Siphon (A Touch of Power Book 1)

by Jay Boyce

  Raphael–who still hadn’t introduced himself to me, that jerk–sighed and nodded. “I can see what you mean.” He glanced at the heavens as if appealing for help, and she had to stop herself from interjecting that it hadn’t seemed to be very useful in the many years she’d done so. But hey, everyone had to learn for themselves, right? So instead she kept trying to glare at his face so that she wouldn’t check him out really obviously, because he reminded her of an Abercrombie model, if you ignored the giant sword she now saw hanging from his waist. As if maybe he found what he was looking for, he glanced back down at her and held up three fingers. “I’ll give you three days. If you haven’t been accepted by then, you have to leave.”

  Somewhat insulted that he felt the need to emphasize the number three with his fingers like she was a child, Jade nodded and responded primly. “Fine. That’s plenty long enough to prove you wrong.” Completely ignoring the man who still hadn’t introduced himself to her, she turned to the girls. What is with these people and not introducing themselves? “Where’s the way out?” Seemingly struck mute from shock, Jessica appeared only to have the presence of mind to point.

  Turning in the appointed direction, Jade did her best impression of flouncing away, which in reality was filled with a multitude of unstable wobbles. I really need to figure out how to walk properly…is there a skill for walking? Can I steal that, please?

  Down the hallway, she stopped for a moment, taken aback as she entered a common room filled with the soft hum of murmuring voices. Her eye twitched a little as she tried to figure out the fastest way to the door without embarrassing herself. She then tried to figure out an alternate route that still seemed like a straight shot, yet took her past the most people who had skin readily exposed.

  Steeling her courage, she chose option 2. Her stilted walk gave her the excuse she needed, and she managed to casually brush against three people who had been sitting alone on her way out with only a murmured, “Sorry.” Making it to the door while ignoring the sweet scent of food, she took a deep breath and ignored the flashing dots demanding attention at the side of her vision before opening it and stepping shakily into the brilliant sunshine. What was with this place? She had felt like a skeleton walking through the set of a Calvin Klein commercial in there. Was this a gathering place for models or something?

  Sound assaulted her ears the moment the door was open, and she took a moment to adjust as the door whumped closed behind her. I would kill for a pair of sunglasses right now… Her eyes strained to adjust as she stepped to the side, not wanting to get pegged in the back should anyone else decide to leave at that moment. Eyesight too. Is there a skill I can steal that makes the sun hurt less? Grumbling internally, she scanned for a safe haven where she could check her messages.

  Spotting a shaded alleyway, she shambled her awkward way over to it and breathed a sigh of relief, just relaxing for a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart. I can do this. I can do hard things. She tried to mentally reassure herself for a moment before pulling up her notifications.

  You have touched Raphael Millis, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...

  Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.

  Choose a skill to siphon: Athletics, Diplomacy, Sword, Intimidate, or Wind Magic.

  Only five again? So his last name is Millis, is it? I’ll have to remember that… Oh my gosh, he has athletics! I need to...wind magic? Raph the unnamed has wind magic? I would never have guessed… Wait, magic is a thing here? Ugh… I have to choose one. So what are the odds that magic is a super common thing? I mean, if even Raph can get it… All right, let’s check the others first.

  Glancing through the other three profiles, whom she figured were probably students of the so-called academy since Jess and Kay had told her that’s who stayed there… There were a few common themes. It seemed that she was right and most people had perception. All three of them had athletics as well, so at least she had other options. There were a bunch of combat options as well, but she figured she needed to at least learn to walk before she started throwing hypothetical punches and thus arbitrarily tossed out those options.

  She had narrowed her options down by a least one on each person, trying to figure out the best combination. But again, she was only shown five options. She didn’t know if it was just arbitrarily picking five to give her or what. Either way, she’d just have to work with it apparently.

