7-Tag Team Knockout

4/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Dawm

"...Stop it Mom...no more energy....full of food......can't...eat... more!"

Doro was mumbling in his sleep as his nightmare reached its final resolution. He suddenly woke up and started pressing against his stomach with his right hand.

Oh good, that was just a dream. If it turns out this world has foie gras, I'm not having any in solidarity. Damn, won't be able to fall asleep again like this. What time is it anyway?

Doro stood up and opened one of his window shutters slightly to see outside.

Might as well stay awake. Shouldn't be too long before first bell.

The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was turning a noticeably lighter shade of blue around its eastern horizon. Doro estimated it would be less than an hour before first bell rang and decided he might as well get dressed. It was still dark in his room and he realized that he had no candles there. If he had gone to sleep late, he might have brought a candle into his room, but he could not remember exactly how he had gotten there.

I must've fallen asleep in the kitchen. I need to get into better shape if I'm going to have to go back and forth between here and the Imperial complex at least once a decan. Or build a bike...that might be a good idea but probably not feasible for now. Guess I'll have to go at it the traditional way.

Doro had never been exceptionally fit in his previous life. He had been in slightly better shape than most of his indoors-adapted peers, but that hadn't been a high bar to pass. He went jogging for twenty minutes every morning, with his cousin, and did some stretches before going to bed every night, but he had never had a gym membership and had never really been into sports. Doro started thinking about what kind of training regiment his cousin would have recommended. Sadly, he had had no interest in the subject and as he tried remembering specific information she had told him, very little came up.

That's what I get for not paying attention when she started going on one of her fitness rants. I could always go with the One-punch man method. A few sets of push-ups and sit-ups in the morning and the evening and some jogging for cardio. I'll increase the number of reps in each set and my running distance gradually and build up to larger numbers. I may have the body of a nine-year-old child but it's not like I need to be able to run a marathon. As long as I can walk around ten to twenty miles, carrying some light stuff, throughout the day without crashing like yesterday, it would be enough for now. I can always try for more later.

Doro started positioning himself to start doing some push-ups but stopped as he put his palms on the floor.

Oh right, my Abilities! Damn it... It can wait ten minutes. I literally just decided I needed to show more workout discipline, I can't bail before I start doing my first set.

Ten minutes later, a sweaty Doro was panting on his bedroom floor. Push-ups had proved too tough for high reps and so he had needed to do them on his knees. Sit-ups had been doable, but he hadn't gone all the way up until his chest touched his knees. He slowly lifted his torso most of the way up, held a moment, and then slowly returned to his starting position without letting gravity drop him back. That was one of the few tips he'd remembered his cousin telling him, and he'd incorporated the idea into his stretching routine even back then.

My arms are fine but my abs and pecs are a bit sore. Maybe I should go lower on reps and do a minute of planking instead. If I remember properly, slower-paced resistance-type exercises are better for building endurance than things like pushups. Enough exercising, time for my reward! Ability time!

When looking at his options, Doro had only been able to see the general purpose of a choice but not the actual Abilities. A person's Abilities weren't set, they were produced through the interaction between a person's personality, how they used their Choice, and so many other factors that it was considered an entire field of study. As far as Doro knew, too many potential variables existed and no real consensus had been publicly reached.

Doro crossed his legs and stayed on the floor to avoid getting sweat all over his bed. He flipped his hand over and had it display the Abilities for his Phase Meister Choice. Luckily for him, the display glowed faintly, like his sigil had, allowing him to read it in the dark.

[Phase Meister 1/3] appeared along the top of his palm, beneath the base of his fingers. Below, the name of an Ability and its description took up the central portion of his palm.

1/3? does this mean I'll only ever get 3 abilities? Nah, that's dumb, don't panic. That probably means I have three abilities to start with, and it is displaying the first. Alright, what did I get?

