Chương 19: A NEW DAY (2)

Students reacted immediately. The moment the dummy's severed head hit the ground with a dull thud, the hall erupted into whispers; fast, sharp and excited.

"Did you see that? He cut it clean!"

"That attack… what even was that?"

"For some reason it gave me the creeps. My neck keeps itching." Typically, student chatter stayed scattered, loose, unfocused. But this time, nearly every conversation spiraled toward a single point: Jimin. Meanwhile, Ryu Seong-ho watched with a more discerning eye, his arms crossed and analyzing. But he was not impressed or dismissive. He had a strict judgement.

"It was flashy," he murmured under his breath.

"But it was not efficient at all. It wasn't fast enough. The force wasn't stable either." He didn't say it aloud, but his expression said enough. The attack wasn't practical. And, ironically, this was the exact conclusion Jimin reached. He was standing there, unmoving; his eyes fixed on the decapitated dummy, he thought, Not good enough. Spinning the chakram took too much focus and time. I even wasted excess PE. The rotation wasn't stable from the start. The execution was rough. The attack path wasn't clean.

It won't work in real combat. Not when an enemy is actually moving. He replayed the attack in his mind. He felt the wobble at the start, the way the momentum fluctuated, the drain that went into correcting the angle mid-air. It wasn't smooth at all. Just barely enough power and speed. He wasn't satisfied. Not even a little. He exhaled quietly, almost annoyed at himself. I can do better than that. I know I can. Then- Wait. An idea suddenly crossed Jimin's mind. He didn't hesitate.

He opened his Skill Creation window in the middle of the training. A window appeared. He filled the name and description instantly. Then a confirmation window hovered in front of him. —--------------------------------------------- Would you like to create this skill? [Yes] [No] —------------------------------------------------ He confirmed it. A full skill window appeared before him.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Skill: Telekinetic Spin] Type: Passive Category: Utility Rank: Common Level: 1/50 Description: Activates while spinning a target using telekinesis. Grants a significant increase to the stability and speed of the rotation. Allows finer control. Scaling: PSY→ Increases maximum speed and boosts stability. INT→ Improves control and balance.

Cooldown: None Cost: Minor continuous mana usage Required LP: 100 【Create】　【Edit】　【Delete】 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jimin stared at the final line. One hundred? That's it? He almost blinked in disbelief. He'd expected a lot more. But only 100? Meanwhile….. However, from the outside, It looked like he was just zoning out. Students whispered as he stood still, staring blankly at nothing.

"What's he doing…?"

"Is he just admiring himself?"

"Maybe he's checking his System?" If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Checking what? The guy just decapitated a dummy!" A sharper voice cut through the noise, annoyed.

"HEY! Why are you taking so long? Some of us need to train as…." Jimin cut him off by raising a hand without looking away from his window. A calm, minimal gesture, telling him to shut up. The guy faltered, offended.

"…Seriously? What's with him?" A girl nudged her friend, whispering while both giggled.

"He's kind of cool."

"Right?" Jimin didn't hear them. Jimin thought, Maybe it's because; it's a skill that is dependent on telekinesis; like a branch skill. He created the skill without wasting any time. A notification popped up. —------------------------------------------------------ [Skill Successfully Created]'Telekinetic Spin' – Acquired. Total LP: 700 —----------------------------------------------------- He inhaled slowly. Perfect. Let's test it. The dummy had already been restored by its auto-repair magic.

He recalled his chakram to his hand. Then, he stepped up to the line. Students leaned forward instinctively.

"Is he gonna do it again?"

"Looks like it!"

"Dude, give it a break!" Jimin didn't respond. He focused on the attack. He raised the chakram with his mind, and began rotating it once more. He unleashed the attack immediately SHRRK—!!! The chakram spun so fast it blurred into a thin metallic ring, before slicing through the dummy's neck almost instantly. The head hit the ground before some students even registered the attack. Jimin felt something different. He had attacked in the same manner as before. But this time it was different.

He could instantly feel that difference as well. Hell yeah! That's exactly what I wanted. That was faster, smoother and more efficient. No wasted energy. This is… so damn good. Meanwhile, the hall erupted.

"WHAT?!"

"That was way faster!" Dae-ho's expression darkened even more; lips pulled tight, jaw locked uncomfortably hard. Meanwhile, Ryu Seong-ho had an almost astonished reaction. A rare spark of surprise flickered across his face.

"He improved it…" he muttered.

"That quickly?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"His skill must have leveled just before. That must be why he was standing still so long." He guessed wrong. But he wasn't entirely off. Meanwhile, Jimin felt something entirely different. He was over the moon. Damn! That was better than I imagined. This is really useful. It's like a cheat code. He felt that he understood 'Skillmaster' even better now. His heart thumped once, sharply. He had to stop himself from grinning too obviously. But then, a slight sense of sluggishness hit him. Damn.