  Raph: Intimidate or wind magic. The dude had seriously gotten intimidating down to an art, but she knew she was going to pick wind magic. Maybe next time she’d be able to glare scarily right back at him…

  Dude 1: Athletics, diplomacy, perception, or sleight of hand.

  Dude 2: Athletics, perception, or unarmed combat.

  Chick 1: Acrobatics, athletics, charm, or perception.

  Based on her options… Charm was out, and so was unarmed combat. Who was she kidding? There was no way she was going to charm people looking like a twig, and any unarmed combat from said twig would be utterly useless with the 1% which was all she was going to get. At the same time, any acrobatics would likely land her flat on her back before she got her basic coordination down. Dude two seemed pretty strong, so she decided to take athletics from him. That left perception from the chick, and as for dude one… She already had diplomacy, but maybe it would be better to double down on it. She did have a lot more convincing to do...

  Now that she had the skills out of the way, she went back to survey her stats again. Raph was obvious--she was taking his strength. Dude 1 seemed to be the sneaky type, even though she had nothing to go off of but his skills, so she’d take his dex. The girl literally had charm in her kit, so she’d try to raise her charisma there. That left the other beefcake, and since she’d already hit the other bases, she’d see if he had a decent con score.

  Satisfied with her deductions, she began to mentally confirm her decisions.

  Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Strength and Wind Magic from Raphael Millis underway.

  Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Dexterity and Diplomacy from Steven Cooper underway.

  Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Constitution and Athletics from Travis Wainbright underway.

  Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Charisma and Perception from Chloe Chambers underway.

  She smiled as she saw the confirmations, then had to physically stop herself from screaming as her body seemed to start itching all over. Perhaps doing so many at once hadn’t been her greatest idea ever… She clutched her face, praying silently that it would end soon.

  Chapter Four – Healer

  Closing her eyes, she leaned against the building in an attempt to suppress the itching heat she was feeling. It felt like there were thousands of ants trying to crawl around through her veins, and the irritation was the worst around her eyes and lips. She clutched her mouth with her hands, feeling a small comfort by touching them, even as she wanted to scratch them off.

  “My goodness child, are you okay?” She heard the kindhearted voice coming from her left, but she didn’t open her eyes or turn towards it. She didn’t want to scream and scare her to death, which she was half afraid she’d do if she let go right now. Was this pain and itching honestly worth it? She didn’t think she’d even taken that much, and it already hurt this much.

  It wasn’t until she felt a cool hand on her cheek that she realized she needed to respond. She was about to do so when she realized that even though her eyes were closed, she could see a little blue dot blinking at the side of her mind’s eye. Wait, I can just access this whole thing mentally? I don’t actually have to look at it? Flabbergasted once more, she spaced, and the cool hand was trying to get her to turn.

  Allowing her body to be shifted, she finally opened her eyes and let her hands drop. She wasn’t sure how long it had lasted, but the horrible burning and itching seemed to be dying down for the most part. In front of her was a plumper older woman who was observing at her wit
h concern. Her heart-shaped face held light crow’s feet on the honey-colored skin, and her hair was cut into a stylish silver bob with bangs. She was wearing a pretty purple dress and ogling Jade with concerned hazel eyes as she asked again, “There you are. Are you all right?”

  Jade smiled a bit helplessly and offered quietly, “I was feeling a bit dizzy before, but I think I’m okay now. Thank you though.” Dizziness was as good an explanation for her outer symptoms as anything else, she supposed. Plus, with her undeniably weak constitution, most people wouldn’t doubt that just standing made her dizzy. However, the woman was obviously a kindhearted busybody who wasn’t convinced. She kept regarding Jade as if she was trying to figure out what the problem was.

  Unable to pinpoint what was wrong, she finally seemed to come to a decision. “I see. Well, you’d better come with me just in case. My husband is a healer, and I’ll have him take a look at you.” With that she picked up her bags, which Jade hadn’t realized she’d dropped to check up on her, and grabbed her hand, tugging her along. Bemusedly, Jade speculated to herself, am I being kidnapped right now?

