning on having every one of them join the Sect too?"

Narcha didn't seem like she would stop scolding the younger woman any time soon.

"Narcha, please." The middle-aged man sitting across from her interjected. "How about you give Eiwin some space to breathe so she may explain herself first?"

"We shouldn't even need to hear her!" The warrior protested. "She's always been like this, too naive for her own good. We all put up with it until now because it never got in the way of Sect business, but look at where that got us!"

She waved her hand at Red.

"I mean look at him! Look at his wounds... His lifeless eyes! I've never seen such eyes even on an adult, much less a child. They're not normal!" She enunciated her words. "He's not normal."

"Not normal?" The man smiled. "As opposed to the rest of us?"

"...Look, you know what I mean." His words gave her pause, but she didn't back down. "Let's say that despite everything about him he just so happens to be a normal child - it still doesn't mean we should just take him in!"

"We are getting ahead of ourselves, Narcha." He shook his head. "The final decision still falls on Hector, and he will never take it without hearing both sides. Let Eiwin explain herself first."

"But-" She looked over at the old man seeking his support, but he had his eyes closed and seemed to be in thought. She could only throw her hands up in frustration. "Fine then! Let her speak."

The warrior sat back down. Suddenly the whole room's attention had been shifted to Eiwin, who still seemed as serene as ever.

"Thank you for your help, Mister Domeron." She nodded at the man sitting across from her. "Unlike what Miss Valt would like you to believe, I didn't make this decision lightly. In fact, I was just planning on having him healed by Master Hector, but I changed my mind midway through our journey."

Narcha stared at the woman skeptically.

"At first I thought of him as an innocent child who happened to have survived a terrible accident and was in dire need of comfort." Eiwin continued. "But I was quite wrong. Despite his wounds and terrible situation, not once did Red seem discouraged or even complain about his state. He was never dragged down by his condition and was quite eager to explore and learn about a world that he seemed to be seeing for the first time."

She looked at Red and smiled.

"I thought that perhaps that was just the ignorance of a child, too young to be aware of the terrible circumstances surrounding him." Eiwin shook her head. "But I was wrong again. He knew about his situation, about his injuries, and it probably wasn't even the first time he had gone through something like this. Despite that, he fought on and survived to tell the tale, more mature and determined than most people I've ever met.

"When I looked at him again, I didn't see his lifeless eyes. Rather, I saw the gaze of resolve. Of someone who wasn't just eager to survive, but to also live, to experience a life that he probably never had a chance to see. Maybe he's not normal. However, the same strangeness that might make him a threat, as Miss Narcha seems to believe, might make him special and helpful to us. Who's to say they can claim to know which one will be the case?"

She stared at everyone around the table.

"We are not the strongest, neither are we the most talented, but none of us have ever lacked the resolve or character to see our duties through. That is what makes a good Spirit Practitioner, and what made our Sect what it is today."

She paused, turning to look at Narcha.

"Wouldn't someone like that make for a good member, Miss Valt?"

Eiwin's speech made the warrior hesitate, but she still held some doubt and anger in her expression.

"All that stuff you said sounds very poetic and convincing." She responded. "But is that really the reason you want him in the guild? This orphan rescue business, kinda reminds you of someone else, doesn't it?"

Eiwin pounded her fist at the table in fury, ready to get up, but it was at that moment the old man opened his eyes.

"Enough!"

The women stared daggers at each other but settled down onto their seats once more.

"Before we move on... Domeron, do you have anything to add?" Hector asked, turning to look at the middle-aged individual.

"I'll respect your decision, Grand Elder Hector." The man smiled at him. "You won't be able to throw this responsibility onto my shoulders."

The elder cursed under his breath, before turning to look at Red.

"Well then... Here's what I have to say-"

"What about me?" A childish voice interrupted him.

Everyone around the table turned to look at the boy sitting by Hector's side and remained silent throughout the entire discussion. At the same time, all of them frowned.

"What about you, Allen?" The old man asked.

"Aren't you going to ask my opinion?" The kid smiled.

"I don't think that's necess-"

"I think it would be great if he joined us." Allen continued anyway. "I mean, it's really boring with only adults around the place. All you do is train and talk about boring stuff! Even Eiwin doesn't want to play with me anymore!"

He turned to look at Red.

"With him here I'd finally have someone my age I could play with!" The boy spoke in a joyful tone. "So I think he should join us. My vote is yes!"