I am about to hit my limit? He opened his status window discreetly to check. [PE: 18/150] Ah! I can't show any weakness right now. Not after that show. I need to recover. He stepped away from the training grounds. Students instinctively made way for him. Some students whispered, "Damn. Is he really an E-1?" But attention wasn't what mattered right now. Recovery was. He thought, I need to meditate to regenerate my PE fast. It is a good opportunity to train and I can't miss it.

But there were too many eyes on him in the hall. So, he slipped into the nearest washroom and shut himself in a stall. It wasn't very pleasant. But it served the purpose. He sat down and began meditating. His MP and PE started regenerating quickly. His breathing became calm and steady. As the minutes passed, he sharpened his focus. His PE and MP recovered after 10 minutes. He stood, brushed off his clothes, and stepped back out. Then, he returned to the training hall.

—-- A lot of students were not happy with Jimin's show of power. Especially the boys. They were simply jealous or just too egoistic to acknowledge him. Someone from a similar group of boys, spotted him and sneered loudly,"Took a long dump after that show?" His buddies erupted in laughter. Jimin didn't even slow his pace.

"Yeah. A lot of people's ego couldn't digest what happened. Consider it a tribute to them." He delivered it with a complete poker face. The boys froze. Then, their smiles fell.

"…The hell did he just say?"

"He's mocking us?!"

"That bastard!" They were pissed but Jimin walked past without a second glance. His focus was on something else entirely. A machine was launching metal balls at high speed. Tanks stood in front of it for defense practice. And agile fighters used it to practice dodging. But Jimin saw something else. I can use this to practice defending using my telekinesis. I can even combine it with dodge training using dash. He folded his arms, studying the timing, speed and rhythm.

He could somewhat predict the next shot with decent accuracy. But more importantly- He had a better understanding of his abilities now. So, he approached it using a smart way. An idea had already crossed his mind. He wanted to test it immediately. He opened the Skill Creation window again. He filled out the details and confirmed it. A new window appeared.

—---------------------------------------------------------- [Skill: Telekinetic Barrier] Type: Active Category: Defense Rank: Rare Level: 1/50 Description: Creates a telekinetic barrier around the user, blocking physical objects and preventing psychic interference(when fully covered). The forcefield has a maximum limit and breaks when damage is exceeded. Can be maintained continuously. Scaling: PSY→ Increases the barrier's durability and resistance to psychic interference.

INT→ Improves base durability and reduces mana drain. Cooldown: 5 seconds after the barrier is broken Cost: Initial mana and psychic energy is required. Then, continuous usage while active. Required LP: 1400 【Create】　【Edit】　【Delete】 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jimin nearly choked. Fourteen hundred?! WHY? But before he could even process it, the window glitched.

A new message appeared: [The Manaborn already possesses 'Telekinesis'] Recalculation completed.

The window refreshed: [Skill: Telekinetic Barrier] Type: Active Category: Defense Rank: Rare Level: 1/50 Description: Creates a telekinetic barrier, blocking physical objects and psychic attacks. The forcefield has a maximum limit and breaks when single damage exceeds the limit. Can be maintained continuously. Scaling: PSY→ Increases the barrier's durability and resistance to psychic interference. INT→ Improves base durability and reduces mana drain.

Cooldown: 15 seconds after the barrier is broken Cost: Initial mana and psychic energy is required. Continuous usage while active. Required LP: 150 【Create】　【Edit】　【Delete】 Now, that makes more sense. Just as I thought. Maybe it required more because it's an active skill. But the effects downgraded a lot. Maybe it was based on my telekinesis's power. He didn't hesitate. He created it instantly. A notification appeared.

—------------------------------------------- [Skill Successfully Created]'Telekinetic Barrier' – Acquired. Total LP: 550 —-------------------------------------------- He didn't waste any time as he wanted to test it as soon as possible. Jimin exhaled. Let's test it.

He stood in the line. The line was short as most were already done with practice. So, he got his chance soon. He stood in front of the machine and prepared to defend. But this time a lot of eyes were on him.

"Is he training again?"

"Is it dodging this time? He had Dash, right?" The machine was about to shoot the metal ball. But Jimin was slightly worried. As he didn't know the barrier's limit. It was a gamble. Suddenly, there was a sound, BOOM!!... The machine had shot the ball. Jimin instinctively raised his hands forward and whispered 'Telekinetic barrier'. The ball suddenly stopped in front of his hands. It looked like the ball was frozen mid-air. The crowd watching was silent. But Jimin could feel it.

There was an almost transparent barrier in front of him. It worked! He dropped the ball in front of him instinctively; as if it was natural to him. Then, a notification popped up suddenly. ['Telekinesis' has reached Lv. 4] He let out, "Hell yeah!"