Chapter 35: BII: Chapter Seven

"That's fucking disgusting. Why would you show me this?" Roman nearly gagged while he stared around the room with a pair of sunglasses Eli had enchanted with Body of Light. He didn't want to blind his friend even while he revealed the unsanitary horrors of their counterparts' dorm room.

"Because it's gross! I had to see it, so now you do too." Eli crossed his blacklight radiant arms over his chest while he watched Roman lift the toilet seat lid, then snap it down with a shudder.

"We're cleaning."

"What?"

"We're cleaning. This is foul. We can't ignore it." Roman pulled open the cabinet under the sink, then sighed. "They don't have any cleaning supplies? What the fuck."

"I don't have anything in my spatial bubbles either." Eli shrugged after a quick scour of his voidspace. It felt bizarre to have Enchanter's Dominion and Voidspace Mastery equipped at the same time. They didn't clash as much, but his zone extended into the void where all of his belongings were stored. While he couldn't enchant anything to have voidspace properties yet, he could definitely feel how they played well together. At the moment, they didn't feel like they'd merge well together, but maybe that would change.

"Let's go shopping then." Roman stood up with a wave at Eli's radiant lightshow. He turned back to flesh and blood while he started practicing with his powers using voidspace again. He wanted to grind Lumencloud Fortification, Hyper-Regeneration, and Enchanter's Dominion to max level sooner rather than later. It was too bad having Voidspace Mastery unequipped for too long left him anxious.

"You have money?" Eli asked once he caught back up with the conversation. He followed Roman back into the main dorm room where he went over to his bedside table where he pulled out a wallet full of plastic cards and a fair amount of cash.

"Yeah. I feel bad spending it, though." He combed his hair down with hands despite how it was perfectly fine. "I was thinking about selling some of the powers I got from the dungeon though."

"Don't want to keep any of them or make something cool?"

"I'm not going to get sidetracked with my build." Roman frowned at him while he checked himself over to make sure he had everything before nodding at the door. "I really need to catch up and trying to make random powers work isn't worth it. Unless if I figure out something really good."

"I don't know, it's always worked well for me." Eli shrugged while his phone dinged inside of his spatial bubble lodged halfway into his voidspace. He hid a small smile at the text notification from Hazel asking how practice went. Eli typed out a quick response without even having to pull his phone out. Was that how Dad felt with his Technopathy?

Guilt tore at his heart along with gratitude at the thought of his parents and how they had sold a power each for him. Not only that, but what had happened to them after Sandra trapped them here?

"You okay?" Roman asked as they bounded down the stairs.

"Fine. Just thinking about my family back home."

"Oh." Roman's jovial expression darkened instantly. Neither of them said anything as they rushed down the rest of the stairs to the exit.

Balmy wind tousled their hair the moment they stepped outside. Fluffy white clouds crept through the sky at a sedate pace over the towering stately dorms and other buildings everywhere on campus. Eli breathed in deep as Lumencloud Fortification kindled to new life as he assimilated the new air into his body.

"Do you have any idea how we'll get back?" Roman shot a forlorn glance his way while he typed in directions into the GPS on his phone.

"I..." He stopped. How would Roman react if he knew Eli had thrown his powers together willy-nilly for the best growth and potential over getting them home? "I managed to max out Spatial Dominion, but it didn't seem like it'd turn into anything useful, so I merged it with another power. But Voidspace Mastery is one level away from maxing out!"

"What other power did you merge it with?"

"Um, Imbue?" Eli smiled sheepishly while Roman shook his head and muttered under his breath darkly. With the rush of outside air and the constant breeze, Eli had no trouble hearing the impressive string of rambling swears.

"So, how does that work?" Roman asked bitterly, even though he was clearly interested.

"Okay! So, it merged into Enchanter's Dominion and it lets me enchant anything within my spatial zone!" Eli beamed while he teleported the calculator he enchanted into his hoodie pocket so he could pull it out to hand over to Roman.

"This is decent enchanting, actually." Roman said after a few moments, while he turned it over in his hands and studied it with his own powers. Roman continued to examine it while he and his GPS led them down a series of streets towards a subway station's stairs. "You overdid several spots that'll warp the material so it won't last long, but it's a longshot from what you could do with Imbue just a couple of days ago."

"Right?" Eli took it back and, after some sleight of hand, vanished it into his voidspace while they waited in line to go through the terminals with an open handprint available. As they scooted closer, Eli felt the series of unfamiliar enchantments flushed throughout.

"So, it does nothing for our actual issues?" Roman asked with a pointed stare.

"Not right now, but it's only evo-0. Besides, I only need one more level to max out the other one!" Eli protested with a dismissive wave of his hand. He responded to another text Hazel sent of a picture of her city and region model she'd created out of some regular soil. She was apparently upset that she couldn't use Geomantic Clay, which would've let her mold it far easier with her powers.

