Sell you a Bridge chapter 5 (Patreon)

The next morning found me dragging myself out of bed sore and aching. Artemis and I had sparred for hours, she kept implying we were almost done and then pushing me just a bit further. Oddly looking back each of her exercises seemed to specifically involve certain muscles or skills that didn’t overlap as much as I would have thought. In the moment I’d felt like I’d been using my whole body but I could feel the ache from each and every individual bit of training.

It was Sunday thankfully and I wasn’t expected to go out oe do anything. My mom was mostly a lapsed Catholic, not wanting to impose on me the same strictures she grew up with, so we didn’t do church. I hadn’t even seen her yesterday sadly, she’d been asleep when I got home. She left dinner out for me covered in foil with a cheerful note saying she was glad to see me out during my weekend instead of home at my computer.

She was gone again already for work today and I headed to my closet to drag out my muscle powder with a groan. I staggered into the kitchen and mixed it into some milk (which we were almost out of meaning tomorrow I’d have to use water which would probably taste even worse) and dragged my battered carcass to the bathroom. Taking off my shirt was extremely painful but I managed it and I sat in front of the mirror wincing.

Aside from the muscle pain and soreness I was surprisingly unharmed. Artemis had been pretty precise in how hard she was able to hit me and throw me around, not leaving a single bruise. When I asked about it she just gave me a brittle smile and told me she had lots of experience with harsh training that didn’t leave marks on you. The look in her eyes made it clear that this was a sore subject so I moved on. I finally forced myself to choke down the chalky mess in the glass and stared at myself in the mirror.

My muscles expanded again, though didn’t gain much definition this time, it seemed to mostly be a one or the other thing. One extremely happy side effect however is that larger muscles got larger by being healed, which mean even as I felt the warmth and power flow through me it washed away all my aches and pains like a refreshing spring rain. Once again I wasn’t that much bigger, having thirty days of this to reach my final state, but still the accidental healing made this stuff a wonder drug even if it hadn’t been making me stronger.

I walked cheerfully and easily back to the kitchen to wash my glass, whistling at the sudden lack of pain in my body as I headed back to my room and plopped down on my computer. I’d spent the rest of my night signing up for random forums and onscure fringe research sites to expand my potential power draw later on, but it was time for todays boost. As Artemis and I had discussed my first priority was some martial arts, so I decided to look for anything even remotely combat related.

Sadly about half of the spam in my folder was advertisements for sex sites or hot singles in my area, which while interesting to think about wasn’t actually very helpful. Half of the remaining stuff was offers for loans, which I didn’t need anymore and I had to scroll for about an hour before I finally started getting to some of the stuff that wes relevant. I was looking for something absurd.

Normal martial arts were great but plenty of people knew those my power was interesting because it made crazy fantastical claims a reality. I wanted to find some sort of ad for the ultimate martial art or a sure kill style. Sadly I found none of those, mostly just kung fu correspondence courses or krav maga instructional dvds. I stopped however when i spotted something...unique. Way of the ninja! Become a master of the unseen arts in only ten short lessons! Learn to walk in silence, enter even the most secure building undetected, vanish into the shadows, and counter even the most powerful foes with deadly martial arts skills. I grinned and clicked on the order button at the bottom of the ad, after which the thing promptly vanished as usual.

The normal wave of dizziness was a bit stronger this time, and I almost fell out of my chair. Apparently the more over the top the changes, the more my power drained from me in stamina and energy when I activated my ability. I would have to watch that, if I tried something too extreme I might kill myself. Unfortunately I didn’t know what any of the actual factors the impacted energy draw was, so I could only resort to research. I took out a norebook to write down details of each use and try to find a pattern.

The door bell rang before I could start however and I grinned, bolting for the front and fumbling with the locks. As usual once I got it open the hall was empty except a single box, which I grabbed and carried inside. I set it down on my desk and forced myself to write my notes so I would have them for later before finally closing the notebook and staring down at the package. I tore the thing open and inside I found a DVD player.

Not a full sized one of course, but a small square personal DVD player. One of the little silver ones kids take on road trips to they can watch movies while their parents drive. Not that we’d ever been able to afford a road trip much less a DVD player but the point stood. Apparently my power adjusted for circumstances, since i didn’t have a DVD player it came with one. It seemed oddly sentient at times, making sure I couldn’t open the muscle powder except once a day and now this?

