“I’ve definitely heard that before” Logan said, “Want to give an explanation?”

“I’d prefer a demonstration,” Skye replied, almost shaking with excitement.

The teen began the fight with a wave of her hand, sending an unseen wave of force towards the leader. Acting on instinct Logan widened his stance and squatted lower to the ground. The attack crashed into him, pushing him hard enough he had to take a step back to keep his balance. Skye let out a bubbly laugh seeing Logan took the attack easily.

“Finally” she cheered “Let me show you what I can do”

In a blur Skye moved, crossing the distance between her and Logan in a blink of an eye. She lashed out with a punch directly in Logan’s face. The leader didn’t move to dodge, instead taking the hit and standing his ground. Skye shook the hand she struck with.

“Damn” She cursed with a grin “What are you made of? Steel?”

“Jade actually” Logan replied with a toothy smile, his skin now had jade scale covering.

The dragonslayer lashed out with a kick to Skye’s side. The teen blocked the blow with her forearms, sliding an inch from the power. Then grabbing onto the leg, Skye spun and flung the man across the field. Logan flew a few yards, landing on his hands and knees. Taking in a deep breath Logan let out a dragon’s roar. Skye jumped out of the spell’s path, gliding into the air as if gravity no longer affected her. She rose twenty feet into the air, on level with the treetops before stopping her ascent. She didn’t fall down immediately, instead she remained in the air.

“You can fly?” Logan asked

Skye just smirked, her only response was a branch breaking off from a nearby tree. The hefty branch flew at Logan and the leader had to dive aside to dodge. Logan didn't have much time to recover before a second branch was flying towards him, the first branch rose for another pass. Logan was soon forced to put all of his focus onto dodging the branches, a third one joining the assault.

“You seem to be struggling” Skye teased

“Just giving you a chance to shine” Logan said, dodging a downward slash from one of the branches. When the dragonslayer stood up again his eyes had unfocused.

“You’re getting serious now?” Skye questioned, her voice high with excitement

“We can’t play around all day,” Logan said.

Jade covered Logan’s hands ending each finger with a curved talon. With a swipe Logan pulverized a branch flying at him, a second branch meeting the same fate. Logan launched forward til he was directly under Skye. The teen looked down at the dragonslayer, puzzled by his movement.

“You’re not actually flying are you?” Logan called up “You’re just falling slowly”

As Logan said Skye was still falling, only an inch every few seconds.

The teen let out a laugh “Compared to my physical strength my telekinesis is much weaker. I can’t hold myself in the air, only slow the fall”

“Can you move yourself then?” Logan asked with a cheshire grin

Before Skye could respond Logan let out another dragon’s roar directly at the teen. Skye frowned at the reveal of her weakness, she didn’t move by herself. The third and only remaining branch came flying into Skye sending her across the field and out of the spell’s path. Skye fell at a normal speed after she was hit, catching herself only a couple feet from the ground. Lowering herself to the ground, the teen tentatively rubbed her stomach where the branch had struck her.

“I think i’m done playing around” Skye said, her eyes unfocusing

“Finally going to show me what a self created ability is?” Logan questioned

“That’s right” the teen rushed at Logan.

The team leader met her charge head on, the two clashing in the center. Logan lashed out with a kick while Skye threw a punch. Logan’s kick nearly landed on Skye’s shoulder but Skye’s fist flew faster. Hitting Logan’s chest the punch knocked the dragonslayer off the ground. Logan put a hand over fis chest where he was hit, already feeling a bruise forming.

“You didn’t hit like that before” he stated

“I was playing before” Skye said

The teen rushed forward again, unleashing a flurry of punches. Logan scrambled to his feet dodging the hits. Going on the defensive, Logan dodged the first few blows before blocking one on his forearm. The softened blow did not have the same force as the previous hit. Suddenly another blow struck Logan’s shoulder, shocking him more than hurting him. Nothing had touched him when he felt the attack. Smirking Skye continued her assault, striking at the dragonslayer with enthusiasm. Logan continued to dodge more blows, any time he had to block a punch a second attack would follow, always as strong as the hit blocked.

