Sidekick by Carl Stubblefield (10 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

his hands together, eager to get some training from someone who actually had been to the academy. Anything to help him level and get more powerful before the other invaders came.

“I would recommend we get ready as quickly as possible. I wish the abilities you took were available quicker, but it makes sense that it would take time to assimilate the data, tailor it to your body type and muscle memory, and update your own Nth. We’ll have to add that to our plans and hope that they don’t attack too quickly. Tell me more about those stealth skills you acquired from those supers.”

“Yeah, one is called Camouflage and the other is called Phase-Shift.”

Aurora bit her lip, nodding as she thought. “Those should be helpful, especially when you can sense when they are coming. One probably affects how easily it is for others to detect you. I know a super who can phase jump. He makes portals to create tunnels, using another dimension as a conduit. Much harder to detect but uses a lot more MP. I guess we’ll see tomorrow. We’ll also need to train some ambush tactics. How well do you know submission techniques?”

“Well, what I did with those pirates—” Gus began.

“That probably won’t work with someone with augmented strength or agility,” Aurora interrupted softly. “Depending on their abilities, we need something that can get you physically in contact for long enough for the ability to do its thing. What’s your Strength at?”

“Um, let me check,” Gus said and opened his stat screen. He had 20 unassigned points from his level ups for defeating Methiochos that he still hadn’t assigned. Without the threat of the zombies, he wanted to give himself a buffer, allocating stats as his abilities developed.

“My stats are here.” Gus found that while communication was enabled, he could slide a window with a screenshot of his stats over to Aurora.

Agility: 30 (25+5)

Constitution: 32 (27+5)

Charisma: 23 (18+5)

Strength: 23 (18+5)

Perception: 31 (26+5)

Intelligence: 32 (27+5)

Luck: 32 (27+5)

HP: 620/620

MP: 540/540

Stamina: 620/620

“Hmm, everything seems pretty even. I would ask what type of build you were trying to achieve, but with Leech, it could be practically anything you want. I boosted Intelligence since my attacks are all MP-based. Where do you think you want to develop?”

Gus was unsure. He had always hoarded points when playing RPGs until he figured out what class and profession he wanted to be. It was different when the stakes were real and stat placement translated directly to more power.

“I have no idea. After the threat of protecting the manor was over, I just hoarded them, in case I got a new ability that was stat dependent. Placing points before was more of a desperation-over-inspiration type of choice,” Gus admitted.

“Well, being balanced overall isn’t such a bad thing. What are your abilities? I know people are secretive and protective of their exact abilities, but give me a general idea.”

Gus went through the list. Some of his skills seemed especially ridiculous as he read their descriptions and details out loud.

“Hmm, that’s… a little odd. What do you know about the five schools?”

“Absolutely nothing. I’ve never heard of them,” he confessed.

“Well, if you classify powers, they tend to fall into five main categories. For most supers, they align along one of these categories: mental manipulation, matter manipulation, energy manipulation, augments, and supports.”

“Can you give me examples?”

“Sure. Mental manipulation builds are the telepaths, illusionists, and supers who can alter their own or other’s brain function to perform at superhuman levels.”

“So that’s like my TimeSight ability that allows me to sense danger on a kind of subliminal level. It slows down time and allows me to react,” Gus remarked, thinking what in his skill set fit the category.

“It doesn’t slow down time, it just speeds your normal brain processing so that things appear to be moving slower. But yes, this is a good example of a self-directed mental manipulation power.

“The next is matter manipulation. Telekinesis used to be classified as a mental power until we understood how ether functions. Objects were not just levitating around; they were being moved by a tangible but less perceptible matter. The lion’s share of powers fall into this category. Most of the augments overlap in this manner. Have you ever wondered how a super can lift something like a plane without puncturing it at the point they grasp it and focusing all the force there? It’s because they are supporting the entire object with a cradle of ether and pushing this supporting framework through space.”

The revelation hit Gus like a bucket of cold water. Things he had assumed about supers and their powers were totally incorrect, but what Aurora was explaining made more sense.

“Nick told me that’s how flying works, that supers are pulling themselves through ether like that. I never thought about it as matter manipulation.”

“The academy has you do all sorts of drills to determine the limits and range of your powers. Flying is assessed early, because the more powerful supers have affinities in more than one of the five categories. Even if you are only specialized into one affinity, often they can uncover functions and adaptations that you never knew you had. The process is grueling and many drop out rather than go through years of punishment to discover everything they can possibly do. If you are found to be an augment, or what some people call a Minmax—”

“Not to interrupt, but before you go on, what’s a Minmax?”

“Oh, sorry. Technically, a Minmax is just someone with exceptional development in a single aspect. Like super speed or super strength. For some, that’s all they have that makes them super, but they are good support in a team. It can be a little confusing because some supers use cybernetics to interface with their powers and they often fall into a similar category, but a lot of supers do not put this on the same level as true superpowers.” She wrinkled her nose as if she had smelled something awful. “I’ve had bad experiences