"Do you really have to be here?" Kron asked. He and Ichika were sitting on the ground and facing each other.
Ichika pouted, pretending that she was offended. "Why? Do you want me to go?"
"No.. No.. I didn't say that!" Kron shook his head. He was too embarrassed to tell Ichika that it won't be really good for them if other students learned that she kept visiting him at night. He was not sure what kind of background she had for not really minding these kind of things. Truthfully though, the primary reason he doesn't want her to be here is that he was anxious of the possibility that she would see him fail.
"Then stop minding me and focus!" Ichika said.
Before going to Kron's room. The two picked up 3 items for training. A fruit, a paper and a stick. The fruit was called a moon apple. It was shaped like a crescent moon and when peeled, it was like a thick biscuit. The paper that they used was called a wash paper. Water does not make it soft but instead erases the writings in it. Lastly, the stick was just a dark blue colored branch from a native tree found in the courtyard. These 3 things are currently lying between the two of them.
For a start, he chose the branch since it was what he had success before. He grabbed the branch with his two hands and started pouring energy in it but nothing was really happening to it. He then started imagining that it was a metal and the result was still the same.
"Nothing. Why is nothing happening?" Kron whispered. He was starting to think that Ichika might have seen it wrong. Then he looked at her. There was no disdain but only longing for him to succeed. It was no different from the friends that he made this year. He then unexpectedly smiled, thinking that this year was really good for him compared to all his past years. Maybe the gods have finally pitied him.
"What are you smiling at? Are you starting to go insane?" Ichika furrowed her eyebrows, jerking away. "Please don't suddenly go laughing and saying that you are losing hope."
"That's right! Hope! That was what I was feeling during that time!" Kron opened his eyes wide, feeling enlightened. "Who are you calling insane? I'm just starting! You probably watched too many movies!"
Kron started to hope to be successful. He wished to be better! He desired the ability to change! Abruptly, a faint aura circled around both his hands.
"Look! Can you see this?" Kron asked, extending his arms forward.
Ichika stared at the branch closely, bending her neck left and right. "Huh? Look at what? Its still a stick."
"Is it visible only to me?" He thought.
Kron then tried to recollect what he was thinking back then. He wanted something more durable; something that was harder and what came to his mind during that time was exactly steel. This time, the stick fully transformed to a steel branch. He was successful.
"You did it!" Ichika shouted.
Kron was smiling from ear to ear. He can't describe right now the satisfaction that he was feeling. He was staring at the branch like he was hypnotized. "I... did... it! I really did!"
"Can I take a look at it?" Ichika asked.
Kron then gave her the branch but as soon as he pulled back his hands far enough, it turned back to its original form.
"It transformed back! So does it only work if you are touching it?" Ichika wondered.
"I'm not sure. Hold it for a second." Kron requested. He then reached out towards the branch without touching them. His goal was just to have it inside the spherical aura without touching it.
Once it was inside, he started again to transform it into a steel and it was again a success.
"Aww!" Ichika cried out, dropping the branch and transforming it back again. She then shook her hand, as if trying to ease the pain.
"Why? What's wrong?" Kron asked worriedly, looking at her hands.
"It's fine. I was just surprised but I felt some power permeating my hands but it looks like I'm not really affected." Ichika said as she twisted her hand around to see if she was really fine.
Kron sighed, glad that he didn't hurt her. "I guess its still better if I don't use it near your hands."
Kron learned two things about his ability from that experiment. One is that his ability is limited to the area inside the sphere and the spheres on his hands was currently close to a meter each. The next thing he learned was that it might not be effective against humans or at least humans would resist it.
Without further ado, he then moved to the paper. He wished it to become a plastic and surely, it also transformed into one. He was still smiling like mad but he was more calm this time and didn't really say anything. Instead, he squeezed the plastic into a ball and flattened it again. He then tried to transform it back into paper.
"Wait! What?" Kron was surprised by the result.
