18. Jason BB

All of my Housemates, but Annabeth in particular, gave me doubtful looks.

“I’ll explain more later,” I said, “but I was attempting to duplicate Annabeth’s Earth Boom. I talked to my Mark of the Deep Earth, but it was a little tipsy from eating the Rat King core and it gave me more of a glimpse into the divine than I could handle. I’m okay now, though.”

I gave them all a confident smile.

“Jason, we’ve been together long enough that what you say is starting to sound normal,” Tyler said affectionately.

Then he kissed me—like really kissed me.

I’d just had a revelation about Connection, and I could feel all the layers in that simple act. There was relief that I was okay, affection for his crazy boyfriend, excitement to see what I’d learned, and a deep-seated passion to rip off my Super Suit and smash together right there on the floor.

My whole self vibrated with that kiss, and suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to Connect with him in every way possible. I wanted to have romantic walks on the beach, hold his hand at a concert, discuss life over a cappuccino, and do the beastly tango like two lions. And I wanted to do all of them at the same time.

My body agreed with me completely, as I felt myself flush. My nipples got hard, and my god-given shillelagh decided it wanted to do some clubbing of its own. I was suddenly so hot, I could feel the clothes melting off of me.

OMG! My clothes were melting off of me!

I guess my Super Suit had sensed the desires of my nether regions, and it was starting to transform so my rocket was free to launch.

‘Stop!’ I commanded. Then I quickly pulled away from Tyler. By this time, my pants had almost turned into chaps.

‘Get it back to normal!’ I commanded my Bank Crystal as I covered up as best as I could. Tyler looked on with a naughty twinkle in his eye.

“I think he’s good to go,” he said happily.

“So it would seem,” Sandy agreed. Then she kissed John on the cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“You’ll find out later,” she said teasingly, and then turned and headed towards the evaluation area.

My suit quickly reformed back to regular pants, and we all followed behind her. Sandy added a bit of extra sway to her hips, so I had no doubt John would be playing farmer-and-the-milkmaid before the day was over.

As we walked, I was hyper-aware of everything around me. I could feel the rocks in the ground under my feet. I could feel the whisper of the steel of the swords. I could feel the wood in the display cases and the nails that held them together. I didn’t Connect with any of it, but I could feel all of it—there, ready to Connect if I wanted to.

I guess I’d been out for a longer time than I’d thought, as the group of trainers that had gathered to see Annabeth had all dispersed. Now it was just back to Tariq, the dummy, and our crew, and that was perfectly fine with me.

“Welcome,” Tariq gave me a shallow bow. “It’s great to see you on your feet again. I trust you are ready to start your evaluation?”

He was looking at me, but I felt like the question was really directed towards Tyler.

Tyler gave me a questioning look. This was my chance to back out if something was wrong. My mind felt like it had been washed out with bleach, but overall, I was good to go. I’d fought for my life feeling a lot worse.

“I’m ready,” I said simply. Tariq continued to peer at me intently, but then he shrugged and let it go. I’d said I was ready and Tyler wasn’t stopping me, so that was good enough for him.

“What PiCuBB modes will we be evaluating today?” he asked.

“The piercing evaluation is the main reason we are here,” Tyler explained. “Jason created a new weapon in the last quest, and I’d like him to get fully comfortable with how powerful it is. In addition to that, we might as well do the blocking and bashing evaluations.”

“And the cutting evaluation,” I added. “I would like to test in all modes.”

“Really?” Tyler cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

“I have an idea,” I said simply.

“I’m sure you do,” he chuckled and gave me a supportive pat on the back.

He turned back to Tariq. “We’re doing all modes today, my good man. Just like we did with Annabeth.”

“I see,” Tariq said. He seemed to have more faith in Tyler than he did me.

“And what weapons will you be using today?” He smiled at me kindly.

“I don’t have a specific weapon for blocking and bashing,” I said confidently. “I’ll just be using my hands. For piercing, I’ll be using short spikes that come out of my fists, and for cutting, I’ll be converting the spikes to edged weapons.”

Tariq smiled and started laughing like I was joking, but then he saw I was serious.

“You’re going to fight empty-handed?” he asked. “You’re not summoning a weapon at all?” He looked at Tyler questioningly, but my teacher backed me up with a nod.

“I know this is highly unusual,” Tyler explained, “and I know that mages should never touch a magic weapon with their bare hands. However, Jason has a personal shield that allows him to block mage weapons without him having to summon one of his own. I think you’ll be surprised at just how effective he is.”

“I’m already surprised,” Tariq said dryly. “However, its effectiveness remains to be seen.”

He looked at me and settled into teaching mode.

“Young man, regardless of how you score today, you should know that there is an excellent reason that mages summon weapons. A good weapon is a force multiplier. It takes the force you are directing at your enemy and gives you greater reach and speed. Not to mention the shape of the force, which gives you cutting and piercing abilities. Without a weapon of your own, it will be much harder to stop attacks. And when you do get hit, you won’t be able to return the blow with anywhere near the same amount of power.

