Kinetic force bent and buckled as he tightened the shape of his solidified telekinetic field. Two planes of opposing force obstructed each other. Both of them equally matched in strength, shape, and stability. Eli's chest heaved as his lungs hitched with his every breath. His fingers trembled where he folded them in his lap. Sweat ran in rivulets down his face. Air rippled and breezed from the maelstrom of opposing forces that sent ribbons of dirt snaking through the grass of the training field.
He struggled to maintain and contain the two planes of force. The more force he created, the more the shape distorted and lost cohesion. Without his other powers equipped, he was able to at least start to form a shape to activate his telekinetic field into it. Otherwise, his other powers interfered with the level of precision necessary. A flicker shuddered through his telekinetic field and he gritted his teeth as the whole thing popped in an explosive blast that rumbled and kicked up a lone plume of wind and dirt everywhere.
Eli fell back with great panting breaths as he tried to recover. Every inch of him trembled from the tremendous effort of will it had taken to create more and more force while trying to create the kinetic constructs he’d made in the vision during his threat assessment. The ripeness of power and possibility still whispered to him about what he could be capable of.
But Eli knew he would be able to do even more.
He forced himself to sit up as he stretched his telekinetic field out as far as he could, then drew it back in until it coiled tight against his skin like the surface of a lake. Calm and smooth, but full of bottomless potential. Out, exhale until he felt every edged blade of grass and rough wooden bush that covered the field. He felt out each and every dip and hole. In, inhale with a rushing breeze that strengthened to a gust the closer it got to him until the air touching his skin was superimposed with his telekinetic field.
A twist of his power activated it. Force blossomed from his skin as it sought freedom, as it tried to amplify every twitch of his fingers, but he didn't allow it so much as a quarter. Every wheezing gasp became an uncontrolled gust as his telekinetic field imbued it with power. It swelled outward and expanded exponentially as if someone were blowing bubbles through his telekinetic field. If he loosened his grip on it, he knew there'd be an even greater burst. An explosion of unleashed pressure.
Eli checked for any notifications with a half-satisfied smirk that turned dour at the lack of anything new. It'd only been a couple of days since his threat assessment, but he'd progressed considerably when it came to turning his telekinetic field into an actively shaped force. The barely there kinetic constructs were remarkably fragile. They needed constant maintenance just to keep going without losing their structure. His biggest challenge now was learning how to control and maintain them. Any movement inside of them became amplified exponentially.
Photon Shot had fallen by the wayside. He still practiced with it, but he hoped that managing to create these kinetic constructs with telekinesis would translate to the same with his other powers. When he'd been trapped in that dreamlike simulation he'd noticed that his ability to teleport had grown. How else had he managed to teleport a house-full of rubble and ground to attack that malevolent Silhouette? Perhaps mastering telekinesis and using his powers in sync would allow him to finally teleport far more than himself. Maybe even other people.
Eli gritted his teeth as he forced his telekinetic field into a bubble beneath his feet. Ripples of undulating force caused him to wobble as he compacted the field until it only wrapped around the soles of his shoes with some loose strands braided around his legs to act as a brace. Vibrations kicked up a cloud of dust as the field shuddered against the ground until he drew it back, then he took a step and let the force blast downwards into the ground and recoil back into itself before breaking.
A scream tore free from him as he was launched through the air at a sharp angle. As gravity pulled him down towards the earth again, Eli gathered his telekinetic field to try and create a cushion, but the field was sluggish. Cracks spanned through it with gaps where it didn't want to reform. He slammed into the rocky, tall grass field with a bouncing crash as he skidded forward in a roll. After several bounces, he came to a moaning stop as he lay facedown amidst the wreckage of broken grass stalks and a long ragged trail that led to a massive impact site of flattened, packed dirt. Agony splintered across his scoured arms, his face, and especially his now bare right leg where his telekinetic field-leap had shredded the denim of his pants on his right leg, not to mention his shoe that’d been ripped into tatters that fell apart at his slightest movement.
