The bright blue haze in Calvin’s vision cleared as the classroom’s teleportation function finished dragging him through time and space, plopping him back into the void above the Colosseum.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. It was barely lunchtime, yet a week’s worth of fatigue had already introduced itself into his psyche, courtesy of a single encounter with an unpleasant hero— who is now also going to be his teacher, at least if he takes the class. Which, at this rate, was going to be unlikely.
'That was extremely cathartic, though’, he thought to himself, an unconscious smile working its way onto his face as he stared at the back of his knuckles.
A vibration. His holowatch alerted him to a notification. A satisfying cherry on top of the proverbial cake that was getting to punch Lightspeed.
Notification!
Received 5 points.
Five points.
He didn’t need it. Not by a long shot. He was already earning double that every day just by virtue of being in the top ten of the hero department’s ranking list. But, somehow, this inconsequentially small amount of points felt much more earned than that daily ten.
If the points were coins, this single five-point coin would be something he’d keep on his person at all times. A lucky coin. To be carried to his deathbed and passed along to his son or his grandson as the family heirloom.
His smile inched closer to his ears as the borderline insane scenario played in his head. With a last look, he closed the notification and relaxed his arm. Cracking his neck, his gaze drew back upwards to look for his friend group.
“Maybe Ina recorded—”, his words froze.
A nervous drop of sweat dripped from his temples. Every single person in the room was now staring straight towards him, with one particular girl glaring daggers that he could feel were stabbing straight into his face.
Calvin gulped, awkwardly shuffling his way back to the blot of pink he saw in his peripheral vision, trying to ignore the attention currently glued onto his back.
“Ahem—”, Lightspeed’s cough brought their attention towards him, “—now that everyone knows what to do and how the test will proceed, we’ll start by going three pairs at a time. Pay attention to what your current roles are and who your partner is. Run and chase, do everything you can with your current arsenal, it doesn’t matter if you think it’s stupid. We’re here to find out what you can do, so do what you can… but also, don’t get carried away. You only need to touch them once—”, he sent a glare towards Calvin, “—and the mission is done.”
He received the man’s glare and sent a flat stare back, 'Pot, kettle, asshole.’
Lightspeed looked back at the other students, bringing up his tablet and pressing some buttons before waving nonchalantly, “Anyway, go.”
Blue light shone inside the void-like room they were in, surrounding six students and teleporting them to the ruins.
There was silence for a moment before those left behind started muttering to themselves and their friends. Gazes were still landing between the student who punched a teacher and the teacher who smashed a student into a wall, but it faded in moments as everyone started to mind their own business.
Calvin took the chance when attention towards him was dispersed to sneak back towards Quinn and the rest.
“You okay?” The pink beacon whispered as soon as he got back.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Calvin answered, nodding with a smile on his face. “Feels nice.”
“I feel like that weight is about to be replaced,” She spoke with unhidden amusement, glancing behind Calvin with smiling eyes.
A literal weight suddenly fell on his shoulders before he could even ask what she was looking at. Thin, slender, but solid, the hands gripping his shoulders like they were motorcycle handlebars were recognizable even without turning around. It was the fangirl.
“How about you clench your jaw, asshole?” Alice growled, jumping up and on his shoulders to straddle his neck and start pulling his hair.
Thankfully, the girl was practically harmless as long as you didn’t fight back in any way. Her power doesn’t activate through self-harm, nor does it make her any stronger if the attack was in any way accidental.
He had no idea how her power could differentiate between intentions, but he was glad that it could, “You heard that?”
“She can read lips,” Quinn answered, gesturing to the mad woman.
Calvin craned his head and looked at the girl trying to headlock him, “You can read lips?”
“I can also punch lips!” She said, punching him.
He shrugged it off, her punch was honestly like a teddy bear’s smack, “Clearly.”
“You didn’t have to hit him in the face three times, did you?” Quinn said, chuckling.
“I actually was just going to punch him once, but then I thought I might not get another chance later.”
“And the third time?”
“It felt too good so I had to.”
“What?!” Alex paused in shock before continuing her assault, pinching his face.
“You’re starting to sound like Ina,” Quinn remarked.
“Queenie~ What are you— ah, fuck!” Calvin imitated, immediately receiving a kick to the shin.
Alex gave a thumbs up, “Nice work, Quinn!”
“All you girls are so violent, jeez. This is just bullying.”
She rolled her eyes, “You’re wearing the tracksuit, stop pretending.”
“It hurts me emotionally,” he said with fake heartache. “Where is Ina, anyway?”
“Look down,” Quinn said, glancing downwards herself.
“Her and Helena?”
“They made a bet.”
“Of course they did.”
“They bet on lunch too.”
“I’m the one cooking lunch?”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Quinn shrugged.