"You kids have a final project that you need a power for?" asked the balding man in front of them in a striped suit. Prismatic light glittered in his eyes.

"What? Oh, no, it's more of a personal project." Roman smiled weakly while the man stared at both of them.

"What kind of power is it? I'm friends with the owners of the Ascendant Summit. Have you heard of it?" His shimmering eyes bored into Eli's. Tension pulled his muscles taut as Strength flooded him in preparation of a fight. Eli shook his head, ignoring the first question.

"Ah, very personal, huh?" The man's smile revealed teeth that also shimmered with low level prismatic light. "Well, they do all kinds of power training with machines and they have personal trainers if you need help with your build or anything. If you're interested, tell them that Roy sent you."

"We will, thank you." Eli said through nearly gritted teeth. The man handed a card over to Roman with a logo of a silhouette meditating on top of a mountain. He nodded at them, pressed his hand against the terminal for a moment, before it flashed and he walked through the turnstile.

"What was that about?" Roman asked, as Eli pushed his own hand against the terminal. His eyes widened as the enchanted power within scraped against his nerves as a screen appeared in front of his vision.

<Authenticating user>

<Processing...>

<User confirmed: Elias Newton>

<No account found for: Elias Newton

Would you like to make one? Y/N>

<Pay for a ride with Anchora Metro-Tram via:

System-affiliated Bank

Cash

Debit Card>

Eli's mouth thinned as he teleported Herbert's wallet out of his spatial bubble into the back pocket of his jeans, which he pulled out to feed it an unfamiliar dollar bill worth twenty dollars.

<Account details for: Elias Newton

Account Creation: - $5

Ride: - $2.50

Remaining Total: $12.50>

<Thank you for choosing Anchora Metro-Tram. Have a good day!>

He walked through the turnstiles with a rattling clink of metal as he shoved his wallet back into his pocket where he vanished it into his voidspace. He wished he knew how much money Herbert actually had in his bank accounts, but that System-affiliated Bank option worried him. What were he and Roman going to do about money?

"That's so cool!" Roman said as he caught and guided them down into the subterranean bowels of the station where train tracks extended on either side of the platform. Eli wrinkled his nose at the foul scent of ammonia in the air. He was definitely not going to do his blacklight trick here anytime soon. "With an enchantment like that, I bet issues like fraud and stuff would be far less common."

"I guess. I don't know, Roman, I’m nervous. I don’t think we’ve really thought everything through.” Eli said while he glanced up at the tunnel ceiling. He hadn't really understood what it meant that this world had had powers for so long and the System. How long would they be able to keep their status as foreigners from this dimension secret? If they had a System-interfacing power for subway terminals, what else would they use it for and how long would it take for them to be caught?

There was so much they didn't know.

"Huh?" Roman turned to frown at him.

"We need to make actual plans."

"Well, yeah, but we have to live here still. We might as well learn and see what we can. As far as we know, we're one of the first people to do what we did, at least from home."

"Okay, sure, I agree. We need to at least keep up appearances, but we need to get as strong as we can, too. We'll need to see if there are any other Delves we can do." Eli frowned while he tapped his foot in idle thought. "I want to get one of my other primary powers slotted in a stat, and you still need to get your first done. Ideally Will or Body."

"I guess, but I don't want to jeopardize my build or anything by rushing."

Eli shook his head at that. "Weren't you the one saying that we need to leave as soon as we could?"

"Yeah, and we still should, but Eli, we can do and learn so much! Plus, we're only really waiting for you to figure out the problem." Roman shrugged. Metal squealed as the train came rumbling to a stop. Irritation prickled Eli at the conversation while he followed Roman.

Roman started fiddling with one of his contraptions the minute they sat down on a bench.

Why was he always the one expected to fix everything? Eli leaned his head back against the wall as the train pulled away from the station. His foot tapped in time with his anger while he studied the other passengers that looked like regular people. New Faram had a decent public transport system, but he'd never used it. Dad always drove them around.

"Do you really expect me to do this all by myself?" Eli asked with a sidelong glance at Roman. He laid his mess of wires and other bits flat on his knee while he shook his head.

"No, of course not. But... Eli, I can't do what you can. My powers are really only good for one thing, and sure, they give me a fair amount of variety. I'll do what I can, but it is on you more. I don't really know how much I'll be able to help."

Eli nodded, then turned away again.

"I've been thinking over the past two days and freaking out and obsessing isn't going to do us any good. We need to pass our classes and learn what we can. Practicing for Delving will push us and our powers, anyway. Rushing will only make things worse in the end."

