10 Years Later

Many potential Jaegers were recruited in the next 10 years. Three huge facilities were built in South Asia, Russia, and Japan to train them before their compatible spirits would find them and they would be sent to the border which was pushed more to the east. Now, after a moderate army was created the advancement of the Entomorphs was stopped. Now, the only places the humans still controlled were Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, Korea, parts of China, and Russia.

10 years later, on one spring morning in the training facility, many 16-17-year-olds are sitting in a class. The students were all wearing olive color military uniforms. The teacher says, ".....it's been 18 years since the entomorphs have attacked us. Now only …. A billion of us still live in this small area that we still hold. But we're dreaming of taking back the whole world once again thanks to you. You Jaegers are humanity's last hope...….." The teacher then goes on to explain the creation of the Jaeger Corps. She then says, "Now, let's talk about the spirits. Spirits are otherworldly species that can tap into human spirit energy to grant humans the ability to fight these entomorphs. All of you are here because you have a huge amount of spirit energy. There are many types of spirits. There are ones that grant the contractor enhanced physical abilities. These types of spirits are called Grantors. There are also 'Transformers' who can transform themselves into weapons or armor. One other type is the Evolvers. They can Evolve into a predatory species using the contractor's spirit energy and fight alongside the contractor. And lastly are the Absolutes. They possess more than one type of ability. The absolutes are the rarest of the spirits. There are only two absolutes that we know of as of now. One is General Liu's spirit Rex and the other is Major Sakura Mori's spirit Serenity. Now can anyone tell me how someone can make a contract with a spirit?" A few students raise their hands. The teacher looks among the students and notices a student zoning out in the back. She calls out to the student, "You, the last one in the second column. You tell the answer." The boy stands up. He was around 5 feet 10 inches tall and had an oval face that screamed innocence. His medium-long black hair hid his forehead and anyone could tell he wasn't just another teenager by a look in his blue eyes. He says, "You can't just make a contract with any spirit just because you have spirit energy. You have to be compatible with the spirit. It is said that you don't find your spirit but your spirit finds you. Also one can only make a contract with only one spirit. There hasn't been any case where a contractor has made a contract with more than one spirit at a time."

The teacher is taken aback by his answer and she asks, "What's your name, kid?"

"Ray Foster."

The teacher gets more shocked when she hears the name and says, "You're Ray Foster? The kid with the highest amount of spirit energy recorded till now?"

The boy nods. The teacher says, "You're in your last year now. I hope you find your spirit before you graduate."

One student says with a taunting tone, "Sorry, teacher. I don't think that would be happening. I mean all of us have already found our spirits but he still didn't. He's even nicknamed the 'Spiritless sage'" Everyone laughs. The teacher shouts, "Everyone stops. He hasn't found his spirit till now, but that doesn't mean he will never find one. Ray, don't be down. Have faith." Ray nods and sits down. The bell rings. The teacher gathers his materials and says, "That's it for the 1st class of your last year. See you tomorrow." Everyone stands up as the teacher leaves. Ray quietly bows down and picks up his bag. At that moment a girl around his age approaches him. The girl had a round face, gray eyes, and long brown hair. She says, "So, Mr. 'Spiritless sage'? Where are you going without even a word?" Ray shrugs and says, "I'm not leaving alone, Tess. And you're gonna tease me too now?"

Tessa laughs and says, "Sorry sorry. I was joking."

A boy suddenly speaks from Tessa's back, "Ms. Tessa Robson. Are you teasing my buddy again? This time I'm not letting you off."

The boy reaches them. The boy was their age too but had a bulky body and was almost six feet tall. He had short messy black hair and a Brown skin tone. Tessa says, "Rohan, I was just joking. Chill out."

"Huh? Anyway, I'm going to the shooting range. You two wanna tag along?"

Tessa says, "Nah. I've promised to hang out with some of my friends today."

"And you, Ray?"

"Sorry, Rohan. I'm just gonna go home for today. I'm not feeling very good."

"OK. See you at home."

Rohan leaves. Tessa notices Ray is feeling down and says, "I think I'll go home today too."

Ray replies, "No. You should go with your friends. See you at home."

Ray leaves the classroom before Tessa can say anything else. Ray was feeling down since he still hadn't found his spirit and the taunts were getting in his head. He gets out of the facility area and starts walking down the streets of Chittagong towards his home.

Suddenly he hears a slamming noise followed by the screeching of tires. He looks at the road and sees a small truck going away. He then looks closer and finds a small cat covered in blood. The cat was groaning from pain. Ray runs to the cat and picks it up. He starts thinking about what he should do. But suddenly the cat says, "I don't have much time. Quick. Get me somewhere quieter."