Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [156]
“All right,” Vin said.
“Bronze will also help you identify Mistborn,” Marsh said. “If you see someone using Allomancy when there is no Smoker nearby, and yet don’t sense them giving off Allomantic pulses, then you know that they are Mistborn—either that, or they’re an Inquisitor. In either case, you should run.”
Vin nodded silently, the wound in her side throbbing slightly.
“There are great advantages to burning bronze, rather than just running around with your copper on. True, you Smoke yourself by using copper—but in a way you also blind yourself. Copper makes you immune to having your emotions Pushed or Pulled.”
“But that’s a good thing.”
Marsh cocked his head slightly. “Oh? And what would be the greater advantage? Being immune to—but ignorant of—some Soother’s attentions? Or instead knowing—from your bronze—exactly which emotions he is trying to suppress?”
Vin paused. “You can see something that specific?”
Marsh nodded. “With care and practice, you can recognize very minute changes in your opponents’ Allomantic burnings. You can identify precisely which parts of a person’s emotions a Soother or Rioter intends to influence. You’ll also be able to tell when someone is flaring their metal. If you grow very skilled, you might even be able to tell when they’re running low on metals.”
Vin paused in thought.
“You begin to see the advantage,” Marsh said. “Good. Now burn bronze.”
Vin did so. Immediately, she felt two rhythmic thumpings in the air. The soundless pulses washed over her, like the beating of drums or the washings of ocean waves. They were mixed and muddled.
“What do you sense?” Marsh asked.
“I…think there are two different metals being burned. One’s coming from Kelsier down below; the other is coming from you.”
“Good,” Marsh said appreciatively. “You’ve practiced.”
“Not much,” Vin admitted.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Not much? You can already determine pulse origins. That takes practice.”
Vin shrugged. “It seems natural to me.”
Marsh was still for a moment. “Very well,” he eventually said. “Are the two pulses different?”
Vin concentrated, frowning.
“Close your eyes,” Marsh said. “Remove other distractions. Focus only on the Allomantic pulses.”
Vin did so. It wasn’t like hearing—not really. She had to concentrate to distinguish anything specific about the pulses. One felt…like it was beating against her. The other, in a strange sensation, felt like it was actually pulling her toward it with each beat.
“One’s a Pulling metal, isn’t it?” Vin asked, opening her eyes. “That one’s Kelsier. You’re Pushing.”
“Very good,” Marsh said. “He is burning iron, as I asked him to so that you could practice. I—of course—am burning bronze.”
“Do they all do that?” Vin asked. “Feel distinct, I mean?”
Marsh nodded. “You can tell a Pulling metal from a Pushing metal by the Allomantic signature. Actually, that’s how some of the metals were originally divided into their categories. It isn’t intuitive, for instance, that tin Pulls while pewter Pushes. I didn’t tell you to open your eyes.”
Vin shut them.
“Focus on the pulses,” Marsh said. “Try and distinguish their lengths. Can you tell the difference between them?”
Vin frowned. She focused as hard as she could, but her sense of the metals seemed…muddled. Fuzzy. After a few minutes, the lengths of the separate pulses still seemed the same to her.
“I can’t sense anything,” she said, dejected.
“Good,” Marsh said flatly. “It took me six months of practice to distinguish pulse lengths—if you’d done it on the first try, I’d have felt incompetent.”
Vin opened her eyes. “Why ask me to do it, then?”
“Because you need to practice. If you can tell Pulling metals from Pushing metals already…well, you apparently have talent. Perhaps as much talent as Kelsier has been bragging about.”
“What was I supposed to see, then?” Vin asked.
“Eventually, you’ll be able to sense two different pulse lengths. Internal