Chapter 159: Graduation Ceremony Battlefield

The rays of the blinding sun seeped in through the window, casting its invigorating heat onto the bed, causing drops of perspiration to form on the skin of the sleeping boy. The boy tossed and turned, trying his best to subconsciously shield from the sunlight, all to no avail.

The bed was positioned right next to the window, aligned with the wall, facing the entirety of the heat source's might. His tracksuit was soon drenched by the sweat, sticking to his body, making him feel uncomfortable.

The sensation was irritating to the extreme, soon breaking his sleep. Jyorta woke up, arriving at a seated posture, rubbing his temples. His fingers felt the moisture coating his skin, mixed with salt granules that had condensed over time.

10:40, Jyorta glanced at the alarm clock, noticing the time displayed, raising a noise of protest. He had planned to sleep until noon before refreshing himself and head for lunch. He wanted to attend the afternoon classes which consisted of practical sessions.

'I can still sleep for some more time.' Jyorta made up his mind, holding the ends of the curtain to draw it close. He then noticed a small commotion in the ground beyond, the students present in the scene hurriedly vacating the area.

Five ground staff took to the skies, hovering in the centre of the ground, situated left to Jyorta's line of sight. Their height was aligned to him, situated on the third floor of the dorm building. They were headed by Madam Mila, the person who spread her domain, overlapping it over the entirety of the military academy.

She spoke, her voice commanding but gentle, "All Cadets, vacate the ground within 30 seconds. We are about to set up the battlefield for the November Batch's Graduation Ceremony."

'Battlefield…Graduation Ceremony?' Jyorta felt confused at hearing two words that weren't supposed to mesh with one another in the same sentence. It hadn't been long since his arrival at the military academy, spanning only 15 days.

Even though Heima had informed him of many things, she hadn't recounted the entirety, leaving the important parts as a surprise. It was also meant to prepare him for the unexpected, which happened innumerous times during the course of life, preparing him mentality from early on.

The state of event cleared his drowsiness; now wide awake, Jyorta kneeled on the bed, taking the posture that would allow him to watch with a better view. A minute later, after everyone had cleared the ground, he noticed Madam Mila erect a psychic energy barrier, creating a rectangular dome around the ground.

The ground spanned 1000 metres in length and 400 metres in breadth, a massive piece of land solely for the use of the students. Once the rectangular dome had been erected, Madam Mila unleashed her remaining four psychic arms, allowing each to take up a side.

Followed by a spike in aura, the four psychic arms turned yellow. The air around her shimmered, the volatile substances in it combusting in response to her unleashed aura. Thanks to the erected dome, none of the students outside were affected. As for the five ground staff within the barrier, they wrapped a psychic arm around their bodies, shielding themselves from the brunt of the aura, the rest counteracted by their own auras.

The four yellow psychic arms spread out, thinning vertically, perpendicular to the ground. They formed walls around the ground, reaching a height of hundred metres, the height of the smallest building in the military academy.

The formed walls were one metre thick, burrowing into the ground to anchor themselves, forming sturdy walls that wouldn't be affected by forces below the level of Tier 5. Once the walls were finished, Madam Mila paused for a moment, turning her four psychic arms back to normal.

She inspected the walls erected, taking note of their structural integrity, the stability of the anchors, etc. Once she was satisfied with them, she turned around, glancing at the ground staff, watching one of them unleash a psychic arm, turning it green.

The Ground Controller staff created a rectangular base, spanning a metre in length and 40 centimetres in breadth, a miniaturised version of the ground. She then inlaid numerous landscapes, identifying each part with a set of alphanumeric, the underlying details known only to the staff.

It was what they used to communicate the change in terrain, with each code conforming to a certain soil density, porosity, alkalinity, grain structure, the presence of rock, the texture, the temperature, etc. There were similar codes for mountains, valleys, rivers, etc.

The miniature blueprint was a three-dimensional depiction of the layout they were to create, having been decided beforehand among the staff, the final go-ahead given by Madam Mary, the principal of the military academy.

Madam Mila engaged in a short discussion with the ground staff, assigning each of them their respective roles, soon starting their work in full swing.