He panted from the mix of exhilaration and sheer terror that knocked at his ribs with the throbbing pulse of his hammering heartbeat. With a groan, he slowly sat up as he equipped both Teleportation and Photon Shot. Immediate relief swept through like the sight of an old friend or home after a long trip. A quick thought drew in ambient light into a charged sphere that he focused on top of his head, that he then relax a hair so it’d release a thin slow ray of light to act as a headlamp.
Eli winced at the tattered state of his shirt and pants. Streaks of green and brown smeared across his bloodied scraped skin. A few spots oozed red while others were flushed black and purple. Blood dripped from numerous small and large cuts. Aches permeated every part of his body. Turning to the side, he spat out a clod of dirt before checking the notification that blinked across his vision.
Telekinesis Ev. 0 Teleportation Ev. 0> Evolve Power Merge Power Obtain New Power ???> He grinned at the list once he noticed that teleportation was also up for evolution. Maybe because he maxed out the power he obtained when he maxed it out? A mental prod at 'Obtain New Power' brought forth a list of available powers: Hydromancy Ev.0 Force Construct Ev.0 Geomancy Ev.0 Enhanced Physiology Ev.0 Recovery Ev.0 BACK> Visions swam across his vision as he considered each option. Eli wasn't sure, but he felt like these offerings were slightly more potent than they had been last time. He was tempted by Force Construct, Enhanced Physiology, and Recovery. It felt like Enhanced Physiology would be a gradual boost to his body's natural processes across the board while Recovery would be like a potion from a video game almost. After what had just happened, he was really tempted by both of them. His body fucking hurt. His little experiment hurt badly enough that he accepted the Recovery power without a second thought and accepted the equip pop-up and sighed with overwhelming relief as the tide of pleasure surged across and through his body. Energy sizzled through his veins as his awareness spiked as if he'd downed a triple shot of espresso. Recovery slowed to a trickle as the power emptied and felt taut, spent. Little aches and pains remained, and he still felt like he’d been awake for nearly eighteen hours, but it was far more bearable. His skin was less black and purple and more yellow and blue. Even his cuts were ribbed with the places they’d scabbed over. Plus he'd gotten a level up out of it already! He studied the rest of the list with a frown. He was caught in the middle between quite a few of them. Enhanced Physiology would make a huge difference. It affected Lana in every aspect of her life, but he also felt like it was something he could easily pursue later. It didn’t really fit in with what he had and he knew those kinds of powers took ages to level up. Force Construct would be incredibly exciting and would probably even synergize really well with Telekinesis, but he wasn’t sure. Everyone else had at least an evo-1 power and he was starting to butt up pretty hard against the limits of both Telekinesis and Teleportation. With a grimace, he checked both of his evolution options and sighed. They were too underwhelming, still. It was pretty common knowledge that each evolution made the max level increase by five at this point. He didn't want marginally better powers that he'd have to grind up to level ten before he could get new options. Sure, they’d be better… but just barely. Eli knew they'd be fine, but he wanted to see what his merge options would be. If they were bad, he'd take the evolution and swap out Photon Shot and Recovery whenever he wanted to train them. Another subpar power that he'd have to level was just as less than ideal as suboptimal evolutions. Besides, he’d already proven he could sort of create telekinetic constructs. He needed better powers now, not later. Eli sat with a heavy frown as he thought about his choices. He knew that he'd lose both of the original powers for the merge, but he knew that the scope of Spatial Control would be greatly improved. It'd be better than having both powers evolve and trying to force them to work together... He also liked the implication of actually being able to control space. He climbed to his feet with a sigh and limped at the sharp edges of rocks that dug into his bare foot as he teleported rapid fire back home. Soon he sat in his bed after teleporting all of the dirt, dried blood, and other filth that coated him away. Where before cuts and bruises had covered him were faded scabs and yellowed bruises. Another pulse of Recovery rocketed through his body as it scrubbed every pore clean with invigoration. Eli