[Phase Meister 1/3]

[Phase Transition (Solid<=>liquid)]

Control the solidity of inorganic matter without affecting its temperature. When the energy imbued is expended, retrieved, or dissipates naturally, the affected matter will return to its natural state. Energy expenditure is variable.

Awesome! No jail cell will ever be able to keep me in! Muhahahaha! ...Except if it's made out of wood....or bone, or cloth, or leather, or, uh, even meat I guess? I guess you could say a hug is a meat prison...Or if I got swallowed by a whale? Well, it should be fine anyhow. Manzat doesn't really have a thriving lumber industry, or whales, being a desert surrounding a freshwater sea and all.

Doro was having fun thinking of crazy stunts he should be able to perform, not that he planned on trying most of them. As it turns out, Doro's creative tendencies had meshed with his old self's practical academic approach and created a potential mad scientist.

Science! Or is it magic? In any case, I approve! Alright, onto the next goodie.

[Inorganic Kinesis]

Ability to move, lift, throw, shape and affect inorganic material at a distance by expending energy. Energy expenditure is variable.

Ooooooh. Sweet. And combining the two I could go all " You want a crown of gold?" then throw a blob of metal at my enemy's face before hardening it. Meh, I don't really have any enemies, and the Game of Thrones reference would be wasted. Damn, the main reason I spent so many hours watching that show in the first place was so that I could get all the references people were making. Better not start thinking about that last season or I'll start losing my good mood. Next Ability!

[Somatic Support]

Kinetic Abilities, spells, and techniques can be supplemented by physical effort and motion to reduce energy expenditure and assist with control.

Doro remained silent for a moment as he reread his third Ability to make sure he understood it.

This is gonna be super useful. Guess I'll scrap my exercise plan and just use this since it will let me practice with my other Abilities more.

Doro regretted his earlier decision to work out as his core muscles felt rather spent.

Phase Meister gave me some pretty cool stuff, but I'll have to experiment quite a bit to figure out what " Energy expenditure is variable" really means. I'll worry about that after breakfast, still have my Blessed abilities to go through.

[Materia Synthesist 1/4]

[Matter Analysis]

Ability to circulate your energy throughout abiotic matter to understand its elemental make-up and properties. Energy expended is returned. Results are affected by knowledge and understanding.

Knowledge and understanding? As far as I know, this world hasn't really formalized elemental theory or come up with a version of the periodic table of elements yet. Dad's books feel like a mix of Renaissance alchemy and old Greco-Roman philosophical sciences. I think I'll be fine on that end. An ability that doesn't use up energy is nice to have though.

[Matter Isolation Field]

Ability to create a field where abiotic matter can be suspended and broken down into the compounds and elements it is made of. All abiotic matter will remain inert and in stasis as long as the field is maintained. Energy expenditure is variable. Results are affected by knowledge and understanding.

Again with the variable expenditure line? And with the whole knowledge and understanding bit too? I have a feeling I am going to start disliking those two sentences intensely. I mean, they barely mean anything... The ability itself is pretty useful though. Being able to use energy to bypass the need for specialized equipment and reducing agents is going to come in very handy considering how finicky some metals are. With this, I won't have to wait for ages before I'm able to refine metals like titanium and aluminum. Farewell Bayer process, I won't have to figure out how to pull you off with this world's tech level. Still, might be useful for iron extraction too. Even though Dad already has the gear, if the energy cost is low enough, it might be worth it. It says abiotic rather than inorganic so I guess it should work on anything that isn't alive at the time of use.

[Compound Synthesis]

Ability to synthesize abiotic matter by using elements or compounds available inside of the [Matter Isolation Field]. Energy expenditure is variable. Results are affected by knowledge and understanding.

Yep, these two sentences popped up again. Nevermind that. Another useful Ability but... is this choice turning me into a glorified material recycling machine? Insert trash> analyze> break down > isolate> recombine from available materials? Maybe I'm finding this less fun because it doesn't feel as new to me. Meister feels like magic and new possibilities. For the moment, this feels more like shortcuts to let me cheat my way into bypassing this world's tech level. I'm only level one though, and maybe I'm underestimating it. Maybe I'll figure out a way to get creative with them. One more ability to check. Come on, be something cool and new!