  She let herself be led along as she had in the past, and it was almost a comforting feeling of home as she stared wide-eyed at the people and stores they passed, occasionally brushing up against a few absently. She was fairly mesmerized by the intensity of the sun and the blue sky, feeling jittery with every wisp of the wind on her pale skin. She was OUTSIDE! For the first time that she could remember, she was actually in the open, staring up at the vast blue sky and it wasn’t through glass! A myriad of different smells assaulted her nose, and she just breathed them in, unable to pinpoint what they were.

  Completely absent-minded, she looked around and realized that in the process of towing her towards wherever they were going, she now had absolutely no idea where she’d come from or how to get back. As nice as the lady looked, however, she was going to start screaming the minute she thought something shady was going down. Maybe it would relieve the screams she hadn’t been able to let out earlier…

  “Now then, here we are!”

  Jade cast her eyes up and saw a little shop that had a sign proudly proclaiming in cursive she had arrived at Doctor Mike’s Clinic. Not the most creative name, but you at least knew exactly what you were looking at. Oh, and apparently she could still read here. Seeing as it was a doctor’s office, she let herself be towed inside without making a fuss, just with her natural wobbles that she finally noticed the nice lady had slowed down to accommodate.

  “Elisa, you’re back! Hmmm, who do you have there?” A gentleman with gorgeous salt and pepper hair that George Clooney would envy had come out from the back at the tinkling of the bell above the door. He gave her a once over as he came forward to hug who she assumed was his wife, Elisa, given that she’d never introduced herself, and Jade hadn’t yet looked at the options to steal her stats. Appearing hale and hearty for an older gentleman, his wide mouth was stretched in a smile, shining pearly whites at her.

  “This is…child, what’s your name?” Elisa smiled a little sheepishly when she seemed to realize she’d towed Jade all the way over here without even asking for her name.

  “Hi, I’m Jade. Mind if I sit down? I’m not super used to walking yet.” They both looked a little confused at her statement, but Mike–well at least she assumed his name was Mike, given the store name–ushered her to a chair at the side, which was a relief to her now aching legs. He sat down next to her, smiling softly. He looked like the model dad every kid wished they had: handsome, smart, kind…

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Jade. I’m Doctor Mike. Can you tell me what’s wrong with your legs?”

  “And I’m Elisa. Mikey, I found her almost comatose against an alley wall, so of course I brought her here. She said she was dizzy!”

  Jade smiled wanly, deciding that she might as well let the cat out of the bag. They were a nice couple and didn’t seem to mean her any harm as far as she could tell. It reminded her of an old story about a man and a woman who couldn’t have a child… Shaking herself out of her musings, she replied, “So... The thing is, I’m a traveler, and I just got here today, so I’m not really used to things yet?” They were staring at her like she’d just grown a third eye.

  Mike seemed more on top of things, as he patiently questioned her. “You said you’re a traveler?” It seemed like he was trying to diagnose her, but he hadn’t tried to hook her up to any machines or take her pulse yet at least.

  “Yeah…and uhm…I…the world I came from…” She stuttered, trying to organize her thoughts. How much was she supposed to tell them? With a sigh, she shook her head and disclosed bluntly, “I was really sick there. So I’m kinda learning how to walk right now.”

  “Do you mind if I check your health?” Doctor Mike was being exceedingly patient with her and not treating her like a crazy person, even though he still looked a little skeptical. She nodded, and he reached out to take her hand. That was it, he just touched her hand and closed his eyes, and she tried to figure out what he was doing as she felt a warm tingle. “My goodness…” His exclamation was soft, but she still caught it. He opened his eyes, staring intently at her. “Well, the good news is you’re not sick. But your body…”

  “Yes?” She asked a tiny bit impatiently. Why did people like cliffhangers so much!?

