I used my glowing orbs to light the way instead of relying on the light from our phones. It would be better to keep our hands free just in case there were any problems. I had one orb in front of us and one behind, giving us plenty of light. I kept the brightness as low as possible to avoid standing out too much, making it just enough to avoid tripping over branches and rocks.

I did call my phone into my hand briefly just to send Mum a message as we walked along. I wanted to let her know I was coming home with some guests. It was after midnight, but she usually had the phone nearby, so it might wake her up.

I sent my phone back into my Inventory as soon as I was done and paid attention to my surroundings. Like the Colonel’s aide had said, it wasn’t impossible for the Void puppets to have circled wide and entered this part of the forest. With that thought in mind, I cast Domain and analyzed the signals it was sending me. There was some movement around us up in the trees and below the ground, but all heading away from us. Even though the range on the spell was only 10 meters, it should be enough warning if something came towards us.

It wasn’t easy using the spell in the forest, though. The sheer number of objects scattered around the forest floor meant the magical sense the spell gave me was being bombarded. My eyes sent a signal to my brain that I was looking at a simple pile of leaves, but with the magic active I could feel the rocks and twigs hidden beneath, and even a scurrying lizard mixed in the pile. If I hadn’t already had some practice, I probably would have needed to terminate the spell. Not counting the disorienting effect it had, I had to admit I was enjoying the new way of experiencing the world around me.

After about ten minutes, we heard voices and I canceled the light spell immediately. We progressed by the light from my phone’s flashlight until we reached the edge of the forest and could see soldiers patrolling along the footpath. Brad called out in a low voice. Once they confirmed who we were and gave us the all clear, we ran out and put some distance between us and the forest before walking the rest of the way to my house.

We made it there without running into anyone, and I wasn’t surprised to see the lights on. I got the spare key from the hiding place and unlocked the front door. “You know, that’s not very safe,” Steve pointed out. I just shrugged.

“If someone really wanted to break in, they could just smash a window.”

“I don’t think that’s…,” Brad started to say, but I was already inside. Mum was coming down the hallway and I met her halfway. She gave me a big hug. With my stronger body, I didn’t feel any discomfort, but I had a suspicion that the old me would have been left with some cracked ribs.

I returned the hug carefully, mindful of the pain I’d caused the Colonel when I shook his hand. We stayed like that for a minute, each of us taking comfort in the other’s presence. Aware of the two officers waiting, I disengaged gently.

“You got my message,” I said, noting the casual clothes she was wearing instead of her pajamas.

“I haven’t been without my phone since this all started,” she told me absently, looking over at Brad and Steve curiously.

I made the introductions, explaining that they were there to watch over me. I stressed the just-in-case part so she wouldn’t worry too much. Mum was extremely welcoming when she found out why they were there and ushered us all into the living room.

Sitting next to me on the couch and holding onto my arm, she said, “I’m thrilled to have you home, but why are you back? Since you need watching over, I take it the problem isn’t fixed?”

“Not even close,” I told her honestly. “But there are some things we need to do tomorrow away from the forest. We don’t want anyone recognizing me, so it was better to sneak out while most people are sleeping.”

“What’s going on tomorrow?”

I explained about needing to heal people who had been attacked, and about meeting with the government officials. “Don’t let them push you around,” she told me firmly. “And watch yourself. Can’t trust anything they say.”

I thought about my Persuasion skill and how it would be difficult for them to lie to me. “Don’t worry,” I said with a small smile. “I’ve got that covered.” I ignored the curious looks they all gave me. I was keeping that skill a secret from everyone. I didn’t want people watching what they said around me. “Now, we’ve got some things to do before we can get some sleep. But first things first, let’s work out where you two can crash.”

Brad quickly spoke up. “We don’t want to put you out. We can just sleep on the floor in here.”

“Nonsense!” Mum said firmly. “We have a guest room upstairs you can use. There’s only one bed, but we can put a sleeping bag in there too.”

“We can do better than that,” I said. “I’ll just make a copy of the bed. We can probably squeeze two in there.”

“You can do that?!” Mum asked me incredulously.

“Yep. Come on.” I led the way upstairs to the guest room and everyone looked on as I absorbed the bed, pillows, and blankets as one set. Then I focused on the far wall and created a copy up against it, and then made a second one beside it. There wasn’t much space to move around with two beds now occupying the room, but they would only be using it for sleeping. It shouldn’t be a problem. I pulled their bags out of my Inventory and dropped them on the beds.

