The next day came. Sophia woke Andrew up before going about her morning routine.
The suite was so large they didn’t really see each other till it was time to head into the cab. Neither of them were really breakfast people but Sophia had purchased coffees for them from franchise cafe that stood next to the condominium.
“Thanks.” said Andrew. Taking his coffee from the cardboard carrier that was holding.
“Not a problem at all, Hoheit.” said Sophia.
Andrew took a sip of the coffee and made a satisfied noise as he found out that she’d gotten him one of those sweet, frothy, drinks that were more milkshake than coffee.
Andrew looked the pale, white-haired, woman, over, and saw that she looked prim and pressed as usual. Her hair was shining in the morning sunlight. Her golden eyes were gleaming and sharp, filled with the focus and energy she put into nearly every task she set her hand to.
“You look...nice.” said Andrew. Blushing as he gave an awkward compliment.
A hint of color flowed into Sophia’s normally snowy visage and she smiled, nodding in response.
“Thank you. You’re not looking too bad yourself, hoheit.” said Sophia.
“Thanks.” said Andrew.
When he woke up this morning, he’d expected to have to rewear his uniform from yesterday because all his clothes were back in his apartment. An apartment that he might or might not be moving out of, depending on how serious Sophia was when she said that this condo was supposed to be a place for both of them.
It turned out, he’d underestimated his companion’s foresight. When she saw him trying to iron last night's cloths, She pointed him to a walk-in closet that was filled with fresh, and ironed, male uniforms in various sizes. It was one of two closets she’d set aside for him, the other closet containing a mixture of casual wear, evening wear, and professional garb.
Andrew availed himself of the uniforms. Taking the opportunity to wear a uniform that not only fit his much expanded build but was several sizes larger. He’d been restraining himself yesterday to avoid bursting out of his clothes.
While he’d intended to be a little more subtle about the size increase, since things had already progressed past the point of “subtlety” Andrew decided to simply just jump to his intended height of 6 '10, advance his musculature and bones structure to the targeted level, and be done with the matter.
Having a larger uniform set would allow him to have his cake and eat it too, by downplaying the changes in his form.
He figured only those who knew him personally would be able to put a finger on what was different, and so long as he held off on going to the doctor for a few months he could still pretend the growth happened over time.
Or so he told himself, while trying to quiet the voice in the back of his mind that said this might bite him in the ass eventually.
The car ride to the academy was uneventful. Andrew and Sophia didn’t talk much because beyond holding the identity of an eighteen-year-old student, she was also the sitting president, and chief executive officer, of a billion-dollar corporation.
A lot of her free time was spent fielding phone calls, and emails, from the subordinate executives, managers, and supervisors under her employ.
Andrew didn’t mind. He had an email from Carmella to answer. His mother was often busy. Preoccupied by her position as a Captain within the imperial navy. All the same, she still tried to keep in touch.
The email was filled with typos and read like a hurriedly drafted interrogatory for a legal case. She wanted to know how he was doing in school. What kind of classes he was taking. If he was able to make sure they put him the twelfth grade and not the eleventh as they’d been threatening.
Andrew laughed as he imagined his mother just sitting down during a rare break period and simply typing down as many questions as she could think of, before sending it with love.
There was one little detail that gave Andrew pause, apparently, his little sister Jack was a student of Blackvale as well. She was away from campus at the moment, offworld, wrapping up some kind of semester abroad program that she’d enrolled in. Andrew’s mother said he could expect little Jacqueline to stop by his place at some point to check in on him.
Andrew looked down at himself and once again wondered if he hadn’t been too rash in changing his appearance. Then he sighed and let the thoughts drift away because even if he could technically reduce his size to something small if he wished, he found he didn’t want to.
Humans were small creatures and back in Abwickeln his true body had ranged from building sized to star sized. Being small was uncomfortable for him.
Andrew’s original body was even smaller than that of an average human. Lacking the dynamic, distinctly superhuman stature held by most people of the current age. The original Andrew had been overly slender, and just a tad short.
That form had felt ten sizes too small since his return to this world. Andrew’s current form was a much better fit.
