Chapter 52 : Chapter 52
Chapter 52 : Control
Sal, who did not want to make things more difficult for her, nodded and answered instead.
"Yes, I untied it."
Lombardi stepped back from their row with a smile.
"Good. Then let us check the composition ratio first, quickly skim through the theory... and move on to the really fun part!"
As he tapped on his tablet a few times, the screen changed, and the ratio of student categories appeared.
Essence Classification (Skill)
● Mental Type: 14%
● Mimicry Type: 8%
● Influence Type: 4%
● Invention Type: 34%
● Movement Type: 21%
● Body Manipulation Type: 1%
● Body Transformation Type: 9%
● Energy Manipulation Type: 8%
● Enhancement/Replication Type: 1%
Lombardi looked at Whisper, Sal, and the Body Manipulation Type girl in turn, a smile spreading across his face.
"I can assure you, there will never be another class as anticipated as this one!"
Lombardi leaned his body against the desk with his arms crossed.
"Now, let us organize the theory before moving on. I will not make this like a history class, but I must explain what we know about Essence and what it means for your growth."
He turned off the screen behind him.
It was an intention to focus the students' gaze on himself rather than the screen.
"Portals first opened about 60 years ago. They appeared before Dungeons or Towers. Today, we will focus only on Portals. When Portals opened, Essence began to flow into the atmosphere. It was weak at first, but as it was left uncontrolled... eventually, our atmosphere became full of Essence."
He waved his hand once and added a disclaimer.
"Some people say the atmosphere is polluted because of this, but there is no need to talk politics here. The important thing is that Essence has continuously flowed in for the past 60 years, and due to that, we have also changed. Every time a monster was defeated, more Essence flowed in, and as time passed, the lost territories had their terrain transformed and began to be reported in the forms of Dungeons and Towers. Places where powerful monsters made their nests. Now, what does this have to do with Skill class?"
Lombardi smiled, spreading his arms wide.
"It has everything to do with skills! Our entire planet has been encroached upon by Essence, so no matter how many Portals we close, new ones keep appearing. My father was weaker than me, and you will be stronger than me. The children born now will be born with much higher Essence affinity than you. Because we are adapting to Essence and evolving rapidly. So, as a result of researching Essence for decades, we have come to utilize and classify it, establishing training methods suitable for each attribute. Effective training methods exist for each category."
At those words, everyone's eyes sparkled.
"However, you are already adults. The Essence inside your bodies has flowed without any direction for the past several years, and in that process, growth might have been blocked or distorted. Some of those might be permanent limitations, but some can be overcome or reversed through training. Now, please look at the Cores placed on your desks."
Sal became curious about the direction Lombardi intended to take the class.
'Is he trying to make us use this Core like a battery?'
Divinity, sitting next to him, also wore a puzzled expression.
She also seemed unable to see the future of this class.
Lombardi stood up from his seat and lifted the Core placed on his own desk.
"There is one Core like this inside each of you. After researching internal Cores, we became able to create artificial Cores. These Cores can act like batteries to amplify your abilities, but we must train our internal Cores rather than relying on external auxiliary means."
He looked around at the students and smiled.
"During this semester, I will train you so that you can unlock the potential of your internal Cores. For this, two major types of training are required."
Lombardi held up one finger.
"The first is Essence Control. This will be very natural for the Replication Type and Body Manipulation Type users in our class. This is training to visualize your Essence and control its flow in and out of your body."
He held up another finger and continued speaking.
"The second is Essence Refining. Refining is the work of removing blocked flows within your body and improving the quality of your internal Core. In future classes, we will use several tools to measure your internal Cores, but today we will start with a basic test."
He pointed to the Cores on the desks.
"Now, check if you can draw out the energy of the Core in front of you."
Sal momentarily wondered if something had been applied to make it difficult to draw out the Core's energy.
He cautiously placed his finger on it, but immediately felt the Essence seeping in through his fingertips without any resistance.
Looking around, most students had their eyes closed and were concentrating.
Surprisingly, even Divinity looked like she was struggling.
Lombardi noticed Sal's expression, nodded, and silently praised him.
After a few minutes passed, Lombardi asked the students who succeeded in connecting to the Essence to raise their hands.
