“Bass, what are you up to?” John asked, confused about seeing her in his own room.

“Oh, John, I was just waiting up for you,” she chuckled, “your new computer is dope! Will definitely help you set it up tomorrow, but I gotta get some sleep,” she said before leaving the room without giving John a second room.

’That was weird, why was she in here?’ John thought about looking for any changes in the room, but he was too tired and he trusted Bass, ’I’m sure if she left some surprise for me I’ll find it soon enough,’ with that thought in mind he collapsed into the bed, barely even managing to switch his clothes before his mind drifted into a familiar darkness.

He opened his eyes to a dark room, much unlike the Council room he had slept in. There was no bed, and he felt a cold stone floor against his back. John could barely see a thing, but two silhouettes appeared as his eyes adjusted. One had a large backpack, with what looked like masks hung off it, and the other was a stocky but round older man who seemed vaguely familiar. Both were talking, but he only caught a bit, as the Gamer’s consciousness drifted in and out.

“This child wears many masks, which are you here to see?” the backpacked man smiled, his teeth shining despite the darkness. John couldn’t hear the other man’s response, but he began walking haphazardly, “oh, I know who you are. One of his masks has seen you before. You should be careful,” his laugh turned creepy.

“Do not warn me of your creator, you stupid fiction,” the stocky man stepped past the other one. Pushing the other man aside. John felt something shift as he did, and the world shattered.

John next remembered opening his eyes in the morning, to the usual psychic alarm. His clothes were scattered around him, and the bed in general was a mess of blankets. It looked as if he had purposefully rolled in bed as much as possible. Trying to get the haze out of his eyes and head, he jumped off the bed with all the strength he could muster. When he took two steps to the closet he noticed a note stuck to it. Bass had left it, that was clear, and it was clearly visible. He could only wonder how he didn’t notice it the previous night.

“John, there’s something I need to tell you about XR2. I’ve been doing some digging and I’m worried. Talk to me,” it was very different from Bass’ usual speaking style. Which was exactly why he was sure it’s important.

Leaving the room, he found the others were up already. The five of them, including Ember, gathered in the hall as if waiting for John.

“You took your sweet time Boss!” Bass laughed.

“Sorry, guys, overslept a bit,” John laughed back. But then he whispered to Bass alone, “what’s the note about?”

“I’ll let you know later,” she whispered before continuing with a louder voice. Looking to the others, “so, what’s the plan for today? Last day of prep, right?”

“We have personal magics as the first class. Seems like the best thing to do since we’ve finished with Strong’s tasks. After that, I’m not sure just yet, what do you guys think?” John responded with confidence, thinking that he had gotten much better at this.

Yan was the first to respond, “I suggest we do a dry run in the forest near the HQ, just so we’re sure everyone knows what we’re doing and how to use the tools we got from Strong,” the others nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” John laughed, “thanks Yan!”

’And now that I’m thinking of it, I wanted to talk to Strong about a bunch of things the last few days… I guess that can wait until after we’re back, I need to get my rest today,’ his mind wandered, making him pause for a second.

“Well then, if that is our decision, I shall go,” Matthew said, unusually courteous, and began walking away.

“Yeah, everyone, we’ll see each other soon. Meet up in class after your lessons,” John said loudly, making sure everyone had heard him, before one by one they left.

The only one left was Bass, and her face was looking just a bit more nervous than usual. Almost like John could see behind her cheerful mask for once.

“Come in here for a second,” she dragged him into her room again. When the door was closed she locked it with a quick movement, and spoke far more quietly, “I talked to Orianna, and then I heard about the disease she got. The Federation has learned a bit about it, and so did we when I dug in our files a bit,” she started, sitting down and patting the bed next to her.

“Alright, what did they find out that makes you so worried?” anything that could worry Bass must be serious.

“Well, that’s the thing, they found almost nothing. But while they started by thinking whatever it was came from XR2, it actually didn’t. The current Council theory seems to be that it came from the Gateway itself. I don’t get the science, but when we go through the Gateways it’s like we’re stepping through a hole in both dimensions. As far as I know it’s safe, but they seem to think whatever got Orianna infected her because you both stepped through it for the first time. Maybe it got through her injury or something, I don’t know,” Bass was getting more heated the more she spoke.

“Hold on, so it’s some kind of interdimensional disease. What the fuck?”

“I wish I knew more, but none of what I found makes sense to me. Orianna seemed to get a bit of it, but I have no one I trust that knows this stuff to show it to. So we need to be careful, because one of us might get infected when we head to XR2. And if we do, that will be dangerous for all of us,” she emphasized the last sentence.

John could only nod his head, it made him immeasurably worried, “Bass, I know you probably want to tell this to the others, but we shouldn’t. At least I know how it progresses, and I can describe it to you, that means as long as it’s not both of us that gets infected we can do something about it,” he tried to be calm, at least in his voice.

“God no, I don’t want to tell the others. If Matthew or Charlotte found out about this, the expedition would dismantle immediately. But we need to have some countermeasures. So please, tell me everything you know,” she agreed. Her voice sounded a bit calmer.

John did tell her everything he knew. And half of it worried Bass even more, but in the end she seemed to have an idea.

