Suddenly, my body seized rigidly. I couldn’t even breathe. I felt myself begin to lift from the ground. Simultaneously, Ogun levitated up and over the damn desk. Next, he began moving other objects like statues, books and what looked like mobile phones. He sent them spinning all around us.
“What do you think, Shaun?” he spoke in my mind. I couldn’t reply though, being completely paralyzed and panicking for breath as I was.
The entire room seemed to go cold. I won’t lie. It shook me to my core. I felt like I’d woken up in some kind of horror movie. Then, he let me loose.
I took a deep breath, gasping for air.
“Can I do all of that?” I wheezed.
“Of course not. I am over five thousand years old. You should be able to pick up the basics relatively quickly, but there are levels to our abilities. It takes a decade to develop the mental conditioning needed to surpass operating on instinct. There will come a point when you can transcend. At that stage, you will become far more powerful.”
I pretty much hadn’t listened to anything after he said his age.
“You’re five, fucking thousand years old? That’s insane Ogun!”
“With training, you can become as long lived. The mind is a marvelous tool. If you have the skill, you can guide it to repair your ever shortening DNA strands. This stops the aging process altogether. Most illnesses can be dealt with quickly when you can guide your immune system efficiently.
“You will learn everything I can teach you, as long as we can stay alive. And for your information, only four people have reached level forty. You and Ember, along with Astrid, my second and Rufus, who is commander of our base in Ukraine. There are over a hundred evolved Earth humans in that base. I just hope they can escape. We lost twelve in our impromptu scramble for survival.” He paused for a second as I raptly took in all the information. “Sorry. I do have a tendency to ramble on.”
I didn’t believe that for a second. He told me everything he intended to, and not one iota more or less.
“Now, go to Ember. She will take you to your first superhero class,” he chuckled.
“Okay,” I replied, “and thanks again. I mean, if everything is true, you’re trying to do an amazing thing. I mightn’t be able to do much, but I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Thank you, Shaun. It is still nice to hear a bit of praise, even at my age. I can see why she likes you.”
Blushing with embarrassment I left the room.
Ember was still on the bridge. I nodded to people as I passed and, for the most part, received strained smiles back.
“Apparently, it’s time for lessons,” I announced, as I reached her.
“Sure is, Shaun. I hope you’re ready for some extreme boredom. There is a shit-ton of guided meditation.”
“Sounds awful,” I said as we left the bridge.
C2
How to Train a Roofer
I followed Ember back off the bridge, despite it not actually being a bridge. Realistically, we left the bridge rather than got off it… anyway, I digress. The musings of a madman.
I felt relieved to be back in the corridors away from the staring eyes. We walked for a little while until Ember stopped in front of a door. It looked like all the rest, so I had no idea how she had picked it out.
When we entered, I found the room was much bigger than I’d imagined. What struck me as odd about this classroom was the complete lack of chairs. There were around ten people and they all sat on the floor in a big circle. Everyone seemed polite, saying hello as we came in. Ember clearly knew a few of them.
“Right guys,” a young, blonde woman said authoritatively. She looked very pretty, but even when she smiled there was a hard expression to her face. “If you could sit down. And hello, Shaun. I’m Cassia.”
I nodded and mumbled a hello back, but she’d already switched her attention back to the full class.
“As we have new arrivals, we will change subjects. Something new for everyone. Defense!
“If you come face to with face a Fystr, you will not be able to beat them. But hopefully you can become accomplished enough to hold off a mental attack. At least until someone more competent can come to your aid.
“Firstly, we need to defend against mind invasion. They can enter our minds as easily as you can walk through an open door. Once there, they can paralyze, or even kill you. We need to make sure our minds are an impenetrable fortress against this attack.” She took a moment to look around the room, making sure she had everyone's attention. “We need to calm our minds. Now, close your eyes and take deep breaths.”
I did as I was told and closed my eyes.
“This is seriously dull as shit, Shaun,” Ember said loudly.
Shocked at her outburst, I snapped my eyes open to look at her. She still had her eyes closed, as did everyone else. Though, her face held a smirk.
“I’m speaking in your head, dipshit.”
There was a lengthy pause, so I listened to the teacher’s voice again.
“You not talking to me?” Ember spoke in my head again. I didn’t know how to respond, and she knew it. She was being a dick.
“I know you know how to talk back. You’ve managed to tell me you loved me this way, just before you passed out.”
I went bright red and looked at her again. She was smirking even more now, but still sat calmly with her eyes closed.
“Shaun!” the teacher shouted. “You have to try to concentrate. Please close your eyes and follow my instruction.”
I went even redder and screwed my eyes shut.
“What a dope,” came Ember’s voice again.
I focused with all my might to force my thoughts to Ember and said, “You’re still an ass in the real world too, huh?”
“Hey, hey. You did it!
