Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
Now that things had come to this point, there was no use in saying anything more. Maya was a strong-minded and resilient woman. She quickly pulled herself out of her dazed, heartbroken state, though the way she looked at Sato was still full of envy, jealousy, and frustration.
"You don't have to be so disappointed. Maybe the scientist who created that drug is still alive. It's not like you'll never have the chance to get it yourself someday."
Seeing Maya looking at him like that, Sato felt even more convinced that he had truly hit the jackpot. In an attempt to ease her feelings—and also to steer the conversation back toward useful intel on psychics—he forced a smile and offered a few words of comfort.
Of course, despite what he said, Sato knew full well it was basically impossible.
Let's put aside how hard it was to even create such a drug in the first place. Even if someone managed to recreate it, the failure rate was terrifyingly high.
It could easily be dismissed as a failed product, causing someone to repeat the same disastrous mistakes.
In this world, aside from Sato, who had the benefit of a cheat-like system, there was probably no one else capable of knowing the effects of a psychic-enhancing drug without conducting extensive clinical trials.
"If you ever come across something that amazing again, and if there's any left, you have to let me know. I'd trade everything I own for it."
Maya felt much better after Sato's attempt to console her. She nodded solemnly as she spoke, secretly vowing to visit the underground black markets more often in hopes of getting lucky.
Had Sato known what Maya was thinking right then, he definitely would have regretted those comforting words. One line from him might just leave Maya buried in debt for the rest of her life.
After Sato agreed to help her deal with Ailes, Maya's opinion of him had improved significantly. As a result, when she began explaining psychic-related information to him, she held nothing back and told him everything she knew.
In truth, intel about psychics was rarely a tightly kept secret.
That was because most psychics adhered to a tradition of guiding their juniors. Rather than a "tradition," it was more accurate to call it a duty.
Since ancient times, psychics had always been extremely rare among humans. As humanity's strongest defenders, their social status was lofty, but the dangers they faced far exceeded those of other professions.
Due to their limited numbers and the high mortality rate from constant sacrifice, many powerful psychic lineages were wiped out.
Later, certain visionary psychics, determined to protect humanity and preserve their profession's legacy, began setting aside past grievances. They stopped hoarding knowledge and instead passed down everything they had learned to the next generation.
Since even those legendary figures were willing to do this, their successors naturally followed suit.
While a few bad apples existed, the tradition had been passed down by most psychics over the generations.
So, even if Maya had chosen not to share anything with Sato, it was highly likely that he would eventually find a few reputable psychics who'd provide him with similar information anyway.
At present, Maya was only a beginner psychic herself. But with someone like Sabrina as her teacher, she had a solid grasp of the basics—things like meditation methods and beginner-level psychic techniques.
Over the course of about half an hour, Maya shared all the essential knowledge about psychics with Sato. She even gave him a psychic training book written personally by Sabrina, as well as some instruments for measuring psychic power.
The book by Sabrina was just a photocopy—and an abridged one at that—meant only for beginner-level psychics. Still, for someone like Sato, who had abysmal natural talent in the field, it was more than enough to last him a long time.
If Sato never stumbled upon some miraculous opportunity, this one book alone would probably be all he could rely on for the rest of his life.
As for the tools that measured psychic power, they were blue marble-sized crystals known as "Mind Beads."
According to Maya, these Mind Beads were made from a special material capable of storing psychic energy.
They were very simple to use. All a psychic had to do was channel telekinesis—the most basic form of psychic projection—into a bead. The bead would absorb the released energy and glow in response.
One glowing Mind Bead equaled one unit of psychic power. By counting how many beads lit up, a psychic's total power level could be measured with precision.
Since Sato hadn't undergone any formal meditation training, testing him with the beads now would accurately reveal his innate psychic power.
After conducting a quick test and determining Sato's natural power level, Maya was quietly delighted.
Meanwhile, Sato's face turned grim. According to the results, he had one of the worst psychic aptitudes possible.
Yes—Sato's innate psychic power was only 10, just enough to meet the bare minimum required for a normal person to awaken as a psychic.
After thousands of years of development, the psychic profession had evolved into a well-structured system. Psychics were divided into five tiers: Apprentice, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master.
These ranks were determined entirely by one's psychic power value:
Apprentice: 10 to 100
Beginner: 100 to 500
Intermediate: 500 to 5,000
Advanced: 5,000 to 20,000
Master: Over 20,000
According to Maya, Sato's rate of improvement through meditation would be incredibly slow. Even if he meditated without eating or sleeping, it might take him an entire month just to raise his psychic power by 1 point.
That meant, without any special breakthroughs or miraculous encounters, he'd likely remain a beginner-level psychic for life. Advancing to Intermediate would be almost impossible.
By comparison, Maya's innate psychic power was 13. Just 3 points higher than Sato's—but her meditation efficiency was seven or eight times faster.
In her own words, she had a real shot at breaking past the first psychic barrier and reaching the Intermediate level in her lifetime.
When there's no comparison, there's no pain. Maya had always been the one feeling inadequate. But now that the tables had turned and she got to be the one with the upper hand, she felt great.
"Well… it is what it is. It's fine. As long as I can learn telepathy, I'll be satisfied. Yep. That's all I want."
Upon learning how bad his talent really was, Sato tried to console himself and force an optimistic mindset—but it wasn't working today.
Because he had just learned that even telepathy, a supposedly basic psychic technique, wasn't as easy to learn as he thought. The prerequisite was a psychic power of 50.
And he only had 10.
If what Maya said was accurate—that he'd need a full month of nonstop meditation to raise his power by a single point—then he'd need at least 40 months to reach the requirement for telepathy.
That was over three years—and that's assuming he did nothing but meditate, without eating or sleeping.
In reality, it might take him five to six years just to reach 50 points.
With that cruel reality staring him in the face, Sato simply couldn't bring himself to feel optimistic anymore.