How to train in the 5th force

The next few days were as dull as they could be.

The excitement of last week was slowly fading. Everyone in the city of Paris felt the false sense of safety coming back, save for the members of the 5th force association.

Altin, François, Julien, and Paul were kept updated by the association on anything related to the 5th force, especially any anomaly in the vicinity. Fortunately, there hadn't been anything significant.

Altin had wanted to come by the Hub every day, but Juliette had refused. She was busy with classes and homework. As a college student, even though she was freer than a high school student, she still had things to do: that and that she wasn't a patient teacher.

That frustrated Altin: every day, he would ask whether he could come.

There was simply no way that Juliette could possibly deliver to Altin's expectations.

Nonetheless, she agreed to meet Altin on Friday afternoon.

--

"Hello? This is Altin." A teen spoke to the interphone of a large, four stories building. Altin had arrived at the Hub.

Zzz... "6 pm o'clock, not a second less nor more. Have you been waiting to ring?" A calm voice rang. It was Juliette.

"I just came!" Altin said in a hurry. Truth to tell, he had been waiting for twenty minutes outside. However, he didn't want to appear over-eager, and he was afraid that coming too early would indispose Juliette. So he refused to tell the truth.

"Sure." But Juliette knew. "Come in; the door's opened."

Altin climbed the stairs up to the 4th floor.

"Welcome back." Juliette opened the door and said.

Like Monday's session, Altin and Juliette sat on the vast living room's sofas. Marie was watching TV a bit further away.

A small iron wire was laid on the table ahead of Altin and Juliette's sofa.

Juliette explained: "The last session was on theory; today, we will emphasize practice."

In France, education traditionally taught theory first and only then put it into practice. This cultural trait gave birth to excellent mathematicians and physicists. However, French researchers were weaker in applications compared to American researchers and gave birth to less innovations.

"Um." Altin nodded.

Altin had thought about Juliette's words over and over.

Not only that, but he had read a few books on physics the last few days. He and his friend Julien had shared knowledge in lengthy discussions. He was etching for practice.

Juliette explained: "Training will be divided into three steps, which we hope you can master within a year.

First, feeling. You must learn to feel the 5th force in any circumstance.

Second, control. You must learn to guide it using your body towards, preferably, your hand.

Third, application. You must learn to apply the 5th force to affect any of the other forces around you."

She observed Altin's reaction. He looked calmed and focused. He was yet to manifest a question mark.

Altin nodded.

Juliette continued: "Every stage is tremendously difficult. My dad took 10 years to have some level of success in all three. I took myself 5 years, but I started when I was 5. So that was 10 years ago.

Still, I can only apply some basic and limited force to objects around me. Despite that, I still have the best result among everyone."

"How long does it take for each stage?"Altin wondered

"It really depends. For some people, the feeling stage might take the longest, but once they grasp it, they are quick to learn to control it. Some others learn to feel the force faster, but applying remains a mystery to them." Juliette replied.

Altin thought: "It looks hard, but of course it had to be! I won't give up!"

He asked Juliette: "Are there some proven tips to master the stages faster?"

"There are." Juliette paused. "Lucky you. After many years, we have observed that some methods were effective and some were not. So you will be able to learn faster than even me". Juliette was envious; her family had tried every possible method to train. Only after years did they slowly find what worked and what didn't.

"You can't wait to hear, can you?" Juliette teased.

Without waiting for Altin to reply, she continued: "To learn to feel, there is really no other way than to meditate next to the orb and slowly get farther and farther. At one point, you will find yourself able to feel the 5th force anywhere. That should be your primary goal and what you should do all the time."

"To learn to control, you... need to be aware of your body very precisely, especially your nerves and muscles. Our members found that practicing martial arts helps. Personally, I practice Tai Qi and Kung Fu. Chinese martial arts emphasize "Qi," the inner energy we have. The 5th force seems unrelated to that, but the methods are still effective, and I drew some insights from them."

Altin asked with a pensive look: "Do the other members practice other martial arts?"

"Yes," Juliette replied. "Some practice Japanese martial arts, some just rely on boxing training, but results aren't good. The key point is to emphasize sports that focus on intricate control, flexibility, and awareness. Explosivity, strength, and cardio don't seem to be important. Go ahead and discuss it with the other members via the group chat if you are interested. We all have different approaches to this."

"Ok, that makes sense. I'll do that. What about application training?" Altin wondered.

Lines of doubt appeared on Juliette's forehead. Then, slowly, she said:" That... we don't really know. The best we can do, which is the best I can, is apply the force for minor effects around my palm. But, although we are not sure, we believe that it should be possible to have long-range effects and of much greater intensity. Actually, it's confirmed, now that we saw you scaring everyone last time when you produced electric arcs everywhere."

Altin immediately interjected to apologize: "Sorry about that... I didn't do it on purpose."

"That's alright." Juliette knew he really didn't mean it, and the kid looked so sorrowful that it was hard to blame him.

"However, you must absolutely refrain from trying again until you get a perfect feeling and perfect control. You must learn to manifest and apply a minimum amount of force so that we don't... get hurt."

Juliette had nearly said the word "die," but she switched to a less worrying word.

Altin nodded. He swore to himself he would carefully and slowly train in the 5th force.

"What should I do then?" Altin asked.

"For the next several months, train next to the orb, but as far as possible, and only attempt to feel the 5th force. You will train with Eléonore. At home, prepare your senses and your body at your liking, and try to learn about physics too. That's it." Juliette said.

"That's it?" Altin asked for confirmation. The instructions seemed too simple. Given his past performance, he felt he wouldn't take long to handle the 5th force, so he expected more practical training, maybe even application training soon.

"That's it," Juliette confirmed. "Don't overestimate the difficulty of feeling the 5th force in ordinary space."

