The room hummed with energy as powerful wards around the training area did their best to contain the fireballs that threatened to destroy the surrounding furniture.
"Still not good enough!" Maria taunted, preparing a new barrage. She evidently enjoyed having a target that could not retaliate.
"I'd like to see you try," James grunted through gritted teeth. He had been the one with the brilliant idea of training his telekinesis by snuffing out individual attacks rather than using it as a catch-all shield in the hopes of getting some new levels in. He was now strongly regretting it, as he had to split his attention between hitting the fireballs and dodging those that managed to slip by.
It had begun so successfully, too. The first few attacks had proven easy to handle, and it seemed his fiery teammate had taken offense to the nonchalance with which he repelled her magic, because she had significantly upped the ante.
The annoying thing is that I can feel them coming. I can even get an idea of the really dangerous ones and the decoys, but using that information to vary my response is still impossible. At least not in a significant way.
James's concentration was absolute, his senses tracking each projectile with a precision that would have been impossible six months ago, but now, standing at the top of the E-rank, he moved with a confidence and skill that would have awed his younger self.
He resisted the instinct to use the mana he could feel churning within him to directly attack Maria. That would have been counterproductive and rude, as he had agreed to only use his powers to defend himself.
"Do I need to scale back down?" The redhead asked, half in taunt and half seriously. Considering that she was expending dozens of mana points per second to keep up the barrage, she'd have to in a while anyway, but James shook his head. "Try to keep it up for a while longer. I think I almost understood something."
Since the beginning of his career, the way his senses relayed information to his brain had been more than it could fully process. This meant he could concentrate on specific somethings and get more in-depth readings, but he was limited to a general understanding when scanning his surroundings.
For a few weeks now, James had been trying to connect his defensive telekinesis to his senses, entirely bypassing the active need for him to direct it.
It had initially seemed like a waste of time, since his psychic abilities worked because his conscious mind powered them. But after a few days of fiddling with the idea, he had managed to achieve small successes, which had emboldened him.
Unfortunately, he was still far from being able to deploy the ability in active combat.
Well, I have something to work on. I might be able to develop it more with time, but something tells me I have achieved all that could be done with my current stats and skills. I probably need to get to D-rank before I can actually use it.
Considering that D-rank was only a handful of levels away by now, it wasn't as distant a prospect as it might have seemed. Team 0 had grown by leaps and bounds, surpassing his wildest dreams, and it wouldn't be long before they crossed that boundary, too.
Deciding that, despite his dedication, he wouldn't be able to achieve what he wanted immediately, James sighed and ended the exercise.
Closing the distance, he easily pierced through the orbiting fireballs, having concentrated his telekinesis into a shield around him. Taking advantage of Maria's surprise, he stepped into her guard. His hand shot forward, stopping an inch away from her neck.
"Hey, this is not fair!" The redhead complained, unruffled by the attack. "You said you wouldn't respond."
"You still lack situational awareness, young Padawan," James answered, shaking his head like a wise old master disappointed in his trainee. "You get too into your attack pattern and completely forget that you still have to defend yourself."
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Maria rolled her eyes, but they held a spark of amusement. "Alright, Master Nerd, you win this round. But next time, I'm bringing the heat, no limitations. I'll show you that the only defense I need is overwhelming offense."
James chuckled and stepped back, giving Maria space. He wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling the satisfying ache of his metaphysical and real muscles. He had shot up a whole two inches in the past six months, and it could be seen in the way his last remaining baby fat had been burnt away and turned into steel-corded muscles. James didn't consider himself particularly bulky, but his high STR stat ensured that his body still showed significant growth.
His telekinetic abilities had also expanded significantly, allowing him to manipulate his environment with far greater control and finesse than before. The training, while exhausting, was exhilarating. Psychic Juggernaut had been an excellent choice, as it provided him with both explosive power - in the form of Overdrive, a skill that had saved his life a couple of times already when faced with particularly strong Bosses - and versatility that he lacked before - his telekinesis had become almost like a third arm, increasing his quality of life and battlefield control at the same time.
Being able to consistently spar with powerful people like his teammates allowed him to keep pushing forward without stagnating, even without Miss Walker there to guide him. Team 0 had made sure to take several missions, constantly pushing themselves to keep gaining levels, but it was his friends who made sure he could grow with his abilities, increasing his mastery in ways he couldn't have achieved without them.
