Void's Psionics (18 page)

“
I wish I could see this in
through my own eyes. Through yours it seems so easy.”

“
But you can. We were
waiting for you to think of it actually, My Friend. As you already
tell human and Creelin are closely united in that we see in similar
spectrums of light, though we can see darker in the light spectrum,
but not by a gross amount. All you must do is Gather to the point
your eyes create light. Now just be patient and watch what I do and
how I think.”

Through the melding of consciousnesses Oliver
saw how Netul pictured a simple square and mutated the net into a
five pointed star. The square netting followed and changed shape,
still gradually expanding. As it did, the warmth in Netul’s hand
grew minimally. So smoothly done Oliver would not have seen it had
he not been taking it all in.

“
Let me try now.”
Oliver was returned safely and took a deep breath
to shake off the feeling. Calming, he turned up the flow till Netul
began to brighten with yellow light, but as it happened Oliver at
last saw psionic energy. Netul sitting in a shirt and pants did
little to not sizzle with an aura. He kept holding up a barrier
between them. Oliver looked down at himself in Gathering and he too
soundlessly was surrounded similarly. Able to see what he was doing
now, Oliver took another breath to let it out, enough to puff the
cheeks. “Alright.”

Trying to remember how it felt wasn’t simple
in practice. The net that came from his hand was a mess filled with
countless loose ends and breaks. Going slow and methodical with aid
of the chip he began lowering the gathering point till his hand was
warm and not stinging as if asleep. It took more than an hour and
from there he began unknotting the mess one line at a time.

It wasn’t even near fixed by the time of the
flock of Salamanders arrived led by the biggest one his chip told
exceeded the record by ten percent mass. Netul allowed use of the
indigo shield as he was not yet ready to deploy barriers in combat,
but he was to fly. Trying out his eyes in heavy Gathering made
fighting so much easier. The flock didn’t stand a chance and went
to feed lesser Beasts, but not before he got the skull of the big
one and all the brains. Those were hardly as appetizing compared to
the stronger, but every little bit added more.

It took another two days to at last get the
hang of creating solid barriers, but was still forced to sleep
levitated.

Netul attacked him with bolts of lightning,
forcing Oliver to throw up multiple barriers instantly at the most
random moments. None were life threatening, but they hurt.
Hyperawareness was growing and he began to block each time there
was even a slight rise he could see or feel as he kept up constant
Gathering enough to keep the eyeballs alight.

Three days before the
Cerberus arrival Netul said
“Good enough.
Your barriers come easily and strong, but we can refine later. Now
we begin discharge. Have your hand stiff and focus to the palm like
you would with a barrier, but instead of making a net, imagine a
single speck of fine sand floating above. Will all the energy into
that miniscule point. Concentrate.”

A blink preceded a grin as
the foundation of making barriers laid a piece to the missing
puzzle to complete it. Taking the advice to heart Oliver did
imagine the tiny point which became the focus where a bright blue
ball of plasma concentrated and grew in size. A warning glance
flashed between the couple and before either could warn, Oliver
lowered the intensity to a ball that would fit comfortably in his
hand. Callier commented
“Impressive
control. I was about to stop its growth.”

“
Now you have the
concentrated form humans call a kinetic blast. On contact with
solid objects it shall release all the energy in an instant. The
amount you hold can level a large building or three. To safely send
it so you are not caught in the danger radius you must use
telekinesis. The energy will recognize you so adding motion won’t
let it detonate, but be warned that if another used telekinesis on
it in your hand, it will explode.”
Oliver
swallowed as Netul told the danger.
“So be
careful. To reduce risk in a dangerous battle it is wise to use
less energy and launch it as soon as possible. If you are a master
like me, you can fire four thousand blasts per minute. Two from
each hand. You can let it safely dissipate, but the moment you sent
it from gathering over a hand, it will hold itself till it
detonates.”
He silently moved to the edge
and gestured Oliver to follow, still holding it. He then pointed a
claw.
“Send it to where you slew the first
Thunder Lizard.”

Holding the palm stiff he turned it flatly to
the kilometer away charred area. He used his hand as a guide and
used his mind to simply sent it off at the constant speed of an
arrow. Kinetic blasts had no mass so adjusting for gravity was not
needed. Oliver put his hand down and his jaw dropped as when it hit
dead center, there was a flash in the darkness, but he had
excellent night vision and zooming sight with the chip showed “That
made one hell of a crater!” he chuckled. “Now I see why Steven
loves explosions.”

“
It does exhilarate. But you
see the size of the destruction to the scale of what you held. The
proportions are always the same. Kinetic blasts are always roughly
nine hundred and forty six percent the size of the launch. Now I
want you to sit here and fire in that same area to learn the
appropriate levels required for what you need at any moment. Learn
through trial. When I am satisfied we will do a kinetic stream. A
beam of superheated plasma in other words.”

It took roughly twelve tiring hours with two
breaks to hunt more strange Beasts. Kinetic blasts required much
energy and letting it loose was immensely draining.

When he began feeling out
precise quantities Netul brought him water and said
“Now you may learn the final step. A kinetic
stream works on the same principal of a blast, but rather than
releasing all the energy at once, you concentrate it to heat matter
with a circular beam. Think of it like an endless tube your energy
will flow through. It will dissipate in distance, but that is
normal. It is safer than holding a sphere, but much more exhausting
as it all is released as you send it, requiring constant Gathering
and sending. If you stop, the stream is interrupted. Blasting
destroyed areas, but the stream will pierce any object
eventually.”

“
Like my weapons?” he meant
it as a joke.

“
Of course, but to destroy
Solarian forged weapons will need the power of a star’s worth of
energy focused completely on it for many thousands of
years.”

“
Well that makes me curious.
Why aren’t there more weapons found with the remains humans
discover?”

