Mentally - 13. Pathways and Powers

There was probably a grim look on my face. Mr. Horikoshi was still right in front of me. I didn’t want to look at him with all smiles because my mother and I was about to face a checkmate. If this guy didn’t give me a quick heads up, then we would’ve been caught and our lives would be over.

“What’s the plan then?” I asked. My throat felt dry. And my chest felt warm as my heart pounded inside. I was trying to analyze the situation and encountering an Eraser was a real checkmate for us. “I’m sure you have something in mind. You said that I’m already an asset to SIGMA. Which means that you would already have thought of a way how to counter an Eraser.”

"You would need to learn how an Eraser's mindset works first. Each person has a weakness. You only need to exploit it to your advantage. If you are one step ahead of him, then you can still beat him even without powers." His advice made sense as he started to form a concentrated ball of psychic energy. Even if it wasn't visible to the naked eye, I felt the force that was being contained. It was going inward and was going outward at the same time. "Do you see where I am getting at?"

"No." I squeaked. A bit of shame washed over me. It felt like he was expecting more from me. But I had to set my pride aside. Our lives were on the line. "I don't get why you're making a useless construct."

"Observe carefully, Kieran." He said, almost in a whisper. My knees buckled and my muscles tightened themselves. I took a closer look and tried to inspect what eyes couldn't see. It felt pathetic to be so clueless like that. "Feel what I am really doing with this energy. Something is happening but you are not able to sense it. Even if you have a very high H-Score, you still need to hone your senses. It would save your life more than you can count."

"This is too complicated for me." I grumbled. But Obliterator just shook his head. It was like looking at the motherboard of a device that I have no idea of. "I don't think I can do this, Aizen."

"If you learn how to utilize this then use it accordingly to each situation, then you can be a very powerful Eraser yourself." Mr. Horikoshi stated. My attention suddenly was caught by what he said. He was actually teaching me to be one! And that practically meant I would be unstoppable, given the right practice. "Let's try if some other exercise can make you understand."

He then faced the other chair and motioned me to move it. I tried to concentrate and move it with my mind. However, nothing happened. Even if he wasn't looking at me that time, he was able to erase my Mental abilities. No matter how hard I try, the chair didn't budge an inch. Even if I used my arms and raised them to support my ability to concentrate, nothing happened.

"Try again, Kieran. You need to figure out things." Aizen admonished me. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. For some reason, he felt like a father to me. And that was weird. "But this time, observe what's also happening inside your body. You need to be aware if you need to figure out things. I believe in you, Kieran."

I closed my eyes as I focused on what was happening inside my body and the force I was sending to the chair. The force that was deployed to push was countered with a force equal to it. They were in a complete equilibrium so I tried to maximize my effort but the force that countered it was also heightened. Then there was a sudden tick at the back of my head. It was heating up slowly as I escalated the amount of psychic force that I was using.

"I get it now." I whispered. With that, I stopped using my abilities and looked at Mr. Horikoshi. His face was calm and an eyebrow was raised. He was kinda expecting a logical answer from me. "There are opposing forces. But even if I used a larger force it was still countered. Why is that so?"

"Now that you're getting it, let's go back to the sphere." He replied as he put his hand back on the table. I felt the energy slowly coming out of his fingertips. Then with a bit of instinct, I put my hand over it and felt what was happening in that sphere. "Do you see it now?"

"There are actually two layers of force that was rotating on opposite directions. I see an inner layer and had an equilibrium with the outer layer. The outer layer had its force being fed by the inner layer and vice versa. That is the reason why it created the perfect sphere, because there was balance." I explained based on what I felt in his hands. Mr. Horikoshi had a warm smile on his face because I finally get it. But the application was still a lot different. It was more complicated than this exercise. That means I was just getting the basics of it. "You use the Mental's psychic force against them to stop their own abilities. In short, you were simply redirecting energy back to the user."

"Yes and no." He replied. Then he took out a paper from his pocket and started to draw something. Mr. Horikoshi started with a circle and eventually, he filled it with details to make it look like it had some sort of pattern. "Understanding to use the force of the enemy was just the basic idea of using an Eraser's ability. However, we use a certain system in order to use it effectively for battle. An eraser is also a sensor and he or she should be highly capable of detecting the certain magnetic poles of our planet."

"What?" I gasped. But he looked very serious. This new knowledge was something I wasn't expecting. "You mean you need to use the laws of nature? I thought that being an Eraser simply meant disrupting the brain activities."

"That's true." He admitted. Then he looked at me again after finishing the details on the paper. "But what if I encounter a powerful Mental such as yourself? Erasers were born out of the necessity to hold down the strongest of Mentals. Even an average Mental like people out there can use this given the right training and mentoring. But it can take years to even grasp the concept. However, stronger Mentals are more keen with their instincts to be able to control the laws of gravity. But this just not the laws of gravity we're talking about."

He took a pause and started to quickly draw a human body. Then he started drawing lines inside of the body. I think I saw it somewhere. Based on what I could see, it was the chakra system that some monks believe in.

