The Dangers of Psionic Energy

The corpse was still lying by the door.

Not every gladiator cared about whether Caesar lived or died, but his sudden death cast a shadow over everyone, leaving each of them feeling more or less somber.

After all, in this godforsaken place, a living person could die in the arena, under someone else's axe, or at the hands of some other hellish thing.

But to have one's head explode mid-sentence—that method of death was so novel that it left a lingering sense of shock.

"Just now, the Maggot Eye seemed to say... that Caesar was the only psyker here."

"Angron, did I hear that wrong, or..."

Oeno stood beside the corpse, conversing with Angron.

Angron's gaze remained fixed on Qin Xa, who was huddled in the corner with a vacant look in his eyes, as he replied, "I am certain. That is exactly what the Maggot Eye said."

"Fine." Oeno nodded. "While we can't rule out that they are playing games, it is possible that the people outside truly don't know Qin Xa is also a psyker. I can't wrap my head around it; how is that possible?"

Angron did not respond to this. He watched Qin Xa, sensing his emotions.

After having more non-combat interactions with others, Angron was quite certain that the complex and contradictory emotions he felt were coming from others, not himself.

And from Qin Xa, Angron felt confusion, worry, and terror.

These emotions from Qin Xa were not directly acquired through the Primarch's innate talent, but were so obvious—so clearly written on his face—that Angron could see them plainly.

Qin Xa was indeed feeling exactly that.

After Caesar died, the Qin Xa sitting in the corner was not pondering Caesar's death, but the cause of it—the warp.

"Some people experience uncontrollable conditions after stepping onto the Path to the Heavens, including but not limited to: sudden detonation, erratic release of abilities, or opening portals to summon foul and profane things."

Qin Xa recalled what the Chapter Master had told him back when he was with the White Scars.

"The Path to the Heavens—that is what the Chapter calls the Immaterium," the Chief Librarian had explained from the side.

"I am aware." Qin Xa still remembered his response to the Chapter Master.

As a transmigrator, Qin Xa understood the dangers of psykers and the Immaterium better than anyone else in this universe.

A full ten thousand years. Ten millennia.

From 30k to 40k, everything in the Imperium of Man had changed, but the only constant was the vigilance against psykers.

Because there was a high probability that a psyker would lose control, and losing control would lead to a psychic catastrophe.

Blowing one's own head off was the most insignificant of such disasters; the trouble it caused others was merely wiping away the blood.

A truly terrifying psychic catastrophe was summoning warp storms that interfered with interstellar navigation, or tearing open a gateway of flesh to provide a path for demons in the Immaterium to cross the veil, allowing them to descend into reality.

"Use your powers with caution, and furthermore, you are forbidden from using them on my ship," the Chapter Master had warned. "To put it crudely, using your powers is like gambling. You bet that you won't cause a psychic disaster. If you win the bet, it's fine, but if you lose... heh, ask the Chief Librarian about these things."

Just as the Chapter Master warned, using psychic powers was a dangerous affair for any psyker.

But knowing something was one thing; truly feeling the weight of it was another.

Because every psyker Qin Xa had met since arriving in this universe, including himself, had seemed quite reliable. They all used their powers, yet none of them had caused any incidents.

Come to think of it, the psykers he had seen were either Astartes Librarians of a Chapter or Grey Knights. If these people blew their heads off or opened gateways of flesh just by using their powers, then even stable psykers would only face execution.

Wasn't Caesar just an unstable psyker?

Today, a living example had caused the vigilance that Qin Xa had gradually relaxed to be raised once more.

Qin Xa began to doubt and fear his own psychic talent, and there was only one way to resolve this doubt and fear: to deepen his understanding of his own abilities.

He needed to know if his psychic talent was stable enough to be completely at ease.

But unfortunately, Qin Xa did not know if he could be completely at ease. He only felt that the stability of his talent was... if others had a ninety percent chance of blowing their heads off, his chance was ten percent.

Fundamentally, Qin Xa had not received any systematic training regarding his powers in the last dozen years.

He knew the Grey Knight mentors had prepared a sixty-year education program for him, but there were age requirements for receiving the augmentation surgeries; it was impossible to finish the education before undergoing the transformation.

Therefore, Qin Xa's own understanding of his talent was shallow. He had merely undergone some inexplicable tests, passed them, and then received the augmentations.

As for deeper investigation and research, the Grey Knights had prepared for that too.

Qin Xa would have received that education; he would have been subjected to study after study by the mentors and seniors among the Grey Knights, gaining a clearer understanding of his abilities—if the ship he was on hadn't been swallowed by the Immaterium.

"You comforted me before; now it is my turn to comfort you." Angron walked over, interrupting the storm of thoughts beneath Qin Xa's calm exterior.

"You walking over to say 'I am comforting you' doesn't actually comfort me," Qin Xa looked at Angron. "Besides, you don't know what my problem is, and until this problem is solved, I cannot be comforted."

"Caesar's death was indeed random and sudden, but it has already happened," Angron said.

Qin Xa glanced at Caesar's corpse again and shook his head. "I am not so fragile that I would lose my will just from witnessing a death."

"That guy just wanted to help us gather information, and then his head exploded."

"I have the same probability of ending up like him; it is just a matter of the odds."

Hearing what Qin Xa said, Angron fell silent. He did not know what to say to ease the atmosphere, as he could feel Qin Xa's emotions growing heavier due to this unproductive conversation.

At this moment, Oeno walked over. "Can your psyker talents be trained or probed? I once had a psyker friend, and I faced a similar situation. Another psyker's head exploded, and my friend became fearful and depressed because he also felt his own head might explode."

"Is there any way to check?" Oeno cast a look filled with concern. "If the result of the check is that you might end up like Caesar, then you really shouldn't use your sorcery anymore."

"Investigation? There is a way," Qin Xa replied, "but this isn't something one can just accomplish by sitting cross-legged somewhere, nor is it something a senior could handle for me if they were here. It requires a ritual, a large amount of ritual items, and the presence of an experienced and powerful psionicist."

"The investigation itself is not difficult to perform; what is difficult is performing it safely."

"Someone must be there to ensure that if I am targeted by something, they can protect me, and someone must be there to ensure that if I lose control, they can bring me back to my senses."

"When I was young, my teacher could have done this, but he didn't. He believed I should wait until my mind was mature before attempting it. Then I was taken away by others, and after that, I arrived in this godforsaken place before I even had the chance to delve deeper into my abilities."

Oeno could not understand anything Qin Xa was saying.

But after all, Oeno was well-traveled and experienced; after pondering for a long time, he distilled the general meaning of Qin Xa's words.

That is, even the act of investigating the use of "sorcery" abilities carries risks and requires a great deal of preparation.

But obviously, this arena lacked such conditions.