Man Of Systems

Chapter 15: Flux and Plasma

After filling his belly with food, Rael returned to his room, sporting a pensive expression. After all, a single meal consisted of 1 Credit. As for water and electricity, they were charged whenever the consumption reached a Credit’s worth.

“Are they planning to wring us dry completely?” He groaned, for based on his estimation, he would be spending through all 100 Credits by the end of the month. And, this was in the case if he only spent them on basic necessities.

“To learn special abilities, I need to use Credits.” Sighing at the thought, he browsed through the instructions left on the wall poster, getting a general gist of things. He then switched on the TV, browsing through the basic courses that he had to do, selecting the first one.

“Basics of Plasma, a reward of 10 Credits for a perfect score.” He read through the first one, signing up for it immediately. Basic courses didn’t cost any Credit to sign up for, as they were part of the mandatory curriculum.

Though, if he wished to learn any higher-level information, he would have to pay for them with Credits, of course. “I shouldn’t waste any time and focus on growing stronger first.”

Upon noting that there were only two hours left for the class to start, he quickly freshened up and wore his allotted uniform.

It consisted of a plain blue uniform, a pair of pants and a shirt, with a belt on the buckle of which he could slide in his ID card. There wasn’t anything special on it beyond that. The blue colour signified him being a part of the Blue Agate Academy.

Only those with any merit or achievement were allocated special accessories to don over their uniform.

Rael slung over a shoulder bag, carrying a pen and a notebook within. There was also a water bottle and some snacks that he had bought from the cafeteria. Though, he had no intention to gorge on the snacks for no reason, for they cost him one Credit.

“I hope I can complete this course with a full score.” He muttered, descending the floors through the lift. Every course allotted some Credits upon completion. But, the rewarded Credits were only based on one’s score.

Suppose a course’s exam was tallied for a score of a hundred. If he scored a centum, he’ll obtain ten Credits, the maximum for that course. If he scored between 81-90, he would get nine Credits. So on and so forth.

And, a course could only be done once. So, it was impossible to simply grind through the same course for Credits.

The academy campus was of a stellar scale as Rael walked around, admiring everything. Though at present, he didn’t have access to most of the facilities due to his limited Credits. From time to time, he noticed quite a few Maumans roaming around, chatting freely like regular students.

Though, upon seeing them casually use expensive training facilities that he wasn’t even qualified to enter, Rael could only sigh when a thought hit him, ‘Calca Duta…what is she doing now? Is she also taking the basic courses?’

Throwing the thought to the back of his head, he continued to walk. Thankfully for him, his ID card served as a GPS, allowing him to arrive at the designated building without getting lost. Inserting the ID card back into his belt buckle, he gazed at the massive building before him, one that resembled a hill in size.

He audibly gulped and took a step within, soon managing to locate the lecture room he was supposed to arrive at.

The room was pretty big, spanning a breadth of ten metres and a length of thirty metres. It was semi-circular in shape with a dais in the centre. As he was thirty minutes early, the classroom was empty.

Rael noticed that there was only one row of seats in the classroom. And, there wasn’t any furniture, just an elevated platform to indicate the spots. He didn’t wish to sit too far away, choosing a seat that was closer to the dais.

Within a few minutes, more students began to stream in one after another. Finally, when it was time for the lecture to begin, there were twelve students in total as the professor walked in.

He was a middle-aged Mauman, sporting hair that subtly danced like it was immersed in moving water. It was a mystifying scene as Rael stared at the other party in curiosity. All the students here were only humans.

So, upon seeing that their professor was a Mauman, they were pretty excited.

He had a pretty amicable face to such an extent that none of them was weirded out by his white eyes. After gazing at the students, he casually extended his hand, revealing his palm over which a blue flame appeared.

It didn’t generate any heat but subtly danced like a real flame, “A Plasma is just an ionised mixture. And as soldiers, this is the power we possess. But, unlike how it exists in nature, we are able to control it through a variety of means.”

He snuffed out the flames and pointed at his heart, “The Maurta heart has amplified many of our body’s properties. First is the electromagnetic radiation our body can exhibit. This is what we use to control our Plasma and wield it according to our desires.”

“It’s a special wavelength that only we can perceive and actuate.” The professor said before emitting a subtle fluctuation from his body that prickled the skins of everyone, “Close your eyes and try to perceive this prickling sensation. That’s the key to sensing the Plasma within you.”

Rael followed the instructions, closing his eyes as he focused on the prickling sensation. Goosebumps formed on his skin as a result as a slightly irritating feeling enveloped his mind.

Suddenly, he perceived a foul odour that became aromatic in the next second. A ringing sound resounded in his ears, the frequency turning high as time passed before immediately becoming a base sound.

It was like all his senses had gone haywire, throwing him off as Rael grunted, suddenly feeling his heart thumping as it felt like needles were now piercing his skin.

