Jack slowly woke up from a long and deep sleep. As he opened his eyes, he felt confused and unsure where he was. He slowly got up and placed his elbow on the ground to support his upper body. His eyes rested, and he slowly remembered all that had happened. The dimensional jump. The creatures. This cave. It was a lot to take in.
Fortunately, it seemed like nothing had happened while he was asleep. The boulder was still blocking the entrance, and his makeshift leather bed was still fully intact.
When he entered the cave, he was so tired that he did not take a closer look around, but now that he had a good night’s sleep, he took a look around. The cave was narrow like a subway train, and it seemed to extend further into the mountain than he had initially expected. He could walk approximately 5 metres into its depth, after which it would become too narrow for him to stand. If he were to crawl, he could probably move 10 metres in total, but then he would be too big to fit. “I should be more careful next time,” he thought to himself and wondered if there were snakes or dangerous insects in this area.
Of course, he could easily break the cave apart with his Sym-powered strength, but he didn’t want to risk destroying his newly found home in case the ceiling ended up collapsing. “Alright, let’s check out what’s going on outside,” he said to himself.
“Good morning,” the assistant said.
“Hey, assistant!” Jack exclaimed with joy and surprise in his voice. “I dreamt about you!”
“I am aware of that. I can read your memories. Unfortunately, I am not as omnipotent as I was in your dream, since I do not possess such features,” the assistant noted.
“Obviously, but you were kicking ass! Where were you all this time?” Jack asked.
“I had to go into sleep mode and recharge since unexpected events occurred during the dimensional jump. It seems that the trajectory of this planet in relation to its solar system had been slightly altered over the past 5,000 years, which was not within my expectations. I assume that such a situation was caused by asteroid impacts that have occurred in the past or any other external intervention. After performing the dimensional jump and arriving in the previously expected location, I had to recalculate and perform an additional short-distance jump to reach the location you woke up in. This did not require excessive energy due to the close proximity, but it exceeded the energy I had reserved for the jump. I also had to compromise slightly, which forced me to drop you from a height of approximately 10 metres instead of placing you safely above ground,” the assistant explained.
“That would explain all the pain I felt when I woke up! Well, you did your best, and we were lucky that all the bets paid off at all,” Jack said aloud while pacing around his cave, enjoying having a conversation with someone else after years of isolation.
“I have read your memories and am aware of all that happened since you arrived on this planet. While you had incredible luck, you also executed exceptionally well and managed to be well-fed, protected, and even discovered an appropriate shelter. The fact that you were able to handle Sym energy this naturally was beyond my expectations,” the assistant said.
“I got really lucky with the dead creature, since I would not have had any food otherwise,” Jack responded.
“That is certainly the case, and I must say that you have also taken incredible risks during your trip across the plane, since the creatures that you have seen are incredibly dangerous. The humans on this planet, according to my latest knowledge, avoid this area entirely and generally refer to it as a death trap. While things might have changed in the past 500 years, I am not aware of any adult creature ever having been killed by humans, since they are that dangerous. Their skin is as tough as metal armour, and their speed is so fast that it can easily kill an army without them being able to organize and respond,” the assistant warned.
“I saw many of them, but they were far away. I kept my distance to be safe. I saw their freakish movements, too. They looked like someone kept messing with the play controls, sometimes being ultra-fast and sometimes super slow,” Jack said.
“You were right not to engage them in any way. Even the small creature that you found dead would have been lethal if it was healthy. Under normal circumstances, these monsters can sense humans within a distance of approximately 500 metres, even if their vision is obstructed. I do not have any data on how far their vision reaches in this fog, but normal humans only have a vision of 100 to 200 metres in this area, and with the creatures generally sensing them first. As a result, humans are usually killed before they even notice anything,” the assistant explained.
“I see, I’m glad I have such good vision then. It allowed me to stay clear from any danger,” Jack said.
“Yes, you were able to properly utilise Sym energy to heal your body and have even managed to use it in a proactive way. I can tell that none of your organs are in danger of toxicity and that your body seems able to tolerate high-density energy exceptionally well. Based on my data, you should normally only be able to store some Sym energy in certain parts of your body in low quantities, whereas the exact location would depend on your particular genetic modification. In your case, I do not detect any such restriction, and you even seem to be able to condense Sym energy and concentrate it to a high level,” the assistant said.
