He continued in this state for a few minutes and he stopped. He stomped down after that. He had exhausted himself. It was not as if he had overused his aura. But exhausted he was. After recovering Ben tried the second level of the technique. For this another apparatus was there. In order to enter the second level one needed to know how to externalize their aura and also to emit it.
This apparatus had a sensor which was connected to Ben's hands. The other part was a withered transparent tube through which aura passed. He connected the sensor and he emitted the aura through the tube. This tube had an absorbing capability. Now he could feel the aura going in a spiralling fashion.
Soon Ben became accustomed to it as well. He tried to perform the second level of the technique several times. But it was a failure each time. It took him 3–4 hours to release the spiralling aura. After that he incorporated it into the first technique. At first the effort was not apparent, but as he gained mastery, it showed the drilling effect.
The dummy in the training room which was already blasted with the first level of impact pulse could only withstand a couple of attacks from the second level before it was blasted into smithereens.
As for the third level of the technique, it was not achievable in the short term. The training technique involved was really sophisticated. It was also intensive, where needles were poked near the meridians to induce vibration of the aura. Otherwise one had to train continuously and ultimately achieve it.
Ben decided to go for the next technique and train in it instead of achieving mastery over impact pulse. He also assumed that the other technique which also had a vibrational nature would help with the impact pulse.
So it did Ben long to arrange for the training of the next technique. He started with its explanation. "Humming Shirt is a defensive technique which uses the vibrational nature of the aura. The vibrational aura passes through the Dermis layer of the skin, which is right under the epidermal layer. There will also be a thin layer external to the body. This combination will help in cancelling out impacts and fending off other forms of attacks.
The vibrational nature of the aura in the Dermis layer will also be passed to the external aura as well. But this skill should be used with caution as the vibrations in the Dermis layer for a long duration can be damaging and hence the practice should also be done cautiously. It can not be sustained for long durations."
This was Ben. He began to lay down a plan. "I have about 28–30 hours remaining for the practice. I will use it fully for the training of the technique & if something remains, I will continue with the practice. Since I can't practice this for long duration, I will meditate & practice carefully."
With the thoughts he started to practice. Passing aura through the Dermis layer was easy. With the aura covering externally as well, he stood inside a chamber which was sending in vibrational energy at fixed intervals without affecting the vital parts of the body. He did it for about 30 minutes and rested for 10 minutes as specified.
After repeating this about 9–10 times Ben could slightly create the "Humming Shirt". The vibrations of the aura produced a distinct hum. When he maintained the state and received a strike from a machine—that produced a reverberating sound—then the impact was really lessened. Ben was happy that he had some success in two techniques.
Now what was left was the integration of these techniques into his fighting style and also working on the activation speed of these techniques. He could see that it took him several seconds to a minute to activate the technique.
Although he had just learned the techniques, and they were somewhat difficult, he still wanted to try. So he took a different room, something which was much larger and sturdier. This reduced his time available to 10 hours.
The first thing Ben tried was the 'Humming Shirt'. He activated the technique. The vibrations were predominantly in the Dermis layer. The external aura was not doing much. Then Ben materialized the Aether lupis around him for using rush n' ram. At first the vibrations did not get passed to the ethereal wolf. But after trying for about 20 minutes, slight vibrations began to be seen. In another 10 minutes the full vibrations were transferred on to the ethereal lupis. One could see that the beast was shimmering. This combination created a special atmosphere with the vibrations and the humming it was causing. It only lasted for a few minutes after which Ben was forced to stop it.
He did not want to damage the tissues and also cause aura exhaustion. Ben took rest for a short while and then started the impact pulse. He used the first and second level of the technique one by one for some time. His speed slightly increased and also the usage of aura also became efficient. The speed also increased.
Then Ben onto close range application of the technique. He went onto punch the dummy and use this technique to do further damage. The spiral technique was extremely useful for this. It made a large hole in the dummy and the next attack made it into dust.
He also tried to attack moving targets as well as to change the form of the attack to claw instead of a fist. He achieved partial success in both. The claw variation penetrated the new dummy even without the spiralling effect. When activated with the spiralling effect the claw attack completely obliterated a portion of the dummy.
Ben then went back to practicing the Humming Shirt-rush n' roll combination. After a few tries, he succeeded in that as well. He unleashed Aether leap as well, running around the training facility at high speeds. The vibration sometimes caused constructive interference and at other times destructive interference with the air. This created some peculiar sounds and bursts.
Overall, one could say that it was a partial success. Ben also incorporated the other physical techniques he learned .
He continued this for about 6-7 hours after which Ben was thoroughly exhausted. He had a little bit more that 45 minutes remaining. So he rested and cultivated to recover his aura.
Ben promptly exited the training room. Ben decided to look around the city the next day and then head home. He wanted to spar with some one. Mahaansh was his best bet. Then he thought of another person.