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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:30 pm
52
He had to live for each of them. He needed to be strong for his father, mindful for his mother, and he had to seize the world by the reins for his sister. He had to carry their spirits with him.
Vyrtem imagined the heat flowing into him. Filling him with fire and energy He tempered that energy with his newfound passion and forged it into raw power. A burning hot light filling his body to its limits. From his crown to his toes, all that he saw was light. And suddenly he felt it. It was subtle. His lungs no longer burned. He could breathe without pain. It was a small comfort, but a huge victory. His heart swelled and he felt his family smiling encouragingly.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:34 pm
53
He began taking deep, regular breaths, and imagined with each breath that he was drawing power into himself and filling himself with it. He made no further progress that day, though, and after he had lunch with the workers he meditated on what he had accomplished.
When he went home that night, Vyrtem felt strong and sure, and he went to sleep to dream of his family. He remembered a day that they were all playing in a field without a care in the world. His mother sat with his sister on a picnic blanket and he and his father played swords with a couple of sticks they'd found. He had been three at the time. He woke with a smile on his face.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:36 pm
54
The next morning, Vyrtem repeated his routine. Bathe, groom, breakfast, then down to the furnace room where he meditated on the foundations of Tutaminis. He took what he had read and applied it to his own experience and tried to draw more strength from that. But it was no use. He could breathe, but he could not make any more headway. He did not grow angry, though. Instead he bid the guys farewell for the day, had lunch in the cafeteria and returned to the library.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:40 pm
55
He certainly didn't need to worry about being crowded out of the library. It was a ghost town.
Vyrtem was met by the librarian after he had sat back down to read. The old man smiled and clasped his hands.
"Welcome back. Did you find what you were looking for?"
The young Sith looked up from the tome and furrowed his brow slightly. "I guess so... I mean I understand the concept, but I'm having trouble with the implementation. I've hit a brick wall, I guess, and I'm just beating my head against it.
The librarian smiled knowingly and nodded. "I assume that you are following Darth Trax' curriculum?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:43 pm
56
Vyrtem nodded. "I'm trying to, at least. Like I said, I'm stuck."
The man continued smiling. "Well, mastery of an art like Tutaminis takes a lifetime. It is something that you practice every day in an effort to fully understand."
The boy shook his head slowly. "I mean... I have the patience now to practice, that's not the problem. I'm willing to put in the time, but I feel like I'm stuck. I feel like I'm not getting something, but that it's right in front of me."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:47 pm
57
The librarian pulled out a chair and sat across from Vyrtem. "Well, I'm no expert, but maybe I can offer a fresh perspective. Maybe you are just too close to the problem. Taking a few steps back might help us get to the bottom of things. What have you gotten so far, Initiate?"
Vyrtem figured that the librarian was a learned man, and may in fact be able to offer a new perspective on the situation. "Well, you're familiar with the idea, yes? Darth Trax says that Tutaminis is the first step to immortality --or, at least as close as we can get-- and that one must master it before continuing to practice his teachings."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:52 pm
58
"I recall something like that, yes. It is said that the ability could allow one to absorb and redirect all sorts of energy without being harmed by it, correct?"
Vyrtem got excited. Someone understood what he was trying to do. "Exactly! Darth Trax says that if you master this ability, you may even be able to catch and redirect lightning."
The librarian pursed his lips thoughtfully. "A bold claim. And dangerous, too. What if you should make a mistake? It could be incredibly costly."
Vyrtem nodded. "But what is the alternative? Having no defense at all? Being completely exposed?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:58 pm
59
"So it's better to have a back-up plan than to be caught off guard, you're saying? So what's the problem? You know why you need it, and you know what it does. What has you beating you head against this metaphorical wall?"
Vyrtem sighed and shrugged. "That's the problem. I don't know. I mean, I thought that I had it, but it's still just out of reach..."
