Anaar sighs as he shakes his head. “Can you at least try? For me?”
“Fine, but this is dumb as shit, I just want you to know.”
Phavian looks at the boulder contemplatively for a moment and falls into a squat. Trying his hardest to find some sort of grip on the rock, he does the best he can and then proceeds to attempt lifting it. After some clear exertion, Anaar can tell he had activated his Adrenal Trance, and still was incapable of even shifting the rock slightly. Finally done with the farce, he stands up, annoyance clearly written on his face.
“The fuck was that for?”
“Did you try with all your might?”
“What kind of question is that?! It is almost as dumb as asking me to do it in the first place! Of course I did! Look at it! That thing has to be at least a few tons! No one can move that thing!”
Anaar casually grabs the rock, his hand boring into it in a series of motions, and then to the shock of Phavian, lifts it over his head as if it was a kite. After seeing the question on Phavian’s face, he places the rock back on the ground and then gives him a nervous smile.
“Huh, never guessed it would be that much of a difference. I could not even come close to your physical strength before. Now I can’t even find something that gives me a challenge.”
“That was easy for you?!”
“Yeah, but even that might be an understatement. I had another experiment I wanted to try but it will have to wait for another time I guess.”
Phavian stomps childishly whilst pointing a finger at Anaar. “Oh no you don’t! This is insane! We need to talk about this! I’ll just cancel with Codi-”
Before he can finish his statement, a portal opens behind him and Anaar moves to push him into it, but not trusting his own strength, summons a construct to do it instead. Closing it immediately, he hears his Vizer ring, his answering it met by an infuriated Phavian over video chat.
“What the fuck was that all about?! You do more crazy shit then just push me into a portal out of nowhere?! You are worse than Ripp-”
“You were about to attempt something stupid by canceling on Codi which would have only made her mad at the both of us for no reason. Go do your friendly duties. I’ll talk to you later.”
He ends the video call with a sigh, sure he would never hear the end of it later. Looking at his test subject, he understood his strength now far exceeded top tier Juggernauts. With this new information, he decided to move on to his next experiment.
Since the looming threat of destroying random objects simply by interacting with them in his normal fashion was his main concern, he made sure to begin with it, but he still had much more to test. Though he had picked up the boulder with ease using his physical strength, he wondered how he would fare using Terrakinesis. Because this was a skill that was new to him, he had no way of populating a reasonable starting point to his experiment. Thankfully, given he had been an Aerokinetic and Hydrokinetic for as long as he knew, he understood there were inherent similarities to how they worked. He could only hope that model held true.
Focusing intently upon the large rock, Anaar did his best to resonate with only it. Though he had noticed an enormous amount of feedback since his abilities changed, he had attributed it to the spike in his synesthetic capabilities. Now that he was taking the time to pay attention, he realized what he was sensing was essentially everything. From ground beneath his feet, to the molecules of water and gas in the atmosphere, he could sense them all and understand them to some degree.
There was something that instinctually categorized the difference between the individual elements. He had no hypothesis for why it was obvious to him, but there was no doubt. He could now understand the breadth of the large rock mass in front of him, and even noticed it felt like a patchwork quilt. Though he was not sure where that specific term emerged from, it was definitely accurate.
Taking hold of the massive rock, he prepared to push with all his might to move it, but was taken aback when his preparations were for naught. Much like the attempt to lift it with his body, controlling it with his mind proved to have the same lack of difficulty. He was about to launch the rock as far as he could, but with no meter for the extent of his abilities, he was scared he might send it so far away it would destroy a small village with its impact.
Returning the rock back to the ground, he was reminded of something that was unique to manipulation of earthen materials. When he tried creating a rock before utilizing his True Quintessence abilities, he never considered the rock would not simply disappear when he was done with it. There was never an issue with wind as it was a gas, and even water never caused concerns if left. When he thought about it more carefully, he realized he tended to dissipate water constructs into fine mist on reflex. It now seemed much more reasonable he would need to become comfortable doing the same with earth, as fire would no doubt fizzle out on its own as well.
He was just about to attempt creating a rock and practicing making it disappear when something else crossed his mind. From what he understood, things he made were fundamentally no different from those that were naturally occurring, so it stood to reason he could make existing earth disappear as well. The last time he had absorbed it into his body using his elemental form. He decided to test the same trick on the large boulder.
Placing his hand upon its surface he shifted into his Terra form. Siphoning the rock into his body had a curious sensation and effect. In his mind he could only surmise it was due to the size of the rock he had created before, but it was absorbed immediately and he barely took notice of it. With much more material to work with, he found he could feel it rushing into his body, and the rock was losing mass uniformly rather than only in the area he was siphoning from. He considered this potentially problematic if it was the only method to go about it, but after a small readjustment, he found he could target what was absorbed first, leaving a gaping and smooth indentation in the rock.
