Chapter 3

I follow the old man up two more floors before reaching what seems to be the top floor. This floor only has one wall in the back with a pair of doors leading to a room. Ornate bookshelves filled with books line the main room. It seems to be a room dedicated to studying based on the pile of books sitting on the group of tables in the center. We walk through to the back room. This room must be the head office. A large desk sits at the back of the room with a stack of papers on either side with a lantern next to it still lit. He must have been still working before he caught me snooping. This begs the question of why he didn’t seem troubled by it. Either it’s because he trusts I won’t harm someone or he’s used to this kind of thing. If it’s the latter I’ll have to be more on guard since I have no way of knowing if there could be an agent of the Sun Lords. If it’s the former then this must be a peaceful place compared to where I’ve lived. That kind of trust you could only find in the soldiers who fought side by side. We learned to never trust anyone but the men whom we risked our lives with. The old man grabs two cups and a teapot before sitting down behind the desk. He motioned for me to sit in front of him with a wave of his hand and a smile.

As I sit down, he begins to brew tea as he says something to me which I can only respond with a confused look. They should be able to tell we don’t speak the same language. He sighs and pushes one of the cups to me, the tea is a vibrant light green and has a soothing smell. I take a sip and immediately feel more relaxed and calm. We stay in comfortable silence until we have both finished the tea. Afterward, he guides me back to my bed. I sit there thinking over what I discovered during my little walk. This place is more peaceful compared to where I have lived before and its people seem trusting enough. However, I can’t tell if that’s the case for everyone or if this old man is just nice to his patients. I begin to drift off to sleep from the soothing feeling left over by the tea.

By the time I wake up again, it’s light outside with people coming and going from the front of the building. The young woman came by today with a book. The book is something used to teach children how to read. So far I’ve learned the words ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’. Using a brush to write instead of a pen or pencil is harder than I thought and incredibly awkward too. Though finally being able to speak a bit is freeing. I also managed to learn the young woman’s name, Fang Yijun. I finally got to thank her properly today for helping me, and because of that I got to learn how to say ‘you're welcome’. Satisfied with teaching me for today, Yijun leaves. The old man is next to visit not long after.

“Hello.” The old man halts suddenly and eyes me with surprised delight.

“Hello!” He follows it up with something else that I can only assume is ‘How are you feeling’. I give him a thumbs-up, and he smiles in return. He grabs my wrist again and sends that strange energy through me again. He retracts the energy with a pensive look. He begins talking to himself as he shuffles to the back room. A couple of minutes later he returns with a bowl of medicine. I almost spit it back out because of how bitter it tastes. I guess they can’t flavor medicine like I’m used to. I finish off the medicine and hand the bowl back. He nods and then walks away again. Wanting to use the time I have, I start testing the full scope of my psychic powers. With no way of knowing if the teleportation or world I am currently in has affected my powers, it’s best to check and make sure I can still use them.

I close my eyes as I test the first of my powers, [Psychic Detection]. It’s a power all psychics possess at the moment their powers manifest. In the beginning, most psychics won’t be able to tell much nor do they know how to effectively use it. As its name entails, [Psychic Detection], allows one to sense their surroundings. How detailed the information is and how far they can sense depends on the amount of psychic power they have and how familiar they are with using it. My maximum range is roughly one hundred feet or thirty meters in total. This is the average range most psychic soldiers have. Extending my detection to the limit I can make out how big this place is. From what I can gather this is only a small section of the area I’m in as countless individuals are moving at high speed nearby. There are about thirty or so people inside the building with me, a couple are on the first floor while most are in the backroom and upper floors. The strange thing about them is the unique energy inside of each one. There are some with similar energy but all the people I can sense have a different energy than the others. That’s something I’ll have to worry about later once I can properly hold a conversation.

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The next power I test is another basic of psychic soldiers, [Telekinesis]. This is the best way to gauge someone’s talent. The amount of psychic energy someone has is very important to operations as like with all things there is a limit to how much someone has. If you have a lot of psychic energy you can fight longer and use more complicated techniques. I have a slightly below-average amount of psychic energy. But my fine control more than makes up for my lack of power. I focus my power on the chair next to me, lifting it slightly off the ground and moving it in various directions. The amount of power and my control are still in top condition so there isn’t much to worry about here.