Andrew drafted a message that gave rough explanation of the classes he was currently taking, and an assurance that he was doing fine at the moment.
After glancing over at Sophia, he decided to mention that he was already making a few close friends, possibly a girlfriend, as a way of preparing for the inevitable day of their meeting. He also sent his new address because he was fairly certain he’d be moving in with Sophia. Then he sent the reply with his love.
Carmella's earnestness when it came to her children and relatives made it hard for Andrew to resent her for not being there while the rest of the family treated him like an unloved house pet.
Though her attempts to stay apprised of things at home from halfway across the galaxy generally met with little success, this was one of those times where getting an A for effort actually helped things.
The only failing Andrew truly held against her was the fact she never seemed to quite believe him when she tried to explain all the many not okay things that happened to him and his sister while she was away.
Even if the woman wasn’t so naive as to believe that the massive Quirk household would be full of only good people, she never seemed to want to believe that there were genuinely bad people mixed amongst them.
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Andrew and Sophia arrived at the gates of the academy. Theirs was only one of the large number of ai-driven taxis that were pulled up on the curb, disgorging their passengers.
A little further down the street lay the buses taken by the school’s less affluent students. The buses reminded Andrew that he still intended to figure out Eblouir’s public transportation system, just in case.
Andrew got out first and held the door open for Sophia.
“Nhm...Today is an all elective day and we don’t seem to share any classes.” said Sophia. Sounding downcast.
“That’s fine...I’ll just meet you back at the apartment.”
“You mean you’ll move in?!” said Sophia. Sounding excited.
“I thought that was what you wanted?” said Andrew. One brow raised. Startled, and moderately worried, by the fact she’d sounded so surprised. Growing pale despite his false bravado. His stomach beginning to churn unpleasantly as it occurred to him he might have read the situation wrong.
“I’d hoped, but you’d seemed a little reluctant...And I know how you can get sometimes, when you decide that things should be a certain way.” said Sophia.
“Ah… Well, you’re not wrong, I suppose. I can be stubborn at times but not about this. In this case, I wasn’t really reluctant. I just wasn’t sure if you really wanted me squatting at your place, or if you were just offering out of obligation.” said Andrew. Feeling relieved. Chuckling and feeling oddly light headed.
Sophia pulled him close her lips pressing against his own. At first Andrew froze aware of all the eyes that were drawn towards them and their display. His first instinct was to pull away, but he found himself leaning into the kiss instead. Inhaling the scent of his companion. Suddenly he didn’t care who was looking.
“Well, now you know, dear hoheit. I’d really, ‘really’, like you to move in with me.” said Sophia. Her hand caressing his cheek. Her voice hushed and breathy.
“I… I guess I do.” said Andrew. His heart beating like a million galloping horses. His brain on the verge of short circuiting.
Sophia stepped away. Her manner instantly transforming into one of prim professionalism.
“And now I have to swing by the library before my classes, so I won’t be able to accompany you for now. Have a good day, hoheit.” said Sophia. Striding off after giving Andrew an airy wave.
The car drove off. Likely called away by another customer. Leaving Andrew standing on the curb by himself not quite sure what to do with himself.
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Andrew went to class. His first class of the day was a boring literature course that was thankfully large enough that he could sit in the back of the lecture, and nap the hour away.
His second class of the day was a math course. Which for Andrew wasn’t quite as boring because he found that math had become a lot more interesting after he became an eidolon and mathematical nature of the fundamental underpinnings of reality became more apparent to him.
The math that was being taught in his second period class was nothing quite as profound as the mathematics used for calculating the flow of fate, or altering the oscillation of the stars, but it was still very enjoyable all the same. Sort of like popping bubble wrap.
Nothing of note happened till the fourth period class. This fourth period class was Andrew’s Introduction to Power Channeling Class.
The class itself was located in the industrial end of the campus. In a building looked small but was probably one of the largest buildings in the entire school, if you counted all the thick walled, magically reinforced, sub-basements.
The Intro to Power Channelling course was located inside one of these sub-basements. The schedule had Andrew reported to a room that seemed to be some kind of semi-circular arena. The air inside the arena buzzing with the sound of kinetic shielding.
The students all sat in the stands of the arena. The teacher stood up on the stage, the ellipsoid ring of the arena.
The professor was a human. A lean, muscular, woman, in a light blue jogging suit. Her dark brown hair was tied back into a short ponytail. Her smooth, tan face, and old, world weary, eyes made it hard to tell exactly how old she was. Her dark brown eyes read the room as she waited for all her students to finish filing in.
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Once she’d decided that everyone that was going to come had already arrived, she clapped her hands. The sound of her hands coming together was a lot like a small bomb going off, making the room go silent, and forcing those closest to the ring to cover their ears.
“Good afternoon to all of you… I think it’s probably time we get started. I am Professor Octavia Espina, of the Academy’s Close Quarters Combat Division, and I’ll be giving you your formal introduction to Power Channelling, this semester.”
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Despite the “Intro” title, the class was actually the sixth of a series of classes that all imperial youths could expect to have taken by the time they reached their final year of highschool.
Rolling the nomenclature backwards and calling the class an introductory course was just the academy’s way of indicating that this was the first course where they’d actually be plumbing the depths of what it meant to be a power user.
Ninety percent of the Empire was superhuman. This was due to the influence of two things, the first was the myriad anomalous energies that mankind found in higher energies solar systems. The second influence that caused an explosion in the population of superhumans was the empire really pushing the use of gene modifying serums during mankind’s first push into the outer-reaches of space.
If one happened to be part of the ten percent of the population that wasn’t born with superhuman abilities, statistically you were either dying of a terminal illness, or were already on your way to some gray market shop to fix that shit or die trying.
This was true for the non-humans of the empire both before and after they joined the fold. Said plainly, if you were sentient and a citizen of the empire you were expected to have some kind of power, on top of meeting the ever increasing standard in physical fitness.
Being weak, or even just appearing weak, was a great way to be made into a pariah. This was something Andrew had experienced first hand.
The Empire’s warrior culture meant those with stronger, more useful, powers enjoyed a higher status than those with weaker powers. Which created an incentive for people to go and play with their genes using a mixture of extreme training and power-enhancing serums and medicine, to make themselves and their future offspring even stronger.
The empire had countless dynasties and clans that were built around a single progenitor who had an impressive power and left behind a small number of descendants who were able to manifest a similar power.
Bloodlines and propagation of powerful genetics was a big deal to the peoples of the Novem Empire.
Important to the point that illegal trade of sperm and egg cells was punishable by death.
Important to the point that in some extreme cases, men and women might marry solely based on their partner’s power alone disregarding status, wealth, or aesthetics.
Important to the point that most large families were largely non-monogamous for the sake of gathering a large number of useful powers into a single bloodline.
Important to the point that a third of the purpose of the nanites flowing through everyone’s blood, was boosting population wide fertility and assisting interbreeding between all the races, because the powers-that-be discovered interbreeding led to useful mutations.
Important to point that empire’s enemies knew them as the empire as blood and lust.
Important to the point, that it was an open secret that it was the fate of any captured humanoid Stygians and Darklighters to either end up in the harems of the powerful or in some research testing lab.
Thus from grades K to Eleven, all the youths of the empire could expect to have at least two classes a year whose sole purpose was helping them: A) figure out what their special power was, B) figure out how to actually draw on said power, and C) learn the standardized state approved method for increasing their powers if they didn’t come from a clan or family with its own secret methods.
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After the professor introduced herself, the class was full with a nervous energy. Andrew understood why. This was likely the class that would divide elites from the cannon fodder.
The academy called this course a class but going by the language in the release one had to sign before enrolling into the course, it was more a grand assessment.
Though there would indeed be a lot to learn, the true purpose of the course was to serve as a “gentle” trial by fire so that academy, and by extension the empire, could get a sense of where one sat on the food chain.
Thus Andrew wasn’t surprised when the woman clapped her hands a second time and said,
“Okay, I could talk to you all about great gifts that the gods have granted us, and how this semester is an opportunity for you to try and learn what you’re made but honestly that shit sounds boring so instead I’m gonna call of thirty...two? Thirty-two? Yeah, that sounds about right. I’m gonna call all thirty-two of you down here, one by one, and we’re gonna get a little hands on.” said Professor Espina.
“Now then...Rather than go by alphabetical order. I’d respect the hell out of you guys if a couple of you kids would volunteer.” said the Professor.
Naturally, nobody responded to that because there was nobody who wanted to be the one to test the water. Andrew sat back wondering what would happen next. With sleepy eyes he looked at all the faces in the room that were similarly looking at their peers. He was amused to see each and every person in the room wordlessly encouraging the person next to them to do the honorable thing and step forward.
Suddenly, Andrew found himself being pushed from behind. Pushed with enough force to make him have to stand to keep from taking a tumble down the bleachers. This was followed by a disguised voice shouting,
“I’ll do it!”
Andrew whipped around realizing that someone was playing with him. It wasn’t hard to spot the culprit. There was a silver-haired wolfkin sitting amongst a group of familiar looking knuckle draggers. The wolfkin sneered at Andrew as if daring him to start something. One of his friends, cracked their knuckles and smiled with menace.
The Professor apparently was happy to pretend to see none of this. Simply smiling and saying,
“Ho ho, a man with guts. Professor approves, get on down here!”
Andrew continued glaring at the wolfkin and his entourage. Noting the presence of thug one and thug two from yesterday, Andrew guessed that this young man was the “boss” they’d been talking about. Then after an additional second had passed, Andrew turned around and drudged his way down to the ellipsoid ring.
“Oh, well, you’re a big fellah, aren’t ya? It was kind of hard to see from far away. Anywho, what’s your name?” said Professor Espina.
“Um, Andrew...Andrew Oddvar.” said Andrew. Caught off-guard by the woman’s manic energy.
The woman frowned. Her brow furrowed as she tried to think.
“Oddvar… Oddvar… I can’t say recall any big Oddvar clans.”
“Would… Quirk help?” said Andrew. Deciding to blow his own cover because he’d already decided that he wouldn’t be laying as low as he’d initially planned.
“Quirk? Ah, the Harrow City Quirks. Now ‘that’ is a name I recognize.” said the woman. Her expression brightening.
“So, Andrew. Are you like the rest of your clan? Is the class gonna get to see that famous Quirk [Breath of the Steadfast Hero]?” said Professor Espina. Smiling.
Andrew grimaced at the mention of the power his family was most famous for.
The one thing all the nations of the galaxy had in common was a tendency to give their powers fanciful titles rather than simply saying what the power was. Rather than saying your family had super strength, you said they were all [Herculean Wardens].
Andrew figured it was all down to some mutual culture of ancestor veneration, hero worship, and general braggadociousness.
Adding the power that brought a family to its highest height, to the family’s name, was a good way of reminding everyone why you shouldn’t bet trifled with.
Titling yourself after your power was just the next logical step. It was also a very useful way to avoid making the government paranoid because a world where everyone had powers was a world filled with potential persons of mass destruction. Literally nicknaming yourself after what you could do did a lot to set the minds
Two out of every three Quirks possessed the [ Breath of the Steadfast Hero]. It was a power that allowed the user to take a single aether filled breath and then for the duration of the time while they were holding their breath, their physical abilities would be augmented.
Their speed, agility, and in some cases, their regenerative abilities, greatly increase for as long as they could manage to hold their breath. The breadth and magnitude of this physical amplification varied from member to member but the effects were generally dramatic.
“Sorry… I don’t really ...have that power.” said Andrew. Feeling sheepish and vaguely self-conscious as he said so because social conditioning was a bitch and until now this kind of conversation had never gone well for him.
Andrew was part of the one-third of the family that didn’t have the power. Up until his trip to Abwickeln, he’d also been one of the ten percent segment of the total population that didn’t have a power at all. His mother had eventually been able to get him a power serum but the power it had given was only a low rated pyrokinetic ability, [Fist of Flame].
“Oh? Really? Then what power do you have, Mr. Oddvar?” said the Professor. One brow raised.
“That’s the problem… I’m not really too sure.” said Andrew. Rubbing the back of his head. Calming down inwardly as he found himself saying lines that he’d already prepared to say months ago.
“You don’t know your own power?” said the Professor. Frowning now.
“No...I know it. You see, a while back, I had a little incident, and it triggered a mutation that changed the power I had to something else.”
“Ah… Strange but not unheard of.” said the Professor. Looking curious.
“Well, what is it? What’s the name of the power, kiddo?” said the Professor.
“[Ideation of the Vacuous Dreamer].” answer Andrew.
Months ago, during the testing to confirm that he was truly himself and not some imposter, Andrew had made the decision to reveal a portion of eidolon abilities in the guise of a new power.
He’d figured it’d be a good way to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future. His new power could serve as a valid excuse to cover up any unexplainable abilities he ended up manifesting in the future.
“Hm...Can’t say I’ve heard of that one before. Mind explaining?” said Professor Espina. Hands on her hips.
“Nh, I’m not sure I could do all that good a job of it.” said Andrew. Shrugging. Trying to drive it home that didn’t really have a clue on what his power could do either.
“...According to the folks at the hospital, it’s an empathic ability. So far, as far as I can tell, it lets me read emotions and sometimes thoughts.”
The Professor’s expression turned flat and a little glum. The power that Andrew had described wasn’t completely useless, but it was far from being a combat power. Originally, Andrew had intended to leave things there. You couldn’t really flunk intro to Power Channeling. It was a one credit course for a reason. However you ‘could’ end up getting sorted out of the class if your power wasn’t strong enough.
Now that Andrew had re-thought the path he intended to take as a student and citizen of the empire, he found himself giving away a little bit more of what his “power” could do.
“Basically, I’ve found that I can sense all sorts of mental energy including that from emotions, and thoughts, and dreams ...I've also found that I can put that mental energy to use.” said Andrew.
“Put it use? Put it to use how? Come on, man. Don’t leave me hanging.” said Professor Espina.
“Uh… A lot of ways really.” said Andrew. Being purposefully vague. Unsure of how much he wanted to reveal.
“Ways like…?”
“I think the researchers used the term fractal-type.” said Andrew. Quizzically tilting his head to the side.
Fractal-type abilities were also called “magic-types”. They were powers whose flexible nature allowed them to create a large number of effects. Which was exactly what Andrew had been aiming for when he faked the manifestation of the power.
Direct manipulation of arcane energies wasn’t something that people could do in this universe. Most magic was through complex formulas, and the use of special ingredients and focuses. The powers people used were essentially magic spells tied to the user's genetic code.
Fractal-type powers that came with varying effects and could be used in various ways were the closest most beings of the Blackrose galaxy could get to wielding the kind of powers a mage in a fantasy type universe, or an eidolon of the darker corners of the cosmos, would be able to wield. Which was exactly why Andrew claimed that kind of power. It’d explain away many things he might end up doing in the future.
“Oh ho, a fractal-type, huh? What kind of things are you able to do with it?” said the Professor.
“Er… Teleportation, I think… Because that’s how I’m still here. Healing. Again because that’s how I’m still here. Beside that... I’ve been able to create some short-lived constructs and emit different kinds of energy blasts . Also I can channel the energy for body augmentation.” said Andrew. Giving an answer that he hoped would be impressive enough to keep characters like wolf boy back in the bleachers from giving him trouble, but not so impressive that he had to worry about government types figuratively, and possibly literally, crawling up his asshole.
The Professor chuckled.
“Body Augmentation, eh? So you ‘are’ a Quirk after all. You tease you...Now you’re gonna have to show me a good time after all that talk.” said the Professor.
The woman’s words through Andrew for a loop. He was struck dumb by the realization that she was right. Though it hadn’t been his intention, he’d somehow ended up granting the wish of his ten-year-old self and gaining a power that could essentially make him a normal quirk.
The Professor neither knew nor cared about what was going on in Andrew’s head at the time. She simply surged forwards her body covered in some kind of electrical discharge as she aimed a blow at Andrew’s head.
Andrew was able to get out his head just in time to dart backwards, using the additional distance between himself and the Professor, to catch the woman’s punch. Andrew’s hand going numb as the force and electrical energy impacted his palm.
Instinct and habit took over. Andrew retaliated by flinging the woman away. She flipped in mid air and landed on the opposite end of the ring like a cat. She rushed towards Andrew again but this time he didn’t just wait to receive her. Andrew charged forwards like a locomotive.
Their bodies clashed in the middle of the ring and the kinetic shielding nearly shorted out in its attempt to absorb and dampen the force. In less than five seconds time, they exchanged no less than a hundred and thirty blows. The sound of their fists hitting flesh sounded like a fireworks show.
Espina got serious and threw a bolt of lightning at Andrew. Andrew altered the data of the air in front of him and created a shield to redirect her attack. Then he fired back an attack of his. Sending a ball of icy air and kinetic energy flying at the woman.
Espina wasn’t able to divert his attack as smoothly but she proved she was much tougher than she looked by guarding her core with her arms, and choosing to simply weather the blow. A fierce and feral smile appearing on her face as she allowed her arms to all but freeze over and then still came charging over at him like an angered bull.
For a second it looked like Espina was on the verge of becoming lighting. Her whole body becoming a thing of crackling blue-white energy. Andrew responded by becoming thunder. A deafening and ghastly noise escaping him as he sidestepped another bolt of lightning only to find that he’d been lead by the nose into a barrage of lightning packed punches.
Andrew’s right arm whipped out and caught the woman in the kidneys, the body blow was heavy enough to literally lift her up into the air. His left elbow followed and knocked her back into the ground. Then his stance reset itself and his leg flung out. Seeming to glow with faint bloody light as it travelled through the air. Aimed at the point where the woman’s head met her neck.
Andrew stopped himself. Realizing he was going to far and had gotten carried away. His aura vanished and so did the light that had clung to his leg. He stumbled back three steps and allowed himself to fall onto his backside.
“I yield…” said Andrew. Panting softly and only partially feigning exhaustion.
“W-, What?” said Espina.
The woman stood frozen in place for a moment. Her entire body tensed as she waited for the blow that would never come. Then she realized that Andrew was the one the ground and not her.
“Huh? Huh?! What do you mean you yield?!” said Espina. Sounding a little outraged.
“Like I said… this is a new power. I don’t really know how to use it...Which makes it hard to pace myself.” said Andrew. Shrugging tiredly.
The Professor narrowed her eyes at her little student. Rubbing the cool spot on the back of her neck and gazing down at the spot on the ring where his heel ate away at the tempered concrete that made up the stage.
Her gaze returned to Andrew, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Then she took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds just to affirm that she was alive.
“Nh...If you say so, kiddo.” said Espina. Her professionalism making her let the matter go, though her inner-brawler yearned for a heart-pounding round two.
The Professor proffered her hand and helped Andrew to his feet. He tiredly climbed off the stage and back towards another seat in another part of the bleachers to avoid having to deal with silver haired wolfkin and his punks.
Octavia found that she was so shaken by what happened that she needed to buy time. She walked off the stage, took a sip of her sports drink and closed her eyes. She took a few seconds to reset her mind.
She needed to do this because right now her blood was roaring, and right at this moment, she was pretty certain that if she tried to spar with another of those students in her current state she’d probably kill somebody. Or at least seriously injure them.
Which would lead to parents calling the school. Which would lead to the school making an official inquest. Which would inevitably lead to her being fired. Which would suck because being an associate professor at an academy was a fairly sweet gig and her uncle had gone on a limb to get her this job.
Espina opened her eyes and took another shuddering breath. Then her playful but professional grin fell back into place. She turned and pointed at the bleachers at a certain silver haired wolfkin.
“Oi, wolf boy! Since I’ve just been blue balled by our mutual friend here, you’re up. Come down here and show teacher what you’ve got!” said Espina. Her mood returning to normal.