Some wore confident expressions, but he did not mind those reactions and did not spare encouragement for the rest of the students either.
"Good, that is it for now. Students who could not connect to the Core's Essence, do not worry. It actually means you have tremendous potential for growth. It is empty right now, but that means there is that much room to accept and refine Essence."
He winked.
"Essence Control is a prerequisite condition to move on to the next stage, Essence Refining. So I will divide the class into two groups. From this time on, you will learn what is necessary for each of you. Those who just raised their hands, go to the left side of the room and learn Essence Refining. The rest of the students will go to the right and do Essence Control training. Ah, for you guys, it would be the opposite of the directions I just said."
Divinity stood up from her seat with a resigned expression toward Sal.
"See you later."
She muttered quietly and moved to the other side of the classroom.
Before Sal could answer Divinity, the girl with the Body Manipulation ability sat in the seat next to him.
Surprisingly, her pupils were the same silver color as Sal's.
"Salvatore Argento."
She mimicked his voice perfectly and extended her hand.
Sal was bewildered for a moment but soon burst into laughter.
"Please, do not tell me that is my voice."
In the blink of an eye, her pupils returned to a vivid green color, and her voice changed to a completely different tone.
"It is your voice exactly. And you always shake hands, don't you? Why do you do that?"
Just then, Professor Lombardi's voice resonated through the classroom, drawing the students' attention.
"Whisper, I am sorry, but could you come this way? Sit next to Mr. Salvatore..."
He checked his tablet and continued speaking.
"With Lucia Hernandez."
When Sal looked at the Body Manipulation girl, she gave a thumbs up.
She looked at Sal again and shook her head from side to side.
"My name is incredibly common. So I prefer to be called Nova."
Sal looked at Whisper, who was standing awkwardly in the back row.
She stood stiffly as if scared, so Sal waved his hand kindly.
And he said to Nova.
"Call me Sal. And Lucia is pretty enough too, you know?"
Snorting as if scoffing, Nova shook her head again.
"Don't tell me you are going to say Sofia is good too?"
Sal looked back with a puzzled expression and answered.
"Yes, I like it. It is my mother's name."
Nova bit her lip to hold back her laughter and glanced at Whisper, who was approaching.
"Are you going to shake hands now?"
She asked teasingly.
Sal decided to fix his habit of shaking hands with people from that moment on.
"It is because it is basic etiquette when conducting auctions."
As he added it like an excuse, Nova's laughter grew louder, and Sal decided not to say anything more.
"Hello."
Whisper greeted timidly and sat next to Nova. Sal was initially worried that Nova would tease Whisper, but unexpectedly, she showed a completely different attitude.
"I am Nova, and this is Sal. Welcome to the Dream Team!"
Nova smiled gently, pointing at Sal with her thumb. Thanks to that, the tension noticeably drained from Whisper's shoulders as she felt relieved.
"Wow! Can I join the Dream Team too?"
A familiar voice came from right behind Sal.
Only then did Sal recognize Dave's face, who was smiling broadly.
Sal stared with a surprised expression, then suddenly realized.
"Wait, Dave? You could do Essence Control?"
Sal realized that because he always saw Dave acting excited in front of the high-ranking students, he had inadvertently assumed his skills would be poor.
And he was inwardly glad that that prejudice had been broken.
However, when Dave frowned, Sal realized that what he just said might have sounded rude and tried to apologize in a hurry.
But Dave pointed to the other side of the classroom first.
"Huh? Isn't this the side where Core connection didn't work?"
Nova giggled and said.
"Dream Team application, rejected. You are on the other side, friend."
However, Dave did not feel offended at all.
Rather, he answered with a laugh.
"It is okay. Want to have lunch together later, Sal?"
Before Sal could answer, Dave hurriedly went back to the seat on the opposite side, shouting over his shoulder as he went, "See you later!"
When Lombardi clapped his hands, the noise in the classroom subsided in an instant.
"Good work, everyone! Before we start in earnest, there is one thing I want to make clear. This is not a class intended to alienate anyone. And it is a very common process."
As he tapped the tablet, a blue barrier appeared in the center of the classroom, dividing the two sides.
"This barrier will ensure that the side focusing on Essence Control is not disturbed in their meditation. For example, if I stand here right now, everyone can hear my voice. But like this...."