  “It seems to be in an intense period of growth. What you’re experiencing are growing pains from your body going through an acute change. It’s rather remarkable, and I’ve only seen something similar once before.” He shook his head, this time seemingly in amazement. “It might hurt for now, but once your body settles, you’ll be just fine.”

  Well okay. She already knew that… The bad news was that this was likely to be a constant problem. She began plotting out what she would need to do. Was it a one-off thing? She clicked through the blue buttons in her brain until she got to the old boxes.

  Assimilation of Kaylee Ivers underway...

  There were five more notifications just like it and a bunch of blinking dots from the people she’d unknowingly brushed up against on the way over here. However, she wasn’t about to click anything until she had figured out what was going on with this current batch. It could wait!

  “It really is remarkable though. I wonder what could be causing such an intense change…” Doctor Mike was muttering to himself as he seemed to be puzzling out her problem. Feeling a little guilty, she piped up.

  “It’s probably my special ability.” Which was 100% the truth, there was no probably about it. Both Mike and Elisa looked incredibly interested the moment the words special ability came out of her mouth.

  Elisa couldn’t seem to hold in her curiosity. “You have a special ability? What does it do?”

  Oh right, she needed to lie now. She didn’t really want to tell people she was stealing their stats, even if it was only temporarily. People tended not to react well to things like that. I’ve gotta make this good… What would be believable for this growth? Oh, I’ve got it! She smiled and began her deception, “It’s called accelerated growth. It’s pretty straightforward too; it’s basically what it sounds like. I learn and adapt in an accelerated manner.” There, that’s believable, right? She tried to keep her face in a neutral smile, but Doctor Mike looked a little worried for her still. “Is there something wrong?”

  Mike shook his head, patting her arm as he deflected, “Not per say… It’s just that it means this probably won’t be the end of your growing pains.” Duh, I figured that out for myself already. She just smiled painfully and nodded in acknowledgment. With a sigh, he continued. “It also means there isn’t much I can do for you. I’m afraid anything I do would potentially stunt your growth.”

  Welp, I guess that means no painkillers for me. It figures that whoever sent me here wouldn’t let it be easy… I think this is the prime example of that whole, no pain, no gain thing.

  Shaking herself out of her musings, which she seemed to be doing a lot of today, she nodded and agreed, “I figured
that would be the case, so don’t worry too much about it. It’ll be worth it to be healthy in the end.” She smiled and could almost see the workings in their brains as they classified her as a tragic heroine.

  Figuring she should capitalize on their pity, she began phase 2 of pump everyone around her for information. “So, you used magic on me earlier, right? Is that normal here?”

  Elisa laughed at this, pushing out her large chest proudly as she bragged about her husband. “Not at all! Of the twenty known magic types, healing is one of the rarest! Mike here is among the best of the best. Most people can't even learn magic because their magic stat is below 5, so they can only dream of accomplishing what he does!”

  And I’m so stealing that, right now. “That’s amazing! I didn’t know it was such a rare thing. I thought everyone’s stats started around 10?” I’m just fishing, fishing for information…tralalalalalala…

  “Most of them do. It’s really only Luck and Magic that are different.” And here she raised her brow. Wait a second; luck was also a rare stat?

  “What’s the normal luck for a person?”

  This time it was Mike who teasingly poked his wife in the side. “Most people have 8 or less. Elisa here has 11! Which is why she was lucky enough to find a catch like me.” He appeared pretty smug as he pronounced that, and Elisa blushed furiously as Jade couldn’t help but laugh. If it was that special…perhaps she ought to invest in getting more, even though hers was already abnormally high according to them. What did it even do? Luck was such an ambiguous thing…

  Skipping the other windows in her head, she went straight to Mike’s and Elisa’s. She barely glanced over Mike’s, having already decided to take his Magic stat and Healing Magic skill, which was thankfully in the five presented. From Elisa’s she was going to take luck, but her skill…