The Wind Whispers

Chapter 4: Durability not Pain Tolerance

Magical exercise took part on an open field just beside the school. It was bought as an expansion land but it proved to be perfect for M.E classes that were prone to be destructive.

When I got there the class had already began warming up. I greeted Mr. Chimeze and he told me to take a quick jog round the field to warm up my body as well. I was on my second lap of jogging round the field when they caught my attention. Yusuf and Bello had been playing around in the middle of the field. A huge rectangular shaped forcefield surrounded the area they were in.

All of a sudden, I watched Yusuf leap up into the air. He didn't come down and was soaring around. He was taunting Bello as if to say "You can't catch me." Bello definitely took the challenge. He readied himself and mere seconds later the ground below him cracked as he propelled him self upwards. He had grabbed hold of Yusuf and was pulling him down. Yusuf's flight could not carry the weight of them both. When they had both reached the ground the same scenario repeated itself. Except this time instead of Bello grabbing Yusuf. He swung his arms to the side to force his body to change direction and kicked Yusuf with full force. Yusuf went flying. The forcefield shattered when his body made contact with it. It broke his momentum and greatly reduced his speed . He skidded across the ground before coming to a stop leaving dust in his wake.

Had I just witnessed a murder? I ran towards Yusuf to see if he was okay. When I got there he sat up holding his back and screamed at Bello. "You Bastard, You said I wouldn't get hurt!"

Bello was laughing as he approached us clutching his stomach and wiping his eyes. "You didn't get hurt though you're perfectly fine."

"Fine? I feel like I've just experienced death without dying." Yusuf croaked.

"My power is durability not pain immunity. Ofcourse you were still going to feel everything."

Yusuf just rested his back against the ground. "Kai. I'll just stay like this for a while."

Bello was getting an earful from Mr. Chimeze after that reckless attempt. Mr. Chimeze had asked what he would've done if the magic had worn off. Yusuf would be dead. Bello was one of the people in our class who really knew about his magic. So, he argued that he knew how much time he had after he applied it and Yusuf was the one who came up with the idea. Yusuf apologised on behalf of Bello as well and admitted it was his idea. They were punished to fetch water manually to fill the washing machine tanks. A special kind of punishment at this school.

As I ran through the remaining laps I couldn't stop think of Bello's power. It was really just raw strength but it had its applications. The way he propelled himself from the ground. Imagine how Yusuf felt seeing that. I would be scared. What- I could do air explosions but with durability what does that even do? The people here were already years ahead of me.

Mr. Chimeze gave the class tasks to do but pulled me aside to spend more time with me.

"You've never used your powers?" He asked.

"I have but it was out of my control."

"Wind, they said." He tapped his pen against his jotter. "Right. There's no amount of theory that will help if you don't know what your energy feels like." He clapped his hand abruptly as he stood up. "Come."

I followed him as we walked further into the open space. He stretched out both his hands towards the open space. Two round force fields expanded into creation. Once they were formed. He clenched his palms and they combusted, sending a gust of wind towards us. "You feel that?" He asked turning to look back at me.

"..." I stared at him blankly. "Yeah?"

"The wind Afua. The wind." He sighed. "To create energy you must know energy. There is energy in everything and the energy inside you is of wind. Close your eyes! Feel it! and when you understand how it works become the wind. You must first create to control." He spun around frenzied before stopping and pointing his open hands towards me.