Super Supportive

  They barely had time to say thanks and bye to Instructor Fragment. As soon as their feet hit the ground, students from the next group were jogging up, and their group was supposed to be jogging off to their own second session. Everly was staggering ahead of Alden and Kon. She was clutching her shoes in her hand, and her hair buns had mostly unraveled. > she said in Korean when she spotted Konstantin. > “You were magnificent! Like an ice spider!” She frowned. “A spider?” “A beautiful spider,” he said. “But why was your bag a girl?” “I was imagining it was my mom. So that I wouldn’t drop it.” When Alden had heard they would have class time dedicated to practicing maneuvering and positioning, he had imagined a lot of talking would happen, and then maybe a quick exercise. But he was starting to suspect that the philosophy of their gym instructors was going to be a learn-while-doing one. Instead of giving a long lecture, Instructor Marion was periodically talking in their ears through System comms and telling them what to think about and what mistakes they’d just made. Half the gym had been given over to this class, and obstructions had been created out of the magic shields that could be used to segment the gym into dueling blocks. They’d been made opaque, and they stood in tall columns and walls, creating a maze filled with tons of blind spots. Alden stood with Astrid, trying not to gasp for air. He was afraid that breathing too hard would give away their position. Both of them were wearing green vests over their gym suits, and they had their backs pressed to a column. The other green vests were their teammates for this exercise—the hunted. The red vests were their enemies—the hunters. The hunted gained a point for every twenty seconds they went without being spotted. The hunters stole one of those point every time they spotted someone. “It’s simple,” Instructor Marion had said in that pleasant voice of his. “It’s so simple that most of you will have little use for your magic. A spell effect will usually give away your position. You cannot scale the obstacles. There is no combat. Apologies, Alden, but this time there’s no ground element. We’ll play with that later. Here most of you have nothing but your wits…and of course your stats. You’re supposed to be using your talents heavily in the other sections. Think of this game as a fun breather!” Fun breather my ass. It had been twenty minutes of flat-out sprints to reposition himself behind a safe obstruction, where he would stand for just a few seconds before Max would— [Alden and Astrid, go down the corridor to your right at the signal.] A high-pitched yelp came from the Light Shaper’s direction a moment later. Presumably he was both signaling and providing a distraction to pull away the hunter who’d been running toward Alden and Astrid. They left the column behind and fled down the corridor. Everly, wearing a red vest, was standing right there as they emerged. She pointed at them excitedly, then spun around to press her face to the column behind her, like the person who was “it” in a game of hide-and-seek. Hunters who’d just gotten a point had to close their eyes and count down to let the hunted get away again. “Shit,” Astrid whispered as two points disappeared from their team’s score. They were barely keeping it above zero thanks to Konstantin’s efforts on behalf of the other team. His legs were definitely not tired enough from climbing up and down the scaffolding. When they first got started, he’d been excited and he’d said he was going to try to use his object reading skill to detect where people had recently been standing on the gym floor. But either that had been too slow, his skill was too low level to do a wide enough area, or the magic floor wasn’t particularly readable. Because he’d shifted tactics and was instead pelting through the gym like an S-rank lunatic, whipping his neck back and forth rapidly to catch glimpses of green. Alden wasn’t sure he was even blinking. [Everly saw us,] Alden reported to Max. [She’s at the end of the corridor you sent us down.] [Sorry,] Max texted back. [Nobody has sighted her in a while, so I didn’t know what area she was in.] He was doing really well at remembering the layout of all the visibility obstructors and, usually, the positioning of most members on both teams. Kon’s squirrel-like habit of spontaneously changing directions had made Max curse in three different languages at one point, though. [Astrid and I are splitting up. I’m heading—] Before he could finish texting, Astrid darted off back the way they’d come. [I’m heading toward the bathrooms,] he finished. [East,] said Max. [Bathrooms is simpler, dude.] Astrid suddenly texted, [Scar folder! Master red! I do run!] The others were using finger texting, but the shapeshifter had claimed she wouldn’t be outdone by Max and Alden and would be sticking with mental. Thus, some interpretation was required. Alden stared at the words. [I think she means she just spotted the red team’s Meister in the direction of the scaffolding.] The Meister must not have spotted her, though, since they hadn’t lost another point. Alden crept along a wall, then sprinted through an intersection where he could potentially be spotted from too many directions. He stopped beside another obstacle. A moment later, he heard rapid footsteps approaching. [Is that you behind the obelisk, Alden?] Max asked. [It’s me.] The other B-rank stepped around to join him. He was breathing hard, too. Max held up both hands with his fingers spread to indicate a ten second rest, then he went back to directing their teammates and collecting enemy locations through the chat. [Raccoons!] Astrid said, just as they were about to sprint again. Raccoons? Max mouthed. [Do you mean bathrooms? Is Kon toward the bathrooms from where you are?] [Type oh. Sad face. I do run!] “I think she was just thinking about raccoons and she accidentally typed that,” Alden whispered. Max sighed and dashed away.