frowned at the notifications for the evolution or for the merge. He was nervous to lose the original powers, especially if it meant he lost Teleportation, but the possibilities felt like so much more. He'd be able to actively control space, so theoretically, there'd be a way for him to teleport and still move objects around… But what if he couldn’t do it? And yet… what if he could do even more? Could he create portals? Teleport himself and others relying not on his senses, but on his actual control of space? Actually distort and warp space around him? Who knew what he could accomplish with this slight setback. Maybe he’d even be able to max it out quickly, after all, he had familiarity with both components. He had to do it. Maybe he could get one of the other options after he maxed out the merge. With a grimace, he accepted the merge and flopped under the blankets while he stared at the far wall and thought about the vision that had been forced on him during the threat assessment. Eventually, his thoughts fizzled into sleep with his status screen popping in front of his eyes before he drifted off. [Equipped Power List: Slot One -- Spatial Control Ev. 0/Lv. 0 Slot Two -- Recovery Ev. 0/Lv. 1 Slot Three -- Photon Shot Ev. 1/ Lv. 6 ] A jumbled mishmash of nightmares shambled across his dreamscape. Maniacal laughter echoed in his ears as he watched an all consuming flame creep closer to his loved ones. Beams of light carved through the walls he relied on for safety. Suits of shimmering gray metal loomed over him. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "No!" Eli woke with a lurch and blinked around in confusion. Space had roiled and unfurled in an uneven bubble around him. The space from his bed to his closet had tripled, while his bed now leaned against the wall, his nightstand was a mess of splinters and sawdust. Glowing scars smoldered in a great charred gash across his room. He gingerly rolled out of bed as a fresh wave of Recovery invigorated him. "What's wrong?" Mom cried out from the hallway before she managed to wrench the door open and then stopped to stare around the room in shock at the devastation that he'd wrought onto his room. "Sorry... I had a nightmare." Eli mumbled sheepishly as the expanded bubble of space in his room ruptured with a pop as everything returned back to normal. "I'm sorry..." He shifted awkwardly then winced as a splinter pierced into the sole of his foot. "I'll fix the bed and the nightstand." "I'm not worried about that." Mom rolled her eyes as she stepped into the room and snapped her fingers. Broken pieces of wood rattled as they flew back together and reassembled into a nightstand, sawdust flooded through the cracks that slowly closed from sutures of roots. "You evolved Phytokinesis?" Eli asked eagerly, anything to push off the horrors of his nightmare. "Yes. But we’re not talking about powers right now. What was your nightmare about, Eli?" "I..." He sighed and drooped as he let light some light spill from his fingers in a dull glow. "My threat assessment was... brutal. I didn't realize that I was running from what happened. I've thrown myself into leveling my powers, but... it doesn't change anything. I'm still so weak." "Eli..." She hurried over to drag him bodily into an embrace. "I'm the one that's sorry. I've been so caught up with everything else... I know I set up an appointment for you to see a therapist, but I haven’t checked in on you as much as I should. You aren’t weak, you’re a normal teenage boy.” "I don't know." He drooped into her embrace as he hugged her back. Recovery seeped into his body and mind in the background with a slight buzz of strength. “I don’t really think you’ve done anything wrong. You’ve been busy. It’s been a lot.” “Thank you, but no. I’m calling to see if we can’t move up your appointment to today.” “What about school?” “Your mental health is more important.” She shrugged as she started walking out of his room. “Come on down when you’re ready. Hopefully we can get something set up.” *** "Thanks for getting us into this," Lana grumbled next to him where she glowered at him. "I don't want to talk about any of this, I'm fine." "Alanna Newton." Mom said with a tone of warning from across the room. "We all need this and we're all doing it. You're first." "You haven't been having any nightmares or anything?" Eli asked with a frown as he glanced over at his perpetually confident sister. Powers had done more than reignite her old confidence, it'd reinforced it. She seemed so much happier, more driven and passionate. Yet he was crumbling, falling apart. He straightened his back against the back of his chair as he drove Recovery through his body