Quest Academy: Silvers, page 38
Lombardi smiled back and clapped. “Excellent question! So, to dig a little deeper here…are you making the opposite sex more suggestible or full control? Would they inflict self-harm if you were to order them to?”
Victoria blinked in surprise and stumbled a bit with her answer. “I’d never…I mean, no. I don’t think they would.”
Lombardi opened his hands wide. “Let’s find out. Try your ability on me.”
Victoria’s face paled as she looked around the room to see whether she was the only one that felt this was absolutely insane. The shared looks of concern told her that she most certainly wasn’t alone.
“Professor, I’m not sure if—”
Lombardi smiled. “It’s fine, Victoria. My ability will kick in to protect me, so you don’t need to worry about harming me. Give it a try.”
Victoria raised her hand, pointed directly at the professor, and activated her ability.
A few moments of silence passed before Lombardi clapped, breaking everyone out of their suspense. “Excellent job, Victoria! Your ability is definitely in the Influence category…but you might be surprised to know that it’s not actually what you think it is. But we’ll get to that in just a moment!”
Sal could see Victoria’s face pale as her ability was completely disregarded by the professor. Not only that, he told her that it wasn’t what she thought it was. If there was a moment that the entire class started to take the lecture more seriously, that was it. A dozen hands shot straight up, but Lombardi pointed back to the screen with a laugh.
“All in due time. So, we’re moving on to Influence. Persuasion and Charm are the usual suspects in this category, but in the case of Victoria, the ability is Unity. With proper training and cultivation of your essence, you’ll be able to influence more than just the opposite sex. You probably find it easy to make friends? People gravitate toward you? I’ve no doubt you’ve a winning personality, but your power is also at play, so make sure you learn to harness it!”
Lombardi turned back to the screen to look at the next category, and Victoria sat there with a blank expression. In just a few minutes, her entire sense of self had been flipped on its head.
“Right, next up is Invention, which can be Upgrade, Restoration, Craft, Repair, and so on. There are, again, arguments that the last few can fall into Energy Manipulation, but creationist principles say that if you’re bringing something to a new state, it falls under Invention. Probably too much information, but the main opponents to Repair being in the Invention category are the guilds that want a sweeter tax bracket.” Lombardi laughed at his own joke as he pointed at the next one.
“Movement! Pretty self-explanatory unless you factor in that confusion around Teleportation. We classify Movement as an enhanced mobility, rather than a change in location. Speedsters are the most common in this category, with Haste being much more common than Reflex! Incredible combatants with the right training, or very efficient couriers for those wishing to avoid the battlefield.”
Turning around to look at the class, he held both palms outward toward the class. “Now, I need a bit of maturity from you all on the next one. Body Manipulation allows the user to change their appearance, which…can mean growing or shrinking parts of the body. It can also be physically altering oneself to enhance performance.”
A number of sniggers rippled through the crowd, and Sal smiled.
Lombardi didn’t dwell on the implication and moved swiftly on with his explanation. “Extra strength, speed, or even enhanced senses. This isn’t Mimicry because it’s completely unique to the individual and not imitating another power. Body Manipulators typically have outstanding essence control, and they make for terrifying opponents.”
Divinity turned in her seat, and Sal followed her gaze to see a girl grinning from ear to ear in the second row.
Lombardi noticed the sudden attention she was getting and smiled. “Oh, do we have one? Excellent! You’re likely going to fly through the exercises later, but we’ll see!”
Sal nudged Divinity for context, and she looked at him in confusion before it dawned on her.
“Ah, remember that Combat class with powers? You were in the infirmary after the Skill Registration. She absolutely destroyed her opponent…turned into a giant and just kicked her opponent around the room until he gave up.”
Sal stared at the grinning girl. “Okay, that does sound terrifying.”
“Body Transformation!” Lombardi called out before pausing for a moment. “I assume you’ve all met Sinclair?”
The collective shudder that rushed through the cohort was answer enough.
“Yes, he’s the perfect example of Body Transformation as a skill. It can be partial or full, but isn’t restricted to creatures. There are skills out there that allow the user to transform parts of their body into weaponry, or defensive equipment. Solidify, Transform, Harden, and many other buffing skills fall under Body Transformation.”
Lombardi clapped and then pointed at the next one on screen. “Energy Manipulation, which used to be called Essence Manipulation…don’t ask me why they changed it, because nobody knows. Skills like Teleportation, Phase, Amplify, Shield…anything you can think of that looks super flashy, usually belongs to Energy Manipulation. Which leaves us with Augmentation and Replication. It’s not to be confused with Mimicry, because Replication can copy actual skills rather than characteristics. Augmentation can be an enhancement to an existing skill, but shouldn’t be confused with the likes of Upgrade and Repair, which only work on objects. Just like the Body Manipulators, Replicators typically have outstanding essence control, and they can also be terrifying opponents. Do we have anyone here that thinks they fall into that category?”
