"Mate! What is it?" The shushing communicator looked at me with concern in his voice. "How do you manage that roar?" I asked him. "What roar?" His eyebrows shot up as he understood. He opened his mouth, but another voice was faster: "He's speaking of the interference the star creates."
We all turned to the new voice and stiffened. The communications instructors were looking at me. "Canceling out the background noise is the first thing any communicator learns. That will be your first lesson now." He looked around. "Cadets, disperse amongst the rooms and train communicating with your counterparts in Academy fourteen." They nodded and dispersed, along all but one of the instructors.
"You and I are going to use room 1, where I'll test you. It seems that you are a Master Communicator already." He looked at my shoulders. "Then again, that would not be all that surprising, eh?" I liked that guy. "Yes, sir."
In room 1, we sat at the Control Rod with two chairs facing each other. He explained: "As far as I know, communication magic is similar to the telepathic part of sensor magic. Only that we are fully focused on it, while the sensors have other things going on as well." I started getting the feeling that sensor magic was the more flexible and versatile combination of both communication and navigation. That description was very rough, but that seemed to be the gist of it.
"Because we only communicate, we have near-infinite range. The trade-off is that all bodies, large and small, interfere with our signals. Communication is done on a direct line from wizard to wizard. The difference between the ranks is this: Potential Communicators cannot filter anything larger than a pencil. Even dust clouds make things very difficult for them. Able Communicators can filter small obstructions like small asteroids, houses and the like. Master Communicators can filter small moons or asteroid belts."
"But sir, what about the star? if its interference is so strong, does that not mean that nobody can speak to anybody else?"
"No, those obstructions must be in the way between you and the wizard you communicate with. Everything else can be ignored, but it takes work. We'll get to that."
"Adept Communicators can filter out large obstructions like planets and Master Adept Communicators can finally filter out stars. So, if you wanted to communicate with someone on Eden 2, which is on the other side of the star right now, you would have to be Master Adept Communicator. As Eden 4 is in direct line of sight with us at the moment, communicating with someone there would take an Able Communicator. Some dust is always between the planets, so Able Communicators can only communicate with other planets and moons if they get very, very lucky."
I nodded and he continued.
"The other cadets are communicating with Academy fourteen, which is in direct line of sight with us. You will communicate with Eden 3-1, to prove that you are a Master Communicator. After all, you will have to communicate right through this here moon to achieve that." He grinned and patted the Control Rod. "First, you'll learn to filter out the background noise and small obstructions by communicating with me, right through this rod."
That should not be much of a problem, I thought. I was wrong, for some reason.
Breathing deep and opening my communication senses I was again almost blown away by the tremendous noise the star made. Slowly, bit by bit, I started pushing that noise away, turning it into a nice background rushing. That worked well enough, about half as easily as I had expected.
Then I focused on the Control Rod in front of me and the instructor behind it. The interference of the rod was small, so I tried to ignore it and send: 'Do you hear me, sir?' He nodded. After a second he lifted his eyebrows and smiled lopsided. Was he answering? I focused hard on him, which raised the volume of the interference by the Control Rod to almost unbearable - but I did hear something: '..., . ..n h... .o., P..m. ...e. - ... q.....o. ..: .. y.. ...r ..?' What? Pushing away the interference, I also lost the signal from the instructor.
Ooohhh... that was sneaky! By pushing away the interference I also silenced the signal. Increasing the signal also meant increasing the interference, so I had to work around the interference. Pushing it around in my mind, I sought a way to circumvent it. Maybe somehow bend the signal coming in around the interference? The problem was, that I did not exactly know what signal would come from where. Besides, not having sent it made this thought-line moot anyway.
So what was left? I could not ignore it without also ignoring the signal. I could not push it to the side to allow the signal to come in clearly. Shifting my head, so that the rod would no longer be in the way did not seem like a viable solution - if I were to communicate through moons that would not be possible.
Wait... THROUGH the moon? Through the Control Rod? Through was the only open option, after having ruled everything else out. So the question became: How in the name of all that's simple and easy did I listen to a signal through an interference it was not designed to go through in the first place? Because I could not assume that the sender would know all possible interferences, so there was no point in trying to push it through any interference in the first place.
That was a tough nut to crack!
I begun by listening to the interference the Control Rod was causing. Interestingly, it "looked" like the rod - size and form. Maybe some sort of echo, or sound-shadow? If so, and if communication through it was possible, then it could not be solid - however much it sounded solid to me at this point. Listening closer, I heard (more like saw with my ears) that its surface was not smooth but slightly rippled. Like a lot of tiny thin sticks bound together. With gaps in between the single sticks.
Those sticks thrummed with energy, and that's what caused the interference which I was hearing. Focusing on the gaps, I picked up the instructor's signal: 'Y.., I .an he.. y.., Pri.. ...et - ... que..ion is: Do .ou .ear me?' Aaahh, I was getting there.