“Yes, I tried to go by intuition and ended up meditating and circulating the energy however it made sense to me. If I condense the energy in a body part, then this part gets strengthened. If you saw my memories, then you know how easy it was to slam through the rocks and dig for water! Absolutely incredible,” Jack exclaimed.
“Yes, this was a fascinating display of what high-density Sym energy is capable of. Based on my records, this level of strength is seen in creatures as well, since they utilize high-density Sym energy naturally. But it is curious that a human body has that potential,” the assistant added.
“But didn’t you say that there are millions of ability users on this planet? Some of them must have super strength, right?” Jack wondered.
“Storing Sym energy in the body is usually limited. To gain significant strength, Sym energy would need to be stored in larger body areas such as an entire arm or an entire leg. Just strengthening one muscle is not enough, since the bones, skin, and flesh would not be able to handle that force and would simply rip apart. Because you strengthened your entire body, you could break rocks without injuring yourself. According to my records, body strengthening typically takes a different form with more isolated features—examples include condensing Sym energy in the joints to increase arm speed or in the skin to create armour. There are very few recorded ability users who can display general strength like yours. Eyesight or hearing enhancements are more common and broadly useful in various occupations, while the most sought-after Sym energy abilities are those that store energy in certain parts of the brain, leading to more versatile abilities that surpass normal bodily limits,” the assistant explained.
“Is that where the explosions and teleportation come in? So what’s my ability?” Jack asked expectantly.
“That is correct. Storing Sym energy in the brain can give rise to such abilities for some people. As for your ability, it typically depends on which part of your body can handle Sym accumulation without toxicity. However, from what I can see, you do not have that restriction. I can only hypothesize why—possibly because you were exposed to Sym energy as a sperm cell in your original dimension and also in outer space. That might have introduced factors that do not exist here,” the assistant concluded.
“Wait, are you saying that I have all abilities?” Jack said, excitedly walking up and down his cave and snacking on some octopus meat.
“Technically, yes, but practically there are limitations. Let me first explain how these abilities manifest. In this world, a small part of the population can accumulate Sym energy somewhere in their body due to genetic modifications triggered by the low-density Sym energy permeating the planet. The location of Sym energy accumulation is partly random and partly hereditary. It is not uncommon for children to have a similar accumulation area as their parents, but it isn’t exact. According to my data, eugenics is widely practiced by many governments for that reason. But merely accumulating Sym energy is only the first step; turning this physical feature into a workable ability is a separate challenge, and some areas may not lend themselves to creating abilities,” the assistant explained.
“Wait, so abilities are created? I thought you could just shoot fire because you have the energy,” Jack said, disappointed.
“That is where the limitation appears. Imagine creating an ability like creating a technique. Having two legs does not mean you know how to execute a spinning back kick. Such a technique must be developed based on the structure and limits of human legs and hip movements. Abilities come about the same way. Once you identify the Sym-accumulation location, it’s up to creative insight to see what can be done with it,” the assistant said.
“Does that mean one person can have many or no abilities with just one affected area?” Jack asked.
“Exactly. Returning to the martial arts example, someone with well-trained legs might learn 100 different kicks, while someone with a very developed finger might not learn anything at all,” the assistant responded.
“Got it, so what’s a useless ability then, and how do you learn good ones?” Jack asked.
“A useless ability could be a person that can only accumulate Sym energy in the fat deposit of his right buttock. It would be challenging to make use of such a location in any meaningful way, which is why body accumulations are regarded as giving rise to the most useless of abilities, while brain accumulations are very sought after. It is also the reason why many families practise eugenics and aim to retain and strengthen their power by growing improved offspring with desirable traits. They also often keep secret training methods and documentation on the abilities to avoid them from leaking to the public. In this world, abilities are the most sought-after intellectual property. Two people with the same Sym energy accumulation area might be worlds apart in their abilities just because of the knowledge and training one has received. Abilities can only become useful with proper knowledge and training in this world,” the assistant explained.