Calvin chuckled, “I’m actually more surprised Alex didn’t want to tussle with her nemesis.”
“She has a new one, it looks like.”
“Yeah I—”, two fingers entered his nose, “—ugh, will you get off?”
He tried shaking her off, but the girl’s leglock game was unexpectedly on point. In the end, he grabbed her by the ankle and pried her off of him, holding her up like a choking baby.
“I get that you’re a fangirl, but he’s fine, okay?”
“You punched him three times in the face.”
“And you can read lips.”
Alex paused at his words. Her eyes changed momentarily as she stared at him and pursed her lips. There was a subtle expression on her face that Calvin was very familiar with in his previous life. He had no idea what she read from their conversation, but he knew it was enough.
The girl harrumphed, wiggling out of his grip, and flipping to her feet like a cat, “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I’m on his side.”
His brows furrowed for a moment before an idea came to his head, “Honey garlic chicken.”
She froze, crossing her arms. There was a moment of silence before a light nod came, “Double the serving and I will remain impartial.”
“Good enough,” he chuckled.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Quinn prodded his side, “Add some cheese.”
“I always add cheese to your food,” He chuckled. “Do you have a sofa in your pocket or something? It’s awkward just standing around here with no chairs.”
“Can’t you sit on a pebble or something?” She suggested but nevertheless took out a sofa from her pocket.
Moments after she did that, seating appeared around every student in the room. Calvin’s brow raised as he smirked, glancing towards Lightspeed who seemingly was too focused on the tests below to pay attention to anything else.
“Soft,” Alex muttered, having already melted into the sofa Quinn took out.
Calvin sat down beside the two, a question suddenly popping up in his head after remembering the conversation with Lightspeed, “Hey, can you search me up? Like, in the network?”
“Why?” She asked while opening her holowatch.
“Ego-searching? You’re not a hero yet, Calvin,” Alex mocked.
Calvin ignored her, “Something he said. You have higher access, right?”
“'The one who birthed me’ is the one that has higher access.”
“But you can use that access, right?”
“Not exactly,” she shook her head while typing, “I message someone under her and they do the accessing.”
“Really? That works?”
“They probably think they can get a promotion if they suck up to me,” She shrugged, her watch vibrating immediately. “That was fast. Anyway, here’s everything about you on the network.”
Alex leaned closer, “Can I see it too— pweh.”
“No,” Calvin pushed her face away.
Quinn sent him a file that looked like something out of an investigative television show. All the information he put in when he registered as a citizen, in addition to some of the important tidbits in his half year in this world so far. Also a horrible picture. Apparently, even with all the super technology in this world, it was still impossible to get a good picture on a government file.
“Creepy,” Calvin muttered.
“Get used to it,” Quinn nodded.
His workshop experience was there, and so was the kidnapping part of that experience. Even his visits to Miss Marzi, his therapist, were written down. It felt somewhat invasive, but Calvin realized some time ago that things have to be invasive in a world where someone could awaken with god-like powers.
It wasn’t all-seeing though. There was no mention of the evil lab anywhere, nor was there anything about his friends on the dark side. Nothing about where he worked, who he knew, and where he went in his daily life. It was less than what he expected, but it was still bad.
There was also something interesting that was plastered on top of the entire page like a watermark.
“Arch-level access only?” Calvin asked in a whisper. “Isn’t that…”
“Very high-level,” Quinn nodded. “No one below that level of access would know anything other than your name, and that’s only if they need to. Unless they met you, you’re a ghost. Or a VIP.”
“Suspicious,” Alex muttered, scratching her chin. “Is that what he meant?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” He nodded.
Quinn closed her watch, “what did he say?”
“I’ve been out in the open for half a year— I registered and all that shit. But for some reason, he said he couldn’t find me in all that time. I guess we know why.”
“Why is access to your file restricted to that level anyway?” Alex asked.
“I have some ideas…” He scratched his chin.
“Suspicious,” She emphasized while leering at him.
As they were talking, two people appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. One was Ina and the other Helena, their moods like night and day.
“I won this time— woah!” Helena dodged Ina’s tackle.
Calvin was about to get out the silver chains when Ina stood up and pointed towards Helena, not a single mark on her face could be seen, “One-on-one me in the arena! Come on!”
“Same bet?” Helena grinned.
“Double or nothing!”
“Would you two sit down, please,” Calvin dragged the two onto Quinn’s sofa.
Lightspeed looked at them for a moment before addressing the class, “Next pair.”
----------------------------------------
Later
> Me: Hey, Dox.
>
> Me: Did you make my files higher-level access?
>
> Me: The files in the network I mean.
Calvin stared at the message he sent hours ago. It seems like the two were still in hyperfocus mode, or at least Dox was.
“It must be them…” He muttered, closing his watch.
