Chapter 7: Testing Developments

Jaeger woke up a little groggy next to Alexandra. She was already awake and brought him a cup of Joe. He smiled and drank it slowly back and popped some pills into his mouth before swallowing them down.

Solomon took a while to leave his bedroom from Ana until he saw Jaeger, Jack, and Malcom tapping their hands on their arms outside his door.

Rubbing his neck, "I uh…" he didn't have a lot to say.

They all walked down to the Café and got a table, it was the early morning and not even Alexandra's dad was up yet.

Jaeger looked at the 5 people in front of him.

Solomon the density knight.

Ana the healer.

Jack the brawler.

Malcom the pickpocket and eyes and ears.

Alexandra…Alexandra?

"Hey, what powers or skills do you have?" Jaeger had never asked her before.

She laughed, and then clapped her palms together before opening them again like a book causing a small pillar of fire to shoot up into the air and then turn into a ball of flame.

"My dad always told me to hide it…but we got quite the affinity for Fire within magic, for me it is a mind type so I can conjure fire to be manipulated." Jaeger sat deeper into his chair, "Red hot temper…it all makes sense now…"

"What did you say?" Her eyes blazed with fire, causing him to look the other way and try to hide behind a puff of smoke.

Within the world relating to magic and not powers, there were certain forms in which that magic was used by people. People with a mind vessel for magic could control the elements or certain things telekinetically. Whereas those with a body vessel had to be in contact with that which they manipulated, and thus people like Jack were reliant on a good medium to manipulate that energy with. Mind and body. Two separate things, but countless possibilities.

However to further confuse it all, some people had very specific things their affinities did. Some could only manipulate ice, others water, some gas. For others, rock or stone, or fire or magma. It all depended on the combination of affinities you had and what was most prominent when you were born.

Genetics.

Alexandra had a pure fire lineage, and with a mind vessel: a good control over the element of fire.

Jaeger had always wondered why her dad could cook things so perfectly! Fuck!

"Only…it ain't a lot that I can manipulate, about a 5 foot square." Jack nodded, "It usually is like this…most people only have a certain limit when they are born, and this will expand as they grow older and train. Don't fret, one day you might manipulate something the size of this room."

Alexandra nodded, her dad had said this too. The reason he was so fervent on someone like Jaeger marrying his daughter was to protect her from the city.

"Well I can't let you one up me…if what I talked about with Solomon is set in stone…I might as well tell you all" Everyone gave him a weird look, is he going to make his frog appear?

Indeed, he did. With it, as he lifted his hand 3 little lines appeared on the back of his hand.

"Lately…I seem to have grown a dormant power within me…" A lie, but not far from the truth, "Like my frog…I seem to be able to pull material into myself and become it" Looking around he grabbed onto a long rod of iron that acted as a bar for the windows. Soon it slowly disappeared through his arm and the 3 lines that were there changed, now there was 2 lines and a strange symbol.

Slowly Jaeger's skin darkened until it was a matte black. He grabbed a fork and clanked it against his skin with a tap.

"Holy shit"

"Dude…"

"Fuck what they call that…"

"It is equal to the proportion I take in, but it is all or nothing…I have guessed the three lines apply to 3 different things, first the skin, the second muscle, and the third bone. I know what you may ask and…fire, water, air, metal, and miscellaneous material like rubber…I have tried those so far"

Solomon couldn't help but ask, "What happens when you do all three lines?"

"Well…it seems that my body either imitates or becomes that material, for rubber it seems I mimic its elasticity and bounciness…with 1, my skin becomes water proof and repellant, the second my muscle becomes elastic and flexible, and all 3 I call it full rubber where even my bones can bend…I can bounce and take hits pretty damn hard. Somehow, it doesn't affect my mind, the functions of organs…doesn't make sense."

"Metal?" Alexandra asked.

"Well much like rubber…Metal skin, then metal skin and muscle, and then metal bone. I weigh a hell of a lot more, and I am way slower… but fuck am I a chunk of metal so go figure right?"

"Fire?" She asked right after.

"See there shows the flaws…if I change my skin to fire it merely becomes quite warm, muscle to fire my skin turns hot as an iron over a fire, and all 3 fire…well I set on fire. I can't control it what so ever, so my clothes catch, anything around me catches, I can't transfer the fire…its shit." Alexandra nodded, he had a pile of burnt clothes in the room he was going to throw away and now it made sense why they had been there.

"Water, well it's the same…I start to give off a lot of water, if I cut myself I can heal up using the water but it dries me out…as if it is taking the water from my body itself. Again…shit…I almost dehydrated myself to death trying it out. Earth allows me to become like rock, but I become heavy like real heavy…heavier than even metal for some reason, and slow as hell. For air it's the opposite, I become light as a feather but it also means I can't punch a damned thing. I have no inertia, I am just weightless."

Solomon was intrigued, "This is like having a bunch of powers though…like a jack of all trades, and it is quite interesting actually. What happens when you combine different things?"