again. Peace flowed through him, heaving a heavy sigh of relief. "Not really. I've been practicing with my powers, but that's only because I enjoy the challenge of it. And the levels are so thrilling. Aren't you the same?" "Somewhat, but not really. I don't want that to ever happen again." He whispered as memories flashed. The sharp buzz of his phone. Lana’s screams. Jagged shards of glass slicing into his hands. Bone crunching under the hurtling weight of exercise weights. Flesh sizzling as electric fire destroyed his family. Explosive forces channeled into the faceless silhouette’s body, turning into a pulped mess. Could he do that for real? Would he? Eli would rather damn himself than watch his family die. What haunted him the most was Lana's screams that night when the Graylight guy. No. Brandon Knight broke into her room. Tendons creaked as he squeezed his fists at the reminder of how he'd failed her. "Elias Newton?" asked a gentle man's voice as an older middle aged man walked out into the waiting room. Eli stood up and walked forward with no small amount of trepidation. His heart pounded so hard he had to restrain Photon Shot from pulling in any light, had to fight space from bucking wildly around him. Without any hesitation he unequipped both leaving only sweet Recovery equipped. "Yes, that's me." "Hi, welcome! How was your school day?" "I actually stayed home. I'm a bit nervous about my classes though since it's so close to the end of the year." Eli said as they walked through the rear door in the waiting room into a hallway and then into a cozy office with plush recliners and couches. The man sat down in a plush recliner and smiled kindly at Eli who did a double take. He’d thought he was talking to a random receptionist, not the actual therapist. "Please, sit down. My name is Dr. Simmons. I hear you've had quite the experience since the system appeared?" He asked with a pointed wave of his hand. The doctor was dressed more for golf than talking to patients. His glasses were thick rimmed bifocals perched low on the bridge of his nose. A large square jaw gave way to a beard strewn with silver strands. Eli idly wondered what his powers were but wasn't sure how rude it was to ask. It was starting to become a bit of a taboo everywhere except the Internet. Granted, most people suspected others of lying so far. Videos of people using their powers were everywhere. Plus the scammers and influencers promising a fast track to reaching ‘Level 100’. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Wasn't everyone's experience bad though?" Eli asked with a weak attempt at deflection. It was a knee jerk reaction. He didn't want to share about what happened. Not really. And yet he did? This man was a complete stranger. He didn’t have to prove anything to him. "Sure, but that doesn't invalidate your experience, of course." Eli had to fight to not roll his eyes at the classic pithy turns of phrase. This was more in line with what he expected for a therapist. Or was he a psychologist since he was a doctor? "I know plenty of people are upset merely by the radical changes. Some expect these powers to fix everything that they hated about themselves, and maybe it helps for some of them, but not all. I doubt it helped even most." "I guess." Eli frowned as he jiggled his knee. He took a deep breath and decided he might as well talk, a little. He didn't want to talk about his secret training outings or much about what had happened with his threat assessment or even the home invasion... but he did want to talk a little. He didn’t want to have another nightmare. "Before this all happened, I was being bullied. I had become a bit of an outcast in school and I think a small part of me thought powers would change that. But it hasn't?" "What makes you feel like an outcast?" "I don't really have any friends or at least not with anyone that I actually like." Eli admitted. "Plus, I've been getting bullied a bit ever since my sisters joined school. I have to watch out for them and some people have taken a lot of pleasure in taking advantage of that. Before it was like I flew under the radar, but this whole year has been terrible. Now with powers... I'm constantly afraid of how that bullying will escalate." "How has this bullying taken place?" "At first it was mostly just online messages and insults, but then... well, it's become more targeted. Rumors and private screenshots of things I'd said or even faked messages have been passed around. All of my old friends became targets themselves, so… now I have no one.” Not to mention that Lyra had grown far closer to all of the art people in a span of two days. She even had a small online following where she