Jenna had never detested her own sensitivity so much.
She began to tremble slightly, struggling to breathe, yet it looked very much like a panic attack.
In fact, it might have actually been one, only she had never experienced such a sensation before and therefore didn't know what she was undergoing.
She felt as if a steel nail had been hammered inside her body, exposed like a pinned insect specimen, completely out in the open, which filled her with an overwhelming sense of dread, yet she was immobilized.
After Shiller withdrew his gaze, that nailed-down sensation disappeared, and Jenna let out a sigh of relief, only then noticing her back was soaked with cold sweat.
She propped herself up on the table with her hands and hung her head low, trying to avoid being seen by others in her current state.
But those who wanted to isolate her were constantly observing her.
Jenna gave a bitter laugh inwardly, sure they thought her weak, frightened by the isolation alone; they had to be taking pride in their actions, feeling they had punished a cheater.
Ignorance was sometimes bliss, for they had no idea what was coming their way.
They couldn't see the elephant in the room.
Suddenly, a surge of anger rose within Jenna. None of this had been her choice. Neither her strong Mental Analysis Talent, nor her interest in behavioral analysis -- the current situation resulting from the interaction of these two aspects was not her fault.
So why would anyone want her to be punished?
With that mind-set, she was no easy target; since she was the only one who could see the lion's fangs, while everyone else thought she feared her peers, why not play the part to the end?
After all, the lion wouldn't be the first to devour her.
With these thoughts, Jenna allowed her now-calm body to shake again. She buried her face in her palms as if overcome with emotion and unable to control herself.
In reality, she was merely observing everything coldly through the gaps between her fingers.
The ignorant would always pay for their ignorance.
The moment Shiller stood at the podium, the whispers in the classroom persisted.
To everyone's surprise, a red-haired girl in the back row stood up and yelled, "It's class time, be quiet!"
Everyone turned around to look at her, their focus shifting onto her as Shiller also flipped through the student roster to her name—Lilith Clay.
Shiller immediately thought of her codename and abilities and held the page down with his finger, finding it somewhat interesting.
Only once the room had quieted down did Lilith glance at Shiller and then slowly sat back down.
Jenna turned to look at her as well.
Someone wanted to stop the elephant?
No, that was not possible; Jenna immediately made her judgment. This girl named Lilith was still underestimating the Professor – perhaps her talent was not as strong as her own, she had failed to see the big picture, it was too superficial, just too shallow.
"Thank you very much, Miss Clay," Shiller nodded and addressed Lilith before surveying everyone in the room, "I believe Professor Wayne has already instructed you to study on your own. Whispering is not a good habit for self-study."
No one responded to him, but this was not a gesture of acceptance; it was a silent refusal.
Seen from the students' perspective, a young professor had left to avoid certain issues, only to be replaced by an older one.
But the underlying issues remained unresolved; the fuse to the bomb had merely been extended, but bombs are bound to explode eventually. The one who ran first seemed like a coward.
They needed an explanation.
They didn't believe Shiller could provide that explanation because, over the last few days, they thought they had come to understand this professor well.
To put it simply, he was rather old-fashioned, by the book, and didn't seem like a superhero. He should be the kind of professional teacher hired by superheroes, more than adequate to teach professional courses, but to expect to learn anything special from him was wishful thinking.
They did not think Shiller was connected to this bomb; to them, he was just an extension of the fuse brought in by Bruce, so they protested in silence to demonstrate their disapproval of Bruce's decision.
Shiller did not seem to grasp their silent stand; he was flipping through his teaching plan, examining the three cases listed there as if pondering how to present them.
This was a time when some voices should be heard, and a girl in the front row attempted to speak, but before she could open her mouth, the expression on the face of Lilith in the back row grew grave. She stood up abruptly and said, "Allie, shut up!"
The girl named Allie had not yet opened her mouth when Lilith's shout silenced her.
The smarter students started to realize that this somewhat eccentric red-haired girl seemed to possess some extraordinary abilities, and for a moment, murmurs began to spread among the seats once more.