“Welcome to your new home,” I told them with a grand gesture.

“Amazing,” Mum said in wonder. “When things calm down, I’m going to have you redecorate the whole house.”

Brad and Steve started discussing a watch schedule. I tried to talk them out of it, telling them there was no need. They stubbornly said it was their job and refused to budge. “Fine,” I said, giving up. “But sort it out after I use the Awakening disc on Brad. He might be too tired afterwards to stay up.”

The frown reappeared on Brad’s face. “What is it?” I asked him, concerned. “You didn’t look too happy when the Colonel asked you about using the disc either. Do you not want to do this?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. It’s just…well, I’ve got a wife and son.” He hesitated. “What if the disc kills me?”

I was surprised. “You have a family?! You never mentioned them.”

He shrugged. “I try not to think about them when I’m working. Distracts me. I told my wife I’d be on assignment. She’s used to not hearing from me for a few days from back when I used to work task forces, so it’s not a problem. She doesn’t like it, but she understands.” He paused, seeming to be searching for the right words to explain his reluctance. Finally, he said, “I trust my training and my skills to see me through and to get me safely back to my family. But this? How can I fight back against whatever the disc will do to me?”

I smiled as I understood where his worries were coming from. “Relax. I made that stuff up about the discs being dangerous. It seemed like the best way to get Colonel Rossi to agree. You’ll be fine.”

Brad looked at me dumbfounded. Steve, on the other hand, looked hurt. “Mate! Why couldn’t you lie and get me one of them too?!”

“I’m actually surprised he agreed to one,” I confessed. “Didn’t want to push my luck. Anyway, I think Anita is right about technical people getting the others. It might give us the edge we need.”

I looked back at Brad. “Now. you ready to do this? The disc won’t kill you, but I imagine you won’t be allowed to walk away once you gain powers. You’re going to be in the middle of things the entire way.” I hesitated before adding, “Maybe it’s better if you just go home to your family.” I would hate to lose him, but now that I knew he had a kid, I didn’t feel right about forcing him to stay.

He stood there silently, considering. I noticed Mum looking at him, the sympathy clear on her face. As a parent, I guess she understood better than I could what thoughts were going through his mind.

“With everything I know, I couldn’t walk away anyway. And if we don’t stop the Void, my family won’t be safe anywhere.” He squared his shoulders. “Let’s do it.”

I couldn’t help grinning in relief. “Great! Now, this won’t kill you, but I should warn you. It’s not the most pleasant experience. And it’s going to make you smell. A lot!” I thought for a second. “Let’s do it in the backyard. That way you won’t stink up the house and we can just hose you down after.” I looked at Mum. “Can you take them out back? I just need to get something.”

“Hang on,” Brad protested. “We can’t do it outside. This is all supposed to be secret, remember?”

“Don’t worry, love,” Mum told him, taking his arm and leading him out the room. “It’s completely private back there.”

“And even if someone did manage to see anything, they’d just think we were some kind of strange hippies,” I reassured him.

As they all went downstairs, I grabbed a thick blanket from the hallway closet and absorbed it. After creating a copy, I joined them in the backyard. Mum had turned on all the lights and had the place lit up. I threw the blanket at Brad. “Strip. Your clothes will be ruined otherwise.”

He looked at my mum. “Nothing I haven’t seen before,” she told him, not looking away. He stood there, just staring at her. “Fine!” she mock-complained and turned around with a small smile.

I was a little surprised by her behavior, but also happy to see her having some fun. There was a clear difference in her since I’d healed her. She seemed lighter, more carefree. I put it down to the fact she was free from pain for the first time in a long time. I hadn’t realized just how greatly her ailments had been affecting her, and I felt a surge of pride at being able to help her so much.

As Brad took off his clothes, I had Steve go and get his phone so he could record the process and send it to Anita. She could get it into the hands of everyone that wanted to see it. Once Brad was done, he shivered and wrapped the blanket around himself tightly. When I concentrated, I became aware of the chill in the air. Just like in the park, though, it didn’t touch me thanks to my Elemental Resistance passive ability. Apart from providing privacy, the blanket should also be thick enough to keep him warm.

“Ok, lie down on your back and get comfortable,” I told him, kneeling next to him after he was settled. Steve got in position with his phone, making sure he had an angle on both of us. I summoned an Awakening disc to my hand. Moving the blanket to completely expose Brad’s chest, I laid the disc down on his skin and kept my hands pressing down on it. I breathed out nervously. Here goes. I gave him a reassuring smile. “Not sure what’s going to happen exactly, but if it’s anything like my experience, it’s going to hurt. Hang in there.”

