"That was the strongest tackle in the history of tackles," Tess said with a smile, rubbing her ribs. "It was like being shot with a cannonball. One second I was in the air, the next I was bouncing off the wall."
Zavier looked at Cass more closely. "Did the impact do anything to you? It seems like your mom was affected by you interacting with her at high speed, which makes sense - but did your body take any damage from it?"
Cass considered that thoughtfully. "Not really, but for the first instance it felt like hitting a brick wall. Any time I've hit something while going fast I never hit any harder than I would if I was at regular speed. I did take some heavy damage from hitting the wall with mom, but I think that's because my speed ran out just as I hit. When I hit something while I'm at high speed it doesn't hurt any more than if I did it at normal speed, but this was the first time my speed ran out THEN I hit something."
"So your skill definitely has a kinetic dampening effect," Zavier was becoming lost in the idea, speaking more to himself than Cass. "I don't know why your speed doesn't allow you to hit with the force of your speed, though, that seems odd. Although it'd make sense why you can't move people around."
"Why would that matter?"
Zavier's voice turned lecturing as he responded to Tess's question. "The relationship between speed and force is squared. If you hit something with a speed of one, the force it hits with is a one. But if you hit with a speed of two the force is two squared, so four. Which means that if you hit with a speed of five the force of the impact is five-fold, so 25. Let's say that one day Cass can move at 20 times the speed of a normal person. That means anything he hits, grabs, or even touches is impacted at 400 times the strength it would normally have. Think about how much a simple slap hurts when he's at a speed of one. Now imagine that magnified 400 times. He could accidentally tap you with a finger as he walked by at high speed and shatter the bones in your arm. Let's say your average boxer can punch at like 25 miles per hour. If Cass can move at 10 times the speed of a normal human then he's punching at 250 miles per hour - imagine something moving at that speed running into you. Even if he was trying to help he'd pulverize your bones by grabbing onto you. That's why Cass was so smart to try and slow your mom down instead of grabbing her around the body."
He looked around and realized he was losing them. Tess and Luna's eyes were glazed over, but Cass shone with pride. "Okay, the too long, didn't read is that Cass's speed should obliterate anything he touches, even at his current speed."
"We get it," Tess cut his lecture short knowing that he could go much longer when he was this excited about a topic. "Cass can run over 100 miles per hour, so anything he hits does the damage of hitting at that speed. So why is this a big deal?"
"Because he HASN'T been doing that damage! The System is allowing him to move faster, but is nerfing his damage. Which makes sense, I guess, since the whole 'opposite and equal reaction' thing means that he'd be sharing the damage with whatever he hit. He'd hurt himself as much as he hurt something else, if system fuckery wasn't going on. Him doing damage to you seemed like a fluke of his power running out at just the right moment."
"Well actually, dad," Cass brought Zavier out of his reverie. "Mom and I are both fine because we both leveled up! Quicksilver actually jumped an entire level and went straight to 5! I think it's because I pushed past my limits and really stressed its use. I broke past the bottom of the pool and used it in ways I hadn't before, just like you have been saying. Now look at this!" His pride and excitement was clear as he shared his screen:
Name: Quicksilver
Type: Speed Enhancement
Level: 5
Description:
This skill was issued as a System reward for proving yourself a frontrunner. Through extraordinary circumstances where you pushed past your limits in various situations, Quicksilver has evolved, unlocking new potential in your ability to manipulate both speed and momentum. Initially focused solely on enhancing your speed, this skill now grants you the power to control the momentum of others. This advancement occurred as a result of your quick thinking and protective instincts, allowing you to move or stop others at high speed without causing harm. Quicksilver now permits longer bursts of speed and introduces Kinetic Control, though overuse may result in physical strain. This skill is highly impacted by your Agility and Endurance stats.
Effects:
Burst Speed: Grants a speed boost of 10% per Agility point to all movements for a total of 30 seconds per Endurance point. You can push beyond your normal limits for an additional 10 seconds, allowing for incredible bursts of speed. However, this overextension causes strain, resulting in a 20% decrease in Agility for 5 minutes after use.
Warning: Overextension of this skill causes physical damage, mitigated by your Endurance stat. Surefooted: You are now able to navigate complex terrain at any speed. Rapid Healing: While Quicksilver is activated, your body's normal regenerative rate is increased. Kinetic Control: You can now manipulate the momentum of others while touching them. This allows you to stop or start sudden movements without causing harm, ensuring that those you are in contact with can safely withstand rapid acceleration or deceleration. However, each use of this ability drains Endurance quickly, limiting how often you can safely manipulate others' momentum and reducing overall time of Burst Speed. This skill is highly impacted by the object's mass and your Strength. Cooldown: Endurance depletion requires a full night's sleep to recover.
"That's neat!" Luna said.