“You aren’t the first mage I’ve seen attempt to be some sort of warrior monk, but you should know that they all scored at the bottom end of the weapon’s range and mostly found themselves on the losing end of their matches. I don’t know any mages over fifty years old that still use their fists as their main weapon.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s something worth training in. After all, even when your magic runs out, you still have your fists to fight with. But that should only be a method of last resort.”

“Normally, I would agree with you,” I replied. “When I was young, I played at being a knight, and I was always swinging a stick around as my trusty sword. However, I have an exceptional teacher, and I’ve had some experiences that seem to point towards empty-handed fighting as my main talent.

“I’m only a first year, though, and that’s why I’m here today. I want to see just how good I am with what I’m doing now and see if there is a weapon that inspires me to change.”

“Well, in that case, you have certainly come to the right place!” Tariq beamed at me. “Your openness to learning and change does you credit. You’re right. You do have an excellent teacher. If he can train a prodigy like Annabeth and we can find you the right weapon, I’m sure you will be winning your matches in no time.”

He winked at Tyler when he thought I wasn’t looking, like he’d finally figured out what Tyler’s game was. He clearly thought Tyler had brought me here to show me what a bad idea empty-handed fighting was. His job was to then lead me down the path of weapons and find me something that Tyler could really train me with.

He wasn’t entirely wrong in his assumptions. I was here to learn and grow. I really didn’t know how good I was compared to the normal supernatural world. My battles so far had been anything but normal, after all. The only real structured test I’d had so far had been our Exchange of Reconciliation with Ken’s school, but they seemed pretty weak compared to the teams I’d seen in the tournament.

Annabeth, who had my utmost respect, had transitioned to using a club and sword. Maybe I should do the same. I was about to find out.

“Which mode would you like to evaluate first?” Tariq asked Tyler.

“I’d like to do blocking first,” I said. Tariq looked at Tyler to make sure that was good, and Tyler agreed.

“Blocking it is,” Tariq announced. “Please step into the ring, and I’ll go over the rules again. I know you’ve just seen Annabeth’s fantastic performance, but it always feels different when it’s your turn.”

I stepped up into the ring and set my senses free. Tariq reminded me about the one-minute deadline, getting knocked out of the ring, and suffering a deadly blow, but I just let his words wash over me.

I felt the ring beneath my feet. It was textured like canvas to allow the fighters to get a good grip with their feet and seemed to be made of some sort of fiber. It was like wood, but more giving. It was springy, which allowed the fighters to fall and not injure themselves.

What I felt, though, was that it was alive and lightly magical. It wasn’t a tree, but the Mark of the Lagerel allowed me to Connect with plants, and that is what I did.

It wasn’t a mind-blowing Connection that led me back to the source of creation, but it was still a Connection.

I knew it. I let it know me.

I knew its exact dimensions. I knew exactly how firm it was and how it would deform when I moved.

It seemed reasonably happy to Connect with me, but it was very happy to host the Mark of the Lagerel. It wasn’t falling over star-struck like magic rocks did for the Deep Earth, but it was certainly friendly and willing to help however it could.

My senses flowed to the other side of the ring, and I felt the dummy. Wasting no time, I Connected with him too.

Suddenly I knew it—like we were old friends and had fought together for years. I knew his style, his range of weapons, his speed and power. I knew what a level 30 was, and I knew its maximum abilities.

A Connection is a two-way street, and just as I knew about the dummy, he knew about me. He knew what I was capable of, and he already had a good idea of how this was going to turn out.

He also knew I wished him no harm. I wished the dummy a life of purpose—and happiness fulfilling that purpose. I didn’t know exactly how life occurred for the faceless training dummy, but I only wanted the best for him.

I got back feelings of contentment and stoic duty. He was a training dummy. He had been designed to be a training dummy, and he was happy being a training dummy. His purpose was to evaluate fighters, and he was going to especially enjoy his evaluation with me today.

“Dummy, reset. Blocking evaluation. Level 30,” Tariq called to the dummy. Through our Connection I felt him reset his strength and speed. He also summoned a two-handed broadsword, just like he had with Annabeth.

Tariq turned to me. “Are you ready?”

I settled into my pigeon-stance and summoned my battle energies. I filled my lower half with flowing Water and my upper half with Smoke and the power of Lightning. This time, though, I didn’t stop there.

I expanded the Water so it filled the entire ring and soaked into the mat below me. I expanded my Smoke, allowing it to permeate the air between us. It let me feel my battle space at a deeper level. It already felt like I was touching the dummy, even though he was on the other side of the ring.

This was why I’d wanted to do the blocking evaluation first. I’d wanted to experience Connection in a battle setting before I had to hit back.

“Are you ready?” Tariq asked again. He sounded sympathetic, but also firm. Like he thought I was nervous for my first evaluation, but that was all the more reason to get started.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Begin,” he called, and the dummy advanced towards me, broadsword held in the guard position.

