The next day we found ourselves in the mountains outside the city. First stated that my training would involve being close to nature. we hiked up the mountains and once we got to a open location First created a wooden floor. she sat down in front of me and gestured me to sit as well. "Today we will not be physically training. Instead we will be learn Shimmer in depth." as I sat down she began explaining. " Shimmer has been around since the beginning of time. It is a potent source of energy that is used for every form of movement. Even the stars burn Shimmer as fuel, and once they burn through it all they go nova." she manifested Shimmer in her palm. "Shimmer is inherently liquid in form. Therefore it can be shaped into any form you can imagine." the Shimmer in her palm floated in the air and shifted into a exact replica of my holowatch. It then shifted into a translucent knife." every living being in this universe that wields Shimmer are know as a Elysian." the shimmer in her hand shifted into a white chalice. "but they are unable to truly be known as a wielder of Shimmer until they gain a Chalice." I asked a question. "what is a Chalice?" she answered. "a Chalice is a incorporeal construct within yourself that allows you to increase the amount of Shimmer you have and regenerate the shimmer you burn." she continued to speak "a Chalice is made up of Shimmer itself so it is near impossible for someone to make one without a mentor to refill their Shimmer." she smirked, " lucky for you, your master is the first person to make their Chalice on their own." I nodded " so, how do you actually use Shimmer?" she raised four fingers "there are four ways to use shimmer: Tian, Shaka, Dama, and Shamu." she began explaining them. " Tian is the most basic use of Shimmer. you simply infuse Shimmer into you muscles and bones and it strengthens them. making you capable of superhuman feats. Shaka is the ability to infuse a aspect into your Shimmer. the most common form of Shaka is imbuing elements like fire or water into your Shimmer while more rare types are sound or space. Dama is a simple but advance use of Shimmer. Dama solidifies the atoms around your body making a near unbreakable forcefield around you. Though enough Shimmer can break through anything. Shamu is the most advance use of Shimmer. Your Shamu is a ability etched into your soul. it is unique to every person with not one person having the same Shamu. there are two types of Shamu. internal and external. Internal affects the wielder of the Shamu changing their form and external affects the surroundings causing a pocket in reality to form. Shamu can be a amplification of one's Shaka or a completely new ability. each Shamu has a name but that name announces the power a Shamu has so never speak it to a enemy." I was speechless, it sounded like something you'd hear in a novel. And she was right! a lot of the abilities that ascended are known to have are exactly the same as the forms of Shimmer. "what about when when Shimmer is outside your body." I asked. "oh, that is known as manifestation. when it is solidified and used as weapons or armor or is used for combat It is known as Might. Might is a advance application of Shimmer separate from the four forms. the four forms are unique to the user while Might is something every advanced user of Shimmer can use. Might is mainly used as a show of force to announce your strength before a fight since it burns your shimmer more than four times as fast." I had one more question to ask. It was one I've been wanting to Ask the first day we met. " hey First what is a Stellar knight." there was a flicker of recognition in her face.
"A stellar knight is the lowest rank a wielder of Shimmer can have. It is also the rank that you are truly considered a Elysian." she shaped the shimmer in her palm into a star. " in order to become a Stellar knight your Shimmer has to be dense enough to produce a star's output of energy." If the sovereign, the strongest human in history was only a Stellar knight I am terrified to imagine the strength of outer world species. "what rank are you First?" I asked cautiously. "don't you worry you little head about that, puffling. I don't want to spoil the fun." she stood up "enough questions. its time to begin your foundation." she walked behind me "sit in a half lotus position" as I followed her instructions she placed her hand on my back " I will begin by introducing your body to Shimmer, it won't be like when I used it to heal you. that was surface level. this will reach deep down to your soul." she spread her fingers and placed her palm in the middle of my shoulder blades. " just like your body has veins so does your soul. but it's veins has been dried out your entire life so introducing Shimmer into them is going to hurt, a lot." she then used Shimmer to lock me in place, before I asked what she was doing she sent a burst of Shimmer into me. the agony was traumatizing. it felt like someone ripped my nerves out and dipped them into boiling oil. a wordless scream left my lips. it seemed like the pain would last for a eternity. a minute later the pain faded like it never existed. "sorry about that, I had to get it over with and I didn't want you to bite your tongue off." she pat my back that was now soaked with sweat." we are going to have to do this multiple times, you can compare it to watering a plant. Once you soul get used to Shimmer It will began to store it inside your body. Luckily for you it's not going to hurt like it did this time." she began pouring Shimmer into me. unlike when she heal me, the Shimmer felt cold soothing my tense body. After a while she stopped. "That's all I'll be giving you today so now you must meditate on how Shimmer feels in your body." I closed my eyes and tried to sense the Shimmer within me focusing on the cool feeling I had felt before. But I could feel nothing. "Don't worry, puffling. No one gets it the first time" I sigh then nod. " now stand up. Now that you have Shimmer you need to move your body. It has to spread throughout you." She gestured to the wooden floor we sat on." You didn't think I made this wide floor just so we could sit on it did you?" She walked to the middle of the platform. " The best way to learn how to control your body is dance." She laughed at my reaction to her words. "Come on Faye, let's dance!" She spread her arms in my direction. I slowly stood up and walked to her "I don't dance so I don't know if I'll be good" she grasped my hand and put her other on my shoulder. " don't worry puffling. I'll guide you. We swayed left and right, Rotating every now and then. Shimmer flowed through her hands into me and guided my movements. " this way it'll become muscle memory faster. She separated from me and spun. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back close to me. Her ebony eyes connecting with mine. Her white pupils widened. "you have it!". " I have what?" I asked Confused. " my tapetum lucidum!" She started hoping around in excitement. "What does that mean?" She cleared her throat and calmed down
" eyeshine, you have my eyeshine. It's the reason my pupils are white. It also means your soul didn't reject my shimmer and it taking root within it. With this you're officially my deciple." . She grabbed my hand " let's continue, whe cannot waste time. We danced for hours before she was satisfied. We started hiking back home. First was extremely happy skipping as we walked. Singing a tune " I got a deciple, I got a deciple and he's all mine! Noone else can teach him, he all mine!" She balanced on a broken tree as she sang. " are you rally that happy I got this eyeshine thing?" I asked. She nodded " uh huh! You having my eyeshine means that you soul has a affinity to my Shimmer! Your body will only accept Shimmer from me! Only I can teach you!" She looked smug as she spoke " it also means your Shaka will be similar to mine." She hopped off the tree and landed in front of me. "I can't wait to see what color your Shimmer will have."