Tsaimath
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Interlude: Prices of Power
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 17:00:14 +0000 UTC“What do you think about the offer?” Jack asked, looking at his two companions as they were walking away from Jademoon Tower, having just received an offer to have their bodies permanently augmented by the somewhat weird Morgana family who had built said tower.
“It’s tempting, I’ve got to admit it,” Jonas shrugged, “And they are right about the growing difference between what Daniel and Sam can do and what we can accomplish. Before the two of them got the training here, they were somewhat harmless,” he let out a soft chuckle, “Nothing of that left now, they’ve become seriously scary, either of them, each in their own ways.” He paused for a second, waiting to see if either of his companions wanted to interject before continuing.
“But the drawbacks are just as daunting as the benefits; sure, we can’t use magic at the moment, but who says the same remains true in a year? Or, in five years, we’ve barely scratched the surface of the system, so closing a door to gain a momentary advantage sounds a little short-sighted. I just don’t know if we truly need this boost now, though I have a feeling if we don’t take the chance to get it now, we won’t get it at all,” he let out a sigh, making his indecision obvious.
“I believe the problem is that we lack a dedicated instructor,” Murray suggested, his voice stoic as usual, “We are, at the end of the day, muddling our way through the system, only able to use what we know we can use if that makes sense. If we don’t know something is possible, we wouldn’t know to try simply because we still think within the scope of our pre-change bodies, with few exceptions.”
“You mean we wouldn’t dare to try things like that jump-attack I used against the Abomination last month? When I had Daniel send me up in the air so I can strike from above?” Jack suggested, a grin playing on his lips as he remembered the moment and the sheer audacity needed to make that literal leap of faith.
“Indeed, that was one moment in which one of us did something impossible before the change. Otherwise, we generally fight in ways a person could have fought before the change, only that we are stronger and faster in our movements. But our tactics and abilities are confined to things we would usually deem ‘possible’” Murray paused for a moment, looking at one of the trees they were walking beneath. “I wonder…” he muttered before taking a few quick steps towards the tree and pushing off, sending his body in an inhumanly high arc towards the tree before trying to land with his feet on the bark to push off again.
It worked, at least partially, and he managed to get that second push, only to careen out of control, his agility clearly not a match for his imagination. For a moment, Jack and Jonas could only stare in horror as Murray crashed through a few branches on neighbouring trees before landing with a solid thud, his fall only partially broken by his arms.
To their surprise, Murray was back on his feet before they managed to completely shake themself from their stupor, staring at him in disbelief.
“A curious experience,” Murray mused, looking up at the tree he had kicked against and, especially, against the easily visible marks his dirty boots had left on the bark. Marks over two metres up on the trunk, making the height of his leap obvious. And making it obvious that he had casually reached a height nobody would have considered plausible without some serious training, a perfect form and a long run-up. Even with all those, nobody would have considered a jump like the one he just casually did a possibility.
“You see what I mean, do you not?” Murray asked, looking at his two companions, who were still staring at him; maybe because of the jump he performed or because he thought jumping against a tree was a good idea.
“Yeah, I think I do. But I don’t think that getting that enchantment or whatever it is would really help us. If anything, it’ll limit what we can possibly accomplish, even if it allows us to do some things we currently can’t do,” Jonas argued, even as his eyes flickered from the marks high above them and Murray, who was in the process of brushing off some debris and dirt from his landing, which was, if anything, almost as impressive as the jump had been. He had, after all, crashed into the partially frozen ground from a height of some three metres, thanks to the second push-off he had performed, only to stand back up and walk it off as if nothing had happened.
“Well, we’d need somebody to train us, just like Jade trained Daniel and Carnelia trained Sam, don’t we?” Jack suggested after shaking off his stupefaction at Murray’s sudden leap.
“Do you know anybody who could? It would take a legacy with the right skill set, likely a different one for each of us. Or we’d have to muddle through for ourselves, just without the blinders we seem to have put on,” Jonas grumbled, already knowing that there was nobody who could truly help them with their individual skill sets, none of the legacies they had met so far fit the type they needed.
“We should seek out those who had this procedure done already. It most likely will help us come to a decision, though I have an inclination to my decision already,” Murray suggested, his mind already considering what he had thought impossible before and what might now be possible. His capabilities were no longer what he considered human, and that enchantment offered to them would further remove the similarities, making him wonder what could be done. Or what should be done. It was one thing to dream of abilities straight out of movies or comic books; it was an entirely different thing to turn those ideas into functional reality, as his earlier leap had demonstrated.
Out of curiosity, he decided to stomp the earth as hard as he could, just to see if he could produce some small-scale quake, despite his mind insisting it would be impossible. Sadly, the result was quite underwhelming; he merely unbalanced himself due to the force he used to stomp being transmitted into the opposite direction when the ground didn’t move all that much, merely leaving a deep footprint in the frozen ground. Maybe he’d need some magic to accomplish something like that, though it wouldn’t work if he had that procedure done.
“You think? I mean, Carnelia told us that they offered it to a couple of people living in Coldcreek Park or thereabout, right?” Jack asked, knowing full well that the three Morganas had used the procedure on those people, something he had a split opinion on already. On the one hand, offering a chance to a group of people who were only scraping by was a good thing, giving them opportunities they lacked. But it also gave more power to a group that had proven unreliable and prone to causing havoc, meaning if they caused trouble again, the trouble would be a lot more serious.
“Indeed. I would like to see what the people who have received this benefit have done with it and what might be possible if I were to receive it. For that, observing the beneficiaries first-hand would be the most prudent, followed by a conversation with one or more of them,” Murray explained, having mostly made up his mind that he needed more information. He needed to know what might be possible so he could try it out if it was possible for him. This might be his opportunity to get a power for himself, something to make him unique in ways beyond his powerful physique.
Next to him, Jack was similarly trying to make up his mind. He could admit to himself that he was interested in Samantha, interested in seeing if a closer relationship between them was possible. That interest had been a big reason why he pushed to have her in their group, beyond her prodigious mind and fair abilities in combat. But after Samantha gained the teaching and training at Jademoon Tower, he noticed that it was no longer a case of their group accepting Samantha, and Daniel for that matter, but it was a case of Samantha and Daniel remaining with them out of loyalty, making him feel like a charity case, not something he wanted to be for the woman he was interested in.
However, trying to get the power to keep up with Samantha and catch her romantic interest by asking the person who was currently in a strange relationship with Samantha for a favour didn’t sit right with him. He could admit that to himself; it was a bit of a mess, a mess he had no idea how to solve. Other than taking a look at these people, maybe he would have an incredible moment of inspiration, gain enlightenment and ride off with Samantha into the sunset. Incredibly unlikely, but it was not impossible, or at least he hoped it wasn’t.
