82. Forty-Three Hours Left

Forty-Three Hours Left

Putting one point into Strength filled every muscle in my body with more power. It felt like a surge of adrenaline, or a powerful performance enhancer.

My body tightened, changing even as the additional strength took hold.

The second point doubled the effect. My palms widened by the tiniest amount, my fingers lengthened, and my arms grew thicker.

The changes were not obvious, but I had already reached the upper limit of the body size I preferred, and I had no idea how strong I would need to become.

The third point brought me closer to winning my contest with the immense weight above me, but even after Grandma Lin poured the last of her repair magic into the problem, I was still slowly losing.

Grandma Lin might not look impressive, but when her magic was in full effect, a third of the pressure came off my shoulders.

I acted quickly, before my body’s changeable state had time to stabilize. I spent the remaining points on Agility and Spirit, and the outward changes began to reverse.

The muscles swollen by Strength compressed back to their previous size, increasing in density both physically and metaphysically, maintaining a relative balance between superhuman power and flexibility.

Bone and ligament shifted with them, then softer tissues followed.

I was fairly sure I now weighed twice as much as a human of the same build, and any doctor who examined my internal structure carefully would probably have a heart attack. Which would be inconvenient for everyone, especially the doctor.

My muscles remained as flexible as ever, even more flexible in some ways, but when acted upon by outside force, they responded as if they were harder than steel.

It was similar to the hardening effect of non-Newtonian fluids. How much of it came from physics and how much depended on magic was anyone’s guess, because apparently reality had decided to become a group project.

I did not feel different. In fact, after a few subtle adjustments to my skin, hair, and facial features, I felt better than ever.

The arms and hands bracing the ceiling above me no longer looked like those of a retouched supermodel.

They were so symmetrical and perfect that no cosmetic specialist or photographer could have given the most beautiful person on Earth the same effect.

The ceiling shuddered again in an aftershock, but held.

I drained my stamina reserves and used Nearby Object Manipulation to enchant the ceiling into holding itself up.

Then I slid several meters along the crack, added a second Nearby Object Manipulation effect, and then a third.

Only after I was certain it could support itself did I let go and drop into the wrecked dining hall.

“What?” I asked, realizing almost everyone was staring at me.

About half the soldiers whose weapons I had enhanced were also gaping.

“Dear, you looked like an angel while holding up a collapsing building,” Grandma Lin told me with a wise nod.

“And everyone else currently looks like…” She gestured at the dust-covered, sweating, bruised, and occasionally bleeding people around us. “…this. Meanwhile, your hair is perfect, and you are wearing a rather… small towel.”

“Right. That wasn’t intentional,” I muttered, flushing bright red while also being pleased by the compliment.

“Can we go kill whoever ruined our morning break now?”

“I fucking hate those bastards,” Chi Li growled, and her words crackled with fire. “Could they not have waited a few more hours before summoning their new thing?”

Looking up at the distant, two-thousand-meter-tall tower wreathed in lightning, and remembering my interrupted bath, I immediately approved of her mood.

Judging by the dust clouds rising across the city, roughly half the buildings still standing had just collapsed.

Even the most stubborn among us would have to give up on rebuilding here.

We spent hours rescuing everyone and everything we could from the destroyed base. At least I had my Super Suit back on, which meant I no longer attracted open-mouthed…