[Persistent Memories of the Blessed]

Ability to use a minute amount of energy to access soul-bound memories and create vivid and detailed recollections of specific events.

If I hadn't been told that my abilities and their descriptions were a construct of my subconscious trying to interpret the Akashic Network and its effect on me, I'd think someone was messing with me...Well, I guess it doesn't cost much energy and will let me remember specific formulas and the such so that's cool. Also, maybe I can use it to make sure I don't forget anything about the people that were important to me back on Earth. Gotta say though, it's a good thing I have nine years of memories of being part of this family. If I was alone I'd probably be mourning, feeling alone and isolated. Weird though, not sure I can call it mourning when they are alive but I died. Maybe homesickness? Well this Ability doesn't seem that fun but at least it's gonna be quite useful. I won't need to spend so much time writing down Earth knowledge-

Doro stopped his train of thought as it reminded him of what he'd been thinking about two days prior, just before bumping into Aonghus. Doro tried thinking about an animated movie he had seen multiple times as a kid. It was about a hunter being turned into a bear and adopting the cub of a bear he had hunted down. The movie had marked him because it was one of few movies made for children that he felt had real emotional depth. Doro then thought hard about a very specific scene and all of a sudden he felt a tiny tingle journey from the center of his chest, along his spine, and into the back of his neck.

Woah, was that energy? Wait, the memory is becoming clearer.

The scene he was trying to remember started steadily gaining clarity. All of a sudden, Doro could smell, feel, see, hear, and taste that moment from his youth as if he were right there living through it once more. The scene finished replaying in his mind as Doro's expression turned into a joyous smile.

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YES! It worked! I have all the lyrics to the damn song! My sanity is saved. Let's try this again a few times to see if I can get a better feel for energy.

Doro indulged in his old memories for what felt a lot longer than the one hour he could tell had passed from the increase in the amount of light entering through his window. Although he didn't think he had made much progress on sensing his energy, he felt a lot more relaxed. As Doro let out a contented sigh, he heard first bell start ringing in the distance and looked outside.

The sun is coming up, Better clean up a bit and get dressed before breakfast...Wait...first bell? I'm sure I watched well over an hour of memories, shouldn't it be second bell? Neat, I can rewatch a whole movie or reread a whole book and waste barely any real time.

Doro went about his usual clean-up routine and then headed to the kitchen for breakfast. His parents were both sitting at the table, in silence, with their eyes trained on Doro.

"Finally out of your room, I see! So, out with it. You barely told me anything yesterday."

Khetep made eye contact with Doro and gave him an apologetic smile as Suyum began her interrogation.

Bet he decided to play it safe and acted like he didn't know anything. Sadly, I can't do the same.

Doro proceeded to explain what being a Phase Meister entailed, continuing with a description of its three starting Abilities. What he had feared was seemingly coming to pass. Judging by the too-wide a smile his mother displayed as he explained how he could substitute energy by exerting himself physically, Doro could imagine what she might be planning. He rushed to explain that he believed that it only applied to his [Inorganic Kinesis]. He also added that he didn't think he could solidify her unfired pottery with his [Phase Transition] since it wouldn't actually bake the clay and would return to being soft once it ran out of energy. Doro started feeling guilty as his mother's smile slowly disintegrated. With each point that he made, the plans he suspected her of having, using him as free labor whilst calling it an apprenticeship, visibly shattered bit by a bit. Doro eventually dropped his guard as he told her that he could still work on already fired ceramics that needed repairs or modifications.

"Ah, then how about you come to join me officially as my apprentice? You won't have to go around competin' with others for a spot and you won't even have to leave home in the mornin'. Isn't that a sweet deal?"

