My hand clenched as I concentrated, my Telekinesis encompassing a rock and trying to Crush it. I frowned in focus as some sort of a light blue haze covered the rock, though it was unstable and fluxed every now and then. It was very unlike my mom’s, whose I remembered to have covered a whole boulder and crushed it nigh instantly.
Meanwhile, here I was, having a little trouble trying to crush a pebble that wasn’t even a hundredth of the size of the boulder lobbed at her. I was a little peeved, but I understood that these things don’t come quickly.
Quite literally, too.
My father had accepted my request to be taught how to fight, claiming that it was about time I started knowing how to use our skill (or skills) anyway. He went the extra mile too and decided to teach Jane as well, but after a week of trying to teach us both, it was too obvious that dad didn’t know how to teach, so he delegated mom to teach us both.
“Nnggh…” and if I was having trouble crushing the rock, then my four year old sister was having trouble trying to lift it. “How did you even lift it, Kane?” She complained as she pouted up at me. Her own haze—a light color of pink—covering the pebble in front of her, which was still stuck at the ground. I just shrugged and tried to focus at my rock.
To be honest, it’s probably the new thing I discovered after I went mute. The Telekinesis skill got a new part added to it. Other than the description, there was now Power and Control. I had gotten 4 in Control and 6 in Power after that night. It’s been two weeks since then, and now I have 13 in Control and 15 in Power. It wasn’t progressing as fast as I wanted it to, nor was it as strong as I expected.
I’ve been getting a little frustrated about it. The feeling of uselessness. My mom told me it was normal to be this slow, but I don’t really want it to be this slow. There could be another set of problems coming any time, and when it does come, I don’t want to be caught unaware and with my pants down.
I want to be strong for myself, and if I can, for those around me.
Instead of trying to Crush the rock, I instead dropped it. Jane looked at me curiously. Mom wasn’t supervising our training right now, Dad was doing something I still didn’t know—mom said something about him exploring? I’m not quite sure what she meant by that— Grandpa and Leroy were inside the house preparing lunch.
I looked at the pebble. It was cracked in the middle. I used my Telekinesis on it again and applied pressure on the crack, making it widen, spread, and then crumble.
Ah. That’s right.
I don’t need to apply strength to the whole thing. I just have to exploit the weak points of the design if I want to destroy it—that is, if I didn’t have enough Power for it. Idly, I noticed that I got 4 more points for Power and 6 in Control. That’s a lot—maybe it was a breakthrough for my level?
Jane was looking at me with sparkling eyes as I let the pieces fall to the ground. “Wow! How did you do that?”
I just smirked and pointed my finger at her pebble. It floated with a light blue haze, and I noted that it was far easier to lift the rock—I suppose that’s the new points in Control and Power working—and I applied pressure.
It was also far easier to destroy too.
Jane pouted at me as I quietly laughed. That’s a downside to being mute, I suppose. I can’t laugh at my sibling whenever they’re pouting at me—no matter how cute they are. I pat her on the head and grab another pebble with my Telekinesis, roughly around the same size as her last one. She greedily grabbed the pebble out of midair, making me release the pebble and allowing her to cover the pebble with her own Telekinesis. I noticed that I got 2 more Control points from destroying the pebble, but no Power.
Does that mean that things give less points when I keep destroying and or using them over and over? I mean, I suppose that makes sense, but that limits me a bit. I guess I can’t grind rocks all day long to increase my Power and Control.
My Telekinesis hasn’t gone up a tier, too. What do I have to do to change that, I wonder? It’s the only skill I have that doesn’t have a level. Then again, my only skills were Mental Resistance, which gave me a free gift of 10 INT and 5 WIS and Physical Resistance that just like Mental Resistance, gave me free attributes—10 on END and 5 on STR, which was really useful.
They weren’t Active skills, though, so they don’t count much.
My sister finally managed to make the pebble float, albeit shakily. Her face immediately brightened, and her bright blue eyes looking as if they were shining at the morning suns. I ruffle her black hair—the one thing we have similar—making her pout and whine again as I just smirked. I heard grandpa shouting as metal clanging was heard inside the large house, making me smirk again. Jane just tilted her head at me, and I made her go back inside with a shooing motion.