"Ordinary space?" Altin questioned.

Juliette replied: "Anywhere not near any anomaly, where the 5th force is almost undetectable."

"Um. When do I begin?" Altin asked.

"Now. Go fetch Eleonore in her bedroom. You two will practice with the orb a good distance away while Marie and I are nearby, just in case. Her bedroom is reachable through the hall; her name is on a tag hanging on the room door," Juliette said while nodding towards the hall that Altin and his friends had crossed the other day.

Altin walked through the ornated hall and stopped at a door where the tag "Eléonore" hung in gold on top of the handle.

Knock. Knock.

Altin announced his presence: "Eléonore? It's Altin. Are you here?"

Little steps were heard. Then, the door opened.

"Hi Altin! Is it just you?" Eléonore asked. That day, she wore ordinary clothes: jeans and a blue sweater. Her long blond hair was yet again tied in a ponytail.

"Yes...". Altin replied. Now that he was alone with Eléonore, face to face, he felt a little hot. He was not used to talking to a girl. "I've... Juliette asked me to see you, so we can train with the orb together in the living room." Now Altin was slightly blushing.

"Oh, alright then. Let's go. I'll carry the orb." Eléonore innocently replied.

She left the door and came back a moment later.

She held a little chest in her right hand. The chest seemed to be made of wood, and it didn't look heavy.

Altin was curiously inspecting the chest. Eléonore realized that Altin's attention was on the crate she was holding. As the granddaughter of Marie and a resident of the Hub, she was used to seeing plenty of people coming to visit and train with the orb. Many were fascinated by it, but it seemed to her that Altin was particularly captivated.

Eléonore decided to draw him out of his reverie: "Let's go!"

The two walked back to the living room.

Marie, wearing a formal attire of blue and dark pants and blazer, was waiting for them here.

Juliette seemed busy chatting on her phone.

"Eléonore, Altin, see those chairs over there?" Marie pointed to two chairs 5 meters away, a reasonable distance away from the nearest sofa.

They looked at the chairs.

"Eléonore, put the orb on the table next to the sofa and sit on one of the chairs as you see fit. You will be responsible for giving pointers to Altin and explaining the feeling training. You know how it goes."

At that moment, Eléonore discovered she suddenly got assigned the extra work of teaching Altin. She asked in rebuttal: "Isn't Juliette supposed to do it?" She thought: "Must have been proposed by Juliette..."

Marie noticed her reluctance: "She won't be of much help for this part of the training. Instead, you are of the same age as Altin and need to train in the same thing. Sounds good?"

"It's fine." Eléonore glanced at Altin. She didn't know whether he would make a good training partner, but anyway, it couldn't hurt to try.

Although Juliette and Eléonore weren't sisters, they had met so often the past few years that they felt a bit like one. At times, Juliette would teach Eleonore. Sometimes, she would also drop various tasks on her to free some free time.

Marie, of course, was aware of the relationship between the two. Still, she felt like having Eléonore teach Altin a bit would help the two of them. They were of the same age, and Eléonore was less advanced than Juliette. Therefore, she would also be a good companion in training for Altin.

Eléonore then went to open the wood chest and laid the multicolor orb on the small table.

Juliette didn't react in the slightest and kept to her phone.

Eléonore turned to Altin.

"I am still training in feeling the force because I am still unable to handle it far from the orb. This is one of the exercises we commonly use to teach this aspect. I'll show you."

Eléonore walked towards the chairs.

"So you sit on the chairs...." Eléonore sat on the nearest chair.

"And close your eyes...." She closed her eyes.

"And do your best to feel it!" The outgoing Eléonore exclaimed.

Altin was dumbfounded; contrary to Juliette, Eléonore's explanations were way too simple. Though he liked her cheerfulness, wasn't it a bit too simple? "You make it look so simple! Aren't you supposed to give tips and useful advice??!" Altin thought to say...

... but he shied away from saying it.

Instead, he said: "Ok! I'll try it."

Altin walked towards the second chair, which was 5 meters away from the table supporting the orb. The orb was radiating a mysterious blend of all colors.

Altin closed his eyes.

He felt nothing, not even after 5 whole minutes.

"Did you think you'd feel something this far-right away?" Eléonore teased.

Altin reddened. He indeed had felt he would manage easily. Reality slapped him in the face.

His ego didn't allow him to admit it.

"No, of course." He lied. "So, what should I do?"

Eléonore suspiciously stared at him. She wondered whether he really didn't have the expectation of succeeding immediately.

"It's fine. The members of the 5th force usually start... a few centimeters from the orb. In fact, they hold it in their hand until they get used to feeling the force. There had been no exception. Today, 5 meters is the farthest I can be without feeling it. So what you should do is go closer from the orb little by little until you barely feel it, then just stop there."

"That makes sense, thanks. I suppose I can't hope for a miracle." Altin nodded.

"Oh, you WERE thinking you'd feel it this far from the beginning, right?" Eléonore interjected.

"I.... yes," Altin couldn't reject it this time. He had given himself away. So he changed the subject: "I'll move my chair closer."

Altin took his chair and carried it a meter closer to the orb.

He then sat and focused on finding the tingling sensation in the back of his head.

Nothing.

He didn't worry about it, given what Eléonore said.

He took the chair and moved it one-meter closer, again.

Still nothing.

Once more, he brought the chair one more meter closer. He was now only 2 meters away from the orb.

Marie and Juliette started to look in his direction.

He calmed himself, imagining a quiet and distant green field. He imagined that a tree rested in the middle of the field and that it was sunny, and in the shades of the tree, he was reading a book. He pictured the scene clearly and slowly managed to calm himself.

Minutes passed.

But Altin still didn't feel the familiar tingling sensation.