9 – An Echo of Ancient Times

“Grab that chair,” Lucy said, pointing to the side of her trailer where a dust-covered folding umbrella and lawn chair leaned against the side. Andy walked over, picked it up, and then unfolded it in front of her. “Oh, it’s dirty,” Lucy said, pointing to the caked dust on the flexible slats.

Andy shrugged. “So am I.” He sat down with a sigh. “Hopefully, we can get back to normal human cleanliness soon.”

She made a funny face, reaching up to twist some of her hair around a finger. “Let’s just say I’m hoping for success when it comes to connecting the spring to the water tank.”

“Yeah, the public showers are cool and all, but…” Andy shrugged, opening up his status sheet and focusing on his list of attributes.

Lucy leaned forward again, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hand. “When you said, ‘Let’s do this,’ I got the impression you knew which attribute you wanted to use the Codex fragment on. Care to share?”

Andy shrugged. “I think any attribute will be valuable if taken to extremes, but right now, I’m imagining the fights I’ve had, and I can’t help but think speed is the way to go for me.”

“It would be valuable for defense and offense, I suppose. Though, we really don’t know what superhuman perception or strength or vitality—”

Andy chuckled, waving his hand to interrupt her. “Please! I’ll never make up my mind if we keep speculating.”

“Okay, just bite the bullet, huh?” She smiled, and it looked cute with her chin pressed into her hand, scrunching up her bottom lip.

“That’s right.” Andy opened the slender Codex book and peered at the strange glyphs on the first page. As they began to shift in his vision and then stream toward his eyes, the System sent him a message:

***You’ve activated a rare Codex fragment: Fracture the Limit. This is a one-time-use ritual. When performed with intent and clarity of purpose, it will allow you to push a single skill, spell, or attribute beyond its natural limit. The result will be immediate and may lead to evolution, divergence, or the emergence of new potential. Performing the ritual will remove it from your consciousness. Do you wish to absorb this fragment?***

Andy paused. He’d forgotten about the second part of the message. When Lucy saw him hesitate, she cleared her throat and asked, “Something wrong?”

“It says the ritual ‘may lead to evolution, divergence, or the emergence of new potential.’ I’m cool with new potential, but…” Andy didn’t want to describe the twisted image of Sheila, his former neighbor, as it flashed through his mind.

“But you don’t want the System to suddenly decide you’re a mutant?”

Andy chuckled. “Something like that.”

“When the System first came here, it warned us all about mutations. I don’t recall it ever mentioning divergence or evolution. Though I guess, scientifically, evolution is related to mutations, right?”

“That’s what I remember from class, yeah.”

“Anyway, it’s framing it in a different light. It sounds more positive to me.”

Andy contemplated her words along with the System’s message. He didn’t have to be a guinea pig, did he? He could offer the Codex fragment to the settlement. Someone would be willing to use it… He pushed the cowardly thought aside. He wouldn’t let someone else use it, not if his motivation was fear. Besides, there was no way to tell how rare “limit breaker” treasures were. For all he knew, it might be like handing someone a billion-dollar lottery ticket.

“Okay, Andy,” he muttered, oblivious of Lucy’s slight, amused smile, “let’s do this.”

As though it could hear his thoughts—clearly it could—the System sent him a new message:

***Focus upon the ability or attribute you wish to use the Codex ritual on.***

Terrified that some stray thought might misdirect the System, he focused his eyes on his speed attribute and frantically repeated “Speed, speed, speed,” over and over in his mind.

The glyphs in the Codex swirled faster, leaping into Andy’s eyes in bright flashes. Warmth rushed through him; bells clanged in the distance; a buzzing sensation tingled from his eyes to his fingers and toes. Lucy cried his name as he slumped forward, leaping off the stoop to catch him before he fell onto the ground.

Dimly, Andy was aware of Lucy’s hands. He was aware of his heartbeat and his breathing, but everything else was overwhelmed by the magic of the ritual as it did something to him. It wasn’t unlike when he increased an attribute or learned a new spell, but it was a hundred times more intense. He found he couldn’t really focus on any thoughts; he couldn’t wonder if something was wrong, nor could he even contemplate how long the process was taking. Each time he began to form a coherent thought, some flash of warmth or an involuntary twitch would distract him.

When it finally faded, he felt dazed, like he’d just awakened from a deep sleep after a particularly vivid dream. He felt fingers on his shoulders, gently kneading, and then he heard Lucy’s voice, low and slightly raspy, as she asked, “Andy? You in there? Is everything okay? You got…really hot for a few minutes.”

