Chapter 7
Later that week, the four of us were in our house in the forest. It was Me, Ax, Tobias and Sam. Actually, Tobias was off hunting at the time, so it was just the three of us. Ax was putting together the thingy the best he could and Sam was testing me.
He actually wanted to fight me while I was wearing a blindfold. How stupid was that? I mean, it wasn't fair in the first place. Sam with the Telekinesis and stuff. But it wasn't that simple. He was going to take it easy on me. I was reluctant, as you could guess. Sure, I could think ahead, but how was I to do it with a blindfold?
"Seriously, I need to see if what Ax says is true. If you can read surface thoughts or not." Sam said encouragingly.
"Sam there is a huge difference between predictability and being psychic. Sure, that would be cool, but I don't want to jump anywhere. Can't we start lower?" I complained. I was in no rush to fight with a blindfold.
"No, there is no lower step, and you have to start somewhere. Here." He pulled out a black strip of fabric. It was thick enough to cover and keep me from seeing when it was folded. He tried to put it on me but I backed away. "Oh, come on, Ax is over there creating a Z-space transponder and you can't train with a blindfold? Bruce Lee could do it."
"Yes, but Bruce Lee dedicated his life to this kind of thing and he had better reflexes than I do."
"Oh, quit whining and put it on. If you want to get stronger, then we need to start somewhere. And if what Ax and I say is true, than you could have the same thing that I do. And even though what you seem to have already is just a case of good reflexes, then it is good to give it a try. Anything is good to try once."
"I know, but if I was going to train, I wouldn't do it with you around." I told him.
"Why not?"
"Well, I know it's stupid, but I don't do well with an audience. I can fight and I can do many things, but as soon as you get me in front of an audience, I choke."
"Yeah, and I'm not an audience. I am a teacher, here to help you, so why would it be a big deal? Who is there to say you are stupid? You could only have guessed how stupid I looked when I first tried to do the telekinesis. Waving my hands around and staring at pencils for hours. It looked stupid, but look what I can do now."
"Alright, thanks for the inspirational speech. I will do it, and I will try, but don't expect miracles." I said reluctantly. The only reason I was hesitant was because I really hate trying to impress someone. It was like that at home. Housework, homework, anything like that I could do amazingly well, but as soon as someone was watching, I cramped up and couldn't do it. I hated pressure like that.
That was why I was so stubborn. Sure, I agreed with Sam. Try anything once, but I was reluctant to have an audience, I like to do things like that on my own. 'But what better time to learn than now?' He said. I guess he was right.
I allowed him to put the blindfold on. I couldn't see anything. "Okay, now, be kind." I said. "I don't want to be bloody when you are done with me."
"Okay, I will start by simply punching for the chest. Same spot, but I will not tell you when I am going to punch. That will be the test 1. Here is where it will go." He said as he put his fist on my chest right on the breastbone.
"Maybe a little higher. If you hit there, I will be winded." I told him. He raised his fist a bit to right over my heart. "That's better, and don't do it too hard at first, wait until I am better to put all your strength in it."
"Alright, any time now." He informed me. Almost immediately, I put my hand out to stop him. I knew his habits, he would try to catch me off guard. But I put my hand up. And into my palm his fist went. "See?" He gloated.
"No, I know you, that was typical." I said. "Try again." Once again, he punched immediately. But this time I only touched his wrist. He punched me square in the chest. I fell back a bit before catching my balance. You have little balance when you are blindfolded.
"Okay, ready." I said.
"Like I would have stopped. That was close though." He said. This time I waited. One, Two, Three, I knew he would wait. Hand Up! I raised my hand and caught his fist again. "Good one." He congratulated. But he wasn't done, right as he said 'one' his voice strained, and I caught another one.
Then he punched three more in a row without saying a word. I caught all three of them.
"I am glad to see you aren't just holding your hand up." He said.
"What training would that be?" I asked.
"Good, you are doing well, but that was just training."