“Gah!” He lost focus and opened his eyes, panting as his clothes were drenched with sweat.

“Regulate your breathing and try to sense it again. It’s not possible to get it on your first try.” The professor’s relaxing voice resounded, calming him down.

Nodding in response, Rael took in deep breaths until his senses turned normal. He then closed his eyes once again, concentrating on the mild prickling sensation, feeling a ringing sound resound in his ears once again.

Suddenly, his perception turned wonky, feeling as if he was drowning. He was unable to breathe but a second later, it was like there was an excess of air trying to force its way into his lungs.

The erratic stimulus threw him off completely. Nothing like that was actually happening though. His brain was just reacting to the stimulus generated by the professor and was causing him to hallucinate such things.

But, they seemed pretty realistic. Rael broke focus again, noticing all anomalies subside in a matter of seconds. He took in deep breaths, regulating himself before trying it again.

A couple of hours passed in such a fashion as he began to perceive some heat on his skin, focusing on it when he felt he had broken out of a cage, perceiving a world of darkness.

It was the same thing one felt after closing their eyes. But for some reason, the vastness of this darkness seemed…three-dimensional.

Moreover, faint lines began to flicker in and out of existence in this swathe of darkness, soon turning into waves. Rael focused on the waves that fell on him, trailing through them before he perceived a humanoid entity from which tens of thousands of such waves were being emitted like a magnetic field.

In this state, he was even able to perceive the other party’s facial features due to the outline formed by the waves being emitted. It was the professor.

And, as he concentrated further, Rael was slowly able to perceive a sea within the professor, one that resembled the sun, but a deep shade of blue.

“Good, it seems you’re able to sense the Plasma in my body.” The professor’s voice resounded as some of the lines he emitted fused into one before actuating the Plasma in him, carrying them through his hands before emitting them out as a flame.

It was similar to how a magnetic field was able to affect the direction of flow of electric current.

Similarly, the field lines the professor was emitting were what caused the Plasma in his body to move before being emitted as a small flame from his hand. “We call these lines the Flux. It allows us to shape, control, and wield the Plasma in our bodies.”

“Flux…” Muttering in response, Rael concentrated further, retracting his focus as he sensed his body, noticing that there was a tiny sea in his body.

As if the professor was able to notice his actions, he spoke, “That’s the Plasma in your body. At present, it seems you have around two units. As you train, it’ll continue to increase until your body is full. That means you’ve attained the peak of F Rank.”

“And, based on the movement of your Flux, I can feel whatever that you’re planning to do. If you have a strong Flux, you can even control the Plasma in someone else’s body.” Saying so, he made his Flux envelop around Rael’s, saying, “These are your Flux lines, the radiation you can emit. Focus them within your body and try to move your Plasma. Just imitate what I’m doing now.”

The professor’s Flux formed a cylinder around Rael as the Plasma within him slowly moved from his abdomen to his chest.

Rael was able to feel a warmth moving through him as he linked it to the motion of the Plasma. He blindly made his Flux trail after the professor’s, watching the cylinder expand a little, slowing down the Plasma’s upward movement.

The cylindrical Flux then tilted to his right as his Plasma moved through his right arm, eventually stopping at his palm. The Flux then changed shape, bringing the Plasma back to his abdomen.

From there, the Plasma moved to the tip of his left foot, returning to his abdomen before proceeding to his right foot. After returning to his abdomen, it moved to his left palm. In such a fashion, the Plasma moved from his abdomen to all his extremities.

“There are many methods of Flux application. The one I showed you is the most basic of basics and is unfit for combat. But, it’s useful for training purposes and would allow you to move your Plasma using your Flux the best.” The professor said, “In this method, the Flux is concentrated at the abdomen and would be moved to each part of your body from there. And, to move it to any other body part, the Plasma has to return to the abdomen first before making the trip. It takes time to do so and is hence unsuitable for battle.”

“You’ll run out of Plasma the moment you emit it. So, we’ll first be focusing on this exercise. Continue moving it from one part of your body to the next by following the actions that I had done just now.” Saying so, the professor retracted his Flux.

Immediately, Rael experienced difficulty in moving his Plasma, noticing that he felt a mental strain to even make it budge.

“Don’t worry, this strain only exists at the start. As you continue with this training, your mind too becomes strong enough to comfortably move it around.” The professor said before snapping his finger as a staff member pushed a trolley inside the classroom, “There are some tonics here. When your mind feels exhausted, drink it. it’ll allow you to recover faster and train for longer durations.”

After some time of training, Rael was mentally drained as he drank the tonic, immediately feeling a cool sensation wash over him, making him feel brisk.

Revitalised, he began to train again, slowly causing his Plasma to move, making it reach his palm, ‘Success!’