Sunburn users were seated and listening to Lyra speak without a word escaping any of their lips.
Ivory shuttered while saying under her breath, "What scientific terms could possibly be linked to the sunburn."
Lyra pauses for a long second.
Behind her, street vendors in long purple robes worked together to place a small wooden stage behind the older woman.
The stage was adorned with white circular patterns and accompanied with orange led stage lights.
The street vendors in purple robes quickly moved out of the way while Lyra walked backwards onto the stage.
A question had started to surface in her mind. If Lyra was blind, how could she even see her surroundings?
It had to be linked to her ability somehow right?
She saw the older woman earlier controlling shadows.
How could this ability help her perceive her surroundings better?
Lyra holds out both of her hands as shadows are casted behind them.
Lyra says, "Let's start with the basics."
The shadows of her two hands had shifted into two different simple symbols.
One of them was a simple sketch of the sun and the other was a pair of black lines.
Lyra says, "You all could've guessed this but you gained the sunburn through excessive exposure to the sun."
Lyra sighs, "Upon gaining the catalyst or the sunburn. You all entered the development stage."
The shadows turned into an image of an arrow moving quickly on the wall behind her.
Lyra says, "The catalyst alters your DNA upon entering the development stage. The sunburn speeds up the process in which you are able to use calories."
The shadows behind her transformed into different stick figures who were interacting with an unknown substance. These individuals seemed to cast and move around a large mass of this substance without relying on a source.
Ivory suspected that these individuals were generating this substance.
Ivory muttered under her breath, "Could this be an example of sunburn users manipulating and creating water?"
Lyra pauses before saying, "The event is fantastical and not purely based in the reality of modern science. You're generating or creating different elements based on your own caloric maximums. Moreover, the amount of energy you can consume in one sitting."
Byron raises his hand and sways slightly. Iris and Kian desperately try to pull his hand down but it was to no avail.
The oaf was far too sturdy to be brought down.
Lyra says, "Yes?"
Byron says, "Why do people with the mutation have a higher caloric maximum?"
Lyra says, "Good question and that gives me an excellent transition…"
Lyra shifted the shadows into a variety of different intricate patterns, one pattern resembled thorns, another of them was a snowflake, and the last of them resembled a cloud.
Lyra rolls her right hand with an open palm in the air, "Answering this question requires us to understand why people with the mutation exist."
Lyra says, "In the development period, some people have their personalities scanned to contribute to the result of the creation of their element."
Two sets of numbers were displayed behind her in black text.
Six thousand and twelve thousand.
Lyra says, "Most sunburn users can only eat 6000 calories but sunburn users with the mutation can approximately eat 12000 calories."
The crowd had started to finally talk among themselves again. The quiet environment became a bustling environment at the same time one would use to flip a light switch.
Ivory felt the eyes of the crowd behind her and the many that were seated close to her with a stare that pierced through her whole body. These eyes dug deep beneath her skin and festered as disapproval or judgment became more noticeable.
The young woman did her best to inhale and exhale slowly to calm herself down.
She just had to focus on what was in front of her.
The shadow turned into a sword with both ends having a sharp blade.
Lyra says, "The mutation itself is a double edged sword. Mutation users have more calories to use but ultimately use more calories due to their abilities' unique composition."
The shadow shifted again this time turning into a grave.
The audience that was so eager to discuss this new information, quieted down immediately.
Lyra says, "Mutation users can also go under their caloric maximum by using fats or muscles in their bodies. This results in a negative value and can quickly become dangerous to the user. This is why this version of the ability is labeled as a double edged sword."
Ivory let this new piece of information sit in her head for a few seconds.
Her abilities composition was slightly different but her ability was still water. Would that change the outcome at all?
The young woman sighed before raising her hand.
Lyra says, "Yes, Ivory?"
Ivory asks, "If someone's ability is similar to the composition of water but ultimately their ability is still considered mutated. Would it work any differently?"
Lyra says, "Someone with a mutated ability similar to water would be a very lucky individual. Most likely, they would burn less calories than a person with the mutation due to their composition not straining the catalyst."
Lyra smiles looking directly toward Ivory in the crowd, "That individual would have the potential to both exceed or go below their caloric maximum."
The crowd was enamored by the words spoken by Lyra. This individual she spoke of seemed to have the most potential among any of them.
Most people in the crowd must have wondered if anyone present in the first test was how Lyra had just described.
Ivory lowered her head. She felt her thoughts start to swarm her mind.
The young woman hated the concept of a chosen one or someone who was fated to do something great.
Why did it have to be that one specific person had to accomplish a world changing goal? The concept made no sense to her.
The funny part was that Lyra didn't even say she was "chosen". She just claimed that Ivory was lucky.
Luck hadn't favored her whole life and it wasn't just going to start now.
The sunburn would always be a curse. A mark of death that would send creatures like the faceless after her.
A mark that would indicate to the council she had a disease and had to be removed for the "sake" of humanity's future.
One of the reasons she joined this training camp was to learn how to control her abilities more efficiently for self defense purposes.
Fighting a faceless would be inevitable for her and the many other sunburn users of this underground city.
The moment the council decided to invade this city, the majority of sunburn users would die that weren't properly trained to use their abilities.
She wanted a fighting chance.
The other reason she had was she wanted a chance to speak with Abigail again.
She wanted to convince her friend that fighting in this war was pointless. The faceless were so much stronger than the average human.
How could they ever have a shot at beating them even with supernatural abilities?
The best any of them could do was probably to use their abilities to stun the monsters and run away.
All of them would constantly have to be on the run and hide but at the very least they would survive.
Lyra pauses before turning back toward the crowd, "These are the basics. You all will grow more accustomed to your abilities over time with practice."
Lyra's shadows turned back into both of her hands.
The shadows gained depth in the blink of an eye and became three dimensional.
The hands came off of the walls behind her, gently lifted her off of the stage and lowered her toward the ground.
The sight was astonishing but for some reason Ivory hadn't felt surprised.
The sunburn had started to desensitize her to these grandiose displays of power.
Lyra says, "Follow me."
Each of the people seated at tables surrounding the muddy terrain rose from their seats.
Ivory followed Ronan, Byron, Iris, and Kian toward the center of the muddy terrain.
Lyra knelt down and placed the palm of her hand on the muddy terrain.
A runic pattern that looked like the reflection of a hand glowed from the ground.
The ground shook beneath them as it began to open up.
The dark crevice in the ground became larger and larger. It was impossible to see what was at the bottom of the hole.
Lyra says, "Everyone, you're going to have to jump in. This will begin the next test."
Lyra looked at everyone else expectedly but no one had decided to go first.
The older woman sighs while relaxing her shoulders and walks into the darkness with ease.
Ivory looked toward the crevice with apprehension.
Would this work similarly to how the glass tubes had worked to reach the upper levels of the underground city? Would air be used to slow down everyone's fall once they reached the bottom?
Or would everyone be falling to their deaths?
She thought for a moment while Byron moved past her and jumped in without even taking a moment to think.
A scream echoed throughout the hole but it was quickly hushed by a strong current of wind.
Ivory sighed.
This was the case it seemed.
Kian and Iris jumped in next, who either stayed quiet the whole time or were silenced by the strong winds casted below them.
One by one, more people had decided to jump into the large gap in the ground.
More and more screams were quickly hushed.
Less and less people were standing to wait to jump into the hole.
Ivory slowly approached the dark crevice and sighed. She turned to look at Ronan who stood right beside her.
Ivory asks, "Should we do this?"
Ronan nods his head.
Ivory says, "Well shit. Here we go then."
The young woman and the cloaked figure jumped into the unknown with no idea of what to expect next.