38 – Wave Controller Class

"Mr. Axion! Are you joining our class today?" Baam greeted me with a smile as he noticed me entering the classroom.

"Hello Baam. That's right. I'm very interested in learning about Shinsoo manipulation," I said.

"Me too. It was amazing when Mr. Laure used it in the Crown game!" Baam said.

For once, Laure wasn't sleeping. He sat up paying attention to the front, but still wrapped in blankets. He gave me a quick glance before turning back to the front.

Yuga, the instructor, stood at the front of the class.

He wore some kind of weird fluffy costume that made him look like a giant marshmallow with a smiley face.

"Oh? I don't think you're in my class, Mr. Axion. What are you doing here?"

"Hello instructor Yuga. I am here to attend your class, if you would allow me. Instructor Hax has given me permission to skip her lesson, though I will be losing points for it. Nevertheless, I am very interested in learning about the use of Shinsoo from a master such as yourself," I said.

"Ohoho! I won't turn away such an eager student! Please, have a seat then, Mr. Axion."

Hoh, Laure, Baam, and Hwaryun were sitting in the same row. I walked towards them, passing and greeting Hwaryun at the edge, then taking a seat between her and Baam.

Then I drew Derflinger.

"Hm? There won't be any combat in the class today. You should put your sword away, Mr. Axion," said Yuga.

"My apologies, instructor. It's just that my sword wants to learn too, and it is difficult to see the class from inside his sheath," I said, laying Derflinger out on the table.

"Oi, I'm an eager student too! Don't turn me away!" said Derflinger. "My name is Derflinger, teach! Pleased to meet you!"

"Ah? How very unusual and fascinating…an ignition weapon that can talk out loud. Would that be considered a Living Ignition Weapon? Very well, then Derflinger. I shall permit you to join this class too," said Yuga.

"Hi Mr. Derflinger!" Baam said, waving at the crystal sword.

"Hey kid. From enemies to classmates, huh? Let's learn a lot together, OK?"

"Sure!"

Like this, I started attending Yuga's classes, ignoring my Fisherman classes. I sent Agate to record the Fisherman classes just in case there was anything important, and also exchanged notes with Androssi every day.

O O O

A few days into the classes, we finally started practical lessons with Shinsoo.

"…The basic unit of a cluster of Shinsoo is called a Baang. The size of the Baang is called Myun, and the amount of Shinsoo that can be injected into a Baang is called Soo," Yuga said.

Baang was a word that meant "release". Myun was something like surface area. Soo was just "water".

"Baang, Myun, and Soo are all important, but among them, Baang is the most important for Wave Controllers. The higher the number of Baangs you can control, the more separate attacks you can launch. If you can fire three Baangs while your opponent can only handle one, then he needs to find some other way to block the other two," said Yuga.

He demonstrated by materializing four Baangs, lining up 3 on one side, and 1 on the other, then launching small beams of light from each of them.

Two of the Baangs cancelled each other's beams out, but the other two attacks had nothing to block them.

"For now, we won't worry about having more Baangs. We're starting with the basics, after all, so you should learn to control just 1 Baang."

Then we were all given time to attempt forming a Baang, based on his instructions for mental imagery.

Although I'd been able to manipulate Shinsoo using the water spirits, they could only treat the Shinsoo as water.

In my Fisherman class, we hadn't learned how to use Shinsoo at all yet, despite the lecture on the first day.

We'd only done physical exercises and weapon training with hooks and Reels, which were basically long lines wrapped around a cylinder not too different from a fishing line, that you could attach weapons to and release to swing around or rewind to bring them back.

So the creation of a Baang was entirely new to me.

"Do not worry if you cannot form a Baang right away. It takes a very long time to learn how to materialize Baangs. It is quite different from using Shinsoo to strengthen your body, and usually takes years of training. Just try to get a feel for the Shinsoo, and gather it in your hands," Yuga said.

I tried to do it on my own, without the water spirits' help. Trying to control the Shinsoo on a macroscopic scale was truly difficult for me. I couldn't grasp it like Baam was able to do so instinctively on his first try.

Five minutes later, I had made next to no progress. All I could do was feel a little pressure between my hands, which was about the same when I'd tried on my own the last few days.