Lombardi looked around with a hopeful expression.
Sal tentatively raised his hand, and Lombardi grinned widely.
“I’ve had this class with three of the other cohorts so far, and you’re the first one I’ve come across. You guys have a Body Manipulator and a Replicator! I’m going to expect great things from this group!” Lombardi took a few steps back toward the desk as he looked up at the students in the stands.
“Okay, so hands up if you don’t know which category you belong to. Don’t be shy!”
As Lombardi pointed at different students to answer their questions, Sal glanced around and listened to the types of powers other people had. The Body Manipulator from before was staring at Sal with a curious expression on her face, and Sal broke eye contact immediately.
“Great questions, everyone. So, let’s all get on the same page. Everyone in the Psionic category, raise your hand!” Lombardi instructed, and a good number of people raised their hands. “Let’s count them up. Thankfully, they’ve limited it to one hundred people per cohort, so you’ve made calculating percentages easy for me.”
Counting aloud as he moved around the room, he nodded and entered the figure onto his tablet. “Fourteen of you in Psionic. Next up, Mimicry? Okay, that’s…eight! Influence? Just the four of you? Invention…the one that always tests my counting ability. Let’s see…” Lombardi started from the left to the right and had to assign numbers to people so he could remember and not get confused.
“Thirty-four for Invention! That’s going to be quite the competitive space this year. I don’t envy Upgrade!”
Sal turned in his seat and couldn’t believe how many people were in the same category. He didn’t see them in the Crafting class, so what were they doing with their skills?
“Movement?” Lombardi called out as the hands for Invention dropped down. “Twenty-one! That’s great to see. As a matter of interest…if you don’t mind sharing with the group, how many of you are considering going into Combat-oriented roles?”
A few of the Movement-based students hesitated in lowering their hands for fear of it looking like cowardice.
Lombardi didn’t demean any of them, though. “There’s absolutely no shame in wanting to be a Support. For the five of you who are interested in Combat, I’ll have a chat with you after class. There are some excellent training methods that give the best results when you start them early, and there’s no better time than week two!”
Lombardi pointed to the girl in the second row. “We have our Body Manipulator. Are there any others in the class?” When he looked around and saw no hands raised, he tapped his tablet before continuing. “Body Transformation? There’s usually a couple in each cohort. Ah! Nine of you? Fantastic!”
Sal noticed that each category of students smiled as they were acknowledged by Lombardi. He had given them another sense of identity outside of the ranking system, and there were a few of them in the lower ranks who looked like they really needed it. A sign that this was an intentional act was that it was easily deduced how many Energy Manipulators remained in the room, but Lombardi asked them to raise their hands regardless.
“Energy Manipulators? Eight! Excellent. That’s my own category, so I might have a few tips and tricks for you to maximize your training outputs.” Before Lombardi turned to Sal, he looked back at the group with their hands raised. “Actually, do we have any Amplifiers in the room? It’s a skill within Energy Manipulation.”
Of the eight people with their hands raised, seven of them went down, leaving one girl looking around anxiously with her hand raised.
Lombardi smiled warmly as he pointed to the student. “Everyone, meet your new best friend in the Silver cohort.” With a glance down at his tablet to check the name, he laughed. “Whisper, is it?”
The girl nodded and quickly withdrew her hand, sinking into her seat as every set of eyes in the room bore down on her.
Lombardi laughed as he tried to provide context. “Your ability causes you pain, doesn’t it?” Whisper’s eyes shot up to stare at Lombardi, which caused his expression to soften. “Looks like we have the same ability. I’d also ask you to stay after class so we can have a chat.”
“Which leaves us with…Salvatore?” Lombardi quickly checked the tablet as he looked over to where Sal was seated. “Are you in more of an Augmentation-based or Replication-based category?”
Sal didn’t know how to differentiate the two of them, so pushed the question back to the professor. “It’s called Skill Master. I can replicate abilities, but without the knots.” As he said the words, Sal inwardly groaned, Lombardi would have no idea what he was talking about. Much to his surprise, though, Lombardi stared at him in absolute disbelief.
A moment of silence washed across the room as Lombardi moved closer to where Sal sat. “Can I check your Q-Card, please?”
A murmur of conversation broke out among the students as Lombardi inspected Sal’s card. With a whistle of surprise, Lombardi handed it back with a wistful shake of his head. “Okay, this just got very interesting! We have the makings of a dream team in this class.”
Lombardi was about to step away when he suddenly glanced down at the tablet in front of him. He read a name before turning his attention to Divinity. His voice was quiet, so only she and Sal could hear him.
“You’re the student who’s scheduled for the skill-pod, aren’t you?” When she nodded, Lombardi grinned. “And was it this guy who unknotted your power?”
Divinity faltered as she cast a panicked glance toward Sal.
Rather than having her put on the spot, Sal nodded. “Yes, it was me.”
