Chapter 2: 2. Confirmation

Upon waking up the next morning, I can't help but be filled with joy when I realize that the pain I was feeling last night has mostly subsided.

As I sit up and stretch my arms above my head, I realize that my mind and body are both still shrouded in a slight fog of fatigue. I rub my eyes to clear my vision a little, and then stand up.

Looking to my desk, I notice that all of the weights I was using yesterday are still sitting out.

I decide that for the sake of my sanity, I need to see if I that psychic power still remains.

I focus my thoughts and mental energy on a small 5 gram weight; oddly enough, I'm able to move it with very little strain. Just last night, moving only 3 grams caused me to feel quite a bit of strain and fatigue, but now this morning I feel almost no strain when moving a whole 5 grams.

I'm really not sure exactly what I was hoping for.

I think that a small corner of my mind wanted nothing to happen. I guess I felt that if nothing at all had happened, I'd be able to just write off everything that happened yesterday as some sort of dream caused by stress.

That honestly might have made things so much simpler—but it turns out that my psychic ability still remains.

A part of me feels an incredibly tiny amount of disappointment at this fact; another part feels relieved knowing that not only did this power exist yesterday—but it's still here today too. Outside of that, I still feel as if I'm trapped within a perpetual state of confusion, accompanied by a bit of shock.

I really cannot wrap my head around the fact that I can move things through space without touching them, or being anywhere near them.

I know that so long as I'm not just hallucinating everything, it means I'm capable of something incredible—though I'm not sure exactly what I'm capable of yet.

I sigh, and decide that I'll just take a shower and start getting myself ready for school.

The thought of having to go to class right now makes me feel uneasy, but I decide to push those feelings aside and focus on the present moment. While standing in the shower, I start thinking of some sort of plan for today.

I end up settling on three primary goals that I want to complete today.

To start off with, I absolutely need to confirm that this isn't some kind of hallucination.  I need to see if other people are able to at least notice this power.

I spent quite a while thinking this over last night; I feel that I need to make sure that this power isn't some kind of delusion that only I can see, and the only concrete way of doing that is using another person. I'm fully aware that this idea is very reckless—but I think the absurdity of my situation may require being just a little bit audacious.

Of course there's a lot of risk involved. But, I feel that so long as I'm careful, and I only move inconspicuous objects, I should be able to confirm that others can see the objects I manipulate without raising any major alarms. If I ensure that only a single person sees my mental energy move an object, the biggest risk may actually not even be the individual seeing it.

Cameras. I'll definitely need to ensure there are no cameras around. Due to how saturated the streets and public areas of New Eden are with them, my best bet is most likely using my school as a testing grounds-so to speak.

So long as I use a young student as my observer: even if they act oddly when seeing an object being moved—it will simply be written off as a child being a child.

Secondly, I really need to gather supplies to help better monitor my health.

Last night was really scary due to how bad the pain got—most likely from overusing this power. I need to stay on top of monitoring any potential side effects. I don't think I'd be capable of making anything better if that kind of pain somehow became permanent.

My final idea is to create a better type of classification, or benchmark for this power. So far, I've been pretty much just winging everything, and improvising as I go along. I need to come up with some sort of system to better measure this power in order to figure out what my limits are.

Of course, that's entirely dependent on first confirming that it's real.

Having finished my shower and put on my uniform, I head back to my bedroom and check the time. Seeing that I have a while before I need to leave to meet Jun, I decide to do another internet search, just to see if anything new has shown up overnight.

Again—I turn up absolutely nothing.

Well, it was worth a shot; I suppose.

I want to run one last test before leaving this morning. I want to see if my "strength" has truly increased since yesterday, or if it was just a coincidence. I close my eyes and focus my mind and "power," I feel that my "mental body" is still present.

Beginning my final test before heading to school, I start with that same 5 gram weight again.