I knew it! Time to show my get-out-of-jail-free card and get Dad to earn the knowledge he wants from me.

Doro put his hand on the table, palm up, and displayed his sigil and certification marks.

"Sorry Mom, but I qualified as a second-tier scholar and was taken as an apprentice by the Imperial Enumerator. He wants me to study under him every Seventh-day afternoon."

Although his mother looked like she was about to give up when he brought up his apprenticeship, a thoughtful expression had appeared on her face by the end of the excuse.

"Congratulations! That is great and all, but doesn't that mean you are still free every other day? Nothin' stops you from takin' two apprenticeships if they don't get in the way of each other."

Think you got me cornered? I was ready for this! Sorry Dad, but I'll definitely pay you back by helping you through your threshold, no matter how long it takes.

"The thing is...he said that even though he was too busy with his duties to teach me every day, I should work on my studies during the rest of the decan. Then he added that since Dad has a third-tier scholar certification and works as a refiner, I should learn from him and help him with his work during the rest of the decan to familiarize myself with practical applications."

His excuse delivered, Doro turned to look at his father. Khetep froze, his mouth agape and his eyes open wider than Doro had ever seen before. Doro could empathize with his father, but he decided to cut off any chance of retreat with his next statement.

"Now that I am finally allowed inside, we should head to your workshop so that you can deliver on the quality father-son bonding time you promised me yesterday. Mom? If Sarima drops by, can you send her our way, please? I said I would help her with her studies for a bit in the mornings if she came around."

Doro stood up and took his father by the hand, leading him toward his workshop. He glanced back at his mother and it would seem his plan was successful. Suyum was boring a hole into the back of Khetep's head with her glare, a betrayed look on her face.

Blame redirected. Mission accomplished. Let us have a moment of silence for the one casualty. Sorry Mom but if I have to keep half my abilities, and how capable I am, hidden for the moment, I can't go around spending all day under your scrutiny.

As the door to Khetep's workshop closed behind them, he turned around brusquely to face his son.

"Do you realize what you've just done? I sleep next to her! She cooks half of the meals I eat! And you made it seem as if I was the reason her master plan fell to ruins. She will try and get back at me and you know it. Just so you know, I'm trading plates with you every time she cooks for the foreseeable future."

"Fair, fair. That seems like a good trade for my freedom. Don't worry, we'll get you past your threshold with the knowledge from my previous life and she'll be so proud of you that it will hopefully overwrite her anger. I guess there is little chance for a younger sibling to be made during the next few decans though."

Doro put a hand on his father's shoulder a nodded while giving his father a pitying smile.

"Eww! Stop that! I get that you have memories of being a young adult, but with your looks, that smile, and those words, you are creeping me out. I guess a bit of marital friction is worth your help though."

Doro couldn't help himself from one last joke at his father's expense before moving on.

"I thought that we already established that with Mom as angry as she is, there is little chance of "marital friction" any time soon."

He then proceeded to give his father an exaggerated wink.

Khetep looked like he was about to complain about his son's humor again, but both he and Doro went silent as they heard a knock on the door.

"Doro? Are you here? Please let me in!"

Sarima's voice could be heard from the other side of the door and her words carried a noticeable tinge of panic.

"He is here, come on in. The door is unlocked. Be careful and do not touch anything without asking first."

Khetep invited her in and she entered the room, closing the door behind her as quickly as she could.

"Uh, Doro, Mister Khetep, good morning. Any reason why Miss Suyum looked like she was about to throw me out the window when I asked her where I could find you? She just pointed down the corridor while mumbling curses under her breath. Did I annoy her yesterday?"

"Nah don't worry, she's just annoyed because Dad thwarted her plans of using me as free labor by teaching me during the rest of the decan while Scholar Atwut is busy. At least that's the excuse I made up so that I could teach you and my dad without being stuck working with clay all day, everyday. Oh yeah, I told him about my secret and now he wants to try and get a special Choice like yours. Please treat him well as your junior student."

