# Chapter 20 — The Psychic
As we moved deeper into the Digital Dimension, I periodically checked the drone feeds displayed on my watch. The landscape around us looked increasingly unnatural the farther we traveled — trees made of black geometric shapes stretched toward a sky filled with shifting streams of data, and occasionally entire sections of terrain flickered as though reality itself was buffering before stabilizing again. Fragments of glowing symbols drifted through the air like snowflakes, dissolving into particles whenever they touched the ground. It was beautiful. And unsettling.
My drones hovered hundreds of meters around us, forming a constantly expanding surveillance network. Each one was no larger than a pinhead — invisible to normal observation, the kind that even most Rankers would struggle to spot without specialized perception abilities. The feeds are continuously updated on my watch. Most showed nothing. Then one of them caught my attention.
A man was following us. Bronze skin. Short black hair. Focused eyes. At first glance, nothing unusual. Then I noticed the distance. Exactly two hundred meters. Not one hundred ninety. Not two hundred ten. *Exactly* two hundred. My eyes narrowed. That wasn't a coincidence. That was deliberate. I immediately pulled up data from several nearby drones and cross-referenced their observations. The result was identical — same target, same distance, same trajectory. Whoever he was, he knew what he was doing.
"Guys," I said quietly. "We're being followed."
The atmosphere changed instantly. Khan activated his ability without hesitation — *+200% Hearing* — and his eyes closed. The rest of us remained silent. Several seconds passed. Then he opened his eyes and nodded. "Someone's talking."
Anita stepped forward. Silver energy spread across her arm as she placed a hand on Khan's shoulder. *Connection Established.* A translucent textbox appeared before all of us, and the moment the connection completed, distant voices flowed into my ears.
"...Are you sure they're from Bloom?"
"Yes. They have Bloom insignias on their armor."
The drone feed zoomed in automatically. Our pursuer was speaking through a smartwatch. Another voice answered through the device. "Maintain two hundred meters. Bloom personnel are dangerous." The man sounded annoyed. "I know. What I don't understand is how terrorists managed to infiltrate this place." The other voice replied, "They aren't alone. Multiple organizations have sent investigators. Anomalies are appearing all over the world."
That immediately caught my attention. Multiple organizations. Investigators. Worldwide anomalies. The information matched some of Bloom's own concerns — the situation outside was apparently becoming far more unstable than we'd realized. The man snorted. "Then why waste time observing them? Based on their energy fluctuations they're only E-Rankers. I'm a D-Rank Psychic. Capturing them will be easy." For a few moments, neither side spoke. Then the voice finally answered. "Fine. Bring them in alive if possible. But if things go wrong, retreat immediately." The man laughed — a confident laugh, an arrogant one. "I'm an elite of the World Government." The transmission ended.
I immediately marked the conversation for storage inside my watch. Every piece of information might become valuable later. Then movement appeared on the drone feed. The man was approaching. Fast. Very fast. He wasn't even attempting to hide anymore. To him, the fight was already decided. We weren't enemies. We were prisoners waiting to be collected.
I quickly ran a rough calculation. D-Rank Psychic versus three E-Rankers. Predicted victory rate: below 5%. Not ideal.
"Combat formation."
Everyone moved immediately. Months of training took over. Khan stepped forward, Anita moved toward cover, and I shifted into a support position. At the same time, I released my Transfiguration armor — the metallic plating dissolved from my body, because maintaining it constantly consumed energy, and every unit of energy might matter in the next few minutes.
Then the attack arrived. No warning. No visible preparation. No signal. One moment everything was calm, and the next an invisible force crashed into us.
"DEFEND!" Anita shouted.
I reacted instantly. *+200% Defense.* My bones became denser, my muscles compressed, my body reinforced itself through transfiguration. Beside me, Khan activated Enhancement — *+300% Defense.* The psychic blast struck. BOOM! The world exploded. The ground beneath my feet shattered, and a pressure wave slammed into my body with enough force to launch me through the air. I crashed through several rock formations before finally skidding to a stop. Pain spread through my body, and for a moment my vision blurred. Fortunately, my digitalized physiology absorbed most of the damage — otherwise that attack alone might have ended the battle.