"I'm not so sure about that." Eli glanced down at his hands. "I feel like I've been grinding nonstop since the Initialization and while I've made incredible progress, it hasn't been enough. Every time I feel like I'm about to take a substantial step forward, it turns out I can optimize something more or that I might've made a wrong choice. I don't want to get complacent."

"Slowing down a bit isn't getting complacent." Roman snorted. "We'll be busy enough already trying to fit in. You're strong, Eli. I had to push all my powers to their limits just to catch up with you. Not to mention, you and Nora made it to the tier-3 boss before you guys died. We only made it to the second tier before my armor gave out and I got us killed. We'll get there."

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"You're right." Eli shook his head with a sigh. Right at the moment, his phone beeped in his void with a few new texts from Hazel... and a couple from Herbert's family. "Fuck..."

"What is it?" Roman turned toward him in alarm. His gaze flitted up and down the train to the passengers mired in their own conversations, on their phones, or napping.

"Herbert's older sister will be in town later this week and wants to catch up since I haven't been responding as much."

"Oh, well, fuck." Roman winced, then sighed. "I don't know if you've looked into the differences between your life and Herbert's as much, but Les is an only child. I don't know how I feel about not having two younger brothers anymore. Or at least here."

Eli clasped his hand on Roman's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I know how difficult Theo's... sickness was, before everyone in the world literally got powers and his healed him."

Roman chuckled in a series of dry clicks.

Metal squealed again as the train slowed. Lights flashed through the windows as it stopped with a lurch. Both of them nearly spilled out of their seats from the sudden movement.

"Is this our stop?" Eli asked as he warily eyed everyone rushing by the doors to exit or get on. Would they even be able to get out if it wasn't?

"Shit, it is." Roman croaked as he wiped at his eye and leaped to his feet. They joined the press as the doors slowly opened. People pushed through both ways without a regard. Eli and Roman waited until everyone was through, but the doors started to close, then stopped once they forced their way out onto the platform. It closed with a hiss behind them.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's get some cleaning supplies and groceries. Those two had absolutely nothing." Roman led the way again.

Silence stretched between them as something seemed to shroud around Roman as he moved faster than normal. Eli had no issue keeping up between Body of Light and Lumencloud Fortification.

Text messages buzzed in his void again.

While they walked, Eli investigated something he'd been too afraid to check.

Social media apps opened and closed as he scoured through his friends' list, contacts, and finally photos. Herbert's parents looked the same as his, they looked maybe a bit younger. Happier, too. Apparently, they lived in the Midwest in a little place called Rockford. Herbert's family never lived in Farbrook or anywhere near New Faram at all.

Pictures were taken in a variety of places. In an unfamiliar living room with and without his grandparents, out in fields with banks of clouds churning in the sky above his dad. Swimming competitions with a younger Herbert that looked like it was almost ripped straight out of his own family's photo albums... but everything from the teammates, school, even his swimming trunks were all wrong.

What stood out the most was that in every family picture, there were only four of them. Herbert's parents, his older sister Maeve, and Herbert. Neither Lana nor Lyra appeared in any of these pictures. It was like they didn't exist at all.

"We're here." Roman nodded at a department store plopped right in between a used bookstore and a store called PowerBank. Eli slowed while he read the sign, then peered at the flyers printed along the windows with the same color background as the System status messages.

NEED A POWER OR SOME QUICK CASH?

PowerBank HAS THE SOLUTION FOR THAT.

"This seems interesting, doesn't it?" Eli grabbed Roman's wrist to pull him back and winced at the wrenching pop of his shoulder slipping out of alignment.

"Ow!" Roman glared at him. Eli glanced off to the side while he tried to equip Hyper-Regeneration in Enchanter's Dominion's place. Thankfully, it had been long enough since they ate when he swapped it out for Voidspace Mastery. Hyper-Regeneration unspooled into his body as it fixed thousands of tiny problems that had cropped up while it had been unequipped. He felt it start to go dormant when he tried pushing it into Roman's body.

He felt the power pause, as if asking a question, before a tingling rush flowed down Eli's arm and through his hand into Roman's body. Hyper-Regeneration sank through flesh, muscle, and bone. Knitted close a ton of injuries that had piled up since he'd last Restored him before their training session for the Tri-Delve.

"That felt different." Roman commented when the power finally finished and Eli pulled his hand back. "What changed?"

"I, um, I also recycled Restoration back to evo-0 into Hyper-Regeneration."

"Wait, what? You can do that? I didn't see anything about that when I was looking stuff up."

"Needs a synergized perk, apparently."

"Well, okay. I'll need to go over my build and spreadsheets..." Roman frowned as his eyes glazed over while he muttered to himself a bit. He shook himself. "Later, though. Do you want to check it out?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Eli took a step closer.

"I don't know. It seems kind of shady."