recorded her illusive displays. She must have evolved her power for it to show up on camera though, right? He shut that line of thinking down. He wasn’t here to talk about Lyra’s withholding of information about her power. "Has any of it been physical?" Dr. Simmons asked with a raised eyebrow, his pen poised over his notebook to scribble. "Yes." He sagged into the couch with a combination of horror and relief at finally talking about it to someone. That'd been a weight he'd been carrying for the entire school year, it didn't really help to mention it, but at the same time it did. "The worst was actually the day the system appeared. And then..." He paused. "Then the 'incident' happened. Are you comfortable talking about that all?" Dr. Simmons asked as his pen skated across the pages. "Yes and no," he sighed. Mom wouldn't let him not talk about it and he did want to. It was just… hard. "I've been having nightmares about what happened. I'm constantly paranoid that something like it will happen again. Do you know what happened?" He asked, desperate for any out so he didn't have to explain... even if a part of him wanted to let it out. "I do, but only from your parents' point of view. I know the story, but I don't know your side of it." "What do you mean by my side of the story? It happened to all of us." He protested with a scoff as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Lana had someone break into her room. Dad stood right there, unable to do anything without destroying the whole house, while he watched both of his kids kill someone else. Only Lyra and mom avoided anything bad happening to them! Lyra slept right through it. She had to be woken up after!" "And that upsets you?" "Of course it does! I had to fight to save my sister, my whole family really, and I'm the only one struggling with it?" Eli shouted as he found himself standing up with his hands shaking. A cooldown message appeared saying that both Spatial Control and Photon Shot were on cooldown. His heart shuddered with adrenaline as he sank back onto the couch. "Every day since then I've been pushing myself so it doesn't happen again. I've been training non-stop, but no one seems to understand the danger that we're in! If they'd been a little bit more powerful we could've died. I would have!" He blinked in shock as confusion surged through him at the all consuming tide of anger that had roiled inside of him. If he’d had his powers, he was certain that he would have called on them. He had no idea if he would’ve used them though. Would he have done something? Used his new control of space for some unknown purpose like he’d done in his bedroom? Or would he have blasted the man with lances of light. He trembled as he leaned as far back as he could into the cushions of the couch, his eyes unable to meet the man’s own gaze. It was like… like Eli was one of those bloodthirsty criminals hungry only for power levels and perks. Eli slumped as the walls seemed to vibrate and gradually close in around them. His lungs felt tight and trapped beneath the vise of his ribcage. Panic clawed at him at the realization he was a rabid dog with the powers to hurt or even kill. Echoes of his threat assessment scoring as fully lethal plagued his mind. Recovery hammered at him up and down his whole body, just barely keeping him stable from having a full panic attack. "It's okay, Eli. You're safe. Nothing can hurt you here." Dr. Simmons smiled with melancholic kindness. "You could try to destroy this whole room and it wouldn't matter. It's okay." "What do you mean?" Eli asked numbly as he glanced around the room with probing eyes. Nothing seemed out of place... then he shivered at the reminder of his threat assessment. "Is this a dream or an illusion? What are your powers?" "It's okay," he repeated. "My powers aren't anything like that at all. I have two. The one I'm using right now is Lesser Domain. It marks a space as mine and gives me control over the space itself and almost anything in it. It has no effect on people, but I can reinforce everything in here so it wouldn't break or even put it back together again. I've had several clients take a lot of joy in the fact that they could destroy this whole room if they wanted to.” He chuckled then added, “Some have even suggested a start a side practice for it!" "And your other power?" Eli asked suspiciously as he frowned at the pristine furniture around the room. "Empathic Conjuration. I can conjure up emotions that I or anyone around me feels. I only use it to get a feel for what my patients are feeling so I can better understand how to help them. And to show them they aren’t as black and white as they can sometimes feel." "You can