"It seems that most of you already had some Shinsoo training before," said Yuga, upon noticing that most of the Regulars had been able to produce small flickers of light in their hands, even if unstable and quickly disappearing. "Of course, that is why you were assigned to this position. If you had not had any training, this would be an impossible task. It took me two years to materialize my first Baang after learning to use Shinsoo, and I was called a genius."

Then a big glow washed over the room. Everyone looked at Baam who looked surprised at his own hands as it disappeared.

"Very good, Baam. But you need to learn to maintain it," said Yuga, looking over.

Baam rubbed his head with a smile. "Oh, it's thanks to Laure's advice from before that I got it!"

Yuga then went around giving pointers to each Regular.

Only Laure and Hwaryun had no trouble at all, each maintaining a stable Baang effortlessly.

"You don't have the talent, Mr. Axion," said Hwaryun from beside me as she saw me watching her. "Not like Baam. He's just a natural."

Baam was working hard on his Baang while Laure gave him some more advice.

"Did it take you years to master this too?" I asked the red-haired Guide.

Her crimson eyes twinkled with her smile, then leaned forward to whisper. "No. I'm a Guide, blessed by the Tower. It comes naturally to me too."

"But not as fast as Baam?"

"He's special," she said.

"So, is it hopeless for me?"

"Are you asking for a reading of your future? You know I can't see yours," she said.

"Tch, this is stupid! Nothing's happening," Derflinger said.

"You don't have the talent either, Mr. Derflinger," said Hwaryun.

"This ain't for me. I'm going back to sleep."

"You sound like Laure now, haha…" Baam said while he practiced with a grin.

I sighed. "Maybe I should stop coming to these classes then."

"Give me your hand," said Hwaryun, holding hers out.

I put my hand in hers. "What for?"

"I'll do a palm reading for you," she said.

"Oh, in that case, I should take off the glove," I said, thinking of the Armoriont.

"Please do," she said, and I had the Armoriont detach at the wrist, allowing me to take off the part that covered my hand.

She took hold of my hand again, running her fingers along my bare palm for about ten seconds, seemingly intently analyzing it.

"So…?"

"You should stay," she said, looking up at me.

"OK…that's it?"

"Should I predict the manner of your death? Or maybe when you'll meet the love of your life?" She asked with a teasing smile and let go of my hand. "Or should I get my crystal ball to make it look more elaborate?"

"In other words, I just got scammed by a fake fortune-telling witch?" I asked while re-attaching the glove.

"Nope. You really should stay," she said, propping up her chin with her hands on the table and looking up at me innocently. "But you don't have to listen to me."

"You totally got scammed, Partner," said Derflinger.

"Didn't you go to sleep already?"

"And miss how you were holding hands with this beautiful maiden? Wait until I tell Androssi the real reason you came to this class!"

"Derf, you bastard, I should've kept you in your sheath instead of fighting for you to attend class like a normal student," I said

"Snore…snore…ZZz…" Derflinger narrated out loud while Hwaryun looked on with an amused expression.

I sighed and went back to practicing.

After a while, Yuga came over.

"Ah, Mr. Axion, having trouble? I am surprised, you know. I spoke to the other instructors. It seems that Lero Ro gave you a strong recommendation for this position, before Hax claimed you for the Fishermen. I thought you would be quite talented."

"I don't know why Mr. Lero Ro did that, but it looks like I'd be in trouble if I were assigned to this position, so I'm grateful to instructor Hax."

"Lero Ro implied that you might be hiding your true abilities…he said you did something quite astonishing during his test. You absorbed the Shinsoo in his barrier. It makes me very curious. Are you hiding your abilities?" asked Yuga.

"Ah…what Mr. Lero Ro saw was just a fluke. I don't know how I did it," I said, pretending to be ignorant about how I absorbed the Shinsoo.

"Mr. Lero Ro said it was a fluke for me too! But it turned out not to be a fluke after all!" Baam said from beside me. "Maybe you have a hidden talent too, Mr. Axion!"

"Mr. Axion, how about this? I'll make a barrier like Lero Ro's, and you can try to do what you did back then. Maybe I can help you unlock your latent talent," said Yuga.

"Okay, sure. Thank you, Instructor Yuga."

Yuga then turned to the rest of the class and announced in a loud voice. "Class, we will go on an impromptu field trip. I wish to satisfy a curiosity of mine, but it will also be a chance for you to witness some interesting uses of Shinsoo. Follow me, everyone."

