“Greg, what the hell are you doing?” Tori asked in exasperation, stopping her meditation to glared at him.
Greg dropped his stone barbell with a thump. “I'm working out.”
Tori rolled her eyes. “Obviously, but why? We literally just went over how the most effective method of gathering energy is meditation!”
“Ah, but just because it's the most effective, doesn't mean it's the best.” Greg retorted. “See, I'm perfectly capable of exercising for hours on end, no problem. There's a rhythm to it I can just fall into and coast. But meditating for more than fifteen minutes literally makes me want to kill myself, which is just oh so frustrating as an immortal. So even if the exercise is less effective, I get more out of it in the long run.”
Tori frowned at him for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Whatever. I'm not exactly doing all that well myself. I can't figure out what my ability actually is and it's hurting my efficiency.”
Andrew snorted. “Welcome to the club. I barely even know what aura is.”
Tori grimaced. “I know, but you at least have the abilities from your cores to work with. All I have is a growing pool of energy and no clue what to actually do with it!”
“You could ask Chris.” Greg offered. “It is his reality.”
Tori nodded, getting to her feet. “I think I'm going to have to, because I'm not getting anywhere on my own.”
Andrew got up as well. “I'll come with. I still need to study that fox guy's ability.”
Tori nodded as she opened a portal to where Chris was meditating with Beth and Jello. Chris raised an eyebrow at her as she walked through. “Yes?”
“I can't figure out what my ability is, and unlike the rest of you I haven't figured out how to borrow someone else's, so I'm wondering if you can help me out.” Tori explained. “Also, Andrew wants to study Nero's ability.”
Chris cocked his head. “I think Salvador can help with your ability? He's the head of the Ability Management Department. Or at least he was…” He shrugged, turning to Andrew. “As for Nero, he's still busy dealing with his people, but I'll let you know when he's free.”
“Sounds good.” Andrew gave him a thumbs up, heading back to meditate some more.
Chris then searched his space for Salvador, finding him with Jo. He was about to open a portal to them, when he paused, an odd look crossing his face. “I- think Salvador is a bit busy at the moment too.” Chris coughed, quickly moving his attention to a different region of his space, thankful that his awareness didn't give him too clear a picture of what was happening.
“He is?” Beth asked, unable to focus on her own meditation with the two of them talking. “Doing what?”
“Uhhhh… Jo.” Chris answered awkwardly.
“Jo- oh.” Beth began before suddenly realizing what Chris meant, flushing deeply.
Jello frowned. “What? I don't get it.”
“It's- Let's just say we might be getting another sibling soon.” Chris explained with a sigh, which only made Jello even more confused, but he turned to Tori before she could ask any more. “In any case, he's not going to be able to help you for a bit. I suppose we can see if the military has another Reader available, but… wait.” Chris paused. “Can't you see your own energy?”
“I can, but that doesn't tell me what it does.” Tori retorted. “It just looks like energy to me.”
“Hm.” Chris grunted thoughtfully. “Jello, do you get anything from her?”
Jello shook her head. “No. It's like she said, her ability energy just feels like ability energy.”
“Maybe that's all it is?” Beth offered. “You don't have an ability unless you borrow one from your minions, right? And Andrew doesn't have one unless he has a core. I guess technically Greg has one, but since all it does is make smoke, I'm not sure it really counts, and he can get other abilities from people. So what if you just don't have an ability?”
Tori grimaced. “That's possible, probable even, but since I have no idea how to actually get another ability, I'm really hoping you're wrong.”
“Even if you do have an ability, there's no guarantee it will be useful.” Chris pointed out. “Maybe you should focus on figuring out how to get someone else's instead of hoping you have your own.”
Tori scowled, unable to disagree, particularly as a task popped up. “Okay, but how?”
“Well, let's go through the examples we have.” Chris suggested. “I need a minion in my space, Andrew needs a core, and Greg needs a body. So by that metric, you'd need something related to energy?”