I wasn’t anxious at all. The dummy seemed so slow. It was as though he was moving underwater. I knew from watching Annabeth’s match that this wasn’t the case. He was actually moving fairly quickly.

Connected as I was, though, and with my battle energies all around me, I felt like the dummy was walking over to say “Hi” and share a plate of cookies. We’d have a nice cup of tea and swap stories about past battles while soaking up the sun.

Okay. Maybe I wasn’t that relaxed, but I was pretty close.

The dummy got within range and swung his giant sword.

I gracefully stepped out of the way.

He completed his swing, shifted his feet to give his backhand power, and then swung his sword back again.

I easily pigeon-stepped around that swing too.

Now I had the feeling of the match—we danced. It felt slow and beautiful. We were waltzing together. I could almost hear the sounds of the orchestra in the background.

At level 30, the dummy wasn’t allowed to be too fast or powerful. Through our Connection, he already knew he couldn’t hit me and seemed to enjoy our dance as much as I did.

I felt like Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady.

I could have danced all night

I could have danced all night

And still have begged for more

I channeled my inner Audrey Hepburn and let the movements flow. All too soon the minute was over, and the dummy stopped. He gave me a deep bow, and I bowed back.

My crew was clapping and cheering, so I turned and gave them a grand bow as well. They didn’t look surprised, as they’d seen me fight before. Tariq, on the other hand, looked beyond shocked and not entirely happy. It was probably because I’d passed the test and hadn’t stopped a blow once. The mode was called blocking after all, not dodging.

“That was a skillful display of agility,” he said finally. “I can see why you feel comfortable fighting without a weapon. It can’t last, though. At a certain level, you won’t be able to move your body as fast as your opponent can move a sword. Let’s see how you do at higher levels.

“Dummy, reset. Level 40.”

I felt the dummy unlocking more of his power and speed. I didn’t think he could challenge me yet, but I was going to find out. This time he summoned a katana. It was still a two-handed weapon, but it was much lighter and faster. This was going to be fun!

“Begin,” Tariq called, and the dummy moved towards me. He had less reach, but the slash was much faster. I pigeon-stepped out of range and let him chase me. Eventually, he boxed me into a corner, and that’s when I moved inside his guard and crowded him. The katana was just like every other weapon, in that it had an effective range. If I was too far away, he couldn’t reach me, but if I was too close, his sword was useless.

This dance was faster, more of a foxtrot than a Viennese waltz, but I still didn’t feel in any danger. Instead, I took the time to fully settle into my Connections and the way my battle energies owned the space.

“You’ve passed,” Tariq said. “Let’s see if you can handle level 50. Dummy, reset.”

I felt the dummy turn on more speed, and this time he summoned two battle axes. There was no chance I could get through this round without blocking. The two axes didn’t have as much range as a sword, but they had a lot more speed and versatility.

“Begin,” Tariq called, and the dummy came towards me. He started chopping even before he reached me, setting up a one-two rhythm of defense and strikes. If I’d been using a weapon myself, this would have been very intimidating. Trying to get through that with a two-handed sword would have been rough.

I wasn’t using a sword, though. I was using two hands, so I had the same advantages that he did. Actually, since I didn’t need to swing a weapon, I had more versatility and speed than he did.

When he reached me, it only took two blocks to destroy his rhythm. My first block was a simple slap, which threw his left-hand weapon off its path and helped it move even faster. I stepped inside his defensive space and hard blocked his right arm so hard he lost his grip and the summoned ax flew through the air.

I think that surprised both of us, but I recovered faster. I grabbed the weapon he still had, yanked it out of his grasp, and threw it out of the ring too.

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. Was the match over? I hoped not, as I still wanted to test myself.

Fortunately, the dummy knew what to do. He ran back to his side of the ring, summoned two new weapons, and came at me again. Excellent.

This time I worked on blocking the axes and throwing off his rhythm without disarming him. Tyler had set this up so I could discover just how much I’d grown and how good my style was. The lower levels had been fun, but this was the first round where I was starting to see the difference.

I’d spent a lot of time on the beach before the Gathering, practicing individual techniques against Sparkles as well as taking on plenty of sand opponents in the arena. I knew on an instinctual level how fast and strong I was.

Now, I was discovering that I was wrong. Despite being injured and going through a long recovery, I was now stronger and faster than before. By how much, I wasn’t sure. That’s why today’s evaluation was so valuable.

It wasn’t just my physical abilities that had been enhanced. My mental ones had expanded too. I was tracking everything so much easier, and it seemed like I had plenty of time to determine what my next few moves were going to be.

As we fought, I realized I had an unfair advantage in one area—I was Connected with the dummy. When I fought other opponents, either mages or monsters, I wouldn’t be able to Connect with them, as their magic would be hostile towards me. If I wanted to have a true test of my abilities, I needed to pull back from our Connection and operate without its feedback.

