Jyorta looked at the pile of items before him, picking a tiny disk, 3 centimetres in diameter, and weighing a gram. The disk was paper-thin, its ends blunt. Its material seemed hard enough to not get crushed under his fingers.
Jyorta focused his attention on it, inspecting its smooth surface that had lustre similar to a mirror. He willed his psychic energy, feeling a thin stream emerge from his brain and course through his body, gushing out from the fingertip of his index finger.
"You don't need to send it through your body; it takes too much time to do so. Directly permeate it through the air; after all, the production and transmittance of your psychic energy is dependent on your brain and not any other organs." As the voice of Madam Mila echoed in his ears, Jyorta nodded, retracting the psychic energy flowing through his body.
He then closed his eyes once, feeling the psychic energy flowing within his brain, mixed with the sparks of electric currents that flashed from one neuron to another. He then willed his psychic energy, pulling a stream out of his head, coagulating it before his face.
He felt a strange feeling as if a part of him had been pulled outside his body, seemingly like an astral projection. The psychic energy then flowed towards the disk in his hands, taking a bit more than a second to traverse.
As it gushed into the disk, Jyorta felt some feedback. The object offered some resistance to his psychic energy, behaving like it had sentience. His psychic energy coursed through it, flowing between its molecular structure, and giving feedback at each instance.
The feedback was grainy; the information provided was unclear, making him feel like he was watching an old cable TV that had lost its connection, displaying grains on its screen and producing a grating sound.
"Don't try to focus on the feedback. The current you is unable to comprehend it; only Wave Controllers and above can do it." The voice of Madam Mila rang out, breaking his focus. He then ignored the feedback, trying to focus on manoeuvring his psychic energy through the disk.
Like dipping an object in water, his psychic energy washed over the disk once, twice, thrice, passing through each of its molecules, feeling the resistance decrease after each time. Finally, after the tenth time, he could no longer feel any resistance from the disk.
Moreover, a mysterious feeling formed in his mind; it was as if the disk had become an organ that existed outside his body, one that he could control. The moment the thought appeared, the disk slowly floated up, its form unstable, lacking a balance that could support it firmly.
"Try to stabilise it first." The voice echoed in his mind, guiding his thoughts, "Think of it like holding a book on the palm of your hand. Use that image to focus on the disk. It will be difficult without the psychic arm but, as you train this way, your control will increase."
Jyorta took in the view of his blue soul, watching the surroundings turn dark. There was the blue soul, looking big, and shining with a blue hue. Hovering next to it was a tiny wisp, sprinkled with faint traces of black, emitting a mild stench.
The blue soul extended a soul tendril towards the Brain Crystal, forming a connection. As the energy from the Brain Crystal gushed into it through the soul tendril, its vision experienced some changes.
There was a thin stream--slightly concentrated at the centre that became dispersed over the edges, looking like escaping mist—originating from his head, flowing towards the hovering disk. Moreover, there were traces of mist clouding its vision, possibly from the dispersed psychic energy of Madam Mila, its contents unable to be discerned.
After a connection was established, even though the energy in the Brain Crystal was being drained at a rapid rate, the control over the disk increased.
The hovering disk immediately stabilised, no longer shaking like a tin can that was dropped over the ocean. The blue soul observed the shape of the flowing psychic energy, making a mental note of it, saving the memory in its soul, condensed into blue inscriptions.
The blue soul immediately severed the connection with the Brain Crystal; Jyorta exited its view. He then noticed the disk beginning to shake once again, looking unstable. The psychic energy flowing into it also thinned considerably, making Jyorta feel a drain in his energy reserves.
He then remembered the structure of his psychic energy that managed to stabilise the disk, trying to replicate it once again, steadily reducing its unstable form.
At first, the disk shook like a tin can floating on the sea, when it was the time of high tides. It then slowly developed, gradually improving its stability, finally looking like a tin can floating on the normal sea.
As Jyorta continued to improve the psychic energy based on his memories, the shaking of the disk eventually reduced to a minimum, looking like a tin can floating on a lake that had a gentle breeze sweeping past its surface.
Madam Mila hovered in her spot, unmoving. She had her eyes closed, using her psychic energy to guide each Esper, making a note of their improvement.
