“...A game of tag?” Talia tilted her head in amazement. The look Ellen had given her was the same as the one her comrades used to have before sparring. The fighting spirit coming from the little frame in front of her was reminding Talia of such memories. So of course, she was expecting a little more action. Talia was not necessarily an advocate of peace. After fifty years of training and fighting nearly every day, It was slightly strange for her to not swing those arms of her.

Ellen continued with her fists balled up in anticipation. It seemed she had not noticed Talia’s surprise. “Yes, a game of tag! But not a normal one.”

As she said this, Ellen disappeared from sight. Ashia looked left and right, still in the dark of what was happening. However, Talia merely turned her head to see Ellen just behind her, a brave smile on her face. She picked up what Ellen meant by that. “A high-speed game of tag, right?”

Ellen nodded and began to sharpen her eyes. Talai grinned as she put her hands on her hips like she was having fun. In truth, this might be a bit interesting. After all, competing against the fastest space warper of her world could let her gauge the overall level of abilities with even more precision. Talia gave a signal with her head. “Who’s it?”

“...You are!” While saying this, Ellen selected a spot a good ten meters away from where she was and began to condense space there. Her senses were spreading to every nooks and cranny of the room. It was not an exaggeration to say she was aware of every single detail in her environment.

Then with a flash, she switched places with the condensed place. She landed on the floor and immediately glanced at where Talia was supposed to be. ‘...Huh, seriously?’

Yes, ‘supposed to be’. The blue-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Ellen felt a chill on her back. A sweet soft voice. entered her right ear. “As I thought. You compress space using some sort of polygonal form. Following this, you switch your place with it. What a peculiar way of doing things.”

Ellen teleported to another location in a split of a second. With a trickle of sweat on her forehead, she narrowed her eyes. “How did you…”

Talia straightened her back and grinned in response. “Hypersensitivity to spatial perturbations. Also two more things. Be careful of those shapes you are creating. You might end up teleporting something you don’t want.”

“I know tha-” Ellen blinked once while keeping her eyes on Talia. Still, the split of a second later, a blue flash passed by. She felt a soft sensation on her shoulder, like a hand laying on it.

“Also, you’re it.”

“...” Ellen was overwhelmed by the situation. She knew for a fact that Talia was abnormal, but she was pretty confident in her displacement speed thanks to her ability. As a matter of fact, there was indeed hardly any ability user out there who could catch her if she was dead serious. After all her reaction time was developed due to her constant influx of information and calculation. Her processing capacity was only next to Demetrio Allocca. Coupling this with the ability to teleport herself, she should have an advantage against anyone. So why?

Seeing her distrusted expression, Talia’s face became blank. She might have gone too far. Despite the rank of her ability, Ellen was still only a kid. She might only want to play a game of tag with someone who can keep up with her, but not crush her motivation. Talia rubbed her head as she suddenly felt like a bully. She had to come up with a bait to motivate Ellen to not throw the towel.

Her eyelids narrowed as she found the perfect bait. “Hey, Ellen. I have a proposal for you.”

/----/

* w *

A few moments before the start of Talia and Ellen’s game of tag, the duo of highschool girl and boy were about to practice their own strange training. From an outside point of view, it was nothing like an important training. They were just sitting face to face.

Zesty was fidgeting, unable to calm down under the pressure of the task at hand. Still, she had to do her best. Meanwhile, Akim was just waiting for Zesty to give her instructions.

The girl finally started. “...S-So, let’s start.”

“Yes.”

“First of all, we will begin with the most basic thing. Make your brain able to detect when a signal is sent to your mind.”

After finishing, Akim immediately raised his hand. “Teacher, I have a question?”

“T-Teacher? Me?... What is the question?” Zesty’s cheeks burned up as she found the notion of her being a teacher somehow embarrassing. However, she still had to answer the question.

“What is a signal? How is that different from what you usually do?”

“Ah.” Zesty gasped as she realized her mistake. Mind-oriented abilities were rare. Extremely rare. Just the fact that one would read what another could think was already absurd. On the other side, little was known about the brain, so it was almost impossible to explain how their ability was working. For an outsider, it was just working. Period.

But, it was not this impossible to understand, at least the basics. Both Zesty and Talia knew them. Zesty’s case was on a whole different scale though. Despite her innocent look, her understanding was naturally very high. Of course, most of it was by instinct. Regardless, she could teach Akim a few things.