She shook her head. “I’m not going in without you!”
Cute. But I’m not taking no for an answer.
A light blue haze covered her back, making her yelp as I forcefully turned her around and gave her a light push towards the door. She turned her head at me and pouted even more—and I’m sure that if I still had vocal cords, I would be on the ground laughing—until I gave her another push.
“Alright, fine! I’ll tell grandpa! You better follow, though!” It was an odd thing—she was the one being protective of me. I dare say she’s more protective of me than I am of her, and I don’t exactly know what to make of it.
She’ll hopefully grow out of it. I don’t need any protecting.
Hopefully.
I heard the door creak and slam as Jane went in and yelled for grandpa. My TK Vision had expanded during the past few years—when I was born, it probably just extended for 5 meters—now, I can accurately see within 50 meters. I can technically see past it, but it will be blurry any further than 50. The maximum I’ve tried was 200 meters, anything after that was just impossible, like stretching out an arm past the limit.
And unlike using my telekinesis to grab things, this one didn’t expend much mana either. My mana regeneration far outstripped the usage cost, so I could use it anytime. I’ve resolved to constantly using it after the incident, determined to not be caught off guard again. Of course, my brain couldn’t really process anything past 20 meters, so I could only constantly see 20 meters around me, with 30 more meters outwards as an extra that I have to focus on.
20 meters is plenty distance though, so I haven’t been focusing on expanding my vision yet.
I’ve been noticing something, though.
I feel like everything I’m doing right now is…
Familiar.
But that’d be impossible, right? No one on Earth had Telekinesis—at least, that’s what science told me. I already know that my nightmare and the odd vision that popped up before I was dazed were memories, and neither of those conform to my knowledge of my former planet. For all I know, my knowledge could be wrong.
I really hope it isn’t. The memories of my old world’s scientific and mathematic knowledge were some of the few things still keeping me going—atoms, wind, the reasons on why the sky was blue. Science keeps me smart—and I believe it’ll give me an edge soon.
I lightly toss a pebble upwards and watch it fall back into my palm. I look up the blue sky and avoid looking at the two suns to not get blind and think about my current situation.
I need offense, I mulled as I flipped the pebble again. Pushing and Crushing is good, but they cost too much mana.
Push and Crush don’t cost much when used on inanimate objects, but on living things, they cost at least twice as more. They were certainly good on a pinch, but it was probably the reason why dad used the Psi Beam attack instead of pushing or crushing his enemies—it was far more cheaper and far more effective.
I believe mom also didn’t use those as her main attacks as well, but if she has anything else hidden up her sleeve, she hadn’t shown us yet. I probably wouldn’t show kids lethal attacks too, but my paranoia isn’t really helping me make a reason as to why mom should show me an example of her main offense.
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Nonetheless, I need to either copy dad’s way of attack or make up a new one, preferably of a ranged variation. I could probably coat myself in Telekinesis to extend my fist.
Hm, that’s a start.
I stretched and, with a telekinetically assisted hop (I pushed my feet upwards), I jumped over the fence covering our backyard and into the forest.
This was where I was taken through when I got kidnapped. I could still see residual mana—that’s another perk of my TK Vision—I could see mana with it. Typically, it was a mass of light blue color in the vision, standing out of the typical monochromic color with a blue tint of everything else.
I take my attention away from the mana residue and into the forest—specifically, a tree at the edge of it. It had a few dents in it from pebbles that I threw while enhanced with Telekinesis, but was otherwise unharmed. I have been trying to find a new type of offense for a few days now, and I found that “throwing things with Telekinesis” is a good offense since anything I throw with telekinesis is stronger than the ones that I throw on my own.
I, however, am going to try something else. I set myself on a brawler stance, and, while readying my Telekinesis, punch out, while also sending out the Telekinetic energy stored up in my fist.
Nothing happened.
I was disappointed. I expected at least something to happen! Maybe I was doing something wrong. I dismissed the window that said I got a point in Control and Power, I instead stopped trying to force the energy out. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have done that—Telekinesis is telekinesis, not some sort of laser thing. The laser thing is probably something else that I’d have to ask dad about later.