Sebastien did mention that basic information surveillance against him would be next to useless. Now he’s wondering whether this was the reason why. He found it reasonable, but also somewhat scary that the AI could just change something like that on a whim. Not that what it did was a whim.
“Hopefully no one else looks me up. That’ll be kinda awkward,” Calvin muttered while leaning back on his sofa.
It was currently evening, around an hour after his last class. This was a rare moment of respite and freedom from social interactions, as everyone seemed to be busying themselves on their own.
Ina and Helena were probably still duking it out in the Academy’s sparring rooms or just watching other fights in the arena. Quinn was inevitably with her best friend— unless she was sulking in her room again.
Some of the others would tag along with them to hang out, while most were too introverted or tired to go out— Calvin being the latter.
“Haah… having nothing to do feels kinda weird,” He said out loud.
“Good, because we need to do something.”
“Ah!” Calvin jolted up and jumped like a cat. “Who— Quinn? What are you doing here?! How did you even get in?”
“Never mind that, clear the room. Every single piece of furniture,” She commanded. “We’re testing your power. The absolute one.”
“What? Right now?”
“That’s what I said.”
“But I haven’t had dinner yet.”
“Then start cooking!” Quinn announced, jumping to the couch and waving him off to the kitchen. “Cordon bleu!”
“Didn’t I already give you dinner?” Calvin asked. “I made dinner for everyone during lunch, right? Didn’t you take like half the lunchboxes I made?”
“I don’t remember that,” She played ignorant.
Calvin sighed, shaking his head and relenting to the royal’s whims, “What meat?”
“Don’t care, just make it Cordon bleu.”
“Frog meat it is.”
“You’ll be melted meat if you try.”
After making a log of chicken cordon bleu for the two of them and then subsequently decimating the egregious amount of food, the two sat facing one another in the middle of Calvin’s now-empty room.
Between them are two boxes, indistinguishable from each other.
“Carrot in a box?” Calvin asked, eyes narrowing.
Quinn looked at him like he was insane, “Carrot? What?”
“Never mind, what are we doing?” He sighed.
There was a judgemental pause before Quinn started explaining, “Testing which parts of your power are absolute, and which ones aren’t. This is something done to help everyone who is discovered to have that prefix, although usually it’s done between a group of smartasses and a group of hardasses, but we can’t have anyone discover you have the prefix so we’ll do the homemade version.”
“What’s the homemade version?”
“The version where we just think of things to test and test them when we can.”
“That sounds… unreliable?”
“Blame yourself and your secrets,” she shrugged. “I mean I can report you now if you want, just say goodbye to more of your personal privacy.”
“Unreliable just means we can verify for ourselves,” He nodded. “So, what’s in the box?”
“Nothing,” she opened the box and showed him what was inside, “We’ll test if you can summon the pebble somewhere you can’t see, among other stuff. So, summon a pebble inside this empty box.”
Calvin furrowed his brows but did so anyway. Digging into himself and using the 'whitestuff’ representation of the power inside of him to use [Impervious Pebble], he stretched the power and summoned said pebble inside the box. There was a familiar feeling of drain that came with a successful summoning.
“Done,” he nodded.
“That took a second? Don’t you usually just snap and make it appear?”
“I was just trying something out.”
“Well, tell me, because this is a test,” she opened the box and nodded. “Every variable needs to be accounted for.”
“Well…”
He then started explaining about the 'whitestuff’ inside of him and how he’s trying to use it to control his power.
“Oh? Cognitive metaquirk visualization?” Quinn asked, the tone of her voice sounding much higher than usual.
“Cogni-whatnow?” He asked, confused.
“Dumbing it down, it’s 'power visualization’. Imagining your power as an object inside of you that you can interact with and control the power.”
“A big ball of glowing white light counts as an 'object’?”
“It does. As long as you can control your power using the thing. That’s the only thing that really matters with CMV.”
“That’s an unfortunate abbreviation.”
“It’s initialism,” she corrected. “It’s convenient that you already know how to do that. Makes things easier for later.”
Calvin scratched his chin, “How so?”
“Usually it’s an advanced technique since it really only helps with control and not so much with output. And it’s too much effort for so little result… at least for non-cheaters.”
“That wasn’t because of a cheat… I think.”
“Whatever, that’s going to be a huge help with training the parts of your pebbles which aren’t absolute.”
“Did you learn it too?”
“What do you think?” She smirked. “You’re not special. Most high-rankers know it too.”
“I wasn’t— never mind. What’s your object, then?”
Quinn paused, her eyes turning into an indecipherable haze for a moment before she answered him, “The sea.”
“Sea…” Calvin echoed, trying to imagine it. “I’ve never seen it… I mean outside of pictures.”
“I’ll show you one day and drop you in if you don’t focus on this part… summon another pebble hugging the left wall.”