'Yes, sir, I can hear you. Your signal is a bit unclear still, give me a moment to clear it up?'
'Ve.y we... Cl.ar ... signa., then .ell .. whe. .ou'.. rea.y .o .ove on.'
It was difficult to distinguish the instructor's signal from the interference and background rushing. While I considered how to solve that one, my right shoulder itched a bit. Scratching it, I touched one of my ribbons and that's when I had the idea that would eventually make me one of the strongest communicators in our species. I might change the color, or at least the tint, of the single sounds!
Until then, when I listened to the universe it was, relatively dark, the brownish yellow of communications magic. Communications signals were streams or bubbles (depending if the signal was sent in a directed stream or a general bubble) that were a bit brighter and the interferences glowed brightest. Of course, I did not see all of that just yet, that what it would have sounded like to me if I had been a strong communicator back then. At the time, it was just a brownish yellow mess.
Staying true to the color of the magic, I darkened the background significantly. That did not change much to my senses, because the interferences were dominating everything. So, I dimmed those next to make them not glow as much at least - and that had a dramatic impact. Suddenly, when listening around, I actually heard things that made sense. There was the moon beneath me, but I could also hear the planet just over the horizon, the star and some other points that might have been the other planets. Eden 3, being a gas giant, was quite clearly visible. I said aloud: "Beautiful."
I suddenly was bathed in a stream of brownish yellow: 'Communications magic has active components, but is mostly passive listening to the beauty of the universe. The instructors of the other colors you already visited told me to not instruct you but, as they said, wait and see. I must say that I am impressed. Usually cadets require months of training before they become halfway useful. The cadets here who are trying to communicate with the ones in Academy fourteen are mostly barely able to make out what they are trying to tell them. It's the same the other way around.'
'Well sir, in all honesty this has similarities to sensor magic, though much less than I would have thought. So I had kind of a hea
d start. The next color will be the real test I think: Shields.'
'But first, let's see how strong a communicator you already are. We will speak with Eden 3-1 now. There is no free line of sight between us and them, in fact this here moon is in the way.' He pointed to the ground. 'Call the Eden 3-1 capital please and see if you can make out their answer.'
'Eden 3-1, this is Eden 6-1, Prime Cadet Xandrian Stone speaking. Do you copy?'
'Eden 6-1, this is Eden 3-1, Commander Ban Xixi speaking. You come through loud and clear. Repeat after me: In my free time, I like performing cartwheels on a cat's back.'
That sentence did not make any sense at all - then again, that might be the point. Me not being able to guess the sentence and therefore cheating. So, I repeated dutifully:
'Um, I like performing cartwheels on a cat's back.'
'Eden 6-1, Commander Ban Xixi, this is Eden 3-1, Lieutenant Anton Farland speaking. Do you agree that the Prime Cadet is at least a Master Communicator?'
'At least. Let him communicate with Eden 4, that's behind Eden 6.'
'Will do, thank you for your time. Eden 6-1, out.'
'My pleasure. Eden 3-1, out.'
That would mean Adept Communicator.
Lieutenant Farland looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I nodded, focused on Eden 4 and learned that the difference between communicating through a moon and a planet is a rather large one:
'Eden 4, this is Eden 6-1, Prime Cadet Stone. Do you copy?'
'Ed.n 6-1, this .. ..en 4, Comm...er .onov.. ...een. You co.. ..rough loud and c..... ..peat af... ..: ... cam..'. hum.. are ...egu... a.. ..ste li.. straw......s.'
I frowned and looked at the Lieutenant. "I got only parts of that. I assume that I should repeat something that I could not make out."
He nodded. "It would have been scary otherwise. This gives you something to work on during the rest of the academy." 'Eden 4, this is Eden 6-1, Lieutenant Anton Farland speaking. The Prime Cadet has not received your message loud and clear and cannot repeat your test sentence at this time.'
'Unders..... Bu. he hea.. so....ing, ..ich is some..... to …. on. Ca.. .e ag... when ... wi.. to ...t him a.ain. E... 4, out.'
'Will do, thank you. Eden 6-1, out.'
The Lieutenant looked at me. "I'll be following your progress with curiosity. But for now, listen to the system and acquaint yourself with the voices of the planets and moons. That will make communicating easier."
What can I say - I will never forget the week that followed. There was absolute peace, and I took the time to just listen. My failure with Eden 4 did not weigh too heavily on me, there was time still to improve after all.
Chapter 3: SHIELDS (pain)
The next week was as painful as the healing week had been. In some ways, worse, in others slightly less so. The shield training rooms were just below the communications training rooms, so that was familiar at least. Other then that, I was entering into something completely unknown to me. A totally new color that I had never used, nothing even slightly similar either.
So I was naturally excited and could not wait to start.
When we gathered in front of training room 1, the shields there greeted me with enthusiasm.
"Yo, the Prime Cadet is here!" "Let's see what he can do when he has to do some REAL magic!" "Guys, he's a healer. He knows."