I take a deep breath before checking the last power on my list. Every psychic has something unique to them. Whether it be teleporting, telepathy, clairvoyance, or pyrokinesis. We all possess a power unique to ourselves. The power I was born with is, [Electrokinesis]. It’s where I got my nickname ‘Thunderbird’ from. Like with [Telekinesis], a psychic soldier can augment their own body to become faster or stronger. I was given the nickname ‘Thunderbird’ because I augmented my speed, making me the quickest runner in the whole army. That’s how I was able to survive for so long. When we would retreat I would be the first to deliver the news to command. I feel the electrical current run through my body, prompting a dull ache to follow behind it. I refrain from using my [Electrokinesis] as much as possible since I don’t have enough power to protect my body from the backlash. If I use it too much or for too long I can end up damaging my body. It seems to be working fine, though that dull ache has me worried my past use of it is catching up to me now. A subtle smell of smoke reaches my nose as I notice a part of the bed has been burned where my skin touched it. The clothes I am currently wearing also have a couple of scorch marks and singes that arch like lightning. This is why the clothes psychic soldiers wear are all engineered so they can’t be damaged by our power. The old man peeks his head with a questioning look on his face as he asks a question. I can only assume he is talking about the smoke.

His eyes shoot open in alarm as he takes notice of the bedding and my clothes before sprinting out of the infirmary. Maybe I should have waited to test that out until later considering his reaction. Not long after the old man comes bursting in with Yijun and the young man from yesterday. He motions them to come and points out the burn marks around me and on the clothes. Speaking in an almost frantic tone the other two look at each other in surprise with Yijun looking a little more delighted than I would like. She picks up my arm and looks over it like she’s looking for injuries while the old man calls down the hall. The young man stares at me with a worried expression with his arms crossed across his chest. He lets out a sigh before turning and leaving. A group of assistants crowd into the space with dozens of papers, books, and brushes along with various tools and bottles. It almost feels like I’m going to become a lab rat with the way things are looking. Yijun has let me have my arm back as she talks excitedly with the old man. For the next couple of hours, I was poked at and prodded as they wrote down various things. I really have become a lab rat.

Once they are done they scamper back to the back room, talking in hurried whispers. Yijun stays beside me as the old man follows the assistants. She pulls out the same book from last time, picking up where we left off. We start small with simple words like ‘food’ and ‘bathroom’ making our way into full sentences. I can’t say I would call it one of my proudest moments when I was finally able to say, ‘I’m hungry’, but being able to say it feels so good. Yijun stays with me even when they bring me food, teaching me the language all day. The food they served me was some kind of porridge, very bland tasting. Yijun had some kind of meat dish with vegetables. I’m not too sure what it was but it looked close to a stew. Finally, Yijun left around the middle of the day, leaving the book behind. I still can’t read a lot of the words in it but it will be helpful to at least memorize the words I can read. I spend most of the afternoon reviewing the words I know before the old man comes back. This time the young man and another person are with him this time. The stranger is a man with bright red hair and crimson eyes. He almost seems to radiate power from every inch of his body. The old man points out the burn marks from before to the new man, waiting in silence as the man looks me over. He says something briefly before turning away and leaving. The young man seems to be dissatisfied with whatever he said as he chases after him.

As the old man gives an encouraging smile, I try to return it though worry seeps through me. What was it that he said to cause such a reaction? They aren’t going to kill me since the old man seems happy. So what are they planning? I’m left to my thoughts alone once again as the old man leaves after giving me some more of that bitter medicine. I look out at the setting sun’s light casting about outside as I turn the book over in my hands. Since I can still use my powers I don’t have to stay in this place, but until I find out how much damage I’ve sustained I can’t make reckless decisions. I sit back opening the book again to continue reviewing, going all the way into the night until eventually I fall asleep with it in my hands.