Just like earlier, I visualize picking up the weight and bringing it to my hand. I feel very little strain. I continue this procedure while slowly increasing the weight. When I focus my power and use all the "strength" I can muster—I somehow manage to move an entire 10 gram weight to the palm of my hand.

Finally dropping the weight into my palm, I can't quite put my exact feelings into words.

I had no idea what would happen when I attempted this, but I'm glad to say that it seems like my "strength" has increased. I know it's just 10 grams, but I feel like a weightlifter who just broke a world record.

I put in all the strength I had, and I was somehow able to lift something something that just yesterday seemed like an absolutely unfathomable challenge.

In the span of a single night, the amount of weight I can lift has more than doubled. I can feel that my stamina—the total amount of power in my body has increased.

I'm somewhat astounded at such a dramatic increase in the span of less than 24 hours.

This huge increase in strength of course didn't come without a price. I had to push myself far beyond my limit, and I suffered for it. Now that the worst pain from last night has disappeared, I can't help but think that it wasn't unreasonable for that kind of increase in strength—so long as the pain doesn't become permanent.

I mean, it hasn't even been a full day, and my strength has more than doubled.

If I can continue pushing myself like yesterday, does that mean that my power will continue to grow at the same rate? I guess the speed hasn't increased much, but just imagining that kind of growth rate leaves me almost speechless.

What will happen if I keep this pace for a week—a year—longer?

Thinking a bit more in-depth about it—just a simple calculation shows how ridiculous such a growth rate would be.

Exponential growth really is an insane concept.

Uh-oh. I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Coming back down from my fantasies, I doubt I'll be able to maintain that kind of growth rate, but still. . . Just the confirmation that my power grew overnight is great.

Feeling uplifted, I decide to skip breakfast, and just go and meet with Jun.

***

Walking towards the usual spot we meet at, I already see Jun waiting for me. He looks tired, as he usually does first thing in the morning.

As soon as our eyes meet, his expression brightens a bit, and I smile back at him.

"Yo." I say.

"Hey, good morning Fate." Jun replies, still sounding partially asleep.

We then begin walking towards the nearby cabin terminal—I suppose I should explain: automated cabins, otherwise referred to as simply cabins, are basically just fully autonomous road vehicles.

Due to New Eden's advanced infrastructure, driver-less vehicles make up the majority of vehicles on the road, at least in the rich, and middle-class wards. They range from the small two door cars that Jun and I ride together to school, all the way to large automated buses and freight carriers that are incredibly large.

"How did you sleep?" Jun asks.

"Okay, I suppose." I respond casually.

"You're looking a lot brighter now than you were yesterday."

"Thanks, I think."

I'm not really sure how to respond to that.

Jun keeps talking, "So what did you do last night? Any fun stuff?"

As I said earlier, he's perceptive and intelligent, but there's no way even he could realize something as absurd as his best friend somehow gaining psychic powers. . . or his best friend deluding himself with stress-induced hallucinations that he possibly has psychic powers.

God I hope this power is real.

"No, not really... nothing all that interesting happened, everything was pretty normal—my loving family seems content with never seeing me."

"Oh, okay..." Jun says.

I must have accidentally sounded bitter through my tone, because after a pause he adds, "Sorry, I don't know how to help you. You seem better today though, so maybe that's good?"

"Yeah, thanks, but there's really no need for you to apologize for anything." I reply, trying to sound grateful despite the slight awkwardness I created.

"I know—I know Fate. Anyway~, let's get going!" Jun exclaims somewhat cheerfully. It appears he's not half asleep anymore.

He quickly grabs my arm and drags me forward, causing me to stumble slightly.

I look at him in surprise, but before I can say anything else, he starts dragging me away.

Having walked for a few minutes, we both enter the cabin and relax in our regular positions.

Spending a few minutes riding together, we arrive just outside our school—he suddenly looks straight at me. His face appears a bit worried.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No, I guess not. I just thought that maybe there was something you wanted to talk about. You've been acting kind of distant lately. . . I mean, you're always somewhat quiet, and you rarely show genuine expressions, b-but you seem like you're even more so than normal." he stammers in an uncertain tone—but there's an unmistakable seriousness in his voice that makes it hard to brush off.

