Jason didn't answer and instead looked at Asami with a mixture of perplexity and exasperation while slightly shaking his head; he didn't understand what Asami's question had to do with his lesson and he felt even more helpless when he noticed how the students were far more eager to hear his answer than his lessons.
"Are you dating Melanie?" Asami asked the question again in simpler terms. Suddenly, Asami's eyes widened along with every student; their eyes were staring past Jason who failed to notice their astonishment.
"If you're asking if I'm single, then the answer is yes," Jason said slowly after a moment of consideration.
"Any other question?" Jason asked as soon as he saw Asami open her mouth again.
"I have one," a mellow voice from behind him said and Jason froze before smiling wryly, his teeth biting his lower lip.
"Melanie," Jason said as he turned to look at her with a cramped smile plastered on his face. "Uh, how long were you …?"
"Oh, long enough," Melanie answered softly. Her smile sent shivers down Jason's neck, and he was certain she would hold this against him.
"Right," Jason said. He looked down at the floor, before looking at Melanie's eyes. Her brown eyes were bright, so bright and tender, he had to turn away. "So. What was your question?"
"May you explain the Esper levels to the students? And how to increase them?" Melanie asked as her eyes moved to Emily and stayed on her for a while and the latter's heart skipped a beat when she noticed Melanie's gaze. Emily was precisely after this information and it couldn't be a coincidence that Melanie brought this up. That intuitive gaze she gave Emily seemed to hint at knowing Emily's secret.
Jason smacked his forehead with a hand before standing up and walking around. He muttered to himself: "I knew I was forgetting something. There are nine levels in total for Esper abilities, and they're grouped into four categories. Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and lastly, Unknown. Elementary is exactly as it sounds, it's when you first manifest your Esper ability. Levels 0-1 are categorized as Elementary. Then there's the Intermediate category, which is comprised of Levels 2-4. After that is the Advanced group, which is levels 5-7."
Emily, who still felt unwell, perked up and listened to Jason's words carefully as he explained in a clear and concise voice. Her research in the library provided with less than half of what she learned today.
"Increasing your level from 0 to 1 can be difficult. It's the first block you encounter when training your Esper ability. Some of you are lucky and awaken your ability on a higher level, like 1 or 2. But for those of you who don't, the only thing I could say is practice, practice, practice.
"Your Esper ability is like a muscle. You need to exercise it so it gets stronger," Jason slapped his bicep that he was flexing as he spoke, emphasizing it as an example. "And that's what the Elementary level is all about. You learn how to move the minuscule amount of energy you have around your body before emitting it outside your body.
"Once you fully succeed that, you should be at the Intermediate level. So, on the threshold of level 2, going to level 3. Then, it's all about increasing the amount of energy you can hold. It's like a can of soda that's frozen and unfrozen. Okay, bad example. Basically, you expand and compress your energy, allowing your body to hold more. The most common way of doing that is by exhausting your powers. The second, more difficult method is to compress your energy but there are repercussions to doing this. I only recommend doing this once you have a better understanding of your ability.
"And that comes to our Advanced category," Jason said while he stopped walking. "That is comprehending your ability."
Jason turned to Melanie his eyes looking at her inquisitively. "I don't need to explain the advanced levels, do I?"
"It would be insightful for the students," Melanie replied. Her hips were cocked to one side and her arms were crossed together.
"Ok, Advanced level," Jason said. He took a deep breath while thinking over what to say before continuing in a slow voice. "To advance your level, you need to understand, comprehend, exactly what your ability truly is.
"Let's use an example. Alina, please stand," Jason raised his hand, gesturing at Alina to stand and the latter complied. "I will use Alle as an example. Right now, you should be aware that her ability is to manipulate and control electricity. If she had awoken as a level 0, her ability would have been static electricity, so the most she could do is give you an afro and tickle your finger. And at level 1, it would have increased to the standard shock of a taser and then at level 2 it would be EM control, etc, etc, blah blah.
"What I'm trying to say is that there are no useless powers. What you gain as your Esper power will be vastly different from what they'll evolve into. You must understand what your powers could become. You must comprehend the base, the origin, the endgame, of your powers. Once that's done, you should know the method to achieving Advanced levels," Jason ended his lecture and looked at the students who were busy jotting notes. "Any questions?"
