– Wraak –
Even if Wraak wasn't looking at him, he could feel that shift of raw power in the air. It wasn't even remotely subtle—his energy had coalesced and risen in just a few minutes of sitting in place.
There was no mistaking it. Jyn had already accomplished what he came for.
He had awakened the mental side of his energy.
Wraak's grip tightened slightly around the fading ball of energy in his hands. It had taken him years of practice to reach the level of power he currently had, refining his connection to his energy through brutal discipline and relentless training.
And yet, Jyn had reached his level in what? A few months? And then had far surpassed him in just a few hours?
Ridiculous.
Even with natural talent, something like this should take time. It should take effort. And yet, Jyn sat there, stretching lazily as if he had just woken from a nap, oblivious to what he had just achieved.
Wraak exhaled slowly through his nose, suppressing the incredulous feeling rising in his chest. Instead, he focused on the facts.
Jyn's energy felt… different. Before, his ki had been powerful, but it had always lacked a certain refinement. Now, there was a balance to it—a harmony between mind and body that wasn't there before.
He wasn't just improving quickly. He was blowing Wraak out of the water. Evolving at a rate that he couldn't keep up with.
An undisputable genius.
The realization left a sour taste in Wraak's mouth.
Wraak finally spoke, keeping his voice level. "You succeeded. How?"
Jyn, staring into the open air, was muttering under his breath. His gaze was shifted left and right, his eyes glazed over as if he was reading something none but him could see.
Wraak blinked.
Silence.
He waited for a beat. Then another.
A slow exhale left his nose. "…So?"
Jyn's eyes flicked back to him, blinking as if just realizing he had been spoken to. "Huh?"
Wraak sighed deeply, rolling his shoulders in mild exasperation. Maybe calling him a genius was a mistake.
Still, idiot savant was a fitting label.
He patiently spoke again, ignoring his own irritation. "The technique you were trying to achieve. I assume you figured it out by now. But how did you do it? I barely gave you any help."
Jyn furrowed his brow in thought before shrugging. "Well… my ki control was and still is awful."
Wraak frowned. That much was true, but how was that relevant?
"I didn't realize how bad it was until recently," Jyn continued. "I was wasting most of my ki just to enhance my body. Instead of directing it properly, I was just flooding myself with energy like a busted pipeline."
Wraak's tail flicked behind him as he listened. The logic tracked, at least so far. Many warriors struggled with control at first, especially those with naturally high reserves of energy.
But Jyn had clearly taken a massive leap forward. How?
Jyn crossed his arms. "So, I started thinking—if I could get my ki control good enough, I'd be able to channel it instead of just dumping it everywhere. And if I could channel it, I'd be able to target specific areas of my body instead of just wasting all that potential power."
He stopped there.
Wraak stared at him, waiting for him to continue. But Jyn just kind of… sat there, looking off into the distance again.
A vein twitched in Wraak's forehead.
"…Go on."
Jyn blinked. "Oh. I thought it was pretty obvious from there. Sorry," He scratched his cheek. "Anyway, since my ki was usually spread out my entire body, I figured… why not put most of it into my brain?"
Wraak's entire body froze.
Jyn, completely unaware of the sheer absurdity of what he had just said, kept going. "And, uh, yeah. Turns out if you pump your brain full of all your ki, it kinda… boosts everything up there. A lot." He tapped his temple. "Next thing I knew, my mind was way faster than it should've been. And once my brain power shot through the roof, I could, well, feel the psychic power, y'know? Like, everything suddenly clicked."
He shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Once I had a grasp on my psychic power, I just used it to stir my mental ki awake and… here we are."
Silence.
Wraak could only stare.
Jyn had the nerve to grin, looking proud of himself.
"That's…" Wraak's voice trailed off. His mind reeled at what he'd just heard. Not because Jyn had tapped into his mental energy—no, that was as basic as it got.
No, the problem was how Jyn had done it.
Enhancing one's mind with ki? Sure. That was normal. Many warriors did it to improve reaction time and perception.
But to use the physical ki as a roundabout way to stir one's mental ki? That was—
That was—
That was like using your ki to enhance your ki. Or like separating the body from the brain so that you knew which was which.
It didn't make sense. It shouldn't have worked at all.
The implications of what this meant. If it was possible to do something like this, what else would be possible with a more precise mind? If you could find the mechanisms behind this, wouldn't you be able to create a technique that multiplies your energy?
Even if it was for a moment, that technique would be revolutionary. An unheard-of historic event.
…And yet the fool who discovered it used it for such a trivial technique.
Wraak exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "Idiot savant, indeed."
Jyn just grinned wider, completely oblivious to Wraak's inner thoughts. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Wraak let out a quiet grunt, his tail flicking behind him. His mind was still racing, still trying to process what Jyn had done.
But what could he even say or do about it? The result was the result, even if it baffled him.
He turned his gaze toward Edith and Zairen, both still struggling to follow their training. They hadn't noticed Jyn's absurdity yet, but Wraak knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.
As much as he wanted to keep this golden opportunity for himself, Jyn's brilliance shined too brightly to be kept in the dark. His power had already reached his own and doubled since then. If his rate of improvement stayed the same, he would surpass even Irelia soon enough.
If that happened, he wouldn't be the only one following Jyn around like a hatchling. Edith and Zairen would too, alongside all the other eleven recruits.
Well, ten recruits, most likely. He just couldn't see Irelia following anyone.
Unlike her, Wraak refused to let his pride get in the way of his path to greatness. It irked him something fierce to admit that this idiot was stronger and more talented than him.
Wraak tightened his grip, feeling the ball of energy in his hands shatter into motes of light.
But if that's what it took, he'd drag himself alongside Jyn's path.
Every breakthrough, every epiphany that this savant had.
Wraak would be there too, absorbing all the scraps of impossibility.