Chapter 45: Hammers
Jack, having learned dutifully from his shifu, ordered his food via his Mem-interface on the way to the mess, approving tracking since he didn’t know where he’d sit. He had a craving for typical comfort food so he ordered two ‘Meat Medley Ma...
2025-05-19 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 44: Dates With Destiny
Jack pushed himself up out of the dirt with a grunt and dusted himself off. He moved his head side to side, popping his neck. He felt sore. The sort of fatigue he’d accrued would take a while to clear, though it was nothing compared to the l...
2025-05-17 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43: Meeting The Charge
“It’s not a horde, Jack,” Lindsay’s voice chimed in his head. “Five is not even close to a horde.”
“Not now, Lindsay!” was Jack’s reply.
Jack su...
2025-05-15 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 42: The Next Assessment
The next morning, Jack awoke once more to crud on his skin, though it seemed to be thinning out and had more of an oily consistency to it. He felt stronger and ready to go. Moreover, System-type messages were waiting for him.
... 2025-05-13 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 41: Priesthood
Highfive finally dropped his energy sheath while still wearing a big grin. “Not too often I get to impress someone of adult age with that. The kiddo cadets love it.”
“I bet,” Jack replied. “Your handle certainly works perfectly for you...
2025-05-11 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 40: Playing the Game
Jack returned the big man’s handshake, and under the power of his endless, flagrant cheer, Jack couldn’t help but smile back, even as he shook his head. “Highfive, huh? Why does that seem so appropriate?”
Highfive shrugged i...
2025-05-09 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 39: How About a High Five?
“Break!” came Lindsay’s voice as Jack remained firmly ‘in the zone.’
He’d been working with steel balls by then, fusing them together, pulling them apart, smushing them into a disk. He’d ended up on a solid cube. He wan...
2025-05-07 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Mini’s suggestion, Jack considered it on the way back to his apartment. Ultimately, he might as well try the Memorial Daughter route, as he’d yet to make use of one for anything. Unlike other Nons, he hadn’t grown through adole...
2025-05-05 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 37: So Very Special
Memoria turned to look at Lindsay and her head cocked sideways as a fond smile broke out. “Oh, tsk tsk…” she murmured, then slowly strode over and touched the top of Lindsay’s head while standing next to her. “Don’t po...
2025-05-03 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 36: Razorena Tango
As soon as it appeared, the demon dog bounded forward, letting out an angry snarl as if offended at seeing a human standing around uneaten.
Jack hurled a spike directly at one of its eyes with his power’s full strength, aiming for a debili...
2025-05-01 15:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 35: First Tests
Jack’s training with rolling balls around, flinging metal pieces, and other such movements, was a practice he feathered in with the basal cloud work. He first became quite accurate at flinging objects into targets provided by Lindsay, includ...
2025-04-29 15:00:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 34: Racing to Gains
“Anyway,” Jack continued, clearing his throat, “I’m here because I belong here.” He tapped his patch on the right shoulder. “I’m sure you understand what me wearing this uniform and symbol means.” When he glanced at hers, i...
2025-04-27 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 33: Delight, Now on Clearance
Jack woke up the next day feeling stronger yet. He was also coated in the nasty gunk again, needing a sprint to the shower and a change of bed sheets. Unsurprisingly, multiple sets were ready for use in the closet.
He could even s...
2025-04-25 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 32: Better Than Before
Lindsay/Jill called for the end of simulation training in the Demonstration Center, and they returned to the real world for more tangible practice. It left Jack burningly eager to get to the stage where he could do the things s...
2025-04-23 15:00:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 31: Feel the Burn
Délight's hand was waiting. Jack blinked once before he hastily maneuvered himself and his tray so he could take the girl’s hand. The long way she’d said her name was some crossroads between ‘delight’ and ‘daylight,’ albeit in a...
2025-04-21 15:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 30: Masks
Back in the fire. Acceleration. Faster!
From above, the deafening sound of 30mm autocannon fire rocked Jack to the bone. The tender backdrop jingle of shells cascading down on metal framing was a relief in contrast, like a reminder of...
2025-04-20 15:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 29: Communication Gods
The rest of Jack’s night went by rather uneventfully, which was more than welcome from his perspective. Lindsay couldn’t make it for dinner, so Jack arranged as she requested, and the steak was sent to her. In return, Lindsay arrang...
2025-04-19 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28: An Expected Unlocking
Jack learned quite a bit — in a conceptual sense — working with Lindsay/Jill on his powers in her conjured mutual ‘mind space.’ He obtained numerous examples and templates of how his powers would function and operate when ful...
2025-04-17 15:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27: Hopeless Plus
Jack flipped through more channels and stopped on the Drone Wars Network, where it was showing daily highlights. Almost instinctively, it made him reach for his phone to go check his personal ranking, whereupon he remembered he didn’t have...
2025-04-16 15:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 26: Delving Into the Stats
Jack was instructed to take it easy for the next four hours or so until the run, and to ‘absolutely not’ use his powers. He was to rest, eat as much as he could stuff his face with, and finish any familiarization not finis...
2025-04-15 15:00:38 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25: Archon Metaphysics for Dummies
When Jack checked his output level, it was 27%. He bridged more through himself, affecting a slightly more facilitating resonance. The cloud became strewn with patterns of gossamer as it thickened. It warbled as he worked, f...
2025-04-13 23:00:37 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 24: Working With One's Lot
Jack exhausted himself pushing, pulling, and finally, oh-so-subtly rolling metal balls around, which could be done in a surprisingly number of ways with his power. There was a brush across the top, there was twisting and tu...
2025-04-12 21:03:49 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 23: The Metal Must Flow
The official name of the place Lindsay took him was the ‘Power Park,’ but the more derogatory term, according to her, was the ‘Padded Room.’ Questions were countered with ‘You’ll see.’ Jack wasn’t at all sure what to ex...
2025-04-11 15:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 22: Yes, Me — Er... Allegedly
As the ice lady’s friends turned their heads away and giggled, her own expression was one of apologetically controlling her humor. “Yes, sir, you are. Red-handed. But that’s alright! You aren’t the first newbie caught i...
2025-04-09 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21: Wear It With Pride, Soldier
Jack woke with a start, gasping, sweating, shooting up onto a bed tossed entirely into chaos. Light was filtering from transparent windows, declaring the chunk of daytime he’d slept through. The vivid dream — the nightmare — the...
2025-04-07 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 20: Yet the Old Haunts Rise
As Jack sat, Augur hopped up cross-legged on the couch angled to face toward him. Hands folding into his lap, the little imp seemed to take his measure before speaking. “I know the oddity of your advanced age and the reasons can’t be ...
2025-04-07 03:22:57 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 19: A Brand New Order
After they got moving again, Jack asked, “Is she still alive? Whirler. Whoever she was in real life.”
“Yep! Just super old. Totally retired. I think she’s a big gardener. Doesn’t involve herself anymore.”
“I like that ...
2025-04-05 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostIn addition to mention on Royal Road, this will be here on Patreon to enshrine for posterity.
Special thanks to the following Agentus super backer for their leadership and exemplary vanguar...
2025-04-03 18:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 18: Train to the Station
Jack sighed. “How slow exactly do we age?”
Lindsay shrugged with one hand. “It’s mild at first and gradually tightens up. By age sixteen and seventeen, it's a year behind and three years at twenty-one. From there, it’s someth...
2025-04-03 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAs Lindsay did something or other on her tablet, Jack took a little mental retreat inward to check out his class and any pertinent information. The first thing he saw was a kind of ‘stat line.’
S... 2025-03-31 02:08:07 +0000 UTC View Post