"Sam, that was no training, that was just thinking. I know you." I took off the blindfold. "Sam, you are predictable, hit first, before they are ready, then wait. Let them be confused. Right as they have lost all expectations, strike again, then keep attacking. That is just your strategy, I know you, that was no skill. The only one that bothered me was the second one. That wasn't in the plan, but I still reacted.
"That was confusing, maybe it was reflexes and I could hear you, I don't know. I could hear you when you were talking, I could feel it in the voice. It strained when you were about to punch. So that one was obvious."
"So maybe that is just it." Sam said. "Maybe it is a natural reaction to hostility. Maybe you are subconsciously reacting to it, but your body just doesn't respond yet? Anything is possible, best not to disregard a possibility. And besides, that was meant to be practice. The next exercise is more difficult. I will do a series of punches in a steady pattern, but to different areas and you have to stop them. You see, you will know when I will punch, so there will be no giving it away, but you will actually have to think of where it is going."
"Are you suggesting I don't think?" I laughed.
"No, just put the blindfold back on." He said. I did and a few seconds later he started punching.
I missed the first few, got one, missed a bunch, then got a few in a row. I got pretty mad. This was accomplishing nothing.
"Sam, this is doing nothing." I complained.
"Just concentrate harder. If no other proof of this power is in you, it is the fact that you can hear what isn't directed at you. Come on, one small step at a time?" He pleaded.
"Yes, but Sam, you have to think about it, not just do random things. That doesn't help. The people who speak telepathically are actually thinking these thoughts. I can't read what they keep to themselves."
"Alright, I understand, I will pre-think out a pattern and go by it, maybe that will help." Sao said. And he did just that, because I started catching a lot more after that. Between me Concentrating a lot harder and Sam thinking more, I seemed to get most of them. Like six catches to one miss.
This progression took about half an hour of training. It would seem boring, but once I started getting more and more, he started going faster and faster until it was actually interesting. It was odd. I was learning and I was getting excited.
Another half hor passed, and I began to learn faster and faster. This learning curve was getting better and better until he would go many punches and not land a single one. It was very impressive. Eventually he decided it was time to up the ante.
You see, I was getting more excited than I could tell. Sam and I kept to ourselves, but I could tell he was pretty impressed too. You have no idea how cool it is to be able to make that much of an improvement, and in only an hour. It was great, and I was borderline ecstatic. Eager to try something new.
And that was just what Sam did. He decided to bring in the sticks. "Okay, now we are both moving. I want to see some action." He encouraged.
"Sam, I am kind of being rushed here. I mean I just got to do that. And I need to practice elsewhere on my own before I go too far with you, as much as I want to learn quickly." I said. You know me, I was having fun, but I didn't want to go too far.
"Gordon, you don't have any other time. We are doing this now." He demanded.
I reluctantly decided to do it. Still being stubborn, that's me. No matter how good I was at something, I truly hated to show it off, unless I was immensely proud of it. Even then, I wouldn't go out of my way to show it to someone that didn't care. But this was going to help in the end, so I guess it was okay to go along with it.
I put the blindfold back on and grabbed the stick. I started to walk backwards, anticipating some sort of an attack, but it didn't come, instead he talked to me.
"Okay, this is the real thing, sort of. I am going to slowly slash at you from either side, from the top, each corner, or a stab. Pretty simple, but instead of catching it, I want to see you dodge or parry. You know, to stop it with te stick. Maybe even swipe at me." Like I didn't know what a parry was.
And I would indeed swipe at him. "Well then, let's start." I said.
I closed my eyes, even beneath the blindfold to keep from distracting me with lights. It was easier. He started by slashing at the right. I completely missed it, but I did manage to block the one to the left. Then, as I pushed the stick away, I figured out where it was going. I moved to the side and pushed it to the side, he tried to poke me.
"What's with the predictability." I sneered. "Come on, be original."
And rest assured he did. Slashed down on the left side of my neck. I missed that one, I tried to block one coming straight down on my head. It didn't work, it completely missed and hit me instead of the stick. It hurt.