“If that is how it works, then hopefully as long as no one gets injured and we tie up whoever is infected, we might be ok,” John agreed, mostly. Dearly hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

“It’s good to see you again John, I assume you are here for a lesson?’ Ingrid spoke after letting John enter her office.

“Yes, but before that, you mentioned a new teammate last time. A pilot, right?” John sat down in the chair in front of her, trying to relax.

“Indeed, however, that can wait until you come back from your expedition, as they have been delayed further than I thought,” she scribbled something on some paperwork as she completed her sentence. Then, after a long pause, she stood up and instructed John to follow her to their usual classroom. It was the same dojo, but instead of barren emptiness or a table with a bowl there was a chair in the middle of the room, “today we’ll be dealing with some basics of the other application of Psychic Mana, which as you know, is related to the mind. Please sit in the chair,” she spoke gently but with authority, motioning to the chair with her hand. He sat down, not seeing any reason to refuse.

“Alright, now, pay attention to what I’m saying closely. According to Ember you already know how to detect other minds around you. So please open your mind and find my own,” she started pacing a bit.

The gamer closed his eyes, returning to the same emptiness that first led him to detect minds. In the black void around him, he felt sparks of movement, and a single dot of light far stronger than any he felt before. That was Ingrid, he knew that, and he tried touching her mind, connecting to it. Except as his mind felt drawn into the light, he felt a headache setting in. A second later it felt like he had run head first into a wall, and he bounced back into the darkness, his body and mind hurting.

’As you’ve just experienced John, more trained minds will have walls built around them. They will not allow you to get further into the mind than the shallowest level,’ he heard a voice in his mind that was distinctly not his.

“Ingrid?” John opened his eyes, seeing her standing with her own eyes closed.

’It is me, yes. I am demonstrating an ability you can have even without access to deeper parts of one’s mind. However, this requires high amounts of Mana, and I would not recommend using it unless in an emergency. Regardless, sending thoughts towards a mind in your view of the world will usually let you speak to them mentally. Telepathy, as it is more commonly known,’ hearing her voice was far stranger than he thought it would be. But he tried to do the same back.

’Like this?’ he sent a voice into the light in his mind’s eye, and felt Mana drain out of him.

“Exactly,” Ingrid returned to speaking normally, “now tell me John, how do you see the mind’s around you?”

“Lights in the darkness, isn’t that the same for all Psychic mages or something?”

“No, one can tell a lot about a Psychic mage even by that little. Either way, there are two more important things I must teach you. One is made up of ways to get past walls like the one you experienced around my mind. The other is how to build a wall of your own. Both are intertwined, however.

“There are generally two schools of thought regarding mental fortifications. One believes force of will or Mana are the most effective ways to defend and siege minds. My own school of thought, and the one established by more recent scholars in the field of Psychic magic, is that ideas are as powerful a defense and attack as sheer will, and sometimes more,” she explained, having returned to pacing through the room. Her hands held behind her back.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s easier to give you an example, so let’s start with showing you the first school. You might find it easier as a beginner, at least,” she then began instructing him, “now, I have built a very soft wall around my mind. Please focus on my mind once more, but this time try creating a Mana bolt in your mind. One that smashes into the wall you encountered. Do you understand?” John nodded as he closed his eyes. Approaching her light more carefully, he noticed it had a distinct color. Somewhere between red and purple.

Once he focused on creating a Mana Bolt in his mind he found it easy, it appeared near the light. When he sent it he saw the effects immediately. Purple shards were thrown every which way, and crunched like glass under his feet.

“Fantastic!” Ingrid complimented him, breaking his concentration, “now, focus on building a barrier around your own mind. In much the same way as before, I will try destroying it.”

It was much the same process, he returned to his mind’s eye and erected an Arcane Barrier around himself. Around his own mind, he hoped. It worked, but it was far weaker than in reality, breaking four times to Ingrid’s attacks before it stayed standing.

“Now, let us move on to second school. We believe strong ideas, beliefs, ideologies, can become convictions that are powerful enough to protect the mind from outside influence. Try to go past my wall again, you will understand what I mean.”

Despite getting tired of the repetition, John focused on Ingrid’s mind once more, and walked into her now reddish light. Yet with every step he felt his mind fill with words that he couldn’t understand, but as he got closer, he did. A searing headache of a sentence, ’I will fulfill my father’s dream,’ split his mind in two. He couldn’t think, and even his instinct summoning up Arcane Bolts and using them did nothing. Bouncing off the glowing red light.

“Alright, now that you’ve experienced it, you’re going to try to attack it. Think of an idea compatible with the one I’ve created, John, that’s the only way you can draw my mind out of its defenses, is that understood?” he nodded, though his head hurt too much to think clearly. After breathing a little and calming himself down, he came up with something.

’I will help you fulfill your father’s dream,’ he shoved the thought towards Ingrid’s mind. For a second he wasn’t sure if it worked, but then the red light transformed back to purple.

“Congratulations John, I’m not sure you’ll be able to learn to do that just yet. It requires forming an idea so powerful in your own mind that it encompasses all of its facets. But next lesson I will help you do that.”

With that, John thanked Ingrid and left the classroom. Only now looking at the skill popup he had gotten.