System Hunt: Regalia

[Available RGP— 1980]

While it was a small number that meant little to nothing to anyone safe from the sphere of the DSF, it made Sam feel warm nonetheless. He felt like he’d done a great job amassing a wealth of quantified power, even if it was just in the thousands, he had the supernatural ability to heal himself from all wounds, could control broken glass and was about to test just how powerful one of the 100RGP abilities really were.

Alex slammed the door of the jeep shut and walked over with a stopwatch. Sam shook his head in dismay, “Do we really have to?”

“Awwn, yes, we do. All experiments need a control so get on your marks!” Sam caught a her lip twitch with masochistic mirth but complied despite his own grumbles.

As powerful as the points, glass powers and healing made him feel, nothing made him feel worse than running. That’s why he stopped just about a decade ago, just before university. Running was for children who had the excess energy and didn’t have to think about how to live, how to continue living.

He got into the awkward racers position he always saw at the Olympics and faced the road going all the way downhill to where some of his favourite fast-food shops were and took in a breath.

“Get set.” Alex started and Sam shot his hip out, ready to bolt, “…GO!”

He dashed down the hill as fast as his feet would take him and fortunately found it quite easy to cover the space in quick time, the perks of gravity. Within a minute or two by his count, he was down the hill and at the traffic light that marked the end of the first lap.

Sam about turned, his lungs already complaining as he trudged back up the dreaded hill. Sweat was dripping down his back, sticking his shirt to his body like glue and wasting all the water he wished he had, yet he wasn’t even halfway up yet.

He reached the top and became familiar with the asphalt once again, not even bothering to ask Alex how he did this time. He already did quite poorly the very first when they were jogging up to the car, a run would only be a much horrid performance.

“This…this better be worth it.” Sam rasped, turning over on his side as he felt the need to hurl but his stomach was empty from having no breakfast, not even a cup of tea. He glared balefully at Alex who smiled and crouched by him, offering the bottle of water in her hand.

“Not bad, took you four minutes downhill and nine up hill, adding the seconds let’s just call it a fifteen-minute lap. Let me know when you’re ready to go again with Bolster this time.”

Sam said nothing, only feeding his dried out mouth and throat the fluid they so deserved. He squeezed it empty and tossed it as his arm fell at his side. Flat on his back he stared up at the cloudy blue skies, the cool quiet of dawn had passed and now the occasional airplane soared over, roaring above their heads.

Sam’s mind drifted to the last time he was on an airplane and he shut his eyes as his thumping heart began calming down. Back then, it was the first and last he chose air travel or rather had somewhere to travel to via air. He was excited but it was anticlimactic and sweetly short but it was what came after he got off the plane that really mattered.

He let out a breath with his cheeks blown up as he rose up on his feet, shaking away the dour mood that threatened to seize him, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Alex watched him for a moment before nodding and passing his Regalia from the bag leaned against the jeep’s tires, “Alright, first let’s see what Bolster does in your steady state.”

Sam agreed and quickly affirmed when the Regalia asked—

[Spend 100RGP to Bolster All Abilities?]

A surge of energy greater than even when the Regalia first took hold of him streamed through his spine. In a split second Sam felt every inch of himself and then some. His glass senses extended wider than he thought possible, reaching all the way downhill and even past where the road they were headed. Glass, there was glass everywhere.

Sam clasped his head tight as he groaned at the knowledge, position, size and sturdiness of thousands of fractured glass pieces in an unknown radius around him. He could feel it, his glass powers were bolstered to the point he could even feel the slightest scratch broken piece metres away and he knew he could call them to his command.

He didn’t though, instead he deliberately turned his attention to his physical body, pulling away from the multitude of glass that existed in perpetuity at every corner of the city quarantine zone. He flinched as Alex touched his arm, her eyes went wide when he yanked away.

“Are you okay?”

He shook his head and breathed in as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Sure enough his physical aspects were also bolstered, his muscles grew to the point of attracting Alex awe, she eyed them even as he struggled to get used to the flow of energy pumping through his body and mostly his mind.

“I feel stronger…I am.” He glanced at his Regalia and noticed the confirmation notice on it, “Oh, looks like Bolster comes with a time limit.”

[All Abilities Bolstered— Five Minutes Left]

Alex still eying his transformation smirked and waved the stopwatch, “Then you better start running.”

Sam matched her smirk before bolting downhill without another word. His breath hitched as he surprised even himself with his newfound strength, nearly tumbling downhill as each stride threatened to toss him into the air. Running down it the first time was little problem even with gravity at his back the soles of his feet weren’t eager to take off but now, now it felt like even the slightest miscalculation of force and he’d bound over three shops.

He careened past the rusting traffic lights, his body barely holding together as momentum threatened to send him sprawling. The cracked sidewalk blurred beneath him, and for a split second, he feared his legs would give out. But instead of exhaustion, a strange exhilaration washed over him. The desolate street felt less like an obstacle now and more like a runway—each step light as air.

Is this what the so called runner’s high feels like?

[Bolster] lasted five minutes in total and as easily as he ran up the hill, he wondered if he could beat his abysmal record by a full ten minutes.

He locked in, settled his breathing like Alex advised and continued a mad dash up the hill, putting his everything forward as the wind licked his face and billowed in his hair. This time he was running fast enough to dry sweat rather than be drenched in it. It felt good, racing past the boarded-up shops and abandoned vehicles that cluttered the roadside.

It all seemed to whip by in a dreamlike haze, their decay a forgotten backdrop to the rush of power surging through his veins as he approached the horizon with Alex whooping and cheering inaudible words.

He grinned wide and full even as the supernatural energy began to wane away from his limbs, he stamped his foot hard and leaped, energetic as the same child he swore he’d grown out of.

“Yeah! High-five!” Alex hollered as he landed in front of her.

He indulged without pause and snickered, “How did I do?”

“Are you kidding me? That was six minutes! I’m sure it would have been like four if you weren’t afraid of losing the ground while you ran downhill.”

“Haha, you noticed? I thought I was going to toss myself into the sky and break my legs on the way down.”

She nodded with a pleased look, “The trick is to trust your legs, they built the momentum so they can take it.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Sam conceded, he noticed her eying his arms and calves and smirked, “Sad to see those bad boys gone? I can totally bring them back if you want?”

Alex rolled her eyes so hard she looked briefly possessed, “Please, call me when you’re a natty.” She pumped her guns in his face and it was his turn to roll his eyes.

“What now?” He asked, he’d finally gotten into the exercise mood and was touching his toes. “Want to test Fortify?”

Alex looked up in thought but before she could say anything her head whipped around at the jeep, her phone was in there ringing some default tone at the highest volume. She leaned in for it and answered, her face dissolved any mirth or sign of playfulness the moment she hit the button.

Must be the General Sir. Sam thought as he watched her.

“Yes, he’s here.” Alex glanced back at Sam as she answered, “Of course, yes, no we have our own transport. Understood.” The call ended and she met Sam’s questioning gaze, “A Tower Surge has just occurred in Manila. You haven’t signed our work contract yet so…only come if you want, Regalia Wielder.”