Chương 64: Chapter 61: Levitation

Telekinesis was an easy art to grasp, however, its difficulty only increased when the object I telekinetically wanted to connect with was something beyond my capabilities. The heavier the object became, the more difficult the task grew. And when the object turned out to be the very ancient rock upon which I was standing, the art became practically impossible. No, I was not boneheaded enough to think I could move the planet to my whims with the few measly essence threads I had. I was trying the opposite.

Since I couldn't move the planet (yet), my whole desire revolved around using the repelling force to thrust me upwards into the air. It wasn't quite flying--like we see birds gliding through the wind, flapping their feathery wings--but it had about the same effect. The trick was not to target the entire globe, but to push the weight of my essence against a sizeable chunk of the ground.

Before, with only 24 threads of essence, I mostly failed at the task, always levitating barely a couple of feet in the air with no power to sustain it for more than a few seconds. But now I had eight more essence threads to utilise, not to mention my Weight practically doubling. So, while my classmates sparred and trained on one side of the institution grounds, I shot 16 essence threads into the ground beneath my feet, connecting with it.

Satisfied, I collected half of my essence Weight and thrust it all through kinetic waves. The ground was immovable, but as Magus Infecius had proposed, that force had to go somewhere. Since I was standing straight, with the kinetic power thrust at a right angle, the opposite force thrust me straight upwards. In no time, I was a couple of feet into the air. The result was no different from any of my previous tries, although it was far more sustainable now with half of my Weight remaining to be employed.

A few of my classmates pointed at me, calling to others. Some of their eyes widened in awe, but I was far from content. Dividing my attention, I wove the rest of my free essence threads into the weave of Empower, linking it with the other simpler weave and creating a new weave. The moment it completed, a terrible force jerked against my essence seed, wrenching an indignant yelp out of my mouth. But that wasn't all; the force had propelled me several metres higher in the air.

Wind curled against my face as the yelp soon transformed into a squeal, partly of joy and partly of horror. I thought Empower would only be able to raise the height by a metre or two. Unbeknownst to me, however, the force had more than doubled. That upward thrust had been so powerful that it flung me beyond the reach of my influence. Unless I stretched it to a straight line. But I didn't have time for that. As soon as my essence thread was cut off, my body plummeted down, the weave dissolving.

My heart thumped with heightened excitement as my thought process soon expanded. Various solutions I could try to solve this little pickle came to my mind. Thrusting the kinetic force against the wind was one, though not really achievable with the current crunch of time. Shaping wind was far more feasible, and so was balancing my body for a safe landing. The thought acceleration ended, and panic returned to gnaw at my throat. My instinct took over, and somehow, I tried all three of the options.

In the end, my body reacted first. Then my fingers lurched downwards as green essence threads spun below to form wind and kinetic force. My fall slowed as I easily came down for a safe landing, both arms unfurling to balance myself. It was almost perfect to an outsider's eyes, but only I knew how stupid I acted with the fear of falling, even though there was never really a real danger of breaking even a bone with my high fortitude. As long as I toughened up my muscles, there would only be some scratches.

[A new Way is Accessible: Levitation I (0/100)] I let out a deep breath, and only then did I discover the others were looking at me, nonplussed. Some of my classmates had missed the whole thing, glancing around at others in confusion. My squeal had definitely called more attention than I wanted to deal with.

"What was that?" asked Instructor Delric, stepping closer to me. His class should have ended half an hour ago, but he had remained to guide a few students in their practice, where there was still no sign of the other instructor who should be here in his place. My palms were still itching to try it again, but I forced myself to answer the instructor.

"Sorry, I was trying levitation." Instructor Delrick shook his head.

"You're only common class, awakened for a couple of seasons. Levitation should be impossible for you." Well, it certainly didn't feel like that, I thought, though I only inclined my head in acknowledgement.

"Besides, it's too dangerous," said the instructor.

"What if you had fallen? You could have broken your arm."

"I will practise more carefully." Instructor Delrick met my gaze, held it for a prolonged moment, then shook his head, recognising he could not dissuade me from pursuing the way of levitation. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. True to my word, I practised much more sensibly until my essence ran out. Applying 32 essence threads in a steady stream of kinetic waves, I managed to remain levitated over a metre in the air.

My balance was still unsteady, and yet I couldn't wait to rise even higher. However, I refrained from acting on my impulses. It was only after I had found a bit of a rhythm with my balance—levitating with only the simple kinetic wave shaping—that I freed eight threads of essence and shaped them into the familiar weave of Empower. Instantly, the kinetic wave I was releasing surged, hurling me upwards once again, but this time only a storey high.

Already prepared for it, I stretched my influence in one direction to stay connected with the ground. Balancing at one metre high was not that difficult—perhaps a bit taxing on my essence seed—but I was definitely capable of it. However, the difficulty escalated the higher I went. A great weight contorted against my essence seed, twisting it as though a tremendous pressure had seized it.