  ******

  They had a three-minute water and bathroom break at the end of Instructor Marion’s session. Alden felt like someone had sucked the oxygen from the room and the energy from his muscles. The bodily awareness wordchain was still in effect. It would fade at the beginning of his last session—self defense. For now, though, he was feeling every spot on his body that had gotten a workout today. And it’s all of them. All of the move-Alden-around spots are tired. At this rate, only his face was going to have strength left in it. He’d have to try talking people into not hitting him for self-defense. His skill was great for defense of course, but by his rough estimation, Level 3 Bearer of All Burdens should be approaching depletion by now. The long, extended cord preservation had been unexpectedly taxing. He was guesstimating that he could have done most of what he’d done in the rescue session in some fashion, and probably he’d make it through the majority of offense. But that should be about it. If he followed his own plan and handicapped himself right now, the high cost of double-running Bearer would exhaust his authority in the expected timeframe. It’s not like it’s a real waste to do it. Learning to take care of myself when my skill’s gone, or when I’m using it to preserve something tiny or precious that’s useless as a shield is good. And learning to double run it is important, too. He collapsed onto a bleacher. Everyone was taking their break now. He saw Haoyu jogging across the gym toward him, looking fresh as a daisy. “I want your stamina stats,” Alden said as soon as he drew close. “Give them to me.” “They only make it take longer for my body to get tired right now. My brain is still fuzzy from not getting any sleep last night. And I already blew out my boxing gloves skill.” He sat down beside Alden and beamed when Everly passed him one of the iced towels she’d made. Alden was watching Maricel. Instructor Fragment had pulled her aside and was talking animatedly while manipulating the potting soil Maricel had chosen to use for class today. It looks kind of like they’re talking about how she can make floating stairs? Maricel looked focused and intrigued. “Everyone’s so cool, aren’t they?” Haoyu said. “I saw your thing! With the sandbag rescue. Like a balloon! Big Snake stared at it, too. For about three seconds. Then he went back to hitting everyone.” “Did you see Everly’s ice rope?” Alden asked. “No!” Haoyu whipped around to look at her. “What did you do with an ice rope?” Kon leaped at the opportunity to praise her. During the break, they all got a surprise. It was one most of the class felt was negative, judging by the sounds of distress Alden heard echoing around him. “Gym class has written homework?” the boy Alden had seen running around the party wearing a caution tape belt asked. “Of course there’s homework,” Vandy replied. She was using her powers to fan herself, and the tail of her braid was blowing around. “Why wouldn’t there be?” “This is a lot of homework, though.” Heloísa was upside down, practicing handstands. “It’s a ton. Are you looking at it, Windy Woman?” Reinhard asked. He was casting some kind of spell over his practice arrows. “But there’s supposed to be a lot of homework,” Vandy said. “She’s right,” Haoyu agreed, looking around at everyone. “All of the gym courses will have homework. It would be a waste of the facility for the instructors to focus too much on lecturing and theory while we’re in here. This is the practical half of the course, where we’re supposed to be pushing our powers and our physical abilities as much as we can. So the other half of the course happens outside the gym.” He and Vandy both had parents who’d attended either the high school or university hero programs, so they would know. Alden was studying the assignments. For the rescue section, they were supposed to listen to a recorded lecture and review the drone footage of their own rescues. Then they had to come to class on Wednesday with new things to try. For maneuvering, there was a self-evaluation of today’s performance due on Wednesday, and there was a book that had to be read by the end