Master Jason and I were standing in the middle of the training room as usual. What was unusual was the two small tables that seemed to crowd the normally empty room. One of the tables was bare while the other was covered in an assortment of random small objects that seemed to have nothing more in Common with each other then the fact that they could be found around someones home.
"Do you remember our first day of training?" Master Jason asked. I nodded but didn't say anything. "The training scepter and the blindfold had to come from somewhere don't you think?"
I hadn't given that much thought to be honest, but he was right. Only gods had the power to defy the laws of physics and create matter from nothing, and even though Master was powerful he was no god.
"That is what I'm going to teach you today. The art of moving matter from one point to another through a gap in the three dimensional plane is known as summoning. It is done by using your shockhaven to open a portal in the three dimensional plane that leads to the absence of space and then another that leads from that absence of space to the point on the three dimensional plane that you want to summon the object to. The absence of space is known as the void and you have to surround whatever object you're summoning with your shockhaven or else it'll be pulled apart by the pull of the void. Now when these two portals are open at the same time it creates a bridge through the void that lets you object appear nearly anywhere from nearly anywhere in a fraction of a second." Master Jason said.
It was a lot to take in all at once. "So if I'm not mistaken you're not only telling me that the act of teleporting is possible, but that you can accomplish said act with nothing more than clever shockhaven control." I said trying to make sure that he and I were on the same page.
Master Jason smiled. "That is correct." he said. The cool calculated way hat he chose his words and spoke was taking root in my own speech. "I know that it seems a little difficult and vague but when you see it in your shockhaven awareness You'll have a much better understanding of the whole process. So I suggest that we begin with a demonstration for you too observe if you're ready." he said and he and I turned to the two tables.
Somehow I didn't need to tell him that I was ready and had opened my shockhaven awareness. He already knew. His awareness dwarfed mine in comparison even though my own awareness was continuing to improve every day.
I saw his shockhaven in my awareness, or rather I felt it. It was too small to actually be seen. It was just a point, a single point in the vast three dimensional plane of the universe. Then, in a fraction of a second, the shockhaven seemed to shrink almost disappearing completely. Then it expanded in a dark mass consuming the small cube that was on the crowded table and then both the cube and the dark mass surrounding it vanished from the crowded table and reappeared on the empty one.
I couldn't believe that I had made sense of what I had just seen so easily. Now I knew the how and the steps of how it happened, but there was still something beautiful about actually seeing it. The implications that it brought to mind were endless.
"Are you ready to try it for yourself, or do you think you might need another demonstration." Master Jason asked.
Was I ready? It wasn't as though the art of summoning was particularly dangerous. In fact, in comparison to spell binding or reploid armor control, summoning it was perfectly safe. However just because I felt confident that I wasn't going to kill myself, Master Jason or the both of us didn't mean that I was confident that I could actually do it successfully. "Yes sir I think I'm ready to give it a try on my own." I replied after a moment. I didn't want to appear over eager or hesitant. I still didn't know the extent of Master Jason's powers and controlling my reaction was a calculated way to keep the full extent of my cognitive abilities to myself.
"Good then you can start by moving the cube back to where it was." he said in an even tone. I always wondered if he was at all like me, if his mind was always thinking, always working and always calculating another move. The thought that someone else with his power thought like me left me even more paranoid over his true motives.
However dwelling on things that I couldn't find the answer to wouldn't help me and I needed to focus so I forced the thought out of my mind and tried to focus on the task at hand. Starting at the corner of the cube I focused my shockhaven to a point. In math a point on a graph represents the smallest possible that can exist on a graph. In the real world it's no different and when you shrink down that point you're touching the the void. From that point at the corner of the cube I tore into the void and at nearly the same time I tore another hole to exit the void on the crowded table where it was before Master Jason summoned it from. The cube was a simple geometric shape and with its smooth shape there was little reason for error making it almost impossible to fail. The cube passed through the void easily and it proved that I had a good understanding of the principles of summoning. I was relieved that I had such a good understanding of the art. However this was only the beginning. The cube was the easiest object on the table to summon so moving it from one table to another meant that I had a basic understanding of the art, nothing more.
"You did well." Master Jason said. "Although I knew you wouldn't have a problem with it. You have the making to be a powerful master havenist some day."
I took the compliment in stride. I was already considered by some to be a master swordsman and both Master Jason and I knew that it was only a matter of time before he had taught me everything he knew and I surpassed him as well. However, until I reached that point I thought that it was best to remain as humble as I could. So I nodded politely.
"There are three different levels of summoning." Master Jason said continuing the lesson. "The first level is known as basic summoning or just summoning. It is the simple act of moving one still object through the void like you just did. The second level is called high summoning, and it varies little from the first level. The difference is that a high summoner can summon objects in motion. Summoning an object in motion takes a great deal more concentration, calculation and shockhaven control. The third level is called grand summoning, and with grand summoning you can summon living beings through the void."
