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The idea of forming a connection like that fascinated me, and I tilted my head, eager for more knowledge on the matter. “How come I’ve never heard of this technique in Veladis before, and how long does it take to achieve that type of connection?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I didn’t even know of its existence until I left Veladis. It’s possible my father doesn’t know about it, or perhaps he does know, but doesn’t want to put in the effort to teach the practice to the guards. When it comes to how long it will take to master, they say it depends on the two people. Some connect faster than others and are known as Eadem Anima, Same Soul. Legend says they were meant to fight alongside one another since the beginning of time. I’ve even heard legends of Eadem Animas whose souls were so connected they could actually speak to each other in their minds. However, there hasn’t been an Eadem Anima like that in over a hundred years, and even some say that our ancestors were making it all up. I believe the stories, though.”
I gawked at him, simply fascinated at the legends he’d heard and the idea of two connecting souls.
“Anyway,” he continued, “It would take a lot longer than one training session, but any amount of time will be better than nothing, and considering where we are starting, I would say we need to take what we can get.”
I had so many questions to ask about Vicinus. Were there more legends? Did he know any Eadem Anima? How rare were they?
I bit my tongue though, figuring now was not the time, and I could bother him with all my questions later.
“Okay, let’s try again,” I initiated.
When I closed my eyes this time, I tried to concentrate on Bennett next to me. In all honesty, he ended up being more of a distraction, and trying to focus on finding a connection between the two of us sent unnecessary anxiety through me.
I could sense Bennett beside me, and although our bodies were not touching physically, it felt like I was right up against him. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth as I focused on the space between us and the targets in front of us.
I felt like an idiot for even trying this, but I figured only I would know what I was doing, if it even worked, so I tried talking to Bennett through my mind.
Bennett, if you can hear this, I’m going to be aiming for target five, the one on the far right. If you don’t aim for that one, I’ll stab you.
I silently chuckled to myself at the threat because I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually something I ended up following up on.
“One,” Bennett counted.
Aim for target five.
“Two.”
Please aim for five.
“Three.”
I opened my eyes and watched my knife soar through the air, landing right beside Bennett’s knife on the fifth target.
My jaw dropped and I whipped my head to Bennett. Shock plastered on my face while a satisfied smirk laid on his.
“Okay, so we got lucky,” I said, trying to brush it off.
All he did was give me a knowing smile and left my side to grab the knives out of the targets. The lack of a response irritated me more than it should’ve and made me feel like a kid who wasn’t getting told the special secret friend code.
I couldn’t resist, I had to ask, “Could you hear me?”
Bennett burst out laughing and had to hold the knives away from his body, so he didn’t accidentally stab himself. “Did I hear you?” he asked. “Were you, like, trying to communicate with me telepathically?”
His voice was laced with amusement which made me feel stupid for even asking. “No, I wasn’t.”
“Liar. You were, weren’t you?”
“Well, why did you even ask if you knew the answer already?”
“I wanted to hear you say it.” He shrugged nonchalantly, handing me my knife, and looking me in the eyes. “And, I like hearing your voice.”
I violently took the knife from him, and he laughed. I was tired of his stupid jokes and teasing. I was ready to get out of here and have some much-needed girl time with Amica.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
For the next couple hours we began the rhythm of trying to intertwine with the other’s thoughts in order to aim for the same target. Sometimes we would miss, but we were hitting them spot on for the most part. I kept my same mental strategy of pretending I was telling Bennett where to aim in my mind, which seemed to work for the most part, and for the times I didn’t, I could feel a kind of intuition urging me to aim at a certain target that Bennet ended up aiming for too.
When we finally got to ten in a row my wrist was throbbing, but it didn’t overshadow the thoughts that swam in my head. It was crazy lucky that we were able to do that without creating some kind of pattern or using signals. A little too lucky. . .thinking about the possibilities made my heart race, so I decided it was better to be left unknown. The two of us cleaned the training room and put all of the targets by the wall and the knives back on the shelves beside it.
“Tomorrow morning,” Bennett said, more as a statement than a question, and left the room without another word.
I rolled my eyes and said to the now empty training room, “Sure, glad we were able to work that out.”
Even with the aching wrist, I honestly found that activity kind of fun. It was like a guessing game, but deeper, and each time we both hit the same target it was like winning a hand of blackjack. I liked playing the game with Bennett. I guess he was a good teammate.
There was a smile on my face when I left the training room.
