Julie was too unfocused to notice Sora’s eye twitching. She smiled and said, “If you say so.” She then placed her hand on his cheek and said, “You know. I was wrong about you. I accused you of cheating in that fight against Zack. And I never really got to apologize.”
Sora was taken aback. He said, “I was right. You have had too much to drink. Go to your room and get some sleep.”
Julie frowned and pinched his cheek. “Learn to read the mood a little, jerk.”
But she smiled and said goodnight as she left the room.
“What was that about?” Sora asked as he rubbed the spot where she had pinched. But Conner just chuckled.
It was pretty late by the time Zack, Jake and Sora returned to the Titania mansion. They had dropped Conner off near the park as he said he lived quite close by. Zack was quiet the whole trip back.
“What’s wrong?” Sora asked him.
Jake said, “Must be depressed that Katie wasn’t there today.”
Zack went scarlet and said, “N…NO. It’s not that. And don’t make that face Sora! I was just thinking about how mom would react when we get home. Today’s bombing was reported in the news as well. I never tell her things about my jobs as she frets too much.”
And Zack was spot on. Waiting in front of the mansion was not a maid or butler, but Mrs. Titania herself. And to Jake’s delight, Elena was with her as well.
“How could you boys get involved in such a thing?” That was the first of a string of questions from Mrs. Titania. Zack tried to calm her down by saying that there was no one injured at all.
But she replied, “It was in the news that one unnamed contractor shielded the explosion in Genesis Alley with his own body. If that had been any of you, I would have… have…”
She suddenly noticed the bandages covering Sora. She stared questioningly at him and he said meekly, “Yeah. That was my stunt.”
The next thing he knew, his cheek was burning. Zack shouted out, “Mother!”
Jake let out a low whistle and Elena stared at seeing a rare side of her mother.
The slap did not hurt Sora much, but he was much more hurt seeing Mrs. Titania’s face. He had been hit and injured by so many people and things that he had lost count. But this was the first time someone had done it when in tears.
Sora was even more dumbstruck when she pulled him towards her and gave him a tight hug. Her embrace was tight, yet gentle. She whispered, “Don’t do something so reckless ever again. Don’t throw away your life so easily. Even if you think you saved those people, it would’ve hurt those close to you even more if something serious had happened to you. Don’t you ever do that, you hear me?”
Zack and Elena were still staring but Jake smiled. Sora didn’t know what else to do but return her embrace and whisper back, “I’m sorry.”
Having already eaten at the party, the three of them returned to their rooms. Sora took a shower and was soon in bed. But even as he stared into the dark ceiling above him, the sense of guilt did not disappear. But deep down, in a part of his heart that had never been touched, there was that unknown warmth that he had felt earlier that day. He could not help but smile to himself.
Two months had passed since Jake and Sora moved into the Titania mansion. It was in the middle of the night. When not a soul was awake, Jake silently sneaked out of his room.
He crept past the rooms, looked around to see if anyone was there. His time in the mansion had let him get familiar with all the rooms and he could now navigate through the mansion even in total darkness.
He finally reached the door he wanted to enter. He held the knob and cautiously opened the door, making sure that there was no creaking noise. He was about to enter when…
“Jake, what are you doing?”
Jake whirled around to see Sora, in his pajamas, standing at the other side of the corridor. Jake took a deep breath and said, “Sora, you scared me! I thought you were asleep.”
“I would’ve been if my curiosity about where you escaped to every night didn’t force me to follow you.”
Jake was startled. Sora said, “I’ve been following you for the past few days but I ended up getting lost. Two months and this place still is a maze.
Jake said uncertainly, “But… I never sensed your ki at all!”
Sora grinned and said, “After all that ki control training I did, I should be able to mask my ki at least this much. And what room is that?”
Jake motioned Sora to keep it down and beckoned him to come into the room as well. Sora followed him in and Jake quietly shut the door.
Sora realized that this room was a library. And what a library it was! There were shelves of books for as far as his eye could see.
Jake brandished a flashlight for them to see. Sora, who happened to have his G watch, used it as well.
Books were not so common, seeing as technology had brought out glass book slabs, which could contain a vast multitude of books in its memory. But the shelves in this library seemed to hold every book ever made.
Each shelf seemed to hold a different genre of books. And there were genres that Sora had never heard of. “So this is where you go every night?”
Jake nodded and said, “I asked Henry about the place and he said that I could use the library whenever I wanted. But I’m too busy during the day, so I do it at night. However, I don’t want the people here to be suspicious because of my night prowling so I try to be very quiet.”
“And here I was thinking that you were meeting up with Elena for a romantic conversation.”
Jake went red and said, “Come on Sora! I know I’ve made some progress, but we’re not in a relationship yet. She’s a hard nut to crack. Besides, she’s gone to Forlack City for some party for the nobles. So it wouldn’t matter whether I wanted to see her or not.”
Sora shrugged and said, “At least you’re more honest with your feelings than Zack is. And why didn’t he go for that party?”
Jake said, “He mentioned that he hated parties because other family heads kept introducing him to their daughters.” They sniggered quietly as Jake hoarded up a stack of history books and placed them on a reading table.