of next week. For self-defense and offense, they’d be given individual assignments based on their strengths and weaknesses. It was a lot, but what Haoyu had said made sense. The gym wasn’t really a place where it was reasonable for them all to sit around pondering and talking, so that had to be done separately. And this was a three-day-a-week class. Six hours a week of pure practical work, he thought. This looks like about the same amount of homework to go with it, assuming defense and offense aren’t ridiculous. Torsten Klein’s voice suddenly rang across the gym. “Two minutes! Finish up whatever you’re doing, and head to your next instructor!” You’re my next instructor. Alden was nervous about it for multiple reasons. “Hey, Haoyu? You did offense already with the all-Brute group. Any advice on weapon selection?” He grinned. “Massive fireballs.” “A nuclear detonation!” cried Heloísa, righting herself. “That’s what it’ll take to knock out Instructor Klein. Trust me. Your umbrella is not fast enough.” “Nothing I can do is fast enough to catch up to a professional AgiBrute. I was just wondering about strategy in general.” There was a thud behind him as Mehdi leaped down from a higher bleacher. “A professional AgiBrute? Do you think a B-rank Rabbit could even beat me?” “I haven’t bothered to consider it,” Alden said absently, still staring across the gym at Klein. “I just have to pick a weapon for the rest of term by Friday, and I don’t want to waste today trying out something completely wrong.” “Oh, they’re making you choose just one thing?” Haoyu looked disappointed. “That’s not as much fun.” “Pick the umbrella! We’re doing duels starting week after next. I want to fight the umbrella again.” “Stop going on about that stupid umbrella, Heloísa,” Mehdi snapped. “If I were you, I’d be embarrassed I couldn’t crumple a B-rank’s comedy shield like paper.” He stalked away. “Ops. I pissed him off somehow,” Heloísa said. Then she shrugged. “He’s probably still mad that I would definitely have beaten him at the drinking contest if Astrid had made enough Bonding Potion for us to fight to the death.” She adjusted her ponytail then trotted after him. Haoyu leaned toward Alden. [I’m pretty sure it was you who made him mad.] [What did I do?] [He was trying to say, ‘Rawrr, I’m better than you!’ And you said, ‘I don’t even know who you are.’] Alden laughed. “I did not!” Haoyu nodded. “You did.” Alden looked at Mehdi’s retreating back. “He still shouldn’t have insulted my umbrella. It wasn’t for comedy. I thought about it. It was lightweight, not so oversized that I would trip over it, extendable, I could rapidly make two different easily useable shapes out of it, and it had a wrist strap. So that I wouldn’t drop it.” “You could shield a real shield, couldn’t you? If you wanted?” “Sure. But it would be so much harder to move around with. And if my skill gives out, then there’s no point in me hauling a big hunk of metal or wood around the gym. It’ll offer protection against a few things, but the more likely outcome is that it slows me down, someone snatches it, thanks me for the gift, and then beats me to death with it.” He stood up. “If I lose my shield, it’s not the worst thing for it to turn back into something useless for everyone else around me. Would you come over to my duffel with me? I want to change my paracord weapon.” And pick up my handicap. It was going to be a small breath mint. He’d bought a pack of them to try to un-torture his garlicky, oversensitive tongue. It hadn’t worked, but if he preserved one and ate it… Well, there was no way of dropping that kind of preserved object. He’d lay it beside the cord when he asked Haoyu to entrust it. “Range,” Haoyu said. “What?” “I was answering your question more seriously. You need some way to attack from range. Instructor Klein is only running away, not fighting back. So don’t worry about protecting yourself at all and go for range.” “Thanks for the tip.” “Are you really going to make a zip line?” “What?” “I heard someone say you were going to make one next time. Can I ride it?” “Sure…if you can get the faculty to let you and if gym death doesn’t upset you.”