Tori considered that for a moment. “I know I can shift my points to match other energy types, which will probably let me mimic other abilities, but-” She cut off as it clicked. “I- hold on.” Tori frowned, focusing on the energy she'd gathered. Could she control it like she controlled her points? In Rune world it was clear she definitely had some sort of influence over her energy, infusing it with intent way more easily than she should be able to. The question was whether that influence extended to shifting it from one type of energy to another… Tori briefly glanced at Beth's energy to confirm its pattern, then refocused on her own, willing it to shift and- Tori grinned as she threw a punch at the wall, her arm stretching a few feet to hit it before snapping back. “Well, I guess we're done here.”
*
Nero stood as a portal opened and Andrew stepped through into what was basically his living room. [Welcome. The… Commander informed me you wish to study my ability?]
Andrew nodded. “Yeah. Your ability seems to be aura related and I'd like to see how it works.”
[I see… very well. If you'll follow me, I've prepared some suitable targets to demonstrate out back.] Nero explained, gesturing for Andrew to follow him.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Targets?” Andrew asked curiously.
Nero nodded. [My ability only works on living creatures, so I had my men procure a few small creatures for us. Small pests that require extermination anyway, particularly with the recent surge.] Nero hesitated slightly. [You- wouldn't happen to know what caused that, would you?]
Andrew shook his head. “I know it was some sort of large creature, but other than that… I can't even say if it was just the one or if there were multiple. Just be glad your tribe was spared, because the rest of the Maze isn't doing so well.”
[Are there any other surviving clans?] Nero asked nervously.
“Oh, yeah, sorry, I didn't- what I meant was that it looks like only the tribes survived. Everything else… there aren't even plants out there, let alone animals.” Andrew elaborated. “Which is going to be a problem, because I assume you relied on the plants and animals in the Maze for food and whatnot.”
[We do- or did, I suppose.] Nero frowned. [How far does the destruction extend?]
“Everywhere we've looked so far, which is a pretty decent sized area.” Andrew sighed.
[And it only spared clans?] Nero asked tentatively.
“Yeah.” Andrew confirmed. “Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you, but it is suspiciously consistent. The only things we can find in the Maze at the moment are barren tunnels and tribes.”
[That is… strange.] Nero muttered. [But then, many strange things have happened since the Commander's arrival.] He added with a sigh.
“Yeah… you're probably going to have to get used to that.” Andrew sighed along with him. “I don't think normal is a possibility while we're around.”
Nero grimaced slightly, before shaking his head. [As long as my people are safe, I can handle it.]
Andrew paused, considering the foxkin briefly before nodding. “That's a good attitude. Though I will add that keeping them safe is going to be hard if they refuse to work with us.”
[I'm aware.] Nero grumbled. [But I'm already doing everything I can to convince them. It simply isn't in our nature to depend on the generosity of outsiders. Particularly not ones with abilities like the Commander's…]
“I get that. I really do.” Andrew agreed. “But still. It's a tough situation.”
[Yes. Yes it is.] Nero sighed, before shaking his head as they reached the back door. [In any case, we should get started.] He opened the door, leading Andrew into a small yard with about half a dozen cages sitting against a wall. Nero approached the first cage and opened it, pulling out a small rat. [Is there anything you need to prepare, or should I simply start?]
“Start.” Andrew replied. “I just need to be in range to actually see what happens.”
Nero nodded, holding the rat in one hand and then flicking it with the other, the rat stiffening briefly before going limp. Nero glanced at Andrew, who was frowning at the rat. [Shall we move on to the next or do you need some time?]
“I- can I see the rat?” Andrew asked tentatively. Nero gave him a weird look but still handed it over, Andrew taking it as he studied the rat intently, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He'd watched as Nero had sent a pulse of aura into the rat, directly at the rat's core, crushing it. However, unlike when he took a core from a creature, the aura hadn't dissipated. Instead the aura just… stayed where it was. Carefully, Andrew reached out with his own aura, pushing it into the rat and connecting to the aura. He shuddered as a tingle flickered through him, his eyes widening as he felt his aura grow ever so slightly stronger, the rat's aura merging with his own until the two were indistinguishable!
