1 Mind Shaman

'The southern sea?' Alexander pondered the direction where he felt his companion's faint presence. 'Did he grow fond of water?' A faint smile surged on his lips. 'Guess he's enjoying himself a bit.'

"What's so funny?" Criela interrupted.

Alexander brought his attention back to the room.

He was in a mandatory interview issued by the council. The office was rather casual compared to his previous interviews, he laid on a sofa while Criela sat facing him on an armchair.

He couldn't tell what her job was, but there were many things he was discovering ever since he returned to his home country.

Regardless, when she explained it to him, Alexander gathered she was a sort of mind shaman who ensured he wasn't a danger to others, or as they called it, a psychiatrist.

He wondered if all the other people who came with him had these pointless meetings.

With a slim figure that fit perfectly in her formal suit and brown hair fashioned in a bob cut, Alexander had no doubt she would be the target of many men from the gap. At least before the cleansing took place; perhaps even after, some might still take their chances.

"Sorry, I got distracted." Alexander excused himself. Closing his eyes and emptying his mind.

A slender ethereal stingray emerged from Criela and hovered over Alexander again, emitting slow waves of energy towards Alexander as Criela concentrated.

"Have you readjusted well?" she asked, carefully observing the creature.

"Everything's different from when I left, but essentially yes." His eyes remained closed, and the stingray pulsed faintly in translucent colors.

The stingray was Criela's main spirit, one of its abilities granted her perception over superficial and inner fluctuations in spirit energy, essentially allowing her to fulfill the role of a psychiatrist.

"How did it feel reuniting with your family?" Criela took notes as she listened attentively.

The stingray pulsated slower, its colors grew darker, and a few moments later, Alexander answered.

"Painful." Criela frowned, looking at the stingray. The colors were consistent and aligned with his emotions, but the energy behaved uniquely.

"You'll be attending the Imperial Academy. How do you feel about departing from them again?" She scribbled remarkably fast.

"Mathias is also attending." The colors regained their normal speed and lightness.

"Do you feel safer with him there?" She put down her pen and carefully scrutinized the stingray.

"No." The pulsating and the colors were incredibly stable as he answered, but Criela saw through it, deeper.

Criela closed her notebook and pulled the stingray towards her arm. It smoothly sailed towards her, entering her and disappearing. She cleared some beads of sweat from her forehead and recomposed herself before addressing the young Alexander.

"Very good! You're free to go for today! I'll contact you soon about our next appointment."

Alexander stood up, and both headed to the exit before he turned to her.

"It's a beautiful spirit. May I ask about the race? I'm not familiar with aquatic spirit animals."

Criela stopped, a bit startled. Her spirit used a cloaking technique, and most spirit users wouldn't even be able to feel it.

Alexander always kept his eyes closed when she had it out, but he still saw through it.

She tried her best to hide her surprise behind a welcoming smile.

"It's a sort of stingray, although it has long since deviated from its original form." She put a close to the conversation and headed back inside. She stood by the window and observed Alexander as he left the building.

He wore loose-fitting casual clothes in plain colors, and to most people, he seemed unremarkable with his brown hair and eyes.

Criela herself saw nothing wrong with the boy at first. But her spirit, after analyzing him for hours on end, became extremely conscious of him. Inducing her to be more vigilant.

His strong and muscular physique, deliberate movements, high level of alertness, and sensitivity to spirit fluctuations were all traits of a warrior. None of that was out of the ordinary. Not for someone who had been through what he had, but her spirit's attitude towards him still bothered her.

The only inconsistency was the boy's situation, more specifically his crippled spirit sea. After all no spirit cripple would survive in that place.

It took Criela a great deal of effort to finally get him to relax due to his crippled sea. It was astonishing that only after hours was she able to completely sense his spiritual fluctuations elongating the questionnaire greatly.

She judged a different approach would be better.

She returned to her office and sat at her desk, where she wrote a final assessment. She then reached for a phone and clicked the hang-up button.

"Subject interview took 7 hours interrupted at the 6th hour as the subject got distracted," she said, stopping and awaiting some sort of affirmation.

But none came, so she proceeded to reveal all other details.

"Subject did not in any way resist the spirit effect nor spoke any falsehood. The subject's damaged spirit sea showed no difference from previous sessions, implying the same conclusion as previous assessments. I hereby clear any suspicion on the subject of any ill intent but request maintaining checkups." After a brief pause of silence, a voice finally answered.

"Agent Manta's request has been denied. Mission terminated. You may discard identity." Criella ripped apart a face mask, revealing her true face with a bothered expression. She took a last look at her notebook before erasing a few sentences at the bottom of the last page.

'Abnormal unidentified affinity, Perception at gold class or above… Spiritual level at least Gold class… perhaps higher.' She would investigate more by herself.