I pushed myself back up. Across the battlefield, our attacker finally revealed himself. A translucent blue barrier surrounded him, psychic energy flowing around his body like liquid light, every step distorting the air itself. A notification appeared — *Arjun — D-Rank Psychic.*
No point wasting time. My arms immediately transformed, metal flowing outward as components assembled themselves into two automatic laser rifles. I opened fire. Crimson beams crossed the battlefield instantly. Arjun didn't dodge. Didn't move. Didn't blink. The lasers struck his barrier, then vanished — no damage, no cracks, no reaction whatsoever. A bad sign. A very bad sign. The energy output from those rifles was sufficient to kill most E-Rankers instantly, yet his shield treated them as if they didn't exist. The gap between us was enormous.
Khan moved next. His body blurred forward, dozens of meters disappearing beneath his feet. Arjun calmly raised one hand. Psychic energy condensed around him, and then constructs appeared — swords, spears, arrows, axes, dozens of weapons materializing simultaneously before launching toward Khan like a storm. I immediately transfigured a defensive wall between them, one of the strongest materials available within Bloom's database, a military-grade alloy designed specifically for durability. The psychic constructs struck. The wall shattered in less than a second. I stared at the fragments falling across the battlefield. Future technology. Advanced engineering. Destroyed effortlessly. So this was D-Rank — not merely stronger. *Overwhelmingly* stronger.
Khan barely dodged the remaining projectiles, several passing close enough to slice through the air beside his body. Anita remained behind cover, not because she was afraid, but because she was busy. Multiple silver lines spread around her as she maintained several connections simultaneously — information sharing, battlefield observation, sensory enhancement, communication. The amount of concentration required was absurd, and sweat had already formed on her forehead. "Three constructs approaching from your left!" Khan immediately shifted direction. A spear passed through the space his neck had occupied less than a second earlier. Without Anita's warning, he would have died.
The battle continued — laser fire, psychic constructs, shockwaves, explosions, dust, chaos — and despite everything we did, the result remained unchanged. We were losing. Slowly. Inevitably. Every calculation I ran reached the same conclusion. We could survive for a while. But victory? The probability remained painfully low.
Then Arjun suddenly stopped attacking. He folded his arms, and the battlefield became strangely quiet. "People of Bloom," his voice carried easily across the silence. "My name is Arjun. Agent of the World Government." His gaze swept across us. "Surrender peacefully and your treatment will be far better than if I take you by force."
Nobody answered. Partly because we didn't trust him. Partly because surrender wasn't an option. Mostly because Khan had already made his decision. His answer came in the form of a punch. BOOM! The attack slammed directly into Arjun's shield. The barrier trembled. But it held. Arjun sighed. "Unfortunate."
A second layer of psychic armor formed around his body. Then he charged. For the first time since the battle began, he entered close combat. I frowned — that wasn't normal. Psychics specialized in mental abilities; warriors specialized in physical combat. That was the standard classification system. Yet Arjun was fighting Khan head-on.
Punch met punch. Shockwaves erupted with every collision, the ground cracking beneath their feet, dust exploding outward, nearby rocks shattering. Khan's Enhancement granted him physical capabilities comparable to a D-Rank Warrior, yet Arjun was matching him. No — overpowering him. I watched carefully, and then I noticed it. The psychic armor wasn't merely defensive. It was reinforcing his body — increasing his strength, his speed, his durability. A hybrid combat style. Dangerous. Extremely dangerous.
Then disaster struck. Arjun landed a clean hit. A massive psychic fist formed around his arm and slammed directly into Khan's chest with a sickening CRACK. Khan flew backward like a ragdoll, smashing through multiple rock formations before finally stopping. A notification appeared — *10% Health Remaining.* My heart skipped a beat. Ten percent. One more hit. One mistake. One failure, and Khan would die.
