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*****
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"Even though it's just a little, the quality is insanely good."
Teleporting back to his room, George couldn't help but sigh in appreciation.
He hadn't devoured and refined much of the Phoenix Force over the entire night, but that small portion he had refined produced remarkable results.
He even felt that if he could refine all the Phoenix Force inside Jean—without ever touching Wanda's Chaos Magic—it would still be enough to push him into single-universe tier.
That was how high the quality was.
At seven in the morning, just as George finished breakfast in the school cafeteria, Professor X pulled him aside for a private talk.
"George, at present the school basically has only Hank and me teaching, so we're spread across a lot of classes.
Which subjects are you best at?"
The mutant school hadn't been established for long. In the middle of it all, the army had requisitioned them, and the school had been shut down for several years. As a result, the students hadn't yet grown to the age or level where they could serve as teachers.
So the main instructors had always been Professor X and Beast.
Fortunately, both were broadly capable—able to cover nearly every discipline—and because the initial student body wasn't huge, they had held things together.
But times had changed. With mutant enrollment rising, the two of them alone could no longer keep up. They had finally started recruiting new teachers to share the load.
"Because my mental abilities give me an edge, I'm particularly good at psychological counseling. I studied this in university and became a clinical psychologist after graduation.
So, I want to guide the students in psychology—help them with their mental health—and serve as a mind mentor."
George's eyes flickered with purpose as he answered.
If he could become the mind mentor and untangle Jean's psychological knots, he could quickly draw closer to her, lower her guard, and accelerate the devouring of the Phoenix Force.
He had planned all of this before stepping out that morning.
To prevent Professor X from detecting any inconsistencies, he had used the abilities he'd inherited from Apocalypse, and—together with Misaka Mikoto's electromagnetic internet-intrusion techniques—assembled a dossier so authentic it could not possibly be fake.
Even if the CIA or FBI pulled his files, they wouldn't spot the forgery.
That dossier did, in fact, include him—with a complete life history from childhood onward, including his record as a practicing psychologist.
"A mind mentor…"
Professor X's expression turned hesitant.
If it were any other subject, he would have agreed immediately; but mental health required more than a snap decision.
Every child who came to this school carried psychological baggage, more or less, because of their powers.
Some cases weren't too serious—several sessions of counseling would do the trick, like with kids such as Iceman or Pyro.
Others were severe—those students needed weekly or even monthly, ongoing help. Jean, for example.
He himself spent a huge portion of each day on counseling. If George could shoulder that work, it would free him up immensely, letting him address many other pressing issues.
Like Erik, who was still waiting for his concrete response on the proposal to establish a mutant empire.
But handing the counseling to George? He wasn't at ease. The stakes were too high; mishandling a case could ruin a child.
"Actually, I have another ability: I can stabilize a mutant's powers, allowing them to quickly gain control and avoid losing control."
Seeing Professor X hesitate, George promptly sweetened the offer.
He had now fully assimilated Apocalypse's abilities. That meant he could, at will, push a mutant's powers to their upper limit.
If he could enhance a mutant's potential and develop their abilities to the extreme, then naturally he could also stabilize those abilities—helping mutants master them faster, even perfectly.
"What—are you saying you can truly help a mutant rapidly master their powers?"
Upon hearing this, Professor X's eyes flew open, his excitement unmistakable.
How could he not be excited?
Mutants were shunned by society not only because many feared their power—imagining mutants as a threat to humanity—
But also because mutant abilities often spun out of control, creating immense danger, especially with the more powerful among them.
Few mutants awakened their powers at birth.
Most did so when they reached a certain age—grade school, middle school, or high school.
And in most cases, awakening occurred under stress, during intense emotional swings.
At those moments, powers typically weren't under control, and accidents could easily harm nearby family and friends.
If it was just injuries, guilt would gnaw at them. But if someone died as a result—the psychological trauma was unimaginable.
Under normal circumstances, once kids entered the school, he would use counseling and structured training to help them gradually gain control—or design specialized tech to assist with their abilities.
But if George could stabilize those powers directly, then most of the children's psychological issues would diminish on the spot—and the school's burden would lighten dramatically.
"Yes. In the past I didn't meet many mutants, so I rarely used it.
Take Scott, for instance—I should be able to stabilize his powers right away."
George nodded, proactively naming Cyclops as a demonstration.
"Come with me."
Professor X grabbed George and hustled toward a classroom.
"Scott!"
At the door, Professor X beckoned to Cyclops.
Beast and the students, in the middle of a lesson, all paused with curious looks and crowded around.
"George—give it a try."
Professor X's face was full of expectation.
George didn't waste a second. He placed his palm on Cyclops' head and activated the abilities he had seized from Apocalypse.
Moments later, he withdrew his hand with a smile.
"Done. Try taking off the glasses."
With Professor X's permission, Cyclops turned his gaze toward a large tree ahead and slowly removed his visor.
As the lenses lifted, no red energy fired from his eyes. They looked no different from an ordinary person's.
"I feel like I can willingly control the emission now."
Cyclops' face lit up. With a focused thought, twin scarlet beams lanced out, cleaving the tree cleanly in two.
Once the blast ended, he didn't need to slap on the custom visor to shut it down. He simply blinked, and his eyes returned to normal.
He could now perfectly control his power.
"Thank you, Professor George!"
"George," Professor X said solemnly, extending his right hand, "from today on, you are the school's Professor of Psychology—responsible for stabilizing the children's abilities and guiding their mental health."
…
(End of Chapter)