I took a deep breath, and I stopped gathering pure Telekinesis into my fist, and instead forced out a Push.
My fist hit air, and my Push became a lot more focused. The Push—no, it was a Punch—collided with the tree. I heard a crack, but when I saw the contact point, no hole was made, only a slightly bigger dent was made.
I raised a brow. I made a dent with my Telekinesis. I could simply Push a hole into the tree, but that would cost more mana than what my Punch did. I walked closer to the tree and saw that the dent was at least 2 inches deep, making me suck in a breath.
I had essentially compressed several kilos of force at a single point and shot it to a tree.
Holy shit.
It wasn’t left unrewarded, thankfully. A box popped up, which awarded me with 15 Control and 20 Power. It was a lot— it just doubled my Telekinesis’ power output and put my Control at 37. I wanted to test it, and so with a giddy smile on my face, I punched.
I hit the dent on the tree, and my punch went right through.
My eyes widened. I came closer to it tentatively, looking at it as if it wasn’t real.
I didn’t expect it. I thought the hole would just deepen, not that I would punch a fucking hole through it.
That’s a lot of power… I mused. I’ve essentially doubled my Telekinesis’ strength today. I should do this more often.
In fact, I should resolve to experiment with my powers more often. I had lazily conformed with my mother’s training exercises, and God knows that conformity just isn’t my thing. I’ve always been a practical learner.
I think? It just popped into my head. At least I know what kind of person I was before I died. I’ve been getting more and more memories after I got dazed by the psychic. I should ask my parents what kind of attack that was—maybe I’ll be able to lift the haze over my memories.
Then again, after feeling the hate that came from my nightmare, maybe not. Maybe there’s a reason that I only forgot my identity, and if there was, maybe it’s safer to just leave it alone.
I noticed another prompt after I punched through tree—a level up to my Psion job, granting me 5 INT and 2 WIS, and…
A tier up on Telekinesis?
Giddily, I open up my skill list—a list that can’t be checked with Appraisal Orbs, which was apparently what was used on me when I was born—and see that the tier did change, but was disappointed.
Telekinesis [Sting] Power 40 Control 37
I was disappointed because my points didn’t change, only the tier. Does anything change per tier? I don’t know. For all I know, it’s just a pretty name change, but I can’t test it right now. I have to go inside the house to eat lunch before mom drags me back in herself!
And so, I hurriedly hop over the fence again—noting to myself just how easier it’s become to the point of almost being effortless, unlike my shaky hop a while ago—and then quite literally, freeze at my tracks.
Crap…
“Now,” she purred, making a shiver run down my spine. “You’re going to tell me exactly what made you think you can escape my sight.”
---
The next day
---
I couldn’t do any more experiments with Telekinesis yesterday after being caught, my mom having chewed me out then grounding me after. I protested, but I only got forcefully dragged with her telekinesis to the dining area, forced to eat, then dragged while I was protesting to my room. Whenever I tried to leave, I was just pushed back inside, making my mood a bit sour.
The punishment was thankfully lifted today. I silently cheered as my comparatively tiny feet padded out of my room, running down the stairs before pausing at the third step before the ground.
A test for my new tier!
The bright idea that formed in my head almost made me grin. I jumped off the third step, but I miscalculated and simply tumbled forward, making my eyes widened as my mouth set itself into an ‘o’. I flailed my arms around as I fell, trying to find stabilization, before catching myself with Telekinesis.
I still fell. My telekinesis broke almost immediately, making me land on my face and breaking a nose.
Nose broken! -10 HP!
Shut up, system.
I groaned internally, which showed itself in my face, and rubbed my nose. A red welt was forming on my forehead, which had taken the brunt of the damage. Grandpa was in the living room already, cocking an eyebrow as he watched me rub my broken nose, before chuckling.
“My my, what did you do this time?” he chided. He walked over to me and held out his hand. “[Heal]!” Green light flowed from his hands and then into my face, setting it back into place and restoring my lost HP. “Tsk, you should be more careful,” but even as he said that, he was shaking his head, smiling and muttering something about children as he walked away. My eyes flickered to the door, which had just started to close.
