Chương 34: R&R Ch. 34 — Tomes and Packing

Nicholas was packing when his mentor interrupted him for some unknown reason.

"Yes, Rend?" Nicholas asked, poking his head out of his room.

"I have going away presents since you all decided that you needed to leave," Rend said, hand on his hip while holding two books in the other arm.

"We didn't decide to leave, we were told to, and it's not like we saw you," Jasmine said, arms crossed.

"Yes, but because of my brilliance, you two are going to be leading the charge against the Beyonders, so I think we can all agree that I am a fantastic mentor." Nicholas shrugged; there was something to be said about on the job training, and he had gotten a lot of that, so he couldn't disparage it fully.

"Now you two having naturally gotten your gates know that belief, the power we wield, and karma are all connected, yes?" Rend asked as he led them to the front room.

"Yeah?" Jasmine said, playing along.

"Well, for us higher ranks, there are methods you can use to use belief and karma in combat. In fact, those techniques you used to change the qualities of your power? Those are generally considered baby's first techniques." Rend explained, gesturing for them to sit.

"So you're going to teach us in the four hours before we leave?" Nicholas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pfft, I don't know how to teach you that shit, but I do have books on it, I carefully selected these techniques for each of you," Rend said, handing each of them a book so that they could peruse at their leisure.

"And while I'm well aware that you two are going to share behind my back, don't look for the other one's technique yet. This is beyond your pay grade. So I picked easy ones compatible with your current styles." Nicholas held the book in his hand thinking this was one of the few times he had seen Rend serious, and it would be better to learn this now than trying to learn both, he supposed.

"I won't, not yet, at least."

"Same."

"Good, now this is earlier than I had been hoping so I won't let my teammates fall apart in the first place without some safety measures." Rend pulled out two necklaces, handing one to each of the young heroes. Both were emblazoned with a charm of a sword cutting through space.

"Break it and I will be there." Nicholas nodded.

"Thank you."

"You were planning on us handling a wave?" Jasmine asked, latching onto a different piece of information.

"What is the easiest recorded wave in history?" Rend asked.

"The one Brynhild handled about a century ago," Jasmine answered instantly.

"She handled it all on her own, unlike this city where we're just going to bunker down. The enemies are a step above you just for the general chaff. We'll try again next time." Rend shrugged. Nicholas thought it was a little ridiculous. The absolute devastation needed to do something like that would be ridiculous. Even the strongest E wouldn't be able to cut through a wave of baby Beyonders. Quantity is a quality all on its own.

"Why do you not teach us?" Jasmine asked out of nowhere.

"Because I think the best foundation is one forged on your own direction. I could prop you up, but really if your strength and your ability comes from what I propped you up on and not your own will and direction, how are you going to handle it?" Rend asked, eyes sparkling.

"Once you two reach E we're going to be speeding up your training. And traveling again." Nicholas considered that for a moment before deciding that tracked. They clearly needed more karma to rank up, and there were only so many people in the city that they could save. At that realization, he had a thought for a moment, but quickly brushed it aside; it wouldn't make sense if that were the case.

"Well, if the wave is as expected, we'll rank up," Jasmine mumbled, pulling a knee to her chest.

"Yes, this will actually put us ahead of schedule," Rend agreed.

"You two need not worry; you are valuable enough that other heroes will watch over you even if the entire area you're in charge of collapses. You'll be saved. And before that happens, you have the ability to call on me, so everything will turn out fine." Nicholas mulled that over for a second before deciding that he hated the words of comfort. Though he was wondering if the both of you are important line was directed to them because he had value, or because he was Jasmine's partner.

He had narrowed down the list of people he thought could be the hero; she was a descendant of but he had genuinely not put much thought into it recently. Jasmine stood up, glaring at their mentor.

"We're not going to let the area collapse, and if it comes to saving us or saving more people, you better pick the people." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Rend looked at Jasmine.

"Does that go for both of you?" he asked, eyes flicking to Nicholas. Nicholas stood up, taking his partner's side.

"There's no need to choose me, because I'm going in with my eyes wide open."

"That's the answer I want to hear," Rend said, smiling at them fondly.

"Now, is there anything I can do to help move your stuff?"

"No, all of it is going into my soul space. I can't bring others inside, but our luggage is easy," Jasmine said with a shake of the head.

"Worst-case scenario, it's another two weeks of waiting, plus however long the wave actually lasts. We'll be back before you know it. So good luck getting more hype clips than us," Nicholas said to his mentor.

"You think the two of you can beat me?" Rend asked, chuckling.

