Chapter 22

Psychic Training part 3

A loud splashing could be heard as a powerful stream of water pushed Felix against the wall.

“What’s wrong, you’re not scared of a little water, are you?” Anastasia said, carrying a heavy machine in her arms.

“I thought you said you would look for an alternative that won’t kill me?” Felix whined as he wiped off the dripping water from his face.

“It’s on low pressure. It won’t kill you.”

“I don’t think I can relax with you pointing that waterjet at—” A surge of water blasted him into the wall before he could finish his sentence.

“I’m doing what you asked. Now get up and draw out your energy.”

Water dripped from Felix’s face and hair as his back slid down from the wall.

As he gasped for air, the Chief’s words invaded his already cluttered mind;

It was still too early for you to fight, too early for you to protect anyone. That’s why you were kept from real missions.

He took a shallow inhale, his eyes narrowed with frustration.

Instead of being a help, you would’ve been a liability. But now you don’t have that excuse.

A small flicker, then a stream of blue electricity, until it became a hazy, transparent blue fire that wrapped around his hands.

“Good, now let the rest of it flow all over your body.” His red-haired mentor instructed.

He slowly got back on his feet and complied, trying to level his ragged breathing.

The heat in his head increased, and gradually flowed into the rest of his body, like magma flowing through his own flesh. But the blue streams of lightning crackling around his body took its toll on him, searing his skin and quickly fading as it came out of him.

Anastasia tilted her head up as she remarked, “At this rate, you’ll get left behind.”

“Left behind? By whom…?”

“By the other three. I heard from David that they’ve been able to maintain their auras for a while. But so far, you’ve only been able to use it on your whole body on instinct.”

“Right… I guess that means we have plenty of work to catch up.” He blurted out in a tired, lamenting tone. He then grinned and got up, “What are we waiting for, hurry up and— GAHK!” The surge of water instantly shot him away.

“You lost focus. You can only control your aura through your hands, so keep pouring it out from there.” Anastasia said as she continued to use the waterjet on him.

The blast of water was split between Felix’s palms into four different directions between his fingers. The psychic energy in his palm was slowly drained away by the force of the water. His legs were being pushed back and slid on the surface of the tile floor.

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Unable to keep his body steady against the powerful pressure, Felix slipped and fell.

“I ran out of aura…”

“You shouldn’t have. You’re supposed to have the most psychic power of any of us.”

“…Right.” he wiped his drenched face as he lied flat on the ground, the sound of splashing water crackling in his ears.

In the other room, Nero was flung across the floor.

“Two minutes is up.” David declared. “You’ve gotten sloppy.”

“That’s because I’m out of aura…” Nero said as he got back up.

“You should have a lot more than that.” David replied. “Besides, I told you to manage that. You have a lot of psychic energy, but your explosive use of it drains it far too quickly.”

“Right. Fine tuning.” Nero blurted out in response.

“Grant, your next.” David called out.

Grant stood up. His eyes had thick, visible bags under them, and a bead of sweat poured down his face.

“Have you ever run out of aura before?” he asked.

“Of course, I have… aura is a different form of energy, and energy used against it quickly drains it. It takes a lot of aura just to prevent bullet from killing you.”

“…So what do you do when that happens?”

Anastasia explained to Felix, “Whatever improv you can come up with on the spot to survive. Let me tell you a secret. You’ll always have a little more aura to draw, even when you think you’re all out... But…” She stopped, realizing that she was about to explain things she was not supposed to.

“But?”

“But if you feel like you’re all out, it’s best not to force it.”

“Why?”

Anastasia paused, choosing her words carefully, “You’ll get a nosebleed if you do.”

Felix’s eyebrows raised and he replied, “I see.”

She did not have the heart to tell him the whole truth, she could not bear to tell him the reason why the nosebleeds occur.

“I didn’t know there were downsides to our abilities.”

“Actually, there are two downsides.” She corrected him.

Grant fell to the ground, but with a burst of crimson flare, he quickly got back up. David’s eyes widened as a stream of blood began to pour out of Grant’s nose. He lowered his arms.

“That’s enough.” David said as Grant slowly got back up, “Maybe. I was told that your hair has already turned white.”

“Only a bit…” He responded.

“So you have some access to your power, but you have no control over it yet.” David stated as he placed his fingers on his chin.

“Isn’t that what we’re training to fix?”

“It is, but you’re overworking yourself.”

“Ha? What do you mean? We’ve barely gotten started.”

“And how much have you been using your psychic power since? How much have you been training outside of this?”

“What does that matter?”

“Grant. I know you feel like psychic energy isn’t a part of you. But it is. It may not be a normal bodily function, but it takes place in your brain. Any form of overexertion is harmful if not handled properly. Even psychic power. When your body feels like it’s starting to overheat, that’s when you should ease up.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Take a break. That goes for the two of you as well.” David said to the other red-eyed espers.

“If you use too much psychic energy, you um…risk getting a nosebleed. Which shouldn’t be a problem for you. But if you use too little, you risk psychic overcharge. David and I suffer from the former. You, being the strongest esper, will suffer from the latter.” Anastasia explained to Felix as they sat next to each other on the bench.

“So I just need to keep using it consistently?” Felix replied.

“That’s right.”

Felix then looked on the pale floor as he pondered to himself, “I have a question that’s been lingering in my mind.”

“Shoot.”

“What… what does it mean to be an esper?” He looked at her with his azure eyes.

“Hah?” She glanced at him and repeated his question, “What it means to be an esper?”

“That’s right.” Felix nodded.

“I don’t think that’s a question I can answer, why bother assigning meaning to something so...” She scoffed and shrugged, but halfway through her sentence, she caught a glimpse of Felix’s crestfallen expression and the volume of her already small voice shrunk, “...vague and arbitrary.”

Gears started turning in her head as she thought to herself;

What am I doing? This is the moment I can be a cool and caring mentor!

Anastasia pushed back her cynical thoughts and cleared her throat, “Superficially speaking, we now have the ability to move things with our mind, but I think...”

She flashed him a calculated smile, “That it gives us a strength to push beyond our limits. To be strong in a way that we need to be.”

Felix’s spirits were lifted by this answer, and he too gave a bright smile.

“That’s why you need learn how it works before you become a liability. Figure out what’s keeping you from using your powers and overcome it. You’re supposed to be the strongest, after all.”

He clenched his fist and confidently answered, “Alright.”

~