Fear threatened to creep into my thoughts. I crushed it immediately. Panic solved nothing. Think. Analyze. Adapt. Laser weapons — ineffective. Physical attacks — insufficient. Defensive structures — destroyed instantly. I reviewed every available option, every material, every ability, every possible combination. Then an idea appeared. Dangerous. Desperate. But it is possible.
I immediately began transfiguring a massive metallic structure beside me. The material possessed a unique property — it could absorb kinetic energy, store it, then release everything at once. Essentially a battery. A giant battery. The problem was obvious: it needed energy. A lot of energy. My eyes shifted toward Khan and Arjun, toward every punch, every collision, every shockwave, and suddenly the entire plan clicked into place.
"Anita!" She looked toward me. "Can you connect Khan to my rifle?" She frowned. "Connect him how?" "Transfer impact energy." Understanding appeared on her face immediately, followed quickly by something else. "I can do it," she said. Then her face paled. "But if I maintain that connection, I won't be able to support everyone else."
I looked toward Khan. His condition was deteriorating rapidly. Every second mattered. "Do it."
Anita nodded. Silver light erupted around her as new connection lines formed, and the moment they connected, her body trembled. Blood began dripping from her nose — maintaining the link was clearly pushing her beyond her limits. Yet she didn't stop. The transfer began. Every punch Khan received, every impact, every collision — part of that force flowed through Anita's connection and into my weapon. The battery started charging. 10%. 20%. 35%. 50%.
Khan continued fighting. Bruises multiplied across his body, blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, and his movements became slower. Yet he never retreated. Never hesitated. He trusted us. Trusted me. That trust felt heavier than any weapon I had ever created.
65%. 78%. 89%. 95%. The rifle glowed red. Violent vibrations traveled through the weapon. Warning notifications began appearing across my vision — *Energy Capacity Exceeded. Structural Integrity: 81%. Structural Integrity: 76%.* The weapon might break apart at any moment. I ignored the warnings. We only needed one shot.
Arjun finally noticed. His eyes shifted toward me, and he immediately understood something dangerous was happening — but at that exact moment Khan launched another reckless attack, forcing Arjun to respond. Buying us one final opportunity. The notification appeared: *100% — Fully Charged.*
I inhaled sharply. This was it. One chance. One attack.
"KHAN! DODGE!"
Khan immediately threw himself backward. I fired a transfigured cable that wrapped around his waist and yanked him clear of the battlefield, then raised the rifle. The weapon was practically screaming. The energy inside desperately wanted release. Across the battlefield, Arjun's eyes widened — for the first time since the fight began, he looked worried. I pulled the trigger.
A crimson beam erupted from the rifle. The battlefield turned red. Arjun reacted instantly, throwing up one shield, then two, three, four, five — layer after layer of psychic barriers appearing between himself and the beam. BOOOOOOOOOOM! The explosion shook the valley. A massive shockwave erupted outward, nearby rocks flattened, dust surged into the sky, and the ground trembled violently beneath our feet. For several long seconds, nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Silence consumed the battlefield.
I stared through the dust cloud. Had it worked? Had we actually defeated a D-Rank Psychic? The dust slowly began to settle, and a massive crater appeared where Arjun had been standing. Relief started filling my chest. Then my drone feed flashed — *WARNING — LIFE SIGNS DETECTED.*
My blood went cold.
A figure slowly rose from the crater. Arjun. His psychic armor was shattered, blood covered his body, and one arm hung limply at his side. More than half his shields were gone. Yet he was alive. Still standing. Still conscious. Still dangerous. Then he looked directly at us, and smiled.
Before I could react, new alerts flooded my watch. One signal. Ten. Fifty. A hundred. Hundreds. Every drone in my network detected them simultaneously — multiple lifeforms converging on our position at incredible speed. Arjun looked up toward the sky and laughed. "Looks like reinforcements arrived."
My face paled. Because according to the drone readings, those reinforcements weren't from the World Government. And they weren't from Bloom either. Which meant a third faction had just entered the Digital Dimension — and judging by the sheer number of approaching signatures, things were about to get much worse.
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