by R. K. Star
“Forward slice!” Qunor cried out, as he switched the state of the blade from its solid form to its relaxed form and back to the solid form, all within a fraction of a second. The blade was aim at a beautiful large tree about seventy-five metres high, and about a hundred metres away. He continued his dance with the blade.
Suddenly a loud crack so voluminous that it could be heard several kilometres in all directions. From the top of the tree it began to split directly in the middle. Softer cracks with louder cracking sounds continued as the split propagated down to the trunk of the tree.
“Lateral slice!” the voice startled her this time. She saw the blade again change form, solid, relax then solid again. Qunor then handed the blade back to her.
She saw the vertical split stop in its track and the two fragments fell to the ground. There was a clean horizontal cut at the base of the tree trunk where it separated the top of the tree with the trunk. She was absolutely stupefied. There was no way he could do that. He didn’t even touch the tree. How was it possible?
“Jhan told me earlier that this weapon doesn’t hit hard. How is it possible you can split such a large tree?”
“It can’t hit hard by itself because it doesn’t have the weight but you can flick it similar to a whip. When you crack a whip, you hear a loud sound from the force. If you direct the force to the tip of the blade and you amplify it with your energy you can generate a small localized massive force.”
“How can you move so gracefully without cutting yourself?”
“It’s a technique. First dance, water walk, water swordplay. When you master the sword on the ground you can train on water to increase your speed and comfort with the weapon.”
Layana tried the weapon again. She was hasty trying to move the clumsy weapon quickly as Qunor had done so. Instead she cut her left arm again but this time it was much more severe.
The maids gasped again and called for their daigon as they rushed over. Qunor grabbed her arm and in the same manner the maids had earlier, he started to repair her arm. The regeneration moved rapidly and in a moment lasting only seconds her arm was normal again.
After watching her fling the blade around clumsily a bit more, Qunor change into a dark purple glow of light as he smiled. “Siphon shift,” he whispered as he vanished. He disappeared much faster compared to when they were on Earth. The distance he travelled was much shorter and because he travelled alone he was able to activate a temporal shift rapidly. After he disappeared she heard his voice as a whisper in her head. “Get you reaeslave to teach you how to block your mind,” he said.
Block my mind? she wasn’t quite sure what that meant and let it pass.
Layana continued to practice with the blade now more scared to cut herself. She was afraid of inflicting pain on herself again and moved more gracefully.
“Daigon Nito, do not be afraid of cutting yourself, just practice. You can’t get accustom to the blade and be comfortable if you are moving awkwardly. When you get a feel of the blade and it becomes another one of your limbs you will no longer injure yourself. Until you achieve that mastery we will keep your flesh intact.” Jhan urged her to move as she desired.
“It is not as easily done as said Jhan. I cannot just fling this blade around, after lacerating myself twice as I had done. The body reacts differently and will try to avoid these risky behaviour. Even if you heal my body it still fears pain and even more so, it fears death. The body has its own mind, it’s a reflex now. It jerks back when it thinks the blade it too close and avoids harm.”
“Your mind is stronger and you must resist these urges and reflexes my daigon. This is only the beginning of your training.”
“You know, back in my planet we have these weapons called guns, explosives, missiles, nuclear bombs. Guns shoot bullets so fast you couldn’t even see them coming. Missiles could travel at great speeds covering vast distances to reach its target and creating a huge explosion upon impact. Most devastating is a nuclear warhead that can raze a city to the ground.”
“It is not effective in our scenario.”
“How come?”
Jhan ordered one of the maids to bring a gun. The maid rush away and a few minutes returned with a semi-automatic rifle.
“Let me show you, shoot at me.” Jhan passed the weapon to Layana and before she could utter a word he started walking away.
Jhan stood about ten metres away. Close enough that she would be certain to hit.
“I don’t know how to shoot this and I am not going to kill you. If these bullets hit you, you will die.”
“You will cause me no harm, I assure you. Open fire on me and let me answer your question.”
She saw Jhan’s face and she could tell he wasn’t worried at all, as if he has done it before. She seen guns being fired in movies and they always just pointed and pulled the trigger but she knew it truly wasn’t that easy. One of the maids came rushing over to help her, as she fumbled with the heavy gun. The maid helped her brace the weapon against her shoulder and to get a firm grip in the safety position. She adjusted her standing position so she was firmly braced against the ground and pointed the tip of the barrel at Jhan. Jhan gave her the okay for her to fire at will. Still she was uncomfortable pulling the trigger.
“Shoot at me my daigon, nothing will happen, you will see.”
Finally she got the courage to pull the trigger, she had only plan on firing one shot or maybe two. Once she pulled the trigger she couldn’t take her finger off. The rifle recoiled and bullets went loose flying out. The tip of the gun recoiled upwards, then sideways. The rifle was spraying bullets everywhere. She tried to take her finger off the trigger but it was glued on. It wasn’t until she completely emptied the magazine and the rifle stop moving before she was slowly able to peel her finger away. She saw empty bullet shells all around her and slowly she looked at her maid then the other maid and she took a moment before she found the courage to look back at Jhan. Surprisingly Jhan was still standing with no bullet holes anywhere in his body. She screamed sorry repeatedly as she ran to him, thinking she killed him. She inspected his body closer and indeed he didn’t suffer as much as a scratch. She could see the bullets around him.
