Chapter 15 (Side Story - Xavier)

04 | A Hunter's Secret Training

With that, Frank waits and waits and waits, but still, he never sees Xavier, the Best of the Best, go out to fight Wanderers. Instead, all he gets is the rapidly approaching end of his summer vacation. A week later, unable to wait anymore, Frank takes out his homework assignment and starts writing.

"Deepspace Hunters will sleep until noon every day. When they wake up, they have lunch. After lunch, they either walk around outside or stay at home to watch TV. Sometimes they fall asleep watching TV.

Deepspace Hunters aren't picky. They eat everything. They also aren't picky when it comes to places to sleep. They can sleep anywhere. But... Frank stops writing. Deepspace Hunters... are kinda weird.

One night, Frank woke up to use the bathroom. He saw the balcony when he passed by. But as he came out, a shadowy figure stood on the balcony, scaring him.

"It's me."

"...Mr. Xavier?"

"Yeah." Xavier enters the living room and shuts the balcony door behind him. His shadow elongates under the moonlight.

"Did you fight Wanderers, Mr. Xavier?" Xavier remains silent and starts to head to his room. His body is covered in shiny stuff again, but Frank can't see them clearly.

"Why didn't you bring me with you if you're fighting Wanderers?"

Xavier pushes Frank to his room as he walks. "Go to bed. If you're not tall enough, you're not allowed to fight Wanderers."

"Okay..."

After getting back into bed, Frank wonders about another thing. Why did Xavier come in through the balcony and not the front door?

Frank slumps on his desk, unsure if he should write that.

"What are you doing?" Xavier comes over.

"Summer vacation homework."

Xavier seems taken aback. "There's homework during summer?"

"Yeah."

Frank lifts the notebook up. Xavier reads

everything and doesn't say anything for a while.

"If all I needed to do to be a Deepspace Hunter was sleep and get taller, that'd be great... But... it's not like what I thought it would be..."

Xavier sits down by the desk. "Actually, that's not what being a Deepspace Hunter is like. Other than fighting Wanderers, we have to do other things too. Such as... taking exams or doing special training. Stuff like that."

"But I never see you fight Wanderers."

"That's because it's been peaceful here in the city."

"There's not a single Wanderer?" Frank asks.

Xavier thinks for a moment. "There are more hunters nowadays, and they're all very strong. Every time there's a Wanderer, they defeat it before I even know it's here."

Frank takes a while to process what Xavier said. "So, you're not fast enough?"

"...You could say that."

Frank raises his fist. "I think you should try

harder, Mr. Xavier!"

Xavier smiles and fist-bumps him. "All right."

"When do you have exams?"

"I don't have exams."

"What about training?"

"Nope."

Frank writes the following: "Deepspace Hunters don't have exams. They also don't need to train-"

Xavier grabs his pen.

"I don't have to train right now," Xavier