"What if they have some super cool powers? Come on." He rolled his eyes while he opened the door with Roman on his heels.

PowerBank had a sparse lobby full of podiums with cards that he bet were enchanted. Posters on the wall advertised various power banks that could store any perk or power for later retrieval, convenient trading, and to pass off powers as heirlooms. They also had several training items that cost anywhere from two hundred dollars to two thousand. Each promised different levels of intensity and were rated for different stages of evolutions. Some were tailored to specific types of power as well for further optimization.

Sitting at the desk was a middle-aged woman with strands of gray shooting through her dark hair. On her hideous uniformed polo was a large logo above her name written in red: PB Super Star "Cynthia".

Eli reaffirmed his shaky convictions about going to college on the spot and to care more about Herbert's assignments.

"How can I help you?" Cynthia asked monotone while she continued to tap away at her phone.

"Just looking around." Eli smiled, but she didn't look up at him.

Roman nudged Eli's arm and pointed at the rows of powers pinned the to the front of the desk promoting different perks and powers they had on hand. Several were crossed out. He tried to read, but the wording was slightly fuzzy despite his host of physical powers. Light shimmered in Eli's eyes while he focused with Body of Light to sharpen his sight.

Perks: Powers:

Body Enhanced Condition

Boost Flight

Bounce Triplicating Echo

Buoyancy

Endurance

Resist

Thermal

... and many more!

Most of the powers were ineligible from how many times they'd been crossed out until the paper was ragged with tears. He shrugged inwardly at the options. They were pretty shit. Some of the perks could be a decent base for something, but he was covered on that. Roman, on the other hand...

"Are you going to get something?" Eli glanced at Roman, who frowned at the list.

"Maybe... I haven't picked my options yet from before or from the Delve. I don’t want to get distracted from my build, but…"

"Well, you do need a physical power."

"What? No, I was looking at Bounce, Buoyancy, and Flight. I bet I could create a really cool power off that with the other options I have." Roman stepped forward. "Excuse me..."

Eli read over the list again with a frown while he thought about his own available perks he had to sell or merge at some point. Plus, if he did well in Power Crafting I tomorrow, he'd win the Charge power. He could probably figure out something he could do with that.

"One thousand and five hundred dollars?" Roman screeched as he glanced down at the flyers again before he tore his gaze back up to the blank expression on Cynthia's face. "How much would it be for the perks alone?"

"Two-fifty." She shrugged. "Flight is a popular starter power for anyone who wants to fly. Do you want it or not?"

"I... I don't know." Roman read through the flyers again. Eli wondered how much more it had cost for the evo-0 powers his parents had bought for him. They had needed to sell theirs, but was that more of a common thing between dimensions, or was it more because of the relative newness of powers that had driven up the price?

Eli glanced at his status again and thought about selling some of his own perks before he realized he didn't like that idea. The only one he was somewhat disinterested in was Blight, but it could help him a lot if he wanted to create more of a combat focused power. Or even if he wanted to equip it onto Lumencloud Fortification when they went through Delves. He almost chuckled at himself. He had been so confident about wanting to sell powers, but he couldn't even let go of something as small as a perk. Mom or Lyra would have called him a power hoarder.

"I'll take it, but can you throw in Resist?"

"That'll be four hundred dollars." Roman handed Romulus’s card over, then waited for her to pull out three small cartridges that glowed with a strange light. She handed them over along with his card before she turned to Eli. "Anything for you?"

He skimmed over the list again before he shook his head.

Only thing that would interest him would be something more combat focused or something with electricity so he could double down on Lumencloud Fortification or even build something new. Blight merged with lightning would be interesting.

They walked out of the store while Roman cradled the cartridges in his hand. Power surged before the glow flickered and faded leaving nothing behind but cheap plastic. He handed it over to Eli who shoved it into his voidspace with a narrowed glance. He needed to figure out spatial storage enchantments soon or it’d get old being a glorified backpack.

"What are you going to merge it with?" Eli asked while they loitered in-between the department store and PowerBank’s storefronts on the cracked sidewalk.

"I'm going to dismantle Sandra's power for the Self perk. Take the Control perk from the goblins and merge it with Stalwart Body from the trolls then add the Resist and Bounce perks I just bought for..." He read his invisible System with a widening smirk as he merged the powers together. "Soaring Bounce."

Eli watched bemused while Roman took a normal step that blasted him up ten feet in a flip before he crashed down. Roman pushed himself up with a groan, but he seemed otherwise uninjured. He wondered how much of this was because of the powerful impacts he'd taken in the fight with Sandra, if it was more Delve motivated, or if really was as simple as Roman trying to have fun with a new power.

He hoped it was the last.

"Come on, let's get some cleaning supplies." Eli led the way through the jingling door into the store.

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