Chapter 67：Haesha

The moment he closed the door, he could notice a flurry of activities from the sounds echoing in the hallway. The sounds of bags getting dropped, the sound of something soft colliding into the wood, etc. as he heard the sounds, Jyorta proceeded to walk towards the end of the hallway, his destination being the flight of stairs.

The other end of the hallway had the common restroom, separated between girls and boys—spacious. As he approached the stairs, he noticed a girl exit her room, situated next to the stairs. Noticing the only individual other than her, dressed in uniform an hour before the reporting time, the girl stared at him, her stare lingering for more than a second.

Jyorta raised his right hand, showcasing his palm towards her, shouting, "Hello there, I am Jyorta, from the 4th Academy."

"I am Haesha," The girl smiled, mimicking his actions. "I am from the 7th Academy. Everyone from my class have become Warriors, leaving me behind as the sole Esper."

"Wow, my class is the same too." Jyorta laughed, pointing his hand towards the stairs, "I was planning to sight-see the academy since I have some time to kill. Do you want to join me?"

"Sure, I was planning to do that anyway." The girl smiled, taking the lead, pocketing her key. Jyorta noticed her uniform, a grey plain gown reaching her knees. The top half of the gown was designed similar to a full-length shirt, except lacking the button area. The collar was a darker shade of grey, separated by a thin strip of white, creating a contrast.

She wore white leggings, their ends laced with grey embroidery. The shoes weren't much different to his own, designed for ease of wear, the only difference being a lack of lace, looking plain. The girl had her hair tightly braided, looking like a sturdy rope, reaching her hips. The ends were tied up by a ribbon, its colour grey—provided by the academy.

She wore a single ivory bangle on her right hand and strapped a watch on her left. She sported two earrings, teardrop-shaped, and grey in colour, matching her uniform. There existed a small bindhi on her glabella; a grey dot designed like a rain droplet, grey in colour, accentuating her appearance, giving her a sense of charm.

As the two descended the stairs, Jyorta's eyes couldn't help but dart towards her, acting sneaky. His heart raced up, steadily accelerating as Jyorta tried his best to act natural.

'She is pretty,' He thought, mentally shaking his head. 'Act natural; behave just the way you usually do. Don't try anything weird and creep her out.'

"Do you know when we will get the books? Or, is there a specific place we were supposed to register?" Jyorta turned around, gazing at the girl walking to his right, pacing a step behind him.

"You didn't know?" The girl sported a surprised expression, "We had to line up in the head office to collect our books. The Warrior section were the first, followed by us Espers. It was troublesome to carry the heavy books to the third floor with my luggage in tow. I had to bring them up in batches."

Jyorta blinked once, taking a couple of seconds to digest the information. He then realised the source for the sounds he heard before in the hallway. It was the students dropping the books on the table, their frustrations having to study the mountainous material evident, producing the noises.

Feeling that the attendant had forgotten to inform him and at the possibility that the books might run out of stock should he turn up last, Jyorta became a bit flustered, "Are they still handing out the books? Will I be able to receive it now?"

"Probably," Haesha nodded, "The line was quite long when I received my books. Let us hurry there; we might still have a chance."

The two walked briskly, heading out of the indigo building, and rushing towards the head office. They had to walk on the side of the ground due to the students from other batches engaging in their morning drill.

Entering the head office, Jyorta looked around him, failing to find anywhere that might have books. Haesha pointed towards the stairs, motioning for him to follow, "It is on the second floor."

He didn't pant much, climbing two storeys worth of stairs wasn't much of a daunting task. Arriving on the second floor, Jyorta saw a wide-open section along the wall, shaped into a stall. Four people were standing within it, handing out a bag filled with books to the students.

The line of students consisted of less than 10 people as Jyorta hurriedly joined the line, ensuring to not create any commotion. He turned his head, seeking confirmation with Haesha through eye contact. Seeing her nod, he sighed in relief, gazing into the stall.

Books were piled up into many rows as a person picked up a set by memory and placed them inside a bag, his actions rough, uncaring if he damaged the books. There was also a variety of stationery arranged behind the row of books, showcasing everything a student might need. Arranged further back in a messy pile were miscellaneous goods ranging between clothes, toys, etc.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, it was finally his turn. A man spoke in a gruff voice, extending his palm forward, "ID?"