He wanted to look into performing this action without the need for contact, but as he was fairly certain it would be seeing minimal use in the near future, it could wait until another time for exploration. During his siphoning of the rock, he gleaned an idea as to the nature of the rock’s fragmentation. Creating a small rock of his own, he was sure it lacked such a quality.
Looking at the black lump, it seemed familiar. Turning it around in his hand, he probed it with his powers until he finally registered a word: Carbon. His excitement building, he immediately began searching for images of pure carbon via his overlay. Though he was aware carbon came in many different forms, even in its pure state, there was no mistake what he had created was pure carbon. He had not remembered requesting the rock specifically be carbon, but it was interesting that it chose that path to manifest.
Now that he realized he could sense the composition of earth if he tried hard enough, he focused on the towering rock once again. Suddenly the patchwork, though not completely clear, made sense to him. Within the patchwork he could distinctly recognize carbon now, though it was just one of many ingredients that made up the rock. He could even tell when the carbon was in different states. With that in mind, he thought of something else he wanted to try.
Initially his attempts were met with failure, but after roughly ten minutes of work, he finally was certain he achieved his desired result. Holding the sparkling prismatic rock to the sun, there was no doubt in his mind. He had successfully created a diamond. Rather than reabsorbing this stone, he instead stashed in in his bag, his thoughts to take it to an appraiser to be certain. Though he was not wanting for money currently, if he could produce diamonds, he would never have to wonder about money no matter what befell him.
Since he had a better understanding, he attempted to create a gold bar and found he was able to manage it with ease. Stashing this as well, he was flabbergasted at what a True Earth Quintessence could do. With such a capability, he wondered why Earth Affinities had not long sense pushed past all the other attunements if they had the ability to create precious mi
nerals.
“I believe I may have a hypothesis regarding your musings.”
Oh, Hobb. I was so consumed I didn’t even think to ask for your input. What do you think?
“Though it is pure conjecture, it could be expected others do not possess the level of ability you do.”
Meaning they can’t make things like gold and diamonds?
“Precisely.”
That makes no sense though. The value of gold and diamonds are set by us as humans. Why would our powers then limit us in that manner when there is no basis that I could think of which makes creating them any more difficult than less precious materials?
“Did your initial attempts at producing a diamond meet with success?”
Well no, but I think that was because I was not taking into consideration the process necessary to create a diamond, which is why it just kept coming out as graphite.
“Imagine if someone of your might and intellect had difficulties. How would others fare in comparison? Was your experiment with Mr. Ingraham not a sufficient indicator of the inconceivable chasm between yourself and others?”
Everything you are saying is logical as usual, but I am having trouble wrapping my head around just how much stronger than everyone else I really am. Not to mention I’m not done growing. It is like I’m in a major growth spurt right now. This doesn’t take into consideration the increase in time that will come with having a seemingly infinite lifespan.
“It would be best then if you allocated all your resources to becoming comfortable with the new scope of your abilities.”
Understanding Hobb was completely right as was his norm, Anaar continued his experiments. In all his fumbling with his newly acquired Terrakinetic abilities, he formulated more questions about those he already knew well. Creating a sphere of water, he examined it and could not believe what he found.
Though he never thought to pay attention to it before, the water he created was pure water. Now with his Terrakinetic abilities, he realized he could not detect even the slightest trace of any sediment from the sphere. With that being the case, he was now certain he was not simply summoning it from some unknown reservoir. Instead, he was quite literally creating water.
With this in mind, he tried combining his two abilities, creating water infused with an ample number of conductive sediments. Though he was not completely certain it had the desired result, he could be sure it was not simply pure water as it had been before. Tucking that information in his mind, he now knew he needed to cleverly find a way to get Jesus and Codi to help him with some more testing without revealing too much.
Since his understanding of water and its composition had increased, he had an idea for testing air. He could now more easily recognize the different molecules compiling the air around him as well. He never needed to create a specific gas before, but now that he knew it was possible, he could not let his curiosity go to waste. Researching the chemical formula for chlorine trifluoride, he created a bubble, then spent time filling it with the gas. Moving it far into the air and away from him, he lights a small flame in the bubble. He had grossly underestimated its volatility.
The magnitude of the explosion shocked even him, which was quite telling. With his enhanced senses he could tell the explosion buffeted half the campus. The clerk came rushing out to see what had happened, but Anaar could sense him coming, and had long since hidden himself before the man’s arrival. It was with his arrival Anaar realized something else.
What he felt from the man was not just the rushing of his feet on the ground, or even the sound of his rapid breathing as the fright he was experiencing was palpable. Instead Anaar realized he could sense the man on a completely different level he could not explain. When he looked into it further, he became aware of a seemingly infinite number of these signatures all around him. The fact that his mind registered it as a signature immediately made him think of his Affinity Detection, however this was different.