Sora asked wearily, “Are you going to go through all of them tonight?”
Jake said, “Of course. It’ll only take around five minutes or so.”
Sora examined one of the books, which was fatter than his face and said, “Jake, you might be a fast reader, but you can’t read that fast!”
Jake looked at Sora and said, “Who said I’ll need to read it? For some reason, everyone forgets that I’m a psychic contractor.”
He snatched the fat book from Sora’s hand and held it on his forehead. Just then, there was a small glow around the book. The glow persisted for around ten seconds and then dispersed. He placed the book back on the table and said, “I’m done with that one.”
Sora’s jaw dropped as Jake picked up another book and did the same thing. Only after he had finished six books did Sora speak. “Guess you never experienced the joy of reading. What are you reading about anyway?”
Jake put the seventh book down and said, “Well, ever since you told me your contract’s name, I’ve been curious about the other legendary contracts. So, I’ve been trying to do some research on them. These books contain information on the events, which occurred during the era of the dragon. But there’s hardly anything new from what we’ve heard as bed time stories.”
“Same story about the dragon defeating Satan, the devil, along with the six paladins?” Sora asked.
“With a little more detail, but yes,” Jake answered. “But… it’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Not one of these books appears to mention the use of the legendary contracts in the battle. Yet these are the books acknowledged by the royal government. And only the books greatly criticized by the royal government mention that they belonged to the dragon. And yours might be one of the seven contracts.”
Sora didn’t say anything for a while. But just as
Jake was moving to his next stack of books, Sora asked, “Tell me, is this really the only thing you’ve been doing during your nighttime strolls?”
Jake stared at him. “Is it me or you becoming annoyingly sharp?”
Sora winked and said, “Just observant. You seemed exhausted every time you wake up in the morning. I figured you must be doing some kind of training.”
Jake exhaled and levitated the new stack of books back into their place in the shelves. He muttered, “Well, I guess it won’t hurt. Follow me. And keep your voice down.”
Jake took Sora all the way to the kitchen. The pots and pans sparkled in the moonlight, but the essence of that night’s dinner still lingered. Jake led him through to the back of the big kitchen and opened the door leading to the storage room.
Old utensils and plates were neatly stacked in one corner of the room. The vegetables and fruits were arranged as though ready to be picked up in the market. Various other essentials of cooking like spices and cooking powder were organized systematically on the table in front of them. There was also a small screen on the wall, showing the quantity of each item inside the storage.
Jake took him to the far corner of the room and revealed a small wooden ladder leading to the top.
Jake climbed up and pushed the block that covered the top and Sora followed.
It was then that Sora realized that they were on the terrace of the building. He always figured that mansions and great big houses had sloped roofs. Therefore, he was surprised to see that the roof was flat when he was flying around the estate. It was tiled with red bricks with a few potted plants near the edges.
The cool night breeze swept past them as they walked around a little. Sora nodded approvingly and said, “Nice place to train. But won’t you wake up the others?”
Jake grinned. “Unlike muscle heads like you and Zack, psychic contractors don’t need to blow things up while training. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t need to train my body as, for psychic contractors, it’s the mind that counts.”
“How do you train your mind?” Sora asked curiously.
Jake said with a grand voice, “Well, meditation is one method. It helps you control your thoughts, improve your concentration and helps you focus as well. But that is like muscle training or speed training for you guys.”
He levitated the potted plants and made them fly in a well-choreographed manner and said, “It’s controlling your mind’s power and using it for different ways that really amplifies a psychic contractor’s strength.”
He landed the pots around Sora and said; “You know that humans use only a small portion of their brain’s capacity, right? In truth, it is impossible to measure how much of a brain is used, or not used. But it is for certain that humans are yet to use the full potential and doing so is close to impossible.”
The pots levitated as Jake smiled and said, “But… what if we can tap into that unused potential? What if a higher proportion of the brain can be used? That is exactly what the psychic stone class contract does. It enables our mind to access those untouched parts of our brain. It equips us with the ability to reach that latent potential of the brain that everyone has but hardly anyone can exploit.”
Sora held his breath. He didn’t know if it was the moon behind Jake or the pots revolving around him or the way he said it, but Jake suddenly seemed to emit an aura of grandeur quite unlike anything he had felt before.
Jake went on, “With our mental strength so greatly intensified, the thought waves emitted by the brain can be used as a force to move objects around you. The stronger the mind is, the greater the force of the thought waves and the bigger a psychic contractor’s range is.”
Sora cleared his throat and said, “That’s good and all. But that doesn’t explain how psychic contractors can read minds or create illusions.”
Jake grinned and said, “Sora, think of something. Anything. It’s your call.”
Sora thought for a second. But Jake groaned. “Please, Sora. Must it always be about food?”
Sora was baffled, even though it had happened countless times. He needed an explanation.
Jake said, “The concept is simple enough. I mentioned thought waves before, didn’t I? Fact is, not just humans, but every living organism emits thought waves. But multi-cellular organisms have more brain activity, so their thought waves are stronger and can be read much easier. And other than psychic contractors, no one can produce thought waves strong enough to move stuff. And since psychic contractors have control over their thought waves, they can synchronize with the thought waves of others. By doing that, they can extract and transfer thoughts into other people.”