Jyorta hurriedly removed his ID and handed it over to the man with the gruff voice. He then noticed the man flashing the ID on a machine, making it produce a beep sound. Immediately, the machine whirred and produced a sheet of paper.

The man took a bag filled with books—arranged by the person behind him—and placed the slip of paper into it, handing them over to Jyorta, his gruff voice producing an unclear sentence, "This only consists of the basic courses. You can later come to get the books for your chosen electives."

Just when Jyorta was about to inquire him to repeat the sentence, he noticed the man motioning for him to go away, looking intent to close the stall. Suddenly, followed by a flurry of steps, two boys emerged out, their breaths disarrayed.

As they arrived before the stall, the man with a gruff voice glared at them, "Punctuality is a trait preferred here in the military academy. If you are late even for a simple errand like this, your futures are bleak."

As the two kids bowed their heads in shame, listening to the man with a gruff voice scold them mercilessly, Jyorta walked away, his expression calm, as if he was the most punctual student present in the academy.

"You've cut it quite close. Those two students will probably have to face some punishment and write apology letters," Haesha lifted her hands, bringing her index finger closer to her thumb, separated by a hair's width, expressing how he escaped by a close call.

"Thanks to you, I survived that," Jyorta laughed, his expression relieved. He looked at the bag on his hand, feeling the strain in his arms as he carried it.

"Man, studying is such a pain. If only it was possible to grind the books into juice and drink it, gaining all the knowledge." Jyorta lamented, sporting a wry smile.

"It should be relatively easy for us to study. The students from the Warrior section will find it more difficult." Haesha smiled, accompanying him as they walked on the grass ground, heading towards their dorm.

Reaching the third floor, Jyorta took deep breaths, trying his best to act like the physical task from before didn't make him lose breath. He then walked towards his room, turning towards Haesha, "Can you hold this for a second? Let me open the door."

"Sure," Haesha took hold of the bag as Jyorta fished out his key and opened the door. He pushed it away to the limit and turned around, bowing a little with his hand placed before his chest, "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Sure, sure," Haesha rolled her eyes and stepped in, placing the bag above the nearby table. She glanced at the time in her watch, gazing at Jyorta, "There's not much time left. Let us find some good seats to sit."

11:10 AM, the duo arrived before the auditorium, entering through a wide double door. Finding a couple of seats in the centre of the third row, the two made their way. Along the way, Jyorta looked at his surroundings, trying to find a familiar face but failing to find none.

'I guess they have yet to arrive,' He thought, sitting on a seat. To his left sat Haesha, her seat being the left extremity of their row. Next to her was a footpath meant for movement; further to its left was another row, trailing until the wall of the auditorium.

'On a rough estimate, this auditorium can accommodate at least 2000 students.' Jyorta turned his head to his left, whispering, "Did you find any of your classmates?"

"Not yet," Haesha whispered back, "I think most of the people who have arrived till now are Espers. I can feel the psychic energy leaking out of them."

She then turned around, her gaze falling on Jyorta, "I couldn't feel any psychic energy leaking out from you. If not for your accommodation being in the same block as me, I would have assumed you were a Warrior."

"Well, I became normal at a quicker pace. This gave me more time to learn and control my psychic energy. My family elders also gave me many pointers and actively helped me control the leakage." Jyorta said.

"Family huh," Haesha muttered under her breath, her gaze curious, "If you don't mind me asking, how much is your Sync Rate?"

"71%," Jyorta replied, "Why do you ask?"

"What the heck?" Haesha looked shocked, almost failing to control her voice, "It would have been normal if your Sync Rate was in the 50s. But, controlling it so early in the high 70s is quite impressive."

"Really?" Jyorta laughed, unable to comment further. Judging by her reaction, even he was illusioned to think that he was better than what he had thought.

"If possible, do you mind giving me some advice about controlling my psychic energy? I am the first Esper in my family; so, I am clueless about many things."

"Sure, I don't mind." Jyorta smiled, noticing a familiar figure appear.