Andy opened his eyes, blinking as he focused on her blue eyes. Her hair, backlit by the lamp in her doorway, made it almost seem as though she was glowing. “You look pretty,” he said, his voice slightly slurred.

She laughed, pushing him back in the chair. “You’re acting drunk.”

“I feel drunk,” he said with a chuckle. More than that, he felt different. Before he could examine the source of that sensation, though, the System hit him with another message:

***Congratulations, Andy! You’ve broken a natural limit, profoundly altering your physicality. In order to progress beyond your speed limitations, the Codex ritual awakened latent pathways and genetic memories. As a result, an ancestral bloodline has begun to surface: Echo of the Vanir. You’re the first human to stir this bloodline!***

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“What the—”

Andy called up his status sheet, reading the first few lines:

Name: Andrew “Andy” West

Species: Human

Bloodline:Echo of the Vanir

For some reason, he felt irrationally relieved to see he was still human in the System’s eyes. “Do I seem different?” he asked, pushing himself to his feet. His muscles felt…tight—responsive.

“Um…” Lucy stood up, frowning slightly. She reached for his hand and took it in hers, holding it up as she looked him up and down, then stepped close, obviously measuring herself against him. “You’re a little taller. My head came to your chin before, and now I’m just a little taller than your shoulder. You’re leaner, too. No, maybe that’s the wrong word. Wiry.” She pulled his arm straight, and Andy looked down, noting the way the muscles in his arms stood out beneath his skin. It was like he’d just finished getting a pump on in the gym. He clenched his fist, then reached down to gently tilt Lucy’s chin, so her eyes met his.

“What about my face?”

She shook her head. “Maybe your jawline is sharper.” Grabbing his wrist and hand again, she sighed theatrically and added, “As if you needed to be any better looking.”

Andy suddenly felt hot embarrassment on the back of his neck. He looked away, laughing nervously. “I wasn’t trying to fish for compliments.”

“Sure!” Lucy teased, but she relented, taking a step back. “So? Did it work?”

Andy grinned. “Great question!” Without hesitation, he summoned his status sheet and tried to apply an improvement point to his speed attribute. Hot tingles, starting in the center of his chest, ran up and down his arms and legs. “It worked!”

“How many did you put into it?”

“Just one so far. It’s nine now.”

“Nine? Mine’s seven. Do you think—”

Andy, too excited to be polite, spoke over her, “I think nine is still, like, within the realm of normal human. My strength and vitality are nine, too.”

“Try another point?”

Andy nodded, doing just that. Once again, the hot tingles ran up and down his arms. “It worked!”

“Hey, Andy!” a feminine voice called, and he turned to look down the dark lane to see a pair of figures walking toward them out of the shadows, one much larger than the others.

“Bella and Jace,” Lucy said softly.

“Ah, yeah.” He lifted an arm and waved.

“Are you going to do any more?” Lucy asked, ignoring the newcomers.

“Might as well see if I have a new limit, huh?”

She nodded. “I’m really curious.”

“What’s up?” Jace asked as he and Bella approached, stepping into the light from Lucy’s trailer.

“Explain in a minute,” Andy said, applying another improvement point to his speed. Again, it worked, and this time the hot tingles made him feel jittery, and he realized his hands were shaking.

“You okay?” Jace asked, tilting his head to look at him askance.

Andy grinned, holding up a shaking hand. “Just the after effects, I think.”

“Of?” Bella asked, folding her arms and looking him up and down. “Something’s different…”

“Sec,” Andy muttered, focusing on his status sheet and applying yet another point to his speed. There were no arguments from the System; the point applied instantly, but this time, the warmth and tingling felt more like a fiery rush, and his vision destabilized—things began to quiver and shake, and Andy felt a distinct sense of vertigo. He didn’t realize he’d started to stumble until Jace grabbed his arm, propping him up.

“Yo, what’s happening?”

“He’s putting points into speed,” Lucy said, also grabbing onto Andy, taking his other wrist. “He broke through his, um, soft-cap.”

“What?” Bella asked. “Like past the limit the System puts on people?”

“It’s not the System,” Andy said, leaning forward, squeezing his eyes shut as a wave of nausea washed over him. “It’s like…our physiology—natural limits.”

“Dude, you’re fuckin’ quivering,” Jace said.

Andy nodded, gritting his teeth. “I was determined to see if I had a new cap, but I think I’ve done too much at once.”

