42. New Abilities

New Abilities

Unfortunately, after more than ten additional minutes of thinking, with the weight above us seeming to grow heavier by the second, no one came up with a safe way to leave the tunnel without risking further collapse, a large explosion, or both.

Beneath the ruins, given our time limit, fire magic and high-tech abilities simply could not solve the problem. Both Chi Li and Cheng Rui were willing to try some bizarre solutions, but I firmly refused.

If our escape was going to cost someone anyway, then I might as well shoulder the burden—figuratively and literally.

Name: Ye LinProfile: Female human, 17 years, 3 months, 12 days old

Abilities [5 available points / 46 total]Force Adjustment lv3Force Sense lv2Forcefield Creation lv2Forced Acceleration lv3Constant Force lv2Persistent Force lv2Progressive Regeneration lv3Proximal Manipulation lv3Super Suit lv1

Attributes [5 available points / 46 total]Strength 20, Agility 11, Intelligence 5, Perception 9, Spirit 11, Luck 2

The long battle, the sheer number of enemies, the danger we had faced, and the effort we had poured into overcoming all of it had greatly improved our abilities.

Chi Li could cast stronger, broader fire magic. Cheng Rui could manufacture his high-tech gear in minutes, repair it in seconds, and make it stronger than before.

As for my own abilities, I had originally planned to wait until we were safe, examine the list carefully, and choose what would benefit any long-term plan we made.

But as usual, that opportunity was nowhere in sight.

Again and again, limited time, immediate threats to myself or others, and my fear of whatever enemy I had just encountered forced me toward simple, direct, violent solutions.

Still, whether or not my current abilities were what I would have chosen with more freedom, I had come to rely on them.

Overwhelming enemies with raw power, withstanding their fiercest attacks, striking them with superior speed, or using force in new and effective ways—those things made me feel strong.

But this once, simple strength was not enough.

Freeing myself and my friends from the deathtrap we had fallen into required a little more practicality, and meant giving up the most immediate increases in power I might have taken.

First, though, I needed to invest in the attributes most useful for applying new abilities, in the hope of bringing the other two safely outside and through whatever tests surely waited for us when we emerged.

To plan the entire operation, I put one attribute point into Intelligence.

When my total Intelligence reached six, the change to my thinking was more obvious than before.

I did not suddenly become some titan of intellect, the sort of genius who could make absurd scientific breakthroughs like people in movies.

No new knowledge appeared out of thin air. Things I had never studied were not stuffed into my head.

But the things I had studied, I could now recall almost perfectly. I suspected I could apply them to everyday situations as quickly as a good engineer.

The instinctive environmental awareness I had built over years, combined with the awareness gained from enhanced perception, integrated cleanly with that knowledge—and now I could actually use it.

I could not solve complicated mechanical problems in the middle of a fight. But given a few minutes to think, I could see the best way to apply the abilities I had, even if those few minutes had to be spent holding up an increasingly heavy tunnel roof.

Speaking of which, I put one point into Agility and one into Spirit.

Immediately, I felt my reserves of physical and mental endurance deepen. Every muscle became more efficient and more controllable, while the discipline and will needed to use them grew stronger. My steadiness and balance matched the confidence and initiative in my decisions.

The change was smaller than the one from increasing Intelligence, but for escaping this tunnel that might become our grave—and for the fight that would follow—it…