  ******

  “Superheroes have to go on the attack frequently,” Instructor Klein said. “Instructor Waker will be teaching you what it’s like to face someone who is willing to engage you in combat. I will be teaching you what it’s like to deal with someone who isn’t.” Everly raised her hand with a nervous look. “Are you going to ask why we would fight someone who wasn’t fighting back?” She blushed and nodded. He smiled at her. “A question that shows good character. However, I’m not talking about attacking someone who has yielded. I’m talking about dealing with dangerous people who have harmed others, who will likely do so again, and who have no desire to stick around and fight back when another powerful Avowed arrives to bring them to justice.” “Runners,” said Astrid. Klein nodded. “Runners, hiders, hostage takers. Sometimes allowing a criminal Avowed to flee is the correct choice. Perhaps your powers are a terrible match. Or you deem it likely that a pursuit will endanger more lives than the criminal themselves will if they’re allowed to leave. But in most cases, it’s better to swiftly and efficiently deal with the enemy while they are in front of you. Allowing an escape is just making future victims and future problems for yourself or another hero to handle.” He speared them with his eyes. “Remember, an active duty superhero is almost always the most powerful solution that will be thrown at a problem Avowed. Above you, there is only well-orchestrated military action, a hyperbole, or one of our battlegroups. And a lot of innocent people have to die before the cogs turn and the authorities bring those options to bear for the sake of a single villain. “The enemy is the question. You must strive to be the answer.” He likes giving speeches I think. Admittedly, it was a good speech. Alden was trying to stand still and attentive without looking like he was standing at actual military attention. He kept worrying that Klein was about to call him out—as a time waster, a weak link, someone who did not really belong. If it happened he’d already decided he was just going to grin and bear it, but …he was still dreading it. “Konstantin!” the instructor barked. “Ah! What?” Kon said, looking around frantically. Everyone else had jumped at the sudden increase in volume, too. “How do you attack?” Instructor Klein asked in a more normal tone. “Um…I hope that in the future—” “Let the faculty worry about your future. In this space, it’s your job to work with what you already possess, so that you can learn and grow quickly. We develop the talents you have fully, and because of that you’ll naturally gain new ones. So if an enemy appears before you at this very moment, how do you attack?” Kon grimaced. “With my fists.” “Good. Instructor Wu, take Konstantin aside and show him how to throw a decent punch.” They all turned in surprise to see that Wu and Foxbolt were behind them. “Søren!” The Light Shaper flinched. “How do you attack?” “I…can make places hot. If I have long enough.” Instructor Klein coughed. “You sound distressed about that.” “I know it’s not…” “Your powers and Konstantin’s are not presently useful for attacking. However, the benefit of that is that you can both practice them to their fullest and at your leisure without worrying about seriously harming yourselves or destroying anything. Many of your classmates would relish the opportunity. We expect you to take advantage of it. Extensively. You have other strengths as a superhuman. For now, go join Instructor Wu and learn to throw a punch.” Instructor Klein continued down the line, asking everyone how they attacked. It soon became apparent that the scary voice he used to shout their names was his version of a joke, since it was almost always followed up with advice delivered more affably. He only fumbled momentarily when Astrid asked if she could try to deal with a villain by “looking like their mom to catch them off-guard then punching them.” “Well, I’ll be playing the villain today. Can you shift into an approximation of my mother?” he asked finally. “Does she look a lot like me?” “Not remotely.” “Aww. Then not yet.” He saved Alden for last. The others were all off having quick practice sessions by themselves or with Instructors Foxbolt and Wu. “Alden…” I didn’t get the angry joke voice. He felt a tiny bit disappointed. Klein seemed strict but also like he was a dedicated teacher. The ideal thing would have been if both of them could have pretended like the you-don’t-belong-at-this-school speech hadn’t been spoken or heard. “What are you trying out for your attacks today?” “Paracord with a five kilo bag on the end,” Alden said. He only had a few feet looped around his wrist. The bulk of the cord was around the bag so that he could try a different unraveling method. He also had a preserved mint in his stomach… Funny how none of my heroic visions for myself as a kid ever included eating my own magic. “Do you know how to use it?” the instructor asked, examining bag and cord. “I don’t. But I’m here to figure that out.” After a pause, Instructor Klein said, “Given the nature of your skill, rope is an important tool to master. It’s something you will benefit from practicing with, so I have no objection to you choosing it as your weapon for the offensive portion of this course.” Then he turned to call the others back together. Could’ve been worse, Alden decided. He glanced