O O O

We made our way to the testing area Lero Ro used for his barrier test.

"I'm sure you all remember this place. It seems that Mr. Axion did something abnormal during this test that Lero Ro gave. Mr. Axion thinks it was a fluke, but Mr. Baam thinks it might be a hidden talent like his own. As a wave controller myself, I find myself very curious. So I'm going to try and help Mr. Axion discover his talent, while the rest of you will do a little exercise," said Yuga.

He ordered me to stand a little further away.

Then he created a barrier much like the one Lero Ro did, with all the other Regulars on his side, and me on the other.

"Now then, Mr. Axion will attempt to recreate what he did during the test. As for the rest of you, I want you to try to create a Baang again. The Shinsoo on this side of the barrier, I have made a little more stable than usual. It should be easier to make your Baangs. If you are successful, go to the other side where it is normal and try again."

Everyone started practicing again, while Laure and Hwaryun simply demonstrated their Baangs and moved over to my side and did it again. Then Laure laid down to sleep, while Hwaryun stood beside me watching.

I was up against the barrier with my hand again, and I started absorbing bits of it through my circuits to convert into mana. This was what I did the first time around, and my initial plan for getting through the barrier.

Although the Shinsoo was under the control of Yuga, it was still in a raw form, so I could process it with my circuits.

Yuga himself got closer and examined me.

After about a minute of this, he spoke. "That is very interesting, Mr. Axion. I must admit I have never seen anything like this. You are absorbing an incredibly small amount of Shinsoo and running it through certain pathways in your body, where it seems to disappear with a little heat."

I was impressed with the level of detail he had discerned from watching me. Evidently, my magecraft and circuits could be detected via Shinsoo with acute enough senses, even if he couldn't figure out exactly what I was doing.

"Perhaps you have an unusual Shinsoo Quality, Mr. Axion. It is an advanced topic, but when controlled by some special people, Shinsoo acquires new properties, which is manifested as a Quality. For example, in the Yeon Family, their Shinsoo manifests as Flame from the moment of their birth, and it is very wild and difficult to control," said Yuga. "They find it hard to use Shinsoo any other way."

He stepped through the barrier and walked all around me.

"Are you unable to manipulate more Shinsoo than that?" He asked.

"Yes, this is my limit," I said.

"Is there a reason you send the Shinsoo through your body in those specific paths?"

"It just happens naturally when I try to do this," I said, which was true. The circuits absorbed the Shinsoo, so naturally they were processed by the circuits. I couldn't actually manipulate the Shinsoo until it was processed into mana, and I couldn't manipulate the Shinsoo however the other people in the Tower did it.

"Stop that for a moment, and try manipulating Shinsoo the way I instructed in the lesson."

I retracted my arm and did as he asked.

He examined my efforts for another minute.

"Okay. When you manipulate Shinsoo the way you did earlier on the barrier, are you able to feel how much Shinsoo you're controlling? Can you feel the difference between how much Shinsoo you accessed then, and how much you're trying to control with the method I showed in class?"

"I suppose I can. I know it's a tiny amount, and I have a sense of just how much. I can't really tell how much Shinsoo I'm trying to control right now though, I don't get much of a sense for anything other than some pressure on my palm."

"Then, forget what I told you before about gathering a dense ball of water in your hand. Try to visualize a tiny amount of Shinsoo instead. Start from the smallest amount you can visualize. Don't even think of it as water. Imagine the smallest thing you can think of, and imagine it floating gently down on your palm like a bit of dust or a grain of sand, then turning into sparks as if set on fire," Yuga instructed.

Something flickered in my palm as I tried what he told me.

As if it were actually glitter, the Shinsoo sparkled in my hands in countless tiny fragments. Unbelievable. I actually managed to manipulate Shinsoo. Was this my perk for being an Irregular? I thought I got none of the benefits Irregulars normally had, but maybe I was wrong.

"It seems I was right," said Yuga. "You do have a very unusual Shinsoo Quality. With this tiny amount of Shinsoo, it's far too little to form a Baang. On the other hand, under normal circumstances, only very skilled practitioners can control Shinsoo in such low quantities. It is an unusual problem to have."

Hwaryun was smiling at me as if she knew this would happen.

