Chapter 35 - The Power of Self
Medoferro and Simon were tired after their first six hours of intensive training. The old man had been working them relentlessly and they both had about as much energy remaining as a dead battery. They, along with Massimaferro, were sitting on the couch in the old man’s living room trying to get enough energy to move again.
"Good gods," Simon gasped, "He’s trying to kill us and it is just the first day!"
"At least Massy looks as bad as we do," Medo chuckled weakly, "Finding that you’re not as young as you used to be, Massy?"
"That’s part of it," Massy nodded, "This is a bitch no matter how old you are. You’re learning a lot though."
"That’s true," Simon said, "If we survive."
"You will survive," the old man said, walking into the room looking fresh as a daisy, "You young people need to learn that a good workout will not kill you."
"How do you do it?" Medo asked him, "You’re pretty much older than all of us put together, or close to it. Yet you’ve wiped the floor with us."
"It’s all in the mind, young Medoferro," the old man said, smiling, "But there is another reason for this."
"The same thing you tried to train me for years ago?" Massy asked him, "The manipulation of worldly power?"
"Exactly," the old man nodded, "You never had the talent for it, Massimaferro. I think Medoferro does, as Taliaferro did. Simon may have a touch of the talent too."
"What talent is this?" Medo asked, "Worldly power?"
"I think I’ve heard of it," Simon said, "Something I read years ago. Something about being able to bend the enhanced magnetic field that occurred after the great wars that changed the planet."
"Exactly," the old man said, "That is pretty much what it is, but it can be a whole lot more than that. It is a type of power, power that can do a lot of things."
"This is something I need to see," Medoferro said, "What can be done with it?"
"There are many things that can be done with it," the old man said, "It can aid you in keeping moving, it can aid in self defense, it can do many little tasks if you only learn to manipulate it properly."
The old man stood up and did a rather artistic move with his arms, coming up with a raised palm. Above the palm was a brightly colored ball of light, bright enough to make Simon, Medoferro and Massimaferro shield their eyes a little. The old man smiled, manipulated the ball a little and then threw the ball of light at the fireplace, which ignited the wood he’d stacked in there.
"Gods!" Massimaferro exclaimed, "You never showed me that before!"
"No need to," the old man shrugged, "You didn’t have the talent, so there was no reason to disappoint you."
"So you’re saying we do?" Medo said, "How come this isn’t more prevalent?"
"The talent is rare," the old man said, "I’ve known about ten people who could do it, only four of which could do it well."
"Where did Taliaferro fall in that?" Massy wondered, not knowing his old mentor knew about this stuff.
"He learned from the same one who taught me," the old man said, "My teacher, many years ago, thought that if Taliaferro hadn’t been a Mullinix he would have been the foremost teacher of our art for his time."
"He never said a word," Massy said, still a little surprised.
"It was his way to keep quiet," the old man continued, "But he was good. It was probably one of the reasons he lived as long as he did with the stress he was constantly under."
"Does it help with that?" Medo asked, "Stress and tiredness?"
"It can," the old man said, "If you practice well it can be the answer to a lot of problems in your jobs."
"So why did you tire us out before telling us this?" Simon wondered, "So we wouldn’t be able to laugh?"
"No," the old man said, "The fatigue actually makes this easier to teach. That’s why I wanted you here, Massimaferro. You were one of the best workout masters I ever had. I am getting old. One of you I can tire out, but not both. I’ve been drawing more and more on the power to keep going."
"So where does this power come from?" Medo asked, "I mean I don’t see anything different about you."
"Sit down and lean back," the old man said, "This is the part that can’t be done to just anyone. If you say how to do it, it doesn’t take properly. The power is something that has to be shown."
Medoferro did as he was told, laying backwards and closing his eyes. He was so tired that he didn’t much care what was done as long as he got to rest for a while. Simon and Massimaferro watched as the old man went behind the couch and put his old hands on Medoferro’s head.
The next thing Medoferro knew he felt something passing into him. The others were worried as they saw the old man’s hands go bright, as did Medoferro’s head. It was slightly painful, but Medo was too tired to care. He let the force do what it needed to do in his brain, writing the instructions needed for the manipulation. It was nearly an hour before the light died down and Medo passed out completely.
"You killed him!" Simon exclaimed as he saw Medo go limp.
"He’s still breathing," Massy said, "What did you do to him?"
"Merely let the magnetic force teach his brain how to handle it," the old man said, "The same way the ancient one taught it to me."
"The ancient one?" Massy asked, "Who would that be?"
"He’s a man older than any of us can fathom," the old man said, "He and his friends tend to show up when bad things are going to happen, so pray that you never need to meet him directly."
"I’ll remember that," Massy said, not quite sure how to think about it, "How long is he going to be out?"
"Five or six hours," the old man said, "Simon, you should probably do it now so that both of you come back around the same time."
"Can’t it wait ‘til tomorrow?" Simon asked him, "I’m tired as hell."
"That’s why we do it now," the old man informed him, "A tired body can’t fight the training. It is much less painful to do it while tired."
"Get it over with," Massy suggested, "Then we can figure out what to do next tomorrow."
"All right," Simon sighed and laid back, "Do your worst…"
The old man did just that, going through much the same process he did with Medoferro. Simon’s brain wasn’t as receptive to the training, however, and it showed with the flickering of the light. Massimaferro was slightly worried that this might do some damage, but he had confidence in his old teacher. It was well over an hour before the old man finished and nearly fell down himself.
"Come on, sit down," Massy said, "You look like hell."
"I’m not as young as I used to be," the old man sighed, "Simon has a thick skull, the training didn’t want to take. He’ll never be as good at it as Medoferro will be."
"How much use will it be?" Massy asked, "What will it tell him?"
"It will give him insights," the old man said, "Allow him to do things with power and knowledge that you and that narrow-minded elder can only dream of. Didn’t you ever wonder how Taliaferro could tell for sure who was lying to him and who wasn’t?"
"You can use magnetic fields for that?" Massimaferro asked, surprised, "How?"
"It’s a mental manipulation," the old man said, "The brain gives off waves that interact with the fields. When you know how to manipulate the fields you can understand how the interactions happen and you can interpret them."
"Sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo to me," Massy said, "I take it we’re going to test this?"
"That’s what the remaining time will be spent doing," the old man confirmed, "Showing them control and teaching them a bit on the ethics of it."
"So what do we do now?" Massimaferro asked him.
"Kick back and watch a photoplay?" the old man shrugged, "They’ll be out until late this evening. I need to relax for a while."
"Works for me," Massimaferro said, "Should we move them?"
"Better not to," the old man said, "They’ll hurt enough when they wake up
."
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 37