The moment the yellow walls had been erected, Jyorta lamented in distaste. The walls had blocked his view, preventing him from gazing at the sight within. His piqued curiosity could no longer be satiated, causing him to flail his arms, hitting the berth on his bed a couple of times.

Jyorta turned his head, noticing a suitcase placed on his table, taking a couple of moments to recall the concerned information. At first, he thought about consuming a Frenzy Fruit, remembering the warning Heima had given him.

Thanks to his unique identity, and his capabilities, they had given him the suitcase. Otherwise, whenever someone consumed a Frenzy Fruit, it would be administered by a higher Tiered Esper, in response to avert the unexpected.

Jyorta closed his eyes, trying to get a feel of his Brain Crystal. It was still in the process of recovering, unable to store much psychic energy, the reserves even below than what he had at Tier 1. Only when it had mended itself to full functionality would its reserves recover to the volume he possessed at Tier 1.

After that, it would slowly improve upon the Nurturing of the Wisdom Parasite, increasing in both the quantity and quality of the psychic energy stored. Jyorta unleashed his psychic arm, sensing the quality of the psychic energy coursing through it.

'Slightly superior to the psychic energy from before but the difference is minute. As time passes, it should improve qualitatively.' Jyorta concluded, also noticing the range his psychic arm could traverse.

It spanned a length of 66 centimetres, the same for his domain. The radius of the domain and range of the psychic arm were always the same, sharing a synchronised relationship. On seeing that the range of his psychic arm had increased by a centimetre within a day, Jyorta was slightly happy.

'By the time the Labyrinth of Frenzy opens up for me, my strength would have grown by leaps and bounds. Even though the true strength of Espers is unleashed only at Tier 3, I would still be able to execute a lot of feats at Tier 2. After all, I would no longer be as weak as Line Controllers.'

Jyorta stood up and grabbed the basket from one corner of the room, placing his set of toiletries and a change of clothes in it. Jyorta glanced at the time table pinned in his bulletin board, noticing the subject at hand in the afternoon, finding it to be a class scheduled to be conducted on the ground.

'I wonder how it will be rescheduled. After all, the ground is being occupied for the Graduation Ceremony.' Jyorta thought for a couple of seconds, deciding to wear his uniform for now. He would later find someone from his batch to clarify on the dress to wear and the place the class would be conducted.

Jyorta picked up his key from the socket, exited the room, and locked the door behind him. He placed the key in the basket, noticing the corridor empty of people. Jyorta felt a sense of alienation, unable to feel the sense of attachment he experienced on the first day.

After all, he had been away for four days, outside the military academy that wasn't supposed to happen. Now, he didn't know what everyone had learned, what they were thinking about, or what was supposed to happen next.

He felt he had lost that sync with the rest, having experienced an event apart from the rest. This difference in experience and the distance of separation made him feel like an outsider, despite being a full-fledged student of the military academy.

Even though everything would return to normal after a couple of days, he still didn't like this feeling. He had similar experiences in his memories from past life. When he was running from one institution to another, in search of professors to converse and exchange knowledge with, trailing behind one research paper author after the other, all in hopes of conceptualising his invention, he felt the connection shared with his university turn distant.

Even though he no longer possessed any attachments to his previous life, when he went through the memories, his mood was affected. It was similar to how people would laugh or cry when watching movies.

Jyorta headed to the restroom, putting aside his thoughts, focusing on the matter at hand, which was to attend the classes. He didn't want to be plagued by any distracting thoughts.

11:30 AM, after a long time, Jyorta returned to his room, feeling refreshed. His eyes were slightly baggy, sporting mellowed out dark circles. But, Jyorta had enough energy in him to engage in furious studying for the rest of the day.

Holding a notebook in his hand, and placing a pen in his pocket, Jyorta strapped a watch around his wrist, exiting his room. Locking the door behind him, Jyorta pocketed it in a safety area installed in his uniform, heading towards the cafeteria.

His stomach was rumbling, due to a lack of food he had for the past few days. Now that he had broken through to Tier 2, his requirement for nutrition further increased.