Chapter 2 Book 1 Practicing Secretly
That night, as she lay in bed, she stared at the floating status window before her eyes. The word "Telekinesis" seemed to mock her. The bar, still mostly empty, was a promise of a future she now feared. The joy of her discovery had been replaced by a heavy cloak of fear.
But this did not deter her from practicing her ability. She knew that her ability could help her someday. Though people might abhor her, she had seen a few mages in the town; they are not as bad as her teacher told them to be.
"Don't worry, Teacher Elara. I will not be a bad Magii. I will be a good one that would help people who are in danger," she thought to herself as a strong determination grew in her heart.
…
Xu Mei's nightly routine changed. After the other children had fallen into a deep slumber, she would pull the thin blanket over her head, creating a small, private world. In this space, she would focus, her eyes fixed on a small flat wood next to her. With the cover on her head, she would concentrate and try to move the small piece of wood.
"Move… Move…" she chanted in a low voice as she tried to concentrate on the motion she wanted for the piece of wood.
Soon, the small piece of wood began to move, but it was a small nudge. However, this movement has already made Xu Mei feel happy. Although it is dark, the floating window seems to illuminate the darkness a few feet around her like a nightvision.
Telekinesis progress +1
The information appearing through the floating window made her smile. She knew that her practice was effective. She just has to continue with this a hundred times, and she will advance to the next level.
Telekinesis progress +1
Telekinesis progress +1
As she continuously practiced, her points rose, giving her a kind of elation she had never felt before. After two hours of constant practice, she was now able to make the small piece of wood float a few inches off the bed.
"Yes!" she cheered, but quickly kept her voice down.
She carefully peered out of the blanket. When she saw no one, she heaved a sigh of relief. However, her elation soon vanished as she noticed that even after making the piece of wood float in the air, she did not gain any experience.
"What is happening now? Am I doing it wrong?" she muttered in confusion.
She stopped and looked outside the blanket. She soon saw a few wooden blocks on the side table. An idea came up to her and she suddenly thought of something. The blocks are heavier than the piece of wood, but her hand can carry them without any problem.
She then carefully takes a wooden block then places it on the floor beside her bed. She was careful not to be noticed or seen by the others.
"Let's see if this will work," she muttered as she lay on her bed while looking at the block.
Her initial attempts were clumsy and exhausting. She would spend what felt like an eternity, her entire mind straining, to move the block a few inches. The progress bar in her window would flicker and gain a tiny percentage.
Telekinesis progress +1
Telekinesis progress +1
However, she would stop every now and then as she felt movement from the other beds.
"This would not do. I need to practice without looking at the blocks," she thought.
She had an idea, but did not know if it was feasible. As a child, Xu Mei's imagination was still active, and she imagined that she was able to move the block without even looking at it. She slowly closed her eyes and carefully felt her surroundings. She began practicing, feeling the mana in the air.
"Yes… I can feel it now," she muttered as she became familiar with the sensation.
She learned to listen to her body. She could feel the mana, the raw magical energy Teacher Elara had described as chaotic, flowing through her. It was a tingling, warm sensation in her chest that she could push into her mind, like a muscle. She did not know why she was able to do this, but she just followed her instinct.
At first, the sensation was overwhelming, and she would quickly lose focus, the block clattering back to the floor. But soon, as she became familiar with it, everything became easy.
Her practice became a game. A secret, high-stakes game. She would try to move the block in a straight line, then make it turn. She would try to lift it and hold it suspended for as long as she could, her small forehead furrowed with concentration.
The block was too much for now, and she could not maintain such intense practice. So she looked for a lighter one so that she can practice control.
She saw the tiny feather and decided that she would play with it, making it dance and spin in the air just above her blanket. She felt a strange, quiet elation with every small victory.
"Xu Mei?" A soft voice from the next bed startled her. It was Maya, another girl her age.
Xu Mei quickly dropped the feather, which fluttered silently to the floor. She pulled the blanket down, her heart pounding. "Yes, Maya?"
"Are you playing with your doll?" Maya's voice was thick with sleep. "I heard a funny noise."
"Just… just… Yes, sorry… I can't sleep," Xu Mei lied stutteringly, the words coming out easier than she thought they would. "Go back to sleep."
Maya mumbled something incoherent and fell back into a rhythmic slumber. Xu Mei let out a shaky breath. She had to be more careful. The orphanage was a place of shared spaces and thin walls. Her secret was always on the verge of being exposed.
She started her next practice by placing the objects under her bed, hidden from view. The space was cramped and dark, but she could still see the objects using her 'night vision'. As she practiced, her attunement on the mana in her surroundings became more sensitive.
"So this is the Mana I have read in books?" she thought as she became more aware of the strange energy in the air.
As her practice moves on, her sensitivity to the mana sharpens so that she is now able to detect and move it around her.
Then she tried an experiment, since she is sensitive to mana, she can use it to look at her surroundings. As she focuses, a new world suddenly appears before her. It was astonishing as if she could see the world even when her eyes were closed.
"I think I now have a new ability," she thought, but frowned when she saw nothing on the window screen.
"Well anyway. I should just call this ability… my mind's eye."
Contented with naming her newfound skill, Xu Mei began to practice seeing her surroundings using it. She discovered that her mind's eye has a limit of around 10 feet. She could only see everything within 10 feet using her mind's eye.
"This is already enough," she muttered with a smirk.
After that, she continued with her telekinesis practice.
She would push her mana out, her focus a sharp, invisible force, and the objects would begin to slide and shift on the dusty floorboards. It was a new challenge, a way to train her power without the visual aid of seeing the object move. The progress bar advanced steadily.
Telekinesis progress +1
Telekinesis progress +2
…
One night, several months after her birthday, she was practicing with a collection of small wooden blocks she had stacked. She was trying to unstack them one by one without knocking over the rest, a delicate and difficult task. She had a small block hovering in the air, a tiny victory she was savoring, when she felt a movement in the next bed.
Xu Mei has been careful these past few months and has already gained much experience in her practice. So the movement made her frown as she did not know if she was discovered or not.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked in the direction of where she felt the movement.
Leo, the timid boy who had asked her about the spider months ago, was awake. He was staring at her bed.
Xu Mei froze, her heart stopping. She wanted to make the floating block descend gently, but her panic made her lose control. The block dropped with a loud thud.
"Whoa!" Leo whispered, his eyes wide. He sat up, peering under her bed. He saw the blocks. They were scattered on the floor, but then one of them, the one she had been trying to levitate, began to slide on the ground as if something was controlling it. It moved slowly, smoothly, as if pulled by an invisible string.
Leo's eyes grew as big as saucers. A small, terrified whimper escaped his lips. He scrambled out of his bed and ran to the center of the dormitory, pointing a shaking finger at Xu Mei's bed.