"You missed a category," Melanie reminded Jason. "What are the Unknown levels?"
Jason stared at Melanie, his eyes narrowed. The subject of Esper categories was a tender subject, to begin with, but discussing the Unknown category was a big no-no. It was just as bad as talking about Practitioners.
"Unknown are the levels beyond 7," Jason said after considering for a moment. If anything happened, he would blame Melanie, and with this thought, he continued without any worries. "Levels 8 and 9 have been theorized, but no one has been able to reach that height of accomplishment. For good reason too. You'd be close to a God if you achieve level 9 or even 8."
"Mind if I add something?" Melanie asked Jason when he stopped to take a sip of his flask and quench his parched throat. He nodded while gesturing at the crowd, silently indicating that it was her stage and she took a step forward when he pulled back. "For those that are willing, there's another option to increase your powers: combat. By fighting in a battle, you learn to use your powers more effectively. Unfortunately, combat experience comes at a price: you have to be willing to accept the risks which, in this case, is the risk of being injured or even killed.
"Luckily, in Sanctuary, we have the arena which has a spell that can negate lethal attacks into flesh wounds," Jason's eyebrow twitched when he heard her mention the arena. Most students listened eagerly as it was the first time they heard about the arena.
Alina narrowed her eyebrows when she heard Melanie. She had searched everything about Sanctuary online before joining the school but she never found anything about the arena. Accessing the internet through her holo-lens, she searched again using an advanced algorithm that A.V.A developed but still turned empty-handed.
Of course ... A.V.A, Alina thought with a grimace before glaring at Jason who noticed her death stare and looked back at her bemused. She must be blocking me.
"Ms. Pérez?" A student raised their hand before asking. "What is the arena?"
"The arena is a little secret that most keep quiet about," Melanie said in a sweetly honeyed voice while raising a finger to her mouth and flirtatiously winking at the student who, along with the boys around him, blushed profusely. The girls near them rolled their eyes while giving the boys disdainful glances; just a bit of eye contact and they were twirled and wrapped firmly around the student president's fingertips.
"The arena is a place for both aspiring and pro league fighters to compete in," Melanie explained. "It's a place where you can rapidly improve however luck also plays a major role. You -"
"Ahem," Jason coughed, interrupting Melanie before she could continue. He could feel Alina's scathing stare and tried his best not to look at her. "Now then, class is dismissed. You have, oh, about an hour left for this course."
The crowd sighed, knowing very well that they wouldn't get anything more from him and Jason stole a peek at his watch. "Take that time to study or relax, I don't care. Oh, and Emily? Infirmary. Now."
Jason walked to Alice and lifted her up without warning. The latter, who was not expecting it, reached out and grabbed her bag of snacks as Jason hauled her away.
"What are you doing?" Jason asked when he saw her sniffing a bag of chips.
"Stinky breath," Alice said while looking at Jason disdainfully. The scent of the alcoholic poultice was still lingering around Jason, especially his breath, forcing her to breathe in the scent of nacho chips.
Cheeky brat, Jason thought as he intentionally blew his breath at her face, causing Alice to gag.
As Jason exited the gym while play fighting with Alice, Alina, and her friends gathered together.
"He's right, you should head to the nurse," Alina said as she looked at Emily in concern.
"I'll take her there," Asami volunteered. The others were about to agree with her when they were interrupted.
"Oh, Emily. I was looking for you," Melanie arrived close to the group without any of them noticing, surprising them.
Alina, in particular, narrowed her eyes when she saw Melanie. She wasn't able to detect the newcomer at all, which worried her since she discovered that Melanie was as unfathomable as Jason.
Is she … a Practitioner? Alina thought with concern. It shouldn't be possible to sneak up on me. Not unless ...
"Asami, I'll take Emily to the Infirmary. I need to have a chat with her afterwards," Melanie said while staring at Emily. She didn't pay any attention to Asami, it was as though the latter was insignificant.
Michelle was about to decline when Emily smiled.
"Actually, I was looking for you as well," she said while she stepped towards Melanie and before speaking over her shoulders to the trio. "Sorry, I'll try to meet up with you guys at lunch."
As they all nodded, Emily turned back to Melanie. "I hope you don't mind me visiting the Infirmary first?"
"Not at all," Melanie replied while gesturing at the exit. "After you."