Free Web NovelChapter 88: Chapter 87 - Persuade
Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
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"Hi, there. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Neo. What’s your name?" I inquired with a friendly smile, but got no response.
It’s the 15th of January, and I was in the newly captured Outlier’s room. The higher ups had been nagging me to get this kid started with his training...they were under the impression that I could pull it off since I’d apparently ’sweet-talked’ the other Outliers into trusting Harmony.
But that’s not true at all, all of the Outliers were highly suspicious of me for quite a while. They only went along with it because they had nothing to lose in their lives...this kid is different though, he seems to have had a happy life before this, which is apparent by how depressed he is right now.
The higher ups also want me to help train this kid, since I’m the best Space Skill user in Harmony...though, admittedly, I haven’t mastered many advanced techniques that aren’t related to my portals.
Fortunately, since his Aura capacity is apparently more on the level of a Category 0 instead of being close to or above the 1000 mark, Aura control training shouldn’t take as long as it did with the others...well, assuming that he’s at least average at it.
"Hey, listen, kid, I can see that it’s been rough for you, having been torn away from the life you knew, but-," I began to try and persuade him.
He looks like he’s around sixteen or so, with straight, medium-length, dark blonde hair, bright green eyes, an agile build and he had a pendant around his neck with a green gem that matched his eye color. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"You’ve got it wrong," He interrupted with a grimace, finally meeting my gaze, "I don’t care about that damned hell hole of a circus...I just want to see my sister."
Right, of the little bit that some of the others had gotten out of him, we’d learnt that the person whom this kid had inadvertently split the Meta-Orb’s power with, was his twin sister, who was captured by Eden.
"We can help you with that...or rather, we can help you get the power you need to do so. I’m sure you’ve noticed the strange abilities that you’ve gained. However, you aren’t in control of them, not yet anyway. The particular type of power that you gained is the same type that I have, and it’s the ideal power for searching for someone. Let me give you a demonstration," I remarked, before putting my arm through a portal and tapping his shoulder from behind using a connected portal, making him jump in surprise.
"W-woah...I-I don’t understand this power, I can feel it, but I don’t know how to use it. My sister figured it out a little bit though...she accidentally punched something that was well out of her reach, it was amazing," He replied, a sad smile on his face.
That sounds like...the Compression technique. That’s really not an easy technique to master...incidentally, I’m not very adept with Space Skill techniques that aren’t related to the Portal technique, and Compression is a technique that I was never able to learn at all.
Also, good, he’s talking a lot more now...I’m on the right track!
Oh, crap, wait...this is gonna mean that the higher ups are gonna think that they were right about me, meaning that they’re probably gonna saddle me with even more work later on. Well, whatever, I’ll worry about that later...
"Look, there are dozens of ways to apply this power. It’s called Space Skill, and as the name suggests, it lets you manipulate space. Like you saw, I can open portals, and the technique that you mentioned your sister using, it compresses space between the user and their target. There are also techniques that let you turn invisible, intangible, teleport, levitate stuff towards or away from you, and so on. There’s also telepathy-related techniques...those are, admittedly, hard to master and difficult to use, but it’ll give you a real shot at finding your sister. Help us and let us help you...what do you say?" I remarked with a smile.
"I...I don’t know. The other people who’ve been coming in here, they’ve told me a lot a bit about all this, Meta-Humans and Eden and Harmony or whatever. There’s too much that I still don’t know, so...I can’t trust you," He responded with a skeptical frown.
"That’s totally understandable. All I’m asking, is for you to give us the chance to earn your trust. You came across a large, faintly glowing orb, didn’t you? Well, there were nine such orbs scattered throughout the world at one point...some of the others who came across the other orbs are on our side now, while the rest have been captured by Eden...including your sister. If you want to see her again...you’ll have to take the first step yourself. We can’t help you if you don’t let us help you."
"Hm...I can’t deny that you have a point, I suppose. Okay, fine...tell me, how do I get stronger? How do I learn to use my power properly?" He inquired, a determined gleam in his eyes.
Got him!
"It’ll be a somewhat slow process to start with, but once you get the hang of it, it’ll get a lot easier. Training of the basics usually doesn’t take longer to master than a couple of weeks or so, but it entirely depends on the individual. And you can’t keep at it nonstop, since overdoing it could leave lasting damage to your mind," I explained to him.
"I see...okay, then I’ll start right away. What do I need to do?" He asked me, as he stood up and met my gaze with a look of conviction.
This is gonna be a pain...training others, especially when it comes to the basics, is so boring!
Pretty much everyone with high enough Aura capacities to help with Aura control are all busy, and I’ve been specifically tasked with training this kid until he’s able to learn and master techniques on his own, like the others are doing right now.
"Come with me, and let’s get started. We can introduce you to the others later. Oh, by the way, what’s your name?" I inquired, as I opened the door.
"...it’s Dietrich Engel. Just call me Dieter," He replied after a brief pause, before following me out of the room. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Hm, it’s a bit of a walk to the training rooms...let’s take a shortcut instead...
"Walk through this," I instructed as I opened a portal, "It’ll close if I go in first."
"Woah...is this, like, what’s it called...a wormhole or something?" He inquired with a fascinated look on his face.
"I guess you could say that, it’s a portal that lets me travel anywhere I want," I answered.
"Anywhere, huh?" He responded with a gleam in his eyes.
"Just so you know, it’s very difficult to master," I warned him wryly.
"I don’t care. I want to learn how to use it."
"If you insist...but to do that, you’ll have to memorize the entire layout of the planet in detail, and you’ll also need to understand how coordinates work. No one’s mastered this technique as well as I have, at least as far as I know, and even I sometimes need to look up a map to double check. And it doesn’t always work...for instance, if you focus on coordinates in a spot where there’s a wall or something, the portal won’t open," I explained to him, continuing, "When that happens, you’ll need to slightly adjust the coordinates till you find a clear spot. If your adjustments aren’t precise, you could end up several kilometers from your target location. If you still think you can handle that, then by all means, go for it. I won’t stop you."
"Oh, uh...I-I think I’ll decide after I’m done with the basics or whatever," He responded sheepishly, averting his gaze.
Honestly, I actually kinda downplayed just how complex and difficult the portal technique is to master...it’s an absolute nightmare technique to try and figure out, especially at the start.
And learning it made it a lot more difficult to learn other techniques...focusing too much on other techniques causes your grasp over the mastery of the portal technique to waver, especially if it’s other Space Skill techniques.
Anyway, as we entered the training room and I shut the portal, I promptly unleashed my Aura, Dieter’s knees buckling as he let out a startled yelp.
"Wh-what the-...!?"
"Just relax...this is my Aura, it’s usually suppressed, but I’ve unleashed it now. You have an Aura now too, but you aren’t in control of it, so it doesn’t have much noticeable pressure. Now, then, here’s how you learn to control your Aura...push back against the pressure of my Aura with your own. Don’t strain yourself physically at all, it’s key that you keep your body as relaxed as possible...you need to get a feel for how to push back with your own Aura. Visualization and concentration will be very important to pull this off," I instructed him.
"I...I got it. This is...this is nothing!" He responded with a grimace.
"You’re unconsciously straining your body, just take a breath and relax. Oh, and step up close to me...those who possess the Space Skill are about ten times less sensitive to Aura pressure than Meta-Humans without the Space Skill. And you don’t have to be standing either, you can use whatever position that you feel most comfortable in. Got it?"
"Wait, you mean this pressure is ten times more intense for people without the Space Sk-...I mean, y-yeah...I got it!"
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