Because of how loud the sound Syvis had made had been in addition to the fact that she had risen from her seat, everyone present turned to look at her, including the professor.
"Is there a problem, Miss Syvis?" Zequiel said, a faint smile on his face.
Noticing that she was the center of attention, the esper then spoke up, "Actually yes professor, I just thought it would be a better idea if Jay teamed up with me since we are more familiar, we even work at the same place after all."
With those words, Syvis had not only established a good point, but also made clear her intentions of wanting to work with Jay, also to the other students, but especially Faith.
However, Faith had also done something similar, so the decision now fell to the teacher.
"Tch, you couldn't just keep quiet... nosy bitch." Said Faith.
"What did you just say?!"
"...Nothing."
Immediately, the two's gaze met, with neither wanting to back down and even causing the other students to see imaginary sparks.
Seeing this, the professor let out a small wistful sigh.
Although his appearance suggested that he was relatively young, barely reaching the age of 30, he was actually quite a bit older than that, having already worked for over a decade as a teacher at the academy.
As such, he had already seen quite a few students who, as exceptional as they were, also had their attitude problems, causing that instead of understanding that they would reach even more incredible heights if they worked together, they saw everything as a competition.
"Well, in that case, I think it would be best to ask the person in question, Sir Jay, who would you prefer to work with?" The teacher asked, redirecting the damage.
Now the focus had shifted, from Syvis to Jay, with almost all of the students feeling somewhat sorry for the aforementioned esper.
After all, whatever decision he made, one of the two, either Syvis or Faith, would end up unhappy, and considering they were stronger than most, being on bad terms with either of them was something everyone would want to avoid.
However, Jay had already made his decision the moment a certain girl spoke up.
"I'd like to pair up with Faith, because just like she said, I think we could do well." Jay replied.
"Hm, good." Faith said, with a smile on her face.
On the other hand, Syvis, who wasn't expecting this outcome at all, just stared at Jay with a blank expression on her face.
"Then, Syvis with Allen, and now that that's settled, I appreciate that you even switched seats, but it would be better if we go to the training ground." Said the teacher as he felt Syvis' energy levels threaten to explode at any moment.
***
After a couple of minutes, all the students had come out and were separated in pairs, with the teacher in front, so that he could teach them correctly.
"This time let's start differently than usual, make contact with your hands before activating your energy, heed my words, only your energy, do not activate your abilities otherwise you will get an aggressive reaction!" warned the teacher.
Quickly, the energy fluctuations in the surroundings began to increase, the product of dozens of young super expelling their energy constantly.
Normally it was difficult to do something like this, but thanks to the training each of them had gone through with the teacher in previous classes, they could do it as long as they didn't overdo it.
*SWOOSH!*"
"!"
Suddenly, a great current of wind swept through the surroundings, coming from none other than Syvis, who had gone a bit beyond the norm and instead of just gathering her energy in her body, was also manifesting it outside in the form of small lightning bolts.
In response, Allen, not wanting to be left behind, took it as a competition and also began to raise the level of his energy, doing nothing more than further stirring the wind in the surroundings.
"Perhaps a little less enthusiasm, Miss Syvis and Sir. Allen..." Said the professor.
Meanwhile, Jay and Faith, ignoring their surroundings, were also gathering their energy, merely keeping it inside their bodies, waiting for the teacher's instructions.
"Now then, since you have all gathered your energy, concentrate on feeling it inside the palms of your partners. Don't despair if you can't feel anything at first and take your time, even for us esper, feeling pure energy is difficult, we are not mages after all."
After saying that, the teacher then let them practice as he walked around, making sure that there were no unforeseen accidents like the one in the class a few weeks ago.
Following the teacher's instructions, all the students then began to try to feel the energy of their classmates, in poses where they could be relaxed but also allow them to make contact.
One such pose was sitting cross-legged in front of each other, which was what most of them used.
Although of course, as the teacher had said, the vast majority of them had difficulty being able to detect energy.
However, neither Jay nor Faith fell into that category.
Slowly, they could both sense each other's energy, first a few small traces, almost like droplets, but becoming more noticeable over time, until they could both distinguish the strength and purity of each other's energy.
Of course, this was not something normal, but simply, there was something in the energy of both that enhanced their compatibility immensely.
Although neither was aware of this yet, Faith had a sneaking suspicion that there was something unusual about Jay's energy, whatever rare ability he had aside. .
"..."
"..."
Then, taking advantage of the fact that the teacher was busy with another student, Faith decided to experiment a little, trying to extend her energy beyond her palms to reach Jay's.
As for the esper in question, not only did he feel this with his body, but the system did too, displaying an unexpected message.
_____________________
Warning: A weak source of registered energy has been detected attempting to enter the body of the [Carrier].