"Don't tell me you're going to teach me about martial arts." I quipped at him. But he looked at me with a confused face. "I don't have time for that."

"Silly, no. Let me explain with as much as I can, Kieran." He started. His grip on his pen suddenly tightened and he looked at the door. I felt some kind of presence as well. "We don't have much time. I would have to leave soon before one of those big corporations out there make a move."

"Then let's go out there!" I said with a serious tone. "I'm not just gonna wait here."

"Sometimes, you are an idiot." He muttered. And I just gawked at Mr. Horikoshi for saying so. "You won't last against what we are up against. I want you to focus to the task I have given you. Kieran, you need to learn how to counter an Eraser that's why I am teaching you the mechanics of our skill."

"Fine." I submitted. But looking at how he was doing things, it seemed to me that he already attempted to teach this trick before. As far as I know, I should be picking it up real fast. "But we need to make it quick."

"This is what you called at reils." He pointed to the lines that were inside the human body drawing. Then he pointed to the lines on the sphere he had drawn. "This is what you call as dhorrs. Reils are the pathways and the dhorrs are the powers. Think of it as the magnetic force of the planet."

"So what about it?" I asked.

"Reils are the interal psychic force that we use. And it directly manipulates the dhorrs which results to us having powers, It's just a matter of what to target." He explained further. Then it dawned on me. I saw the common misconception that Mentals have against the Erasers. "Are you thinking what I am thinking? The reason why you are not able to move that chair is because your energy was so bent on the dhorrs. But Erasers are targeting the reils to negate the flow of your reils."

"If my reils are countered and blocked, then how do I get over it? The Eraser can still negate my powers even if I know what he is actually doing. I can just find a way to strengthen the reils." I asked again. What he was saying was just beyond me. But it was making a lot of sense now. How the power works was disclosed to me. "But I'm sure you have something to counter that, don't you?"

"Yes. And listen carefully because I'm about to explain how you get blocked." He quipped. Mr. Horikoshi started drawing diagrams on the piece of paper to further his explanation. "The thing is, the power and energy that you can exert on your reils are almost equal with other people. Once an Eraser is able to tune it to the specific frequency of your reils, that person can disrupt the flow by putting a blocker to your reils. This also works with negating constructs. Because the energy that is used on a construct are reils, not dhorrs. Constructs are your typical examples of the body's ability to extend the reils outside of it."

"And the quickest way to halt the reils is for you to disrupt their way of thinking using certain set of skills. This is why Erasers need to train so extensively. It was already edging on the basis of hypnosis." Mr. Horikoshi further explained. Then he started to doodle on the paper and made some random scribbles. "I started the art of erasing with hypnotherapy in hopes to fully stop a Mental's ability. Even if they are the next evolution of human beings, some people just doesn't want them. Eventually, I was able to discover the theory about reils and dhorrs because of my previous Physics professor."

"To put it simply, it's very similar to the orb of energy. You use the outer layer which is the dhorr to counter the reils as the reils give influence to the dhorr. Since they are of the same proportion, it should stop the reils from within the body. Is that right?" I said with a dismissive tone. Then he made a small smile at the corner of his mouth. That would only mean I was right. "But you still didn't tell me how to put a halt to the reils of a Mental. Everything you've told me right now are theories. And theories won't be able to help me."

"The forces move into opposite directions with equal force. And as you have stated, it is powered by the Mental's influence on the dhorrs." He rephrased what I just said in a shorter version. "The Eraser would always target the reils. But it is only exposed through manipulating the subconscious of the person. That's the open window how the dhorrs affect your reils."

"So you want me to protect my sub-conscious?" I asked. Mr. Horikoshi nodded with a smile. The man was actually exposing the secrets of the Eraser. "How on earth will I do that? The sub-conscious cannot controlled."

"Let's go back to the beginning. I told you, before you try countering an Eraser, you need to learn the skill yourself." He reminded me. Then with a flick of a finger, one of out chairs started hovering in a circular pattern. He was using his ability and I didn't know what to do at first. "The best you can do right now is to disrupt my influence on the dhorrs. Try to feel how I am able to affect that. Then redirect the force that I am using on it. Concentrate, Kieran."

I closed my eyes and something suddenly activated within of me. Everything just went blank and the noise was cancelled out. I used my ability to augment my senses so I would be able to feel the flow of the pathways and powers. Then when I opened them, I saw a surprised look on Mr. Horikoshi's face.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" I asked. Then he tried to inspect me closer. I was just confused with his sudden change of reaction. "Is there something wrong?"

"I've never seen this before." He stated. "Your right eye is glowing. It's still the same emerald green color, but it's glowing. Then your sclera turned black."

He took out a mirror from his pocket and showed my reflection. No wonder why he was surprised. My right eye looked hideous from the black sclera. But my eye was glowing into a green color with a hint of silver.

"Are you seeing anything unusual?" He asked me. "This is very extraordinary.”