"Sorry, got you really hard there." Sam apologized.
"It's alright. It's war, I am bound to get a few nicks and scratches. It's just in the cards." I tried to slash at him, but he wasn't where I thought he was, he was on the move from when he talked. Almost immediately, I felt a sting from the stick hitting me in the back. I turned around and dodged the one to the side, but missed the one on my head. It hurt, but it was a good hurt, like was learning.
I say that because I knew it was coming and I tried to stop it, but I moved too slow. And on my head the stick hit. I turned around again, because sam was on the move. I could hear the footsteps.
I moved my head to one side, then the other, trying to get an idea as to where he was coming from. I held the stick with both hands, waiting.
He slashed at me again from the side, which I blocked. I then had to block a poke from sam. I flicked my wrist and simply brought it up by my face, tilting my head so it wouldn't hit me. He stabbed again, and I hit it off to the other side.
He then slashed wide into my side. I blocked that, but he dragged it off the stick before I could stop him. He pushed forward and slashed me across the stomach and he dashed to the left side. I started to turn, but he had already spun around and was slashing at the side from behind. I simply stuck my stick in the way.
I turned around to face him, even though I couldn't see him. In one fluid motion from when I turned around, I swiped wide and hit his stick. He was also slashing to the other side, so they hit with double potency. Sam's broke in half, mine was fine. I could tell by the weight and balance. After that, I did the same thing to Sam, dashing forward, dragging the stick along the stomach to pretend I was gutting him.
I was behind him now, and he had no stick. I turned around and put my stick on his shoulder. I ripped off the blindfold in victory. I couldn't help but allow the grin to spread across my face. I loved it, and I was breathing rather heavily.
"Good match, but I wasn't trying my hardest, so don't let it go to your head." Sam said, defending himself.
"Sam, you were trying, and I had a blindfold on. I must be getting better than you." I said. I was proud of myself for doing that. Sure, it went a bit slower than most of our fights, but it was cool. I really could do that. I could read movements or something. Either way, it would be useful if I worked on it enough.
Later that week, the four of us were in our house in the forest. It was Me, Ax, Tobias and Sam. Actually, Tobias was off hunting at the time, so it was just the three of us. Ax was putting together the thingy the best he could and Sam was testing me.
He actually wanted to fight me while I was wearing a blindfold. How stupid was that? I mean, it wasn't fair in the first place. Sam with the Telekinesis and stuff. But it wasn't that simple. He was going to take it easy on me. I was reluctant, as you could guess. Sure, I could think ahead, but how was I to do it with a blindfold?
"Seriously, I need to see if what Ax says is true. If you can read surface thoughts or not." Sam said encouragingly.
"Sam there is a huge difference between predictability and being psychic. Sure, that would be cool, but I don't want to jump anywhere. Can't we start lower?" I complained. I was in no rush to fight with a blindfold.
"No, there is no lower step, and you have to start somewhere. Here." He pulled out a black strip of fabric. It was thick enough to cover and keep me from seeing when it was folded. He tried to put it on me but I backed away. "Oh, come on, Ax is over there creating a Z-space transponder and you can't train with a blindfold? Bruce Lee could do it."
"Yes, but Bruce Lee dedicated his life to this kind of thing and he had better reflexes than I do."
"Oh, quit whining and put it on. If you want to get stronger, then we need to start somewhere. And if what Ax and I say is true, than you could have the same thing that I do. And even though what you seem to have already is just a case of good reflexes, then it is good to give it a try. Anything is good to try once."
"I know, but if I was going to train, I wouldn't do it with you around." I told him.
"Why not?"
"Well, I know it's stupid, but I don't do well with an audience. I can fight and I can do many things, but as soon as you get me in front of an audience, I choke."
"Yeah, and I'm not an audience. I am a teacher, here to help you, so why would it be a big deal? Who is there to say you are stupid? You could only have guessed how stupid I looked when I first tried to do the telekinesis. Waving my hands around and staring at pencils for hours. It looked stupid, but look what I can do now."