That's Jun for you though. Even if he's still held onto some of his meekness, he's always trying to help others and do the right thing.

"Jun, I promise you I'm fine." I show a brief smile, and try to reassure him.

"Are you really okay though?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it." I tell him.

"Alright, well if you ever want to talk about something, I'm here." he tells me.

As soon as he finishes his sentence, I quickly step out of the cabin and offer him a hand. He accepts with a quick smile and we offer each other a few parting words before separating so I can get to class early.

***

While walking to class I think about my plan to confirm that other people can see the objects I manipulate.

Having arrived at my classroom, I start to put my plan into action.

On my way here, I gathered some small objects: a tiny eraser, a small pebble, I even rip up quite a few pieces of paper just to give myself some more options. Ideally, I'll just manipulate some paper and have it appear as if the wind is moving it, the others are mostly there for backups.

My options are fairly limited.  The absolute maximum weight I can move is 10 grams, but that amount is only with a bit of strain—not the most ideal for this situation.  I really can't afford to overuse this power in the middle of class and risk the side effects.

For the start of my plan—I'm not really doing anything conspicuous, so although I need to be a bit careful, I shouldn't raise any suspicions.

I first make sure to take a corner seat at the very back of the classroom. Once I have my seat, I start placing tiny objects in different locations around the room. I'm lucky to have gotten here a bit early, so I take my time placing around 10 objects all throughout the room. My main goal is to give myself plenty of options. I set them at many different angles and heights so that I can try to limit it to being seen by only a single person.

So long as I'm able to ensure that only a single person sees me moving an inconspicuous object, I should be in the clear.

Having just finished placing the objects, I all of the sudden feel a light tug on my sleeve from behind.

I hear a girl ask me in a quiet voice, just above a whisper "Fate. . . are you okay?"

Ah. I'd recognize this cute voice anywhere. Jun must have told her that I came here early.

"Yeah, I was just stretching my legs a bit." I say as I turn around.

Right away, I see my childhood friend, Ritsuko Ayanami.

I've known her almost as far back as I can remember. I take just a brief second to look at her again.

Ritsuko Ayanami—she's clad in our school's dark colored uniform, and it helps further emphasize her charm. She's looking at me with slightly flushed cheeks, and her usual cute, yet somewhat impassive expression. She has long, incredibly dark hair, and she wears a small braid running down the left side of her head.

Her pitch black hair accompanies her flawlessly white skin—creating a strong contrast.

She has always been someone who's looks could be appreciated regardless of gender, due to just how beautiful she is.

She's never really given off an air of warmth, or sociability, even when we were little kids. A result of her usually being stoic and expressionless, she's been called an 'Ice Princess' by many, and thus she is often put on a pedestal—high above the common people.

However, despite how cold and impassive she may appear on the surface, she has always been one of my closest friends. She's unquestionably one of the few people that are irreplaceable to me.

If someone were to try imagining what a perfect modern princess would look, and act like—they would probably end up with Ritsuko. She even has her own personal attendant; not that I'm particularly jealous of that fact.

Having been born into one of the most elite families in the nation, she always adheres perfectly to social etiquette, and always maintains the appearance of a refined and elegant young lady.

Possibly the biggest difference between her and others born into elite families is that she doesn't have the slightest hint of arrogance in her demeanor; instead, she possesses an aura of natural grace that makes her even more attractive to people.

Despite her seemingly cold personality, she's actually very kind hearted, and caring. Particularly towards me, and those that are important to her.

"What's up?" I ask her.

"Nothing really. I just felt bad for staring at you." she says quietly.

She glances over at where I placed an eraser, and of course she notices it.

Well great.

"Why are you doing that anyway? Is that some sort of weird game?" she asks me.

