Of Gamer Space Programs

“TONY STARK BUILT THIS IN A CAVE!” the bald man on the screen shouted, belittling the meager man in front of him. “WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!”

John laughed, leaning back on the couch and pouring another mouthful of chips into his waiting maw. He was interrupted as his mother reached over and poked her son in his stomach, half-heartedly chastising him for his messy eating.

“Oof!” The Gamer exhaled, coughing for a second before turning to try and fake a scowl at her. He couldn’t hold it, though, and his smile easily broke through.

She was covering her own mouth, where a bite of sandwich fought a giggle for space. The two settled on belly-laughing, once they’d each swallowed.

After his mother had gotten home from her all-too-long day at work, John had suggested that they break out an old set of TV trays and eat dinner together in the living room with a movie. While she’d changed from her businesswear into more comfortable “at home” clothing, he’d pulled on a fun movie that they could leave in the background, Iron Man.

When he’d first seen it as a kid, he’d thought it was the best movie ever made. Nowadays, it was a lot easier to see the small flaws and frayed ends here or there, but he didn’t really care. He remembered first going to see it in the theater with his parents - both of them. They’d made a day of it, getting a nice lunch all together first, then going to see the film in the afternoon. Between lunch and the popcorn and candy, he’d eaten himself to a stomach ache.

The movie always made him smile now when it came on. Judging from his mother’s reaction, she remembered that same weekend fondly.

That had been long before his father’s extended overseas business trips, before the constant overtime from his mother, and definitely long before he’d ever heard the names of his two bullies.

’Simpler times…’ John thought, taking a big swig from the can of soda he’d popped. ’If the money I can make with the Order is really that good, then maybe we can have some more weekends like that in the future.’

He stretched back again, reaching over the side of the couch to kick out the legs so that he could splay out fully. It took a bit of reorganization, but he managed to get his food close enough that he could continue to nosh without spilling anything. Tensing and relaxing his muscles again, he fully went limp on the reclined cushions, tuning back in for the next flashy action scene.

It was nice to completely decompress some more.

A heavy, exhausted yawn drew his attention. John pushed himself up on one elbow just enough to look over at his mother. She’d followed his lead in trying to recline her part of the couch, but she was clearly far too tired for that. Her eyes were heavy, blinking constantly, even as she finished the last bites of her food.

The Gamer had figured that she might not make it to the end of the movie, but he didn’t mind. It was just nice to spend some time with her again. He just allowed himself to enjoy the movie for a while from there, holding in his amusement as his mother tried desperately to stay awake long enough to finish it. Eventually though, she conceded.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s been a really long week.”

“Don’t worry about it,” John tried to reassure her. “Dinner was nice. We can find another movie to watch once Dad is home this weekend.”

Brenda smiled. “Thank you. Don’t stay up too late! It’s a school day tomorrow.”

“Oh, uh, actually school is canceled for the next couple days. Some kind of gas leak or something maybe.”

“Well, still, don’t stay up too late. It’s bad for you not to get enough sleep.”

The Gamer smiled at his mother’s concern. “Don’t worry. I have plans in the morning anyway. I won’t be too far behind you.”

“Plans?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You’re tired, come on,” John insisted, not wanting to endure his mother’s oncoming teasing. “I’ll tell you in the morning.”

Eventually, the elder Newman relented, heading upstairs to her bedroom for the night. As she did so, The Gamer moved to clean up the last of the remnants of their movie and meal, putting away the TV trays, packing up the food, and then going to shut down the television itself. Taking one final look at the screen, the image frozen in time ahead of him, something occurred to him. Iron Man had been halted mid-flight, the powerful boosters on his arms and legs propelling him through the air at dizzying speeds.

Looking over the scene again, his mind began to wander. ’Could I do that? Is that possible?’

’My [Lesser Air Burst] at least has enough power to throw me around if it detonates too close. Maybe if I can focus that power straight down…?’ He looked down at his hand, allowing a little bit of mana to begin to flow out, gently swirling the air around his fingers with [Reshape Matter]. ’Can I even mess with a skill like that? Or would I need to make a new one entirely?’

Again, he looked at the screen for inspiration. ’Hmm… well, I can’t actually channel two of my alchemy spells at once right now, even if I wanted to try. There was a talent point upgrade for that, if I remember. Also one for electricity. Core upgrades to consider…’

John stopped to check the time on his phone. While he did intend to get to sleep early enough that he could be well-rested for his attempt to join Ela’s workout in the morning, he wasn’t tired at all currently, probably due to the nap he’d taken right after returning home. He took a moment to consider his options before deciding that he had enough time to at least explore his new idea.

He left the movie paused and moved outside to the backyard, thankful for the high fences that suburban housing offered. Most likely he’d be able to test without any danger of being spotted. As he slowly wandered his way out onto the grass, he momentarily lamented his current inability to summon a plain barrier for testing instead of his normal, post-apocalyptic city.