I’d just started to do that when the minute was up and the match was over. My crew cheered and seemed genuinely impressed this time. It had been a fast match with lots of precision blocking, so I’m sure it had been fun to watch. I glanced at Tariq. He seemed pretty impressed too.

“Level 50 is a pass. Reset for level 60.”

I finished pulling my awareness of our Connection as the dummy summoned a triangle shield and war hammer.

“Begin!”

The dummy charged towards me and attempted to bash me out of the ring. I pigeon-stepped to the side and body checked him as he went by. I had only meant to knock him off balance, but somehow I pushed him right out of the ring.

“Level 60 pass. Reset for level 70.”

Crap. I hadn’t gotten any training in at all.

The dummy summoned two war hammers, and this time, at level 70, he was a lot faster and more powerful. Once again, the action was fast and furious. I loved every minute of it. Spreading out my battle energies beyond my body was a game changer. I couldn’t feel the dummy the same way now that I’d pulled back from our Connection, but my Smoke energy made up the difference. Spreading my Water energy through the floor allowed me to know exactly where I was stepping. That might sound like such a simple thing, but it allowed me to step confidently at full speed, and the dummy just couldn’t keep up.

As for techniques, it was like I was discovering new levels of what Tyler had taught me. Between deflection and hard blocking, the dummy never had a chance to establish any sort of rhythm and take control of the fight. I threw him off balance and made him reset again and again. At one point, I got him so crossed up, he had his arms wrapped around himself. He looked like he had stopped fighting to give himself a reassuring hug. I grabbed both his war hammers and held him for a moment while he struggled.

All too soon, the minute was up, and we had a reset. “Are you having fun?” Tyler called, and I gave him a double thumbs up.

“Level 70 pass. Reset for level 80.”

This round I was facing an even bigger shield and a longsword. This was the round where Annabeth had struggled, so I was curious to see how I’d do. It turned out that fighting empty-handed gave me lots of options—mainly because I could grab the shield.

The dummy rushed me, trying to push me out of the ring. That didn’t work, as I just grabbed the top of the shield and slammed the bottom into the mat. That caused the shield to stop suddenly while the dummy was still moving forward. He slammed into his own shield, tripped, and almost fell out of the ring.

He got to his feet and cautiously tried it again. This time I stepped to his non-sword side and gave him a much gentler nudge. He stopped, spun, and came at me, so I stepped to his non-sword side again. This time he attempted to stab his sword across his body and catch me by surprise. I responded by grabbing his wrist, moving behind him, and gripping him like a hug.

Now his sword and shield were totally useless, and he had no leverage to free himself. He tried to headbutt backwards and stomp on my feet, but that was all too little and too late. After a few seconds, I pushed him away, reset, and we went at it again.

One thing was for sure. The dummy had certainly unlocked a lot more strength and speed. I loved it.

“Level 80 pass. Reset for level 90.”

Now my crew really went wild. We were getting into fresh territory.

For this round, the dummy summoned a massive flail. If I had to guess, this was where shield bearers and defensive turtle-type players fell short. The chain on the flail made it unpredictable, and the steel ball could easily arch over shields and smash the defenders behind them. It could also wrap around swords and make it easy to yank them out of the defenders’ hands. I’d fought flails before in my role-playing games, and they could be a real pain in the ass.

Once again, I discovered I had a massive advantage—I didn’t use a weapon. I wasn’t hiding behind a shield or trying to stop a chain with some sort of straight weapon. I had hands, and I used them.

The dummy’s strength and speed were almost fully unlocked now, and he ran at me faster than ever before. He gave a powerful swing, and the spiked ball of metal whizzed through the air. I stepped back and grabbed the chain right where it was attached to the ball. That was when I truly realized how fast I’d gotten. The ball had been moving so fast it had made a humming noise.

I didn’t do a hard stop. Instead, I rapidly decelerated the ball, and now I had one end of the flail and the dummy had the other. He yanked back, and I went with the flow. Then he punched the stick at me. I just deflected it and grabbed more of the chain with my other hand.

Now, the dummy was stuck. He couldn’t swing the weapon, and he couldn’t yank it out of my hands. Every move he made was deflected or resisted. He finally tried to punch and kick me, but I just moved the metal ball, so he punched that instead. If he’d been a real person, he would have broken his hand.

Finally, he dropped the weapon, and I threw it out of the ring. He reset, summoned a new flail, and we went at it once more. The script didn’t change, though. I grabbed the chain, controlled the ball, and quickly controlled the whole weapon.

“Level 90 pass. Reset for level 100.”

The crowd went wild! I looked over and realized we’d started to gain trainers again. Damn. I’d been hoping to keep this on the down low.

Oh well. I guess that had been too much to ask for.

I looked at Annabeth to make sure she was okay. I’d just beaten her score after all. Of course, she didn’t have a jealous bone in her body, and she beamed at me with pure joy. Her best friend and team partner was kicking ass, and that made her as proud as could be.

John and Sandy looked like proud parents. Both of their first years were blowing the trainers” minds, and they loved it. Tyler looked proud too, but he also looked relieved. I’m sure he was glad his plan was working.