Zavier's voice was more serious. "I don't think you realize how amazing this is. This is a massive improvement. Becoming a speedster is beneficial enough, but in the end it's primarily a skill that only helps the speedster. Sure, he can block things, but it doesn't do a lot for other people unless he can move or touch them without killing them. But this fixes all of that completely. It gives Cass's kinetic immunity to anyone he wants to, just by touching them. That means he can pick you up and move you without snapping your neck from the whiplash. It also means he can halt your momentum without you taking any damage. This is phenomenal! Speedsters in every universe are fundamentally broken, so this seems like The System is trying to balance that."
Tess moved her hand in a circle. "Wrap up the lecture honey, we need to move on."
Cass chimed in. "I added my points into Endurance. I figured that at some point I'm going to have to break through the bottom of my speed force pool again, I don't want to take a lot of physical damage by overextending myself."
Zavier was reviewing the details of Cass's skill, chin in his hand. "Good thinking, son. It was either that or Strength, and I think you'll run into more circumstances that need a higher Endurance than Strength. I like it."
Cass beamed, then shifted the attention off of him. "Mom leveled up too!'
"Congrats honey!" Zavier hugged her again. "I mean, it's obvious, since you're standing here and breathing normally, but congrats! What'd you get?"
"Nothing so dramatic or impressive as Cass's, just an improvement to my Weapons Mastery skill." She shared the screen.
Name: Weapons Mastery
Type: Combat Skill
Level: 3
Description: Through countless battles and encounters, you have demonstrated a mastery over all forms of edged and projectile weapons. Your skill has evolved to the point where you can switch seamlessly between weapons with lightning speed and precision. Whether it's a razor-sharp blade or a deadly projectile, you can strike with accuracy and power, maximizing the effectiveness of each attack. You are now a living weapon, striking fear into your enemies as you wield your weapons with perfect control and confidence.
New Advancements:
You can no longer accidentally drop a weapon or be disarmed. Your grip on any weapon you wield is unbreakable unless you choose to release it. You are able to switch between weapons seamlessly, without risk of fumbling or losing momentum in combat. This allows you to maintain constant pressure on your enemies, always having the right weapon for the right moment.
"It makes sense that your advancement wouldn't be as big a jump as Cass's since he pushed through a limit. Still, though, this is nothing to shake your head at. Pretty solid improvement that seems to be really fundamental to your style."
Tess sighed. "I suppose so. I would have preferred another skill or ability, but this is decent insurance. Last thing I need is to drop a weapon in the middle of a fight. And I DO switch weapons out a lot."
"What'd you do with your points?"
"Agility, Endurance, and Luck."
"Luck?" Zavier raised an eyebrow. "That's new."
Tess shrugged. "It is, but my Strength and Agility are pretty leveled out right now. I have seen how useful lucky breaks are for Luna so I thought that it'd be useful to have Luck be working for me."
"Did you guys notice anything weird about your new upgrades?" Zavier asked. Although they all studied the notifications Zavier only got blank stares back. "Look! They're personalized!"
"Persona - what are you talking about Z?"
"The old descriptions all use terms like 'user' and 'wielder' and 'caster', but these use direct pronouns. Look, it uses 'you.'" Zavier pointed at a spot in the air that only he could see, but the rest of the family got the point and reread the descriptions more closely.
"Has it been doing that the whole time?" Cass asked. "All of my skills look personalized to me."
"That's probably why we haven't noticed!" Zavier was excited again. "All of my skills read like a user's manual, except for one. Jack of all Blades says 'This skill allows someone to use any item as a weapon with great proficiency', while System Block reads like 'This skill allows the user to block incoming System energy, as defined by the user.' But when I get to a skill that was created or chosen directly for me due to my actions it reads like this. 'Name: Tactical Synergy. Description:This enhancement has been provided due to your proficiency in planning and your successful attempts to create team tactics.'"
"I'm betting that if you go through your skills you'll see that the ones granted for special actions, like the boons The System gave us at the beginning, are all personalized, while the general skills are, well, generic."
"Z, it's interesting and all, but what does that have to do with us right now?"
"I don't know, Tess, I guess it's just important to understand how The System works. I think this can be a good gauge on whether or not we're pushing hard enough. Any description that looks generic means it was given as a baseline. We need to push hard to make all of them personal. It also means that we're on the right track - we CAN personalize our skills, we just have to figure out how. We're not locked into accepting whatever The System decides to dole out, we can remake it to serve our needs."
Tess's sigh was more exasperated than interested. "Okay, fine. We got it - this isn't really the time, we need to get a move on. We've spent way too much time talking skills already."
"Sorry," Zavier replied sheepishly. "I just don't know when we'd get to another safe spot and I wanted to make sure we were all working off the same information. I don't know what's going to be important and what isn't, so I'd rather we over-communicate than under. It's safe in here right now, not so sure about there," he nodded his head to the door.
"Understood, Love, but we have to go." Tess's response was softer but no less impatient. She searched the landing and found Shimmer.
He nodded and scanned his family. "Your mom is right. So, we all good? Ready to head off to level 2?"
They shared looks of trepidation before following Tess into the dark descent.