Point-of-View: Inoka Fonseka
———————————————————————————
"Alright, you brats, pay attention! I'm going to teach you shits how to feel and control your Auras, now prepare yourselves," Remarked Tara with a frown.
"Um, Miss Tara, shouldn't you first explain a bit more to them, um, before starting?" Spoke up Kiyana.
"Huh!?" She snapped in response with a glare.
"Hey, uh, I actually agree with Kiyana. If you don't tell them what they're in for, then it'll be too hard for them...that's what she said," Added Mike, though with that last bit, it didn't really feel like he was helping the cause.
"And why in the world should I bother with that, huh? Tch, I'm heading to the cafeteria, so one of you do it," She huffed, walking away with a mutter, before adding, "I'll be back in five minutes, I refuse to wait any longer, not for the sake of these Outliers or whatever they're called."
"What a bitch," Zoraiz mumbled with a frown, after she'd headed out of the room.
Yeah, based on the little bit that we saw of her, I'm inclined to agree with that notion.
"Okay, um, let me explain how this training is going to work. First, in order for you three to get a feel for your Aura, Tara will fully unleash her Aura while in close proximity to you. When she does that, um, you guys should feel something like an immense pressure pressing down on you. You need to, um, resist and push back against that sensation in order to get a feel for your Auras," Explained Kiyana, as we gathered around her.
A thought then occurred to me...
"Wait, does that mean that the three of us have been emanating that pressure this whole time, since we don't know how to suppress our Auras?" I inquired curiously.
"I didn't think of that, good point. Don't we have much higher Aura levels than any natural Meta-Humans, meaning much more intense amounts of pressure?" Added Alexis, a look of interest in her eyes as Kiyana answered...
"Well, um, yes, there is pressure emanating from the three of you, but it's not at all intense. Because, um, you're not in control of your Auras, so the pressure is sporadic, fluctuating and lacking in density. I can feel all your Auras, but they barely have any pressure...um, think of it like this, it's like your Auras are currently like mildly stiff breezes, but once you learn to control and then unleash them, they'll be more like storms. But despite the lack of intensity, they are still fairly immense in quantity, and that's why Miss Tara, a Category 0, is the one who will be releasing her Aura instead of Mr Mike or me. Since our Aura capacities are lower than hers, she'll be a lot more effective."
"Well, like us, hers is also likely to be a fair bit lower than the Aura capacities of the three of you. So after a certain point, she won't be able to help anymore and you'll probably have to figure out the rest on your own. By then, though, you're likely to have gotten the hang of it, so it shouldn't be too difficult," Chimed in Mike.
"So, then, is pushing back against the pressure of her Aura all it takes for us to control our Auras?" I asked them in intrigue.
"Um, no, it's not that simple. You have to get to the point where you can resist the pressure with a consistent, unwavering upward pressure from your own Aura, and maintain that for an hour. So, um, this training can take upto a few days, and, well...that's why Miss Tara is in such a bad mood, I'm sorry about her attitude," Kiyana apologized sheepishly.
"Hey, you don't need to apologize for someone else, you know. I mean, it isn't your fault that she was such a bitch upon first impression," Responded Alexis with a frown.
"Word of advice, kids, try not to piss her off...she has a history of being very violent and ridiculously easily pissed off. She won't hesitate to break something. In your current states, the three of you don't stand a chance against her," Warned Mike with a wry smile.
"Or in other words, we wait till we've mastered our powers before paying her back for her bitchiness," I surmised with a smirk.
"I like the sound of that," Replied Alexis with a grimace, while I noticed a gleam appear in Zoraiz's eyes as well.
"Well, anyway, anything else we need to know about this training?" I asked Kiyana.
"Um, no, I think I covered everything for this part," She answered, after thinking it over.
"Hey, you trained for a day with Mike, right? Did you already know all this?" Alexis asked Zoraiz.
Oh, right, I forgot about that.
"Oh, uh, no, I didn't. The training I did was different," He replied, his tone sounding a little bit robotic.
"Yeah? What kind of training was it?" I chimed in curiously.
"I just made him use his power to the max and try to gain a feel for his Aura that way, but it's a much, much less effective and more tedious method, so it didn't really work," Responded Mike with a sigh, before glancing at the entrance, as the echo of footsteps approaching rang out.
A few seconds later, Tara walked in with an annoyed look on her face. She also had a chocolate smudge on her face, next to the left corner of her mouth.
"Are you done? Because I'm done waiting," She growled as she approached us.
"More like you're done eating chocolate pudding," Remarked Mike slyly.
"Wha-...!? How did you-...!?" She began with a surprised frown.
"You've got a skid mark next to your mouth," He replied with a grin.