Lombardi smiled as he stepped back from their row. “Let’s bring up the composition, and then we can rush through all the theory, and then…we’ll get to the fun part!” As he spoke, he tapped his tablet and the screen changed behind him to include the percentages of the class.
Essence Categories (Skills)
Psionic (14%)
Mimicry (8%)
Influence (4%)
Invention (34%)
Movement (21%)
Body Manipulation (1%)
Body Transformation (9%)
Energy Manipulation (8%)
Augmentation / Replication (1%)
Lombardi looked between Whisper, Sal, and the Body Manipulation girl with a wide grin on his face. “I can say this with absolute certainty. I have never been this excited to teach a group!”
Chapter 52:
Control
Lombardi propped himself up on the desk as he turned off the screen behind him to ensure they were paying attention to him and not it. “Let’s get the theory out of the way first. Without this turning into a history lesson, I’m going to explain what we know about essence, and how it’s relevant for your ongoing development.
“The first portals opened around sixty years ago. They came before the dungeons and the towers, but we’ll focus on the portals for now. When they opened, they released essence into our atmosphere…weak at first, but as time went on and they were left unchecked…our atmosphere became enriched with it.”
Lombardi waved his hand as he added in a disclaimer. “Some will say it polluted our atmosphere, but we’re not here to be political. The fact is, sixty years’ worth of essence has poured into our atmosphere, and has changed us in the process. Each demon we defeated added more essence, and as time went on, our lost territories began to terraform and became the first reported dungeons and towers. Havens for powerful demons. But what does this have to do with a skill class?”
Lombardi extended his arms out wide and smiled. “Absolutely everything. Our entire planet has been flooded with essence, and no matter how many portals we’ve closed, more and more are opening. My father’s skills were weaker than mine, and yours are likely stronger than mine. Children born today will have a higher capability with essence than any of you here, just because of our rapid evolution and acclimatization to atmospheric essence. So, in the years that we’ve been studying this, we’ve learned to harness it and categorize the various manifestations we’ve come across. We have training methods for each category in place, but all of you here are adults now. The essence in your bodies has existed for years without any guidance, which has likely stunted your development. Some of those barriers will be permanent, but some of them can be broken down and corrected. Now, look at the core in front of you on your desk.”
Sal wondered where Lombardi was going with this. Was he going to get them to use it like a battery? Divinity looked equally confused, which told Sal that she likely hadn’t glimpsed into the future for this class.
Getting to his feet, Lombardi picked up a core from his own desk and held it up.
“Inside each of you is one of these. We were able to create artificial cores through the study of internal cores. They can operate like a battery that can amplify your capabilities, but rather than seeking external solutions…we should be training our internal core. Over the course of your first semester with me, we’re going to train you to unlock the potential of your internal core. This will involve two main exercises. First, you’ll need essence control, which will be second nature to our Replicator and Body Manipulator. It is the visualization of your own essence, allowing you to control its path throughout your body and externally. Second, you’ll need to work on essence refinement, which will remove a number of the blockages in your system and enhance the quality of your internal core. We have a few tools that we’ll use in later classes that will measure your internal core, but for now, we’ll start with a basic test. Can you tap into the energy of the core in front of you?”
Sal frowned at the question and wondered whether there was something special about the core that would block him from accessing it. With a touch of his finger, he realized that there was zero resistance, and he had full access to the core’s limited amount of essence.
Looking around, Sal was surprised to see that most of the class were deep in concentration as they tried to access the core. Even Divinity was struggling, which came as a shock.
Lombardi caught his expression and gave him an approving nod. A few more minutes passed, with Lombardi asking the students who successfully managed it to raise their hands. There were a few smug smiles among them, but Lombardi ignored them as he encouraged the others to try their best.
“Okay, that should be it. Now, for those of you who weren’t able to visualize your energy or tap into the essence in the core, don’t worry! It means that you’ll likely have a lot of room for development and growth. See it as an opportunity to level up your ability to the next stage. Essence control is vital to move to the next stage, which is essence refinement. For that reason, we’ll be separating the class into two categories, so that everyone will be learning. If I could ask those of you with your hands up to move over to the left side of the room, this will be for those learning essence refinement. On the right side of the room, will be everyone who is learning essence control. Sorry, my right and left is different than yours.” Turning around to face the screen, Lombardi gestured with his left hand to one side of the room and then to the right and clarified where they should go.
Divinity gave Sal a resigned look as she got to her feet to move seats. “I’ll catch up with you later,” she muttered as she went over to the other side of the room.
Before Sal could even reply, the Body Manipulation girl sat beside him, and Sal was shocked to see that she had silver irises like his.
“Salvatore Argento.” She extended her hand and introduced herself with a perfect recreation of his voice.
Sal was left baffled for a moment then burst out laughing. “Please tell me that’s not what my voice sounds like.”
In the blink of an eye, her eyes reverted to a vibrant green and her voice changed to a completely different pitch. “That’s exactly what you sound like…and you always shake people’s hands. What’s with that?”