over at Kon, who’d just come to stand beside him. The Adjuster was frowning at his own clenched fists. “I think my thumbs are too long. I have long thumbs.” “They look standard to me,” said Alden. “Do they? I just spent several minutes thinking about how to make a perfect fist, and now I’m sure there’s something wrong with them.” “Everyone!” Instructor Klein barked. He smiled when half of them jumped again. “Your only job today is to hit me with something that can put me out of commission. A killshot, a capture, knocking me unconscious—you’re going to have enough trouble as it is, so don’t feel limited. The rules are: I can go anywhere in the gym I want, you can use your powers however you want, no teamwork, and no stopping. It’s the second half of class. If you’ve been pushing yourself as you should have, then a lot of you should be approaching fatigue with your main talents. When they give out, you don’t get to quit for the day. Running is good for you.” “No teamwork?” Surprisingly, it was Max who asked. The instructor looked at him. “Not today. No planning with your classmates. No interfering with them for the sake of interfering with them either. Treat what everyone else is doing like mayhem happening in the midst of your own solo attempt to stop a dangerous criminal as quickly as possible. Use their actions or their magic if they can be a resource to you; avoid them if they’re an obstacle. Your friends aren’t civilians, villains, or fellow heroes for this exercise, they’re just complicating features of the environment you’re fighting in.” That’s unexpected. It sounded like it was okay for them to make use of what everyone else was doing with zero regard for if it would ruin the other person’s plans. So if I see Max building a speed zone, I can steal it for myself as long as I’m doing it to help me kill the instructor and not just to be a dick to Max. Klein had also said they would be using the whole gym. And the whole gym was full of other students and faculty doing their own work Is this something special he’s doing for our group for some reason? Alden hadn’t had much attention to spare for other groups this afternoon, but he would have noticed if they were chasing after Instructor Klein through the rescue section or hide-and-seek maze. Isn’t it going to be extremely chaotic? Two minutes later, he had the answer to his questions. It was chaotic. And Instructor Klein wasn’t giving their group special treatment. He simply didn’t need to utilize the whole gym to run circles around ten brand new hero students. Running circles around people was his specialty as an Agility Brute. He was fast and strong, and he’d obviously played the class straight, choosing talents that made him a peak superhuman maneuverer. One second, he was running directly at Alden, but the moment Alden tried to throw up a length of frozen paracord to stop him, Klein slid sideways across the white floor at the same rate he’d been running. It defied human anatomy and his own momentum, and Alden’s rope whipped harmlessly past him. Konstantin tried a flying tackle that the instructor ducked under without even looking, and then almost too fast for Alden to make out, the teacher changed directions again and was running at completely different angle. “It’s the Instant Corners skill!” a Meister yelled in an oddly panicked voice. “We know it’s the Instant Corners skill!” Kon yelled back. That was the last time anyone had enough air in their lungs to yell anything. Alden chased, he swung his rope, he threw his sandbag. He tried to trip Klein. He tried to hit him. From above, below, behind. Shit, where is he now? I can’t keep up. Gasping, he whirled around in a circle twice before he finally caught up to the instructor visually. Never mind physically. It was insane. It got even more insane when he started to realize that Instructor Klein wasn’t trying his best. His feet stayed on the ground. He hadn’t cast a spell yet. Agility Brutes were phenomenal gymnasts, so in addition to just running around them all like they were standing still, he could have been flying through the air over their heads or using any number of impressions. A blocked attack here, an invisible step there—he didn’t bother with it. He seemed to have limited himself for their sakes and imposed additional personal rules on what he could do. They couldn’t even threaten him enough to get him out of their corner of the gym. A couple of people were hunched over, trying to breathe. The Meister who’d shouted about the skill was moving so sluggishly that Alden was pretty sure he wasn’t really trying. Max’s spell impressions had run out a few minutes ago after he’d laid down a series of traps that had ended up catching classmates instead of the instructor, and he’d been running doggedly after Klein ever since, despite the fact that he was always, always miles from catching him. As for Kon, he was fast. He wasn’t as fit as his older brother, and it was only S-rank Adjuster fast. But he was still quicker and more agile than Alden was without ground. He was trying like hell, too, but it wasn’t enough. His face was tomato red, and sweat literally flew off him as he nearly sideswiped Alden during the course of his pursuit. Alden was trying to think, to come up with some rope shape or technique that would miraculously be enough to stop a middle aged man who’d spent the past thirty or forty