That last one was met with a lot of nodding. "True that."
"Know what?" I looked at them with raised eyebrows.
"Pain."
Oh. True, shield magic was one of the painful disciplines - along with healing magic. So there might be something familiar there. "What kind of pain?"
"It's a pressure in your head and body. But it's worst in your head. If you can take it, your shield will hold. If it's too much, your shield will collapse and you'll get physically hurt. That's shield magic. Still wanna try?"
I grinned. "Sure. I am here to learn."
"Good." That was the chief instructor. "Everyone, to your rooms. Prime Cadet, we'll use room 1." Total surprise there.
"Aye, sir."
We entered the room, which was the same size as the communications rooms. There was a single cot in its center, with a large segmented ring-shaped structure all around where my waist would be if I lied in the cot.
"You will lie in this cot and make a shield around yourself. That ring will tighten until it's 2 meters in diameter. Your job is to stop it from doing that. I will see how strongly the ring was pressing on your shield by the time you loose and based on that I'll know how strong you are. When it gets too much, yell 'stop'."
"Can I really test my limits in there?"
"Yes, if you feel like getting an order of the Broken Leg. Though, most can't hold their shields until they collapse."
I smiled. "Aye, sir." Then I got on the cot.
"Focus on yourself, imagine a shield all around you. Then make it happen. We call that 'to shield up'. Most shields use some physical crutches like clenching their fists or other body-parts, taking a deep breath and press it, as we say, which is to both try to hold the breath and try to exhale with all your might at the same time."
I got the overwhelming urge to not use such a physical crutch. I did not know how or why, but I decided to listen to that urge and just relax, doing everything in my mind - the hard way. I focused on the cot and my wish to protect both it and myself. That did not work at all. So, on a hunch, I focused on how it felt to raise a mental shield around my mind and tried to turn this physical and engulf the cot and myself.
Immediately, I felt a small pressure in my head and a very slight aching in my entire body. Out of a reflex, I looked at those pains, analyzed them and accepted them. Just like in healing magic, where dulling the pain reduced your performance I did not dull it now but kept it and worked with it.
"Good, Prime Cadet. Now I will contract the ring."
Staying calm, I waited. Then, after a couple of seconds, I felt a pressure on my forehead. That must be the contracting ring!
So I did not budge but held the shield. The pressure increased quickly, and the dull pain in my entire body slowly intensified. This was different than taking a patient's pain into yourself, it was more gradual. Actually, it was a lot less bad than healing - especially an amputation!
So I focused on steady, slow and deep breathing, keeping the shield up against the rising pressure. The whole time I avoided any physical moves like clenching my fists or jaws, gasping or whatever else other shields did to help them concentrate. There my healing experience helped me greatly, actually. There I could not do any such things to help with concentration, I needed to focus fully on the patient to heal them properly.
The pressure steadily intensified, by now it was really hurting in my whole body and my head felt like it was about to split in two. Yes, I held on because I knew that I could physically take more stress than that. Just when the pain was getting too much I clenched my fists and tried to redirect some of the pain into my hands.
To my surprise, it worked. The stress on my body went down a notch or two and I became able to withstand even more. I think I heard a crack or a creaking or something similar, but I was not sure. Maybe just some of my knuckles.
When I felt my shield begin to buckle, I was stiff like a board and probably making a horrific face but I tried to hold on as long as possible. Then, from one instant to the next, my shield faltered and pain that was several times worse than the ongoing pain I had just been in exploded throughout my body and especially my head. I cried out, loudly, heard some clattering and passed out.
Chapter 4: THE ODER OF THE BROKEN LEG
Waking up was similar to after the crashed Brick. It was slow and painful. Ah, maybe worse than after the Brick - this time I felt clearly that I was hurt badly. Also, I was still lying on the cot in the shield training room - so I could not have been unconscious for long. Immediately I focused on my pain and analyzed what was wrong.
There was extensive damage in the core of my body, head to toes. Basically, there was a col
umn of injury in each leg, from the toes upwards along the bones all the way to the hips where the two columns from the legs joined. A thicker column then went up along my spine to my neck. It stopped right underneath my brain though. My arms were uninjured.
When the door to the training room flew open and two healers stormed in I was working to get my stuttering heart going at a good rhythm again. The healers went to my head and feet respectively and started working immediately.
"He's alive!" the head-end healer yelled, which was answered with a bit of cheering from outside the room. "He's already healing himself!" yelled the foot-end healer, which got a lot more cheering. Why would people cheer when told that I was alive?
Then the three of us got to work, each handling as much load as we could. That meant that I did almost all the healing, with them supporting and taking care of some small things. I have to say, after that explosion of pain when my shield had failed this was almost a walk in the park to me. It was bad, sure, and exhausting - but nothing I could not handle.
Xandrian Stone Book 3: The Academy Part 2 Page 2