The result of his experiment is that the paper was not crumpled even though there was a lot of crease when he squeezed it as a plastic. But it was actually not what he was surprised at, what he was surprised at is that the paper was not a wash paper but instead, a normal paper that they use on Earth. He then placed it away from his hands and then it went back to the wash paper. He learned another two thing with this test. First, He needs to be specific on what he thinks or it might not be what he would have wanted. Second is that he could transform an already transformed object just like he transformed a wash paper to plastic to earth paper.
"You can also turn things to plastic?" Ichika said, sounding surprised. She then looked at the fruit. "Wait! Don't tell me that you can transform that fruit into a banana or orange?"
"Uhmm! I'm not sure about that but let me try." Kron said as he reached out for the fruit.
He then started to think of a ripe mango. It seemed that nothing was happening to the fruit but it was not actually true. It was very slowly transforming but it seems to be not perfect. The shape was closer to a banana. It might be a limitation of his ability or he just needed practice.
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"Is that a mango? Why does it look weird?" Ichika chuckled, looking at the fruit. "Why don't you try tasting it?"
"Taste it? Are you serious?" Kron asked, looking back and forth between Ichika and the fruit.
"Why not? It should be safe right? Not confident with what you imagined?" Ichika challenged, raising her eyebrows and smirking.
"Fine. I'll taste it a little!" Kron peeled off the mango and took a little bite at it. "Mmm! Its actually good. It does taste like a mango."
"Really? You're not playing a trick with me?" Ichika started looking at the mango. She seems to be craving for it. "Fine. Let me try it."
Kron gave her the mango but stayed close to her. She then took a little bite off of it.
"You are right. Its really a mango!" She started licking her lips. She then tried to take a second bite. "Huh? What's this?"
What she tasted was the crispy texture of the moon apple. Kron moved his hands away and it reverted back to its original form. He started laughing after seeing her reaction.
"You! So.. Is that what you want?" Ichika waved her hand and a splash of water came for Kron. She started laughing when she saw some of the water got through his mouth.
Kron coughed due to the water. "What was that for?"
"Well, you started it!"
The night didn't end too well for Kron as he needed to clean his room after his prank backfired at him. It was still worth it because he learned that reducing a transformed object would also reduce
a part of the original object; Assuming that the cut part actually have disappeared or dissolved, not just cut off. For example, the peeling of the mango transformed back to the peeling of the moon apple.
The next day came. Kron didn't have a really long sleep but he still woke up in a good mood. He knew that there is so much things that he needed to learn about his own abilities. It was not as simple as it appears. In fact, he was preparing to spend his time in the library again. He wanted to study about the ways that he could improve. Coincidentally, he received a message from Min-Joon. He didn't even know of that functionality before. He first checked his updated information.
################
Resident# : 245,671,143
Name: Kron Alpas
Place of Origin: Earth
Stature: J (Newcomer)
Academia: Dracanae Institute (Probationary Phase)
Affiliations: None
....
Classifications: Enhanced
Positions: None
....
Credits: 910
Notes: Applied for Scholar position.
################
He saw his updated information and noticed quite a number of changes. It seems that the government of this place are making sure that they have the updated information about an individual. He really didn't like it but he was not in a place to actually complain. He also saw that his credits have been reduced significantly due to food. He would soon need to find a way to earn money. Otherwise, he would be forced to only eat the free snacks given by the school.
Finally, he opened the notification that he had. Min-Joon was adding him as a friend. There was also an attached message asking him if he would like to hang out in the library again which he already expected. He already planned to accompany Ichika later for the combatant application but it was still in the afternoon so he still have a free morning. Fortunately, Min-Joon also didn't have any plans in the morning so they immediately met each other and went away.
There were more people in the Scholar's Hall today compared yesterday. It is because people are starting to submit their application. It was good that he already submitted his form yesterday. Otherwise, he would be in trouble.
The two started borrowing books and data pads again. They then started reading quietly and planned to discuss it later. Soon, a few hours have passed quickly so they now planned to take a break. What Kron noticed was that Min-joon was reading far faster than him and the topics that he read are getting more and more complicated.