“A connection and a signal are different. A connection implies that the two minds are linked by a thread. It can be mutual or only in one direction. It’s generally the latter as mind-oriented abilities are rare… Meanwhile, a signal is the same as knocking on the door. It’s to say you are here. A-Am I clear enough?”

“Um, yes thank you. You’re good at making things easy to understand.” Zesty blushed at the unintentional praise. She quickly settled down to start the training.

She put three fingers in the air to support her explanation. “First, it will be easier for you by closing your eyes. This would allow you to empty your thoughts quicker. Secondly, I will begin to send a signal. You have to feel it. Then finally, when you perceive the signal, you have to hold onto the sensation.”

Her hand joined with her other. She timidly smiled as she reached the end of her instructions. “By doing so you will become more aware of your mind. This will naturally strengthen your mental fortitude...At least, I think?”

She trailed off the rest of her words. Akim tilted his head in wonder. “You think? What do you mean?”

“T-Talia told me how she trained her mind before coming here, so I only repeat what I heard.”

“Oh, I see. Then how did you train yours?”

This time it was Zesty who tilted her head. “I don’t need to? I mean I never met someone with a stronger ability than mine.”

Akim was dumbfounded by the simple yet unexpected answer. He decided to just roll with it and not think too much. Which was quite in adequation with his first task. He closed his eyes and focused on his inside. Seeing this, Zesty took a deep breath and also closed her eyes. The first thing she did was not really what she told him.

She connected their two minds. Of course, Akim was not even aware of it, but Zesty could now monitor his state of mind. The reason was quite simple actually. It was to check Akim’s mental activities.

Zesty could feel the different layers inside Akim’s mind. She could see that he was not totally able to empty his thoughts. All the different inputs of his body were stimulating his brain. ‘It will take a long time in these conditions….Wait, maybe I can help it?’

Zesty had a sudden thought. Something that she had never done, but was surely not outside her range. ‘...What if I temporarily block the unnecessary inputs? How can I do this?’

There was one thing Talia was not totally aware of abilities. An ability was indeed a part of a person, just like an arm or a leg. Those who were very proficient with their abilities were like athletes who trained hours their bodies. However, abilities were not limbs. They were powers that could potentially alter the world itself. Using and training them without giving it thought was like passing through a filter. They were not using their power directly.

At this moment, Zesty was facing this wall of realization.

Her view of the mind was simple, but the reason was that there was no need to make it more complicated. After all the layer display was merely a way her ability created to support its utilization. To put it in other words, it was just an interface of the reality…. It also implied that if Zesty wanted to fully use her ability, she had to remove the filter and directly control her power through a new way of visualization. This would also mean that she had to have the capacity to handle the flux of information and the capacity to develop a new interface.

‘Fuahaa, can I even do this?... No, I have to do it!’ She recalled the kindness of her friends and the gentleness of the boy who didn’t reject her despite knowing her ability. It would be nice if she could progress alongside him!

Without hesitation, Zesty’s world view melted. Her brain reached beyond its limits to create the most optimal and complete interpretation of the world. No, the consequences of her actions went deeper than that. The shackles around her power busted as she was rewriting the rules of her ability.

Unknown to her, Zesty stepped into a whole dimension.

...Meanwhile, Akim was still trying to feel non-existent signals.

/----/

* w *

Ellen looked upward with a drained face. However, upon seeing the scene in front of her, she stood straight. Talia had her arms crossed, jewels-like stones orbiting around her. The precious stones were appearing one after another until the number reached ten. The jewels were like multi-colored satellites, reflecting the light coming from the spotlights in a rainbow pattern. A strange blue tattoo was pulsing on both of Talia’s arms. The mythical sight made everyone, but Akim and Zesty who were strangely still absorbed in their mental training, gasp.

Talia reached out with her hand to grasp one white and purple jewel and observed it at close range. “Rodonia genesis crystal. It’s not of the highest grade, but it’s still enough to power some high-caliber Lighting Turret for two fires. One should be strong enough to slice an ordinary bunker in half. Not bad, right?”

“...What are saying? Genesis crystal? What?” Ellen’s eyes were glued on the sublime stone. A tinker inside her seemed to light up due to the sight of the scene and the words spoken by her friend. It was like an aria or a magical formula bewitching her mind. However, no such thing had been cast on her. It was just her curiosity of a researcher in front of a mystery. So simple, yet so pure.

