Aman experienced the soul pressure of a genetic expert for the second time in his life.

This time, with time to prepare, he was calm enough to try and savour the experience and contrast it with the previous one.

It was weaker. One of the top experts in India and that man in the alley had been stronger.

Then what of the enemy that had brought him to his knees?

Aman affirmed his decision to stay away from the Sensor yet again.

For that he had to focus.

The nano-photon galaxy in his body seemed to turn sluggish under the oppression of the external soul pressure.

Sushil’s eyes flashed as the first among the students to recover began to try and concentrate his soul into his heart.

He couldn’t really say that he was surprised seeing that he was the one who performed the best in the trials.

One by one the others began to recover from the shock and gather their wits enough to command their nano-photons.

The competition was on.

Aman clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly as he concentrated totally inwards.

The soul galaxy seemed to be like a recalcitrant beast, forever trying to slip out of his control and slip back into its natural mode of operation.

It was like climbing up a greased pole.

Two metres up only to slip a metre down again.

He kept having a feeling that he could do better but whenever he got into the groove, his soul would slip out of his control and try to diffuse back until he hastily caught it and halted its motion.

But he wanted, no NEEDED to win.

So, he focused, he concentrated the hardest he had ever before.

And it paid.

Like a beast that had been finally leashed, his soul did his bidding and congealed within his heart.

In his soul sight, his heart was a bright nebulous mass of energy while tendrils of it circulated around his body through his arteries and veins.

Sweating profusely from the combined pressure of resisting the soul oppression and keeping his soul congealed in his heart, he opened his eyes and looked at the expert with hope in his gaze.

Sushil’s eyes flashed with complex emotions but he nodded at him.

Aman relaxed and like a compressed spring that had obtained release, his soul snapped back to its baseline.

Waves of exhaustion washed over him and he collapsed backwards on the back of the chair he was sitting in.

Turning his head slightly to look at the other six, he saw that the others were still sitting there with closed eyes and clenched teeth.

Euphoria welled up within him. He was first.

Looking at Ashok and Sneha who were still struggling, his lips curved upwards into a sneer.

Mud could bury a gem. Not abrade away its shine.

A clay figurine could be painted. One rain-shower and the paint would wash off.

Sneha’s eyes snapped open just as he was looking at her.

Incomprehension, followed by realization and then shock. The emotions that passed through her eyes afterwards were too complex for him to read but Aman was well satisfied.

She would be the second, would she? Oh well, she had always been talented if shallow.

He would decide how to deal with her later. Now, he just wanted to see Ashok’s face when he woke to his new reality.

He had to wait a bit more for his satisfaction as Ashok was the fourth to awake after a wiry boy with glasses from another class.

The expression on his face was all Aman had hoped it would be.