Han had finally developed a psychic skill he excelled in over others. He came to the realization that his psychic control had become incredibly precise. Han had only realized it in those recent days. When he was battling against Squad 7 in the aerial squad battles, he had to precisely control the acceleration while throwing the airbeats.
'I'm the only one with this degree of control among my peers.'
Han could generally guess the reason as to why his psychic power had such control.
'I don't have a large amount of psychic power, but I'm compensated with easier psychic control."
Han was one of the most unbiased, objective youths due to his excellent analytical ability. Psychic skills are largely dependent on a subject's state of mind. Han's psychic ability had adapted based on his personality type, resulting in incredibly precise psychic control; his low psychic energy levels aided to exponentially increase his control.
Ssk, ssk.
Han used his telekinesis to write notes into his notebook. This level of telekinesis required an extreme amount of control. Kuro, who had a vast pool of psychic energies, could easily rip apart the note and shatter the pencil into tiny pieces. However, writing letters like this would probably be impossible.
"This is my strength."
Han regularly made it a habit to objectively score his own strength. He organized his squad's individual strengths into an easily digestible outline format. He made sure to include important notes under each individual's strengths.
'The start of any battle tactic begins with clearly understanding the squad's skills.
Han and Squad 13 had managed a fair number of victories. The 13th squad was no longer a stranger to the second years. They were the top ranking squad with the most victories under their belt. It's not that they never lost, but they consistently won 80 percent of the squad battles.
'The instructors are no longer forcing us to battle against weaker squads. They don't purposely force us into a situation that we would lose, but they make the victories much more difficult.'
Diririri.
The alarm clock rang. It rang at 6 a.m. signaling the morning. Han had always woken up at 5 a.m. He woke up an hour ahead of everyone to read books and organize his notes, all while practicing his telekinetic skills.
"Wake up."
Han knocked on his squad's doors. Everyone looked fatigued while struggling out of their beds, one by one. Squad 13 threw on their gym clothes and gathered in the military training grounds. The drill instructors had arrived ahead of everyone and checked each squad one by one.
"Squad 13, twelve members, assembled."
Han reported to the drill instructor. Two additional members had joined, and Squad 13 increased to twelve members.
Han no longer had any thoughts on accepting additional members. After Squad 13 had made a name for themselves with consecutive victories, he received many transfer requests, but he ignored them all.
"Twenty laps. Run, fall out."
The drill instructor said briefly. Squad 13 repeated the command.
"Fall out!"
Han took command of his squad and stood beside his squad that ran in a linear formation. The other squads were running as well.
"Hey, Han!"
Dimitri, of Squad 5, ran alongside Han. Dimitri was on good terms with all the squad leaders. Everyone had good opinions of him and he was also highly skilled. He had a likeable, masculine personality that treated everyone in an open and free way.
"I heard that you just returned from visiting the dimensional gate."
Han said to Dimitri.
"Well, it wasn't anything too amazing. It was shining like a rainbow-coloured aura. Girls would probably enjoy the view, haha."
Squads one through six had already seen the dimensional gate. The remaining fragments formed dimensional cracks after the dimensional gate closed in on itself. Ten years had passed, but nothing much changed about it. Nevertheless, countries from around the world had quickly turned it into a restricted area.
"I heard that psykers receive weird feelings from getting near it?"
"I think you start to feel a bit fuzzy. It's hard to describe the feeling with words. You guys will be going today as well, right? Go and feel it yourself."
Dimitri answered and ran ahead, leading his own group forward. Squad 5 was using their last remaining strength to match Dimitri's pace to the best of their ability, though looking exhausted. Han didn't bother to over pace his run. He maintained an easy pace that everyone could follow.
"Huu."
Han let out a breath after finishing the light run. The remaining members of his squad had also fully awoken from their drowsiness now. The heat and sweat from their bodies caused faint steam to evaporate into the air. Han looked to his squad and spoke.
"Assemble by 10:00 at the take-off area. I have already sent the required uniforms and gear needed for the trip to your data bracelets. Following your shower and meals, it will be free period until then."
Squad 13 looked excited. The other squads held similar expressions of enthusiasm for visiting the dimensional crack. It felt like they were off on a field trip. Han also felt that this day would feel like a much needed day off. After Han finished his meal and shower, he went to Jose's room.
"Hurry and sit. We were going to start soon."
A few youths had already gathered in the room. They were in the middle of a game of old maid. They used their emergency snacks and chocolates as game chips.