It was then that Shiller cleared his throat and spoke.
"This class will focus on criminal psychology, which I also have some knowledge of. Let's start with this case then…"
An utterly mundane introduction, yet Lilith, who sat in the back seat, grew paler by the second. Nobody knew what she had seen.
Jenna naturally noticed this too. She and Lilith had arrived in the same group, and Lilith was present when Jenna introduced her own superpowers, so she knew that Lilith could read minds.
What did Lilith see in Shiller's mind?
Jenna feigned pity while a strong curiosity surged within her because she knew she could, thanks to her own talent, get a rough sense of what Shiller was thinking.
A long time ago, Jenna had discovered that her talent grew stronger after experiencing intense emotions. Now was the perfect opportunity; she might even be able to capture not just emotions but some concrete thoughts.
Should she look?
In the end, Jenna couldn't resist her curiosity and swore she'd only take a peek.
She looked at Shiller again.
Certain thoughts flashed by.
Jenna quickly summed up three points:
Shiller was viewing it from the murderer's perspective.
Shiller recognized the murderer.
Shiller and the murderer were of the same kind.
Jenna hurriedly pulled her thoughts back.
She didn't dare to think about what Lilith might have actually seen.
Shiller had already started teaching. He was introducing the general details of the serial murder case, but in fact, this information had already been clearly written in the handouts distributed, so the atmosphere in the class remained silent.
The silence persisted until Shiller's first question.
"Miss Allie, based solely on the crime scene, how would you profile the murderer?"
Allie, who had been called upon, looked down at the handout and cleared her throat to say, "I think the weight of the Scarecrow made from bodies and the height at which it was arranged can be used to deduce the murderer's height and build. It's likely a male between 1.75 and 1.80 meters tall, not particularly strong, perhaps even slightly frail, and he probably doesn't engage in physical labor. Instead, he should be a clerical worker."
Just as Allie was about to offer a detailed explanation, Shiller cut her off: "I'm talking about psychological profiling. What kind of person do you think he is?"
"But we should start with the killer's appearance; that way we can catch him as quickly as possible..."
"How many males between 1.75 and 1.80 meters tall, who are clerks, are there in Gotham City?"
Allie shook her head.
"Do you expect the police to look for a needle in a haystack?"
"But..."
"Have you heard about the Clone case that erupted in Gotham before?"
Some discussion broke out below. Some members of the Magic Academy, who had been studying in Gotham for a while, began to inform the others about it.
"Anything human can be imitated. Some of you here can use magic or inborn superpowers to transform into an exact replica of a person. So tell me, if someone commits a crime disguised as you, what would you do?"
Shiller looked at Allie and asked, "What would you do, miss?"
"I would definitely defend myself. That person can't be identical to me; at the very least, they can't have my memories. So, I could mention something that only I and someone else would know, proving I am the real me."
"Then why would you prioritize analyzing appearance rather than memory?"
Allie was at a loss for words.
"Only the mind is the unique identifier of the human race," Shiller gently turned around, pacing in front of the podium.
"If you aspire to be an anonymous detective, just like those millions graduating from police academies each year, living a nine-to-five life at the precinct drinking coffee and eating donuts, stick to those tedious appearance analyses, hoping that local police forces are so well-staffed they can help you find a needle in a haystack."
"Is that your goal for being here? If so, I'd suggest the Justice League seriously reconsider the feasibility of this plan. I believe they might have overly estimated the police chiefs' complaints about being short-staffed, thus seeking to train you to become errand-running pups for the chiefs... Oh, I'm sorry, even police dogs get paid more than you do."
Everyone was taken aback by the scolding.
Shiller continued, his tone calm, like a waveless lake, sinking deeper and deeper.
"Like I said, there might be identical people in the world, but never identical minds. When you've caught someone's mind, it means you've locked onto the murderer."
"There's no need for a complicated and lengthy process of elimination, no need for the despair of searching a vast ocean. You would become a sniper, striking with one shot, precise and cold."
"The best among you will become Mind Catchers, vastly different from the mediocrity, extraordinarily powerful."