"Wait, why is it the worst-case scenario that we have two more weeks to prepare?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm not a huge fan of hurry up and wait. And Rend? The fact that we're the young gun rookies punching up means even our mid-performances will be over hyped." Nicholas said before returning to his room. He wasn't done packing yet. Though first we was going to take a crack at the book he had been given. Figuring out how to use it fast would be to his benefit. After he finished getting the basics from the tome, Nicholas could agree that it was perfect for him.

It was a belief-based technique that let you fast convert belief into power, though it was all temporary power and had to be used fast. But it was perfect for him. Nicholas went through power like it was water, with big workings wiping him out, or sustained workings that he held for as long as he could. Because belief couldn't run out, you could even theoretically keep this technique going on for all of eternity if you could manage it.

And if Nicholas couldn't manage that he would at least be able to refill his cup once to blast an attack out which would be more than enough in many situations. Though even from the basic exercises it had to make sure you were ready for the proper technique, were hard. He could do all the basic exercises, but they took a notable amount of his concentration. And he wasn't at the proficiency needed to move onto the next step for most of them.

"You done packing?" Jasmine asked, strolling in though his door had been open so he wasn't to upset." Playroom" All of the remaining things he needed packed flew into his bags.

"Done."

"So what are you working with?" Jasmine asked, sitting on his bed while he remained at his computer chair.

"Convert belief into power and he's right it would be less than ideal for you since it specializes in massive throughput." Nicholas nodded to the book where it was sitting on top of all of his now-packed stuff.

"You?"

"Imbues karma into techniques, it's similar to soul manipulation in a lot of ways and I think I can modify it to imbue karma into my weapons and armor." Jasmine nodded. Nicholas had a feeling that he would be less than compatible with it. Especially if it was a similar ration to the belief in that it was proportional.

"Ready?" Jasmine threw her head back, laughing.

"Are you?"

"Sure I am. I just think I'm likely to fail." Jasmine rolled her eyes as the duo worked to put all of Nicholas's stuff into her soul forge.

"How are you feeling about what Rend said?" Jasmine asked quietly.

"That we're important enough that the heroes would rather let the whole region we're defending collapse to save us? That part?" Nicholas asked sarcastically.

"Sorry that came across way more dickishly than I meant. I've been ignoring it."

"Yeah, I'm just glad that he said both of us and not just me," Jasmine admitted.

"We'll just make sure that nothing gets to that level." Nicholas promised.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. If it means I ruin my future growth, it'll be worth it to save people. I want to reach the peak so that I can do all I can. But I find the math simple. One me, or the few thousand people we're defending?"

"And here I thought you said you would drop me if I slowed you down."

"In that example you would be dropping me, and more than that there's a difference between slowing me down and making the sacrifice play," Nicholas said with a shrug.

"And it's different now."

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked, looking up at him.

"We were strangers back then, and I like to think we're friends now."

"We are definitely friends now." Both of them packed and, not needing to go, they went back to their man conversation topic of the past week on the schedule and positioning of heroes. Though this time it was about their own deployment, they had come to an agreement on what they should do, but neither of them liked it that much. They would be on the shift with the least amount of E-ranks as a floater to help deal with problems.

But they were also going to give everyone strict orders for them to be woken up if they were needed. The plan was to get other supers to join them in that category of quick-time reaction force, but the number of people who qualified was low. They needed to be strong enough to punch through groups of rank threes. They needed to be mobile enough to react and move to target locations. Be capable of powering through the constant drain of focus and resources.

And they had to not need extra rest requirements, which wasn't an uncommon side effect of abilities or paths. In their realistic estimations, they only qualified together as a duo and only by the barest technicalities of what they could do at the limit of their ability. But it was important, and they figured it would be inspiring to see their leaders fighting so hard so they would bear the burden.

"I think we should get Sparky to join," Nicholas said out of the blue.

"That loser? What exactly could he offer that we need?" Jasmine asked.

"He's actually a lot better at fighting monsters because he doesn't need to worry about hurting normal people. He can just scorch-earth the place. He can fly, can energize himself with his powers to keep his mental focus up." Nicholas explained. Jasmine thought about it before acquiescing.

"Add him to the list." They couldn't check the computers, but both had made an effort to memorize as many of them as possible, splitting the load between them. There would be times during the wave where they couldn't go to a terminal to check before relaying commands. Both of their phones buzzed simultaneously.

"Guess that's our ride," Jasmine said, standing up.

"Let's do this." As they left the base and approached the flying car they would be taking, Rend stopped them.

"Give them hell."