"Kuro, using your psychic power is off limits. As soon as I see your eyes glowing, I'm going to kick your butt."
Jose earnestly requested. Using immediate foresight would be the greatest cheat for Kuro. Han sat beside them and took out a few of his own chocolates.
"Hmm."
Han narrowed his eyes. Kuro and Jose were the worst at old maid. They easily showed their true feelings on their faces, and usually got the short end of the stick.
'Kuro is pretty good. But the best person at this game is Kijo.'
Kijo is good at reading between the lines and deciphering his opponent's thoughts. Kijo looked to be the person who held the least greed for the snacks.
'Unexpectedly…. Kijo is very cunning. Though I think he has taken his strengths in a strange direction.'
Kijo always complained, but he stuck to Han's side like a piece of gum. He sat near Han during lectures. After training, he would fetch Han a bottle of water even if this wasn't requested of him.
'He must be a natural born brown noser.'
While Han was distracted, Kijo threw all the cards in his hand down.
"Hehe! I'm first!"
They had a lot of time left, and their old maid game continued. Kijo sat beside Kuro on purpose.
'I shall empty your pockets thoroughly today. Kuro!'
Kijo still held a bit of a grudge towards Kuro. He had purposely made Kuro pull out the Joker from his hand. Kuro was weak in the psychological warfare of cards and had repeatedly gotten himself done in by Kijo.
"Ugh."
Kuro had his snacks taken away in a flash. Kijo looked to Kuro with a triumphant face.
'What petty revenge.'
Han had heard of the episode between Kuro and Kijo long beforehand. Kijo enjoyed teasing Kuro quite a bit.
"Now now, let's start ending this game. It's time to assemble soon."
Han said, ending their last game. Kuro looked downcast for losing all his snacks. Han looked at Kuro's forlorn back. Kijo stopped Kuro by holding onto the other's shoulder.
"Hey pal, you lost everything today, right?"
Kijo said teasingly. Kuro slightly narrowed his eyes.
"Are you teasing me? Go away."
"You should listen to a person's words until the end. In Korea, we have affection. We have something called a winner's tip. Do you know of this?"
"What's that?"
"The winner will tip a bit toward the loser who lost it all. Take it, pal. Take this and don't be so mad. Let's be friends, huh?"
Kijo stuffed a handful of chocolate into Kuro's pocket. Kijo smiled. Kuro looked deeply moved by Kijo's gift.
"You, you're a good guy aren't you??"
"You only know that now? Then see ya later."
Kijo cooly turned his back and waved his hand. Kijo laughed with a wicked smile.
'Kuro has abundant talent to succeed in the future. There's nothing wrong with making a friendship with him early on. He's also Han's best friend. I will be the one to control Squad 13 from the shadows. Huhu.'
"Now, we will head off to Sinuiju where we will find the remnants of the dimensional gate."
The drill instructor said in front of the transport planes. Each squad was assigned to different transport planes. There were two additional pilots to each plane and one drill instructor. Han and Squad 13 hopped orderly onto the transport plane. They sat on their assigned seats and secured their seat belts.
"The dimensional crack is what remained after the gate disappeared. This is proof that the two worlds are connected. It was theorized that psykers began making appearances because of the influence from psychic energies of the crack. When we approach the dimensional gate, some of you will feel very comfortable like you've returned home, while some of you will feel extreme terror. The goal of today's drill will be for you to remember the feeling that you experience."
The drill instructor was speaking while standing, holding onto the handles attached to the plane's interior wall. Soon, the transport plane took off. The youths looked out the windows toward the view of the ocean outside. The blue ocean seemed to move in a single fluid movement. Eventually, the children wore bored faces after looking out at same view for a long while. The students chatted or napped while leaning against the wall. The drill instructor didn't bother to stop anyone from doing so.
"Look, it's Japan!"
Kuro said. They could see the Japanese islands in the far distance. Kuro's eyes sparkled while getting worked up. Han could feel his heart racing as well.
'Soon we will see Korea as well.'
They flew past Japan and entered Korea's airspace. Han gave a sidelong scowl. He only had bad memories of Korea, but still felt homesick for the place. Although the place had been a nightmare, he had slivers of good memories from the place.
"Mom…."
Han heard Kijo mumbling. Kijo had his hand against the window while looking down across the land. His eyes didn't seem to reflect his usual slyness. He seemed like a young child who simply missed his homeland.
'Does he miss his parents?'
Han didn't know what his parents looked like at all because his earliest memory was of the orphanage.