He gave me a small nod. “See you on the other side.”

I willed my mana to flow into the rune-covered stone disc and it readily took it in, steadily filling up with the energy flowing from my hands. We passed the 100mp mark and I shook my head in disbelief. Despite the item’s description saying it needed 200mp, I still couldn’t believe it was capable of holding so much. It was only as big as my palm! I maintained contact as the rest of the required energy flowed inside. When it reached the full amount, the flow of energy cut off.

I took my hands off the disc and sat back on my heels, watching it closely. It began to glow as the energy inside activated and brought it to life. Seconds later, Brad tensed up and let out a pained groan. I leaned in closer to get a better look and saw that the outer edges of the disc were moving inward. It was as though the whole thing were shrinking. As it got smaller and smaller, I realized it was actually flowing into him, being absorbed into his body. As the last traces of the disc disappeared inside him, I was left looking at his bare chest. There wasn’t a mark or any remaining trace of the disc.

The next second, Brad’s back arched as he convulsed in pain, the blanket falling off his body. His face was frozen in a rictus of agony. The scream he clearly wanted to emit was unable to escape. I winced in sympathy as I remembered my own painful awakening. He suddenly collapsed as the pain overcame him and he passed out.

Mum ran to his other side and knelt down, reaching for his wrist. “He’s ok,” she told us, looking up. “But his pulse is racing!”

“He’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “You shouldn’t stay too close. Things will get gross soon.” No sooner had I spoken than a dark substance began oozing out of his skin. Thanks to the blanket having been knocked open before he passed out, I could confirm that it was coming out of his entire body. The disgusting smell had us all scrambling back away from him. Mum was kind enough to take the time to throw the sides of the blanket over him before fleeing, once again covering him up. She’s a better person than me, I thought. There was no way I was getting close to Brad until I had to hose him down.

“What is that?!” she asked me as she rejoined us, face scrunched up.

“The magic involved improves your body. That starts with a massive detox to get rid of all the impurities,” I let her know, taking an extra step back as the stench wafted over.

When they both did the same, I saw a perfect opportunity to wind up Steve. “You should get closer,” I told him. “You don’t want to miss anything on the recording.”

“Yeah, I’ll pass,” he quickly said. “Zooming in is good enough.”

“But the quality won’t be as good,” I told him with a smile. “Do it. For science.”

“Leave him alone,” Mum scolded me. “If you want a close up, you get in there.”

I pretended to consider it. “On second thought, there’s probably not that much to see with all the gunk covering him.”

Steve and my mum shared a knowing look that I ignored. “Ok, so Cax thinks he should wake up in about half an hour. The disc isn’t exactly the same as the device used on his world, but it should work basically the same way.” We couldn’t go off my awakening, as Cax had basically improvised his way through it, using his knowledge from absorbed adventurers as a guide.

Steve complained about having to stand there filming for that long, so I went in and got a stool. He carefully placed the phone on it so it could keep recording his motionless partner, then stepped back and flashed me a thumbs up.

“I’ll stay here and watch over Brad,” I told them. “There’s something I want to work on anyway. You two take a break.”

I got settled on the ground next to the stool as they walked back inside. I smiled as I heard Steve asking to see Mum’s magical tooth before the door cut off their conversation. Looking again at Brad and confirming he was ok, I turned my thoughts to what I wanted to try.

I’d been thinking of how I could protect my identity in case I needed to use my abilities in public again. I’d come up with the idea of using my improved control of Light energy as a solution. I wasn’t any good at science, but I thought that if I could keep the light from hitting my face, it might become shadowy and hide my features.

I stood my phone on the ground in front of me and flipped the camera so I could see myself. Then I activated my Light energy sense. My vision was once again filled with the shimmering of the energy that surrounded me. From my first experiment back in the park, I knew that trying to hold the light in place would be too much of a strain. Instead, I focused on guiding the streams of light around my face. I figured that working with the energy’s inclination to be in motion and simply redirecting it would be much easier than holding it still, and I was right. But easier did not equal easy.

Trying to clear a space as wide as my head required intense concentration, and I kept losing control of the energy. The first time was due to shock. I’d started from the center of my face and pushed the streams of light to the sides. But as soon as I pushed them away from my eyes, I became blind to my surroundings. I could still sense the Light energy, but I couldn’t make out anything else. The light, and my sight, returned as I panicked and the energy slipped free and once again surrounded my head.

