Chapter 17: Chapter 16 - Lucas

As we arrived at the first location, I decided to turn us both invisible, with a little variation. I left the connection between us open so she could see and hear me, just like I could see and hear her with my divine sight. We were still completely invisible and inaudible to anyone else, but this way we could still discuss the candidate without being overheard.

The first candidate was located in Australia. His name was Lucas Bromhole. Lucas was a carpenter by trade but had grown up doing acrobatics. His mother owned a gymnastics studio, and Lucas had spent most of his childhood playing around in the gym.

Sim had added him to the candidate list because of a heroic act he performed. He saved a couple that was taking photos too close to a river in northern Australia. He could see the danger from the bridge and made a run straight for the couple when he noticed the 15 ft crocodile slowly making its way over towards their side of the river. The couple had music playing so loud that they couldn’t hear his screams. Just as he reached the couple, the crocodile sprang from the water. Lucas had taken his shirt off while running with a plan in mind. He knew that the ability to open its mouth was far weaker than when biting, so he was hoping for an opportunity to tie it shut.

As he got closer and saw it preparing to strike, he dove. He managed to front handspring off the snout. While his hands were gripping, preparing to push off, he was able to wrap his shirt in a sloppy half knot. Just enough that the crocodile would have to roll to get it undone so it could open its mouth to strike. He quickly grabbed both people by the shirts and pushed them up the embankment. During its thrashing, the crocodile happened to knock over the speaker and then sank back into the river.

The event that followed was the reason Lucas was finalized as a candidate. We weren’t just looking for heroes. People do heroic things every day. We were looking for those who also knew how to handle people who were ungrateful and spiteful without becoming so themselves. The new world was going to be unlike anything anyone had ever imagined, and strength plus tact would be needed to navigate the upper echelons of power.

As the couple thanked him, the photographer scolded him for making the crocodile destroy his speaker. Lucas was not only able to talk him down, but he also put him into the right mindset. He was aggressive but calm and used logic and reason more than emotions. He made sure the photographer knew he would have been partially responsible for any injuries because he chose the location and was the one able to see the river but did nothing.

After I heard the story and Sim sent me an image of the entire ordeal, I agreed to go speak with Lucas.

As we appeared on the street where Lucas was walking, Peaches immediately wanted to go see what all the new smells were. I told her to wait just a minute. I wanted her to tell me her first impression of Lucas.

Even though we were still invisible with no way for him to sense us, as soon as we arrived he stopped. He turned and looked in our location, stared for a second, shook his head, and then continued walking. I didn’t know if he somehow detected us or possibly the teleportation, but I was going to find out. It shouldn’t be possible.

“Peaches, get closer and see if you notice anything about him.”

“Yes Sir!” she replied in her best military voice.

“We’re not on a mission, you crazy beast.”

“You're right, Sir. Sorry, Sir,” she said as she crouched and did her impression of an army crawl. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sim, why did he stop and look directly at us? Did he see us?”

“I believe he detected the alterations of air pressure and energy expenditure when your teleportation completed. That type of situational awareness is another reason I chose him as a candidate. He has no quantifiable skill or ability, it’s just an extremely high perception stat that he has honed to notice things everyone else misses.”

Peaches spent approximately 10 seconds just sniffing him and jumping around him. She ran back and continued jumping around.

“He smells good. Not like a good smell because I think he needs a bath. Maybe he stepped in some poo. Oh no, maybe that stupid bird pooped on him. I bet if we started looking…”

“The bird isn’t here, Peaches. Just explain what you mean.” I shook my head in annoyance as she explained. “We’re gonna have to find that stupid bird soon or I’m never gonna hear the end of it,” I told Sim.

“You know how I either like people or don't right away? It’s because of a good or bad smell. Good people smell like I wanna lick 'em. Even though I wanna lick 'em, you keep telling me no. Why can’t I lick 'em? They smell good. I should be able to lick 'em. Daddy, can I start…”

“PEACHES!”

“Okay, okay, geez. I just like lickin good smells. Bad-smelling people make me wanna bite 'em. Just like that stupid bir…”

“STOP! I get it. The bird smells bad. Okay... Just go! You can explore now.”