The recorded energy has previously been classified as.... [Vital Research Material].
Requiring permission from [Carrier] to allow the energy to safely enter the body.
[Y/N]
_____________________
'...It's letting me choose now?' Jay thought, slightly surprised.
Normally, the system did things on its own without taking Jay's opinion into account unless it had to do with using a special parasite, so he hadn't expected to be able to decide now.
As for the reason of this, I didn't have to think long to find the answer, it was thanks to the latest increase in authority he received, which, as he could see, had been far greater than any increase he had received before.
Without much more to think about, Jay decided to accept Faith's energy entering his body.
"Ack..."
Jay couldn't help but let out a small groan due to the strangeness of the sensation, which was unlike anything he'd ever felt before.
Although he already had experience dealing with strange energy entering his body, just like it had happened when he assimilated his wind control, or when he received Noah's help to heal himself, this didn't feel similar at all.
For his wind control, the energy was cool and refreshing, coursing through his body like a current that changed his body so that it could accept it.
In Noah's case, his energy, while not forcing its way through like the wind control had, and causing Jay to feel a pleasant, comforting sensation, Jay could still feel the energy facing some resistance entering his body.
Faith's energy on the other hand... it was different, not only did it surpass the comforting feeling Noah's energy had given him, but it also was revitalizing his cells everywhere.
As for compatibility, it was so high, Jay even had trouble differentiating where his energy began and where Faith's ended.
As a result, Jay had only one word to describe Faith's energy.
'Wonderful...'
Thereupon, Jay then ordered his little ones to enter Faith's body through his palms, but his aim was not to infect her, but, apparently drunk on the aforementioned's energy, Jay was looking for a better connection.
Right now, though in contact through their palms, it couldn't be denied that the energy exchange was still difficult, the only reason this was working being Faith's mastery of managing her energy.
With his little ones positioned on each of Faith's arms, Jay now had several nodes which facilitated the energy exchange, so without wasting any more time, he let himself go.
Quickly, the weak connection Faith had formed with Jay was strengthened, a change that the former noticed almost instantly.
In the same way that Jay could sense Faith's energy, she could do the exact same thing, and the sensation was quite similar to what Jay had described of her energy.
Although in her case, it wasn't that Jay's energy was special or anything like that, but it was actually due to the parasites.
While they were acting as nodes for Jay, they were also taking advantage of it to refine themselves, taking the energy inside Faith, refining it and bathing their bodies before returning it to Faith's body.
Thanks to the fact that the parasites were practically born masters at energy management, the refining not only increased the quality of Faith's energy, but also affected her constitution, strengthening it ever so slowly.
Given enough time, there would be no doubt that these two, after having exchanged enough energy, would be closer to advancing in rank. Simply that strong were the effects of this connection.
"Ungh..."
"...Ah..."
Lost in their trance, and taking into account that they both had their eyes closed to increase their concentration, they did not notice that while they were busy exchanging energy, the surroundings had gone completely silent.
As to why, the reason was none other than themselves.
While they were unaware of this fact, from the moment they both started exchanging energy, their bodies began to sweat profusely, if one took into account that they let out little groans from time to time, one could already get an idea of why they had become the center of attention.
Though of course, there was also one small detail that was perhaps bigger than all of the above mentioned.
"AHEM!!!"
"!!"
At that moment, a call for attention, coming from the teacher, suddenly woke them up from their trance, causing them to open their eyes.
Into each other's eyes came the sight of the other, sweating and with a flushed expression, as if they had been exercising intensely.
But what was more, was that their hands, which had previously been in contact only by their palms, were now intertwined with each other's.
Finally, the cherry on top of the cake was the distance between the two, which had shrunk considerably, with a little time, none of those present doubted that they might even have ended up embracing.
"This...!"
"...Oh..."
Immediately, they both broke apart, a red lingering over their faces, as to whether it was because they were embarrassed or if it was the lingering effects of their previous energy exchange, only they knew.
"Haa... you know, I really appreciate your enthusiasm... and I'm glad you found that your compatibility is high enough for you to form a bond.... but next time, please, I ask you to stay on the topic of the class." Said the professor with a serious expression on his face.
Although he was scolding them, as that was his duty as a teacher of the academy, as esper, he was actually impressed inside, but of course, he could not show it on the outside.
However, the students were not subject to keeping up appearances, so they quickly expressed their astonishment at the teacher's words.
Of course, this reaction was normal, after all, a bond was something as or even rarer than meeting an esper with Core.
As for the effects of this bond, while not as many as a Core, it allowed for the incredible effect of being able to lend energy between two esper, which for almost every student, was an enviable quality.
However, if they knew the true effects of Jay and Faith's "bond".... even the professor would turn green with envy.
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