'Visualize pulling out my psychic energy from the passageway of my chest.'
It throbbed with pain.
The mental image that had been ambiguous and all over the place began focusing into the hole of his chest. His psychic energy that had been vaguely out of reach now had become easier to feel on a physical level.
'Please… I can't get kicked out of this place yet.'
Han had always remained calm, but his heart felt restless as the deadline date neared. He had yet to start, but already found himself stuck at a dead end.
Trickle.
Blood trickled out from his chest injury. The feeling of blood trickling down his chest felt chilling.
"Hey, Han. Training period is over."
Sergeant Red already blew his whistle. The children gathered one by one. Han did not open his eyes.
'Just a little longer.'
It felt like he was able to grab onto a little sliver of something. If he snapped out of his moment, it would be hard to grasp onto this same feeling once again.
Han did not even bother answering to Sergeant Red's commands.
"This b*****."
Sergeant Red glared and walked toward him. The surrounding children clicked their tongues and stared on.
Those were the words that led to a beating.
'Just one minute longer…'
Cold sweat fell from Han's forehead.
Sergeant Red blankly stared toward Han . He crossed his arms and paused for a moment.
Sergeant Red was also a psyker. He was able to see Han's condition at once.
'He makes his own life so difficult. Maybe he's got no talent for this.'
Psychic powers greatly differed from one individual to another. There were many who had psychic potential in their bodies but could not manifest them physically.
On the flip side, there were some who could naturally use psychic powers without training. It was as easy as breathing for them.
Pah.
Han felt something snapping inside his body. A hot and cool sensation overwhelmed his body.
The pupils of his eyes glowed of blue light. The spark of his eyes were vividly bright.
"S,success."
Han mumbled and fell to the floor.
A few children clamored. Han had been one of the last few children to succeed. There had been many who had already given up trying to manifest their powers.
"Quiet. First, let me congratulate you, Han."
"Thank you."
Sergeant Red let out a bloody smile. Han flinched.
"No matter how urgent the situation, it's a soldier's duty to report when called. There are no exceptions."
Puk! Puk!
"Keuk."
Sergeant Red raised his beating stick and began ruthlessly beating Han.
The beating stick was manufactured with unique materials so that it would cause nothing more harmful than a light bruise.
However, the sound that reverberates is so shockingly loud that it causes the brain to think it hurts more than the actual truth.
'I did it, I succeeded.'
Han let out a satisfied smile while getting beaten. He didn't have to stress out about succeeding anymore, and the joy inside his heart overwhelmed himself that it didn't hurt a bit.
Sergeant Red gradually became bored and put his beating stick down.
"I'm feeling generous today so I'll let you off here. The pre-training period is not over yet; however, it's almost the end of your three week grace period. Soon, you will be transferred with the first years. You all probably thought of me as a pain in the neck; you're mistaken. I'm not a pain in the neck, but the worst pain in the neck of your life."
Han wiped the blood dripping from his lips and stood up.
'He waited for me. I should be grateful toward him.'
If he had forcibly interrupted him at that moment, it might not have been possible for Han to successfully manifest psychic powers within these three weeks.
It would have been easy for Sergeant Red to stop him. But he had not.
"Assemble!"
Upon Sergeant Red's command the children efficiently assembled into rows. There had been 73 children, but now only 25 children remained. Within these three weeks, the children had changed drastically. Their behavior and the focus of their eyes seemed sharper. They always remained alert, ready for their next command.
"Congratulations first year transfers"
There are no more admission tests in the Ark. Now, all that remains is transferring up into the higher ranks.
As long as one has the talent, they will be promoted. The year classifications were made only as a formality because the trainees were young children.
'They're just burying their heads into the sand. They're looking out for the children's human welfare as much as they can.'
Everyone understood this other than the transfer students themselves.
The higher one transfers into the system, the more likely death becomes. Time to time, they will be mobilized for tasks outside of the Ark. Seniors of the Ark were in reality, no different than regular soldiers.
"I'm in class D."
"I'm in C."
"Anyone in class A?"
The grades ranged from A to D. This too, was separated into a rating system.
The overall potential talent and skill of the child would be graded and then they would be assigned accordingly. In this batch of transfer students, Simon Dell was the only one to be accepted into class A.
"Simon is in class A."
"That's obvious. He's different from us."
All the children felt a great gap of talent compared to Simon.
Simon Dell had already received basic training. The remaining task was to receive advanced training and practice his skill.
The gap had been too big so there was no sense of rivalry. Competitive spirit and jealousy are only born upon people of similar capability.
"Han, what class are you in? I'm in class B. I hope we're in the same class." Kuro said.
Kuro's magnetic sensitivity to his psychic powers had been very high. Kuro had been the only child to master manifesting psychic and psychokinesis within the three weeks.
He had ranked low in physical strength and mental resilience and had been placed in a lower class, but he had great talent in manifesting his psychic powers and was placed in class B.
Han quietly checked his data bracelet's hologram.
"I'm in class D."
"I don't believe it."
Kuro shook his head in denial.
"I already predicted this."
"Han, how can you be in class D? Are you sure you're looking at your hologram correctly?"
Kuro had received a lot of help from Lee Han the past three weeks. At the very least, he expected Han to be at class C.
"I'll be promoted soon enough."