The Academy - Book One (Published)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

edited by rsrdiall

Lucas shrugged his shoulders, trying to release the built up tension as he stared at Kayla's grinning face. They finally had a day without classes, their first in 37 days, and he was showing her how to build up the necessary energies to do the hikaru no sokudo.  Almost four hours had passed since he'd started and he was getting frustrated at her lack of progress.

Lucas turned his attention to Jacob, who sat on the floor next to Ebony talking while she looked at the floor nodding or replying in one word answers. He turned back to Kayla as he explained for the twelfth time how to perform the step, "First you need to picture where you are trying to go..."

"What if I don't know what the area looks like?" asked Kayla cutting off Lucas.

Lucas stared into her sparkling eyes and felt his frustrations ease, "If you don't know what to picture, you have to concentrate on the specifics of the location."  Gently grabbing her hand he continued, "Say you want to go to the Ayama Fountain but you've never been there." he stepped with Kayla and they were standing in what looked like an exquisite park that had marble floors and pillars. A golden stream twisted and turned before falling down a breathtaking waterfall, finally settling into a small rippling pond that was surrounded by lush green grass. "You need to have an idea of the location and where you are trying to go."  He added as he brought them back into the training room.

Kayla stared at Lucas in awe as he once again performed the hikaru no sokudo taking her to a different and more beautiful location each time.  The hikaru no sokudo, also referred to as the step, was a power drain and he'd performed the step with her ten or fifteen times. He could do it a hundred more times before even breaking a sweat.

Releasing her hand he smiled, "Now try to step to Ebony."

Kayla turned and stared at Ebony and Jacob who were 30 yards away.  She closed her eyes and stepped, when she opened her eyes she was still 15 yards away from them.

Clapping her hands she turned toward Lucas, "I'm improving!"

Lucas smiled as her breast bounced beneath her yellow and orange striped shirt.  "You are," he said not lying but also not being quite truthful.  When they started she could only step five yards and  now she could go fifteen yards.  After four hours of training he expected more.

Still bouncing and skipping around happily Kayla asked Lucas, "What's the greatest distance you can hikaru no sokudo?"

He grinned, and lied, "Maybe a 1760 yards.....a mile?"   The last hikaru no sokudo Lucas performed took them to his private residence on Ah'Taria which was hundreds of thousands of yards away.  Ah'Taria was a four day trip and that was if the ship didn't stop.

Jacob stood and started walking toward them with Ebony saying, "You should rest Kayla."

Lucas looked harder at Kayla and noticed she had a sheen of sweat on her forehead. The reason she was bouncing was to hide the fact she was trembling from the exertion. Sighing, he angrily wondered why he didn't notice that she was getting tired, "The fact that you're tired may be why you didn't make it to your destination."  He smiled making sure he projected his approval of her progress.

Nodding, she ran to Ebony with enthusiasm, "I'm getting better!"

“I’m just glad you’re looking better, I’m sorry again. I never meant to cause so much trouble,” Ebony responded. Smiling and just as enthusiastic she replied, "I'm so jealous!  I can't hikaru no sokudo at all!"  Laughing she stated, "I've only stepped in front of my feet."

“It’s fine,” Kayla answered quickly. “No real harm was done.  It's done and over with. ”

"Let's stop for today," stated Lucas.