The Primordials: Retribution (Book Four)

Chapter V: Distant View (Pt.2)

      So, I could use this to detect liars—prevent myself from ever being tricked again?

      Hm, theoretically, perhaps, but it only shows the surface emotion. People are much more complex than that, Viraa answered. Moving on to the third, Lift: oh my, this is a rare divine-class cintracy that, as a byproduct, allows you to move objects with your mind—

      I have telekinesis!? I exclaimed excitedly. Are you serious!? How do I use it?

      I will instruct you, of course.

      Okay, okay, can we start? I was too excited about learning how to use my newfound powers. I couldn't believe that I actually had my own powers!

      Wait, how did I get these powers? I thought cintracies were something people from your home planet were born with.

      Hmm, even I am not entirely certain how. This is just speculation, but it seems my pneumarian DNA, the JANUS, and the awakening you recently underwent have made your body something of an anomaly. Though you are still primarily human when not in your evolved state, whatever you are now is close enough to our kind that you have developed cintracies of your own. Although I have not seen All-Sight in a very long time, Heart's Eye and Lift were among the cintracies I once named by viewing into the future. Those two are cintracies no one else has had prior to you.

      To think Trik and I started the year off still searching for Tymon... My words trailed off as I looked down at myself, astonished. I thought about how much everything had changed in only a few months. Not once did it ever occur to me that this was how things would turn out.

      Care to begin practicing? Viraa asked, probably to ensure that I didn't focus too much on Trik. Let us start with Heart's Eye.

      Right, I responded, getting excited again. Okay.

      I closed my eyes and allowed myself to bring forth the desired power. I could feel all five within me like foreign clots of unknown energy fused with my spirit energy. It was surprisingly easy to discern which was which. It felt intuitive.

      Not much longer, my eyes fluttered open to the world through a light blue-white film before it returned to normal. Or at least I thought it was normal until I happened to look around and notice that I could see everyone's energy through the open doors, but it was somehow different from omni-vision.

      Through the first door to my left, Damien and Arne were beginning their training together. I'm not sure how it worked, but I could actually feel the numerical value of their power.

      Damien's new power felt equivalent to an EQN of 1,143,630, while Arne's was 1,138,400.

      To the right of that door was another room with Naomi and Tymon inside. They had already begun some light sparring. Tymon's new massive growth in power felt equivalent to an EQN of 1,520,000, while Naomi's sat around 1,012,630, which hardly seemed fair at all, but I'm sure they had their reason for pairing together.

     The last room held Michael and Za'Fia, who were flexing their energies to their highest peaks, causing sudden bursts of flame and light to flood into my area. Michael's energy was around 1,480,300, while Za'Fia's felt around 1,297,000. I noticed her energy appeared more orange and felt confident and determined during their clash while his was grey with anxiety.

      It slowly dawned on me that he was anxious about dying but had been trying not to show it. This only made me that much more determined to ensure he didn't participate in the fighting, especially with Avarice or Verin.

      I left their area, hoping to get some privacy to figure out my powers without worrying about their training interrupting mine or making a fool of myself in front of them.

      I went into the room I had designated as mine. It was empty since the bed had been retracted into the floor already. As I used the touchpad to summon an assortment of targets for training, I thought about what Viraa told me about my cintracies and noticed something interesting about one.

      Hey, you said that Lift was a divine cintracy. Those are the strongest class of cintracies, right? How is it that an ability that simply grants telekinesis is divine class?

      Viraa laughed.

      I had not finished explaining earlier before your excitement ran rampant.

      Oh. Sorry... I blushed.

      Lift is not simply lifting things with your mind—in fact, telekinesis is a byproduct of Lift's true power. Its real power distorts space itself by generating spatial energy that is accessible only to you. Once manifested, you command that energy and anything it encompasses. In the right hands, it can be a truly devastating power to wield.

      Spatial energy...? I asked, confused. Did she mean like outer space?

      No, not outer space. It may be best for you to see for yourself. Try using it on one of those weights in the chamber.

      I turned to face the wall to my far right, which had tubes sticking out of them. Inside the tubes were balls of different weights going well into the tons. Below the tubes were the selection ports to pick up the weights. Out of curiosity, I chose to see how much I could lift quickly.

      I started with 1 ton. To my surprise, it was ridiculously easy to lift the weight.

      Then, 2 tons. I could tell it was much heavier, but I still had no problem lifting the ball.

      Okay, let's skip to 3 tons. Lifting the weight this time was much more difficult, but I barely managed.

      I knew not to try picking up 4 tons, so I tried picking up 3.5 tons. Nothing. Not even a budge.

      I guess 3 tons was my limit without accessing my evolved form from earlier. I wondered if Lift worked the same way. Could I lift more with it?

      Nah, I should get used to the power before testing its limits. I chose to focus on activating Lift on one of the smaller 20-pound weights. Without much difficulty, I felt a—for lack of a better word—link established between me and the weight as it began to levitate out of the selection port of the weight station.

      I willed the weight to shoot off toward one of the mounted targets to the far side of the room, causing the target to tear off and crash into the wall behind it. I admit it was impressive, but I still struggled to see how the power was useful or warranted such praise. The most I could do was throw loose objects at my opponents to slow them down.

      With your set of abilities, you must broaden your views; otherwise, you will never reach your full potential, Lisa. The things that you lift are shrouded in the spatial-telekinetic energy I mentioned. That energy grants additional damage than usual. Otherwise, that 20-pound weight you threw would not have ripped the target it struck from its mount, let alone withstand the force without being damaged.