After I regained my composure, I pressed record on my phone. Since I wouldn’t be able to see while I was trying this out, that would let me check later what it looked like from the outside. Once again exerting my will on the light energy, I kept at it until I was finally able to maintain my hold on all the light streams heading towards my face and divert them around my head.

Relaxing my mental grip on the energy, my vision went back to normal, and I checked the video. I was taken aback. I had been expecting to see my face as a shadowy blur, but instead, my entire head was gone. In its place, I could see the house behind me. Rather than some kind of indistinct haze, I had managed to achieve invisibility. So much better! I thought excitedly. At least, it would be if I could see out while it was working.

“If you use your Domain spell at the same time, you can retain awareness of your surroundings through that,” Cax suggested.

Mindful of the camera recording Brad, I replied in my head. “Yeah, but that doesn’t have much range on it yet. If anything’s coming at me fast, I won’t have enough time to react before it hits me.”

I felt him thinking it over. “The spell form that is created in this manner is often a more efficient, improved version of what you are doing. You can try learning it now and hope that the sight issue is addressed.”

“Might as well. I’ve got nothing to lose by trying. How exactly do I turn it into a spell, though?”

“To learn an equivalent spell form requires a combination of successful energy manipulation and will. Visualize what you are trying to accomplish while manipulating the light and concentrate on making it into a spell.”

“Sounds too easy,” I said doubtfully. “Anyone could make any kind of spell.”

“Hardly,” he replied with some amusement. “Many people might try for invisibility but be unsuccessful due to a lack of imagination. Had you continued on the path of trying to hold the light back, you would not have achieved anything.”

“If you say so.” Trusting Cax, I once more activated my energy sense and diverted the light around my head. I concentrated hard on making it into a spell, focusing especially on maintaining my sight. I felt the energy I was holding shift and then, just like that, my efforts were rewarded.

Congratulations!

You have successfully developed a Light-affinity spell.

Invisibility

Many think darkness is the best way to hide things. However, a proper application of light can be even more effective.

Establish an energy field that will manipulate the light around it, hiding what it is covering. You will be able to see through this field.

Cost: dependent on size

Duration: 30 minutes. Moving will drain the energy faster, resulting in reduced duration.

Range: Touch

I thumped the ground in satisfaction, barely restraining myself from shouting in victory. I’d done it! And like Cax had said, it looked like it was even better than what I’d managed to achieve by myself.

I immediately cast the spell, finding that I needed to visualize the area it should cover first. I had it form a bubble around my head and spent the 20mp required. My mana immediately flew into the spell structure, and I looked at my camera. I could see my shoulders, but there was nothing on them. My head had disappeared and there wasn’t even the faintest shimmer to indicate the magic at work. Yep, the spell is much better, I thought happily. Perfect vision and completely hidden.

While this method would definitely guarantee keeping my identity a secret, a headless body running around created a whole other bunch of problems. I wonder how much energy it takes to hide my entire body? Before I had a chance to experiment, I was interrupted by Brad groaning. He was awake! I hadn’t realized so much time had passed.

I returned my phone to my Inventory quickly and jumped to my feet. I ran over to him, but the smell hit me and I pulled up short. “Mate, how do you feel?” I asked him.

He turned his head my way slowly. When he saw me, his eyes widened and he scrambled up quickly, the blanket dropping away as he got to his feet. “What the hell?! Did that thing fry my brain?” he asked, clearly panicking.

Oops. I quickly ended the invisibility spell, and he looked at me in relief. “Dean?”

“Yeah, sorry. I got a new spell to help hide my identity.” Speaking of hiding… “Umm, the camera is still recording. You might want to put the blanket on.” Even though he was covered in the filth that had been ejected from his body, it didn’t offer much in the way of concealment. The camera had probably already caught a good look earlier when he passed out and dislodged the blanket, but no need to give them a full-frontal.

While he was getting the blanket situated, I ran back to the house and called out for Steve to come and join us. Mum followed him out. Steve picked up his phone and trained the camera on Brad. I wanted to question him immediately, but I clamped down on my enthusiasm. “Cut the video there,” I told Steve. “We’ll get him cleaned up first before we find out about his powers.”

I grabbed the hose and pulled it over, then grinned at Steve. “Who gets the honors?”

Smiling back, he said, “Obviously, me. I’ve known him longer. Plus, he owes me 20 bucks. This seems like a good chance to remind him of it.”