“I see, so what is the process of learning the abilities?” Jack asked, genuinely interested.
“Let me explain what the general process in this world is, since the inhabitants have been cultivating varying abilities for hundreds of thousands of years during many eras and civilizations. At the ages of 6 to 8 years, most children will start to have assessment classes as part of their normal educational program, but how exactly this is done varies greatly from culture to culture. Wealthy families will often hire private tutors at even earlier ages to identify which abilities the children can manifest and to train them in their use. Once the area of accumulation has been identified—which is intuitively sensible for the children—they will be categorized in different classes, namely those for body and for brain accumulation. Body accumulation classes are often disregarded, since they are seen as broadly useless, although there are exceptions. In body accumulation classes, the children are encouraged to strengthen the respective body parts and experiment with the applications that emerge. Eye and ear accumulation are highly sought-after examples, since they are valuable in many industry and military fields. Even mouth and nose accumulation are valuable in culinary fields and in areas that require hunting or smell detections. Any accumulation in other body parts is less useful from a societal perspective, but it can still be useful for the individual. As an example, strengthening organs such as the heart or lungs can increase cardiovascular health and even lead to impressive athletic feats. Strengthening the liver and kidneys can lead to broad poison resistance. There have also been records of some inhabitants reporting great results from the strengthening of their genitals in varying ways,” the assistant noted sheepishly.
“I bet!” Jack exclaimed while laughing. “So what about the brain accumulation classes?”
“These are the most prestigious, not only in terms of the classes but in society as a whole. Those lucky individuals who can accumulate Sym energy in their brain and are able to generate a useful ability are guaranteed to be wealthy and have an exceptional social standing, no matter what they decide to do with their life. But it is estimated that only approximately 10% of all inhabitants will have a useful ability, with approximately 9% being in the brain accumulation and 1% being in the body accumulation class,” the assistant responded.
“That sounds tough. So how do the brain people learn abilities?” Jack asked.
“That is rather an art than a science. There is no inherent way of determining the type of ability based on observation, as it would be for body accumulation. If you can accumulate the energy in your heart, it is obvious what the result would be, since the function of the heart is clear, but for brains, areas often conduct multiple functions and there are many overlaps. Even if certain parts of the brain have been greatly investigated, abilities can be unpredictable. But this is a blessing in disguise, since it means that the quality of the abilities is often only limited by the imagination, and that even those who lack the resources and knowledge can make groundbreaking discoveries. It is true that the knowledge gathered by families who keep their research secret is valuable, but it is not uncommon for a young adult with no training to discover a new ability just based on experimentation and curiosity. In fact, the first report of the ability to teleport came from a small rural village in which a child desperately tried to climb an apple tree to pluck a fruit, only to find itself failing repeatedly. After a few attempts, it intuitively developed the ability to teleport itself onto the tree. Unfortunately, the child was so scared that it fell from the tree and lost its life shortly after. It was only the bystanders who were able to report what they had witnessed,” the assistant explained.
“That’s quite messed up. So these abilities are dangerous to the host as well…” Jack said, deep in thought.
“That is correct. Having an ability does not automatically guarantee protection from its effects. There are numerous records of those succumbing to their own abilities—people who can create flames but burn themselves alive in the process, those with a strengthened heart having it explode upon overexertion. There are even reports of individuals losing their sanity or gaining brain damage as a result of Sym energy accumulation in the brain. It is remarkably common in old age, once the body’s metabolism and healing rate slow down,” the assistant responded.
“Oh, wow—am I in danger?” Jack asked, his eyebrows raised.
“I will be monitoring your health status at all times and notify you if there is any cause for concern. I have developed a hypothesis suggesting that you might not be affected by Sym energy recoils or excess, due to the simple fact that you strengthen your entire body instead of just a single area. By increasing the strength but also the resilience of all body parts, they are less likely to be damaged by one boosted body part. If you were to create fire, you can protect your entire body from the flames. This is only a hypothesis at this stage, and I will have to observe how the Sym energy is used by your body in practice. There can be many exceptions, especially in brain accumulations, since the Rasp have not documented the cause of the negative symptoms associated with Sym energy. But I have noticed that even when you were sleeping, your Sym energy kept circulating in the microcosmic orbit pattern that you have practiced during your meditation. It is a curious thing, since it operates and circulates autonomously even when you are not focusing on it. I expect that this could add a protective effect regarding ability usage in the future as well, but more data is needed,” the assistant explained.