“Yay,” she said as she trotted off.

I teleported about a block in front of Lucas and canceled the invisibility skill on myself. I left Peaches invisible. I had no idea what kind of trouble she would cause if people saw a Rottweiler with wings and three tails.

As I walked out, Lucas stopped. He just stared at me for a second before he started talking.

“Crikey, was that you lot back there? Fair dinkum, felt a right odd shift just before ya showed up.”

“Very perceptive,” I said. “My name is Mike. Do you have a second? I have a few questions and a proposition for ya.”

“Yeah,” he responded. “Things are crook as a kookaburra's laugh around here lately. Weird stuff keeps happenin' and frankly, I want no part of it. Don't reckon I signed up for whatever shenanigans are brewin’.”

“What do you mean by weird?”

“After I chucked a snag to that couple down by the river, I can't shake this feeling like I'm being watched. Reckon I spotted a pair of eyeballs glinting from the scrub a couple of times, flat out went to investigate and bugger me if there wasn't nothin' there! Fair dinkum, it's giving me the heeby-jeebies.”

“Eyes? Okay, now I’m intrigued,” I told him. “I’m gonna tell you something, and you're probably gonna freak out a little bit, but just hear me out and I’ll see what I can do about your mysterious eyes problem.”

Lucas squinted and considered for a second before responding. “What'cha on about?”

“Okay, so you know the message everyone got a while back? Well, I’m the admin. And I’m—”

Lucas cut me off. “Rack off! You reckon I'm a galah? The bloody admin's a bot, didn't you hear it on the telly? Some fancy computer thingy.”

“You’re partially right. Sim is the computer, well, the system. I’m the admin helping develop everything so it fits our world better. I bonded with Sim so the system wouldn’t just be all logic and no feelings. It was determined that a logic-only system would cause a huge problem worldwide, so a human element had to be added. That’s where I came in.”

“Fair dinkum, I'm not that stupid!” Lucas said, cutting me off again.

“Alright, that’s enough,” I told him. “You're the first one I’m trying to make a proposal to, and you're making it pretty difficult, pal.”

At this point, I decided just to prove it. I floated into the air and channeled a little mana into my palm. I let it grow to the size of a baseball. As I held it there, morphing between different geometric shapes, I thought I needed to look even more powerful. I was trying to impress him so I figured I might as well give him a show. I then doubled it and doubled it again. I then had each one turn into a different element and circle around me. Some pebbles, water, fire, and an air shield in a sphere around me. My goal was to look like Aang when he was in the avatar state. I had all my veins glow blue with mana as well as my eyes. That was always my favorite look for someone with powers.

Lucas’s eyes were like saucers. To his credit, he wasn’t shaking and didn’t turn to run. I was pretty impressed with that. He just stared in amazement. As I spoke, I made my voice have an echo in almost a godly tone variation. It sounded like three people were talking all at once.

“I am the admin. I don’t like to show my power unless necessary. I have a proposal for you. Are you willing to listen?”

At this point, Lucas couldn’t speak. He just nodded and stood there with his mouth wide open.

I figured that was enough and stopped everything all at once and teleported about four feet behind him back on the ground. As he turned around, his face still showing the signs of shock, I made my proposal.

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, here’s what I’m offering. I am looking for a few people to grant extraordinary power to. This won’t happen until the system comes online, but there will be a need for a select few to advance faster than others. Actually, I can bump you up some now so you can get a head start, but nothing like what you’ll experience once we initialize integration.

Lucas was still just standing there with his mouth wide open. “ Hey Sim, Did I break him?” I said aloud.

He shook his head and closed his mouth. “ I'm good” he finally said, so I continued.

There is an element called mana. It alters the very fabric of the universe. It has the capability to do unimaginable things and is going to cause issues after the system integrates everyone. It’s unpredictable in some cases and will alter things that we can’t control. There will be monsters and evil created that humanity will need help with.

I’m not asking you to just become a hero. You can still choose who you want to be and what skills you want to pursue. I’m just asking you, should the need arise, use the extra power granted to you by the system to save as many people as possible. There may come a time when we will be protecting ourselves from another universe’s inhabitants. At that point, whether you accept this power or not, everyone will either have to fight or die.”

