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

flowed even more smoothly than normal. The naginata glided through the air as if it was on tracks, following the motions seamlessly. Gus got to sections of the kata where he made a slight modification so he could activate Sweep the Leg after blocking. The stun effect would allow him to close and get the contact he needed to activate Leech.

He combed through his abilities as he practiced feeling his body go on autopilot as it moved through the forms. What else could he work into his fighting style? He reviewed one that especially seemed useful, for the stun effect at distance.

Wrecks and Parks (Level 1)

Deals (100 x skill level) HP worth of damage on a target up to 20 feet away, then freezes the target in place for (20 x skill level) seconds.

Wrecks and Parks would also be invaluable for the same reason, especially since he could do it at range. He viewed the requirements for the skill.

50 MP per activation, no refractory period.

Not that expensive either, and no cooldown was definitely a plus. He found breaks in the routine where he could fire the ability and flow back into movement, giving himself time to use Dash to rush in and activate Leech.

He would have to be careful to get the timing right, so as not to fire it so far away that the stun effect would be too short to sap their powers. If he could level Wrecks and Parks even once, it would give him substantially more time to react.

Gus felt himself slowing down, the additional concentration for the timing removing him from his effortless flow. He would have to perfect this new style, so opposite the old way of fighting by keeping distance and headshots to immediately down a foe. Now his goal was to get in close, disable, and drain. His eyes pinched as he anticipated taking a lot more hits in his near future. He was glad he hadn’t spent his points as yet; he could see a lot going into Constitution soon.

Gus lost himself in training for a while, not gaining any new abilities, but it evolved into a form of meditation, letting concerns over what the future held in terms of Aurora, invading supers, and other uncertainty slip away. All that mattered was keeping his rhythm. His halting progress slowly increased in speed. Hours later, he saw that it was getting late and Aurora was gone. He hadn’t even noticed.

Turning on his internal communication, he told Aurora, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night. I’m sorry I zoned out there, I hope you didn’t wait too long for me.”

A high-pitched squeak answered him. “Oh, you startled me. Geez, it is getting late. I didn’t want to disturb you. I took some notes on things we can work on, but I’m impressed with your focus. It should make some things easier for you. After about an hour, I could tell you were in a groove so I left to get some other things done. I found a new outfit and cleaned up a bit. Right now, I’m in the command center looking at all the facility options.”

“Okay, we’ll meet up tomorrow, and I’ll let you know what I’ve found.”

Gus retired to his room and slept, eager to see his new abilities on waking.

Chapter Seventeen

Invisible Touch

Gus awoke, his room still dark. After about ten minutes of lying there, he realized he wasn’t going to fall back to sleep. He was up for the day. He looked at his watch and noted it was 4:14 AM.

This was becoming his new normal and he would have to think of something to fill the time. He’d have to ask Aurora how much sleep she needed and if it had diminished as she leveled up. Sitting on the edge of the bed, a message popped on his display:

New abilities assimilated!

Camouflage (Level 5) [3 MP/minute]: Blend seamlessly into your environment. Note: At your current level, you will be detectable during movement.

Vivid (Level 4) [Passive]: Enhanced dreams, often providing special benefits, including: temporary stat increases, insights, crafting epiphanies.

Phase-Shift (Level 4) [10 MP/minute]: Shift partially out of the current dimension to avoid detection. During shifts, cannot be damaged by projectiles or melee damage, but will still be susceptible to area-of-effect damage.

Advanced Flight (Level 1) [60 MP/minute]: Can control trajectory and speed of flight. Lowered MP cost to maintain flight and increased carry capacity as levels increase.

4 new abilities assimilated.

4,000 XP awarded.

8,000 FP awarded.

Current Nth ability capacity: 27%.

Gus rushed to the mirror and activated Camouflage. He became transparent and, if he maintained minimal movement, only saw the wall behind him in the mirror. Waving a hand, he saw the shape of his arm ripple as the light imperfectly refracted around him. There was a little fudge-factor so he could keep breathing, and small movements of less than an inch in any direction appeared undetectable. He wondered at what level he would be undetectable while moving.

Next, he tried Phase-Shift. His ears popped and everything took on a blanched appearance. He winked out of the mirror and had none of the telltale shimmer from movement. His MP bar drained noticeably faster. He reached for the faucet on the sink and met a slight resistance as his hand passed through it, reminding Gus of moving his arms underwater. He found he could not interact with any objects that were not in his possession when he entered Phase-Shift. Dropping out, he grabbed a brush and reactivated the skill. The brush now passed through the faucet the same way his hand had.

He was eager to see how Advanced Flight differed from Basic Flight. Is there an Intermediate Flight? he idly wondered as he went to the balcony.

“Gus, I know you’re excited to try out new abilities, but until you get regeneration or some kind of healing, maybe don’t try jumping out of a window on your first go around, yeah?” Nick warned.

Gus sheepishly took his foot off the balcony railing. “You’re probably