"Alright, thanks for the inspirational speech. I will do it, and I will try, but don't expect miracles." I said reluctantly. The only reason I was hesitant was because I really hate trying to impress someone. It was like that at home. Housework, homework, anything like that I could do amazingly well, but as soon as someone was watching, I cramped up and couldn't do it. I hated pressure like that.
That was why I was so stubborn. Sure, I agreed with Sam. Try anything once, but I was reluctant to have an audience, I like to do things like that on my own. 'But what better time to learn than now?' He said. I guess he was right.
I allowed him to put the blindfold on. I couldn't see anything. "Okay, now, be kind." I said. "I don't want to be bloody when you are done with me."
"Okay, I will start by simply punching for the chest. Same spot, but I will not tell you when I am going to punch. That will be the test 1. Here is where it will go." He said as he put his fist on my chest right on the breastbone.
"Maybe a little higher. If you hit there, I will be winded." I told him. He raised his fist a bit to right over my heart. "That's better, and don't do it too hard at first, wait until I am better to put all your strength in it."
"Alright, any time now." He informed me. Almost immediately, I put my hand out to stop him. I knew his habits, he would try to catch me off guard. But I put my hand up. And into my palm his fist went. "See?" He gloated.
"No, I know you, that was typical." I said. "Try again." Once again, he punched immediately. But this time I only touched his wrist. He punched me square in the chest. I fell back a bit before catching my balance. You have little balance when you are blindfolded.
"Okay, ready." I said.
"Like I would have stopped. That was close though." He said. This time I waited. One, Two, Three, I knew he would wait. Hand Up! I raised my hand and caught his fist again. "Good one." He congratulated. But he wasn't done, right as he said 'one' his voice strained, and I caught another one.
Then he punched three more in a row without saying a word. I caught all three of them.
"I am glad to see you aren't just holding your hand up." He said.
"What training would that be?" I asked.
"Good, you are doing well, but that was just training."
"Sam, that was no training, that was just thinking. I know you." I took off the blindfold. "Sam, you are predictable, hit first, before they are ready, then wait. Let them be confused. Right as they have lost all expectations, strike again, then keep attacking. That is just your strategy, I know you, that was no skill. The only one that bothered me was the second one. That wasn't in the plan, but I still reacted.
"That was confusing, maybe it was reflexes and I could hear you, I don't know. I could hear you when you were talking, I could feel it in the voice. It strained when you were about to punch. So that one was obvious."
"So maybe that is just it." Sam said. "Maybe it is a natural reaction to hostility. Maybe you are subconsciously reacting to it, but your body just doesn't respond yet? Anything is possible, best not to disregard a possibility. And besides, that was meant to be practice. The next exercise is more difficult. I will do a series of punches in a steady pattern, but to different areas and you have to stop them. You see, you will know when I will punch, so there will be no giving it away, but you will actually have to think of where it is going."
"Are you suggesting I don't think?" I laughed.
"No, just put the blindfold back on." He said. I did and a few seconds later he started punching.
I missed the first few, got one, missed a bunch, then got a few in a row. I got pretty mad. This was accomplishing nothing.
"Sam, this is doing nothing." I complained.
"Just concentrate harder. If no other proof of this power is in you, it is the fact that you can hear what isn't directed at you. Come on, one small step at a time?" He pleaded.
"Yes, but Sam, you have to think about it, not just do random things. That doesn't help. The people who speak telepathically are actually thinking these thoughts. I can't read what they keep to themselves."
"Alright, I understand, I will pre-think out a pattern and go by it, maybe that will help." Sao said. And he did just that, because I started catching a lot more after that. Between me Concentrating a lot harder and Sam thinking more, I seemed to get most of them. Like six catches to one miss.
This progression took about half an hour of training. It would seem boring, but once I started getting more and more, he started going faster and faster until it was actually interesting. It was odd. I was learning and I was getting excited.
Another half hor passed, and I began to learn faster and faster. This learning curve was getting better and better until he would go many punches and not land a single one. It was very impressive. Eventually he decided it was time to up the ante.