"See I haven't tried that yet…" The metal faded out, changing part of the floor into iron as if it had melted away.

"Babe…sorry about not telling you" Alexandra laughed.

"Ohh pfsh" Jaeger laughed back.

Malcom had been silent the whole time, within his eyes he had seen a strange type of magical energy spread across Jaeger. This was magic!

"I saw magical energy around you though…how could a power use this."

Jaeger forgot about Malcom's power to see magical energy but had a lie for this too, "It seems I can just attract the energy…my frog is limited to regular material but of course the person it comes from might not be" Malcom nodded, this actually made sense since Jaeger was far bigger and human even in comparison to some small frog.

"Well if we are going to approach finding out about the fog, shouldn't you find out? You didn't say lighting or electricity, have you tried that? Wood too? What about combining one thing with another? Like rubber and metal? Will you become durable and yet elastic?" Jack finally spoke up with a string of questions causing Jaeger to nod.

Alexandra looked over to a light socket with a devious grin, "You heard it…let's try electricity heh" Jaeger had a bad feeling, but at least coming from her it sounded playful.

They strapped him to a chair and stuck a wire with its end cut into a socket. Jaeger clenched his teach on a wooden spoon as everyone surrounded him, Alexandra's dad finally came down the steps and was making coffee half-awake as he looked out to the group about to electrocute a man strapped to a chair.

He blinked a couple times, "Hey Alexandra…can you run the shop today, I had a long night" He closed his eyes near to shut, drank his coffee and walked back up the steps as if he hadn't seen anything. 'Aw being young was so nice once…' He laughed on his way up.

Everyone had turned to him, looked at each other and then continued back to what they were doing albeit laughing inside.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaeger nodded and two wires each were placed on his arms. At first the shock was unbearably painful like being stabbed all over with a cattle prod willingly. Then, the line on his hand danced into the shape of a lightning bolt and let off a spark as it absorbed the energy. Jaeger had a strange feeling as his nerves calmed down; his mind began to accelerate at an increased speed. He bore through it and spit out the wooden spoon now that he wasn't frozen in pain, "More…" He said through gritted teeth.

Jack shrugged and went over to another socket and plugged a cord into it before cutting off the end in a flash with his blade. He placed it on Jaeger with a grimace.

Everyone felt like they were torturing a grown man, and yet even Jaeger like everyone else was curious what would happen. With the change to the symbol, he had to continue on. People with powers did this, it was to test the limit you had. Unlike magic, you explored your power to the limit and then figured out the flaw and worked with it.

The second symbol slowly changed into a matching bolt, and Jaeger felt his accelerated mind that was processing information far faster link down into his spine via electrical signal. It was as if he could FEEL his nerves. Jaeger nodded for them to untie him, and stood up. His mind was far faster, and with a glance he could take in all of their postures and looks.

"Go to the other side of the room and throw a knife at me"

Jack walked off, while Alexandra gave him a puzzled look, "Be careful…" If it wasn't for this feeling, he wouldn't try this but he had to know.

Jack gave a thumb up and whipped a knife like an expert at Jaeger. Except under everyone's bewildered gaze he stepped to the side in a flash and caught it with his fingers.

"Electricity…no, I will call it lightning…Lightning one, increased mental capabilities and functions…it seems the abundance of electrical signals has allowed me to exceed my mental limits. Lighting 2, with both the accelerated mind…it links to the nerves of my body and increases my reaction speed. If I had a fast mind, now I have a body to be able to follow it. Lightning three…" Jaeger grabbed the wires in a bundle and shoved them into his chest, he blasted across the room from the amount of current hitting him and slammed into a wall.

However when everyone expected to see a body hit the floor, Jaeger had reappeared next to them.

"Increased…speed…wow…" Jaeger quite litterly disappeared from where he stood at the speed in which he was moving. It left an after image, and then they saw him appear on the other side of the room and begin to slow to a crawl.

"Okay…found the flaw…." Jaeger began to slow to a crawl until he looked like a worn out windup toy and then hit the floor.

Solomon picked him up, and brought him over to the chair before placing the wires back into his chest. Everyone looked at the back of his palm as the little bolts slowly filled up like a vain filling with color until they each glowed blue.

"Whoh…okay, so it seems the electricity has a limit of use. The more I move, the more electricity is used…" Jaeger pulled the wires off from his shirt, and then grabbed the end and leaked back out the electricity within him causing the symbol to change back into lines.

"It is like battery…if I use lightning one, one for how many lines I have on my palm…then with an accelerated mind, I can keep it going for a long while, with the body that time is cut in half and with 3 well…maybe a tenth."

Alexandra wrote this down in a small journal.

"Whats next?" Malcom asked sipping some bourbon as if he was watching a show.

Jack gave him a wry look, whereas Solomon nodded and joined him for a drink along with Ana.

