Four planetary cycles until exams begin.
Kaito stood silently across from Elysia in the training room. She was holding a tablet of some sort in one hand, holding it up as she began to speak to him.
"For the next four planetary cycles, we'll be focusing on your human biology—specifically, the concept of adrenaline and how you can harness it willingly."
Kaito raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, clearly intrigued yet a bit confused as well.
"My human… biology…?"
Elysia chuckled at his confused face, finding the confusion radiating from him adorable in a way.
"It's fairly simple, Kaito dear. We'll combine traditional studies about your anatomy, rigorous physical conditioning to handle increased essence flow, and finally…"
She paused dramatically, a sly smile forming on her lips, knowing full well it would drive him crazy being left hanging like that.
"Finally what?" He asked eagerly, leaning forward slightly.
"A special training method, specifically tailored for you. It will enable you to manipulate your heart rate and brain activity to voluntarily trigger adrenaline bursts. According to the information here–" She pressed a button on the tablet and a projection of a human body along with notes on the side floated in front of both of them.
"–Adrenaline is produced naturally under extreme stress or danger, heightening your strength, speed, and essence flow temporarily. The training we'll be doing is essentially forcing your brain and heart to produce adrenaline at will."
Kaito took a moment to absorb her words as he placed his hand on his chest, passing over his heart.
"So, I'll literally control my own body chemistry… Sounds a little complicated, but I'm definitely excited to try. It basically sounds like my own special ability in a way since no one else can do it."
His mind began to race wildly, imagining all the possible ways he could utilize this new technique… But a sudden realization quickly dampened that excitement.
"Wait… hold on. You said the next four planetary cycles, right? That's right around the time we'll be arriving at the licensing station. Don't you think that's cutting it a bit close?"
"Yes it is, but it's crucial we ensure you're able to do this safely and effectively, even if that means we take the remaining time we have to do so. Speaking of which…"
Without another word, she focused her eyes on him intently and her CPI scanner began to flicker to life in her sight. She scanned him from head to toe until the numbers finally settled on a number.
Kaito: 175,000 CPI
"175,000…? Amazing…" She muttered, just loud enough for Kaito to hear it.
"175,000!?" Kaito exclaimed, his eyes nearly jumping from his skull.
"That's incredible, Kaito dear! It seems due to your recent battles and training sessions, your essence flow has increased drastically."
Kaito grinned, but his joy was short-lived as a thought struck him.
"Wait… but I've seen the others' CPI levels back when I first arrived. Jinx and Rorik's CPI weren't even that high. They're both B-rank travelers and I'm nowhere near their level yet."
"That's because what you've seen were their suppressed CPI levels, not their true base levels."
"Suppressed? What exactly is the difference?" He replied with an even more confused look on his face now.
Elysia pressed a button on the table and a projection of a silhouette appeared between the both of them as she began to explain.
"Suppressed CPI level is when a star traveler deliberately limits or restricts the flow of their essence, hiding their true strength. Most B-ranked travelers and above routinely do this. Your base CPI is the natural, unrestricted flow of your essence—your true essence level. To suppress your essence, picture the flow of your essence throughout your body and instead of funneling it like I told you before, do the opposite and restrict it. It should be fairly easy for you to cut your CPI in half with your level of control. It should almost feel like you're holding your breath."
Despite her rambling, Kaito's eyes drifted to the floor, realization dawning upon him as memories flashed through his mind. He vividly recalled his very first sparring session with Elara and when she raised a hand and her essence had surged intimidatingly to 400,000.
He smirked, chuckling softly to himself.
"That sly captain… She was probably holding back even then I bet."
"Kaito dear?" Elysia interrupted gently, peering curiously at his distant gaze with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"What's so funny? Did I say something amusing?"
He snapped out of his thoughts instantly, nervously waving his hands in front of him.
"No, no! It's nothing important, just… an inside joke. Don't worry, I'm paying attention, promise."
Elysia puffed out her cheeks, pouting as she placed her hands on her hips. She tried to appear intimidating, but looked even less frightening than she already was.
"Hmph. You better be."
Later that same day, Kaito let out a defeated groan as he laid sprawled across his room floor, steam gently rising from his ears, face first into an open book.
"No more studying… please…" He mumbled through the book weakly.
Elysia let out a sympathetic sigh, shook her head.
"I know it's exhausting, Kaito dear. But it's crucial for your training."
He sighed before slowly pushing himself into a seated position, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes.
"Alright, let's make sure it wasn't all for nothing. Recap everything we've gone over so far."
Kaito blinked at her, clearly distressed at the thought of having to use his brain any more than he already had, but her determined gaze made him bite the bullet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Okay… umm… adrenaline is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in the top portion of my kidneys. It activates during times of extreme stress or danger, boosting physical strength, speed, reaction time, and overall essence capacity significantly. It does this by increasing my blood flow, heart rate, dilating airways for increased oxygen intake, and enhancing the nervous system's responsiveness… Uhhhhh… oh yeah! For me specifically, it'll allow me to amplify my essence output dramatically if I can learn to control and harness it voluntarily."