Maria, her fiery red hair pulled back in a practical ponytail, had honed her fire magic to a terrifying degree. Her control was more refined, allowing her to cast her most potent spells without fear of hurting her teammates, and her firepower had increased significantly, making her a formidable opponent in any battle. She had taken their mentor's disappearance very badly in the beginning, going so far as skipping several days of training before emerging with a burning determination to do something about it that had seen her grow by leaps and bounds.
Ezekiel now wore his hair styled in an even messier, curlier haircut and watched from the sidelines with his arms crossed. The lightheartedness that once defined him had given way to a more serious demeanor, though the twinkle in his eye hinted at the humor beneath. The youngest of the team had worked hard to develop his skills, and his rule-setting ability had grown, becoming a devilish weapon capable of incapacitating powerful enemies and allowing the others to easily clean up dungeons. "I think it's almost there." He said to James, referring to his telekinesis. "You just need to be able to split your attention more, which is a MIND thing. You really need to become a three-stats build to make it work."
James nodded in agreement, sighing. "Yeah, it was evident pretty much from the Talent Evolution, and I have begun doing so. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten where I am now. But I would have liked having Miss Walker's input before fully committing to it."
That brought the room's mood down. The following silence was heavy, each of them lost in their own thoughts about Miss Walker. Her disappearance had been a shock to them all, and the continued lack of news only saddened them further. After coming out of the laboratory dungeon, they were informed that their mentor had gone missing alongside her plane while they were over the Atlantic Ocean.
Unfortunately, it wasn't such a strange occurrence. Intercontinental travel after the Apocalypse had become fraught with dangers, especially around certain areas which the plane she was on had been passing through. Still, knowing just how powerful the woman was, they all believed she wasn't dead.
S-rank dungeons or not, I sincerely doubt she wouldn't have been able to escape. Her A-rank evolution made it so I couldn't perceive her when she didn't want me to, and I've yet to meet a better sensor than me. Well, ok, maybe that's a bit arrogant, but still, she has to be alive somewhere.
"We need to stop waiting for her to appear out of nowhere," Lauren commented, lips pursed. "She'd hate to see us so listless." The oldest of the group had quickly grown in her mastery over shadows. Her figure had become more lithe, her movements more fluid, almost ethereal. The shadows responded to her will as if alive, wrapping around her like a second skin. She had been particularly hard-hit by their mentor's absence, often seen in deep contemplation, her usually impassive face betraying a hint of worry.
Standing by the doorway, Daniel had undergone a transformation of his own. The solid rock of their team was now more imposing than ever. His frame bulked up as fat burned away, adding even more muscle to his already impressive physique. Once mostly defensive, his barriers had evolved into versatile constructs capable of being used eclectically. There was a quiet strength in his stance, a reassurance that no matter what, he would always be there to protect them. "If she returns and finds us moping around, she'll make us pay." He chuckled, earning some half-smiles and lightening the mood.
Despite Daniel's words, their growth in power was evident. The news of Miss Walker's disappearance had hit them like a ton of bricks initially, especially since they had just emerged from a traumatic experience. They had thrown themselves into training with a fervor born of frustration and the desperate hope to be part of the search and rescue operations. But despite their efforts and the significant progress they had made, they were still left in the dark, with no word on her whereabouts or condition.
It wasn't like any of them expected to be given daily briefings, but as far as they knew, the AA had written their teacher off as a loss.
They are probably doing more behind the scenes, but they could have the courtesy to inform us the searches are still ongoing… Bah, what else did I expect?
James's tablet beeped, pulling him out of his reverie. He glanced at the screen and sighed. "It's from Legal. They are asking if we could go down to have a chat." A couple of months before, they had been informed that the investigations in the laboratory they had found had been completed, and they had been waiting to be called for more questions ever since. It seemed that was finally happening.
"Probably about the lab. It's about time they started including us in that investigation." Maria said, her tone grim. The mission where they had uncovered the laboratory conducting human experiments had been chaotic and fraught with moral dilemmas. They had all been deeply affected by what they had found.
“Yeah-" James agreed, a troubled look crossing his face. "That mission was a mess from start to finish. I just hope no one will try to blame us. We did what we had to do, given the circumstances."
Ezekiel clapped a hand on James's shoulder. "We'll handle it, whatever it is that they want, we've faced worse."
James nodded, feeling a surge of gratitude for his team. They had been through so much together, and it was this bond that kept them grounded. Without each other, he knew they would have likely fallen apart.
"Let's head over then.” Lauren suggested, her voice calm but authoritative. "The sooner we know what this is about, the better."