Haesha's eyelids trembled at the words, her eyes regaining its lustre. She stared at his face, taking in his expression of confidence, his stable breathing, and his solid presence. Seeing his being, a word echoed in her mind, greatly renewing her confidence in him, further elevating the value of his words.
A pillar!
On noticing that Haesha wasn't in a state of despair, he sighed, judging that the news of Madam Mila's injury was an emotional blow for her. He spoke with a resolute tone, "In this world, strength is absolute but, you can also say strength is never absolute."
He showcased his fists, "Suppose I possessed peerless attack power, capable of wounding any Frenzy Beast. But I end up in a situation where I have to defend people precious to me, forcing me to passively defend, unable to launch any attacks in fear of implicating the people I wish to protect. In this case, I am pitting my weakness against my opponent's strengths."
"Using our strength against our opponent's weakness, we can win against stronger foes. But, they can also use our example. After all, the Frenzy Beasts fear and look up to the humans, imitating us using every means possible." Jyorta displayed a helpless expression, "Remember what madam Rizenne has always said in our classes?"
Haesha looked at the floor, nodding as she muttered, "Become complex characters to never give a chance for both the external and internal threats."
He patted her shoulders, encouraging her, "Yes, so you must never lose hope. And besides, we aren't that weak, even at Tier 2."
Haesha lifted her head, looking at Jyorta with confusion, "What do you mean by that? Our psychic arms are weak to the extent we face difficulties in even killing Tier 1 Frenzy Beasts with it."
"Yes, you are right about that," Jyorta nodded, closing his eyes as he uttered a line in confidence, "But, is that all we are limited to?"
Aura Personification—Hallucination!
He hadn't replenished his aura reserves yet; the aura personification was weak. On seeing Haesha instinctively defend against its effect, Jyorta said in a hurry, "Don't defend yourself against it. Let it take effect. I'll show you the proof."
After a moment's hesitation, Haesha nodded, curbing her aura as much as possible for the aura personification to take effect. At the next moment, she found herself in a desert. Sand dunes existed everywhere, a weak breeze flew past, lifting the sand to five centimetres high. It made the ground look hazy, painting it with an incorporeal feel.
Heat blasted at her, the dry air making her feel as if she was inhaling air rising from a fire. Suddenly, Haesha noticed her body move forward. After a glance, she noticed her body in a seated posture, the same she had taken while sitting on Jyorta's bed.
Instead of her moving, she felt the entire surroundings move, matching the feel to enact the relative motion of her moving forward in the landscape. As she proceeded forward in such a manner, she noticed the figure of Jyorta appear atop a sand dune.
Jyorta stood on the sand dune, his body shielded by two barriers to prevent being affected by the environment. Only now did she notice the various aura suffused in the air.
'This is the second layer? So fierce!' Haesha was shocked, watching Jyorta proceed forward in caution, taking each step carefully, being as restrained as possible. His eyes were focused, alert against any Frenzy Beast that would spring upon him.
'Being this careful is a given, what was I expecting?' She sighed, feeling sad for some reason. She then blinked her eyes once, wondering in surprise, 'How was he able to reach the second layer so easily, and without suffering any injury to boot?'
She then noticed her body fly forward, until stopping three metres before Jyorta, watching his front from a higher altitude. Jyorta crouched on the sand dude, panting in exhaustion as sweat dripped out from him in copious amounts, making it apparent even while under a layer of armour.
"Aha!" She suddenly heard his shout filled with joy. As she wondered, Jyorta unleashed his aura personification. In this atmosphere, she couldn't sense the property of the aura personification. Before it took effect on oneself, it wasn't easy to sense the properties of an aura personification, unless the person had an ability geared to that.
As Haesha didn't possess one, she couldn't sense what type of aura personification he had used. Though, a couple of seconds later, Haesha was shocked, "What? How? Why is it acting like that?"
A Crust-Mantle had burrowed out from the ground and displayed a subservient posture to Jyorta. Jyorta patted its head once and climbed above, grabbing a crevice in its exoskeleton as support.