So I was learning the first level of summoning. And then a thought came to me and I had to ask. "In theory could a grand summoner summon himself through the void could he not?"
A smile appeared on Master Jason's face. "Yes he could. It's called portal warping since calling it summoning seems foolish."
That was true since summoning meant bringing something to one's self so you couldn't bring yourself to yourself.
"Summoning living beings through the void requires special focus. The pull void is rather unforgiving to the flesh." Master Jason added.
"I can imagine that it is unpleasant to be pulled apart and crushed at the same time." I said knowing what happens to the human body when it's in a vacuum in space.
Master Jason gestured with a wave back to the tables. "But, before we go jumping into the unknown let's make sure that you've mastered the basics." he began, getting back to the lesson at hand. "Focus on the different shapes of the objects and their contour lines. At your own pace you may begin moving the objects to the other table." he said and stepped back.
"Yes sir." I said. Starting with the cube I began to move the objects one by one to the other table. All of the objects were fairly small and after training with similar objects to prefect my shockhaven control I was use to dealing with the intricate details that the objects had. All of the objects made it to the other table completely intact including the hairs that were on the hairbrush.
Master Jason looked over the random assortment of items and nodded. "Good. Although o be honest I didn't expect you to do anything short of perfect on this task. Still you should be proud that you can deliver on expectations of perfection." he said. His confidence and understanding of my abilities was surprising but well placed and I nodded in acceptance. "Now we can move on to more practical applications." he added.
r /> I felt more than confident enough to move forward. "Such as what exactly?" I asked.
Master Jason smiled. "Almost always you're going to be summoning something outside of the rang of your haven awareness." he said bringing up a good point. "So then the question becomes how do you summon something from outside of your haven awareness?" he asked.
Obviously he was waiting on me to come up with the with the solution on my own, which meant that I already had the information but just needed to connect the implied dots. "given that you don't have to be at the center of you haven awareness, then it would be safe to say hat you don't have to be in that particular area of your haven awareness so long as you know the space that your summoning from and its distance from you in relative space you could project your haven awareness there." I said. It was the only way that I could think of to summon from outside of my immediate area, but it did make sense as far as actually being able to work.
"That is correct." Master Jason said with a nod. "Most summoners keep a box or a room filled with things that they might need to summon. It helps you keep down weight when you go on a mission and let's you adapt to various situations as your mission changes. Also summoning is the way that most Reploids don their armor which allows them to wait until they arrive at a battle before putting the extra strain on their shockhaven that wearing armor causes." This was wonderful and it meant that I didn't have to spend the better part of two hours putting on my armor. "But before we get ahead of ourselves why don't you try to summon something from your room." He said bring me back to the task.
"Yes sir." I said with a nod. I tried to extend my haven awareness all the way to my room but it was out my range to directly reach from the training room we were in as I'm sure that Master Jason had known before giving me the task. Still I had to try. So I closed in my haven awareness around me so that it was only a few feet around me and then In my mind I pictured the area between the training room and my room. Then I let that space fall out of my focus leaving only my room and the area around me in my haven awareness. Successfully being able to see my room from where I was boosted my confidence and I knew that I was more than capable of doing this. I focused on the box at the foot of my bed where I kept the majority of my training equipment. In the bottom of that box was the blindfold that Master Jason had summoned and given to me on the first day of our training. In a way it felt fitting that it would be the first thing I would truly summon myself.
I reached out with my open hand and the folded length of faded black cloth fell into my palm.
Master Jason laughed. "I would've thought you'd have gotten rid of that thing by now. We've been beyond blindfolds for quite some time now." he said still smiling.
"It didn't take up that much room and I would've hated to get rid of it and need it again later." I said.
"I suppose that I just take some things for granted." Master Jason said in a tone that made me wonder if Master Sam was the only one that had preserved their youthful appearance. Master Jason always had struck me as being much older than he looked, but he didn't have the same bewitched glow in my haven awareness that she did. So I took his words as a sign of his wisdom instead of his age.
"That is human nature I suppose." I said to break the silence.
"That it is. Be sure to take some of that philosophical view with you when you go to train with Master Chen this afternoon." he said with a smile that said he knew something that I did not.
I had been dreading going back to train with Master Chen since I had found out that he wasn't leaving the training team. That afternoon was going to be the first time that Master Chen and I had seen each other since our argument had gotten out of control and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. "I will sir." I said hesitantly.
"Good." Master Jason began. "And above all else try to keep an open mind. Who knows, you might actually wind up liking class with Master Chen and looking forward to it in the future."
I highly doubted that I would ever look forward to spending time with Master Chen but I didn't want to say that right after he told me to keep an open mind. So I just nodded.
"I think that we've made a fare bit of progress in the art of summoning today. Why don't you take the rest of the morning off. And make sure that you're on time for your training with Master Chen." he said.