“Does that mean I meditate even when I don’t meditate?” Jack asked.
“Technically, the circulation is the same, since the Sym energy wanders up your spine into your head and then down your front side into your belly, then down to your pelvis and back up your spine. But as the energy is circulating on autopilot, the density of your Sym energy does not change and remains at the same level. If you consciously circulate, as you have done during our conversation, then the density increases. So I am recommending that you continuously increase the density of the Sym energy, since I cannot measure any adverse effects but can track an increase in strength. I also postulate that it protects you in various ways against external and internal ability use,” the assistant explained.
“Got it. I actually enjoy the meditation, so I’m glad that it’s helpful,” Jack said as he drank water from his leather bag. “So, let’s get going and see if we can find a city and some clothes. These leather pants look absolutely horrendous, and I smell like fish all over. How far are we from the next city?”
“Since my data is 5,000 years old, I have no information on the current state of human civilization on this planet. Due to the emergency situation upon our arrival, I also had to send you to a location that is much closer to the center than I had originally anticipated. According to my calculations, we are approximately 1,500 kilometres away from the nearest low-density Sym energy region. If you were to walk this distance, then it would take at least a month or more to leave this high-density zone. But I cannot predict how far the next city will be from here,” the assistant explained.
“I think I can strengthen my legs and just jump there in a few days, shouldn’t that work?” Jack asked.
“Theoretically, that would be possible, but I suggest that we first walk and give you enough time to practice your abilities before using them for prolonged periods. If you were to sprint or jump for extended periods and then slipped up even once while not paying attention, you could be crippled or die on the spot. You can imagine it as driving a sports car at full speed in a crowded city—mistakes are likely, since your reflexes are not trained for such high-speed movement. We should focus on two important things: dealing with creatures and building your abilities. You will have to fight some creatures in order to eat, and you will also not have the luxury of avoiding them if you must move in a straight line to reach your goal. You will have to build your abilities in order to find a way to return to your home planet, since it will be important for dimensional travel. In fact, the Rasp were fascinated by abilities caused by Sym energy, and even though they had already developed teleportation and dimensional jump technologies, Sym energy presented a new approach to the same problem,” the assistant explained.
“Got it, then let’s get going. I already ate all the food and my water is almost empty as well,” Jack said as he removed the boulder and got a good look outside. The environment looked the same as he had remembered: a purple fog, dark purple rocks on the ground, and many small and large craters. He assumed these craters might have been created by the creatures, since they could easily destroy rocks just like he did when he was searching for water. On his walk the day before, he had seen plenty of creatures fighting and breaking entire mountains in two. “Actually, do these creatures also have brain Sym energy and strange abilities, or are they just strengthening their bodies?” Jack asked the assistant.
“I do not have data on this, but I hypothesize that they do also have brain accumulation. Due to their low intelligence compared to humans, I would expect them to have difficulty manifesting any sophisticated abilities such as teleportation, since they would need to train for long periods. It could also be that their brains lack the specific regions that could give rise to such abilities. According to the data gathered by the Rasp, these creatures are too simple for that type of cultivation. Although, some Rasp researchers reported outliers in the creature population that did show higher intelligence, especially those that were merged with sperm whales, orcas, or dolphins,” the assistant responded.
Jack took a few more steps around and noticed that it was brighter than the day before. It seemed that even in this desolate hell of a place, there were daylight hours, even if the sun had trouble reaching through the thick fog. By his own estimation, his vision had extended to approximately 3,000 metres, which he attributed to his continuous circulation of Sym energy.
As he bowed down to stretch his legs, a faint shadow formed around him, and before Jack could wonder what it might be, he heard a loud screech echoing through the mountains around him.
“Damn,” Jack said as he looked up.