"You are actually a very fast reader." Kron commented, looking at the stack of books beside Min-Joon.
"Oh," Min-joon lowered his head, feeling embarrassed. "Its because my awakening is superhuman memory and understanding."
"That's! really... great..." Kron tried to contain his amazement due to their location. "So you already understood all of that?"
Min-Joon shook his head. "No.. No.. some are too complicated... but I memorized most of the words so I'll try to comprehend them later."
Min-Joon didn't understand how much respect Kron has had for him now. For Min-Joon though, his greater understanding made him also understand that he was nothing special. He knew that most of the Scholars here are of similar disposition.
"Well, you are still really amazing!" Kron exclaimed, smiling at Min-Joon.
"But aren't you the same? The book that you are reading about magical locks are pretty complicated. I have read that before earlier." Min-Joon replied. He was confused. He was so sure before that Kron also had an ability related to the brain because Kron was also not picking very simple books. He just thought that he might have a different area like logic because Kron said he liked math.
"You are exaggerating! You could see I'm reading this book very slow." It was Kron's time to feel embarrassed. Still, he thought about what Min-Joon said. He is able to follow most of the books that he read. "Did I just get smarter? or was my ability somehow had an affect on my brain?"
As for Min-Joon, he was waiting for Kron to reveal his ability regarding his mind but Kron did not say anything about it. He started to think whether Kron was naturally this smart when he was on Earth. The two then continued there discussions until Min-Joon received a notification from someone Kron didn't know. He habitually opened his information screen first before opening the notification.
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Resident# : 245,671,162
Name: Min-Joon Kim
Place of Origin: Earth
Stature: J (Newcomer)
Academia: Dracanae Institute (Probationary Phase)
Affiliations: None
....
Classifications: Enhanced, Superhuman (Brain)
Positions: Scholar (Student)
....
Credits: 940
Notes: Possibility of being Unique (Gifted)
################
Notifications:
1. Ability Training
################
"Sorry. I still need to see Prof--- someone." Min-Joon closed his magical circuit, bowed down and extended his goodbye.
"That's fine! I also have something to do later". Kron replied, smiling. "Let's see each other in class."
Kron saw a bit of Min-Joon's information and notification. He already knew that Min-Joon was a superhuman but knowing that Min-Joon has a possibility of being unique gave him a shock. As he learned from a student yesterday, gifted people are fairly rare and given much importance. It was possible that the person he would meet for ability training is about his unique skill.
"Wait! What about me?" Kron then had a sudden realization. "Am I also a gifted?"
He started thinking if he fits the criteria of the other categories of awakened. He already crossed out superhuman since it doesn't just enhance any of his existing human capability. Mutated is also far fetched as nothing in his body seemed to have changed. The attuned has a very small possibility since his conversion seems to be too complex for just an elemental manipulation. Invoker is a possibility if the spherical aura was some spirit. His thinking was only stopped when he received a notification from Ichika asking where he was. He then went to meet her.
"Ichika! Do you think I'm a gifted awakened?" Kron asked as soon as he met Ichika.
Ichika suddenly covered his mouth. "Don't shout! Be quiet. And yes, I think you are unique."
Kron pulled away Ichika's arms gently. "Okay! Okay! But why are you suddenly being discreet! Didn't you want-"
"I changed my mind." Ichika suddenly got serious as if she was speaking from her own experience. "I thought you have some rare element like metal and covered the branch with it."
"But what's the problem with it? Should I just hide it?" Kron could somehow understand her but without it he was just a normal enhanced.
"No. But it would be better to lay low until you understand it well." Ichika's face suddenly become gloomy. "Not everyone likes talented people."
"What about you? Didn't you reveal your abilities?" Kron looked sideways. He was not sure if he should say it. "And if you also have lightning attunement, I think the representatives from before are also suspecting it."
"Lightning? Yes. You are right. I think I do." Ichika looked up, pondering for a bit. Her face seemed to be a mix of longing and sadness. "But that's not all."