“Jason, a first year, will now attempt level 100,” Tariq said loudly. “As you know, the training dummy will be at his maximum strength as well as his maximum speed. At this level, he can select any combination of weapons he wants. The testing time also changes to two minutes. Before he begins, let”s show him some support!”

The crowd had gotten even bigger, as we’d attracted every trainer and shop friend that wasn’t attending to another customer. They all cheered and clapped as I waved and bowed.

Then I turned back to the dummy and let my battle energies loose once more. I was ready. I felt better than I’d ever felt before. The dummy summoned two small daggers, and I smiled. That was the perfect choice for him. They were fast, light, and deadly. Best of all, they had about the same range as my hands, so he could match my fighting style.

At level 100, the dummy could finally bring his full speed to bear. I was getting ready to find out just how good I was.

“Begin!”

The dummy charged at me, but he was careful with his pace. He wanted to reach me quickly, but he didn’t want to have too much momentum and open himself up to being tripped out of the ring. I waited until the dummy got within range and slapped away his first thrust. It wasn’t as easy as it had been before. His power tried to keep the weapon on target, but physics just wasn’t on his side. My blocks and slaps used relax-and-tense-on-contact, just like my punches, and that let me generate a lot more force than my skinny frame would suggest.

His second knife thrust at me, and I hard blocked it. Then his first knife was coming at me again. For this match, I didn’t dodge. I just stood there, grounded in the earth, and met him block for thrust.

Both the Mark of the Lagerel and the Mark of the Deep Earth had enhanced me. I was stronger and faster than I’d ever been. Now it was time to see just what I could do.

I blocked the dummy’s first twenty stabs as I settled into the rhythm of the match. Tea was right. I was fast. Like really fast. And I was powerful enough to stop him.

Somehow, the dummy found even more speed and increased the pace.

I matched him.

He set his feet and leaned into the fight, giving it every ounce of power he had.

I matched him.

My body kept up, and best of all, my mind kept up.

He fought inside of my Smoke, so I knew what he was going to do as soon as he started.

He fought on my Water, so I knew his shifts in intention and weight.

He couldn’t surprise me, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn’t overpower me either. So he tried the only other thing he could, and that was to wear me down.

That wasn’t going to happen either. Tea had already repaired my body to the top of what was humanly possible and beyond.

I didn’t get tired. I got faster.

I laughed at the sheer joy of it all. Tyler and Annabeth had been right. I’d been unconsciously holding myself back.

For two long minutes, I withstood the best the dummy had to offer.

I made a new memory of what I was capable of.

I reset my benchmark.

All too soon, the dummy stepped back. The evaluation was over.

The dummy gave me a deep bow, and I returned it with much respect. Then I was swept off my feet as my crew stormed the ring.

Tyler picked me up and swung me around in pure joy. Annabeth got a hold of me next and gave me her trademark sunshine hug. Sandy and John piled on, and for a moment, I was wrapped up in the comforting support of my Housemates. It was a wonderful feeling, and I didn’t want it to end.

“So, how do you feel now?” Annabeth asked.

“I feel like you and Tyler were right.” I laughed happily. “I hadn’t realized how much I’d grown. Your intervention is much appreciated.”

I was teasing her lightly, but she took me seriously.

“Oh, I don’t know that it was an intervention so much as we were just watching out for you,” she replied.

“Well, thank you for that,” I said sincerely. “I love that you both care about me.”

“Of course we do,” Tyler said earnestly, and I got another round of hugs from everyone.

We could have said more, but Tariq and the rest of the trainers wanted their moment.

“Two true prodigies in one afternoon,” Tariq said in wonder. “I never thought I’d see the day. What you did, young mage, was just outstanding.” He seemed at a loss for words.

“It was outstanding!” he repeated. “I’ve seen a lot of matches in my time and I’ve seen veteran mages take on level 100, but they always try to find some way to mitigate the overwhelming number of strikes headed their way. I’ve never seen anyone successfully stand there and take it like you did. That took skill, young man. A massive amount of talent and skill.”

“It took balls is what it took!” a voice boomed loudly. I looked over, and it was the grumpy trainer that seemed to have a rivalry with Tariq. “Big brass hairy balls! I’ve never seen anything like it from someone so young. That was a master class in blocking.”

Tariq looked sour as his rival grabbed the attention and pulled the moment away from him.

“This young mage is a prodigy! What we’ve seen just now proves it. His level proves it. Does anyone gainsay my assessment?”

The trainers cheered as Tariq looked even more sour. I’m pretty sure that line was supposed to have been his.

“Then let”s congratulate our newest prodigy and Tariq’s lucky find.” For the next several minutes I was caught up in handshakes, backslaps, and words of wisdom as the other trainers offered their approval and complimented me on reaching level 100.

In the middle of all that, I heard an ‘Uh oh’ from Tea.

I felt like I was in a receiving line at a wedding and I was the groom, so I couldn’t exactly excuse myself and duck out. I could only thank everyone for their support and get through the line as quickly as possible.