Elysia nodded with a small smile of pride stretching across her face.
"Very good, Kaito dear. That should do for the books until tomorrow."
He let out a sigh of relief before collapsing backward onto his elbows as if that took everything left out of him.
"Thank the stars…"
He said as he began to yawn, stretching his arms overhead.
"So what's next?"
Elysia calmly walked over to his bed and sat down, tapping the tablet in her hand.
"Now, we'll be putting your studies into practice. It's time to attempt actively producing adrenaline at will."
She pressed a button on her tablet, causing a detailed holographic chart to appear, floating between them. Numbers on the display ranged upward at a constant amount.
"I want you to focus solely on controlling your essence and triggering adrenaline production. 175,000 is your base CPI level. You'll attempt to increase it to around 350,000 by willingly producing adrenaline, holding it steadily there. I'll closely monitor your vitals to make sure it's safe before we attempt going further to around 525,000. This will be our routine for the next four planetary cycles."
Kaito's eyes widened, staring at the holographic display with astonishment.
"Wait… 525,000 CPI? How high exactly do you plan for us to go?"
Elysia chuckled softly with a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Originally, I planned to keep you under 800,000 CPI, but after seeing your new base level… perhaps we can push you a bit further. Don't worry, I'll monitor your vitals carefully the entire time."
For some reason, she seemed to take an interest in this part of his training, like she's been waiting for this for sometime now. He rubbed the back of his neck as a nervous grin appeared on his face.
"You're the boss Elysia. I trust you."
He paused briefly as a thought struck him.
"By the way… is Finn doing okay? I haven't seen him at all today. Were his injuries really that serious?"
Elysia's expression softened hearing this and pressed a button to turn the projection off.
"Finn is perfectly fine now. But you probably won't see him again until we arrive at the station."
"Wait, really? Why's that?"
"Miss Kaeline said something about doing special training with him privately. She asked me to assist you during the meantime."
Kaito's expression briefly fell into a comical look of disbelief and envy as he mind raced to make sense of that nonsense he was hearing.
"Special training? Why does the pretty boy get secret, exclusive training… and I get tortured with endless studying?"
"Kaito dear." Elysia's voice broke into his thoughts, her tone shifting ever so slightly, now carrying a more curious edge to it.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you as well."
He tilted his head slightly as he turned to her.
"Sure, what is it?"
She paused, her normally warm voice growing noticeably colder as she began to speak.
"Yesterday… what exactly did Talon want to speak to you about?"
He froze up instantly, but quickly gathered himself knowing deep down he couldn't mess this up. He swallowed before carefully replying.
"Oh, well… apparently, she's leaving the crew for a while. She'll meet back up with us once we reach the galaxy the fragment pointed us to. I think she left earlier today."
Instantly, her icy expression melted back into her usual bright and bubbly persona, as if his news had instantly made her day.
"Oh, really? What a shame we won't get to speak with her before we take Aqua and leave… right, Kaito dear?"
Kaito let out a nervous chuckle, shifting his eyes between her and the floor.
"Yeah… about that. Things might've gotten a bit more complicated."
Elysia's cheerful expression froze in place and something dark twisted beneath the warmth of her eyes as she stared directly into Kaito's soul.
"What exactly do you mean by 'more complicated'? Actually, why would Talon specifically invite you to her room to say that? Why not the rest of the crew?" She questioned sweetly, a subtle hint of crazy beneath her gentle voice.
Kaito's entire body began to tremble feeling the weight of her stare pressing down on her.
"N-no, listen—it's not what you think! She, um… she asked me to fill in as co-captain while she's gone."
There was a terrifying tense silence for what felt like a century, the only sound heard being Kaito's boots literally shaking against the floor.
Elysia finally spoke up, eyes wide and voice almost eerily calm as her head creepily tilted to the side.
"Did you accept?"
Sweat poured down his neck to his ass before finally speaking quietly.
"…Yes. But I'm still planning to help Aqua and go with you to your world. That hasn't changed at all, it's just—I mean—I…"
His anxious rambling was swiftly cut short as Elysia reached out, gently pinching his cheek and rubbing it softly. Her normal cheerful tone returned as if she didn't show him fifty shades of crazy just a moment ago.
"That's good to hear, Kaito dear." She smiled sweetly, twirling a pen in her other hand idly.
"I knew you'd never willingly lie down in the dirt."
Kaito gulped, watching her nervously.
"Jeez… I knew Talon and Elysia didn't exactly see eye-to-eye, but this is next level. If she finds out I actually asked Talon to join my crew, she'll probably kill me…"
Almost as if she was reading his mind, she spoke up and said something that made him lose all hope for his safety and well being.
"For a moment, I was actually worried you were going to say something completely absurd, like you're dating Talon or that you invited her to your future crew. I don't know what I'd do if something like that were true…" She said with a creepy smile as she casually snapped the pen she was holding in half.
Kaito's entire body stiffened up instantly with a deadpan expression of dread as he internally accepted his fate.
"Yup… I'm definitely going to die."