“So by making me think of something, you were able to strengthen my thought waves so you could sync in with greater ease.”
Jake nodded and said, “But humans think about stuff unconsciously. So thought waves are constantly generated. Only brain dead people don’t produce thought waves. And if I have eye contact, I can sync in more easily.”
“And illusions are from inserting thoughts into the brain?” Sora asked.
“Yes,” answered Jake. “But illusions are effective either only if a person is alone or if the psychic contractor is skilled enough to sync multiple thought waves at once and insert the same images and thoughts. But illusions aren’t the only use of insertion. I can also send telepathic messages. Also, I’ll show you one more trick.”
He placed his hand on Sora’s forehead and said, “It’s easier if there is physical contact as the thoughts have a solid medium to pass through.”
And just as he said that, Sora sensed something flowing into his brain through Jake’s hand. And suddenly, images started filling Sora’s mind as though he was seeing some old movie. The scenes were Jake’s thoughts, his memories, whatever he had witnessed and they poured into Sora’s mind.
Jake withdrew his arm. Sora’s eyes came to focus. He swayed a little, but regained his senses before long and held his head. He was staring at what he had just seen, baffled by the very thought of it. He turned to Jake, who nodded grimly. And Sora spluttered, “Zack… I don’t believe it. This is insane!”
“It’s true. I saw it with my own eye.” Jake said, shaking his head seriously.
Sora continued to gape. The very idea of such a possibility seemed to disturb the flow of nature, destroyed every sense of logic or reasoning, because this was Zack they were talking about. And on what twisted sense of insanity could…
“Zack… has a teddy bear?”
It was just too much to stomach. Sora looked helplessly at Jake, who let out a deep sigh and shrugged. Zack, who was the epitome of cool, who was the model for every young contractor in the guild and an embodiment of an ideal man for every female contractor, all that came crashing down when this dreadful fact was uncovered.
When the shock finally sunk in, Sora asked him, “So… how does brain washing work?”
Jake had expected this question. “Brain washing is a combination of… well, extraction and insertion of memories. The psychic contractor extracts all the memories and thoughts he wants to replace from the person and substitutes it with images created by the psychic contractor. Those new images need not be real, but have to be carefully administered to the person. Though, it sounds easier than it actually is.”
“You mean to say that the person won’t remember a thing of what has been erased?” Sora asked.
Jake replied, “It’s not completely impossible to remember. There may be some cases where an existing memory might be connected with the memory erased. It might force the brain to recollect the connection. Brain washing only erases the memory from the mind, not from the body. Using the other senses of the body, it might be able to regain the lost memories. That’s why I said that the new images have to be administered carefully.”
Sora was baffled. He had never expected the usage of the psychic contract to be this complicated. Plus, with the additional knowledge of Zack’s dark secret, his mind was at its limit.
“Sora
, can I ask you something?”
Sora turned to Jake, who appeared quite sincere. “Shoot,” he said.
“Well, I took a peek into your mind a few minutes ago. After all this psychic activity, your mind’s natural protection was weakened. So I couldn’t resist. And I found something… a little… weird. Though I’m not sure.”
Sora was startled. What could his mind hold that a psychic contractor found weird? Could he have found out about his past?
“What do you mean weird?”
Jake inhaled deeply. “Remember that time in the park when I said that it felt like there was some kind of mental barrier in your mind?”
“Yeah.”
Jake said, “I know it’s possible to create mental blocks in the mind to make sure that those unwanted memories don’t spring up in dreams and such. It’s usually caused by a protective mechanism of the brain. But yours was… different.”
Sora bit his lip. “Jake, don’t beat around the bush. What are you talking about?”
Jake gulped and said, “That barrier… does not seem like the work of the mind. I think it was caused by another psychic contractor.”
Sora’s froze for a moment. “Jake, what are you saying?”
Jake replied grimly, “I might be paranoid about it, Sora. But I think you should let me try to go into your mind and find out what is truly inside the barrier.”
Sora was reluctant. He did not want Jake to see his past memories. But the thought that some psychic contractor had messed with his brain was not something he could accept. Because, the only other psychic contractor he had ever know was the man he had sworn to kill.
“Okay,” Sora said. “Let’s do this.”
Jake was surprised with Sora’s answer. But he nodded and said, “Just relax. Don’t think too hard about anything. Trust me.” Sora took deep breaths as Jake once again placed his hand on his forehead. He could sense some of Jake’s ki flowing within him as he dived into his mind.
Jake was floating amongst the endless memories of Sora. A psychic contractor’s mind diving technique varies from one person to another. They can program their technique to make the memories appear in whatever form they want, according to how easily or how comfortably they can review the person’s memories. Jake had programmed his technique to view the inside of the mind like a mansion. The most trivial memories are stacked at the lowest level of the mansion and the higher up he went in the mansion, the more important those memories were.
Contractor: The Legendary Contract of Vento Page 21