The man nodded. "Sometimes that happens. But there's always a reason. Tell me more about the technique. Maybe I can help."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:02 pm
60
"Well, the way it works, Darth Trax says, is that all energy is connected. Heat, electricity, and even the Force. What is supposed to happen is that you take the excitement of the particles and channel it through your body and into the Force, allowing you to transform one form of energy into another."
The old man smiled. "So you're basically just a transformer; a mechanical tool to transform physical energy into Force energy."
"Yes. And while I can absorb some, I cannot seem to gather enough to work. I can't seem to get the technique down. I can't convert it into anything I can actually use."
"Ah. I see your problem. That's a tough one. Tell me, how do you make it work?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:06 pm
61
"Well, I practice in the furnace room... He felt like he could trust the man, for some reason, and was not worried about telling him the truth. "And I imagine the heat entering my body and transforming inside me into power that I can harness."
The man perked up. "Tell me, how does the heat enter your body?"
Vyrtem frowned. "I breathe it ine, and with every breath, I transform it. It doesn't even hurt to breathe down there anymore. Why do you ask?"
He smiled knowingly. "You know, I think we may have gotten to the root of it.
"Really?" Vyrtem was confused. "How? What?" He was excited now.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:11 pm
62
The man gestured with his finger. "What if..." "What if it's a matter of surface area?"
Vyrtem was thoroughly confused. "I'm sorry?"
"Bear with me. You say the particles need to touch you to transfer energy, right?"
"Yes. I believe so." He nodded, wondering where this was going.
"And you say that you draw power with every breath."
"Yes..."
"What if there is simply not enough heat in your lungs? What if you tried ignoring your breathing, or held your breath, and focused on where the heat was touching your skin? You have quite a bit more skin than lung, don't you?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:16 pm
63
Vyrtem sat in silence for a moment. Thinking. Processing. Holy crap. He was right! "I think that's it!" He almost jumped out of his chair. He almost whooped aloud. "You're a genius!"
The librarian waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, no... I'm just an old man. I've been around the block a few times. I just got lucky."
Vyrtem couldn't wait to try it out. He thanked the librarian profusely and returned to his room to wait on morning to come. he was bouncing all night, giddy with anticipation. Tomorrow was the day.
Tomorrow was not the day. It was a different crew of workers today, and Vyrtem could not convince them to let him stay. He sagged his shoulders in defeat and went back to his room. There he sat on his bed and stared at the wall, restless.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:20 pm
64
There had to be something he could do. Anything.
He dared not show his face at the training grounds until he had let his embarrassment fade away. So what was he to do? He was too excited to go back to the library, and he wanted to practice.
He devised a plan. He crumpled a ball of paper into a ball and placed it on the floor, then he knelt in front of his window, with his back to the sunlight that poured into the room. His goal was to channel the power of the sun into Force energy and move the paper. He was not allowed to use his own energy. He had to use nothing be the sunlight's power.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:23 pm
65
He spent hours staring at that infernal piece of paper. Vyrtem imagined the sunlight pouring over him and soaking into his skin. He envisioned that energy mingling with his own and feeding him. Nourishing him. With all of his might he strained to squeeze enough juice out of the sunlight to move that damned paper. And he failed. He just wasn't efficient enough. He began to grow angry, but he couldn't even do that right. He became frustrated and he had to close his eyes to tears that threatened to come. After all this, he was still powerless. He would never make his family proud. He didn't deserve to bear his own name. His family's name. He began to sink in on himself when a sudden, subtle movement caught his eye.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:28 pm
66
No... It... It couldn't be...
It happened again. And again. The small ball of paper wobbled, as if disturbed by the faintest wind. Vyrtems eyes shot open and he willed the ball to move. And it did. It slid slowly across the floor. Vyrtem held out his hand and the paper hopped into it.
He... He'd done it. He'd finally done it!
He could scarcely believe it! he held his palm flat as the ball began to float over his open hand.
In the end, his family had seen him through it. He had them to thank for his success, he knew. Vyrtem did not pretend to take sole credit for his accomplishment, and he did not mind sharing the glory.
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