'Jyorta Bone has innate instincts in manipulating his psychic energy. He is quick to find and rectify his mistakes; his learning process is also quite fast.' She nodded in approval, the first action she had taken since her arrival.
She then gazed towards the back, looking at a particular Esper seated on the 9th row. Using her psychic energy, she inspected the spindle hovering before the girl, a rare trace of shock appearing on her face.
'It is perfectly stable. Her use of psychic energy is ingenious while her control is impeccable. Only veteran Wave Controllers and above can possess such delicate control.' She thought in wonder, heaving a sigh of exclamation.
'Rishen Veera proclaimed her talent and disposition, saying she had a shot at the peak. The ground staff also supported his words, praising her to a great extent. But, this…talent; it is almost as if she was born to be an Esper.'
On noticing the Espers running out of psychic energy to use, Madam Mila used her psychic energy to vibrate the air, "We shall stop at it for now."
Looking at the Espers holding a Refined Object in their hands, she continued, "The materials used to make these objects are ones with the least resistance towards psychic energy. When you become a Tier 2 Esper, its resistance towards your psychic energy might very well be zero."
"Also, you should have gotten some ideas as you controlled your Refined Objects." She said, "The titles allotted to each Tier of Warriors and Espers are related to the abilities they gain at that Tier."
"Tier 1: Line Controller. Your Refined Objects can only travel in a straight line."
"Tier 2: Area Controller. Your Refined Objects can both travel in a straight line and spin in place."
"Tier 3: Wave Controller. Your Refined Objects can spin along two perpendicular axes at the same time. It can also travel in arcs. Your modes of attacks are no longer limited to linear progression."
9:00 AM, seeing every Esper feeling a bit overwhelmed with the details, Madam Mila stopped speaking, "Take a break for 90 minutes. Head to the cafeteria and fill your bellies. We will continue with classes after that."
Jyorta nodded, heaving an exhausted sigh as he stretched his arms and looked at Haesha. "It was tiring."
"Yeah," Haesha nodded, getting up from her spot, "Even though we just ate breakfast, I am starting to feel hungry again."
"Me too," Jyorta laughed, placing a hand on his stomach. The duo then exited the room and walked along the hallway, trying to peek into the other classrooms that they passed by. Looking at the doors of each classroom closed shut, they felt a bit disappointed, unable to satisfy their curiosity.
Walking to the cafeteria, they each ordered a plate full of snacks, carrying the heavy plates without a sense of embarrassment. Most of the Espers seated there too had similar proportions of food on their plates.
The cafeteria was vacant for the most part, the tables looking empty. The duo occupied a vacant table. Trying his best to eat in grace, Jyorta looked at Haesha, feeling his heart skip a beat as they made eye contact.
"It was pretty difficult to control it," Haesha began, feeling vexed, "I hardly managed to lift it at the end. Even then, it looked like a stalk of grass caught in a storm. I lost hold of it many times."
"It is difficult to grasp but, once you get an inkling to its usage, you would never forget the process." Just when Jyorta was about to share his insights, a voice interrupted. The blue soul in him hurriedly overlaid a false persona on him—one of calm, optimism, and full of focus.
'I feel fear whenever I see her; moreover, the feeling is instinctive.' Jyorta looked at the petite girl that joined their conversation as if it were natural, occupying a seat.
"Hello, Laila." Jyorta smiled, his expression genuine, thanks to his false persona. "How was your experience with the Object Refinement?"
"To be honest, it was pretty difficult. It used up most of my psychic energy before I could refine the object. I had chosen a spindle by the way." Laila replied, recounting her experiences. Since the two of them hadn't witnessed her actions in class, thanks to them seated on the third row, they believed everything she said.
'If I hadn't known of her identity, I too would have believed her so-called experience.' As the thought flashed through his mind, Jyorta raised his hand and gobbled his food, his ears trained to the conversation.
At each interval, he would share bits and pieces of his insight, getting a gist of things from their point of view.
If possible, he wanted to probe for some tricks from Laila. But, he was unable to muster the courage to weave his words in such a way that it would lead the situation to his favour. So, he neither spoke nor inquired about anything more than necessary.
'The petite lady sitting before you is an old monster who stood at the peak of this world for more than a century. Never forget it.' He set a mental reminder in his head, flashing a smile of interest to the conversation, looking happy to share and receive insights.