Hector's frown deepened.

"This is not up for a vote."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the one who has the final say on everything in this Sect."

"That's not fair!" Allen grumbled, slamming his fists on the table. "Why do we have to put up with your tyranny?!"

Out of nowhere, a metal spoon hit the boy on the forehead.

"Get out of here you brat!" The old man roared, waving the utensil in the air while Allen held onto his head, tears swelling in his eyes.

"What did you hit me f-"

Another smack.

"I said get out!"

The boy stumbled out of his seat, running outside with all the speed he could muster. Everyone around the table acted as if they hadn't seen what had just happened.

"That little shit!" The old man complained, his chest heaving in anger. "I'll show him who's the tyrant..."

It took a few seconds for Hector to partially calm down before he turned to look at the two women again.

"I've heard what the two of you have said, and both of you make good points." He gazed at Eiwin first. "While what you said about temperament is true, this is still a sect at the end of the day. We don't just recruit anyone with a courageous personality. Everyone in this guild is either talented enough to warrant investing in or extremely skilled in their own specialties to be useful for us. This is why we have always had so few members, and why I'm not willing to open my doors to just anyone."

Narcha looked at her companion with a smug smile.

"But he's still just a kid." Eiwin complained. "His talent for Spiritual Practice might not be good, but what if he's talented in something else instead?"

"Hmm..." The old man looked Red up and down. "I don't have the practice of recruiting kids based on anything other than their talent for cultivation."

"Please, at least give him a chance to prove himself." She continued to insist.

Hector fell into deep thought, and Narcha's smile disappeared as she noticed he was considering the possibility.

"Come here kid" The elder waved with his hand, calling the boy over.

Red hesitated, remembering how violent the man acted before.

"It's okay." Eiwin patted him on the shoulder. "He's just going to examine your body."

This didn't make him feel any more comfortable. Would he be able to find traces of the crimson energy inside his Spiritual Veins? He considered refusing it, but he could see impatience appearing on Hector's face at his hesitation. Red didn't feel like he could run away, so in the end, he just did as he was told.

The old man gazed at the youth's eyes for a second, before extending his hands and grabbing onto his wrist. The boy thought about resisting, but despite how frail the elder looked, his grip seemed like steel clamps locking down his arm. Thankfully, it didn't seem as if Hector was trying to hurt him so Red just stood in place.

Abruptly, he felt something flowing into his arm around the area the old man was holding. It gave him a tingling sensation that he was very familiar with.

'Spiritual Energy'

Red could see a faint white glow around his wrist. Not only that, but it was coming directly out of Hector's hands. The realization hit the youth, and he looked up at the elder.

"You've opened your Spiritual Sea?"

"Hmm?" The old man seemed surprised at the question. "Just be quiet, brat, I need to finish examining you."

Red decided to do as he was told. He wondered to himself why he didn't feel the same pressure emanating from Hector as he felt coming from the insectoids and other monsters in the underground, but something else grabbed his attention.

He could feel the Spiritual Energy threads flowing through his flesh and into his opened Spiritual Veins. It felt different from the ones he absorbed before, which were quite unrestrained and hard to control. This one was more refined and seemed to have a will of its own. Red felt curious and tried to forcefully direct it as he did when opening his acupoints.

Suddenly, a bony hand slapped the top of his head.

"I told you to be quiet!" Hector berated him. "Do you want my energy to go out of control and cripple your veins?!"

Red rubbed the spot that had just been hit, feeling a swelling and dull ache appear. Instead of responding, he simply nodded towards the old man and chose to truly remain quiet this time.

"Good." The elder nodded. "Now then, let's see..."

The youth felt the energy sneak around his opened Spiritual Veins passing through every acupoint of his arm. They stopped at each of them and flowed around for a second, before moving onto the next one, this process repeating a few times.

"Hm? You've opened special acupoints? Interesting!"

The old man spoke out loud as his energy stopped in front of the said acupoints Red had opened with Viran's help. His curiosity only continued for a few seconds, though, before the energy moved forward. However, it once more came to a stop as it stumbled upon his injured shoulder.

"Huh?" This time the old man looked truly shocked.

Red felt his blood run cold.

'Does he know?'

The strand of energy wandered around the area a few more times, and a frown slowly formed on Hector's face. Eventually, he let Red's wrist go and looked at the boy with a strange expression.

"Kid, who the hell taught you that?"