“Hurry up, you sadistic bugger,” Brad urged him. “Get to it. Dean wasn’t kidding about the smell. This stuff reeks!”

I was in such a good mood from gaining the Invisibility spell that I passed the hose over without a complaint. “He’s about to lose the blanket, Mum. Can you go get some towels?”

With a muttered complaint about missing out on all the fun, she went back inside, and Steve turned the hose on Brad. He scrubbed himself down thoroughly, swearing at Steve when he focused the stream of water on his sensitive spots. I grabbed the towels off Mum when she called out from the doorway.

“I’ll leave you boys to it. I didn’t sleep well last night. I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Ok. Good night.” I gave her a hug and she started to close the door.

She suddenly stopped. “Oh, by the way, there are a bunch of boxes in your room. Someone working for that Ms. Anders brought them round for you. I had them leave them in your room.”

“Nice one. Thanks.” That must be the books she’d told me about.

I passed the towels to Brad once he was clean. With all the gunk removed, it was clear his body had gone through the same improvements mine had. His muscles were larger and more defined, and I was pretty sure he was a little taller, too. His hair had also thickened, and his face looked smoother and younger than before. As he put his clothes on, he mentioned how they felt tighter.

“Tell me about it!” I sympathized, pulling at my snug clothes. “It will only get worse as you level up. We really need to find time to hit the shops and buy some new stuff.” Once he was dressed, we went inside and sat around the dining room table. Brad was by himself on one side, while Steve sat beside me and started recording. I ran Brad through how to look at his interface, noticing how zoned out he looked as he presumably pulled it up. Huh. It’s pretty obvious. I should be more careful when I look at mine around other people.

“Now, tell me what you see under the magical affinities section,” I asked eagerly.

Eyes still unfocused, he read from the screen only he could see. “It says my affinities are Air and Fire.” He blinked a couple of times as his gaze returned to me. “Is that good?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think there’s good or bad. Might have been nice to have someone sharing the healing, but, oh well. Now, what spells did you get for them?”

We waited again as he found the information. “The Air one is called Wind Shield. I’m not sure…” He trailed off as his eyes widened. “Huh. This is nice and easy to use,” he said appreciatively. “More information on the spell popped up.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty intuitive. Responds to thought and intent. So, what does the spell do?”

“It will apparently make a 30cm by 30cm area of densely circulating air that I can move around my body. Has to stay within a meter of me. According to this, it will block or slow down an attack considerably.”

“That’s a nice defensive skill,” Cax commented. “With enough practice, he will even be able to use it offensively to create openings for his own attacks.”

I passed on Cax’s words, and then asked about the Fire spell he’d gotten.

He grinned at us. “Fireball!” No explanation was necessary for that spell.

“Mate! Very nice,” Steve said appreciatively from behind the camera. I had to agree. Who hadn’t dreamed about being able to cast fireballs? My light darts were all well and good, but nothing could compare to a fireball.

“Well, we can’t practice that one around here,” I told him. “But have a go at the shield spell.”

“Alright. How do I use it?”

“Just focus. Picture where you want it to appear and then imagine activating the spell.”

We waited while Brad got a look of intense concentration on his face. “Do I look that constipated when I use my magic?” I asked Cax worriedly.

“I am unable to see your face unless you are looking in a mirror, but I imagine so,” Cax replied with clear amusement.

Suddenly, the air over the table distorted as he successfully cast the spell. Light gray wisps of wind were visible as they swirled and intertwined rapidly, held together in the same spot by the magic. I could still see through to the other side, but it was a little hazy.

Steve zoomed in on the wind shield as I leaned forward and extended my fist cautiously towards it. I didn’t feel anything until I was within a couple of centimeters of the swirling barrier and I suddenly felt the wind blowing against my knuckles. I pushed my hand forward up against the wind shield, but I was unable to penetrate it. It wasn’t very thick, but it was strong. I wondered how fast something would have to be traveling to punch its way through. I sat back. “Very nice. Try moving it around.”

We watched on as he moved it above his head and then behind his chair. I took the opportunity to ask Cax a question while Brad worked on his control.

“Both of his spells are for fighting. But my starting spells were all pretty much utility ones. Any particular reason why?”

“Likely your life experiences. He is a warrior, so it stands to reason he was granted spells to reflect that. You, on the other hand, had never been involved in any altercations prior to gaining your powers.”

