Beep. Stella looked up from the tablet. Helene and the boys were about to enter the training room. Stella glanced back at the tablet and tapped on it hastily, hoping to get rid of the bouncy castle she had just summoned before any of them stepped inside. She succeeded. By the time they had set foot in the room, the only objects were the soft seats that she and Celestine were sitting on. Stella stood up and returned the tablet to her aunt. A few seconds later, the translucent walls rose from the floor and divided the room once again. Celestine asked Stella in Italian,

"Do you want to continue with lightning or try something else?"

"Try something else."

"Okay then. We will move on to shield summoning." Two tables appeared next to Celestine. One held a basket of balls while the other was empty. Celestine placed her tablet on the empty table.

"Shield summoning is my favorite superpower because it's very useful. Some people call it 'force field summoning' but I find the term to be long, so I say 'shield summoning' instead. Anyway, you can use force fields to protect yourself from attacks and deflect them as well. The most basic way to summon a shield is to form an 'x' with your arms, like this," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Stella imitated her.

"Like this?"

"Si. You don't need to move to summon a force field, but gestures like this make it easier. Now let's try." Celestine picked up one of the spheres from the basket. It was twice as large as her fist and seemed rather weighty. She swung her arm backward.

"Relax your arms first," she instructed. Stella let her arms hang naturally from her shoulders. Celestine went on, "When I throw the ball at you, cross your arms and block it with a shield. Okay?"

"Okay."

She flung the sphere at her. Stella crossed her arms in front of her torso and looked away. Bump. It struck one of her forearms before it fell to the floor. It did not work! "Ow," she groaned, as she rubbed her forearm. She threw the ball back at Celestine, who caught it easily.

"Why didn't it work?"

"Maybe because you looked away. We'll try again. This time, don't look away."

Celestine threw the ball once more. Stella immediately crossed her arms, her eyes watching the ball spin in the air as it drew nearer. Come on, Stella thought. Nothing was happening. It was closing in. Her muscles tightened as they readied for impact.

Fwshh. A thin, translucent barrier formed in front of her body. The ball hit the force field before dropping to the ground. She did it! A faint smile formed on Celestine's lips. "Bravo, let's try with a faster one," she said. She picked up another ball and threw it at a faster speed. Stella was able to block it. As the lesson continued, Stella wondered what happened inside the other chambers.

***

"For now, I will continue teaching you hydrokinesis."

Jon tilted his head in confusion. There was not a single source of water in sight—no bathtubs, buckets, or basins of any sort were laid out around him.

"It is not obvious, but water is all around us," José said, gesturing to his surroundings. "People like to think that hydrokinesis is useless if you're not near, for example, a river or lake, and that you always have to carry a water bottle with you. That's false. The air contains water vapor, and since air always surrounds us, that means water does too.

"Now that you know this, I want you to condense the water vapor around you."

Jon cracked his knuckles and then spread his fingers. His muscles tensed. A thousand threads seemed to appear from thin air and attach to his skin. What was that? Jon wondered. Water vapor? He brought his fingers closer. The threads tightened. In front of him, a faint mist began to form. Jon spread his arms and fingers before pushing them closer. The mist condensed, and condensed, and condensed until it formed a floating blob of water.

"Muy bien, like that!" José said. "Easy, right? Now vaporize it."

Jon spread his fingers once more. The liquid became gaseous in seconds. José reached for his tablet and summoned a pail of water.

"You want to know what hydrokinesis is also useful for?" he asked.

"For what?"

"For removing sweat from your body. You don't look sweaty at all, so we'll have to settle for this."

Without warning, José picked up the bucket and threw its contents at Jon. What the hell? Jon would have said out loud, but he did not want to risk being chastised. He simply glanced down at his wet body.

"Yup, you look quite moist. Now dry yourself," José instructed him.

Jon looked down at his shirt. Moist was quite an understatement—drenched was a more fitting term. He brought his hands close to his abdomen. He could feel the water on his clothes becoming attracted to his fingers. He lifted his hands by a few centimeters and spread his fingers apart. A bit of steam formed as the liquid evaporated from his body. He became dry in thirty seconds. He lifted his head to look back at his father. He was already holding another pail, and it did not look empty. He doused Jon in water before he could even protest. Oh come on! he whined mentally.

"Now dry yourself using a different method: instead of evaporating the water from your body, simply extract it so it's still in a liquid state," José said. "And also, since you're not going to change the state of matter, use less finger movement and more wrist or arm movement."

"Okay," Jon said.

He glanced down at his soaked figure. The water had drenched not just his shirt, but his pants and underwear as well. He lowered his arms. He shuddered. He felt the liquid run across his skin as it followed his motion, and he did not like it at all. He raised his hands to his chest. Most of the water left his clothes and coagulated in the air. The liquid that lingered was still contained in his underwear. He lowered his left arm and made an upward pulling motion with his hand. The water discharged from his underwear, passed through his pants, and then finally made its way into the air.

