Suddenly, there was a pressure against Shane Marino's mind.

He could feel a presence in his brain, squeezing the inside of his skull.

The pressure expanded, growing in size. I spread throughout his body, until he was completely enveloped.

Then the pressure subsided.

He felt like he was in a void.

And the void was disintegrating.

His reality was fracturing, breaking up.

There was a sudden blur of motion and Shane's breath was yanked from his throat.

Then he found himself back in the classroom.

Has anybody made it through yet? Can anybody hear my thoughts?

There was a voice in his head. A thought - a thought that wasn't his own. The voice was full of curiosity.

Yes. I think two of them are through. No - three.

Shane realised that the voice was coming directly from Professor Seabend's mind. He was doing it! He was sensing her thoughts!

Five now! the teacher thought.

Hello? Shane asked.

Hello, Shane. And also Luciana, Ethan, Nyla and Grayson. Congratulations on completing your first session of telepathy!

But where are the others? I can't hear their thoughts, or feel their presence.

This question had come from Luciana.

Oh, don't fret. I'm sure they will make it through soon.

How did we do this so quickly? Nyla asked.

Well, it takes a huge amount of concentration to send your brain waves into another Psionic's mind and sense their mental activity. I'm assuming you five were just able to focus more efficiently.

Without training, any of you could read the minds of a human. However, it will take practice to be able to break through even weak mental barriers to hear the thoughts of other Psionics.

There was a while of silence and stillness. Well, mental silence. In the real, physical world, Shane could still sense things. He was able to hear the murmurings of a class next door, feel the cold touch of his chair below him. Outside the window, trees swayed languidly in the breeze.

You know what? I think I'm going to weaken my mental barrier just a bit more, to let the others through more easily.

The pressure that enveloped his mind seemed to loosen, to become slippery and fragile.

Suddenly, he felt the presences of the others in his mind - small pinpoints of pressure that showed him the rest of the class had joined this strange telepathic conversation.

Woah. This is awesome!

Shane laughed. It was obvious who the comment had been from. Ava's effervescence and excitement were still present even telepathically.

So we are all here. Well done, everyone, you have completed the first basic step of telepathy. Now, this class will end soon, so we're going to break out of this mental state. After that, you can be free to leave the classroom and head to the dormitories where food will be served. Then you may spend your break time on the school grounds.

Once Professor Seabend's thought message had been completed, there was a pulling sensation on Shane's mind, like his head was being slowly tugged out of a tight grip. Then came a smooth, slippery feeling and a sudden sensation of lightness and airiness in his chest as all of the pressure left his mind.

He sagged back in his seat, panting. It was over.

"Thank you all for joining in with class, and well done for learning the fundamentals of telepathy. Now enjoy your break time!" Professor Seabend said.

The class expressed their gratitude in unison with a chorus of thank yous, and then trailed out of the door.

"Hey, Shane!" Fernando greeted.

"Hey Fernando," Shane said.

"What did you think of it?"

"It was amazing. We were all talking... in our minds!" Shane laughed.

"Yeah, that was totally awesome!" Ava cheered.

"It was pretty cool," Luciana agreed, "I've never experienced anything quite like it."

"Uh-huh," Fernando murmured.

"I'm starving, so I'm gonna go over to the dormitory and get something to eat. Are you guys coming?" Luciana asked.

Ava and Fernando nodded their heads.

"Yeah," Shane said, "I'll come real soon. I just need to check a message, then I'll catch up with you guys as quick as possible."

"Nice," Luciana said, "see you at the dormitory!"

Shane waved as the three jogged off in pursuit of food. Sitting down on a bench, he eagerly pulled the envelope from his pocket.

He couldn't wait to see what his parents were going to say.

Oh, he missed them so much.

Still, he would see them soon, and all these messages really helped.

Feeling joyful and excited, Shane ripped open the envelope and took out the piece of paper inside.

Unfolding it, his eyes darted across the page, beginning to take the message in.

At first, his heart sunk.

The letter was so much shorter than he had expected, only a sentence or so long.

But then he actually began to read the message.

His eyes widened with terror.

His heart sped up, hammering against his rib cage, beating frantically in his chest.

After reading the message, it took a moment for the horror to sink into his mind.

We are coming. This time, Shane, we will get you. We will not fail. There is nothing you can do. There is no way to avoid this. There is no escape.

And as if the actual content of the message wasn't terrifying enough, the next thing he read made his blood freeze.

- The Onyx League

Hi, Sylver here!

If you've enjoyed reading this story, don't forget to vote, comment and add it to your reading lists. If you have any tips for how I can improve my writing, or what I did well this time, please feel free to tell me (in a nice manner). Thanks so much for reading my story!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this brand new chapter! This advancement in Psionic Academy brings a whole range of exciting, thrilling, and frightening things to the Shane and the school. Not only has the class completed the first fundamental step of Telepathy and had their first ever lesson of Mental Training, but Shane has also received a threatening message from the Onyx League which brings terrifying new developments with it.

What is in store for the future of Mental Training? Will Telepathy play a part in the future of our protagonists? And what does this message from the Onyx League mean? How will Shane survive?

UPDATE: I'm still working on my other story. I've decided to publish the first chapter of my brand new story some time tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!

I hope you're as excited for this brand new story as I am. I look forward to publishing it and sharing the characters and adventures with all of you!

And thank you for reading this story!

- Sylver