“We’re heading out, old man!” shouted Keith. Ah, right, they did say that, right? “We’ll be at the usual place if you need us!”
Usual place? My curiosity was piqued—I had always wondered where my dad went whenever he was gone. ‘Hunting’, he claimed. I don’t exactly know what he was hunting, but he usually brought home a lot of gold coins afterwards, digging up a hole with telekinesis to bury the gold in and constantly reminding me that it’s there if I ever need it.
I don’t know how I’d dig it up, though. There’s at least 6 feet of rock and dirt between the surface and the vault, so I’m still unsure if I could even try to lift the thing. Maybe I’ll try again when I get stronger.
Heh, ‘when’. It’s not even a choice now—it’s basically a necessity. I was too passive before. My growth was slow, no matter how much mom tells me that my growth was anything but. I needed more stats, more levels, more skills! Power to protect myself so that I would never be helpless again.
Being helpless sucks. I’m also not quite keen on dying so quickly after my first time. I want to live long in this life, preferably at least 60 years and with quite a reputation. Hopefully.
So when I saw mom and dad leave for the cliff that was behind our house, I snuck past grandpa and Leroy (to be fair, it wasn’t hard to sneak past Leroy), opened the door, and dashed for where I last saw my parents went.
Maybe if I follow them, I’ll find power.
---
Selene giggled as Keith slapped another branch away from him, making it wind back and slam into his face again, making him curse.
“Damn branch!” He tore it off and, with a telekinetically enhanced arm, threw it into the air. Selene squinted as she laughed, seeing the branch fly off and still not arcing back down.
Her husband was just that strong. Her mirth faded a bit as she remembered the kidnapping incident.
Strength is useless without a brain, She lamented.
She was devastated when she found out that her son was mute. She was scared that he wouldn’t be quite the same, either. She had found happiness in the fact that, while he wasn’t the same as before, her son had changed for the better, with more drive and motivation, unlike before, where he was content to mingle with his parents.
She still didn’t like the circumstances of how he got that drive, though. She was happy with his exceptional—legendary, even—growth. She was proud of him for learning things that she herself hadn’t been able to teach him, and she was proud of his goal to better himself. It did not stem her guilt of failing protect her first son, but it did make her resolve strengthen to never make it happen again.
Which was why, after her bout of laughter at her husband’s situation, she asked him a question.
“Is this really wise?” She was worried for Kane. She knew that he was following them—that was the intent, after all. Keith would have just left and not said anything if he was doing his job normally. Her father hadn’t been alerted of the plan, since he would try to stop them. Selene herself had been initially against them, but caved in once she demanded she join him and observe her son.
“We’re here,” Keith announced. In front of them was the mouth of a cave. It looked pretty ordinary, but Selene, being an adventurer, had already recognized it.
“Now…” Keith smirked. Selene turned her head behind her when she heard Keith, before yelping as she was pushed to the wall. “He’s still several dozen meters, so let’s have a bit of fun before he comes, mm~?”
Selene’s only response was an embarrassed moan.
---
My parents came into my vision—dad pushing my mom to a cave’s wall and stealing a kiss, before letting go and dragging her inside. Mom looked to be dazed—I couldn’t see if she was blushing or not, thankfully—and let herself be dragged inside.
First of all, that was disgusting and I don’t want to see it again. Ever. Second of all, the cave must be my destination. That, or it’s my parents’ love cave. Worst case scenario, I walk in on them having a bit too much fun, best case scenario, I find out dad’s source of income.
And so, I jumped out of the foliage, and dashed for the cave. My parents had already gone inside a few minutes ago, so if this was what I expected it to be, then they’re already deeper inside. From the stories I’ve heard from grandpa…
The first floor of a dungeon should be decent enough for a beginner, right?
I heard a mix between a roar and a screech inside, its owner unknown for someone like me.
I took a deep breath to steel my nerves, closing my eyes as I readied my Telekinesis. I re-did some of the movements for Punch and Crunch, trying to motivate myself. I pick up a few pebbles and extend my TK Vision.
There’s so much mana around here—it’s definitely a dungeon!
And so, at six years old, I became one of the youngest people to step in a dungeon in the world, not that I knew.