Jon glanced at his father. He was holding another bucket.

"Padre, please no—"

"This is empty." José held it to his eye level and shook it. "I was going to ask you to pour it inside."

Jon breathed a sigh of relief. He swayed his arms in a smooth motion as he guided the water into the pail.

***

Helene tapped her tablet a couple of times. A target with ten concentric circles surfaced from the wall behind her, while a metal pole appeared at Edmond's side.

"Now, let's try a little electrokinesis, shall we?" she said. "Unlike pyrokinesis, I don't trust you to create your own lightning just yet. However, if I see you doing well, I might let you try creating your own soon. For now you'll have to conduct electricity from the rod next to you.

"The first rule is to use two fingers to fire." She raised her right hand and extended her index and middle finger. "Lightning is a very precise sub-element, so aim using two fingers."

"Wouldn't one finger be more precise?"

"It would, but it's very difficult. It takes practice to guide the current through a specific path without having some of it branch out. Two fingers is best for beginners and intermediates. Anyway, we'll start with the right arm first. You have to lift your arm and bend your elbow."

She lifted her arm, her elbow bent at about ninety degrees. Edmond imitated her.

"Make sure you align your fingers with your eyes. D'you know how to use a gun?"

"Yes."

"Pretend your hand is a gun. Align the top edge of your finger with the target." Helene adjusted her hand. "You can aim forward or from the side, as long as the eyes, fingers, and targets are in the same line. Now to shoot, thrust your fingers forward."

Helene quickly propelled her fingers towards her front. Crack! A bluish-white bolt escaped her fingertips and struck the target. A charcoal black mark appeared where the bolt had landed.

"By the way, when you thrust your arm, make it quick. If it's too slow the current won't go straight. Now you try."

Edmond grasped the metal rod with his left hand and imitated Helene's stance. He raised his arm, aligned the edge of his fingers with his eyes, and shot. Crack! A bright white bolt jumped from his fingertips and landed on the target, forming a dark grey mark just a few centimeters from the bullseye.

"Good, for a first try," she commented. "Keep trying until you hit the center."

He peered at the target once more. He fired once more. The lightning bolt landed squarely in the middle. Helene huffed in amusement.

"That was quick. Now try with your other hand."

He did. It took him only one try this time. Helene conjured a second rod, which stood a further distance from the target.

"Try shooting at that target again, but from a farther distance."

Edmond walked towards the back of the room and gripped the metal rod. He could feel the electricity entering him through his left hand. He peered back at the target, aimed with his right arm, and shot. A streak of whitish silver jumped from his fingertips and landed on the center.

"You did better from further away," she said, amused.

Edmond shrugged. "It's just beginner's luck."

"Beginner's luck? I doubt it." She summoned a third rod, this time located at the very back of the room. "Try shooting from there, with your left hand."

Edmond obeyed her and paced towards the rod. He gripped it, aimed, and fired. A bright white bolt zigzagged across the chamber before landing on the core. He loosened his grip and relaxed both arms. He then turned his gaze towards his mentor. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Told you it's not beginner's luck," she said. "You weren't lying when you said that electrokinesis will be easier for you."

He half-smiled. "I tend to know what things I'll have more success in."

"I see."

The rest of the lesson felt quicker than it was. Helene would direct him to shoot at targets, whether stationary or moving, from different distances and angles. No matter how tricky the tasks were, he always completed each one with a few attempts. Electrokinesis came to him rather easily. Occasionally, he would glance at his mentor, observing her reactions. It seemed that she was impressed, to say the least.

***

The afternoon lessons had ended. The six of them exited the gymnasium and strolled towards the portal together. As they walked, Jon wiped the sweat off his brow and flexed his right arm. Every drop of moisture rolled toward his right hand and converged into a single liquid mass. He flicked his right wrist. A cool feeling permeated his body as the sweat evaporated from his skin.

"Whoa..." Stella breathed.

"Impressive," Edmond said.

"I know, right? My dad's teaching me how to create water out of thin air and other things. Less boring than this morning. What did you guys do?"

"I learned to make force fields," she said. They had reached the base of the ladder street and were crossing the bridge. She went on, "My aunt just threw stuff at me and I had to block it."

"Hey Stella, you learned electrokinesis this morning right?" Edmond asked.

"Yep. Why?"

"I learned it with Helene this afternoon."

"Oh, cool. How hard was it?"

"Actually, it was easier than I expected," he admitted. "Helene said that if I keep up my progress, I might be able to generate my own lightning in three or four days."

They carried on with their conversation as they ambled towards the portal and journeyed back to Earth. Before they went on with the rest of the day, Helene reminded them, "So just remember that we have two lessons every day: one from nine to eleven, and the second from two to four."

"Got it."

✧ ✧ ✧

Fun Fact: Helene as a character did not exist at all in the first draft of this book series. She first appeared during one of the rewrites.

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