“Yes ma’am,” Calvin sighed and made it happen with the whitestuff.
She looked into the box and reached inside before looking at him with annoyance, “My left.”
“Then you should’ve said that,” He grumbled.
They continued testing Calvin’s ability to accurately summon pebbles in a box he couldn’t see into. It took a few minutes of summoning pebbles continuously before he told her he needed to rest for a bit— the signature spirit-fatigue headache plus body ache was introducing itself.
“Already? You need to work on your stamina, Calvin.”
“I am working on it every day. It’s just— using the whitestuff to use my powers is really mentally draining for some reason.”
“It’s because you don’t use it often enough. It’ll be like suddenly learning how to do a proper pushup after years of doing the wrong one.”
“Not using the whitestuff is wrong?”
“Stop calling it that. Just call it CMV,” She said, sighing at him. “Anyway, this is the last test for now. Summon a pebble in this box.”
Calvin looked at the untouched box and sighed, pulling on his power to summon the pebble. Unlike before, his power was fighting back against him, “Weird…”
“What is?” Quinn asked, taking out a notepad on her watch.
“It’s like there’s a pressure.”
“But you can still summon it?”
“I can try.”
He started to focus on the feeling of flexing his power, just like before, but this time with much more effort to make the pebble appear. It took a few seconds, but the pressure relented and the pebble was summoned— with a caveat.
“Holy shit,” Calvin collapsed on the floor, tired, sweating, and mentally drained. He felt worse than during the attack of the giant rabbit… it was like he summoned a few dozen pebbles all at once. “What the fuck, I never felt that before.”
Quinn opened the second box and frowned, muttering audibly to herself, “That’s not good.”
“What’s not good?” He sat back up again, curiosity keeping the pain at bay.
“You’ll see later. Anyway, here’s what we discovered about your power.”
She opened the box and beckoned him to look inside. Calvin leaned over and peeked at the contents, non-understanding immediately plastered on his face. Whatever was inside, he didn’t know what to make of it.
It looked like a bomb exploded inside, but the shrapnel was made out of cardboard. Bits and pieces of paper were sticking out everywhere, like an obstacle course for beetles. There were also pieces of cardboard with cutouts of different shapes, only each hole was, at most, the size of a fingernail.
And, sticking out like a sore thumb, was the tiniest bonsai.
“This wasn’t empty?” He asked the first question in his head. “And what’s with the bonsai?”
“I just had to check again,” She shrugged. “Also, it was empty, I just kept putting things inside without you knowing.”
“For the test?”
She nodded, “There’s a subconscious aspect in powers, your perspective of how it is often gets in the way of how it can actually be. That’s why I had to trick you.”
“I heard about that,” Calvin remembered Sebastien’s words. “Perspective and habit?”
“Exactly,” She nodded.
“And what did you figure out?”
“Three things,” she raised three fingers, “One, your power is intuitive with its summoning location. It looks like it can automatically summon itself to the nearest and easiest location rather than not work at all, unlike your previous attempt with the bonsai. See these paper shapes I taped all around? Your pebbles dodged them every time, even in the corners. Even the bonsai was untouched, the pebble appeared beside it rather than inside.”
“Huh. Cool,” He nodded. “And?”
She grunted at his non-appreciation, “That means you don’t need to practice or train yourself to exactly position your pebbles.”
“So… no need for mathematizing distances and coordinates?”
“Lucky you,” She frowned. “Anyway, the second thing. Your pebble can also change shape.”
“What? How?”
“No idea, but maybe you can train that part.”
“No, I mean how did you test that?”
“This one,” Quinn pointed to a particular hole. “It went into the square hole.”
“Everything goes into the square hole.”
“It didn’t go into the other holes exactly, but the shape of the pebbles always roughly changed to fit inside,” She explained. “I figured that translates to being able to change the shape.”
“Woah,” Calvin’s head was already swimming with ideas.
“It’ll take practice, though. And you also can’t make the pebble larger than a coin, remember?”
He sighed, nodding. It was included in the tests, to try and make the pebbles as large as he could, and then go further. Quinn concluded it to be a part of the absolution prefix. His pebbles can only absolutely be summoned as pebbles.
“Yeah. And the third thing?” He gestured for her to go on.
“Well, I tested it this way because I didn’t want to go outside, but but I didn’t actually expect this to work,” Quinn patted the next box before opening it for Calvin to see.
He leaned over and immediately felt confused at the contents of the box, “It’s empty?”
“What is inside isn’t what’s important, what matters more is where is inside?”
“I don’t follow.”
“That’s not a box, that’s a spacial-type tinker tech. A portal, if you will,” She explained, her lips pursing. “The real box is sitting back at home, in a storage unit.”
It took a moment to process her words before it clicked, “You mean…”
“Theoretically… your pebbles could be summoned anywhere in the world.”