by J. J. Thorn
I started considering what they had done to reach the higher percentages. Jen had gone on to make her two swords, which I thought was amazing. Zane and I spent a lot of our early time at Prep working on his use of Energy with his Skill. We still did that to this day, but it had obviously been having a different impact on each of us.
“Oh, jeez, he’s spaced out again.” Zane waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Terrence. Are you in there?”
“Ugh, what? Yeah. Why?”
The girls started to laugh.
Zane gave me a little shrug. “It’s nothing, you just do that sometimes. Something comes up and you get into your head. Just make sure you don’t space out in a fight.”
“Britta was just asking about your percentage.” Jen nudged me in the ribs. “We’ve all shared ours, and since you started this, we thought you might be willing to do the same.”
“Yeah, I guess, but don’t be too shocked. I haven’t really had anyone to talk to about it.”
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Britta said. “Cassie and I have low percentages as well. We know your Skill is a bit weird.”
“One of us. One of us,” Cassie chanted.
I fought down a smile. “Um, it’s not that. Let me check so I give you the right number.”
Current Progress.
Affinity : Weight
Rank 1 – View Weight – 98%
Energy : 26/26
“It’s okay, Ren. I stopped looking at my progress too when I realized it wasn’t going up anymore.” Jen gave me a shrug. “I think that happens to a lot of people.”
“No, really. So, it didn’t go up. It’s ninety-eight percent.”
Zane made a face as he realized what I said, but the rest of the girls hadn’t fully understood.
“What’s ninety-eight?” Cassie said, confused.
“My Rank percentage. It’s at ninety-eight...”
Each of the girls yelled at once.
“WHAT?!”
* * * * *
After Zane reassured the rest of the wagon that everything was okay, we went back into our huddle at the back.
“Keep it down,” Zane said. “We can’t let people know his progress is so high.”
“What, why? I always kept it a secret because of what you said, but why would it be an issue that it’s so high already?”
“Why? Terrence, it’s only been four months since we got our Affinity.” Britta’s eyes widened. “I was being nice before, but Cassie and my progress is still really good. Forty-five to fifty percent is damn good. Zane’s is expected because he’s smart and he’s basically a noble, and Jen is probably a genius. Like really, who gets a magical Skill with a physical Affinity. Girl’s got a bright future.”
“But ignoring me,” Jen said, “ninety-eight percent is ridiculous. I didn’t think that would even be possible. Do you use your Skill constantly or something?”
“Uh, most of the time, yeah, I guess. I try to use it even in class when I can. But to be honest, I don’t think that’s why it went up so quickly. I’ve tried to experiment with it as much as I could. When I got my Affinity, the priest said I was unique, and even Headmaster Braun said the same thing. So, I kept trying new things. I knew my Skill didn’t do much, but I wanted to meet their expectations. I wanted to be unique.”
“Okay, so high percentage aside, let’s get back to business,” Zane said. “For the next thirty hours, we’re going to do everything we can to train our Skills. The only thing this changes is that we’re going to spend the next hour having Ren explain some of the experiments he’s done on his Skill.” Zane grabbed some writing utensils from his bag.
The girls also edged closer to me.
For those few minutes, I was the most important person in the world.
At first, I wasn’t able to think of much, as I started to explain my Energy use to expend it as quickly as possible. Zane had already heard this and so had the other girls. As they continued to ask me questions, I eventually took out the notes I had taken in Ethic’s class the night before.
1.Speed up how quickly the Skill could be used.
2.View the weight of larger objects.
3.Track a person’s weight during movement.
4.Determine the weight of humans, monsters, projections, animals, and more.
5.Keep their weight up for longer.
I went through each one, in turn, explaining why I had done it and what I thought it meant. After twenty minutes, Zane was the first to realize our mistake.
“Yeah, this won’t work.” He sat up and interrupted my latest response.
“What do you mean, it was your idea,” Cassie said.
“No, it’s good that he went through that, but it’s too specific to him. We need to go through what each of us has done so far and comment on what we think we’re missing. If his explanation has shown us anything, it’s that we’re thinking about our Skills too linearly. He tries things my tutors said to not try until Rank 2 and beyond. Like really, why would someone want to keep a Skill that tells you someone’s weight active for longer?”
“It’s asinine,” Cassie added in.
“Yeah, really dumb if you ask me,” Britta piled on.
What friends I have.
“I’m right here, guys. Like I told you, it will make sense at later Ranks, and honestly, I think it was worthwhile.”
Jen waved that away. “Don’t worry about them. That was one of the only things that made sense to me. The rest were too specific to you and your Affinity. I agree with Zane. So, for me, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my sword. Over time, I’ve been able to increase how quickly I can manifest it. I still have a hard time keeping it active if it passes through anything, but I’m getting better at that. I can manifest two swords, but that takes a really long time. And even then, I can’t keep them active for long. The time I can use them for has increased, and the amount of Energy I use while the regular sword is manifested has also gone down. Any ideas?”