As soon as I had a moment, I checked in.

‘Tea. What’s going on?’

‘Well, I have good news and possible bad news. Which would you like to hear first?’

Fortunately, he didn’t sound too panicked.

‘Let’s hear the good news,’ I said.

‘It looks like our healing abilities have gotten significantly more powerful,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I thought the healing for the apparitions seemed very fast and more potent than I’d expected. We were healing a new type of magical being, though, and the Mark of the Deep Earth was involved, so I just thought that was enhancing the healing.

‘Now, though, I’m beginning to think it is because the healing rune became integrated into the Throne Room and your Creation Core. I thought your recovery from the battle with Karl had progressed faster than I expected, but you hadn’t been injured like that before, so I didn’t have anything to compare it to.’

‘All of that sounds great,’ I replied happily. ‘More healing is always better. So what is the possible bad news?’

‘As you know, we sent over a few members of the Grove to work on Annabeth’s eyes,’ Tea said. ‘The plan was to work on them slowly and gradually enhance them to see better in the dark.’

‘That was the plan,’ I agreed. ‘What happened?’

‘Well…’ Tea looked embarrassed. ‘It seems like the healing spores grew a lot bigger than I anticipated, so the healing isn’t going as slowly as I wanted.’

I pulled out of our conversation and looked at Annabeth. She was with Tyler, and they were talking to Tariq. She saw me looking and gave me a bright smile. I smiled back.

‘She seems fine,’ I reported back to Tea. ‘Does everything look okay on your end?’

‘Yes,’ Tea replied. ‘The healing is going well. I just wanted to alert you that there was something unexpected going on and that you should probably keep an eye on her.’

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Thank you for the heads up. Let me know if anything changes.’

‘I certainly will,’ Tea replied with a bow.

Tariq and my crew were headed my way, so I focused on them.

“Have you recovered already?” Tariq asked politely.

“Yes,” I replied. “I think I would like to evaluate bashing next.”

“We were thinking the same thing,” Tariq agreed. “Let me first give you your official rating and add a few notes. Then we’ll get onto the next mode.”

I nodded as he murmured under his breath and flicked his fingers in the air a few times. Then we tapped Bank Stamps, and my Bank Crystal approved the changes.

‘His notes are short and simple,’ my Bank Crystal said. ‘Would you like to see them?’

I sent an affirmation, and Tariq’s notes flashed up on a scroll that only I could see.

Jason appears to be highly proficient at all forms of blocking. He fights empty-handed, which allows him a high degree of speed and versatility. He does not seem to be affected when blocking magical weapons. His dodging ability is exceptional and very little motion is wasted in getting out of the way. His ability to redirect strikes is exceptional. His ability to stop strikes is exceptional. His ability to use his opponents’ weapons against them is exceptional. His timing and reaction speed are exceptional.

At this point I have not seen him fail, so I do not know what he should work on improving. I would suggest doing a full day of analysis on blocking, including ranged weapons and Path attack variants to see if any weaknesses come to light.

I felt a warm glow of satisfaction. That matched what I was thinking. Now I was anxious to get on with the rest of my evaluation.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing evaluation. Level 30,” Tariq called, and then he turned to me. “The rules are simple. You have twenty strikes and up to one minute to knock him off his feet. Good luck.”

The dummy assumed a neutral stance and offered up his chest for me to strike. I wished all my enemies were this compliant.

‘I’m curious to know just how much the Marks and Tea have enhanced you,’ my Analytical Side mused. ‘Why not see how far you can get with just your regular punching before you layer on your expanded concept of battle energies and your new understanding of PLACE?’

‘Sure,’ I agreed. ‘That sounds fun. Let’s see how we do.’

I first sent a quick mental command to Spike and the Knuckle Crew to sit this one out. I then settled into my pigeon-stance in front of the dummy and looked at Tariq.

“Begin,” he called.

I summoned my battle energies, but this time I kept everything inside me. I didn’t release my Water energy into the ring, and I didn’t push my Smoke into the air. I still summoned the Lightning, though. That hadn’t changed.

Lightning punch!

The dummy flew backward and landed hard.

There was a moment of silence, and then the spectators burst into applause. I looked over at my crew and smiled. They weren’t surprised, as they’d seen me hit before. The other trainers, however, looked stunned.

“I was going to say something about keeping your expectations in check,” Tariq chuckled, “but clearly that wasn’t necessary. You’re using your fist instead of a weapon, so conventional wisdom would suggest your bashing ability should be a lot lower. Weapons are force multipliers after all. It seems like you are breaking all the rules today, though, and I’m excited to see how far you can go.”

I chuckled along with him. It felt good to let loose in a training environment. Since I wasn’t fighting for my life, I could pay attention to my performance and see how much I’d grown.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 40,” Tariq called.

Once again, the dummy generously offered up his chest, and once again I knocked him off his feet.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 50.”

