To A Thief - Chapter 43: Blur

Training has begun... what do I think of it? Well, here goes.

Have you ever been put to a task but didn't know how to start? 

Have you ever wanted to ask your instructor about said task, but you didn't want to stand out from the crowd so your pride kept you from asking? 

Have you ever been too late to ask because you were contemplating it for so long that you'd feel like a loser if you did?

That's kinda how the stuff Sekai has been having me do is like, except, I don't have the option to ask my instructor at all. Whenever I do ask, all he tells me is to think about it, then to figure it out. 

Every. Single. Time.

But somehow... I figure it out! 

Let me take control of your mind for a second... close your eyes- wait, don't. You have to read this. 

You are a thief who has gone well beyond the standards and into "ascension" training. Like me. You are three weeks into your training as of now, your body feeling like jelly. What kind of training you may ask? ... We'll get to that.

Your instructor; an ascended thief who's left the standards behind and gone in a completely different direction that takes his abilities into impossibly nominal heights, instructs you to reach the other side of a chasm that is... "not quite small enough to jump to by any stretch of the imagination, but big enough for you to make it if you tried," as Sekai would put it. Mind twist, right? It doesn't end there. Here comes another twist! And prepare yourself, because this will create a fricken' twister in your mind... 

He is going to chuck a pebble to the other side of the chasm, and he wants you to reach it before the pebble does. 

WAIT! I know, I know, it's impossible. You want to know the big secret to making it? Well, to be honest, there is no secret. Sekai told me that unless you are a "thief ascension trainee," the "secret" won't be relevant to your mind. But I'll tell you anyway: 

Jump the chasm to the other side, but not with your body- it will soon follow. 

... 

No, this isn't astral projection. I thought about that as well. 

There you have it.

Fast forward another three weeks. 

I think I got the hang of it. I started doing it for the first time two weeks ago, beating the pebble each time, but I could never get the "hang" of it. It just didn't feel natural. It isn't natural. But it has to feel that way. That's what this training is all about, and more. 

The only way I could explain it- and you might be just as confused with my explanation as Sekai's, is to cast Flee not only on your legs as they are, but on your mind, body, and soul. You must... uh... become... Flee? Oh hell, I give up trying to explain. 

There is a scientist here from Bastok that goes by the name of Cid who supplies Sekai with the latest airship tech for his "bird" in exchange for some exclusive materials. I asked him about this mess one day while working at the docks(yes, I have to work and pay for my residence here) and he told me that it probably has something to do with controlling our own body's molecular system. 

Did you get that? Making our molecules move so damn fast, that we can pretty much forget about gravity for a second. Yes, a second. That's my current record. Can you beat it? Probably not. I think Sekai can do half-of-a-blink-of-an-eye better than that. 

I can only do this molecular dash s**t about six times before my body feels like hell fire jelly and I end up in bed for two days straight. Sekai told me that if I did it enough times past my limit, my body would go up in smoke. So I need to be very careful. 

The name isn't official yet, but me and Sekai have been calling this ability... 'Blur.' Exactly what it looks like. I witnessed it for the first time ten years ago, when I met Sekai. It is quite deadly when combined with an attack, if you could only time it right. 

Next week's training will be tough. I need to Blur consecutively from walls or objects to reach higher positions. This is also supposed to help me increase my body's max usage and distance of Blur.

So far, there are only three people in all of Vana'diel that can use Blur. 

Me, Lion, and Sekai. 

But...

Only me and Draven can use the Pulse Attack. Sekai has plans for my special Catalyst abilities in the future which he chooses not to say just yet. 

...

...

Where are you right now? Did they find you yet? Are you doing okay? 

I miss you and the others. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

Continued in Chapter 44: To A Thief