His aura slightly fluctuated before the Crust-Mantle stood and began to move forward. Jyorta sat in comfort and probed the ground through discrete waves of aura he unleashed into it. When a Frenzy Beast appeared, he suppressed it with his aura while making the Crust-Mantle deal the finishing blow.
'That's an Amplifier!' Haesha mentally screamed when she saw an Amplifier Crust-Mantle burrow out and prostrate on the ground before him, suffering in pain but not daring to resist as his spindle drilled into its head. In such a manner, he killed four Amplifier Crust-Mantles, harvesting their Heart Crystals.
The scene continued forth, detailing his exploration. She also noticed a Two-Faced Firefly perched on his shoulder, making its presence as obscure as possible, not moving even once since the beginning. It stayed on his shoulder like decoration as if it was a badge he had pinned in the spot.
Soon, Haesha witnessed Jyorta's battle with the Amplifier Steel Porcupine. On noticing the presence of 12 body-length spikes on its back, she was shocked once again, watching in incredulity at the methods Jyorta unleashed one after another to combat it.
Her eyes widened to its limit as she witnessed more than 20 Observer Steel Porcupines launch a hail of spikes on the Amplifier Steel Porcupine, all the while not even one grazed him.
She saw the way he positioned himself, prompted each reflex, and his usage of his surroundings, amazed at his application of powers.
The scene proceeded to Jyorta's escape, him shooting an aura beam at the Amplifier Steel Porcupine that made it cough up blood and become incredibly weak. After that, it led to the Amplifier Steel Porcupine activating its Tier 2 Skill and launching that deadly attack at him.
"Jyorta!" Immersed in the scene, Haesha involuntarily screamed in fright, getting up from her spot. She then watched the Crust-Mantle position itself in the way as a meat shield and defend against the Steel Porcupine's attacks.
Three of its attacks got past the defences, hurting him. It was the final scene as the hallucination dissipated. Haesha's aura surged in her body, negating all the remaining influences as her vision cleared, noticing Jyorta stand before her while gasping for air.
Using his aura personification in such short notice further exhausted him. While gasping for air, Jyorta spoke, his tone suffusing with confidence, "Espers are not limited to our psychic arms. We can think faster, calculate precisely, and have solid imagination; we are walking talking supercomputers. Even at Tier 2, just by using our auras, we can bridge the gap between us and our enemies."
He then let out a wry smile, "I made some mistakes and got injured in the end, so what I showed is not a good example. But, that still shows the pow…"
His words were cut short as a feeling of warmth wrapped around him. Haesha embraced him, "No, that was an exemplary example. I was feeling down since I couldn't clearly see my path ahead."
She lifted her head, making eye contact, "But, you cleared all my confusion. I will no longer doubt the strength of Espers."
She wiped her tears and broke free of the embrace, expressing her improved mental state with a smile, "Thank you, Jyorta. Like I thought, you are the best!"
Jyorta flexed his tiny biceps, acting as if they were the most ripped in the world, "Of course, these muscles of mine are tougher than steel."
Jyorta moved his arms like a see-saw, acting as a bodybuilder unbefitting his frame, painting a comical scene. Haesha burst into laughter, cheering up soon after. Jyorta continued in such a manner, making silly body movements that strung her humour chords.
Twenty minutes later, as Haesha held her stomach in pain after having giggled too much, he stopped, taking a seat on the bed in exhaustion. He rested his back, staring at the ceiling for ten seconds.
On seeing that Haesha's mind had cleared up for most, Jyorta spoke, "Why were you so out of breath earlier? Even though I received my room keys from you just some time ago, there wasn't a chance I would be here."
Haesha stretched her arms as she replied, "When I heard the news, I didn't know what to do or how to deal with it. I ran and followed my instincts. Before I knew it, I was before your room. Weird right?"
"Not really," Jyorta spoke, tilting his head to view her face, "If you are troubled, or face any problem, knock up my door first. I'll be there to help you, always."
He smiled, "We would face many obstacles in life, but by relying on each other, we can tide through them without fail."
Haesha mumbled his statement once, etching it in her mind, her back straightening up to her usual self. Looking at Jyorta, she clenched her first, expressing her resolve, "Yes, we will shatter all obstacles in life together."