As he stood there not saying anything, I honestly thought I broke him this time.

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“Sim, what happened? Did he have a meltdown or something?”

Before Sim could respond, Lucas did.

“Hold yer horses a sec. Let a bloke get his head around this. You're the big cheese runnin' this whole system, got bonkers powers like somethin' out of a comic book, and reckon you'll chuck me some fancy abilities the rest of the normie schmucks won't get?"

“Hey, you got what I was trying to do? That’s awesome.”

He smiled. “Top-notch cartoon, the Avatar. Bloody love it!”

“Yes, I’ll grant you extra powers, but I need you to be willing to help out when needed,” I said. “I have a lot more than just avatar powers, though. Those will be pretty common for people that learn to advance in elemental aspects. If someone chooses to become an elemental race and follows the right path, they could get close to the same powers I just showed you in about 20-30 years. My powers are more along the lines of ‘I'm making the moon habitable and building a teleportation system to get up there.’”

I smiled after I said the last part and watched as his eyes went big again. “Yep, after system integration there will be cities on the moon.”

He sat there considering everything for a few seconds. As he started to talk, I could see his head moving side to side the slightest little bit.

“So, chuck a sick barbie and crack a coldie is all I gotta do until it's time to lend a hand? No worries about turning into some sort of glorified hall monitor or some outback sheriff down the track?"

“Not if you don’t want to,” I said. “We need you to come to a facility about a month before integration to prepare your pod for the power boost, but that’s still years out.

Here, I’m gonna give you a little taste of the power you’ll be getting. You’re gonna feel a little weird at first. Just practice with everything and get as comfortable as you can.”

I had Sim add the basic mana channels and increased every one of his adjustable stats up by 10 points. This doubled and almost tripled some. He was now faster, stronger, and smarter than any human in history. Surprisingly, his perception stat was already at 20, so he got a good bump. It was already way above what I thought was possible, so I got excited. We decided not to grant any particular skills or spells ahead of time for the heroes, but that may change.

“I’m gonna introduce you to someone. I don’t want you to freak out. She was my pet Rottweiler, but she gained a few abilities and altered her appearance a little bit. Her name is Peaches. I call her Wiggs or Wiggle butt most of the time. Her intellect is way above a normal pet, but she’s still learning.”

“Peaches,” I called out.

After a few seconds, I got a mental reply. “Daddy, there’s a whole bunch of weird animals over here. I can’t come yet. It looks like there’s some more bubbly water like what Sim had me put in my belly.”

“Sim,” I said out loud. “Peaches said she found some more bubbly water and there’s a bunch of weird animals around it.”

Sim spent a second before responding. “I have found her location and I seem to have developed a blind spot indicating mana has altered something in the area resulting in an unknown variable.”

“Wait, so there may be other spots like this around the world? I thought you were monitoring stuff like that.”

“I am tracking all the mana that made it past the shield, but when it alters something in an unforeseen way, it creates a blind spot and does not register as an issue. Now that I have been made aware of this, I will be able to look for other points of alterations in wildlife.”

“Okay, Lucas, I’m going to make you invisible. You’ll still be able to see and hear me, but nothing else will perceive us. I’m then going to teleport us both to where Peaches is. She has found something weird. Can you handle that?” I asked.

Lucas stared at me for a second before responding. “Well, you just turned yourself into a freakin' Avatar, cobber! What's a bit of invisibility and chuckin' yourself across the joint like a budgie on speed?"

“Sweet… This might have something to do with the weird feeling you said you’ve been having. Let's go check it out,” I said.

After I turned us both invisible, we teleported right next to where Peaches was hovering. She had stopped herself about 50 feet above the river that Lucas had saved the couple from the crocodile. Lucas seemed shocked that we were just hovering in the air. I love the shocked look everyone gets when they see magic for the first time.

On the side of the river was a line of animals. Everything from wallabies to lizards was just standing there. There were about 10 species of birds, 15 types of varmints, some larger species of cats, and a ton of lizard variations.

“Sim,” I asked, “why are they all just standing there?”

Sim spoke out loud to all three of us. “Their mental faculties are being blocked. It appears that they are being controlled by something.”