I believed it was my own force working against me, and from the look of it, I didn't seem capable of bearing it for more than a couple of minutes. Unless... with the thought surfacing, I immediately channelled Essence Unification as the essence began to revolve in its ever-so-slow pace, drawing in more essence and repelling the force. It wasn't quite the solution, but it would do for now. Only about a minute later, I found that Levitation wasn't really sustainable in common class.

Not only did I have to maintain the complex weave of telekinesis, kinetic force, and Empower, but I also had to stretch my influence, which made the Weight distribution difficult. And finally, there was the need for Essence Unification to repel the inward force. Even with all that, it wasn't quite flying, as I hadn't quite figured out moving through the air part yet. Honestly, all of these issues could be solved by just having more essence threads, Weight, Influence, and Will.

"Wow, you're flying!" Diana exclaimed, standing beneath me with her eyes wide.

"Can I do it too?" Foolishly, she tried to utilise her few threads of essence while lunging into the air. Her feet lifted a few feet off the ground, though that had more to do with jumping than the careful manipulation of essence. Gravity pulled her down as quickly as she rose, though she wasn't easily dissuaded. Diana attempted her lunging and wave of kinetic energy a few more times until she clenched her fists in frustration.

"How are you flying?" she asked.

"Can you teach me, too?"

"Well, it's not so much flying," I muttered, "as it is stubbornly holding myself up in the air. To even consider it flying, I'd have to move through the air." With my mind made up, I tentatively tried to move the essence thread connected to the ground. It shouldn't have been a difficult task, considering I could do it effortlessly with all the elementary telekinesis practice I had done, but I soon found that was not the case. The reason was the weight I was bearing.

The essence thread had become far more rigid, sustaining my entire weight in the air. I practised moving in a circle, descending to hover only a few feet above the ground. Kinetic force costed far less energy than any other elemental shaping. The problem was Empower. As much as it escalated the power, it also devoured a large quantity of my reserve. Finally, with my Will and essence nearly depleted, I returned to the mortal plane, wiping a line of sweat from my face.

Then a feeling of crash overwhelmed me, as I couldn't help but lay down on the yellowed grass, wincing. I hadn't even rested for nearly long enough when my eyes fluttered open at a ruckus. It seemed Instructor Ao finally found time to take over the resistance training class.

"Ha! You finally found your way to class," said Instructor Delric, his expression full of disapproval as he gazed towards the newcomer.

"Didn't the Headmaster already tell you to be more punctual and serious about the classes?"

"I asked Tullia to cover for me today," Shaper Ao scoffed, "but she bailed on me at the last moment." Delric's gaze was full of reproach, as those reasons did not warrant such wasteful behaviour.

"Unlike you," snorted the patrician shaper, "I have more serious business to attend than training a few plebs."

"Serious business?" scorned Delrick.

"You seem to have this serious business quite often, as you ask Tuli to cover for you almost every other day." That was true as well. Not only did most of the resistance training fall on Shaper Tullia with his absence, but even when he did attend the class, he never did so at the correct time. It cost Shaper Tullia nothing more than her time, as she seemed to be busy all day as her duty lay with the milltes.

She hardly gained anything of real value from training a few kids—the monetary compensation was practically nothing. Yet she never showed any signs of impatience or anger during the classes. Tullia was delighted to give something back to the academy that trained her, not to mention that she was training the kids of her own town. That was something Shaper Ao lacked. He neither had a connection to the town nor did he seem like a man who could see outside himself.

"Humph, I have my own training to attend," said Ao.

"I can't squander my precious time to fully train these children. Excluding an exceptional couple, none of them stand a chance of attaining even noble class. Training them is nothing but a waste of my essence and time."

"Waste of your time?!" Instructor Delric's eyes grew cold, his jaw clenched and unclenched. That statement not only insulted the very place he had lived most of his life, but it even belittled the work he had been doing for the past few seasons.

"Then why did you agree to such arrangements, knowing that it will cut into your ' precious' time?"

"As I said, I had an arrangement with Tullia," said Ao, seemingly irritated with the whole thing about explaining himself.

"Her potential was already wasted when she reached the noble class. Only Oracle knows whose bed she warmed to get her into our guild. It is only right that she takes over these measly tasks." A red aura surfaced on Delrick's arms, his veins bulging, eyes narrowing with a crimson glow.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You think you have more potential than Tuli? Don't make me laugh. Tuli had to specifically request to remain here for a season as she wants to help the town, while you were left behind because your guild didn't need the likes of you.

"She's also advanced further than you, even though she's two years younger. Have some shame." The very air seemed to boil as soon as Instructor Delric finished.

"You foul-blooded cur!" Shaper Ao's voice boomed as his influence suddenly surged towards Delrick, the weight of his essence pressing down on the local instructor. While Shaper Ao wasn't much compared to even the likes of Alexis, it still made the very living air unbearable for most of the kids.

"You think I fear you, little lordling?" snorted Delric, unsheathing his sword. But by then, Ao's attack was already upon him. It looked like a battle was unavoidable. I wondered who was going to win. But more importantly, shouldn't these two instructors be more careful? There were dozens of kids scattered all around them.