I shook that thought off with a promise to come back to it and opened the DVD player, pressing the on button. Trying to describe what happened after that thing turned on would be...difficult. The screen didn’t exctly play a video, there were images to be sure, and sounds, but there was also context and nuance that shouldn’t have been possible from simple film. I understood foundational principles and special techniques that shouldn’t have made any sense at all.

A tenth of a master’s skill in ninjutsu was downloaded into my head. Not a real martial art either, this was some supernatural shit. Half of the things included in the course shouldn’t have even really been possible. Now I understood why this particular use of my powers had made me so tired. My power had created an entire method of power use.

My new skills didn’t use chi or magic or anything though, they used something else, used the same energy source as my power did. I wasn’t sure what the hell to call it, but I could feel my reserves now. They were mostly empty, but I could feel them refilling. I decided to use a base ten system for keeping track of the stuff. I had ten points of energy as my normal max. This little foray into martial arts badassery had cost me seven points, so I had three left. Judging by my first time using them I assumed that running out would render me unconscious.

I decided to consult my notes later and try to estimate the cost of the different uses of my power, maybe going forward I would be able to learn to manage it better. Plus, this would help me avoid that whole draining myself to death thing I came up with the notes idea to avoid. I sat down to flip through my notes and made some observations. First off as far as I could tell my power worked three ways. First was changing reality. Making that money appear and inserting that million dollars into circulation.

The first use was clearly taxing since it tapped me out and had me dropping like a rock after it happened. The second use was making items like the DVD player and the muscle powder. Based on the effect it had on me the muscle powder had taken about four points, since these items were only useful for a limited time or under specific conditions this seemed more economical in terms of energy. Finally, there was skills and abilities.

The skills and abilities I got through my power USED my power. I’d had visions in my head of super speed and laser vision from some of the more fringe mad science ads but it seemed like I would need to find a way to grow my pool of points to use those even if I could afford to get them. For now I decided to focus on what I did have. Not all of the ninja skills used points or course, only the supernatural seeming ones. I’d have to use my energy if I was vanishing into shadows and wallking up walls and stuff.

Sadly my first lesson hadn’t included everything. I’d learned to throw shuriken and caltrops with perfect efficiency and how to pack broken glass and black pepper into a small capsule so it would explode into a cloud of horrible pain when I needed to escape but the only supernatural ability I had picked up from this first session was the shadow hiding thing. Which while incredibly useful for avoiding detection was unfortunately a stationary skill the required patience and one point per every ten minutes.

While I had to estimate point values for uses of my power, the ninja skills seemed to have attached values included in the lessons so i could keep track of the power use better. I considered what I should do with rest of my day and decided that as with yesterday I would go and see Artemis. She would probably be psyched to see how my abilities worked in a more direct way. Plus even though I knew I didn’t really have a shot with her I wanted to show off my new bigger muscles in front of a pretty girl.

When i knocked this time it took a bit longer for the door to open, and the person on the other side wasn’t Artemis. There was a pretty older Asian woman in a wheelchair sitting on the other side of the door. She raised an eyebrow when she saw me, giving me a small smile. “Ah, well if it isn’t little Morgan from downstairs. Artemis mentioned she’d was spending time with you yesterday. I admit I wasn’t expecting to see you around. I assume you’re her for my daughter?”

I gave an embarrassed smile and a nod and the woman laughed. “No need to be so timid boy, I know your mother in passing from Vinnie’s bar. She’s a wonderful woman and speaks very highly of you. I just never knew you and my Artemis were so close. I’ll get her.” She turned her head back towards the apartment and shouted “Artemis! Your friend is here!” She smirked at my now far too tight t-shirt. “I’d invite you in but I suspect you’d rather head up to the roof for some alone time.”

I was strangely mortified by the comment but didn’t have time to respond as Artemis stepped into view in a sports bra and a ponytail, wearing stretchy lycra bike shorts this time instead of the yoga pants. She rolled her eyes as she stepped past her mother and I tried very hard not to stare at all the exposed skin. She said something in a language I didn’t speak and her mother responded in the same tongue with a snicker. She turned to me and shooed me out of the way so she could leave shutting the door behind her. “Sorry about that, she’s not used to seeing me with other people, especially guys. Now what’s up? Got something new to show me?”