"It's just something I picked up yesterday, I thought I'd put it back where I found it." I answer.

She's one of the only people I've always disliked lying to, and wearing a false mask in front of. But I can't exactly tell her that I'm trying to use a potential psychokinetic ability during class to confirm that I haven't lost my mind.

"Oh. . . you should put it in the lost and found, someone might try looking for it there." she suggests.

"Sure," I agree.

After placing the eraser in the lost and found, I return my attention to Ritsuko, "So what's up? What made you come find me?"

"N-nothing! I was simply wondering why you seemed so distracted this morning. Jun said you ran off quicker than usual, like you were in a rush." she explains, at first sounding surprisingly flustered compared to her usual demeanor.

Hmm, fair enough, I suppose that's true. I had definitely sped up a bit this morning, I wanted to avoid anybody seeing me placing things in class.

"Oh, yeah, I just wanted to get a bit of extra time to study before class, it wasn't anything special though—" I trail off as I see her trusting eyes staring back at me.

"Did something happen?" she asks.

"No, it's nothing really." I lie.

I knew I couldn't tell her the truth. If word got out about my ability, it would cause countless problems. Not that anyone would believe me from just my words anyway.

But still, I don't want her even slightly involved in my ideas of trying to change the world. I know it's selfish, but I just can't risk the safety of someone like her.

I've already decided that I will keep my secret hidden from everyone, including my best friends.

But I can't let her know that either. I can't let her get hurt.

There's no telling what kind of consequences may come to me in the future—the difference is that I'm aware of that, and I accept that fact. I don't want them to bear any responsibility for any sin I may commit—I don't want them to ever sacrifice themselves for the sake of the world.

I don't want them to see the world like I do.

I don't want them to become lesser.

I don't want her or Jun getting dragged into my crazy plans—no matter how much I trust them.

"Okay, I'm sorry to bother you then." Ritsuko says apologetically.

"By the way, thank you for the advice, it really helped—as always. If you have some spare time to offer your assistance, you'd have my gratitude." She adds with a thankful tone, before bowing and taking a seat right in front of mine.

"Yeah, of course, no problem. . . I'd be happy to anytime."

Her expression brightens up as soon as she hears my response.

The rest of my classmates start arriving shortly after.

I can't see anyone paying close attention to me while they sit down, which is fortunate because I'm currently sitting alone in my row.

I'd have liked to leave that eraser where it was, if only to give myself more options, but it's safer to just give up on one of them, instead of risking discovery.

I think part of the reason I hate lying to her so much is due how much I care for her, and due to a feeling of guilt—I feel responsible for some of the stress she's currently facing.

The advice she was referring to earlier was to help her deal with some of the soreness she's been feeling lately due to how busy, and how active she's been recently.

Annette Grace, my mother's manager—is nothing if not persistent. Once it was clear that I wouldn't be my mother's successor, she quickly began her search for a replacement. She didn't go far, having known Ritsuko for years since we grew up connected to each other. And contrary to Ritsuko's outward appearance, she actually wants to be more of an outgoing person. Particularly, she's always looked up to my mother.

She's wanted to be like her, even when we were young children. So—once Annette realized a beauty from a great family wants to follow in my mother's footsteps, she latched on right away, and began her plans to secure a successor.

If it were only Annette, I'd do whatever was necessary to protect Ritsuko from being taken advantage of. But unfortunately, my mother seems to have taken a great deal of interest in her too, and has taken her on as a sort of disciple.

And of course; Ritsuko's family didn't reach their current level by being passive.

As soon as they realized that Mayu Reylin took an interest in their daughter as a potential successor, they also pushed her down that path in order to possibly gain another useful pawn.

You are reading story Psychic Awakening at novel35.com

I hate the fact that another one of the only people important to me was taken away—just like that.

Of course I can still spend time with her at school, but anything beyond that has become a faraway fantasy for now. I at least find some solace in the fact that even if I rarely ever see my mother, she's at spending time with—and looking after Ritsuko.