On a quick whim, he reached out for signatures he knew well, and found his range has expanded to a level he could never have imagined. He was positive he could even feel him mother from many states away. Still the other sensation was different. After over two hours pouring over what he was sensing, it finally became clear to him when he put the feeling in juxtaposition with his Affinity Detection.
He could clearly recognize Maggie in her room with his Affinity Detection, but when put next to the other feeling, he found they were similar, but still felt different. He suddenly had a flash of understanding into the nature of Maggie’s health. It then occurred to him what he was missing.
He had completely forgotten he had a new attunement he nor anyone else knew anything about. On top of that attunement by itself, he also had a manifestation to compliment it: Biokinesis. If he realized he could sense other things more acutely with his other kinetic abilities, was what he feeling the essence of life forces? It would certainly explain why it felt as if he could even understand trees around him. With yet another mystery to look into, he put it aside for the time being since he had other things he knew for certain he could test.
Though the idea of endless riches had its appeal, Anaar realized he did absolutely nothing with the vast sums of money already at his disposal. What was more interesting to him were the more practical aspects of what he could do. Picturing what he wanted clearly in his mind, Anaar began to generate an earthen construct. Whether it was due to the intricacy of the process or merely his current experience, he found his attempt to replicate one of his hookswords to be the equivalent of a kindergartener fingerpainting.
The shape was roughly correct, but rough seemed to be the theme of his work. The edges lacked sharpness, there was no style about it, and it was clearly unbalanced. When checking the integrity, he realized a major flaw in his design was that it was composed of only one material. No weapon he knew of was only one material, which called into question how he would get the ratios correct to make a strong alloy. More and more he was growing to respect a number of people and the work they did so that the rest of the world did not need to. One thing about his long life he finally saw as a positive was the endless time he had at his disposal to educate himself.
Another thing came to his attention as he was working on his project. Considering the inherent malleability of water and air which he was well versed in, and even fire which was new to him, earth was the polar opposite. Not at all surprising given the way physics worked, when he went to change the shape of the rock, it did not reconfigure like he was used to, it offered up heavy resistance. Disgruntled he would be forced to deal with normal constraints when manipulating earth, he was ready to write it off as he had much more useful tools at his disposal that he already had a wealth of experience utilizing. Just before absorbing the weapon back into him, he remembered that he already had the means to facilitate its use.
Hovering the sword aloft, he heated the sword, almost immediately noticing a difference in its willingness to change. Heating it further, he tried reworking the metal, despite having no forging knowledge. Testament to said lack of knowledge, he failed to pay attention to the level of heat, and before he knew it, the was nothing more but a liquid blob floating in the air. In the liquid form, he found it no different from working with water, however he did not account for the something quite important.
Pleased with himself and the much more appealing shape of the sword, he released his influence on the floating mass, and it splashed to the ground, all his hard work ruined. Looking at the molten puddle on the ground, he could not believe he missed something as rudimentary as cooling the metal, thus returning it to a solid state. Floating the liquid back into the air, he was impressed by his own ability to completely separate it from the ground with no difficulty, but the once again amorphous blob quickly stole what little glimmer of joy he had.
Needing a break from his failures at being an Earth Affinity, he moved back to the Fire attuned aspects of his abilities. His passive Fire attuned abilities were driving him absolutely in
sane. He was already tired of how much he was eating, he could no longer enjoy working out, and it was very likely something would crumble under an accidental display of his goon strength. Conversely, his passive Earth attuned abilities were something he never knew he needed in his life. The amount of endurance he now had seemed practically bottomless. Being invulnerable had not presented an opportunity to showcase its usefulness, but considering his recent blackouts and losing time from being regenerated, it could only be seen as beneficial.
Flipping to the two’s respective active abilities, the roles completely reversed. Manipulating fire had an inherent fluidity and volatility that reminded him of water and wind, which made it very easy to jump right into. From his prior experiments however, mastering his Earth attunement skills would require him to start from scratch with the basics. Taking advantage of his familiarity with flame, he began a new set of tests.
Though he was already aware, but wanted to be certain, his Flame form was in no way clothing friendly. He could not fathom a time where he would choose that form over any others, simply because it destroyed everything around him with impunity. Something that always bothered him about Yefferson was how his flames seemed to never die down. Creating a gout of flame, he sprays the ground, finding it vanished as quickly as it came.
After realizing how tethered to the laws of physics his Earth abilities were, he began to wonder if he had perhaps imagined what Yefferson’s flames were capable of. From what he had learned, it seemed the period when the element he was calling forth was most susceptible to modification and manipulation was during its creation. If this was indeed true of its properties, it would be best to make his intent clear at the outset.
Taking a moment to ensure his mind was set on his purpose, he tried again with the flames, this time opting to have them appear directly on the ground. Looking at the still burning flames with no indication of waning despite being on a non-flammable surface, he almost leapt with glee at his success. He had not imagined his unsuccessful attempts would cause him such distress.
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 7