"I'm afraid I'm actually not sure what you can do with this tiny amount of Shinsoo, however. You've piqued my interest so I intend to try experimenting with this myself, but at the moment, I cannot help you further," said Yuga.

"Thank you very much, instructor Yuga. This is already incredible," I said honestly.

"I am glad to have helped, Mr. Axion. However, what you have shown me is not what Lero Ro was surprised about. Would you mind trying what you did again on the barrier? I am told that you managed to absorb not just small bits of Shinsoo from it, but the whole barrier," said Yuga. "Perhaps there is more to you than what we have discovered so far."

"Ah…of course, I'll keep trying then," I said, going back to the barrier.

Internally, I debated whether I should actually show him the water spirits' power.

It was dangerous, because I knew he was the undercover RED agent sent to retrieve the Green April and kill Anak Zahard, but he was also quite helpful.

He was likely to be already interested in me after what Lero Ro told him, and trying to investigate.

If he found any Irregulars, he'd also have to kill them as part of his job. That was in fact what he attempted to do with Baam after his status was revealed, and how the FUG conspiracy successfully faked Baam's death.

At first, Yuga thought Baam had great potential and wanted to recruit him into RED, but once his Irregular status had been revealed, he was forced to assassinate him.

If he believed I was an Irregular, he'd have to do the same to me.

But if I didn't show the water spirits' absorption ability here, he would start thinking that I was actively hiding my abilities as Lero Ro claimed, and his interest in me might turn in a more negative direction.

After all, here he was, a friendly instructor actually trying to help me, what possible reason could a normal Regular have for hiding his abilities at a time like this? One might hide their abilities from fellow competition to keep an ace up their sleeve, but from a Ranker? Even after I had shown the ability in a test already?

If I had a reason to hide it from him, it made me far more suspicious.

So neither option was good.

I glanced at Hwaryun. 'Guide me!' I tried to transmit my thoughts to her. Obviously, that wouldn't accomplish anything, but I really needed her help right now.

She smiled back. "Do your best, Mr. Axion," she said encouragingly.

Well, hopefully I didn't read her wrong.

I called to the water spirits.

O O O

A/N:

FerunaLutelou: Unfortunately some parts of the exposition are necessary, and I use it to summarize things I want to quickly move past instead of repeating the actual canon. I try to limit it where possible. We're also at a part in the story where the action is somewhat slow just because there are some things I want to cover during the training period.

Arclight001: They can offer other special powers as rewards. It's not known what the limits are, but Zahard and the Ten Warriors received immortality as part of a contract, and the right to rule the Tower. Contracts obtained from other Administrators aren't null on the 43rd floor, they still apply. It just isn't possible to contract with the 43rd floor Administrator, and the Shinsoo there has no owner, so people are free to use Shinsoo on that floor. On the other hand, because the Shinsoo has no Floor Guardian to manage it, it is also very weak and cannot support life normally or slow down aging the way Shinsoo on other floors can. Contracts would not apply outside of the Tower.

Shif125: Yes, he can take corpses. That's why he took a sample from the White Steel Eel on the first floor. He will acquire other specimens as well. He does store blueprints of Tinkertech with Offensive Bias (although saying that he stores it might be a bit of a misnomer. Offensive Bias simply keeps that information in his databanks normally). He can theoretically access the memories of others if he brings back well preserved brains to Worm where the Cranial tech can be used. Though it is risky because there is no guarantee that the soul has separated from the brain in that case. It's other souls (and possibly, some special things/entities) that he can't bring along without risking another encounter with a Beast.

Shif125: MC would never make a permanent intelligent copy of himself, for fear of it attempting to take his place. The best he can do is leave a copy of Offensive Bias and other agents working for him.

Guest: I don't know how you expect me to answer that question without an account I can DM, as I seriously doubt you'll see this response. No you don't need to read the prequel, but it certainly helps to know what happened there. I generally explain everything you need to know as we go along.

Theorist01: That's high praise...thanks for reading, I'll do my best to keep up the quality.

knmercy: That may be for the best. I think I've said this before, but this is a story about a villainous and selfish MC who would generally be on board with, even impressed by, everything Rachel did except for her relative lack of competence and some bad choices she made, so if you're reading it, it doesn't make much sense to hate Rachel, and vice versa. I also haven't really written Rachel any differently from the canon. She changes over time to become less sympathetic in later seasons, but there are some reasons for her change, and they haven't happened yet.