There was something keeping the knife in place, resisting the force he applied to it. In the earlier test, he experienced a drag force dependent on the object's velocity. However, such a force is weak for slow-moving objects and does not affect a stationary one. This indicated that something else was at play here.
He should have expected it. Challenges never became easier, only harder. Each trial was a step to the next. In the first one, lifting the knife, he learned to move a weightless object using his mind waves. In the second stage, he perfected that ability, using constructive interference to stack his waves and make them stronger. So in this test, he would have to build upon that further.
He noticed that he was never given orbs as he progressed, yet the trials kept demanding more of him. This indicated it was not a test of power but of control. It was essentially a tutorial to gain mastery over his abilities, demonstrating all the potential uses. However, it was a ruthless and inhuman tutorial, with death by dehydration if he failed to keep up. He was forced to comply, with no choice but to continue if he wanted to stay alive.
He stared at the knife held in his past self’s hand. Now that he thought of it, it made sense for there to be a force resisting its motion. He had assumed that in an EM space, objects could pass through each other, but it seemed this was not the case. This meant that, if his guess was correct, there was an attractive force centered around the knife. To make it move, he would have to apply a force greater than that attraction; any force below it would encounter no reaction.
If his hypothesis was correct, and it was likely to be so, the solution to this trial was simple: apply a stronger magnetic force on the knife, a force that could overcome the attraction. Now, the process to get there...
“I curse you from the bottom of my heart, truly,” he muttered, taking a deep breath and stopping the channeling of his EM waves through the current in his sword.
He sat down on the floor. Using his mind waves constantly without a plan would only tire him. He first needed a course of action.
What tools did he have? He examined the metallic sword in his hand. That was about it.
“What else can I do with you? Wait… perhaps…”
Maybe the way he had been using the sword was not the most practical. Instead of just inducing a weak current that wouldn’t help much, he could use it as a focusing mechanism, directing and concentrating the EM waves toward the knife.
“Field strength times area... accounting for induction, but what about the loss? Let’s say a loss factor over heat... and then... wait, what about resonance? Can I use that too? Of course, but then... damn, the precision for the frequencies...”
He could see the interplay of the fields in his mind, each variable falling into place.
“It is... it could actually freaking work,” he said, his eyes widening with realization. He grinned, a surge of excitement and hope coursing through him.
He took a deep breath and focused.
First, he positioned the sword directly in front of him, aligning its tip with the knife. The sword needed to serve as a conduit for his EM waves, guiding them precisely toward their target. He closed his eyes and visualized the path the waves would take, flowing from his mind along the blade, and finally converging at the knife.
His mind waves were weak, but by focusing them along the sword's metallic length, he could concentrate their energy. He took a deep breath, then began to emit the EM waves, channeling them through the sword.
He could sense the waves moving through the metal, resonating with the sword's structure. He adjusted his emission, fine-tuning the frequency to match the sword's natural resonance. A faint hum filled the electromagnetic space as the waves began to harmonize with the sword, their strength increasing slightly.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
He calmly observed the results. The knife remained stationary, but he could feel a subtle shift in the magnetic field around it. It was a sign that his approach was working, albeit he was not quite there yet. He needed more intensity.
He needed to perfectly harmonize with the sword's natural frequency, and on top of that, he had to make the waves traveling down it constructively interfere. By stacking both effects and using the swords as a focusing lens, he could dramatically increase the output of his EM waves.
"Constructive interference... phase alignment... total energy output...," he muttered, numbers racing through his mind. He adjusted his grip on the sword, envisioning the waves merging perfectly, their energies amplifying each other.
Taking another deep breath, he increased the intensity of his emissions, carefully modulating the frequency. The hum grew louder in the EM space, though the physical sword remained still in his hands. He could feel the energy building, a pulsing force traveling down the blade.
"Alignment factor, and then... resonance coupling should stabilize... but I need to account for loss reduction," he whispered, making fine-tuned adjustments. The waves became more coherent, their combined strength amplifying further. The air around the knife shimmered, the magnetic field responding to the increased energy.
He focused harder, pushing the waves to harmonize even more precisely. The EM space around the sword thrummed with power, the waves converging at its tip. He could see the knife beginning to twitch, the magnetic field around it growing stronger.
"Almost there, just need to maintain frequency... optimize phase shift...," he muttered, his concentration unbroken. With one final push, he directed all his energy into the sword, the waves merging into a single, powerful pulse.
The knife moved, quickly slipping out from the grip of his past self's hand. It floated through the air, or more accurately, through the EM space, until it stabilized nearly a meter away.
Yet he did not remain still and went after it. His attention was completely focused on the knife. He understood that the force of attraction could be of three types: short-ranged, long-ranged and decreasing with distance, or long-ranged and constant. The first scenario would be best, while the second was something he could deal with, but the third… the third would be a nightmare.
Luckily, he watched the knife stabilize in space, motionless. For the first time, his preferred outcome came true. He breathed a sigh of relief. He gave it a final push, making it disappear as it went straight through a wall. As it did so, he noticed his past self opening its eyes. He had escaped the illusion.
His past self looked around, confused. Yet he did not notice the absence of the knife. He remembered he found that out afterwards.
It took some time until his past self's eyes gained a sense of understanding. As he did, the space around him shattered.
"So no food and water this time," he mused. "Great."
It did not take long this time. The EM space appeared again around him. As expected, it was the fourth trial, with the ring drawn on the floor. He was curious, however, as to what might be the challenge here. But then he quickly found out. There was no sword. So, did he have to lift it up again? Well, that was getting old. A stronger attraction force perhaps?
He tried sensing the sword but he could not. It seemed to be outside of his domain. So he walked until he was in front of the ring and smiled at the creature in front of him. The abomination was already holding its own sword.
"Well, at least you didn’t make me fetch his sword. That would have been hilarious."
But then a frown appeared on his face. Where was the sword he had to move? Even while standing directly in the position where the sword should be, he could not sense it, not even a blur at the edges of his domain. He tried crouching and moving his head closer to the floor, in case the sword was further down. But nothing. Not the slightest distortion. He then jumped up, easily reaching the 3-meter ceiling, but nothing on top either.
“Where are you…”
He then started meticulously inspecting the whole room. He took his time, just as he had done at the beginning of the latest trials. But still nothing.
His expression turned serious. Did he have to fetch the sword from the white creature? But that didn’t seem consistent with the nature of the tests. So far, he had been like an invisible hand, putting things in place for the trials he had passed. He had to complete the picture, just as he had done before.
In this case, the sword in the creature's hand was meant to be there. What was missing in the picture was another sword in front of the ring, the one his past self picked up to fight. So the question was:
“Where the hell is that sword?”