Now that I think about it, it makes sense why she isn't super willing to speak with anyone else, aside from me—and her fellow schoolmates.

It's because every time she talks to adults, she feels obligated to play along with them due to social etiquette, and how kind she is. Which means that whenever she gets the chance to spend alone time with me, she tries to enjoy herself without having to pretend she's interested in what everyone else has to say.

Even though I know the stress put on her is partially my fault, I wish things could be better: both in terms of her not facing so much pressure, and our friendship.

Most of our classmates have entered now.

Ritsuko and I were just sitting together in warm silence—fairly common for the two of us, but students who are her friends—or our followers, started to slowly fill in the seats around us.

After a short while, we finally get started.

Our teacher walks in, and begins giving a lecture on some math subject.

As soon as all of my classmates settle into the lecture, I begin putting my plan into action.

The first part is to select a target to use as my guinea pig.

Luckily for me, one of the students who used to bully Jun decided to sit next to me, directly to my left. The guy looks like a boulder, and has a rather large nose; he's also a total spoiled bastard.

He always tries to act as if we're friends, probably due to my own "elite" identity—I hate using that term to describe myself.

I don't know his name. But he's always tried to bully Jun for no particular reason, and he constantly uses his family's power to torture other students.

This asshole loves making other people suffer.

We're the only ones sitting in the back row, so there's no need for me to worry about people behind me seeing anything. And I've already made sure there's no cameras that could catch a glimpse of where I'm sitting.

I have a piece of paper positioned further down the table, adjacent to him. I start off by focusing my power on the piece of paper; and while making sure to slide it along the desk for as long as I can, I eventually position it directly in his field of view—and I drop it.

He notices it right away, and he brushes it off of his desk.

He sees it too.

Mr. Boulder puts too much force into his push, and it causes it to arc up into the air. Just as it reaches the same height as his desk, I use my power on it again. I start pulling it towards my hand again, and release it on top of his desk again; right in front of him.

His eyes widen at the sight of it falling right back onto his table.

"Really?" he shouts in a whisper, scared that someone will hear.

There aren't many people seated close to us, but still—it's possible some of the other students might overhear.

That's fine, I'll just make it quick.

Just as he's about to brush it off his desk again, I give it a quick pull towards me.

"Whoa! What the—" he exclaims, startled by its sudden movement. He then grabs it with both hands, and holds it tightly against his chest, before putting it in his pocket.

I let out a sigh of relief.

It worked.

I'm fully aware that I might have been a bit too worried about this power being something that only I can see—but still; the idea that something like psychokinesis actually exists is just. . . incredible.

Maybe I went overboard placing so many objects around the room. But I'd rather give myself as many options to fall back on as possible, I just got lucky that it worked on the first try.

Having finally confirmed that this power is real, and others are conscious of it, I think now might be a good time to give a brief explanation of my process for using this power.

To start off with, I have to be able to see an object before I can do anything to it. Once I do see something I want to move, I start by sort of reaching my mental energy—my psychic muscle towards that object. Reaching towards an object requires me to put power or strength into my muscle; putting more power in feels reminiscent of the way your muscles sort of tense up when you focus your strength into them.

So long as I feed enough power in, I'm able to manipulate it similar to an invisible hand—I'm able to move it in the same manner I'd move my actual body. From there, I'm able to just grab onto on object, and reel it in towards myself.

Due to him putting the paper in his pocket, I'm no longer able to see it, so I'm incapable of manipulating it further.

Now, I've never considered myself to be a petty person, quite the opposite in fact; but I can't help but smile at the thought of annoying him on Jun's behalf. Truthfully though, Jun is the type of person to just 'turn the other cheek,' he would never wish revenge on someone. But that strategy doesn't work well against spoiled brats; he was also bullied for years until we became friends, and I stepped in on his behalf. 

Funnily enough, Jun is only that way when he's the one being abused, when it's someone he cares about, he's as ruthless as they come.