This time he took two blows, and I could feel the dummy getting tougher to knock around.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 60.”

It took three punches this time. I still had plenty of power left.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 70.”

Six punches.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 80.”

Eleven punches. The crowd was starting to get excited.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 90.”

Nineteen punches. I almost thought I was going to fail this level. Also, for the first time, I had started to feel myself slipping back slightly as I punched.

“Dummy, reset. Bashing level 100.”

This was it. This was my last test. I might as well go all out.

I sent my Water energy into the ring. Now I was anchored in a way I hadn’t been before.

I also tapped into my concept of PLACE. Who was I to the environment around me? Who was I in relation to the dummy? It was strange to be Connected at such a profound level.

Well, it was strange to me, but I felt my Marks, as well as Penny and Eggy, settle into the feeling. I was an individual, and my Connections and PLACE were always changing. For them, who came from being part of a whole, being attached to an individual like me was the strange part.

I almost got lost in the paradigm of it all. The whole concept was fascinating. It would be especially fun to contemplate the next time I was tripped out on healing spores and Anna Lykit was there to add some color commentary. I was sure she would have a few naughty things to say about Connections.

Right now, though, I needed to focus on the more literal definition of PLACE. I was absolutely positioned to everything around me, and I was going to use that anchor to generate even more force against my opponent.

The whole thing was more of a feeling, and it took almost a minute to get it. That was way too long for a battle situation, so I’d need to practice this a lot more before applying it to any monsters. This evaluation was a perfect place to try it out, though, and once I felt everything click into place, I stepped forward and punched.

I expected the punching part to feel the same, but it didn’t. The punch seemed to happen in slow motion, and I could feel the speed relative to my PLACE. There was actually the tiniest bit more relaxing I could do. I made the change and picked up even more speed.

When I hit, I tensed and summoned the Lightning. Again, my fist struck in slow motion, and I could see small things I could change. My fist was tensing perfectly, but it wasn’t entirely supported by my core. I needed to carry some of the explosive energy throughout the rest of my body to support my new anchors.

That led to the next realization that I’d focused all my Lightning on my upper body. I was now Connected to the ground in a whole new way, so the Lightning needed to flood all of me. It needed to complete the circuit.

It was too late to correct that punch, but the next punch was better. The third punch was almost there, but I wanted more Lightning.

The fourth punch was perfect. Just perfect.

I felt its perfection, like someone had rung a massive bell.

It was the perfect mix of internal and external energies.

It was the perfect mix of relaxed speed and explosive energy.

It was the perfect arc of lightning.

The dummy was already flying backwards, but I wanted to experience the feeling again. I flowed forward and perfect-punched him one more time.

Wow, that felt so good!

“Level 100 is completed!” Tariq announced, and again, my crew rushed the stage. I got hugs all around and a very nice kiss from Tyler that made everything even more special.

“Two 100s—I’m a training genius!” Tyler quipped.

“Yes, you are,” I agreed. “I’m really looking forward to the quest tomorrow. I fixed a slight timing issue, and now I’m hitting even harder.”

“I thought that last level seemed awfully easy for you,” John rumbled. “If you keep this up, it won’t be long before you’re hitting as hard as I do.”

“Choo Choo Boom,” I said, holding out for a fist bump.

“Choo Choo Boom,” John agreed. We fist bumped and exploded it out. Then everyone joined in the Hulk Dance. My crew is weird, but so much fun!

The trainers all congratulated me again. I tried to get them to hold off, but they were too excited and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I told Tariq that I was ready to start the next mode, but he was ready to give a small speech and that is what he did. He celebrated my accomplishment. He celebrated the House and Tyler’s training. But most of all he celebrated how wonderful it was to find two first years like us in one day. His grumpy opponent tried to butt in a few times, but Tariq talked right over him.

This had already been a great experience, and it was certainly worth spending the time, but I was feeling nervous about Annabeth. She hadn’t said anything was wrong, and she seemed normal. But I could see the healing spores inside her, and they were continuing to grow. They were feeding off her magic, and they were expanding well beyond her eyes.

Her whole head was covered in healing spores as well as her neck, her shoulders, and most of her chest. They were now growing down her arms and down to her core. When the shrooms hit, she was going to be baked like a special brownie.

‘It might be better to just go ahead and enhance her body in one shot,’ my Analytical Side noted. ‘This has gone well beyond a slow heal already. If she”s going to be incapacitated, you might as well get it over with, rather than dragging it out.’

‘It takes me three days to recover from a healing cycle,’ I said. ‘We don’t have three days to wait around. If I leave her the way she is right now, the effects might not be too bad, and she might still be able to compete.’

‘Maybe,’ my Analytical Side said doubtfully. ‘Either way, I think you should let everyone know what’s going on, and then let Annabeth decide. It’s her body after all.’

I sighed. Life was just unpredictable sometimes.

“Give us a moment,” I told Tariq and pulled my crew off to the side.

“Annabeth, I have good news and possibly bad news,” I told her.

