Lana stood panting in the grove.
Sweat trickled down her face and down her arms to her sap covered hands. A slight ache gnawed against each of her knuckles and her wrists. She took a deep breath in, held it, then lashed out again as hard as she could. Silverlight cracked beneath her feet as her fists hammered into the fortified tree trunk in front of her.
Bark exploded under her fist as she pulped the trunk with each blow.
Sap splattered across the back of her hands until the tree creaked as it fell lopsidedly. Theo's Aegis arrested the tree's fall as he aligned it with his will. Green life overflowed from the shattered seams and craters in a writhing flood until it restored stronger than ever.
"Well?" Lana turned to look at Theo, who checked his status with a furrowed brow before he pumped his fists in the air with a beaming smile.
"I got it! Ha! So the rumors were right!"
"The evolution of Biomantic Grace changed?"
"Yeah! The evo-1 was Biomantic Miracle and now it's Biomancer's Alteration!" His eyes unfocused for a moment before they cleared. Power shuddered through him as something shifted and moved beneath his skin. Theo closed his eyes as his muscles swelled and his bones thickened.
"How is it?"
"Silverlight me." Theo's voice dropped an octave. He lifted his fists while Lana gathered a pool of silvery mist and cast it out in the shape of a rounded shield. She nodded at him.
Wind whistled as Theo's fist sailed straight into the shield with a clang.
Lana stumbled back half a step as the force cracked the innermost sections of the metal fractured into bright mist. Before it dispersed too much, she willed it to reform and mend. His fists drummed viciously into her shield again and again.
A puffing flash accompanied each blow.
Her will reforged the silverlight until the growing force of Theo's blows tempered and hardened the metal until it didn't even dent.
"Good." Theo rumbled with a smile for a moment before it faltered. "Too bad I didn't have this a month ago when that bitch attacked."
"No kidding." She frowned as she lifted her hands and compared how slender they were now to Theo's monstrous, engorged fists. Everything about her physically was enhanced to the point every cell brimmed with strength and vitality. Her bones were more durable than steel. Tendons creaked as she clenched her fists. Yet she hadn't been able to do anything.
Eli had been right all along.
He'd spent his every moment training, grinding, improving, and because of that, he had stood toe-to-toe and even driven her off.
What was the point of Lana's hollow strength if she couldn't do anything about it? She hadn't been able to shrug off Theo or Mom when they'd held her back. Because of that, both her parents had been shot. Sure, they were fine, now.
But she'd seen the horror in her mom's eyes in the way she constantly looked toward the door of their hotel room for Lyra to come home. Every day she drove past numerous checkpoints to the ruins of their old house to check to see if Eli came back.
Eli was still gone, and so was Roman.
Dad was even worse. He had become a limping ghost of himself. Always withdrawn in his office or on the rooftop, where he practiced with his thunderclouds and his growing repertoire of force powers. He had sold his company and the company's anti-technomancy encryption to the highest bidder. All so he could further throw himself down the path to power.
He swore nothing like that would ever happen again.
But how could it not when the country slid further into chaos?
Everyone pretended that all would return to normal soon, but open war was almost a certainty. No one could agree how it would unfold, but the military held a heavy presence from Farbrook all the way to New Faram. She could only imagine how it was in different states or cities.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Theo asked as gestured toward the tree she'd been terrorizing. A branch bent toward him as if it were magnetized before it snapped and flew into his hand. Green life pulsed and twisted down the splintered end as the palm of his hand tore open. Blood flecked across the bark as Theo's hand healed.
"What are you thinking?" Lana watched as he stabbed the stick into the dirt. Bark shimmered as it sloughed off like a reptile shedding its skin. Red dribbled up in translucent veins as it coursed throughout the entirety of the stick.
Blades of grass twitched as they pointed at the stick as it melted and reshaped itself. Tendrils of green and brown roots burst through the top of the stick as they wriggled in the air. One of the squirming roots scratched a blade of grass. Rot shriveled its way through from the single strand of grass as it spread in a sludging tide through the clearing.
Silverlight wrapped around Lana's body as she stepped back, but it swerved away from her and Theo as if it weren't aware of them or the slim area of grass they stood on.
She gaped at Theo and the way his eyes jerked and stuttered behind his closed eyes. He hummed a nonsensical tune under his breath while he tapped his fingers against the side of his leg. All the while, he controlled whatever it was he was doing.
More roots burst forth from the stick that had grown to the size of a branch. Scales of fresh bark ridged the surface of its rapidly developing body as it widened to something vaguely humanoid.
Silverlight flashed in her gauntleted hands as an axe fell in her hand.
Primal rage and revulsion thrummed through her as the necessity to turn this thing into kindling grew.
"No. Don't." Theo whispered as she took a step forward.
Green roiled beneath the surface of its barked skin before it settled into a squat humanoid shape four feet tall with spindly limbs that tapered to sharp, jagged points. A wreath of thorny vines crowned its head as its eyes split open to reveal drips of sap from its chlorophyll green eyes.
