Kain shivered from the cold as he stared down to the ground. He was currently hanging upside down from a tree branch near the top of a gigantic tree. He looked to the side and saw the macabre smile of a crucified squealer. In order to pass the time, he said, "Hey buddy, sucks to be up here, huh? Unfortunately, we both met a scary-ass woman, but it seems you had it worse."
Kain recalled what happened about an hour ago. Sylvia didn't even say another word after her threat and grabbed him with kinetic force and launched him out the tent. Then, he flew into the air upside down to where he currently was, and a rope quickly flew up soon after to tie him in place.
"If you dare move from this spot before I come back, I'll have you hanging naked!" said Sylvia as she went back into her tent.
Kain sighed and wondered how much longer he was supposed to stay out here hanging. He had already attempted to absorb the dead squealer next to him, but nothing happened. He guessed that the squealer was dead for too long.
His thoughts then turned to when he first woke up and saw his gigantic penis. He was so shocked and flustered at the time that he didn't even question why it had gotten that big in the first place. He was about to try and do some hanging sit-ups to get warmer, when all of a sudden, the rope started to untie itself.
Kain was about to curse because he thought his movement loosened it, but then he felt himself not falling and instead, floating down. He quickly looked over and saw a cold-faced Sylvia with her arms crossed. She was now dressed in her usual attire and she turned and started walking back to her tent. She called back, "Follow me."
Kain followed behind her at a measured pace, making sure he didn't follow too closely. They entered the tent and Sylvia pointed toward a chair and said, "Sit."
Kain sat down and Sylvia sat down directly across from him. She then said, "Tell me what your power is, and don't you dare lie as I have learned many things about you from others already."
"It seems like my power is absorption."
Upon hearing his answer, the cold facade dropped completely as she excitedly asked, "I was guessing it was transformation into whatever creature you touched! Absorption sounds even better! I'll forgive you completely for what happened earlier, if you describe in detail everything strange that occurred since you took the pill I gave you."
Kain happily complied. He talked about feeling dizzy in the hallway outside her office, about grabbing Jake's hand, about absorbing the blue pill and the ration pills, the sensation of his cells feeling engorged, the streams of power, absorbing through melee weapons, grabbing the squealer, and he even told everything about the strange dream world. He wanted to tell her everything because he was grateful for the rainbow pill he received.
Kain noticed that the longer he spoke, the more fervent Sylvia was appearing. Her eyes looked as if she wanted to gobble him up. Eventually, she even stood up and started hopping up and down like a little kid!
When Kain finally wrapped up, she finally couldn't take it anymore and pounced on him! She grabbed his arm and leaned really close to his ear. He felt her excited breathing tickle his ear as she whispered, "Remember our original deal about you giving your support and loyalty in return for the pill? Well, that deal is in full effect starting from this moment on, and you are mine for-ev-er!"
Kain shivered and was worried about a reaction occurring due to her actions, but she quickly sat back down in her chair and pulled up closer before saying, "I would like to share a few theories with you. As you know, I mentioned my background at Taria Academy and I have studied abilities and their applications extensively. Based on what I know, I would like to teach you a few things to help you develop your powers quicker."
She settled into her seat and assumed a lecturing tone, "When I first developed my telekinetic abilities, I couldn't control it at all. I would walk into a room and things would just randomly float up, even without me wanting them to. It was really frustrating because I couldn't go places and had to be cooped up at home in my room for this very reason.
My father guided me and told me the importance of desire and intention in terms of application of our powers. A strong will is needed to mold the powers to how you want them to act. He said to focus on pushing and pulling using my will. It took a while, but I was finally able to push and pull the floating objects around me.
Eventually, I was able to combine the two actions and was able to make objects dance around me in various patterns. The constant repetition helped me to develop control over my powers and it wasn't long before control over my powers became instinctive. I didn't have to think anymore to utilize my powers. It became as automatic as breathing to me."
She paused for a bit to let me digest what I had just heard, before she continued, "Your power is absorption. When you accidentally absorbed Jake's power, that is the equivalent of when objects flew up around me. You have no control yet and I'm sure you don't want to suck someone dry every time you touch them with your hands.
When you foolishly tried to absorb the squealer, you went way beyond the capacity of what your body could handle, causing you to lose consciousness. Do you recall when you were killing those 10 non-evolved zombies with your dagger? You gave yourself adequate time to absorb small streams and your power increased smoothly.
Start small and work your way up. Nibble, instead of bite. Experiment with a non-evolved zombie. Try to absorb after killing it, and then send the stream back into the dead body. Then absorb it back. Back and Forth. I'd even imagine that…oh shit."
It was at this point that Sylvia's eyes widened in shock and she couldn't speak. She stood up from the chair and started pacing back and forth worriedly. She looked at Kain before drawing her chair up close and putting her hand on his knee and saying, "Originally, I wanted to bring you back and show you off to my father. I knew that if you came back to Taria Academy, you would have the highest level of support to develop your power.
However, I just realized that I can't do this anymore. It is because I suspect that when your control is strong enough, you would even be able to transplant powers into others, which would be a groundbreaking ability as most people only have one unique power. Now that I think about it more, you must not let anyone know about your power until you are strong enough. Many will try to capture you so that you can mass produce people with multiple abilities."
Kain was stupefied. What Sylvia said made him both excited and scared and her theory made sense. If I could steal the powers of others, who wouldn't be jealous and scared of me?
"Kain, follow me." said Sylvia as she walked out the tent. Kain followed and when he got out, Sylvia floated into the sky along with Kain. They picked up speed and traveled for about 5 minutes at a breakneck speed. Finally, they stopped at an empty clearing. They floated down together and then Sylvia said to Kain, "Show me how strong you are right now. Attack my barrier."
A kinetic barrier shimmered into existence around Sylvia. Kain blinked and then charged forward and hit the barrier with all his strength.
*Thud*
A few ripples spread out on the barrier where the contact occurred before the barrier returned to normal.
Sylvia was flabbergasted and said, "Your attack just now was equivalent to knight tier at the upper range…close to 40x strength. Just this morning, weren't you only at 2x strength?"
Kain nodded in shock. He didn't know how Sylvia was able to gauge his strength, but he came to terms with it after he thought that she experienced plenty of attacks on the barrier and could probably determine power levels from the ripples.
"I don't think that is all you are capable of. Didn't you absorb the squealer's power? See if you can activate it and then attack."
Kain closed his eyes and concentrated. He thought about the feeling in the dream world when he was moving his hand through the image of the squealer. He felt a connection forming and then snapped his eyes open.
*CRACK-CRACK-CRACK*
Kain felt his mass increase explosively and in his immediate vicinity. Cracks appeared on the ground, spider-webbing across the ground. He then rushed forward and launched a punch at the barrier.
*BAM* *CRACK*
It was no longer ripples as a long crack appeared vertically from where Kain's fist had made contact. Sylvia's eyebrow was twitching incessantly, even more so than earlier that night. She slowly spoke:
"Guardian-tier…150x strength."