Talia continued as she felt the fish had taken the bait. She crushed the genesis crystal, which erupted like a broken vase. A viscous liquid poured in an amount that seemed impossible for such a small container to hold in. The brilliant purple matter with star-like tinkles was flowing around Talia. Ellen’s eyes were glued on it like a cat on a bird. She tried to understand the physics behind, how it was working. But no matter how much she tried to make hypotheses, none of them made sense. She could not apply the rules of physics that she had learned even by adding the existence of abilities. It was beyond strange.

Yes, it was almost like…

‘It’s out of this world?’

Maybe satisfied by Ellen’s reaction, Talia made the whole floating objects fade into nothingness. She then reached her hand in Ellen’s direction. She finally opened her mouth to say the most important part. “If you are able to catch me, I will explain everything to you. What that was, how the world works. But more importantly.”

She marked a pause as she resolved herself for this final bait. After all, the truth is not always easy. “I will tell you the true origin of abilities.”

Silence fell inside the room. The sole onlooker was unable to break the stillness. Ashia was of course very interested in the words spoken by her friend even shocked, but she could feel that it should be Ellen to make the first move.

It was only a few seconds later that the little girl’s expression changed. She smiled and shook her head. “No, thanks.”

“...Eh?” The answer caught Talia off guard. Knowing Ellen’s curiosity, she was sure she would fall for the sweet proposition. The unexpected reply was soon explained by the little girl.

“I’m a researcher, so it’s my job to search for answers….However, not like this. The sole merit of getting this piece of information would be on a personal level. Research is group work. Each of us adds a brick to the pathway leading to the key. Obtaining it like this is a poison. At least this is what I think.”

Talia was dumbfounded. Hearing this kind of reasoning from such a young kid once again reminded her that Ellen was way ahead of her age. Understanding this, Talia smiled a bit bitterly, knowing that such maturity could not come without a price. Nevertheless, Talia wanted to bait Ellen. “I understand. Then, what do you want to know? This time if you can catch me, I will tell you what you want.”

Ellen’s eyes shone with ambition. She didn’t want to hear about the origin of abilities, but that didn’t mean that she was not curious about Talia. The question was obvious knowing this. “I want to know who you truly are!”

“...Heh, fine.” Talia closed her eyes thinking for about two seconds before accepting. Despite being another precious piece of information, the main reason why Talia didn’t disclose her identity as a Protector of Worlds despite using her powers on a daily basis was merely because it was a pain to explain. It would create more trouble than to simply act like it was the most normal thing in the world. Still, if this was Ellen’s request then be it.

Ellen was frankly glad that her request was accepted. The condition to know her true identity was simple, yet nearly impossible. Catching Talia.

‘Let’s focus…And let’s change my approach to the problem.’ Now that Ellen had a precise goal in front of her, her concentration peaked. The air around her calmed as she closed her eyes. Silence began to spread all around in space. A quiet, almost fairylike calm.

At least it was the case from Talia’s point of view. Her hypersensibility to space variations allowed her to fully enjoy this stillness. Suddenly, a small ripple disrupted the calmness. Talia looked on her left to see Ellen reaching out her hand, less than a meter away.

Talia’s pupils contracted as she accelerated her thought process. Time seemed to have stopped. Talia could see, feel, predict every single movement of the little girl. In this stall world only perceivable by this devil in sheep clothes, space calmed down its raging. It was a state in which Talia found peace. In it, everything was just reduced to furniture, objects that could that were not allowed to move by themselves. The State of Stillness.

Talia slightly put force in her knees and the next second she was behind Ellen, which meant Ellen caught air.

However, only smiles adorned the faces of the two girls. Ellen found a very interesting game using her ability and Talia was enjoyed by the progress that Ellen made in only a few minutes. At this pace, it was bound to be fun.

Talia grinned haughtily and waved toward Ellen. “Bring it on.”

“Yes!”

Invisible to normal eyes, yet the space in the training room was raging like the sea in the middle of a storm. Talia was moving so fast she produced winds that spread in all directions, while Ellen was literally exchanging her place with thin air by moving chunks of space. The high-speed game of tag was both a sight to behold and a no-man zone due to the dangerousness of space rupture. Sometimes they would fly off in the air with Talia doing some impossible movement to avoid being caught. Other times, Ellen would teleport in Talia’s blind spot multiple times in a second.

Anyways, a few minutes later, Sanya and Adel decided to open the door.