Khetep choked a little at those last words and pleaded with his son.

"Surely, as her elder, and your father, I would be the senior student?"

"Sorry Dad, she became my student first. that is how seniority works. Tell you what, since you follow the same field of study as me, you can have the title of "Head Disciple" if you want."

Doro couldn't keep a straight face at the awkward, perplexed look his father was giving him and gave up on the joke.

"Just joking dad, I may have accepted her as a student first but you are both taking your first lesson this morning, and you will be working on much more complex stuff than Sarima anyway. Although if we are going to do this every morning, do you mind if Sarima calls you something simpler than "Mister Khetep" for efficiency?"

Sarima jumped in and made some suggestions.

"Oh I know! Would you like it if I called your dad "father-in-law"?"

As if he had always known how to do it, something clicked in Doro. He reached in the direction of a pebble on the floor and performed a flicking motion in the air. The little pebble flew straight toward the middle of Sarima's forehead and bounced off, falling back to the floor.

Sarima yelped in surprise.

"Ow...I was just joking...Nice new trick though. Ok, scrap that last idea. How about "Uncle"?"

Doro nodded, seeing no issue with it. Khetep on the other hand appeared slightly conflicted.

"I'm barely thirty...Being called uncle feels a bit...but it's not like I can think of something more appropriate. Sure, let's go with Uncle for now."

"Dad, do you mind just doing your own thing for ten minutes while I get Sarima set up?"

Doro led Sarima to the counter and pulled a stool over, for her to sit on. He then spent five minutes explaining the basic principle behind percentages and fractions by using the profit calculation questions that Scholar Atwut had used the previous day as an example. As Sarima had a solid grasp of division and multiplication, she caught on quickly. It may have also been her learning Ability showing its effect for the first time. By the time ten minutes had gone by, Sarima was ready to work on exercises by herself and Doro had written down a series of questions for her on some of his father's spare paper.

"Try to answer the questions by tomorrow. You are free to work on it at home. You can stay and listen to what I am going to teach my father, but please don't ask questions. If you find what I teach him interesting, then I'll cover it with you properly after you learn the prerequisite knowledge. Show me that you can do what we just covered and we'll move on once you have mastered it."

Sarima fidgeted a bit as if she was unsure of what she should do.

"Well, I guess I'll go home for now and work on it as I prepare lunch. I'll be back tomorrow though, and you'll teach me more right?"

Doro made eye contact with her and decided he should try to reassure her.

"Don't worry, we have time. As long as I teach you a little bit each day you should be more than fine in three years. You seem to have understood the subject quickly today. Come back with your answers tomorrow so that I can make sure you got it. Tell you what, if you get them all right, I'll give you a small reward."

Properly motivated, Sarima left the workshop with a new goal. Khetep approached his son and then nudged him with his elbow.

"A reward eh? Are you gonna give her a peck on the cheek?"

Doro decided it was a good time to practice and flicked the air behind him. Khetep was grinning as he teased his son and did not see the pebble flying toward his temple before it hit. This time, Doro had tried to apply a tiny bit of energy, focusing on the feeling he had earlier that morning. The pebble's momentum increased slightly as a result. Still, the pebble was light and was still going relatively slowly. It bounced off Khetep's head harmlessly, nothing more than a minor annoyance.

"I got your message. Stop it or you might tickle me."

Khetep shrugged off the attack and sat down on his stool, ready to learn.

"So...What are we going to be working on this morning?"

Sorry Dad, but I was taking it easy on Sarima because she is only nine. I'm skipping straight to high school physics and chemistry with you.

Doro mirrored his father's smile as he began his lesson.