“How is this possible? Was I really that bad of a shot that not even one bullet came close to you?”
“Many bullets would have pierced me but I was able to control them before they struck me. The bullet can travel over 750 metres per second but I can sense the bullet before it has left the barrel or even as it’s coming at me I can slow it down and change its trajectory. The thing is if your energy is not connected to it than it is easy for me to manipulate it. Even if you launch a nuclear weapon at me it would do me no harm. You must strike at me with a weapon connect to you, connected to your energy. My mind is not very strong compared to others, so if I can deter your bullets, everyone else can. In another manner, I could create a dense air field that would slow down the bullets and they would simply fall to the ground before they touch me.”
Although Jhan mental capacity wasn’t high he had great focus from years of training. As the bullets came close to him he slowed them down and dropped them to the ground. Other bullets he curved away from him and let it progress along its trajectory. A few bullets he disintegrated back to alloy particles but this took the most exertion of his mental focus and it fatigued him.
Layana realized how weak her mind was and she had a long ways to go before she achieved the same mastery of control Jhan had. Suddenly she remembered that Qunor was easily able to read her mind, and she wasn’t able to read his. Obviously he was blocking his mind, so they couldn’t access his thoughts. She tried to read Jhan’s thoughts but could sense nothing. She could feel the make-up of his body was similar to her but she couldn’t access his thoughts the way she was able to access it with the humans on Earth. She tried to sense the thoughts of the maids but there was only emptiness, nothing there, or better said nothing was revealed. Panic struck her face as her heart jumped a beat, was Jhan or her maids re
ading her thoughts because she didn’t know how to block her mind.
“Before Qunor could read my mind but I wasn’t able to read his. Are you able to read my mind as well?”
“Yes, but I would not invade my daigon’s privacy.”
“But I tried reading your mind but I can’t, how come that is?”
“I’ve compressed my thoughts, it prevents others from reading my mind.”
“Teach me, I do not want others having access to my thoughts.”
“Yes, my daigon, you must feel the centre of your brain. Feel for the source of where your conscious lies. When you can feel it, you pull it closer towards itself as if you’re clenching a fist and squeezing everything together.”
It sounded simple enough. She could feel the weight of her brain. There was a pressure on her frontal lobe but that wasn’t the source of her thoughts. She closed her eyes and felt deeper into her mind and deep in the centre she could hear herself talk. The sound of her voice was palpable. She squeezed her thoughts amongst one another and it gave her a mild headache. There was a ringing sound in her ear as she compressed it further. She tightened the skin on her forehead as she attempted to squeeze her thoughts more than it was willing. Finally she relaxed her facial muscles and opened her eyes. “Okay I’ve done it, try to read my mind Jhan.”
“As you wish.” Jhan hoped her daigon was able to compress her thoughts as he didn’t want to stumble on any of her personal memories.
“Well? Can you read what I’m thinking?”
Jhan closed his eyes to increase his focused on her mind. He felt her thoughts all tangled together. He tried to pull images out of the mangle but only retrieved indecipherable blurs. Pulling memories flashes was much harder compared to the sound of a thought. Jhan tried to pull a string of thought from the mangle of yarn but what came out was indiscernible. “You are successful my daigon.” Jhan smiled in relief. “I am able to only see blurred images and muffled sounds, nothing that I could interpret or that could be of any use.”
“You are still able to see blurred images and sounds?”
“Yes.”
“But when I tried to read your mind. I can’t even see images or thoughts.”
“That because my mind is stronger as of now. When your mind gets stronger you will be able to detect a blur when someone blocks their thoughts but you will not be able to pull anything significant from it. I have lived for centuries and have train for years before I reached this state.”
“Do I have to constantly compressed my thoughts to prevent people from reading my mind?”
“Yes, that is why not everyone can do it. It takes away from your mental focus and can be very fatiguing if you don’t do it efficiently.”
“I don’t understand. Why doesn’t Qunor make you the lord of the city to protect it? You already have years of practice. How am I supposed to catch up to you?”
“You will surpass me much sooner than you may think. I have trained for centuries but my potential is limited. For a long time my power hasn’t increased. I have only sharpened my skills. For you it’s different. You will grow fast and soon you will be a great power. It is this potential that Daigon Qunor Moon seeks.”
“If my mind gets really strong will I eventually be able to read someone’s block thoughts?”
“Theoretically it is possible but no one has ever been able to read block thoughts.”
“Not even Qunor is able to?”
“Not that I’m aware of. It is much easier to block. You can think of it like this. If I had a puzzle composed of a thousand pieces that was already pieced together into the proper image. It would only take me seconds to scramble it and flip it around but it would take you, depending on your skill, hours and hours to reassemble it. The brain stores so many images and thoughts in different variables that it would almost take an infinite amount of time before you could piece it together.”
Layana nodded her head, it all made sense. She would have to compressed her recent memories and thoughts as she experienced them if she didn’t want anyone to know what she did. She interpreted it to the same as mashing new experienced into the old ball of past experiences. Similar to how you would clear your browsing history on the internet right after you were done, if you didn’t want anyone to know what you were up to.