I looked over to Lucas and saw him staring at Peaches instead of the line of animals on the bank.

“Hey… I know she’s a beast, but I told you what to expect with her. You can ogle her after we figure this out.”

He shook his head and looked down at the animals. “Usually those sorts of animals would be buggering off from each other, not gettin' all kumbaya. What in the billy blazes is goin' on here?"

The next thing we knew, a gigantic crocodile appeared about 300 feet up the river. Right where the bubbles were coming up through the water. It made its way to the bank and started eating the animals one by one. I activated my analysis skill to see what we were dealing with.

(Boss Croc)

* Species: Enhance freshwater Crocodile

* Age: 15

* Level: 5

* HP: 231

* MP: 151 of 469

* Stamina 188 of 191

* Morality: 1

*Individual attributes list available

Abilities: Telepathy, Iron bite, Enhanced Learning, Displacement Swimming, Water breathing, Steel stomach

Skills:

* Mind Intrusion (Level 2 - Tier 1)

* Astral Projection (Level 3 - Tier 1)

* Consume (Level 1 - Tier 1)

Spells:

* N/A

Bondable: No

Description: This freshwater crocodile has been genetically enhanced due to mana exposure. Its brain chemistry has been altered to allow for increased mental capabilities. While it has the capacity for higher learning, it still has a singular purpose. Consume.

I shared the description with both Lucas and Peaches.

“Well, it looks like we’re gonna have to start dealing with mana alterations a lot sooner than we thought.” I told everyone. “This thing will just keep consuming and growing stronger, so we should put it down now. It’s got an astral projection skill, so it may have been what was watching you through the bushes, Lucas. You think it’s the same croc you stopped from eating those people?”

"Nah, buggered if I know, mate. This one's a fair whack bigger than the last one I clocked. Maybe it's growin' like a giant yabby, who knows?" he replied.

“Hey Sim?”

“Yes, Mike. Peaches will be able to handle this without any issue. She could stand there not moving, and she would not lose a single health point. I’m afraid it is currently out of Lucas’s capabilities.”

“Okay, first, stop reading my mind for everything. Let me finish my sentences when I’m talking, Sim. It’s very annoying. Lucas, this is part of what you’ll be needed for once the system starts, well, maybe beforehand too. We might have to let some of the heroes start leveling if there’s stuff like this already. Creatures like this are far too advanced for the standard populace to deal with. Right now, this is quite a bit too powerful for you, even after the increases I just gave you.”

“Peaches?”

“Oh, oh, can I go play, Daddy? I could beat up that dumb ol' croc. Maybe he’s friends with the bird. I hate that bird. I bet if we looked…”

“PEACHES!”

“Okay, sorry. Bird later, not now. I’ll get the croc now, daddy.”

As Peaches was about to teleport down to the croc, we each started to feel a weird sensation..

“I know you are there, Lucas,” a voice sounded in everyone’s mind. “I don’t know how you are hiding from my other senses, but your mind is weak. You stopped me once, but never again. I was just beginning to feel my power and… The hunger.” The Croc paused for just a moment. “I was weak then, but not anymore. I shall consume everything, and nothing you can...”

Peaches twitched just a bit, and her voice was all that could be heard afterward.

“You mean old croc.” Peaches interrupted. “Lucas smells good, and you stink like poo. You need some manners. You can’t just eat everything. You only eat what you have to. My daddy taught me that. You’re bad! Daddy, can I beat it up now?” She asked as she looked at me with an almost excited yet irritated look.

“Sure, go save the animals,” I told her.

“Yay!” Was all I heard before she disappeared.

The next thing I knew, Peaches had teleported herself directly in front of the croc. She had extended her tails and wrapped them around its neck. As she picked it up, it tried thrashing around, but there was no comparison in strength. Peaches was leagues above this creature. After less than a second, you could feel a little mental blast. All the animals that had not been consumed looked around and bolted as fast as they could. Peaches had released them from the mental hold the croc had on them.