It had no mouth, no nose, and no ears. Only eyes as large as a coffee mug adorned its face. It blinked slowly as it turned to regard the decrepit clearing.
Bum-badump
Veins of green thrashed beneath its thick bark hide as it tried to take a stumbling step forward. It tripped on its unsteady, wobbling legs.
"Uh, Theo? What the fuck is that?"
"One second, it doesn't have a name yet." Theo glanced from the thrashing abomination he had made to the side as if he were reading something in his system. He smiled. "There. I named its species 'Greant'. That’s cool, right?"
"Greant? What the hell? Why did you just create a fucking monster straight out of a kid's nightmares?"
"We both want to get stronger, yeah?" Theo raised his eyebrow at her as if there wasn't an abomination crying tears of sap as it clawed its way back up to its wooden feet.
"Yeah...?"
"This is how we can do that. You told me about how you got Graylight Construction and how Eli got Photon Shot." Theo nodded at the Greant, then said, "Kill it."
The Greant turned and blinked at the both of them without a shred of comprehension in its eyes as Lana hefted the axe in her hands. She lengthened the haft so she could grip it with both hands while the simple crescent axe-head thickened and doubled in size. It tilted its strange gnarled head as it watched her approach.
She brought the axe down with a wet thud as it cleaved through the mess of vines and roots atop its head down to the stump of its chest. Murky sap splattered across her silverlight coated arms and chest.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Lana kicked the Greant off the blade of her axe as she reshaped it into a spear. It rolled across the devastated glade as sap seeped from its massive wound. It didn't move.
Phytokinesis Ev. 0/Lv. 0 Your powers surpass the evolution rank of the available powers> "Silverlight leveled..." Lana turned away from the greant corpse to blink at Theo through a layer of tears as silverlight puffed into mist as she pulled him into an embrace that would've cracked his spine before. "Silverlight finally leveled!" "Congratulations! I'm glad." He pulled away from her with a smirking grin. Their eyes met with a boiling rush of heat. Theo pulled back from her as his face flushed scarlet as his hands trembled. "Want to go again?" "Sure," Lana said, slightly disappointed as she conjured another suit of armor and a spear of silverlight. An hour passed. Mounds of greant corpses decorated the glade until every step was punctuated with the creaking crunch of their wooden bodies breaking. Theo sat meditating in the center of the glade where he spawned new greants from the corpses of the old ones to fuel the never-ending horde that marched toward the sap covered armored form of Lana. A labyrinth of silverlight walls glowed gently even in the afternoon June light. Corridors flowed one way then the next to guide them toward the cavern where she waited for them. Lana was a maelstrom of death. Spiked blades jutted out of her armor so that every time one of the greants attacked her, they'd snag on the spikes. Lana lashed out with a constantly changing weapon of silverlight. One moment she hacked apart a greant taller than her with an axe, then the next she smashed apart another with a massive sledgehammer. Bladed whips of silverlight shot out from her shins and shoulders to push them back. Theo puppeted their every movements, but that only forced them to use their fledgling powers to try to defend themselves from Lana's onslaught. Spears of bristling briar streaked from their bodies to shatter harmlessly against her armor. Vines bounced as they tried to imitate her silverlight whips. Still, they fell. They became whetstones that honed each other with each greant Lana slaughtered. Until the tide stopped for a few minutes. Theo stumbled through the carpet of corpses that disintegrated around him so he could pass unimpeded. His massively enhanced body had shrunk a bit to his previous form, but it seemed a lot of the alterations had stuck still. "Are you done?" Lana dissolved the helm of her armor so he could see her glorious smile. Thrills of excitement sizzled through her veins as she leaned against the poleaxe she had last used. "Yeah, I'm exhausted. I already hit level four though with Biomancer's Alteration, but I think if we do this more tomorrow it'll keep leveling. I got Aegis to level up a bit by killing some greants, but the experience was minimal." "Hm. Because you created them?" "Or because I was controlling them." He shrugged. "Anyway, let's go home. It's already three and I don't want to be caught wandering around close to curfew." "Sounds good." Lana said as she read through her status notifications with a widening grin even as her eyes instantly hurt from the massive wall of text. A stray thought wishing it was condensed shrank it down to as few notifications as possible. Phytokinesis Ev. 0 (x 460) Phytomantic Control Ev. 1 (x 10) Accelerative Growth Ev. 0 (x 1) Natural Arsenal Ev. 0. (x 3) Your powers surpass the evolution rank of the available powers> ... Silverlight Ev. 2 You may now select from one of the following options: Evolve Power Slot Power into Stat N/A N/A> "Holy shit Theo! I can evolve Silverlight or put it into a stat!" She beamed at him as she led the way out of the clearing to start heading back to the grocery store where he worked. She checked both the evolution and stat options then whistled at the results. WARNING: This is a permanent selection and may not be changed later. Select one of three following choices: Body of Silverlight Mind of Silverlight