Lug had finally returned home after a few hours of training with the old woman.

He had not been able to crack the ice yet.

But he was not disappointed, he felt that he was getting better and better at controlling his psychic energy.

That night, he had trouble sleeping.

Lug was so excited about his progress, that he got up at dawn the next day.

He went out of his house, wearing his trusty coat. Said hello to the old woman, who was - strangely - already on the swing. Then he hurried toward the fountain.

He raised the sleeve of his coat and once in front of the pile of ice, began to slam it - gently.

Lug took the habit of densifying his psychic body on his arm and his hand.

As he was focusing he began to feel something.

Something that he had not felt before.

There was a border between the psychic body and the physical body.

The sensation when he focused on the psychic part of his arm was very soft, almost like floating.

On the contrary, his physical body was very stable, solid. He could feel his heart beating in his veins, his tendons tightening, his muscles moving.

"The heavy and strong physical body can give off the force needed to crack the ice, but the psychic body is.. It’s too soft. They are like opposites…" Lug thought to himself.

Upon deepening his attention, he realized that the floating, light feeling that filled his arm; he had experienced it before.

It was in Primont, when he had the impression to have left his body.

"It was not just an impression, it was my psychic body! I felt it… I was out of my physical body! It was real !" he said to himself as he stopped hitting the ice.

His realization was like an electric shock. It brought him new possibilities.

His mind then wandered, thinking of all the things he could do being invisible and able to walk through walls.

"Lug!" shouted the old woman from the swing set.

She may have been far away, but she knew everything that was going on near the fountain.

Lug flinched when he heard her voice and began to tap the ice again.

He watched the old woman in the distance, out of the corner of his eye, resume her swinging motion.

"I'm never going to make it like this, I have to find something else... “

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After letting his mind wander for a few more minutes, he pulled himself together.

“No, I need to focus. Get back to basics.”

He had finally regained control of his thoughts.

“Visualize the result. The ice cracking under my palm, a few shards of ice flying around... No. More than that. I need to visualize with more precision... The smell, the cold sensation on my palm...“

Lug let his hand rest on the ice, breathing in the cold air through his nose.

"Even deeper! I feel the blood flowing through my veins, brought by oxygen-rich arteries... My lungs filling up with air and psychic energy... Deeper still... I feel... Psychic energy in my veins, in my muscles... In every cell of my arm. It's not separate from my body, they are penetrating each other..."

Lug was so deeply focused that he didn't immediately feel the sensation of electricity in the palm of his hand.

In fact, he didn't feel his hand, nor his body.

He was in a deep trance.

He raised his hand and hit the ice, with a swing of only 10cm.

A crack was heard and water splashed out.

The old lady stood up and leaped to Lug in a few steps.

She was stunned.

Lug had left a crack so deep that water had escaped.

"The ice was about two inches deep..." she mumbled in shock.

Lug slowly opened his eyes, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep.

He looked down at the ice and saw the big crack he had left.

He didn't look surprised, he turned to his teacher and said:

"I finally figured it out."

"Yes, Lug. I saw that."

"What's next?"

"You're going to spend the day in bed."

Lug squinted his eyes.

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"Strengthening your body with psychic energy is a kind of doping. It allows you to use your body to its furthest limits. But there is a price to pay for it, especially if you are not used to it. And even more so when, like you just did, you are strengthening so many muscles at once. You're going to spend a day, maybe more, without being able to move your arm. Come back and see me when you're better. Good luck."

After saying this, the old woman walked quietly back to the swing.

Immediately, Lug began to feel a tremor in his arm.

It was slight, but he took it very seriously.

He walked back to his house.

Once back home, while taking off his coat, he felt a slight pain now accompanying the shaking.

He then hurriedly removed his shoes and went to heat some water.

"Okay, I need to stay calm." he said to himself as he felt his arm getting heavier and heavier.

The pain was getting worse and worse and he was already unable to clench his fist.

He took some painkillers and went to bed.

After a few minutes he felt as if his arm was on fire.

Turning to look at it, he panicked.

His arm had turned red.

His veins stood out like the bodybuilders he had seen on TV.

“Besides, it looks swollen now, doesn't it?” he thought, looking at it with disgust.

Lug was familiar with pain.

But the thought that he might lose his arm was a whole new level of stress.

Lug managed to calm himself and come up with an idea to ease the pain.

"I will focus the energy with the intention of healing myself, that should do something."

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Visualize the result. My veins, my muscles, my bones... Uggh…!"

The pain intensified suddenly and so strongly that he almost fainted.

After this failure, he remained there, on the bed, with his arms stretched out, waiting.

He focused only on his breathing to forget the pain.

At that moment, it radiated from his trapezius to his fingertips.

He had never experienced such a degree of pain, but what made it all the more unbearable was the thought that he might lose a limb.

It was going to be a long day for Lug.