***

By the time sixth bell could be heard ringing, Khetep's demeanor had gone through a complete reversal. Doro had started the lesson with a generalized overview of elemental theory. He explained that all the matter in the world was made through interactions between a limited number of base substances. This concept had not been entirely foreign to Khetep due to the nature of his profession and he understood what Doro meant when pure gold was used as an example of a substance that could not be purified further. This theory did exist in some form in the Growing World, but it hadn't been accepted as a universal truth and was still in its infancy. The few attempts at making a table or list had ended up missing the majority of elements and included entries such as water, salt, and other common compounds.

Doro had then proceeded to explain the concept of atoms and atomic structure so that his father could understand why elements were different from each other and how their structure could give clues on their properties. That was when Khetep's real struggle had begun. Until then, Doro had been able to use Khetep's life experience to give him easily understandable examples, but this topic had turned out a lot more abstract.

Khetep had tried asking a few questions but Doro told him that they were just covering the concepts this lesson and would work on the details in the future. Doro then spent the rest of the morning explaining how atoms formed different types of bonds and how they could react to each other and form molecules. It was conceptually easier to grasp than the previous topic, but the complexity of the forces that could create or split bonds, and the vast number of possible resulting substances and compounds had proved too much for his father.

Realizing that he might have overdone it, judging from his father's glassy eyes, Doro decided to help him to the kitchen. Khetep followed with a vacant stare, mumbling complicated terms from Doro's lecture every few steps.

I think I might have fried his brain...Hopefully, food will fix him. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have kept going for nearly five hours without a break.

Khetep was so despondent that he didn't even react to the glare Suyum gave him as he entered. He sat down in silence and started eating slowly as if his body was acting on muscle memory.

"Doro? What's wrong with your dad?"

Suyum's angry stare had left her face, replaced by a concerned expression.

"I think I asked him too many complicated questions and exhausted him maybe?"

Doro knew that was a weak excuse, but at the moment, he could not come up with a better one.

"No, not that. I mean I put enough spices in his portion that he should be beggin' for a drink at the very least, but he is still goin' at it..."

Beads of sweat were forming on Khetep's forehead and his nostrils flared as he kept eating spoonful after spoonful. Eventually, the heat built up so much that Khetep's survival instincts kicked in, shooting adrenaline through his system and returning his clarity.

"Aaaah! What the!? Am I on fire?"

Khetep's confusion at the current situation showed on his face as he started panting uncontrollably. He frantically searched around the table for water and drank straight from the ceramic pitcher.

"Aha! Success!"

Suyum laughed as Khetep coughed and sprayed the water all over the table. As it turns out, the water had been spiked as well. After a few moments went by, Suyum put a glass of milk in front of her husband.

"I'm not fully forgivin' you cuz' you kept stuff from me last night, but with this, I reckon the scales are closer to bein' balanced."

Khetep might have responded to that last statement if only he hadn't passed out, face down on the table. The combination of mental and physical distress had proved too much for him. Suyum and Doro exchanged guilty looks silently.

"Uh, Mom? I think we might have both gone too hard and broke Dad...You know how bad he is with alcohol...What did you even put in there?"

"I mixed some clear grain alcohol in the water pitcher, but I split it fifty-fifty"

Doro smacked his palm against his forehead. Doro had never experienced it himself but from what he could gather, the liquor she had used was about as strong as commercial vodka back on earth.

So what's in there is still like twice as strong as wine? Dad can't even handle a full glass of beer without falling asleep...

"Yep, that'll do it. Guess he's out for the day then."

Suyum nodded and asked Doro to help her get Khetep to his bed. They put a cold damp towel on his forehead and left him to recuperate.

"Since I knocked out your dad, I'd better be extra productive to make up for him missin' half a day of work. Come dampen the towel once an hour until he wakes up please."

Suyum left for her workshop and left Doro standing at his father's bedside.

Well, crap. Probably overdid it with the lessons this morning. I need to work on my teaching skills... With Dad out of commission, Sarima studying at her place, and Mom working, I should be able to check out my abilities uninterrupted. Silver lining?

After checking over his father one final time, Doro returned to his father's workshop to experiment with his new Abilities.