Metamorphosis, Aer-ki Jyr [best classic literature .txt] 📗

massive drain similar to what occurs to you body-wide with the visions. As if something else is occurring, but linked to your body and we can only see the symptom, not the cause.”

“Then Harvey is contacting me through this energy field thing…and I was able to reach back this time, instinctively, because I have the ability but without the knowledge to operate it.”

“I suggest you do not try again for a long time. There is so much drain it has damaged your arms.”

“Do something about that, please,” Paul said, cringing.

“Are you certain?”

“No genetic changes, just repair the damage. I can’t relax like this. Speed up the process.”

“Very well,” the Voku said, and a moment later cool relief flowed into Paul’s arms and he visibly sagged as the cellular stress damage was repaired with stimulated new growth that ate into the food stores within his stomach as well as cannibalizing small bits from Cal-com’s body on his command to do so rather than strip other parts of Paul for the materials.

“Over pushing indeed,” the Human lectured himself as Cal-com disconnected. “I don’t want to know what would have happened if I had really tried.”

“Whatever is happening to you, you are an infant in it. Take infant steps or risk your own destruction.”

“Baby steps. They’re called baby steps.”

“I would not know. I was never an infant, but I was clumsy upon waking at my birth even with genetic memory to guide me. You seem to have nothing but instinct here, so I advise you to be very cautious. We are under no time constraints. The galaxy will wait.”

“Right,” Paul said, putting a hand on Cal-com’s much larger arm as a gesture of thanks. “Guess that means nap time for me.”

“Eat first.”

Paul raised a finger as if correcting himself. “Eat first. How long can we stay here without going back to local food?”

“A very long time. I will inform you when that changes.”

“Stay small…got it,” Paul said as he began walking towards the trail that would lead across the small island to the beach on the far side that held their ship.

“Where are you going?”

“For a real shower. I’ll grab a snack on the way, then eat up after. Right now I need the seclusion, and there are too many critters in the water to truly disconnect from.”

“Civilization has its advantages.”

“That it does,” Paul said as he hopped from one bit of sand to another across some grass to where he’d left his shoes. Hardened skin or not, he didn’t feel like stepping on another thorn in the jungle brush, and his feet would forgive the momentary restriction once he got into a temperature controlled shower pod and mentally drifted off into nothingness while his body soaked…something he’d been far too wound up to do with his previous Saiyan metabolism always set to high.

But now he had a low setting, and since the pain in his arms had disappeared, that low setting seemed to be beckoning to him with a subtle urgency that he knew better than to ignore.

6

June 24, 154930

Solar System (Home One Kingdom)

Earth

Jason-025 had been one of the ‘no-essence use’ group from the beginning, though now they were all avoiding it. Wilson had wanted to extend the experiment longer so he could get better data, but the trailblazers had nixed that in favor of experiencing it themselves and poking around…which was now giving them more insight thanks to Wilson’s initial epiphany.

It came down to a matter of exhaustion. Mild exhaustion. But even a slight disadvantage would have consequences if you were unaware of it, and as Jason darted from one ring to another in a new obstacle course set up only 2 weeks ago, he could feel himself adapting to it mentally and physically rather than trying to make the course fit into his existing strengths.

It was a subtle thing. A little bit of perspective that had been missing, but now that he knew to look for something it was blaring loudly. He needed his Essence, and while using it and allowing it to recharge gave him some truly immense combat power, that power came at a cost.

And that cost was mojo.

He’d been discussing it with the others, and not one of them could cite a time when they had gone without Essence use for a period of no less than 2 weeks. Not one of them. Through thousands and thousands of years. They all kept draining it, even when they didn’t have a need to, in order to gradually increase their well size.

That was logical, but because they were relentless in their training and didn’t have the lapses lesser people would, they hadn’t been able to compare the two states…because they were never in the ‘no-use’ state.

And what was missing most of all was fun. Not something that could be analyzed or measured, but everything Jason did now had a bit of swagger that he hadn’t had before. That little bit of life that had been missing was back, and the pointlessness of the continual carnage in the universe was gone. Not because of any new reasoning, but rather because of a feeling.

A feeling that he was where he needed to be, doing what he needed, and as long as he had that he didn’t need to understand the universe to do his part in it.

His part. His path. Those had been numbed up from the Essence depletion as much as being 6 hours deep into a 10 hour training session. You knew you weren’t at full strength, but that didn’t matter. You had an objective to go for and you focused your attention and remaining strength on going for it. Afterwards you would rest and recover, clearing your fogged up senses, but this never-ending Essence use workout had kept them fogged up perpetually,