I considered her Skill. Her swords were amazing, but I felt like that was only one part of her Affinity. She had the SWORD Affinity, but despite this, her Skill had created a sword of light. So why did she only ever focus on the sword aspect?
“What about the light itself?” I asked. “Is it always a bright yellow?”
“Well, yeah. It’s always been that colour. It’s the same colour my parents can create normally. Some of their enchantments create different colours, but those are abnormal. Why would that matter?”
“Well, I feel like you’re missing out on half of what you’re capable of if you only focus on the sword aspect. You’re a SWORD user, but like Britta said, you also use magic. Why not use that side as well?”
“I guess that’s true, but why would the colour of my sword make a difference?” She looked at me weirdly.
“But that’s exactly it,” I cried. “Why does it need to make an apparent difference right now? Like I said, I wanted to be unique. And if I was trying to be unique and I had your amazing Skill, I’d try to be the guy who everyone said created a cool rainbow of swords. If nothing else, it would be an awesome party trick, but honestly, I think it could have battle applications as well.”
“I don’t know about that one Terrence. I—
“He’s got a point,” Zane said. “You might not want to change the colour of your swords, but consider what else he’s saying. What about other magical things you could do with the sword? And besides, learning new applications for the sword will help your future growth.”
“Sure, but I don’t want to get some weird future Skill that improves my ability to make new coloured swords. I want to be a fighter. My Skills should be focused on that.”
Zane held up a finger. “Okay, one last question for you then. Do you always create the same sword?”
“Zane, you’re a genius!” I exclaimed.
“Once again, what does that matter?” Jen snapped. “I always think about the sword I got when I was younger. The one I’ve always traine
d with. It’s the one I’ve always had. It’s the easiest for me to see in my mind’s eye and it’s the only one I can imagine well enough to make with the light.”
“But, Jen, when was the last time you tried with a different sword? Or what about a dagger? What if you were able to make different types of weapons altogether? Why does it need to be a sword?” I jumped in.
“Because her Affinity is SWORD, duh.” Britta rolled her eyes.
“So what? My Affinity is WEIGHT and I always thought it would be useless? And sure, I can’t do much with it now, but it’s allowed me to work with my Internal Energy better than most. I may not be able to swing a sword or use a shield better, but you can’t let your Affinity define you or your future!”
Britta backed down and started to look at the shield on her pack.
Jen considered it. “I think that might work. I’ve never tried it, but I don’t see why I couldn’t create a different type of sword or dagger. I don’t know if I’d be able to create a different type of weapon, but who knows? I got so side-tracked on actually progressing that I didn’t consider other weapons at all.”
I was happy to see her happy, but now I had other friends to consider as well.
“Let’s do Cass next. Cassie, you’re up.” Zane winked and stopped to allow Cassie to speak.
Jen also started to pay attention. Her mind was going wild thinking about her Skill, but she couldn’t leave her team hanging after they had already helped her.
“Well, my Rank 1 Skill is ‘Identify Pain’. It’s similar to your identification Skills, but it’s a healer’s staple. It lets me get a general idea of where people are hurt. Because of my job, I’ve been able to use it quite a bit, which is what helps increase the percentage. Over time, I’ve gotten quicker, and the vague idea of the pain has also gotten a bit better.”
This time, Jen started. “When you use it, where are you ‘aiming’? Like where do you use the Skill on the person?”
“Anywhere, really. It all does the same thing…I think. The Skill doesn’t present me with information like you guys. It’s just a vague idea of the pain and where it’s originating from.”
“What about what Zane and I always did, using your Energy to make it go faster or do slightly different things?” I said.
“I did try that. It didn’t do much other than give me a headache. And if I have to work for three hours straight, I can’t really be passed out in a bed too.”
“You don’t have to help anyone today,” Jen said. “So that’s an idea at least.”
“Sure, but you get to create other swords,” Cassie said. “Yours sounds like a lot more fun, missy. Besides, I don’t have anyone hurt to use it on.”
“What do you mean?” Britta frowned at her. “What about us?”
“None of you are hurt, so it won’t do anything. I’ve only tried it on hurt people. Kids will come in sometimes with an upset stomach and it won’t even work.”
“But then what kind of pain is it even checking for?” Zane asked.
“Like injuries and stuff, that’s what I’m looking for. It’s usually Dungeoneers who come back and need some healing. They let me use my Skills first, and with injuries, there’s always things that low Ranking Skills can’t fix. Depending on who’s there, we sometimes need to bandage them up and try to deal with it manually. Especially if we know there’s a bunch of people to deal with. We’re not going to waste the Energy of someone at Rank 3 when someone really hurt might come in at any moment.”
“Hear me out, but could it be that your magic is reacting to what you expect injuries to be? Like when I first got my Skill, I couldn’t understand it. I had a hard time understanding the numbers it would put in front of me. So, I sort of ‘willed’ it to show me something more meaningful. It wasn’t much, but it helped. Could it be that you’re doing something similar and don’t even know it? Maybe you’re looking for something that isn’t there and it’s causing it to not work or to come back really vague.