As Peaches went to lift it higher, she started to grow. She just kept getting bigger and bigger until she was about 40 feet tall. As she tilted forward, I quickly activated divine sight before she could do whatever she was about to do. I wanted to see exactly what had happened to the croc from mana exposure. I could see small pathways running through the entire croc’s torso and up to his head, but nothing through the limbs or tail. It looked like a very rudimentary pathway. Only capable of a small amount of mana channeling. It did not have any type of core forming either.

While watching through my sight, I noticed Peaches' core start to glow. Her pathways were an intricate design that pushed and pulled mana through...

“Wait a minute. She developed a core? Not just pathways with meridian points but a spinning orb with spots that looked like they had yet to activate. Hey Sim, when did she develop a core?”

“I believe the foundation has been there since pathway activation, but it is strictly an origin core. There is no bloodline active and no other forms of mana,” Sim replied.

“What about the points that look like they haven’t activated yet?”

“Unknown,” Sim said. “If she is forming other mana types or her core is preparing for bloodline activation, I do not currently have enough information to understand what results may be achieved. Her design is unlike Alec’s or Cookie’s.”

“Do you think it has something to do with our bond? Because of my alterations and my bloodline, could something be leaking into her?”

“It is possible. Once again, without further information, I cannot predict with any certainty what her core will ultimately become.”

“Okay, watch it for me. I want to know the instant anything changes,” I told her.

“Understood.”

As I finished speaking with Sim, Peaches spoke out loud. “Daddy, I’m gonna eat it now, is that okay?”

“It doesn’t look very tasty, but go ahead if you want.”

“Not with my mouth, silly. I can just suck it into my belly. I really want the bubbles he took from the water. So I’m gonna eat 'em. The bubbles made me feel really good last time. Even though I slept for like 500 years afterward, I got really strong when I woke up.”

“Alright, go ahead,” I told her.

“I thought you said she understood the concept of time, Sim?”

“I may have overestimated her capabilities in that regard.”

“Yeah, ya think?” I said, shaking my head

My divine sight held me captive as I watched Peaches' stomach begin to glow. The light from the croc's channels seemed to leach out, transferring itself into her. It coalesced, forming a ball before erupting in a miniature explosion through her network of channels. The network itself flared momentarily, then subsided to its normal brightness.

Deactivating my sight, I saw the remains of the croc. It was weathered and desiccated, like something left to molder in the desert sun. Peaches had devoured every last drop of its mana.

No sooner had the creature withered into a dried-out husk than she darted to the riverbed where it had first appeared. Activating her skill once more, she absorbed all the mana, causing the bubbly stream to fizzle and channel its way into her core. The next moment, Peaches was a colossal form in excess of 50 feet tall, bounding across the beach. Each step shook with the force of an earthquake. With a flick of my will, I shrunk her back to puppy size. As I did, she whipped her head around and spoke...

“Uh oh, Daddy, I don’t feel...” In a split second, I teleported to her and bent down to catch her just as she fell over.

“Sim?”

“This mana pool wasn't as vast as the first, but it was still enough to trigger another evolution. Given her increased power and this being an advanced evolution, we are in uncharted territory. The wake-up time remains uncertain.”

“So is this going to happen every time she consumes mana like this?” I asked.

“No, as she advances, her ability to process mana will allow her to choose when to evolve to the next phase,” Sim replied.

“Okay, well, if there are more powerful monsters and she has this happen before it’s safe, immediately teleport her back to the house,” I told Sim.

“Yes, Mike.”

Lucas was still floating above, watching all of this unfold. I’m not sure if he couldn’t speak or if he just chose not to throughout the entire event, but I kinda liked that about him. I didn’t have to deal with any questions and freakouts.

I teleported him down next to me and asked, “So now that you’ve seen a little taste of the world to come, what do you think?”

He just stood there for a few seconds before responding. “Not a big fan of a grumpy snappy fella yackin' in me head – especially one that'd likely be wearin' me guts as a cravat if you lot weren't around. But bugger it, if I can get powers like Peaches, then count me in! Don't wanna be a galah sittin' duck when somethin' like that tries to nick me after we get shoved into this whole system malarkey, ya dig? If it means gettin' a bit more muscle, then I'm all for it!”

“Sweet!” I replied. “We’re gonna get you started right away because who knows what else is out there getting stronger right now.”