years training his superpowers. There’s nothing. There’s literally nothing. He jogged past Everly Kim, who was squatting on the floor with her head down. She’d been that way for a while. Alden wouldn’t be surprised if she had awful muscle cramps or something after her feat during the rescue session. Maybe if I swing the weight on the end of my rope around to build up momentum, freeze it, and then surprise him with… Shit! Klein suddenly pulled his direction changing trick again, and now they were face to face too quickly. Alden brought the preserved paracord between them like a spear with a bulbous weighted nose instead of a point, and he crouched, trying to anticipate the instructor’s next move. He wished he’d unfurled just two more feet. It was about eight feet long at the moment, which made it more manageable. But twelve would have given him just a little more reach. That was always the thing. Klein was never the right distance away from him. No matter what length line he choose, no matter how sure he was that the teacher hadn’t spotted him stealthily unfurling more or drawing it back, the man always seemed to know exactly what Alden’s range was. Just like he always knew where Max had laid down a trap or where the Meister— Wham! A body smashed into Alden’s from the right, and both of them flew sideways. “Fuck!” He landed on his left shoulder. His head hit the floor hard and fast—or it felt like it did. In reality, the gym suit stiffened around him, cushioned him, and magically shielded him from what would definitely have been a concussion. A fraction of a second later, the bottom of a pair of sneakers landed on him. One on his chest, one on his face, and his assailant springboarded off of him…toward nothing. Astrid soared through the air, roaring, then splatted onto the floor and rolled. Alden sat up and stared at her through the helpful scrolling list of “damage” he’d just taken from the surprise attack. Was she trying something? What in the world? The low pain setting meant he could focus more on his confusion than his injuries. Klein sprinted away with Max and Kon hustling after him, both of them wearing startled expressions. So at least Alden wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand why he’d just been brutally tackled. Astrid was getting onto her hands and knees. She looked annoyed. So…bellyflopping on the floor hadn’t been her intention? Alden pushed himself up, too. His paracord and sandbag had come along for the ride with him since he had them tied to him, though he’d lost preservation when he’d fallen. He lifted and re-preserved in the same motion, but before he could attempt to catch and attack the instructor again, he lost his footing. A slick coat of ice was spreading across the gym floor from behind him. It lifted his shoes from the ground in an instant and toppled him again. He rolled over to see Everly—barefoot and running across the patch of ice she’d made toward Instructor Klein. She’d managed to catch their entire group in the spell. Max was down. Kon was windmilling comically like he was on skates for the first time in his life. Astrid was still on all fours. And the instructor had stopped. For the first time. He wasn’t falling, but he was standing still. Get him, thought Alden, lifting his rope and preserving yet again as he tried to clamber to his feet. He wasn’t sure if he was rooting for himself or Everly. Just before she reached him, Instructor Klein smiled and nodded once, and then he slipped around her like an ice dancer, his mouth reciting a spell. A second later he grabbed something unseen in the air and heaved against it, sending himself sliding hard and fast on his feet across the frozen floor away from Everly. Backwards. Toward me! Finally. Sliding, Klein had less control. He was in a crouch, knees bent and elbows in, flying across the ice, keeping his eyes on the threat running toward him. Alden was behind him on one knee, halfway toward standing, but Klein was about to slide past him, just a few feet away, and the line was long enough if he stretched to… He held it out. The slender orange cord with the sandbag on the end wasn’t much, but it was what he had, and if all he could do was slow Klein down for a second so Everly could freeze his ass somehow— That would be great. Alden snapped his wrist up and down rapidly, trying to make it harder for Klein to dodge over or under, since Alden was convinced he definitely had eyes in the back of his head. The Agility Brute’s back hit the cord. Alden felt the impact on his authority as Klein bounced off. He didn’t look over at Alden or uncurl. His body stayed in its crouched position. He slid fast toward Everly again across the thin layer of water that coated the ice. It made him look like a pool ball ricocheting off the edge of the table. Everly’s eyes widened. She pointed at him and shouted the name of a spell. Her fingers started to move. She hadn’t done it fast enough. Klein slid right past her, cast his own invisible floating block spell again, and then he flung himself hard in a new direction. Everly’s patch of superslick ice was a circle with a radius of twentyish yards by Alden’s estimate. Klein skidded to the edge of it, rolled and sprang to his feet. Then he stood there and watched all of his battered and exhausted students try to escape without falling on their asses. He looked like he was having a blast.