"A what-...!? Hey, you trying to piss me off?" She muttered with a glare as she hurriedly rubbed the side of her mouth with the back of her sleeve, her face red with anger and embarrassment, as she added icily, "I swear, I'll crush your balls if you don't shut up. Got it?"
With a nervous smile, he nodded silently and stepped back tentatively.
"Okay, um, you three gather around her, stand back about a meter from her," Instructed Kiyana, as she stepped back too.
"Hurry it up, I'll break your faces if you don't get this over with quickly!" Snapped Tara impatiently.
Let me emphasize again...what a bitch! But it'd be stupid to provoke her, I'd rather avoid sustaining any pain. Even if I can heal myself or whatever, I'd prefer to avoid getting injured unnecessarily. The three of us circled her at a distance of about one meter, as Kiyana had instructed.
"Hmph, resist if you can, brats," Remarked Tara with a dark look in her eyes, before my knees suddenly buckled, as an immense pressure pushed down on me, causing me to stumble back.
"W-woah...!" Stuttered Alexis in alarm, nearly collapsing onto one knee, as Zoraiz just about barely maintained his balance.
"Tch, hurry up and start pushing back, you little shits," Growled Tara, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.
So she says, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that...this pressure feels really weird, it doesn't feel like I'm being physically pushed down on, and yet, it's definitely affecting me as if that was the case.
Straightening my body or stiffening my muscles won't make a difference, I can feel it...I can't 'push back' against this pressure with my body, I have to do so with my Aura. But, of course, I have no idea how to do that.
"D-damn it, this is intense...," Groaned Alexis as she forced herself back onto her feet, the veins on her forehead and temples visible as she strained herself.
"None of you are pushing back yet, what's taking so long!?" Snapped Tara with an irritated look on her face.
"Um, Miss Tara, it's quite usual for those undergoing this training for the first time to take around half an hour to forty-five minutes before they're able to push back, so-," Kiyana timidly began to try and calm her down from the sidelines.
Wait, what? You mean I have to bear this for that long before I'll be able to resist against it?
"Shut it, these artificial Meta-Humans are supposed to have superior abilities or whatever, right? So the usual doesn't apply," Tara interrupted her icily.
"Other than their Aura capacities, there's not much else different-...," Began Mike, before trailing off as she gave him a murderous glare, probably to remind him of her threat to crush his balls.
"Tch, whatever...this is the worst," She muttered to herself irritably, as she sat on the ground and took out her phone, "I swear, this had better be over and done with soon, or else..."
Yeah, somehow I doubt that we'll get this over with any time soon...
...
About an hour later, progress was finally made. Alexis was the first to figure it out and start pushing back, though from Tara's reactions, she's still a long way from getting it spot-on. Zoraiz was the next to get the hang of it, and while he'd taken longer than her to start pushing back, he seemed to be progressing faster once he did.
As for me, I was easily the slowest of the three...the two of them had started pushing back after about thirty to thirty-five minutes, while it'd taken me a full fifty minutes. And in the ten minutes since then, I've really been struggling to get the hang of this. This sucks.
Fortunately, Tara wasn't paying attention to my snail-paced progress, and was instead watching Zoraiz with a gleam of intrigue in her eyes, seeming to have forgotten that she was in a bad mood.
"Hey, you, brown haired guy with the hoodie," She suddenly addressed him, narrowing her eyes.
"Huh? Uh, what?" He responded, sounding a bit taken aback at suddenly being spoken to.
"Have you had near-death experiences or stuff like that?" She inquired, a hint of interest in her voice.
"Uh...well, I mean, I've run away from, uh, security guards a lot, but, uh, they never had guns or anything, so I wouldn't call those near-death experiences, uh...," He replied, unsure of what exactly to say.
"Those who get through this training faster than others tend to do so because they have exceptional instincts, and those who have such instincts usually develop them by having near-death experiences or staying in states of high-alertness for long periods of time. Because of that, some Meta-Human parents put their children in challenging situations while they're growing up, in order to have them develop those instincts and-...," Explained Tara, getting engrossed in her explanation before realizing that she'd been ranting and suddenly trailing off with a glare, "Ahem, anyway, you seem to have good instincts, so master this as soon as possible. That way, I can leave and you can train the rest instead."
"Wait, what?" He responded in bemusement.
"Now, shut up and focus, I'll break your windpipe if you take too long," She threatened him, before saying to Alexis and me, "You two suck at this, but I'll tell you what, prove me wrong or surpass my expectations and I'll let you off with, say, two broken bones each. Now, get to it, you pieces of crap."
I'm pretty sure we're all thinking the same thing right now, and have been this whole time; what a bitch...
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP