EXERCITIUM

DEREK

“Derek, this is a bad idea.”

He frowned at Akane. The others were looking around the empty rooftop he had brought them to, searching for things to help them test the limits of their powers. Akane, on the other hand, had a serious look on her face.

“I assume you're not talking about the training.”

“No. Allying with the Necessarians is...” She sighed. “Something you should have thought over.”

“I did. Butler is the most powerful man in the city. His resources will be invaluable.”

She glared. “He got to his position by killing anyone who disagreed with him.”

“And by honoring deals and protecting the citizens,” Derek said. “There's a reason he has such a large following.”

“I...” She sighed again and leaned her forehead against her sheathed sword. “I really think you're giving him too much credit. You always try to see the best in people, but...”

Derek put his hand on her shoulder. “Akane. I'm not asking you to trust them. I'm just asking you not to start a fight.”

She blushed. She did that a lot. “Of course. And I will. Not start a fight, I mean. But I'll be ready if they try to start one.”

“Good. Now, c'mon. We need to do some tests.”

Akane immediately blurred forward, almost too fast for the eye to see, only to stop, grinning, next to Laura.

“No,” Laura admonished her. “We need to perform actual measurements.” She fished out her phone. “I have a timer app. Let's mark off ten feet increments and see how fast you can go.”

Akane frowned, and opened her mouth to retort, but Derek stopped her. “Laura has a point. Just do as she says. Find chalk or something.”

She shut her mouth, nodded a little sullenly, and headed back downstairs. Most of the skyscraper was made up of clothing stores, but the top two were undergoing renovations. They might have something we could use.

“I probably should have gone,” Adam said from where he was leaning on an air conditioning unit. “It's not like I have anything better to do.”

“Don't be stupid. Of course you do,” Laura said, probably more harshly than she intended. She strode over and handed him her gun, grip first. “You've shot a gun exactly once. You need practice.”

Adam took the pistol with some hesitation. “I'm... not really sure about this.”

“Once Butler sends you your guns, I'll show you a good shooting range,” Derek said. Maybe introduce him to some monster slayer friends, too. Mohamed the Silver always liked training new guys. “Right now, we just need to make sure you can shoot straight.”

He looked at Derek a little sideways. “I did kill someone earlier, you know.”

The way he said it—as if it was nothing particularly important—worried Derek, but he kept it to himself. “That could easily have been a fluke.”

“It wasn't.”

Derek grinned at him. “Then prove me wrong.” He pointed at the other side of the roof, where Laura and Ling were setting up a few discarded cans on the three-foot high safety wall at the edge.

Adam gave him a bit of a look, like he wasn't sure what to make of all this, and raised the gun in one hand. He sighted carefully, pulled the trigger...

And missed. By about ten feet.

Ling laughed, but quickly covered it up with a cough. “Want some advice?”

Adam rubbed his forehead. “If you even think the phrase 'in anime... '”

Ling just rolled her eyes and stepped up to him. She grabbed his left hand and brought it up to his right. “First off, always use two hands. You managed to shoot the screamer one-handed, but that was just luck.”

“Always use two hands,” Adam said with a nod. “Got it.”

“Now, widen your stance. Yeah, like that.” She moved behind him and adjusted him a little bit. “Good, that's perfect. Breathe normally. Aim, and squeeze the trigger. Don't pull. Now... fire.”

Another shot echoed.

The cans stayed where they were.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Adam sighed and let his arms fall to his sides.

Ling shook her head. “No, no, that was good! You were a lot closer that time.”

Akane came back about then, before Adam could fire again, holding a few cans of spray paint.

“Hold up for a little while,” Derek said to Ling and Adam. “Let's see what Akane can do.”

She blushed a little as everyone turned to her, but nodded.

Laura took charge the moment it became clear they were willing to be scientific, and the rest of the time passed under her instruction. She marked off three ten-foot increments for Akane to practice, and after some trial and error managed to nail down her maximum speed as about a hundred miles per hour, and activating it sped up her mind to match, but she drained through her reserves in a fraction of a real-time second that way. She could also dial down the speed for a corresponding increase in duration.

“Ling, you're up next,” Laura said as she noted something down in her phone.

Ling frowned. She was a little busy giving Adam more tips. “Look here, Frosty—”

Laura gave her such a glare that her mouth clicked shut with an audible snap.

“Please tell me how you discovered your powers,” Laura said. “Add in a few lies, but don't tell me what they are.”

“Wait,” Derek said before Ling did anything. She certainly didn't look like she enjoyed getting ordered around. “Didn't you already test that truthteller thing?”

Laura shrugged. “Of course. But it doesn't hurt to be thorough. Ling? Any time you're ready.”

Ling looked livid, but did as suggested anyway. “Last night, when I was doing some football practice alone, I nearly ran into a concrete wall.” She shrugged. “It exploded. With a bit of effort, I found out I was able to use telekinesis on dirt and stone.”

There was a long pause.

“That's it?” Derek asked hesitantly.

She grinned. “Yeah, basically. I can do some weird things with it, and I didn't test it that much, but... yeah.” She turned back to Laura. “Well? Which parts were lies?”

“It wasn't at night,” Laura said. “And it wasn't a concrete wall. Everything else was true.”

Ling frowned. “Well... no.” She scratched at her ear. “I mean, yeah, it was yesterday afternoon, and it was a brick wall, not a concrete one. But it wasn't football. It was soccer.”

Laura cursed, and her hand went briefly to the diamond ring on her necklace. “Right. Well... since soccer is another word for football... were you specifically trying to use it to beat me?”

Ling nodded, a little worried.

“Well,” Laura muttered. “Clearly it's not quite as infallible as I was hoping. At least I don't seem to have this 'reservoir' you three mentioned. I've left it on ever since I found out about it.” She sighed, then shook her head to clear it. “Let's do some more tests. See what else we can do.”

They played—ah, practiced—for a couple of hours. They learned quite a few important things. Ling's power had limited finesse, but she could shape a few hundred pounds of dirt or rock and hit people with it. Laura had her practice making walls. As she pointed out, Derek wouldn't always be available, and a wall of concrete could stop bullets just as easily as his shields. Ling tired quickly, and could only make a few major shapes before having to rest.

Derek's were pretty easy. He could adjust the size of the shields, from a large dome to a small shell the size of a watch. Smaller shields were stronger and easier to maintain. He held up one the size of a big frisbee indefinitely. He couldn't really change the shape, though, but maybe that would come in time.

They finally slowed down at around seven, as the sun was setting. They were tired and sweaty and the building's staff looked at them funny as they left, but they felt good. Adam and Ling were already chatting like old friends, and even Laura was putting in a comment every once in a while. Akane kept her head down, as usual, but she had always been shy. It took her weeks to psych herself up for a roommate. This was just too much for her.

Emily was asleep on the couch when they came into the lobby. The temporary sign next to the office said the doors would lock at eight, but they had our keycards anyway, so it didn't matter. They all piled into the elevator and tried to ignore the smell of each others' sweat.

“I'm on floor six,” Laura said. Derek tapped the button, as well as the one for floor nine.

“Don't tell Lizzy about this,” Derek said. “I don't—”

She glared at him with what seemed like genuine hatred. What was the big deal? This was only the second time he had brought it up.

“I know, Derek. And it'll be fine. I want to keep her out just as much as you do.” The elevator doors opened, and she walked out. “See you tomorrow. Unless there's a screamer before then.”

“Ugh, don't remind us,” Derek said as the doors closed. The elevator began to rise again.

“Who's this Lizzy I keep hearing about?” Adam asked. “Laura's roommate?”

The doors opened again, and they all piled out. Ling glanced at Derek and Adam oddly. She didn't seem to expect them to be on the same floor.

“Yeah, and a childhood friend of both of us.” Derek smiled fondly. “You'll like her. She's such a sweetheart.” He unlocked their room and turned on the light. He also noticed a box sitting outside our door, just out of the walkway. Probably the guns from Necessarius.

“Wait, that's your room?” Ling demanded.

Derek blinked. “Oh, you didn't know? Yes, Akane requested the room across from me. MC was kind enough to arrange it.”

Adam frowned in confusion. “But... didn't you move rooms?”

“Yeah, and MC moved her as well. I guess Ling's roommate didn't have a problem switching.” Derek shrugged. “It's no big deal.” He turned to Ling and Akane. “We'll see you girls later.” He went into the room. Adam followed and shut the door behind him. Derek set about getting ready for a shower.

“So about Akane...”

“She's another old childhood friend,” Derek said. He wrapped a towel around his waist and used it cover himself as he stripped off his dirty clothes and threw them in the hamper in his closet. “Moved into the district right when Laura left. She's very shy, though, which is probably why MC was so accommodating. She needs a support system.”

“And you're willing to be that... support system?”

Derek blinked and paused in looking for his shower supplies. “Well... yeah. I'm her friend.” Had he missed that part? “Anyway, don't forget that box.” He left for the bathroom, still wrapped in his towel.

The bathrooms were communal, and the men's was just further down the hall. Derek was lucky—women's was all the way on the other side, so Akane and Ling were going to have some trouble.

It was also surprisingly clean. He guessed no one had really used it yet. It would get worse quickly. Public bathrooms always did. Better enjoy it while it lasted. He chose his stall and got ready for a nice long shower.