  ******

  They were so tired they didn’t even speak when the session ended. They all just stumbled off to let Big Snake take his turn beating them up. Alden’s skill was toast. He’d tried an extra-long line again in an attempt to poke Klein just one more time, and in combo with the breath mint handicap, the effort had done the skill in. His officially useable magical powers were now a candle lighter and screaming invisible balls that would cost him six hundred dollars a pop. Everly’s floor-freezing spell had required a reagent, too. She was eyeing a bottle half full of some dark blue powder with a depressed look on her face. Alden patted her on the shoulder. She nodded. This was how they were all communicating now. Words required lungs. Lungs required air. Too much trouble. He didn’t even have the energy to say, “Why, Astrid? Why did you randomly attack me and then throw yourself at nothing?” But she had given him the shoulder pat of companionship when they finally escaped from the ice. So he figured it was all good. She’d only tackled him and then used his nose as a launchpad. Everyone had their idiosyncrasies. “You all look like you’re raring to go!” Big Snake said in a jovial voice when they appeared. He clapped his hands together hard enough that it would probably have hurt their ears if not for the suits. “We’re gonna start with a few laps to get you warmed up!” Søren whimpered. “Hahaha!”said the instructor. “Just kiddin’. Just kiddin’. Looks like Torsten put you through the wringer. Wednesday, you’ll all start with me, and then it’s my turn to wear you out! So! The way this session works is the reverse of Instructor Klein’s. You all run, and I attack.” That should go well. “Well, that’s the gist of it. This is where y’all find out what your powers can do for self-defense. I’ll be teaching you general principles of self-defense, but that’s mostly in your homework. Today, since you look about dead, we have the magic management talk and you get a short breather before I start to attack you.” He stepped over to Alden and grinned. In Big Snake mode, Instructor Waker was so tall and wide it made Alden feel like a child standing in front of an adult. And the superhero vibes were strong, even though the instructor was in the same gray unitard as everyone else. Alden felt a tiny thrill through his tiredness. Big’nLittleSnake was about as famous as an Avowed could be without being a hyperbole, and on top of that, he had been considered extremely kid friendly prior to the tank-punching incident. An insanely strong morpher known for a larger-than-life personality, entertaining charity work, and nonlethal captures was hard not to like. Somewhere in the back of a cabinet in Connie’s kitchen, there was a cup with pictures of Big Snake on it that would turn into Little Snake when you added cold drinks. “You’ve got a magic shield,” the instructor said to Alden. “That’s about as classic as a self-defense skill can be. But what do you have without the magic shield?” “Not much,” Alden said. “That’s right! You can use your wits and your muscle, but even then, you’ve got a lot more options for using those things when the magic shield is up and running. So what’s the most important thing for you, as an Avowed, in a fight or a disaster?” Alden didn’t know why this felt like a trick question. “Not losing my shielding skill?” “Right! Only it might be better to say the most important thing is getting the job done without dyin’. You’ve all got to know how to treat your power like a finite resource. You’ll get stronger here at school, but you’ll never get so strong you can win every fight by just flinging your power around however you like.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Even if you get strong enough to beat every last problem we’ve got here on Earth…there’s bigger problems.” Oh, thought Alden. Good. He was relieved a faculty member had finally addressed it. They were in superhero school, but it was starting to feel weird that the older Avowed hardly ever referenced off-planet work. I know I’m overly concerned with what’s going on out there. And I’m in a different situation from most people because I’m probably going to be unusually useful in that capacity one day. But I was starting to feel like I was crazy… “What if a criminal runs from you?” Instructor Klein had asked earlier. What if a demon runs toward me? Alden had thought. Smiling, Instructor Marion had said, “You need to learn maneuvering and positioning so you can—“ Escape from demons. “In later courses, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about structural integrity,” Instructor Fragment had told them. “Because—” Because chaos eats and mutates fucking everything. It was like everyone else was talking about the weather while Alden had a disturbed man wearing a sandwich board in his head that said, “Beware of moon-sized demons devouring Earth and the End of Days!” Like Haoyu’s mom, Big Snake got summoned a lot. And considering his skillset, it probably wasn’t for waiting tables at college parties. Maybe it made sense for him to be the one to bring it up. “You ought to be trying to exhaust your levelable talents often,” Big Snake was saying. “And your spell impressions…oh, uh…the one’s that won’t bankrupt you.” The last was said in response to Everly going white as a sheet and clutching her bottle of blue powder like the instructor might steal it from her. “Whether you have gym or not, find ways to burn ‘em out. Learn ‘em. Know how much you can do with them before you hit fatigue. This quarter we’re still getting to know your talents and you’re still getting to know them yourselves. In gym courses after this one, you’ll be expected to manage your skill usage better so that you’re finished about the same time the class is. Understanding how far you can push your magic before you lose it is a lifesaver.” He looked around at them all. “Now let me show you why you don’t want to come to my session without your powers.” He bent down toward a large cardboard box at his feet and pulled out a tennis ball. It looked small in his hand. “I’ve been workin’ on my pitching accuracy this month!” He started stretching out his right shoulder. “We’re going to die,” Kon whispered. Nobody disagreed with him.

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