I look back at Mr. Boulder, and decide to test something else out on him. I might be unable to pull that paper out of his pocket, but that's not my only option.

So far, I've only manipulated objects that are either unconnected to anything, or are too large and difficult for me to move. But I have an idea that I want to try.

Looking at his hair, I start trying to focus my power on just a single strand.

After a few seconds of clumsily trying to "grab" hold of one, I finally manage to latch onto one.

While keeping my hand concealed under my desk, I put all my "strength" into pulling it towards me—and just like that it's ripped out.

"OW, What the hell!!" he yelps out in alarm, and jumps up from being startled. I watch him with the corner of my eye as he looks around trying to figure out what happened.

After everything he's done to Jun and others, he deserves this—maybe don't be such a prick and you won't go bald by the end of the year.

Of course I'm joking. . .

Kind of.

I suppose—if he stays out of my line of sight he'll be fine. I can't help but feel that that's a fantastic concept.

My classmates are beginning to notice the commotion he's making at the rear of the classroom, and they turn to look over at where he's sitting.

Everything worked out as well as I could have hoped.

With this done, and having finally gotten confirmation that this power is real. And even finding out I can even use it this way—I take a moment to breathe deeply, and finally allow myself to calm down. Finally, I'm able to relax about this ability not being some sort of stress-induced coping mechanism, and I can start looking to the future.

The idea of this power being some sort of elaborate hallucination hanging above my head made it impossible to make plans involving it.

Once I'm confident that nobody saw me using my powers, and everything settles down, I return to paying attention to what the teacher is saying.

***

The rest of the school day passes by normally. I spend most of the day with either Jun or Ritsuko, I rarely deviate from them.

While sitting in my final class for the day, I start coming up with better benchmarks for this power, and thinking of different areas in which it could be improved.

I've spent almost all day thinking about different ways to categorize this power. I feel somewhat embarrassed admitting it, but games, and fantasy elements give me the most inspiration.

I thought about it a lot, and I think that the amount of power I can use seems very similar to video games, or to imaginary fantasy worlds.

It feels almost like this psychic ability has a set amount of energy—almost reminiscent of "MP: Mana points," or maybe just "Mana" that is common in fantasy games. Continuing with that line of thinking, it seems that continuously using it, and also pushing my limit seems to grow the amount of "MP" I have access to.

The only issue with this idea is the fact that an integral part of this power is the "psychic muscle" I feel; it feels so similar to a muscle that I can't help but also think it may be more accurate to refer to my total amount of energy as "Stamina Points." Just like how the physical body has a limit on how much energy it can exert, this power—my "psychic muscle" also has it's own limit.

It truly feels as if this psychic ability isn't just some power separate from me. It feels like a sixth sense. Which probably explains why it's so weak right now—just like exercise strengthens the body, it feels like this psychokinesis works in the same manner.

I think my problem with explaining how it feels using this power is due to just how connected it is to me.

How do you explain color to a blind person who has never even seen light?

You can't; try as you might, it's impossible to truly make them comprehend it.

I feel like this concept applies here.

The next part of this power is a bit simpler:"Strength." This is how much weight I can move, and how much force I can exert using just psychic energy. I feel that this concept is much easier to explain, and confirm.

Just as lifting heavier and heavier weights ends up making your muscles stronger, so far it seems that the idea of my psychic power being similar to a type of muscle is spot on—and it seems that increasing it's strength works in the same manner. Although I'll need more time to completely confirm this idea, the only real question that remains in this category is if my energy has some sort of limit, and what kind of growth rate I can expect.

The speed at which I can move objects at seems tied directly to strength, and the amount of power I can put into an object. I think that if I focus on only increasing the speed I move objects at—it will result in similar improvement.

Which brings me to the next category, "Range." While I've been able to move things I can see, I haven't yet been able to move objects outside of my line of sight.

That's going to be a fun one to try increasing, if I'm even able to.