When Lombardi moved to the other side of the barrier, his mouth kept moving, but no sound could be heard.
Soon, he returned to the side where Sal was and said.
"Like this, the students on the other side cannot hear anything. This device will help both groups focus on the class effectively."
Lombardi stepped back to the front of the barrier so both sides of the classroom could hear.
"From now on, I will use my amplification ability to temporarily amplify the senses of everyone in the Essence Control group. Doing this will allow you to directly see and feel the Essence flowing. Training will be much easier if the goal is visible, right?"
Everyone nodded at those words.
"Before that, the Essence Refining group, please close your eyes and enter meditation. You are to explore inside your body utilizing your own power. I will display the flow path on the screen in a moment, so try moving your Essence following that path. We will check progress together at the end of class. Understood?"
Both sides nodded in agreement.
Lombardi manipulated the tablet to activate the screen again.
Sal raised his head and looked at the screen.
Over a hundred points were marked on a human body model, and each point had a number and a simple description attached.
After glancing at the model, Lombardi pointed to point number 1 in the dead center of the screen.
"Start here and proceed as far as possible in order. I will check your progress after finishing the Essence Control group's lesson. Is that understood?"
The students nodded once again.
Having confirmed that, Lombardi moved to the other side of the barrier.
Sal was quite flustered by the concept he was seeing for the first time, but he tried to concentrate, thinking the theory itself would be simple.
At that moment, Nova sitting next to him asked with a sly smile.
"Want to race?"
Sal shook his head.
"This is my absolute first time with this, so I probably won't even be competition."
However, both of them were surprised by the voice that followed.
"I will do it."
Whisper spoke while sitting with her legs folded, her gaze fixed on the screen.
There was firm determination in those eyes.
Nova raised one eyebrow, then smiled as if satisfied.
"Good! Sal, you calculate the score. Until you get used to it."
"Can you guys be quiet? Trying to focus here."
An annoyed voice of a male student came from the row right behind them.
Sal turned around to apologize, but Nova turned her body first.
Her gaze fixed on the male student, and a predatory smile spread across her face.
"Oho, quite brave outside! You didn't talk so much when I was kicking you around inside the arena."
Just as the situation was about to turn ugly, Whisper spoke quietly.
"Passed the fifth point."
Nova grimaced as if disappointed and pointed at the male student she had beaten in the arena.
"You, let's talk later."
With that one remark, all conversation cut off abruptly, and the students began to move their Essence flow in earnest.
Sal activated his ability and tried to visualize point number 1 inside his body.
It was fortunate that he didn't need to close his eyes, but finding what he wanted was still difficult.
After briefly clearing the threads of his inner skills from his consciousness, it took a little time, but he was finally able to concentrate.
Sal did not try to memorize all the points but focused on the closest five points first.
It became much easier to approach when he imagined each one as a loop the Essence had to pass through.
However, an unexpected problem arose.
Every time he passed through a loop, he felt a subtle resistance.
He frowned as he struggled to pierce through the second loop.
Instead of simply passing the thread through, it felt like he had to push through with his Essence.
He repeatedly rotated his Essence to pierce the second loop.
When the resistance finally released, a subtle change occurred somewhere deep inside.
It was a sensation difficult to explain in words, but it felt as if the Essence loop had become very slightly thicker.
Then Whisper spoke again.
"Passed the twentieth point."
Nova shouted right after.
"Seventeenth."
Sal began to become conscious of the fact that he was merely at the second point.
He wasn't originally a person with a strong competitive spirit.
He considered doing things accurately more important.
But this time, the story was different.
This should have been his specialty.
'Why am I struggling like this?'
Thinking that, Sal encountered a much stronger resistance than before when he reached the third point.
He rotated the Essence around the point even faster to soak it thoroughly, then attempted to force a breakthrough.
However, feeling the sensation of the Essence being rejected, he visibly flinched and deactivated his ability.
Sal looked around the classroom and took in the sight of quite a few people passing through easily and looking relaxed.
'Am I the only one struggling?'
Nova watched him out of the corner of her eye.
She paused as if contemplating for a moment, then approached him and asked in a low voice.
"Do you want some help?"