You see, I was getting more excited than I could tell. Sam and I kept to ourselves, but I could tell he was pretty impressed too. You have no idea how cool it is to be able to make that much of an improvement, and in only an hour. It was great, and I was borderline ecstatic. Eager to try something new.
And that was just what Sam did. He decided to bring in the sticks. "Okay, now we are both moving. I want to see some action." He encouraged.
"Sam, I am kind of being rushed here. I mean I just got to do that. And I need to practice elsewhere on my own before I go too far with you, as much as I want to learn quickly." I said. You know me, I was having fun, but I didn't want to go too far.
"Gordon, you don't have any other time. We are doing this now." He demanded.
I reluctantly decided to do it. Still being stubborn, that's me. No matter how good I was at something, I truly hated to show it off, unless I was immensely proud of it. Even then, I wouldn't go out of my way to show it to someone that didn't care. But this was going to help in the end, so I guess it was okay to go along with it.
I put the blindfold back on and grabbed the stick. I started to walk backwards, anticipating some sort of an attack, but it didn't come, instead he talked to me.
"Okay, this is the real thing, sort of. I am going to slowly slash at you from either side, from the top, each corner, or a stab. Pretty simple, but instead of catching it, I want to see you dodge or parry. You know, to stop it with te stick. Maybe even swipe at me." Like I didn't know what a parry was.
And I would indeed swipe at him. "Well then, let's start." I said.
I closed my eyes, even beneath the blindfold to keep from distracting me with lights. It was easier. He started by slashing at the right. I completely missed it, but I did manage to block the one to the left. Then, as I pushed the stick away, I figured out where it was going. I moved to the side and pushed it to the side, he tried to poke me.
"What's with the predictability." I sneered. "Come on, be original."
And rest assured he did. Slashed down on the left side of my neck. I missed that one, I tried to block one coming straight down on my head. It didn't work, it completely missed and hit me instead of the stick. It hurt.
"Sorry, got you really hard there." Sam apologized.
"It's alright. It's war, I am bound to get a few nicks and scratches. It's just in the cards." I tried to slash at him, but he wasn't where I thought he was, he was on the move from when he talked. Almost immediately, I felt a sting from the stick hitting me in the back. I turned around and dodged the one to the side, but missed the one on my head. It hurt, but it was a good hurt, like was learning.
I say that because I knew it was coming and I tried to stop it, but I moved too slow. And on my head the stick hit. I turned around again, because sam was on the move. I could hear the footsteps.
I moved my head to one side, then the other, trying to get an idea as to where he was coming from. I held the stick with both hands, waiting.
He slashed at me again from the side, which I blocked. I then had to block a poke from sam. I flicked my wrist and simply brought it up by my face, tilting my head so it wouldn't hit me. He stabbed again, and I hit it off to the other side.
He then slashed wide into my side. I blocked that, but he dragged it off the stick before I could stop him. He pushed forward and slashed me across the stomach and he dashed to the left side. I started to turn, but he had already spun around and was slashing at the side from behind. I simply stuck my stick in the way.
I turned around to face him, even though I couldn't see him. In one fluid motion from when I turned around, I swiped wide and hit his stick. He was also slashing to the other side, so they hit with double potency. Sam's broke in half, mine was fine. I could tell by the weight and balance. After that, I did the same thing to Sam, dashing forward, dragging the stick along the stomach to pretend I was gutting him.
I was behind him now, and he had no stick. I turned around and put my stick on his shoulder. I ripped off the blindfold in victory. I couldn't help but allow the grin to spread across my face. I loved it, and I was breathing rather heavily.
"Good match, but I wasn't trying my hardest, so don't let it go to your head." Sam said, defending himself.
"Sam, you were trying, and I had a blindfold on. I must be getting better than you." I said. I was proud of myself for doing that. Sure, it went a bit slower than most of our fights, but it was cool. I really could do that. I could read movements or something. Either way, it would be useful if I worked on it enough.