"Ugh, whatever." The mean girl was humiliated that her Teqx was foiled once again. She blamed only herself for failing that one, not even thinking that Patty had some sort of control over the coffee.
But unlike the mean girl who didn't know the implications of Patty's move, Beatrice was one of the people who had the technical knowledge to know how stupendously incredible that move was. As an inheritor of a famous family, she was taught all of the possible things that she could do with a Teqx.
The coffee was manipulated by the mean girl's Teqx to spill towards Patty like a large wave of a tsunami. However, just as the coffee was about to hit Patty, all the coffee suddenly converged upon itself and became an unnatural waterfall that headed straight for the empty cup in Patty's hands.
It didn't just spill on Patty's cup, it poured itself on his cup. No coffee was spilled. The probability that this happened because of an accident or natural occurrence was close to zero. Somehow, Patty had a hand in this.
But Patty didn't wear any armor laced with Kores on him like they were wearing. If he was, then the hexagonal armor should have shielded him from the coffee. Also, it wouldn't cause the coffee to behave differently than what the mean girl's Teqx dictated. And there was no way that he was using a Fiendish Armament to change the nature of physics as well.
This meant that Patty controlled the coffee using his own Teqx.
Beatrice's eyebrows furrowed as even that explanation was too far-fetched to believe. After all, he bent the coffee and controlled it as he pleased with little to no problem. But that's almost impossible for young Aspirants like them. After all, the coffee that was spilled was no longer simple. It changed the moment that it was controlled by the Teqx; it became laced with the invisible powers of whatever fabric of the universe the Teqx used.
This meant that the coffee was locked into the mean girl's Teqx. It shouldn't be controlled by anybody else, except for the mean girl as long as she was using her Teqx. The only way that someone could seize control of an element that was already being controlled by a Teqx was to have better mastery over an Aura than the original Teqx user.
What was Aura? Beatrice was taught that every Teqx consisted of a combination of different auras. They could be Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Light, and Dark.
For example, D-class Poison Breath consisted of Earth, Air, and Dark Aura. Because poison was naturally occurring in the world, it has the Earth Aura. Since the Teqx spread poison through breath and was an area of effect, it contained the Air Aura. And lastly, since this Teqx had destruction in its very nature, it has the Dark Aura.
Each Teqx had different concentrations of Auras too. Some were purely one Aura, some had equal combinations of some or had one or two majority Auras while being supplemented by the other Auras.
As Dreamers become more and more proficient with their powers, they learn how to control the Aura of their Teqx. They start to piece together how they work and how the Auras in the world start to interact with other Auras in the world. So, high-level Dreamers who had a Teqx that had primarily Fire Aura, through their experience and wisdom, could theoretically dominate a weaker Teqx with the Fire Aura.
So, the only way to seize control of someone's Teqx powers was to master your own Teqx and its Aura. This was no simple thing. This took years upon years of trial and error because this cannot be taught to you by other people. Teachers and Masters could teach you how to learn from your Teqx, but they cannot give you the answers. You had to learn them yourselves as you familiarized yourself with your Teqx.
The mean girl's Teqx must have been a very simple Teqx with just Earth as its main Aura. After all, coffee was naturally occurring in the world and could be harvested through the Earth. Hot water was also naturally occurring in geysers and volcanoes.
If Patty was able to take control of her Teqx, then that must mean that Patty had a Teqx with a primarily Earth Aura!
Patty having this kind of Teqx was not surprising. The most surprising fact was that he had tremendous mastery over his own Earth Aura, so much so that he was able to take control of another person's Teqx powers.
Beatrice couldn't believe the absurdity of the situation. After all, Patty was still a senior in high school like them! He wasn't even in college or university! How can he have that much mastery? Seniors like them only just acquired a Teqx! At most, Patty should only have acquired his Teqx a year ago, so how did he find a shortcut through a skill that could only be acquired through years and years of practice?!
Even in their elite circle, Beatrice only knew a few people who could achieve this feat in their first year of college. And they were considered peerless geniuses in their field, expected to soar through the world like a meteor.
Was Patty some secret student of some secluded master in the mountains or something?! Was he in the Visionary Realm?! Did he break all records and break through to the Aspirant Realm in just one year, even before going to University?! That wasn't possible. There was no way that a lazy bum like Patty was an unknown and undiscovered genius!
Patty still had that lazy look on his face, like scalding hot coffee wasn't just about to burn his face in front of everyone. His movements were measured as if everything went according to his plan. She still couldn't reconcile the fact that Patty's lazy face was the one who did something close to impossible.
'Did Xandra know about his talent?' Beatrice asked herself. Her actions of wanting to go on a date with Patty would make sense if she knew that he was a genius even better than all of her suitors.
NO, Beatrice shook herself. She reminded herself that she wasn't going to fall for Patty's deception. His skills must have been an illusion that he planned to deceive Xandra and scam her of all her money! Patty didn't look even an ounce of genius. He was only wearing shorts and sandals, for Supreme's sake! There was no way that he was a genius!
Beatrice decided to catch him in the act. "Xandra, are you really going out with this guy?"
Xandra nodded and walked closer to Patty and took his hand. "Yes."
"Then, you wouldn't mind me getting to know him, do you? If he is going to be your 'boyfriend', then why don't we go out and have a double date or something?"
Patty was about to say no, but Xandra squeezed his hand and answered for him. "Fine, let's get out of this cafe and go somewhere more fun."
Beatrice smiled. "You read my mind. Let's go to the Chain Training Hall."
"Fine, I wanted to warm up my body anyway," Xandra immediately agreed.
"Cool. I'm down," Sam agreed.
"How about you?" Beatrice asked Patty. "As Xandra's potential boyfriend and suitor, then you must show your skills–"
"Nope. I want to go home." Patty immediately said no.
Beatrice was dumbfounded.
"Patty's kidding," Sam said. "He's going with us. It's not like he can go anywhere without me pushing him."
"TSK."
That was Patty's only weakness. He was too lazy to push the rolling chair home by himself, and he certainly wouldn't walk all the way home. Sam knew perfectly well that Patty wouldn't be able to go home without someone pushing him, so he used that to make Patty join them in the training hall.
"Fine, just push me there." Patty crossed his arms. Patty consoled himself because he finally knew what the Aura in his system was for. Now that his Earth Aura was at a whopping 772/1000, he seemed to intuitively know how to control them.
When he felt that coffee spilling towards him, he felt his invisible arm behind his back move and guide the coffee into his cup without even asking it what to do. Now, he knew that he had to upgrade the other Auras as well so that he could control other Teqx powers too without even using his hands. It was too exhausting to dodge and parry attacks all the time.
"I'll push him," Xandra said as she went behind Patty and started to push his chair outside the cafe. "Thanks for saving me back there."
Patty looked back at her. "It's not like I had a choice. But, at least it saved me from going to a pointless internship with some company with Sam."
"I'm sorry for dragging you into that. I'll repay you with whatever you want as long as this 'date' goes well and convinces Beatrice."
Patty looked back at her and saw an opportunity.
"Do you know where I can sell high-quality Kores?"