control what others are feeling?" He asked in outrage as he sat upright. "No. I haven't tried, but no, I don't think I could nor do I even want to. What I can do is materialize emotions physically." Dr. Simmons said as he held his hand out and a calming blue radiated out of his hand as it shaped itself into a tranquil cloud of light. "This is peace." "It's... beautiful." Eli admitted as he leaned forward as he watched the fog ebb and flow endlessly above them like a canopy or a soothing mist. "Does that mean you can remove my anger? My fear?" "No. It’s only a representation," Dr. Simmons shrugged, "but I wouldn’t if I could anyways. Therapy isn't a magical solution even if powers do exist now. Do you want to stop feeling angry? Afraid?" "Of course I do." Eli frowned as he flexed his fingers into a fist and relaxed it again. "I don't want to constantly look over my shoulder expecting someone to hurt me or someone else. It's exhausting." Dr. Simmons nodded and then asked, "Wouldn't you rather see the other emotions hidden under your fear, beneath your anger and guilt?" Eli blinked as he stared at the casual, unassuming man across from him. "What do you mean?" "Your joy, your excitement, your pride. I sense so much more than what you're clinging onto and it's understandable that you do. I would be more concerned if you shrugged all of that aside after what happened. But I want to remind you that there's more than that." "Like…?" Eli prompted curiously. "Love. Hope. You aren't a beast or monster eager for it all to happen again. In fact, you hope it doesn't and it's natural to prepare in case it does. I suspect everyone in your home has been in secret. None of them are my patients, but that’s because I don’t want to muddle the lines. You are my only patient and I’m only here to hear your perspective of things. It sounds like you want to protect, but... it isn't your job or responsibility to do so." "But, isn't it? What else are these powers for if they aren't meant to be used for others?" "Whoever said they were?" Dr. Simmons raised his eyebrow. "Studies have suggested quite a few things about them. What do you remember from the Initialization?" "I was in an endless sea of darkness." He said slowly, pondering as he cast his thoughts back to what started everything since then. "Were you asked by the system what your favorite memory was?" "I was..." He frowned then smiled a bit as he thought about it and remembered. "I always loved traveling and going on vacation. Seeing our extended family or going to far off places. It's been a couple of years since we'd gone anywhere. Ever since Dad started his own business and Mom got a promotion, they’ve had to deal with more expectations and responsibilities and… it just never happened. We haven’t gone on a vacation since.” "Your power is Teleportation, right?" "It was. Now it's Spatial Control... How did you know that though?" Eli asked with a suspicious glare. "It's in the public records along with your reported threat assessment score." Dr. Simmons said as he pulled his computer out from under his cushion. "Everyone's powers become public once they get an updated ID. Anyway, don't you think it's interesting that your favorite memories involve traveling? Going far away from home? And the system gave you the power to achieve that. To see the world, to experience wonders both close and far away." Eli thought it for a second and felt a sense of clarity at the thought. It made sense and he could easily see that being the case. "Where is this study?" "It's in the Science Journal. It's still in the preliminary stages, but the data correlates pretty strongly. Otherwise, it seems to be paired with the second question about fear, but most seem to have powers meant to help them fulfill their greatest joys rather than to help defend them from whatever terrorizes them." Dr. Simmons reached under his cushion against and pulled out a magazine with its title stylized inside of the special punctuation the System used. The cover featured a detailed sea of stars and galaxies. After weeks of growing used to Lyra’s illusionary displays, the cover felt mundane and gaudy. "So you clearly aren't a monster, otherwise you'd have more sinister powers. Not to scare you, but the prisons that are still standing have reported that quite a large number of inmates have powers linked to their first crimes, especially when they've been driven by a pathological need of some kind. Thieves have abilities centered around stealing and so on and so forth. Maybe it's time to let the joy and pleasure of what you enjoy motivate you instead of the fear and rage. I know that’s easier said than done, but still. I hope that helped.”