Netul gave him a hard look
before deciding that information wasn’t dangerous.
“Because bonded weapons rapidly degrade without
constant energy
once
bound to an owner. It was to ensure an enemy couldn’t steal
and use it. The weapons you found were yet to be bonded. For
instance, should you die, your three items would degrade into a
mound of metallic dust. Forging them was difficult and only sworn
warriors carried them. Since they could not be lost once the
Voidium cube completed the standard aspects of the Valek, spares
were rare. Battleships carried few unbound weapons in event of
being stranded and young were raised to adulthood. That is the
reason Solarian weapons are not commonly discovered.”

“
Makes sense… So a kinetic
stream works like blasts?” Netul inclined his large head. “I’ll
start slow and work my way up.”

Hand stretched out stiff while sitting and
legs dangling over the ledge. Taking it easy he watched invisible
energy leaving his hand in a perfect circle, completely straight
and fizzling out after a few meters. But as output increased a
narrow beam left the palm and widened in diameter while growing
longer. Engorging like a penis of plasma.

Sweat poured down his face before creating a
straight beam up into the starry sky wider than he was tall, wider
than the day he witnessed Jake Dorgen unleash a stream. When it
could do no more Oliver stopped and fell back breathing in deep
gulps, so expended his eyes went back to normal. When he could
breath he asked “How did I do?”

“
You did well, but have much
to improve.”
Netul said after a
moment.

“
Damn, if that didn’t make
you bat an eye as it scared me, just how powerful are
you?”

“
Very. Would you like a
demonstration to see how much difference separates us?”

“
I would like that very
much.” Oliver sat up, finding a bit of a second wind.

“
Netul…”
Callier’s tone was of warning.

“
All will be well. I will
not harm anyone or destroy this planet or any other. The Archivers
will not have cause to interfere as I need no authorization to
demonstrate to a pupil so long as no one will be harmed.”
Netul figuratively smiled and stopped as another
mind made contact.

“
Authorization is approved,
Beyleez. Aim here to allow safe demonstration.”
An image of the currently seen stars appeared in their minds
with a white circle to aim.
“Approval
granted on basis to teach control as the pupil develops. Mastery is
paramount for his potential. Teach by example. You are
approved.”
And it left.

“
Who the fuck was
that?”

“
Archiver Fenri. At least
one Archiver watches us at all times during this allowance with
Renee’s absence. It is to make sure we adhere to the bounds set
forth. Are you at ease, Callier?”

“
I am with the allowance.
Demonstrate the world cutting stream.”

He nodded as he flew out of the cave under
his own power without wearing his armor. Even narrowing his eyes,
Oliver found it difficult to look at the tiny form of Netul. A
sense of foreboding made all the hair over Oliver’s body stand on
end. The cause came from feeling Netul’s energy from his chip’s
reading that he was two hundred kilometers away. And it wasn’t weak
either. The sensation was stronger than the time his eyes turn
crimson.

That all paled as a kinetic stream over a
hundred kilometers across beamed out to space, completely making
Netul disappear in the light of the kinetic stream that held form
further than the chip could measure, the beam flying at the speed
of light.

A Creelin chuckle brought
him back to reality as his mind had basically come to a complete
stop. He didn’t notice Netul had stopped and was back in the
cave.
“Impressed?”
Netul’s eyes danced a light blue green.

“
Uh… I’m at a loss. Ask me
when I realize what just happened… damn I’m glad I haven’t pissed
him off.” He told himself and the pair left laughing. Oliver spent
the next few hours trying to wrap his head around the magnitude and
control of Netul. Seeing how it held a perfect shape at such an
immense size made him realize the rippling disturbances he had been
able to make were sorely lacking.

He had work to do.

The Cerberus scent was closer than ever.
Oliver glanced behind up over his shoulder to find Netul and
Callier floating size by side in their glorious golden armor. They
both carried their well earned ranked shields and had reminded him
this battle was his alone. Eating so much these weeks was enough
that they didn’t need to control the hunger lust, but it was still
stronger than any other creature’s scent. A quiet sniffing was loud
in Oliver’s pointy ears, the rest was silent in the jungle. It
reminded him of Elder Scythe teachings to let the forest’s deathly
silence notify of danger. It had gone too quiet and was the
warning. Many Beasts had long since fled the area for their lives.
Those that couldn’t didn’t move or make a sound to draw
attention.

Oliver drew his sword and readied the
shield.

Silently extracting itself from the forest
completely submerged in darkness was the Cerberus. Like the ancient
myth humans fantasized, it was a canine of three heads. It had
three heads of a wolflike creature and a black coat with six
reflective icy blue eyes. Its size, unlike most other Beasts,
wasn’t large. It’s shoulders only came up to mid thigh on Oliver.
Battle scars showed this Beast was incredibly ancient, as Beasts
don’t die of old age. Death only comes if forced. Through glowing
eyes behind the mask the neural chip flashed. ‘Warning! Warning!
Retreat.’ Thankfully it didn’t blind, The warning flashed over the
Beast’s back. Invisible psionic power rolled off it like a tsunami
continents wide and would devastate all in its path despite
appearance.

A stealth predator, it silently lowered its
heads and flattened their ears while pulling back razor sharp teeth
with points as if filed. These were natural fangs.

About to attack, it’s perfectly adapted black
coat began to illuminate in patterns and streaks of red. A deep
growl resonated from its barreled chest and leave the heads upon
wide shoulders. Claws dug deep. Ready.

Suddenly it flew forth, one head had growing
orange light lift from its throat to loose a torrent of fire while
on the other Gathered lightening. The middle head though controlled
the body. It’s speed was faster than even Oliver’s. Had he not
known what the Beast could do he would have been ended right
there.