Chapter 32:

Will took the reins to continue their conversation.

"Ok, so first, I need to learn to absorb energy from a source that isn't contained like a battery. Judging from my capacity, self contained systems just won't be an efficient way for me to get what I need. I do NOT want to try with my neighborhood for the first attempt, though. Ideas?"

"Actually," said Artie, "it occurred to me you could simply purchase a small generator from a hardware store for that purpose. It would help you learn to control the rate you absorb electricity at. You could also use it away from a populated area in case anything went especially wrong."

"You think I'll blow the thing up?"

"No. Truthfully, I'm not even certain how you COULD cause it to explode with an active drain. I have simply learned to expect anomalies where you are concerned."

"Hey… well, okay, that's probably fair.

Anyway, that's that part handled. Obviously, I need to work on my physical conditioning. Cierra, you said we'd be going more into technique moving forward?"

"Yup. You have the basics of not dying horribly down. I've actually been putting off the next phase of my own training for a while now, so we'll be moving forward together from here."

"Oh? What's the next phase?"

"Basically, we have to step up our ability to multitask. We'll start working on channeling our energy to concentrate it into specific body parts. It's tricky to manage while fighting, but makes a huge difference."

At that comment from Cierra, Sil opted to join the conversation.

"I had wondered if now would be when you'd introduce this technique. Will, do you remember when we tested your strength? I had you focus energy into specific muscle groups to get a more accurate gauge of your lifting capacity."

"Oh! I'd totally forgotten about that. I remember it made a pretty big difference. It was also when some of the potential for the electricity I have access to showed up."

"Correct. You will likely have an added layer of complexity in this phase of training, if you want to keep that from happening unintentionally."

"Ohhh… right. I'll want to have that under control before I actually try to hit someone at full strength. At least, assuming it's someone I'd prefer not to seriously hurt. Our regeneration would fix it, most likely, but I could probably do some real damage."

"Hold up," Cierra said suddenly. "I don't remember going over this with you guys before. Catch me up?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I totally spaced that story."

Will then described that afternoon's activities to Cierra, in as much detail as possible. He was surprised at how good his memory had gotten. He could easily picture everything that had happened.

After finishing his story, he followed up with a question.

"So, my memory is way better than before. I'm assuming that's a part of all of this?"

"Yeah, at our level I wouldn't expect to be forgetting much, moving forward. It doesn't help with attention spans much, but for recall it's amazing.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Where it really shines, though, is in multitasking. You'll naturally find yourself able to keep track of a bunch of different things all at the same time.

The hard part is getting yourself to actively engage that part of your abilities. When you've lived a whole life working to focus on singular tasks, it becomes a tricky habit to break."

"Huh. I'm not sure if I'll have an advantage there or not. My talent for singular focus is pretty limited without something like energy drinks to pull my brain out of the clouds. Hopefully, those will continue to help. Or… is there a chance this brain enhancement will compensate for that?"

"No idea. You'll just have to find out through practice."

"Okay, so how does it work? When Sil had me do it before, I basically had to layer the images in my head. One layer with my basic infusion map that covers my whole body, then another with slightly higher concentrations in specific spots. The worst part was making sure I maintained a base level in the rest of my body while managing to focus more into the right muscles."

"Sounds like you have the basic idea. I'm told that eventually we'll have a lot of fine control, and it'll be second nature. Obviously, I'm not there yet, but my grandfather showed me a demonstration once.

We have a few large steel strike plates, specifically for people like us to use in the place of punching bags. He punched it with his normal strength, basically like what we've been using. That was impressive on its own.

Then he channeled his energy into a strike. All I can say is, I do not want to learn what that would've felt like, before I'm a lot tougher than I am now. The fist shaped imprint left a solid impression on me."

"Isn't that basically what you did to shatter that boulder, earlier? How did he avoid hurting himself?"

"Sort of. That's what I was TRYING to do, but I didn't channel the energy right. I needed to have it suffusing that arm from the bones out. If I'd done it right, the arm would've been reinforced by the energy concentrated in it."

"One moment," Sil suddenly interjected. "Do you know how that reinforcement is accomplished, Cierra?"

"Huh? I was just told you have to get a high concentration of energy to the spots you don't want broken. Is there more to it?"

"Yes, there is. I'm not certain if the specifics were ever shared with your society, but what you're describing would be very inefficient.

When aetheric energy accumulates in sufficient concentration, it forms an energetic matrix similar to the crystalline structure of diamonds. That matrix acts as a scaffolding, or maybe exoskeleton, for the parts of your body involved.

Simply focusing a large quantity of energy would accomplish establishing that protection. That said, if you were to instead specifically visualize the structure the energy is to take, you would accomplish the goal far more easily."

"Okay… that makes a lot more sense. I'm honestly not sure if anyone in my family knows about that. I might have to figure out a way to ask them about it that doesn't give away that I have another source of knowledge.

Do me a favor, and feel free to butt in with any tips or tricks like that. Things like that could be a serious game changer."

"Of course."

"Well, it sounds like we have the basic framework for what we'll be up to for a while. I know we had thought about poking around up North tonight, but would you mind holding off on that another day?

If we go now, we could pick up a generator before the store closes, and use it tonight to get a start on our training. I bet you could use it to learn normal Operator electrical channeling."

"I'd be fine with that. Sil and Artie, do you guys have any problem with that? I know you've been watching for the stuff you want us to look into up there."

"I'm fine with it," said Sil.

"As am I," added Artie. "Based on previous patterns, I would not be shocked if you had another several months to train before the anomaly manifested again.

It shows up quite infrequently. It was rare enough that I queried my passive sensor readouts for the region over the last twenty years. That was the earliest occurrence I found.

Initially, it did not elevate to the level of needing my active attention. It was classified as a naturally occurring, temporary anomaly. It likely would have continued to evade my sensors, had the frequency of occurrences not steadily accelerated over time."

That comment tickled something in the back of Will's mind, but he couldn't put a finger on why. Trying to figure it out he voiced a question.

"What level of acceleration are we talking about, here?"

"Initially there was approximately two years between manifestations. As of the last 3 years, it has been recorded with only four to six month gaps between occurrences."

As much as he wanted it, he couldn't pin down what was bothering him about that pattern. He knew he wouldn't be able to force it, so he decided his best bet was to get a start on their plans for the night.

"Okay, moving on. Cierra, are you ready to hit the road?"

"Let's do it."