I thought that over until Brad finished with his experimentation. “With this and a real shield, I could hold off a number of attackers,” he said appreciatively. “Those birds back in the dungeon wouldn’t have stood a chance if I’d had this darting around above us.”

With the magic taken care of, I had him explain the rest of his interface for the benefit of the recording Steve was making. Just like me, he had active and passive abilities, skills, and professions. However, they were all empty apart from Loot and Analyze under his active abilities. The only thing that was different in our interfaces was that he had an Attributes section. He told us that they were all at 10 points.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” I let him know. “But for the sake of the recording, let me tell you what Cax told me. When you level up, that energy will increase all of your attributes by one point. Then you’ll have five more points that you can assign wherever you want. Strength and Agility are exactly what you imagine. Constitution will give you more health, Wisdom will give you more mana, and Intelligence will basically expand your mind. You need to have a certain amount in that attribute to be able to learn new professions and magical affinities.”

“Got it,” he said, nodding. “How do I get some skills and professions?”

I’d discussed this with Cax already. “Cax recommends just doing anything you’re good at. There’s a high chance it will be offered to you as a skill or maybe even a profession. I have access to the ones from his world, but he believes new options might be available on Earth because of our different lifestyles and technology.” I was actually excited to see what kinds of things might be possible. It made me wish I’d learned a trade. As it stood, I didn’t really have any talents or skills that could translate across to a magical equivalent. “Also, it might help open up more class options for later.”

“Ok. I’ll give it some thought and talk to Ms. Anders about getting some equipment. See if I can make something happen. Is there anything else you think I should know?”

“Nope. That should be it for now.”

“Great! I’m starving! Do you mind if I raid your fridge?”

Steve ended the recording as I laughed. “Sorry. I forgot about that. I was really hungry afterwards, too.” I created a meat lover’s pizza on the table in front of him. “Dig in.”

As he got stuck into the food, Brad looked at Steve. “I actually don’t feel tired now. I’ll take the first watch. Get some sleep and I’ll wake you up later.”

Stretching his arms overhead, Steve gave him a nod. “Sounds good. I’ll send the videos off to Ms. Anders and then turn in.”

Steve left the table and Brad turned his gaze my way. “You too, Dean. You’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, so you need to rest up.”

“You’ll be ok alone?”

Brad nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out for any trouble and get some more practice with this interface thing.” He looked down at his chest and at his arms. “And maybe do a quick workout to get a feel for how much my body has improved.” He grinned at me. “Not sure you’ll be able to throw me around so easily now.”

“Wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I told him, smiling back. “Care to give it a go now?”

He laughed. “Not tonight. Like I said, need to find out my limits first. Now go and get some sleep.”

“Alright,” I said, pushing my chair back and standing. “The towels are in the cupboard in the upstairs hallway if you want to take a hot shower and clean up some more.” I left him sitting at the table and got ready for bed. When I went into my bedroom, I saw several boxes stacked against the wall. Opening the top one, I saw books lying within.

I opened all the boxes and pulled the books out one by one to get an idea of what kinds Anita had chosen. Or more likely one of her staff. I was pretty sure she didn’t have enough free time to hit up a bookstore. As I looked through them all, I was impressed by the variety. There were books on medicine, history, politics, chemistry, and so many more. There were even a couple on modern weaponry. “I wish I’d chosen the evolution to let me absorb more than one thing at a time,” I muttered regretfully as I surveyed the huge pile of books.

I looked longingly at my bed, and then sighed. It needed to be done. Picking up the closest book, I activated Absorb. Once it disappeared and its pattern and the knowledge it contained had been deposited into my Knowledge Core, I picked up the next one and activated the ability again. A monotonous twenty minutes later and all the books had been absorbed.

“Thank you!” Cax said earnestly. “I will enjoy looking through all of this. I already had a quick look at the book on firearms, and I believe that your Research ability should be able to come up with a working version based on the information contained within. For best results, you should also see about absorbing an actual firearm.”

I wasn’t sure that would be the best thing to research. It was pretty limited in scope, plus it would tie me down if I had to create hundreds of them all by myself. Hopefully, the team of scientists had come up with better ideas. Still, I would ask the Colonel for a range of weapons that I could absorb just in case. It wouldn’t hurt to have the information on hand.

I turned off the light and got into bed. Like Brad had said, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. I didn’t need as much sleep as I used to, but that didn’t mean I could go without any. The contentment I was feeling from Cax as he went over all the new knowledge I’d just absorbed was very soothing, and I was soon fast asleep.