“What is this?” Logan growled, swiping at the teen to get her to back off.

“My self created ability” Skye answered “Phantom Force”

“You named it?” Logan asked

“My dad did” Skye admitted “It was my own invention but he decided the name. Said it reminded him of facing a spirit, never knowing where the next blow will be”

“You’re hitting me twice” Logan noted “the second hit with telekinetic force, still with the same power as the first one”

“That’s right” Skye said “Are you familiar with Newton’s Third Law of Motion?”

“Science wasn’t a good class for me” Logan said sourly

“Basically it says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” Skye explained “When i punch you, i am hit with the same amount of force in return. With my father’s training I’ve learned to feel the force that comes from my hits and release a telekinetic attack with the same amount of force”

“Why not only attack with telekinesis?” Logan questioned

“Like I said my physical strength is greater than my telekinesis” Skye explained “Only when I condense the attack to the size of my fist can I match the same output”

“Are you still getting hurt from your blows” Logan asked

“The physical ones, yes” Skye answered, holding her hand up to show bruising.

Clapping halted the conversation, turning the duo saw Lance advancing from the trees. Matt, Eve, and Louie followed behind him.

“That was a fun match to watch” Lance said, his eyes shining with excitement

“We’re not done” Logan said

“I think we’ve seen enough” Lance said “We are on a schedule, haven’t you learned enough yet”

“He hasn’t even gone into the second stage yet” Skye complained

“You two can continue this another day” Lance said “For now can you tell me what makes a self created ability”

“It's just like it sounds,” Skye explained. “Abilities gained through practice and experimentation of one's powers. Creating your own spells or channeling energy into unique forms would be counted as self created abilities”

“Do these have any real significance in this realm?” Lance asked “You say it as if there is more importance to them”

“They’re the secret to beating God” Skye revealed “God does not include self created abilities in team ratings. The movie difficulty won’t reflect the true power a person possess”

“God only counts what we exchange directly?” Lance questioned

“There are other factors but for power yes” Skye answered “self created abilities are the best way to get an edge on movies”

“Have you heard of this before?” Lance turned on Logan

“In the battle against team Australia” Logan said “one of the veterans mentioned facing someone with a self created ability but he didn’t go into any details about it. Forgot about it till now”

“This is exactly what we were looking for” Lance exclaimed “We need to start working with everyone to get a self created ability”

“How can we make one?” Matt spoke up, he was holding his spellbook open in front of him

“Practice and experimentation” Skye answered “Discover the limits of your power and then find a way to pass them. Fully understanding one’s power is vital, its unlikely anyone who hasn’t unlocked their genetic constraint could create a true self created ability”

“The genetic constraint” Lance said thoughtfully “Everything relies on the genetic constraint in this realm. Would you work with some of our unlocked members to create their abilities?”

“I’ll be more than happy to train and experiment with them” Skye agreed “however it's up to them to actually work out what they can or can’t do for a self created ability”

“You’ll be with Josh the rest of the day” Lance said “Work with him on what he needs to do to make a self created ability. Also see if you can work out any new techniques”

“I’m confused there” Louie announced “What's the difference between a technique and these self created abilities?”

“Techniques are refined methods of utilizing a person’s powers” Skye explained “A self created ability pushes your powers beyond what they normally could do”

“Could Logan and Matt’s spells be considered techniques?” Lance questioned

“Pretty much” Skye nodded “Using my telekinesis to speed up my hits can also be considered a technique. Since it is still within the normal limits of my power. My phantom force however allows me to go beyond my usual strength by concentrating my attacks into fist size blows”

“So I could learn a technique?” Louie asked “even if i’m not unlocked and when I have some kind of power”

“Absolutely” Skye said cheerfully “I’d be happy to help when we get back to the lobby”

“We all should work on new techniques” Lance said, giving a meaningful look to Eve

“I suppose we can plan this out later” Logan declared “For now let’s split up and get to work on the movie”

“Eve and I will drop Skye off then head over to the library” Lance said

“Matt, come with Louie and me back to the hotel” Logan said to the mammodo.

“I’ll contact Elijah when we find anything” Lance said aloud “He’ll contact everyone with any information”