“Let”s start with the good news,” she said, so I told them all about the healing spores and how they were growing like Gremlins in a rainstorm.

“This is not good news,” Tyler said grimly. “I’ve taken care of you during a healing cycle, and I can attest firsthand that you are not in your right mind. If Annabeth gets like that, there is no way she can compete.”

Everyone nodded vigorously. They’d all seen me flying higher than a bat”s ass and heard me say some things that were as mad as a March hare.

“I don’t feel different,” Annabeth noted. “If the spores have advanced so much, shouldn’t I be feeling the effects by now?”

“I would have thought so,” I said. “When I healed the Centaur Llamas, they started feeling the effects pretty quickly. Everyone is different, though. When I healed the apparitions, the whole healing cycle only took a matter of minutes, and they didn’t get wasted at all. Of course, that could be because the Mark of the Deep Earth was cleaning their rocks at the same time.

“Annabeth, you’ve already healed yourself a lot with your healing charms, and now you’re using the healing rune directly. Your magic is different, and your body is already used to it, so maybe you’ll just get happy and that’s it. If so, then this would be the best time for the Ents to map out your entire body and do the healing enhancement in one shot.”

I paused to let everything I’d said sink in.

“I’m willing to do what everyone wants,” I said. “Although, Annabeth has the final say.”

I paused again while everyone looked thoughtful.

“So what do you think?” I asked. “What would you do?”

“I would go for the full-body healing,” John said. “These early rounds are designed to be easier, so this is the time to grow as much as possible. If you can get up to Jason’s level of physical ability, then do it. We don’t know how tough these later rounds are going to be, and this team needs to do the job of five people. So my vote is yes. Let”s get Annabeth hulked out even more.”

“I like to be more cautious with magic,” Sandy said. “I prefer a more measured approach. I agree with everything John said, but if Annabeth truly loses her mind, then she might be out this next round. The stakes are too high to let that happen, so my vote is to stop everything and deal with what’s already happened first. If it works out okay, then we can see about doing another round of enhancements later.”

“I agree with Sandy,” Tyler said simply. “I prefer the measured approach as well. Annabeth, you’re already a great fighter. I’d rather not risk everything. My vote is no.”

They all looked at me.

“I think a storm is coming,” I said. “Right now we are at the beginning, and we’re just dealing with a bit of prejudice and misinformation. What happens when we become a contender? What happens when the really good teams realize we might win this? Everyone is going to come after us with everything they have. That’s when we’ll need every bit of ability we have to win. If that means Annabeth is loopy for a round, then so be it. She’ll be even stronger later.”

“It looks like we’re tied,” Tyler said. “We have two votes yes and two votes no. Annabeth, it all comes down to you. What would you like to do?”

“I’m doing this,” Annabeth said immediately. “I don”t want to get lopsided. If Jason’s healing spores only enhance the upper half of my body, it will throw me off my game entirely. I’ll be like one of those bodybuilders with huge arms and tiny legs. My blocks and strikes need to be grounded just as much as Jason’s. I need to grow evenly, and the only way to do that is to keep going.”

I looked around at everyone, and they all nodded in agreement.

‘Tea, did you hear that?’ I asked.

‘I heard it, and I agree,’ Tea replied. ‘Annabeth’s pink magic isn’t reacting the same way yours does, so it’s possible she will be just fine.’

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Send over another ten Ents. Map the heck out of her body, and let’s enhance it as much as we can in one round of healing.’

I held Annabeth’s hand, transferred the Ents, and they got to work. It only took about a minute, and then her body was flooded head to toe with healing spores.

“It’s done,” I told her. Then I gave her a big hug.

“You’re going to be fine,” I said, attempting to dispel some of the tension.

“I’m sure I will,” she agreed. “Now it’s time for you to get back to Tariq and poke some holes.”

“Let’s do it!” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “Poke Poke Boom!”

“That’s something Tyler’s good at,” John joked as he also tried to lighten the mood. “Poke Poke Boom!”

He made some very suggestive hand motions, which earned him a smack on the arm from Sandy.

“I could get behind that,” I said as I took Tyler’s hand and headed back to Tariq. “Poke Poke Boom.”

“Shouldn’t it be Pierce Pierce Boom?” Annabeth asked, thoughtfully.

“You’re right,” Tyler agreed. “But Poke Poke just rolls off the tongue better. Plus, it makes John happy.”

“You’re right,” John agreed. “Poke Poke does make me happy.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Sandy and earned another playful smack.

“You know, I thought getting married might take some of the fun out of our relationship,” Sandy said, “but it’s just made me love my mountain man even more.”

“Awww,” we all said as Sandy took John’s hand, and they seemed to melt into each other for a moment.

I had to admit, it was nice seeing them get along so well together. I hadn’t had any good role models for relationships before them. That is why I was taking it one day at a time with Tyler and just appreciating what we had in the moment. It seemed like everyone broke up, eventually.

Watching Sandy and John together gave me hope. If they could do it, why couldn’t we?