Andrew turned to Nero with a sharp look in his eye. “Let me do the next one.” Nero raised an eyebrow then nodded, waving him to the next cage. Andrew approached it, kneeling down to stare at some kind of mole, extending his aura to it as he recalled what he'd seen from Nero. The pulse had simply touched the core, and it'd crumbled! He couldn't tell what it'd actually done any differently than his usual methods of interacting with cores, which just pushed them around. But then, that wasn't how his aura worked, was it? The actual manipulation of aura was rather simple. What mattered was his intent. When he wanted to push a core, it was pushed. When he wanted to retract an aura, it retracted. When he wanted to break a core, it broke. So Andrew reached out to touch the mole's core with his aura, willing it to break, and… it crumbled. And the aura remained. Andrew grinned as he connected to the aura, sucking it up, the feeling of getting stronger flowing through him once again. “Fucking finally.”
*
“Congrats!” Greg cheered, patting Andrew on the back after he returned to share the good news.
“I'm glad you got something useful out of it.” Chris added. “The foxkin have been nothing but a pain for me so far, so I'm glad they're at least good for something.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “I'm sure they're good for plenty, we just haven't exactly been in a position to take advantage of any of it, considering our primarily… antagonistic relationship.”
“I know, but still. There are only so many issues a single group can cause me before I start to hold a grudge.” Chris replied. “I'm getting close to cutting my losses and doing everything in my power to never interact with them again.”
“That would be pretty difficult since our territory is still essentially right at their front door.” Andrew pointed out.
“Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it isn't worth doing.” Chris retorted. “Besides, the territory isn't really ours to administer in any case. Yes we're the cause of it and our actions will affect it, but the people really in charge are the ones who rule the lands it's growing on. That's why we had that little council at the start, isn't it?”
Tori frowned. “I do rule the lands it's growing on. At least my family does… and AJ isn't the heir anymore… So it should go to Calvin? Or at least Vicky… I- should talk to my father about this.”
“I suppose technically it could eventually be my land.” Greg muttered. “If my faction grows and ends up taking over at least. But I'm really more of a figurehead there, so I'm still not sure you could really consider it mine.”
“It is literally in my house.” Andrew sighed. “And apartment… but I wouldn't say I really own either of those, I just live there.”
“Guys, I think you're getting off track.” Chris interjected. “My point is that we have no real obligation to deal with the territory, beyond the fact that it is almost inevitable that it will be our home one day. We can care about it, sure, but politically it really isn't our problem unless we want to make it one.”
Tori grimaced. “There has to at least be some obligation on our part for creating the situation in the first place, doesn't there? I mean, without us none of this would be happening. That has to mean something.”
“If it was intentional I'd agree with you, but you don't hold people accountable for accidents. Unless you can say we were negligent, I suppose, but I don't think you can.” Chris retorted. “Now, if we start to add more realities to the territory, then you could say we have some responsibility, but as it stands, we're all just innocent bystanders who happened to get caught up in something beyond our capabilities. Unless you're all hiding some secret political training from me.”
Greg shrugged. “Hey, I'll take any excuse I can get to not have to deal with another one of those councils. That shit was boring as fuck.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “I don't think we should try to get out of it just because it's boring, but I agree that we aren't really the most qualified people to be dealing with all this.”
Tori sighed. “You're not wrong, I just don't think we should ignore a problem just because we haven't been trained for it. Sometimes shit needs to be done and you're the only one there to do it.”
Chris nodded. “Of course. I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything, I'm just saying that we shouldn't push ourselves into positions that we're blatantly unqualified for. Maybe in a few years, decades, or centuries that will change, but for now… let's let the experts deal with it.”