So far though, I'm at a loss for how to even attempt to increase my range. I guess I could try using binoculars or something to start with.

I really, really wish it will be that easy.

Finally, the aspect of this power that I'm having the most trouble with: "precision." I'm still only capable of moving objects in fairly linear paths. And I'm stuck using my physical body as a target when moving an object. I'm totally incapable of moving objects freely.

In order for this power to become more useful than just a novelty item, I need to somehow be able to control where it moves, how fast it does so, and I especially need to increase my strength—moving 10 grams is just sad. If I could achieve all that, the potential of this power would increase exponentially, and I may actually be able to do something to help this world.

When I think of psychokinetic power, I can't help but imagine gaining some incredibly powerful ability that allows me to start picking up massive objects like cars, and buses.  The reality is much more depressing, I could at best use my power to do an otherwise impossible card trick.  I'm barely capable of picking up a loose coin or two.

Based mostly on that line of thinking, I weigh my options, and I decide that I'm going to focus primarily on increasing my strength, as well as stamina—my "MP" so to speak, for now.

I'll still continue coming up with ideas to improve in other areas, but right now my stamina is simply too low to do anything extensive. Focusing on increasing my strength helps me increase my stamina; and that will help me the most in the long run. . . I think.

***

With school finally over, Jun and I make our usual trip home—only this time though, we separate earlier, as I have one last task I need to do today.

My home is close to multiple stores, so it isn't a long walk to get to a place that should have everything I need.

Currently, my greatest fear is being discovered by the government; however, a very close second is the fact that I have no info on the side effects of this power. I'm particularly worried about the consequences of overusing it. So, I set out to find anything that could possibly help me learn about the side effects.

I have absolutely no idea how to go about measuring, or observing the "health" of my psychic muscle. So I'm left with the only alternative—observing my physical body.

I absolutely don't want to risk going to a doctor and having them examine me. Having a doctor run tests might save me some time and hassle, but either they'll find absolutely nothing—which means I'll have just wasted my time. Or, they will find something, which may honestly be even worse for me.

This means that I need to buy some equipment that allows me to measure various aspects of my health, and I need to do it by myself.

Thankfully, it doesn't take me too long to locate exactly what I was after.

I end up choosing a store that's fairly old—an almost prehistoric rarity compared to everything in my home ward. I choose to go so far off the beaten path for one simple reason: the fact that there's almost no cameras in the interior. The only exception being the entrance.

I head straight for the section with medical supplies, and start looking through their selection. I quickly pick up a small device called a pulse oximeter—used for measuring blood oxygen level, and then a blood pressure cuff. I continue on my journey through medical devices.

I'm lucky that although I rarely see my mother, she does leave me money to use freely.

I start grabbing just about anything that could help me measure my body's health. I grab devices to measure the contents of my blood, as well as half a dozen similar devices—I even throw in a blood sugar monitor for good measure. I continue this pattern all through the store's medical section.

I notice an old woman staring at me with an odd expression as I ransack my way through medical devices.

What the hell lady? You've never seen a teenager worried about their health?

She still looks at me a bit awkwardly, but she eventually moves on, and leaves me alone.

. . .

I realize that I may be going overboard. . . just a bit. . .

Whatever—better to be safe than sorry. I'm starting from a point of absolute ignorance after all. I can't help but be thorough when it concerns permanently damaging my body.

Moving on to the next issue, trying to treat side effects. I'm well aware I won't be lucky enough to find ibuprofen for a psychic muscle, but maybe treating the side effects on my physical body is still a possibility.

If I'm going to attempt to push myself like a did yesterday—with the goal of exponentially increasing my strength daily, I'm going to need all the help that I can get. The pain I experienced to gain my current ability of moving just 10 grams was seriously no joke.

And while I know it probably wasn't as bad as someone suffering from any of those diseases that are life threatening—it hurt, badly. I really hope there aren't any permanent side effects to this power because if there were, it'd completely defeat the purpose of gaining it.

