Chapter 02: The Warehouse

[Timeskip: 2 Weeks]

In the two weeks since Taylor decided to start practicing his divine gift of [Photokinesis], he has made remarkable progress. As well as finding a more permanent place to live in.

###Start Flashback###

When Taylor started out using his [Photokinesis] he didn't want to begin with anything too big. So he first began by just sitting in well-sunlit areas in the children's section. Just resting on a chair and feeling the light of the sun against his skin was wonderful. It greatly reminded Taylor of the warmth he felt in the attack that killed his dad.

After his third day of soaking in the sunlight, Taylor was reading the Book of Magic to look at what types of practices he might be able to try and advance his training. But before he could ask the book, Taylor suddenly got an uneasy feeling. So he decided to ask the book for confirmation.

"Is there currently anything important that I should know about that might be giving me this uneasy feeling?"

Opening the book, the two spreadsheets immediately fuse into one paper and display a map of the local area. Immediately pinpoints appeared on the map, spread out with names listed next to them. The dot in the very center had Taylor's name listed on the side. The five remaining pinpoints on the map however greatly scared Taylor for they all shared the same name "Cyclops".

Suddenly terrified that his current location was about to be besieged by a quintet of cyclopes he closed the book.

"What is the best way to leave the library with the least possible risk to myself or chance of being detected by the cyclopes?"

{Outside the library there is a charter bus and bus stop. It is leaving in ten minutes. The estimated time of arrival for the cyclopes is twelve minutes. Before the bus leaves the best place for you to be is in the storage area of the bus.}

Not waiting for a second longer since time was against him, Taylor quickly put the Book of Magic in his backpack. Which held what remained of the belongings he had brought on the trip with his dad. Those being: two changes of clothes, a toothbrush travel kit, and a flipbook with photos of him and his dad.

Thankfully the employee break room had a washer and dryer that Taylor would use at night otherwise he'd have been thrown out for how bad he might have smelled.

Quickly making his way to the front of the library Taylor sneaked past the welcome desk by tagging along close behind a large family to make it seem that he was with them. Once out Taylor glanced around trying his best to spot the bus stop as fast as he could.

Turning to his right he finally saw it. Forgetting about appearing inconspicuous, Taylor took off running for the charter bus. With only five minutes left before it departed, Taylor went around to the side where the door of the luggage storage was and opened it.

The space was dark and already filled with an assortment of other people's luggage. Taylor wondered if he would even be able to fit. But not able to think about it for long as he heard the sound of the bus doors closing. Hurriedly crawling in he moved around a bit to get comfortable as he lay on his side.

Not a second after he had settled into place the bus began moving.

###End Flashback###

And that is how Taylor ended up finding his new living space. One of the last stops that the charter bus made was to an industrial warehouse office. Empty, but not abandoned. The reason why is that the surrounding area, parts of the lower walls, and the entire roof had been converted into a community urban garden.

This took away Taylor's concern about how to feed himself, what with all the fruits and vegetables being grown in the garden. There were rows of young fruit trees and plenty of root vegetables. Not to mention the tomatoes growing on the trellises.

It also added a layer of security for him as he used it as an opportunity to bask in sunlight under the pretense of being the child of a volunteer and getting to know the surrounding area. Thanks to this strategy he learned where all the parks and public restrooms were.

In the ten days that he has lived in the warehouse, Taylor has managed to set up a rest space in one of the cleaner rooms on a higher level. As well as using materials and supplies that had been left behind in the building. A few large tote boxes were used to wash and store his clothes. While a couple of dust sheets became his bed and blanket. Taylor was also incredibly thankful that in the downstairs bathroom was a built-in shower. Sure there was no water but he made do with a bucket he filled with a hose outside.

And so that is how he had spent his days. Though at night is when he would practice his [Photokinesis]. Already he has been able to master the ability to generate light and shape it into a small ball. But tonight he plans on trying to do something much more complex than he has done before.

Sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and his back facing the window, Taylor concentrated. The light of the setting sun shone through the window as the room slowly descended into darkness. Keeping his eyes closed and his breathing steady Taylor cupped his hands together and held them out in front of him. A moment passed then a speck appeared glowing faintly. Unhurried, the speck grew to the size of a tennis ball but glowed brighter than a forty-watt light bulb.

Opening his eyes Taylor smiled, just as he always has whenever he sees what his powers allow him to do.

Slowly he un-cupped his hands and was internally thrilled when he saw that the light hadn't sputtered out like it had the few times he had tried before. Instead, it hovered in the air still as bright as it had been. Carefully Taylor used his power to lift the ball of light further into the air and left it to hang just below the ceiling. He repeated this process twenty more times. The entire room was now lit up brighter than it had been during the day.

Encouraged by his success Taylor moved on to the next step in his experiment, coordinated movement. Reaching out with his power Taylor connects himself to every individual orb of light. The feeling was weird but in a way also familiar. The best way Taylor could explain it is like how you move the toes on your feet. It's intimately connected to you because it's your body, but at the same time, it's a weird sensation to be moving them due to the signals your brain sends to your foot.

"Alright, here it goes," Taylor whispers, his eyes gleaming with determination.

Doubling down on concentrating, Taylor slowly began to move the lights in a ring formation.

Taylor formed three rings containing seven lights each, which spun in circles inside each other in different directions.

Unfortunately, despite his high adaptability he was still only physically six years old and had only been practicing with this power for a few days. Sweat beaded his brow, and his breathing became labored. Wishing to push his powers further, Taylor attempted to make each ball of light spin individually while still maintaining their current mobile ring formation. Then it happened. All the balls of light fizzled out of existence as Taylor passed out from the strain of over-exerting his powers.

By the time Taylor woke up the next day, it was already past lunch. "Note to self never push yourself like that again just for practice," he muttered. Stomach growling Taylor got up off the floor and made his way outside.

"Hopefully, no one questions my late appearance, and I can grab an apple and a couple of carrots without anyone noticing."