“I think you should try to either consider more things as ‘pain’ or maybe try to focus on specific things. I think your biggest issue is the ambiguity of what you’re getting back. And I think it would be awesome if you could actually get something that tells you exactly what’s wrong. I don’t know if that’s possible, but what’s the harm in trying?”
…
Everyone looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
Zane laughed. “Nothing, buddy, you just think about this stuff in a different way. But yeah, what Terrence said. You should try using it on each of us, but don’t just think about ‘pain’ as an injury. Who knows, maybe you’ll see the mental pain I got from my family.”
Zane started to knock on his head. The rest of us smiled.
Jen nudged me and whispered, “Good Job” in my direction.
“Okay, I’ll give those a try, but no promises. Who knew we had the Affinity whisperer with us? Now, do Britta. I want to see how you’re going to explain how she can better use her shield. Go!” Cassie slapped Britta’s thigh.
“Ouch. Ugh, not much to say. My Skill lets me make better use of my shield. I really did start thinking about what you’re all saying, but I don’t think I can do much in the wagon. It’s a boring and common variant of the SHIELD Affinity ‘Use Shield’. Basically, it lets me keep track of my shield better during combat. While holding the shield, I have better idea of where and how I should be holding it. Super common stuff, but the shield just helps me do it better.”
“Yeah, that one’s tough.” I scratched my head. This one was a little less abstract. I couldn’t see much room to work with this one. It was just: ‘use the shield’.
“Well, at the very least,” Jen said, “I think you should try using your shield in a different way. Like with a sword in your other hand or switching the shield to your other hand. Maybe even throwing the shield? I’m starting to realize we haven’t been trying anything new with our Skills.”
“I’ve done all those things,” Britta said. She gave us a shrug. “I can try them again, sure. But still, not much I can do in the wagon.”
“What works for them won’t always work for you though.” Zane knocked her shield. “You’re the only one of us that can enhance their body. You could work on that, and you don’t need to move around much for that. What if you could extend that to your shield? It probably won’t happen now, but I feel like that would be a good way to start. And it could help you get a Rank 2 Skill if it works.”
“And I know this is far out there,” I said, “but maybe you don’t even need a shield. I don’t know if this will work, but try to use it without one, just to see. And I mean really try. Like imagine that you’re holding your shield. It’s like what we’re learning in Energy Manipulation. Visualize yourself holding a shield. Make a conscious effort to picture yourself fighting with a shield.”
“Okay, guys. I’ll try the Energy augmentation first, then I’ll do some of the visual daydream stuff that Ren keeps going on about. Now you, Zane. That’s enough for me.” Britta hid behind her shield.
“Honestly, I’ve tried a lot of the same things as Ren. I didn’t think to keep a person’s name up longer, but I’ll work on that as well. I’ve been trying to identify as many people as possible by just walking around campus and Krader. I’ve even tried identifying everything I see. Still, I mostly identify animals and humans.”
“Well then, that’s the first thing we’ll fix,” Jen said. “You’ll get lots of monsters to identify.”
It was very similar to my own, I thought, but also a lot more restrictive in what it seemed to do. We both received a visual response when the Skill was used, but his only worked on a few types of things, while mine worked on almost anything.
“You can try the things that are stumping me,” I said. “I still can’t use it on multiple things at once. Maybe you’ll be able to. Also, I can’t identify different parts of people. For instance, I can’t tell how much one person’s hair weighs. Whenever I try, it still just shows
me the person’s weight. I can tell how much their shirt weighs, but I can’t dissect the response into different parts, if that makes sense.”
“Ew, Terrence. Weird visual.” Cassie and Britta both looked grossed out.
“No, I get what you mean,” Zane said. “Good ideas. Especially that second one. I’ll also work on my meditation. I think we all should. The fact that it’s a General Skill only increases how awesome it could be.”
“Okay, agreed!” Jen stood up. “Terrence, I don’t think we need to do yours right now. You’re already set. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be at the back of the wagon trying to create swords.” She pushed me closer into the wagon, switching seats.
We all made a bit of room around ourselves and started working. Cassie and Zane sat across from each other. Britta started to look constipated as she focused on the shield. I was happy that she was at least trying. John had moved on to his meditation while we were talking. It had been at least an hour since we started talking.
Instead of working on my Skill for too long, I used all of my Energy in one burst focusing on a tree in the distance.
‘View Weight’.
5,500 pounds!
With my Energy gone, I set myself into a comfortable position and tried to meditate. My mind wandered, and it was difficult to keep focused with so many activities around me, but eventually, I felt my mind start to relax.
I spent the rest of the evening going back and forth between expending my Energy and meditating. I got to speak with Gavin for a little bit, but I avoided John. He also seemed preoccupied with his own training. He had stopped creating the blocks and was now working on floating pieces of ice in front of him.
At some point in the evening, I shut my eyes to get some sleep, but it wasn’t easy to do on the rocky roads.
After what must have been eighteen hours in the wagon, Gavin yelled for us to stop.
“Okay, everyone, off!”