Guidance

When the bell rang, Chabashira walked into the classroom. Her stride was steady, and her expression stern and cold. Without wasting words, she introduced herself and quickly got to the point, beginning her lecture on the history of Ability development.

"The history of Abilities began with the study of the body. It was research into the human body that gave rise to Body Abilities." Chabashira's voice was clear and flat.

After that, she continued without caring whether anyone was listening, her tone utterly uninflected. "However, what came next wasn't the brain-based Abilities so closely related to Body Abilities, as you might expect, but Spirit Abilities.

"It seemed that humanity's extraordinary research had caught the gods' interest. After that, the gods appeared, ushering in the gradual emergence of other types of Abilities. That's why people from the Descent God Association have always insisted that Spirit Abilities were the true beginning of Abilities, while the Body Refining Association has never agreed."

Chabashira's teaching style was crisp and direct, but also somewhat dull.

Even when telling an interesting story, she merely recited the facts mechanically.

The atmosphere in the classroom gradually grew heavy. Apart from curious students like Itozawa and Ichinose, who were still trying hard to listen, everyone else—including Kanzaki—began to look distracted. Kanzaki still sat upright, but his mind had already started to wander.

Suddenly, Itozawa sensed a fluctuation in Mental Power. He immediately realized that Kanzaki was launching a Mental Attack.

He had no choice but to keep his Ability active and fight back against Kanzaki.

The confrontation was silent. Only the two of them knew that an intense battle of minds was underway.

Itozawa soon discovered that Kanzaki's attack wasn't aimed at him alone; Kanzaki was attacking Ichinose at the same time.

Kanzaki seemed to be trying to break through Ichinose's Passive Skill. His Mental Power shifted between ferocity and cunning as he constantly changed his methods of attack.

In this battle on the mental plane, Kanzaki moved like a skilled chess player, every move precise. His attacks formed a carefully woven net, attempting to ensnare the fluctuations in Itozawa's Mental Power.

His Mental Power spread through the classroom like invisible tentacles, searching for gaps in Itozawa's defenses.

Itozawa wasn't as precise as Kanzaki on the offensive, but he showed astonishing talent at defense.

His mind automatically analyzed each of Kanzaki's attacks. Thanks to his ability to see the flow of energy, he could anticipate their paths and sever the source of Kanzaki's attacks at the last possible moment.

Kanzaki's attacks sometimes shot straight at Itozawa's vital points like arrows, and sometimes coiled around him like threads, searching for a weakness.

But Itozawa's Mental Defense was like a sturdy shield, dispelling each attack before it could reach him.

His Mental Power danced beneath Kanzaki's onslaught, and every clash sparked a silent flash.

Kanzaki felt Itozawa's resistance. His brows furrowed slightly as he realized Itozawa was no easy opponent.

His Mental Attacks grew even more cunning and unpredictable as he tried to break through Itozawa's defenses.

But Itozawa's Mental Power was like a whirlpool in the deep sea, deftly redirecting and dispersing every one of Kanzaki's attacks.

As time went on, Itozawa gradually adapted to the rhythm of Kanzaki's attacks, and his defense became more composed. He even had enough leeway to watch Kanzaki's assault on Ichinose.

Kanzaki wasn't having any more success against Ichinose. His attacks simply became nourishment for Ichinose's aura.

However, after Kanzaki's attack was once again assimilated by Ichinose's aura, Itozawa finally saw exactly how Ichinose transformed the attacks.

Kanzaki's Mental Power surged in like a raging current, while Ichinose's aura was like a vast whirlpool, slowly transforming the current until it became gentle and harmless.

Itozawa saw every detail of the process: the flow of energy, the points where it transformed, and its eventual dissipation.

A sudden inspiration struck, and Itozawa decided to try guiding the process. He left his defense to his Ability's passive response, allowing his Mental Power to automatically counter Kanzaki's attacks. Meanwhile, he deliberately fed in his own Mental Power to trigger Ichinose's aura, trying to make it transform the energy in the direction he wanted.

Itozawa began carefully guiding Ichinose's aura. His Mental Power was like a slender baton, lightly touching the river of energy.

He tried to direct Kanzaki's attacks toward a specific path. The process required extremely precise control; even the slightest mistake could cause the energy to rebound.

Just then, Kanzaki's attack struck again, and Itozawa's automatic response was beginning to buckle under the pressure. If Kanzaki hadn't been holding back, and if the three chess pieces on the board hadn't been actively entangling Kanzaki's Mental Power—with one of them sharing the same origin as Kanzaki's power and therefore understanding it well—Kanzaki could have completely breached Itozawa's Mind Sea.

At that moment, Ichinose's Passive Skill aura was guided toward Kanzaki. He suddenly felt a pressure unlike anything he had ever experienced.

He abruptly lost his will to fight—not only against Ichinose, but against Itozawa as well.

Kanzaki was shocked. His Mental Power instantly retreated. If they hadn't been in class, he would definitely have cried out.

Itozawa sensed Kanzaki's retreat and knew it was the power of Ichinose's aura. His Mental Power quickly filled the gap Kanzaki had left behind, shoring up his defenses. He marveled inwardly at how powerful Ichinose's Ability was: it could even affect a Mental Type Ability User like Kanzaki.

In the classroom, Chabashira continued explaining the history of Abilities in her calm, forceful voice, completely unaware of the battle taking place on the mental plane.

After successfully guiding Ichinose's Passive Skill, Itozawa felt a surge of joy. He realized that his inexplicable Ability had revealed a new use: as long as he could see the direction in which a Passive Skill's energy flowed, he could guide someone else's Passive Skill and use it to his advantage.

This was not only a new discovery about his own Ability, but could also become a powerful tool in future battles.

After five minutes of readjusting, Kanzaki finally recovered from the effects of Ichinose's aura.

A trace of wariness and confusion showed in his eyes. He was clearly baffled by what had just happened.

Noticing Kanzaki's condition, Itozawa decided to guide Ichinose's Ability once more and send Kanzaki's state plummeting again.

As the lesson continued, Itozawa's attention shifted back and forth between his newfound ability and the lecture. He tried to listen to Chabashira's explanation, but his thoughts had already drifted back to his own Ability. He kept replaying the confrontation in his mind, considering how he could make better use of this discovery.

At last, the lesson, packed with knowledge about the history of Abilities but rather dull, came to an end. Itozawa hadn't managed to listen to the entire class, but he didn't regret it. He had gained practical experience more valuable than anything he could have learned from the lecture.

When the lesson ended, Chabashira made no comment on how attentive the students had been. She gathered her notes and left the classroom.

She didn't seem to care about classroom discipline. As long as the students didn't interrupt her lecture, she didn't appear to mind whether they were actually listening.