Lucy continued to grasp his wrist, but she gently stroked the back of her neck with her other hand. “I think you’re right. Let these changes settle in.”

“Come on, dude. Chair’s right behind you.” Jace guided him into the lawn chair.

“So, what’s your speed now?” Bella asked. Andy felt her voice was close, and briefly opened his eyes to see that she was squatting to look him in the face.

“Twelve.”

“Holy shit!” Jace chuckled, folding his arms and looking down at Andy. “Twice mine.”

Bella spoke to the side, probably talking to Lucy. “He looks different, right?”

Lucy made an affirmative sound, but, to Andy’s relief, downplayed things. “Leaner. Wiry. I think his muscles and tendons changed when he broke through the cap.”

Jace grunted, rubbing his chin. “Make sense. If we have natural limits, something would need to change to go beyond them.”

Andy was only half listening to them, and as they continued to chat about ability points, caps, and so on, he tried to calm his shaking hands and hesitantly opened his eyes, only to squeeze them shut again when things were still moving.

Lucy gently squeezed his neck, leaned a little closer, and said, “Andy, do you feel sick?”

He nodded rapidly and, through clenched teeth, said, “Like vertigo almost. When I open my eyes, everything’s moving.”

“What if it’s the speed?” Bella asked.

Andy didn’t look at her, but he asked, “Like how?”

“Like, you can’t just move fast. You have to be able to think and see fast—you’d run into things when you’re going full-out, otherwise.”

Jace grunted his agreement. “Maybe you need to tough it out, bro. Open your eyes and look around. See if your brain starts to adjust.”

Andy scowled, but it wasn’t obvious, as his eyes were already squeezed shut. The truth was, he was starting to worry. Had he messed up somehow? When he’d realized his vision was impaired, he’d had a panicked thought: what if there was some hidden link between perception and speed? What if he’d have this horrible double, moving vision until he learned how to break through the cap for perception? Clinging to the faint hope that maybe Jace was right, he hesitantly opened his eyes.

Immediately, he gritted his teeth and squeezed the arms of the chair, grunting as he bit back a wave of nausea. Jace was in front of him, and the big cambion was shifting left and right, up and down, and the effect of the rapid movement gave him a blurred effect in Andy’s perception. Even so, he inhaled sharply through his nose and opened his eyes further, staring.

“That’s it, bro,” Jace said, leaning closer. Andy focused on his big, dark eyes and, surprisingly, as they drew closer, it became easier to stay focused. “Your eyes are twitching, but it’s slowing down.”

“Maybe this is just part of it, Andy,” Lucy said. “Maybe the vision part comes slower, so you kind of stacked it up.”

“Huh,” Andy said, slowly nodding. “Maybe so. Maybe this is four points-worth hitting me.”

“So you improved your speed, did you?” Jace asked, still leaning close. “Your eyes look steady now.”

“Yeah. My speed.” Andy looked away from Jace, and when nothing swung around or vibrated in his vision, he exhaled a deep sigh of relief. “Seems like it’s passing.”

“Let’s see how fast you are,” Jace said. “See if you can slap me.”

“Slap you?” Andy asked.

“I don’t think—” Bella started to say, but Jace cut her off.

“Not hard, bro. Just see if I can dodge it.”

Andy shrugged and snapped his hand out, and his fingers hit Jace’s cheek before the bigger man could even start to move.

“Yo!” Jace laughed, standing up straight. “I wasn’t ready!”

“I didn’t even see it!” Bella laughed. “He slapped you?”

Lucy let go of Andy’s neck, also chuckling. “I felt it when he moved, but I didn’t see the slap either.”

“Are you guys messing with me?” Andy asked, standing up, uncomfortable sitting there while they all stood around.

“No!” Bella laughed. “Here, see if you can block me.” Bella stepped forward and punched at Andy’s chest. He tilted his head, watching the punch coming, then took a step back. Bella stumbled, her fist finding empty air. “What the heck, Andy!”

Jace laughed. “Dude, that is badass!”

“It didn’t feel like I moved that fast…” Andy felt his cheeks tugging toward his ears as he smiled, unable to contain his excitement. If he was really that much faster than Bella and Jace…

Suddenly, the smile drained from his face. A cold thought slid through his mind: who or what else might “break through” limits? He shook his head and looked from Lucy to Bella to Jace. “Guys, if I could break a limit, so can somebody else. Imagine one person—one monster with enhanced speed or strength—getting loose on the mesa.”