Making the world a better place is worth the risk, but humans in power are heavily adverse to change. Trying to help save the world could mean potentially making countless enemies. Just having a weak psychokinetic power—I won't be able to do anything. . . Unless I'm willing to risk everything, and endure the pain necessary to grow.

But still, I don't want to have to deal with such pain again if possible.

So, I've got to at least find out how I can possibly treat the strain caused from continuously overusing my power.

I mean, I should probably be able to avoid the pain altogether by not overusing my power—but I figure that if I want to experience a growth rate even close to doubling my strength each day, I really doubt that's an option.

I select a whole slew of vitamins, supplements, and anything that is related to migraines and fatigue. Finally, I decide that I'd prefer not to have to make another trip to the store for a while, so I make the gamble of buying a bunch of different weights.

Even if my growth rate isn't as extreme as today, I'll at least have given myself something to aim for, if nothing else.

***

Having finally lugged all of my new supplies into our apartment, I begin setting everything up.

First off, I set up a bunch of different devices so that I can keep track of my health. Next, I set up a basic weight scale, and then place the blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, and multiple other devices around it.

After I do this, I take some resting measurements, and mark them all down.

Deciding to take a bit of a break before forcing myself to overuse my power again, I take another look at the internet to see if any new info is available.

Part of me was holding onto the hope that I may find some answers. . . I already expected it at this point—but yet again I end up with nothing even remotely helpful.

I spend almost the entire evening and night alternating between moving objects with my power, and resting when the fatigue becomes too much to bear. By the end of the night, I've gained quite a bit of 'insight' into my body's state of health.

The first thing I notice, is that my heart rate is elevated every time I move an object—and that is definitely a side effect that I can handle. My guess is that it's simply because I'm focused on the task at hand. Other than that though, nothing in particular stands out when overusing my power, everything simply points to me being perfectly healthy for my age.

Truthfully, I'm somewhat floored by that.

I've spent hours alternating between using my power, and then resting when I get to the point of almost fainting. I would have expected something to stand out—I don't know what, but I was just expecting something.

I mean, how can I feel like I'm about to pass out from exhaustion and nothing changes?

Part of me even feels another migraine growing. This time though, it's not because of overusing my power, the pain from that is currently still very present.

I feel as if I spent all that time shopping, and gathering data on my body just to turn up with absolutely nothing. I guess my only recourse is to continue to monitor my health daily, and try to catch anything that shows up.

I knew learning about something as absurd as psychic powers wouldn't be easy, but still, can't I at least catch a break?

***

I didn't think it was possible.

I really, really didn't.

I've somehow gotten myself into an even worse position than last night.

After hours of using my power, I decided to take a nap to see if that would help me recover my stamina—my "MP" quicker. I woke up feeling pretty bad, but I had high hopes that I might be able to push through it.

But apparently, I was very wrong.

I kept trying to fight through the pain of my migraine, and the pain associated with overusing my power. All with the purpose of becoming strong enough to make a difference. But I failed miserably.

By the time I realized I couldn't take it anymore, and needed to rest, it was too late—the damage was done.

I had pushed myself way past the point of no return.

I sat there in bed, for the first time in my life, barely able to move. I was literally frozen solid, and I couldn't even muster the strength to lift my head.

I've honestly never felt anything like it before.

It was like I was completely drained from the inside out. My muscles feel like lead, and I can barely even move.

My mind was also completely exhausted, I just laid there in complete and total agony, unable to think properly, or even to move.

Eventually, I managed to force my legs to work, and dragged myself to the bathroom—only to vomit a few times. It took me several minutes to even get back to my room, and I collapsed onto my bed without even taking my clothes off.

Having just forced myself to move, I couldn't even stand up by myself again if I tried.

I lay there in absolute agony, my body and mental energy are completely useless.

My thoughts slowly become hazy, and I start to fall asleep.

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