Then when I looked around, I saw silver and gold lines that were glowing dancing around the room. His body had gold glowing lines on them and is connected to the silver lines from the outside. The lines on the tip of his finger were connected to the lines that was in a circular patter as the chair was following it like a guide.

"I think I'm seeing the dhorrs in this room and the reils in our bodies." I muttered. It was kind of weird because most of my vision got a bit darker. However, it highlighted the pathways that I was seeing. "I don't think this was supposed to happen."

"Interesting." Mr. Horikoshi admitted. "Try doing something with it."

I focused on the silver lines on the chair then with a wave of my finger, my golden lines connected to it and to the golden lines that were on his body. I displaced them towards our kettle that was placed near the sink. The chair dropped and the kettle started floating, following the pattern that he used on it.

"Did I do okay?" I asked.

"You displaced and manipulated the force I was using. Close enough, Kieran." He stated his preliminary observations. But there was no sound of disappointment in it. I just knew that he was proud of me. Even for a moment. "Looks like with you seeing the reils and dhorrs, it's a lot easier to manipulate. However, that's not really the goal of our training."

Before I could even speak, there was a sudden huge noise outside of our house. I felt a tremor just beneath my feet. It shocked away my concentration and my vision went back to normal. The pathways that I saw before were gone. We nodded at each other and darted towards the door. I used my ability to strengthen my legs and jumped from the eighth floor. Then I pushed myself with telekinesis before I hit the ground. When I looked in front of me, I saw a thick pile of smoke that was rising.

“It looks like an explosion.” Mr. Horikoshi muttered as he caught up with me. He was not wearing the weaponized scarf but instead had a pair of daggers that he produced from his jacket. He was wearing civilian clothing and it was the easiest weapon to conceal. Besides, he can nullify the powers of a Mental. He would be able to take care of himself. “Get out of here and find your mother. I’ll take care of this.”

“No.” I shot back. Then I tried to focus again like what I did before. Slowly, the dhorrs and reils were revealed to me. When I looked around, it was like X-ray vision. I was able to see through the building and track down the reils from other Mentals. “I can see fifteen hostile reils. Based on the flow of their energy, they have been using it extensively. It’s an organized attack.”

“For a kid, you have good observation skills. And that was further strengthen by that new ability that you discovered. Don’t let anyone know about this, Kieran. It could spell death for you or your mom. ” The man made a comment. But then he started walking and hid behind the walls. We both checked out and I covered my left eye so that I could focus on what they were doing. I described it to Mr. Horikoshi who was already preparing for a plan. There were 7 Mentals around a particular vehicle and the rest were observing from a distance. To make things worse, their body postures told me that they were armed with guns. “Could you try checking out who is inside the vehicle.”

When I checked, there were no gold lines inside. Since I was only able to detect the reils, I cannot check for normal humans. My ability had some sort of limit to what it can see. I described it to Mr. Horikoshi who just listened intently.

“It’s safe to assume that there is a person inside that car. If that’s the case then this is a hostage situation.” He said. It didn’t make sense to me. The man brought out a device and pressed a few buttons. Then a red light started blinking. Obliterator was probably calling for back-up in case something bad happened. “But I still find it weird why they had to set off a bomb when things like these should be a covert operation. I could stay here before proper authorities would have the chance to cover the entire situation. You need to go, Kieran. This won’t look pretty.”

“How can you even say that?” I asked. In reality, I wanted to test his theories. My frustration distracted me and my new ability shut off instantly. “You don’t know even know if these people are a serious threat. I can take care of this and rescue whoever is inside.”

But then he held me by the shoulders to stop me. The man looked at me straight in the eye. “Kieran, you don’t always need to be a hero. You need to learn how to choose your battles. Some battles aren’t meant for you.”

I almost pouted at him. Then I heard footsteps behind us. It alerted our attention and Mr. Horikoshi immediately grabbed his knife tighter. Whoever was coming would be as good as dead. The man beside me in the alley would be able to shut off his ability before he could even react.

But it was none other than Aiden.

“We need to move! Now!” He commanded. “There’s no time.”

“What’s happening?” I snapped. Aiden stormed towards me and wasn’t even intimidated by Mr. Horikoshi. They looked at each other briefly before grabbing me by the arms. Then he dragged me along and I saw Brian waiting for us on the other side of the alley. “Hey, listen!”

“Take care of him for me.” Mr. Horikoshi snapped at Aiden. He took out a small mask and put it on his face to conceal the lower half. Then he put on a pair of shades so that his face was almost hidden. “I’ll take care of this. If the reports I saw today was true then Kieran is more needed there.”

The two just nodded at each other. And I was practically a clueless pawn.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

"I've received reports about a young boy that was causing rampage. The description matches with how you described Jaden to me. It suddenly became a big war zone out there." My heart thumped as I heard his name. Jaden was almost in sight and that means, it would be a big lead towards Damian. It was going to be a huge step closer to him! I realized that Mr. Horikoshi was right, I was more needed there. ”We're heading off to New York."