Will of Silverlight> Visions filled her head as she scrolled through each choice. It was a simple evolution for Silverlight straight into Platinumlight. More tensile strength, faster construction, and she could summon vastly more than she could now. If she hadn't seen how much of an impact Body of Light had on Eli, she'd have evolved it in a second. But she was falling behind with only two powers compared to everyone else and she was excited to see what new powers the System would offer her. Body of Silverlight would allow her to transform into Silverlight as well as boost her physical attributes greatly when in silverlight form. With Superhuman Physiology, she'd be a true force to reckon with. A juggernaut of unrelenting metal. Mind of Silverlight felt like it'd make her far more mentally resilient and flexible. It didn't seem to offer any other benefits though. She'd be unyielding once she put her mind to it... but that's how she already was. Lana had been accused of having issues in that arena more often than not, as it was. Will of Silverlight would enhance the power itself. She felt like it would do exactly what she wanted it to. It'd respond to her most immediate desires at a moment's whim if she wished it. She felt like she would be Silverlight. Visions filled her mind of shooting bullets of near molten silverlight that charred its way through greant bodies. She wouldn't need to mentally shape molds and cast out silverlight or reshape it if it already knew what she wanted. Plus, the System gave her the impression that her silverlight would become more. It would reach its full potential to help her however she wished. "I'm choosing Will of Silverlight." Lana said as she chose it. "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I'd rather save Superhuman Physiology for Body or Mind. I'm doing it." "Okay. What power options did you get?" Gravatonic Resilience Geomantic Control Forcespeed Vengeful Arsenal Blade Arsenal> "Is there something wrong with me?" Lana asked as she read over the list again. If it was a well-recognized fact that the System generally gave powers best suited to people... then why did she have not only two combat focused power options, but one of which was vengeful? "Huh?" Lana ignored Theo as she stopped to reconsider her choices. She needed more power. That was a certainty, but she also needed more utility and something to synergize with Silverlight Will and Superhuman Physiology. Both of the Arsenal powers were out. Silverlight could do what they could and more. Forcespeed would make her exponentially faster on every level and let her project raw or controlled force at will. That was the most promising other than Gravatonic Resilience. Lana liked the idea of Geomantic Control, but she'd prefer that she were improved as well as her powers. Controlling the earth would be nice and all, but again, Silverlight could do nearly anything she'd want to use Geomantic Control for. Gravatonic Resilience, though, would let her control, negate, or amplify gravity around her while also making her untouchable while under the effects of gravity... which would be all the time. She'd be unstoppable, practically invincible. If she had that she would've been able to kill that bitch Sandra before anyone could have stopped her. Her knuckles popped as she squeezed her silverlight encased fists. The choice was obvious. Would you like to equip it? Y/N> [Stats: Body: None Mind: None Will: Silverlight (Silverlight) ] [Equipped Power List: Slot One -- Superhuman Physiology Ev. 2/Lv. 11 Slot Two -- Gravatonic Resilience Ev. 0/Lv. 0 Slot Three -- None ] *** Moonlight spilled over a clearing full of scattered alien corpses. All was silent and still except for the wriggling mass that erupted from a humanoid tree corpse. Spindly limbs scrabbled against the desolate dirt as a greant clawed itself out of the body it had grown out of. Words scrawled themselves in front of ignorant beady yellow-green eyes. Then the words buzzed knowledge into the lone member of its species. Yellow-green eyes blinked incomprehensibly as thoughts flowed through his mind as slowly as a fly caught in solidifying sap. The new-grown greant scratched its jagged wooden claws across its itchy bark-scaled trunk. Yes, it was Sapblood. Sapblood liked its new name. It glanced across the clearing full of corpses that wrought a strange that constricted the ribbed bands of heartwood tight around its core. Sapblood bent down to shake the prone corpse it had grown out of. Dry scars criss-crossed the entirety of its fellow greant's body. What had happened? It looked around the clearing with a growing sense of heaviness in its core. Why was Sapblood alone? Sapblood didn't want to be alone. Sensation plunged into Sapblood's fledgling body as if thousands of ants had jolted its way through its body. Terrible, burdensome knowledge filled Sapblood's mind as they studied the scene before them. This wasn't done in isolation, but intentionally. Greants had been slaughtered here. New words scrolled across Sapblood's vision and they read for the first time. [Stats: Body: None Mind: None Will: None ] [Equipped Power List: Slot One -- Regrowth Ev. 0/Lv. 0 Slot Two -- None Slot Three -- None ] [Unequipped Powers: N/A ] Regrowth. Yes, Sapblood liked the buzz of that word. Motes of energy zapped across the pointed prongs of Sapblood's twig fingers as they brushed their limbs across one of their fallen brethren. Power flowed into them at an astonishing rate until tendrils of root and vine writhed from one of the many greant corpses. Sapblood wouldn't be alone for long.