"Well…metal and lightning then" Jaeger looked around for a conductive metal and settled on a large copper table. It thinned out, but there was enough to cover him all. The same strange symbol for metal appeared on his hand. Jaeger walked back over to the wires and tapped them against his skin, causing his body to twitch slightly but he was used to it now. The symbol on his palm slowly changed to lightning.

"Well?"

Jaeger thought for a while, many thoughts danced across his mind as he moved and swayed.

"Nothing…it seems I can have both though, and pulling in the electricity was much faster, in fact I can hold much more as well." He grabbed the wires again and moved them against his copper skin causing sparks to fly.

"Alright…Metal one, lightning two…" He walked over to the copper table and hovered his hands over it. Ana ran around and snuffed or turned out the lights. Everyone looked intently before them in the dark room until.

*crackle* *boom*

Arcs of electricity danced off Jaegers hands and struck the table dissipating outwards. However soon he slowed down to a crawl and jack caught him setting his heavy body into a chair before placing the wires back on him.

"It takes just as much energy as three lighting…to discharge electricity…seems it's like giving out what I took in…in a different way…" One of the symbols for lighting had disappeared from his hand, but the first had stayed. It seems it wanted a minimal amount to continue to function, like a subconscious limit block.

Alexandra nodded, writing down the combination.

Jaeger touched the wire letting go of the last lightning symbol from his hand before walking over to the stove. He clicked the burner on, and set a metal plate onto it.

"Is this how you do it?" Solomon asked peering over curiously.

"Yeah…can't be just flame, has to be the energy it passes through…like conduction." He nodded and set his hands upon the plate, and much faster than the electricity a small symbol like a ball of flame appeared on his palm, as the heat increased a second one popped up.

"Test two…metal one, fire two…" Jaeger looked at his body, and everyone started to smell something Smokey.

Jaeger's skin was becoming hot, the copper skin began to give off a glow.

"Copper has a medium melting point compared to other metals…it seems to contain the fire within far better, but still I cannot control the heat no matter how hard I try. It's good to note though that this is a safe limit…" Jaeger placed his hands back on the stove and dissipated the symbols for fire.

"Uh…" He diipped his hands in a bowl of water, "Nothing…"

He walked over to stone, "Nothing…"

He focused on the air around him, "Nope…"

Tried rubber, "Nope…"

Tried so many different things that everyone ran out of ideas of what mixed with metal, or versa with heat or electricity.

Solomon was quite surprised by a power like this, although there weren't endless combinations, not all materials in the world were here to try. Certain special metals could definitely mix with something if they had enough of it, Jaeger was certainly becoming an interesting person. For saving his girlfriend Ana, who he would've walked into hell for he owed Jaeger quite a lot. It also deepened his trust for the man who was the same age as him.

"Alright read off that list Alex…" Jaeger slumped down into a chair next to her.

She coughed like an announcer, "Through endless trials and experiments…F3…as I have changed them to be easier to say and read…f for fire…w for water…e for earth etc…m for metal…you get it…

F1, hot skin, F2 hot muscle, F3 flaming flesh that is uncontrollable no matter the direction.

W1 wet skin, W2 watery muscle, W3 pouring flesh, that can let him heal at the cost of the hydration of his body.

E1 rock skin, E2 rock muscle, E3 full rock body and very heavy with slow movement.

A1 lighter body, A2 even lighter body, A3 weightless and without inertia or force of blow.

M1 metal skin, M2 metal muscle, M3 full metal body…seems to be one of the best choices so far.

L1 quick thought, L2 quick reaction, L3 super-fast speed at the cost of stored electricity until you can't move at all.

M1L2 in the context of one part one and two parts lightning…can discharge electricity at the cost of what is stored.

M1F2, fire instead of lightning in ratio…skin of metal heats up, more depending on the type of metal and less the denser the metal…

Miscellaneous things, rubber body, wood body, leather body, plastic body which is as shitty as wood…glass, which is shittier then the last two…not enough paper, which is litterly a lesser form of wood…and nothing other than one part metal and 2 parts fire or lightning has worked so far."

"Alright…" Jaeger was settled with a lot of these things, and like Solomon said he hadn't tested all the materials out the in the world. Now that he knew, he was definitely settled on at least one part lightning at all times for increased mental capacities. He only needed a recharge every couple hours at best.

Jaeger looked over to Solomon, who shrugged, "We will have to deal with that fog I guess…it was fun watching you struggle and get shocked close to death though." He smirked. Jaeger gave him a sideways smile while puffing a cheek which caused him to laugh more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ana and Alexandra were chatting away in a corner.

Jack and Malcom came over sitting adjacent to the two. Jaeger got out his Vanilla smokes and wafted their smell near his nose like savory wine.

Everyone nabbed one, and lit it up in a cloud of smoke as they planned their next moves.

"Motive…our objective…and what would be left." Jack said flicking up three fingers. Jaeger pulled out a map of the city, with a bunch of X's marked in red across it.