Many things began to click into place as Sol realized it wasn't that he was unable to learn psychic skills himself—he would have been able to if not for his father's mental barrier. Without the barrier, he could have learned psychic skills straight from the start.
'Maybe I could have learned them even before getting my talent, like how the Saintess was able to see through fate before receiving hers.'
While it was shocking that the barrier had inadvertently suppressed his psychic abilities, Sol didn't blame his father for it. After all, it had been done to protect him and had even saved him before, like in Kerman with the [Mind Shaper].
'Sure, things could have played out differently if I had my psychic skills, but there's no point dwelling on the past. I can only move forward.'
Turning his attention back to the skills, he considered combining them but chose not to in the end. While combining them would likely result in a more powerful skill, his best results, like [Polychromatism] and [Umbral Domain], came from merging maxed out, powerful skills within the same group with a clear purpose. He could treat it like [Invincible Body] and [Superior Mana Control], gradually adding skills that fit together, but that approach would progress incredibly slowly. There was also the risk of muddying the combined skill, resulting in a weaker outcome.
'I'll work on maxing out the individual skills first before combining them in the best way possible.'
Though he wanted to stay in and practice more psychic energy techniques, he still had a job to do.
Closing the system prompts, Sol left his room and joined the rest of the squad as they gathered for breakfast.
During the meal, Aron asked, "Hey Cap, do you know when our next mission is?"
Sol paused mid-bite, unsure how to answer. He had been so focused on other matters that he hadn't even glanced at the latest missions that were available.
Just as he was about to admit this, he turned to Duncan instead. "Duncan, can you get the next mission? I haven't had a chance to look yet. You know how to, right?"
Duncan nodded. "I'll find a good one."
It didn't surprise him that Sol had passed the responsibility to him. Although Duncan had never selected a mission before, he knew how after being a knight for so many years.
"Oh! Can it be one we can do today?" Aron requested eagerly.
Aron felt they'd rested enough. The last mission, though dangerous, had been over in a day, and he hadn't been able to do much besides overseeing the soldiers and scholars. He was itching for some real action.
"Sure, there's always something to do, so that shouldn't be too hard." Duncan replied.
Half an hour after breakfast, Duncan had gone through the motions of accepting a new mission, and they gathered in the meeting room for a briefing. Sol attended as well but stayed quiet while Duncan presented the mission he'd picked.
"Since Aron wanted something we can do today, I found a mission in the city. Apparently, over the past few days, citizens have reported dead animals flowing out of the sewers. At first, it was categorized as a C-Rank quest and left to adventurers, but no one who went returned. The guild elevated it to a B-Rank, and the Royal Knights decided it was worth investigating, so now it's our job."
"Can we… take a different mission? I don't want to go into the sewers…" Nataly groaned, dreading the thought of entering the dirty, smelly underground sewer.
Lazuli raised her hand in agreement. "I second that!"
Duncan shook his head with a helpless smile. "I've already accepted the mission. We can't back out now…"
Rex chimed in to reassure them. "The sewers aren't as dirty as you think. They get deep cleaned every month by a team of mages. If they've cleaned recently, it shouldn't be an issue."
"Well… if it's clean…"
Though still reluctant, Nataly felt less resistant knowing the sewers were regularly cleaned. But she knew they would have to go regardless, as it was their duty.
…
"How is this clean?! This place is disgusting!"
Nataly was in dismay upon entering the sewers, finding them exactly as she'd feared. Dark murky water ran through them, with waste clumped up in various places, emitting a foul odor. Corpses of rodents littered the walkways and flowed through the water, further polluting the area.
Sol, finding the conditions strange, asked, "Do we know when this was last cleaned?"
Duncan nodded and had a similar sentiment. "It should've been two weeks ago. I'm not sure how dirty the sewers can get, but it shouldn't be this bad this fast."
Rex pointed at the clumps of waste. "It's the dead animals and rodents. The waste got caught on the corpses and eventually built up into those large piles."
The sewers were designed to handle regular waste, but the addition of so many corpses had accelerated the rate of pollution. If the current situation didn't change the filth would begin to affect the lives of the citizens and many would get sick.
"No point in dwelling on it now. Let's deal with the cause, and the sanitary team can clean up later. Duncan, lead the way." Sol said, bringing everyone's attention back to the mission at hand.
The others agreed and ventured deeper, with Duncan at the front, ready to protect them from any attacks. They followed the sewers, searching for the source of the pollution.
An hour passed with no results. Even though Rex could sense all the nearby passages, they hadn't found anything important. Growing frustrated with the lack of progress, Sol got an idea.
'What if I used psychic energy to search?'
He spread his psychic energy in all directions, even through walls, extending his perception. It was his first time doing this, but it didn't take long for him to start seeing other passages around him.
[Learned [Remote Viewing] Lv 1!]
[[Remote Viewing] Lv 1: Extends one's senses using psychic energy. Distance and scope of the area are determined by the amount of psychic energy used.]
Smirking at how easily he gained a new skill, Sol continued experimenting. He played around with different techniques, expanding his range in a wide area or focusing it in one direction.
[[Remote Viewing] leveled up! (1->2)]
[[Remote Viewing] leveled up! (2->3)]
[[Remote Viewing] leveled up! (3->4)]
[[Remote Viewing] leveled up! (4->5)]
At first, the skill leveled up every minute, but it slowed over time. Still, it progressed rapidly, allowing Sol to extend his senses further. While it was a somewhat headache inducing to process so much information at once, using [Mental Acceleration] helped him manage it.
'Ah, there.'
Only fifteen minutes after starting, Sol found what he was looking for.
"Everyone, follow me. I know where to go."