Rowan and I looked at each other for a moment and then I spoke, "it's your home uncle, whether it's sudden or not, it's not like it matters much." I shrugged.
Upon hearing the word 'uncle' they were briefly surprised, but ignored it and continued listening.
"Besides, I think it will be good for us to have two new companions to train with," my brother added.
"Well, I'm glad you're fine with it, now go rest, it's late, tomorrow we'll continue the talk at training."
"Good night," we said to each other.
Later, already in my room, I was staring at the ceiling above my bed, thinking about the people the old man had introduced to us. Now that I was in greater harmony with the pulsing in my body I could feel the fluctuation of theirs, confirming that they were shockers. It seemed they were inexperienced like my brother and I, since I couldn't feel those of Edric, Corin and Serin.
Now that I was thinking more clearly I remembered them; Daren was quite tall, blond hair and black eyes, he had a somewhat round face, but in a rather aesthetic way, combined with an extremely athletic body. His sister, Claire, was quite similar, you could tell they were siblings, with the difference that her face was a bit sharper, pointed chin, marked cheekbones, you could say she was quite pret-no, what am I thinkin…
"What are you thinking about so much little brother, did you perhaps think she was pretty?" Rowan threw me a flirtatious smile from his desk.
"How did you— I mean No!" I said startled and with my face slightly flushed, "Just shut up."
"Just saying," he said with a light laugh as he blew out the candle on the table and got up to go to bed.
***
The next morning I was standing in front of Edric, to my left was Rowan and to my right Claire and Daren.
"Well, today you will begin to use the pulsar," the old man looked at us first, "before anything forgive me, I delayed this a few extra days when I found out my grandchildren would come, since you are at a similar level regarding training I can guide you at the same time."
Rowan and I shook our heads indicating that it was fine, they were his grandchildren, we understood the situation, besides we owed him a lot, it would be very hypocritical if I complained about anything.
He took a few steps back and began to explain about the mastery of the pulsar, it was divided into four levels, the first was impulse, in this level shockers were capable of passing the pulsar from their blood to the rest of their body, mainly to muscles eyes and nerves, with this they could increase their strength, reflexes and resistance, it was the base of every warrior.
The second was called enhance which was the, in this phase one was capable of extending the pulsar outside of their body to other things, such as weapons, whether swords, spears or arrows; he clarified that to use it on arrows a greater control of this level was required, due to the fact that you had to maintain the connection with the arrow as it moved away from your body.
That leads us to the third level, resonance, in which one already has complete control over their own pulsar, so much so that they can launch it over great distances without it dissipating quickly, someone who is in this phase is capable of launching strong and precise long-range attacks.
About the fourth and final level he did not say much, not even its name, only that those who reached this stage were capable of manipulating the pulsar in the environment.
"…You also have to keep in mind that the phase a shocker is in does not determine their brute strength, that is measured by the density of pulsar in their body." He finished explaining.
"And you grandfather, what phase are you in?" Claire asked as soon as she had the opportunity.
"In a relatively high control of enhance, that is why I can use arrows, but that is not relevant now." He settled on the floor and continued, "you are already in the first level from the beginning, you just don't know how to use it, that's what I will teach you today."
"I want you to focus on the pulsar in your bodies and surroundings as you have been doing until now, then watch me carefully." After explaining that he stretched his arm forward, he was holding a rock the size of his hand.
I sat in the position in which I felt most comfortable to meditate and observed his hand, as I began to run the pulsar through my bloodstream I could start to feel the one around me, including that of old Ed, I looked attentively at his hand and I could see or feel it.
I managed to see the pulsar injecting itself into his hand, into the flesh, muscles and tendons, a moment later the rock burst into small pieces, it was not the most fascinating act of strength, but breaking a rock with only one hand and that ease was not something that could normally be done.
"Incredible," Daren whispered in amazement.
"Well, it seems none of you had trouble seeing it, now I want you to take a solid rock from the ground and try it yourselves." Edric said calmly.
"Just like that? Nothing else" Claire added it seemed in search of a more detailed explanation.
"Yes, try it yourselves, you already saw me do it, you just have to guide that pulsar within your blood toward the rest of your body, try it, if you don't get anywhere I will give you more advice."
I took a rock from the ground and moved a little away from the others. I placed my hand on my lap and began to feel my pulsar as I had done during the last months.
Some twenty minutes later I still couldn't do anything, I could already perfectly feel the energy running through my veins, but I did not understand how to manipulate it, it simply felt impossible to me, he was literally asking me to control my blood.
Time kept passing and I began to grow frustrated, until now none of the training had been so… impossible?, fencing was just practice, and meditation was easy, once the pulsar activated inside you it was not so complicated to feel it, but controlling it seemed unreal to me, the fact of controlling something inside me went against any rule of what seemed normal to me.
Although thinking about it I didn't even know what was normal for me, even though six months had passed, many of the things still felt extremely… strange.
*Crashk*
I returned to my senses upon hearing a sound behind me, when I turned around I saw my brother with the stone fragmented in his hands, it was to be expected, he seemed to have an innate ability with this kind of thing, sometimes it was frustrating, but, even if it sounds strange, it motivated me a bit to improve.
"Well done Rowan, you can rest for now," Edric shouted sitting at a somewhat distant table.
I ignored the situation and kept trying.
After a short while I heard another sound, this time it was Claire, she didn't take much longer than Row; after two hours Daren managed it… only I was left.
A while later while I was concentrating I felt a pat on my back, "Hey kid, try to separate the senses, separate your hand from the rest of your body and try to guide the pulsar in your blood there, as if it were another extension of your body." It was Edric.
I turned and nodded slightly, to try again, but he stopped me.
"It's already very late, try tomorrow, now let's go have dinner and then go to sleep."
I looked at the sky and realized it was already very late at night, so even though I wanted to keep trying I accepted and got up, I was already very hungry.
After a silent dinner each one went to their room, when I was about to enter mine with Rowan I stopped, "Row, I think I'll go get some air for a while."
He studied me for a moment and then laughed lightly, "then go."
I took the same rock I had used before, sat in position on the grass and began. I put into practice what the old man had advised me, I tried to separate my senses, I stopped paying so much attention to my whole body and focused on my hand, on every fiber that formed it and tried to look for something, some sensation like the one I feel when trying to move an arm.
I searched and searched, I remained completely still for a good while until I could feel it, in the deepest part of me, I was able to begin to redirect the pulsar in my blood little by little, as if it were a third arm guiding it along the path of my veins.
I handled it for a good while until I accumulated it in my hand, once I felt it was enough I began to push it toward the muscles of the area, it felt as if the hand heated up quite a bit, when I finally finished I squeezed hard.
*Crashk*