24
Highnar, Yhonar
Layana spent many days at the outskirts of Songnar practicing swordplay with wooden sticks. At first she quite enjoyed it. It was something new and it was good exercise. It was almost a game of trying to hit the opponent without being hit yourself. It reminded her of the gymnasium games she played in physical education during her elementary years. But her amusement with swordplay grew dull when her muscle ached from constant daily practice.
In the beginning Jhan would go easy on her and let her practice her striking while he corrected her movements and posture. But it wasn’t long before he became serious and would attack with effort trying to hit her. When the wooden sword cracked against her knuckles, it sent a sharp throbbing pain up her arm. She would be bruised on her hands, her arms, the side of her stomach, her legs, practically everywhere. At the end of the session her maids would help her strip and heal her bruises. After which they would draw her a bath and wash her skin gently, cleansing the dirt from her. They would gently scrub her hair and massage her tense and sore muscles. Her muscles ached from all the lactic acid build up.
She didn’t understand why Jhan had to hit her so hard and take it so seriously. She wasn’t in prison and was doing that as a favour to help Qunor out. She was frustrated and angry at Jhan for taking it so seriously. Although she didn’t realize it, the pain made her progress rapidly, especially her reflexes. Eventually she was able to parry and dodge Jhan strikes. Before Jhan could hit her as many times as he pleased but now he had to increase his effort before he could strike her.
She was really unsatisfied with only blocking his strikes. It wasn’t fair for him to hit her and for her to only block. She gripped tightly on her wooden stick and without realizing it she swung as hard as she could. She wanted to get even with Jhan and snap the stick on him. Jhan was too quick and easily evaded her strike and countered her. It made her more bitter. With every lash she received she became more determine to strike back at him.
Eventually Layana found his pattern of striking and blocking. She found his foot work pattern and how he lunged in for a strike, how he stepped to the side to dodge and how he stepped back parry. It was all simple movements. A grin came across her worn face. Her mouth was gaping wide for air but she had a plan now. She faked an attack so he would step to the side but she followed him. She increased the weight on the side of her wooden stick just as it smashed against the side of his abdomen. Jhan grunted in pain while she went again for another strike but he parried it this time. Quickly he stepped back in pain, she was stronger than he thought. She came at him again but he raised his hand and cried for her to stop. She held her arm high ready to strike but stop midway. She wanted to whip the stick across his flesh again and again but she felt obliged to stop. She knew Jhan was her reaeslave but she felt bound to obey him.
They move to the city of Highnar for her next phase of training. Layana was adamant on taking a break and seeing the city first. She was the daigon but felt the need to ask Jhan for permission instead of demanding it. She didn’t feel like she was their superior. Jhan was sworn to serve his daigon, he would make suggestions but nevertheless would follow through with his daigon’s demands.
They didn’t train for the first few days and enjoyed the liveliness of the city. She walked with Jhan by her side, he would guide and assist her. The two maids followed them from behind, a couple steps behind. They were out taking a stroll on a busy street market. Vendors with large and small booths had various goods and they rush towards Layana as she passed by, offering their product for sale.
With a glance, everyone could tell Layana held the power. The fabric of her blouse and pants were rich in colour and texture and the d
esign obviously haute couture. She had three strips of fabrics of captivating purple the draped over her right shoulder. The fabric acting like a side cape and was fashioned on with a jewel brooch in the shape of a butterfly. The centre of the brooch contained a large clear ruby that acted as the body. Small light blue jewel were used to design the wings. Her hair was tied up and ornate with simple hairpin jewels. People could tell the man who was one step behind her was a reaeslave. The two ladies behind were maids keeping guard. Layana did not notice these intricate details. She thought Jhan was walking side by side with her.
The one walking in front was who the merchants had to target if they wanted to sell their merchandise. She enjoyed the attention people was paying her. She enjoyed seeing people so excited and approaching her, it was such a nice change from having to practice the whole day. When someone approached her they respectfully courtesy with a gentle bow, and tried to usher her to their booth. She was new to this and felt compelled to follow them to their booth and listening to their sales pitch. When she declined their merchandise, they tried to push it upon her but Jhan gave them one stern look and they back down. Jhan had a clean shaven pleasing appearance that was calm but he could tense up his facial muscles giving you a frightening glare.
The sun was at its peak and it was getting hot and humid. They took a break from the vendors and went to the food and snack market. One of the maids brought back some meat pastries and some fruits and crisp vegetables. The other maid got cold beverages. Since the beginning Layana had asked Jhan and her maids to always sit and dine with her. The normal custom approach was the daigon eats first and afterwards the reaeslave and servants would eat but not at the same time so there would always be someone to care for the daigon. Layana didn’t enjoy that approach, it didn’t feel right for her to be eating while they were standing. She much preferred everyone enjoying each others’ company together. But every time Jhan and her maids would remain standing until she told them to sit. She wished they would sit at their own free will. Every time she would tell them to just sit and they don’t need to stand. She hoped one day they would feel comfortable sitting without her asking them to.