You haven’t exactly tried improving your barrier skill either.

’I’m not complaining, just thinking to myself about it. I haven’t exactly had time to try and work on anything that isn’t directly related to my own survival.’

And that’s why you’re out here late at night to see if you can fly?

’Flying is, like, literally THE number one cheese tactic for every low level D&D character. I just gotta figure out how to do it safely… or if it’s possible at all.’

He sighed as he looked up at the slowly rising moon. It was just starting to grow chilly outside, though he didn’t mind. The last hints of purples and oranges streaked across the sky into the inky blues of night. The first stars were just beginning to twinkle across the black sea above. Perhaps it would be nice to get to practice outside, instead of in whatever restricted area a barrier might create.

The Gamer thought again about the details of the plan he had, immediately beginning to find some issues.

It was true that his [Lesser Air Burst] had enough **** to knock him around, but that was not nearly the same as enough **** to lift him outright on its own. Plus, that spell was only good for single bursts, not constant streams. John winced as he recalled how he’d nearly split his own skull open in his first ever dungeon. Since his own explosions could damage him, this whole thing was really more like trying to grenade jump with style, rather than flying.

He continued to ponder options, forming a [Lesser Air Burst] in his hand and holding it in front of him. Maintaining the spell so that he could see the targeter, he tried to guesstimate how far away he’d need to detonate it to minimize damage while still giving himself a push. Frowning, he tried jumping up and down a couple times, realizing that he had nowhere near the jump vertical to actually try to boost himself with his spell safely anyway.

’I’ve splattered myself on walls in Halo enough for a lifetime. I really don’t need to be doing that to myself in real life,’ John thought, souring on the use of [Lesser Air Burst]. ’Maybe I should just try to make a new skill?’

The Gamer held out one hand just slightly in front of him, pointed towards the ground. He braced the outstretched limb with his other, focusing his mind on his [Reshape Matter] spell. The rush of mana through his body was comforting and familiar at this point, yet, there was an undeniable rush as his soul rippled with power.

The winds around him came to a sudden stop as he seized control of them before suddenly whipping around, funneled towards his palm. John imagined a powerful jet of air shooting from his palm, something more focused on **** and thrust than any real damage. The grass around him began to bend and sway, pressure building as he slowly acclimated to pushing the air in a stream.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent just how low the cap was on the **** he could produce on his own currently - not even enough to make it difficult to stand upright. Even if he invested a point to get the talent to allow him to cast the spell twice over, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. As he tried to push his capacity higher, an icy spear shot through his brain.

Staggering backward, John realized just how difficult his plan was to execute with the limits of his current ability.

The newly awakened Abyssal could only move a certain volume of matter at a time with each cast, and the mental overhead required to even try to constantly release and pick up new air as he used it for thrust gave him a headache. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he released his magic, shaking his head to clear the last traces of pain.

’It’s so close to possible, but so far away… My spells usually get stronger if I can unlock a real gem for them, but I doubt I’ll get an upgrade of the degree I’d need to do this.’

With his plan currently full of holes, having been shot down at almost every turn, he backed up to square one and began to reconsider his strategy. John didn’t want to completely abandon the idea, since even a little vertical control would give him a ton more safety in combat, but his approach wasn’t going to work for now. He had some of the building blocks, but none of the magnitude.

’Alright, who else have I seen try to fly with wind powers in anything? What can I do to cheat the distance?’ Wracking his brain, he tried to call forth any time he could think of someone flying with wind magic, in whatever media he’d seen. ’Maybe… like Falcon or Aang? I could try to get a wingsuit; I bet that Auction thing sells them. That would help at least somewhat with the issue of how much upward **** I can make, right?’

The Gamer wandered back inside for the moment, his brain filled with detail questions. Quickly heading upstairs to his room, he did his best to multi-task through all the information he needed. While John’s computer brought forth several pages of information on lift and how humans had originally learned to fly, his phone opened the Abyss Auction application he’d gotten earlier, perusing their offerings for wingsuits.

’Beginner wingsuits… just under a grand. God, it… wait, Gaia? Whichever, it hurts to look at that price tag, but it is something I can afford now. Drone delivery expected… fifteen minutes? Geez, that’s crazy. I guess magic Amazon has way better offers than free two day…’

He pursed his lips, looking at the options again before turning his attention to his computer, wanting to make sure his plan at least made enough sense to justify the expense. While most of the information detailed how dangerous and skill intensive wingsuit flying was, he figured that it would probably be OK if he was only talking about trying to do it from low heights.

’Or maybe I’m just telling myself that… hard to know.’

From a purely physics perspective, it seemed like the new idea would work, at least from his own relatively rudimentary understanding of the situation. Wingsuits generated lift just like planes did, with wind running over the wings creating negative pressure. Since the suits had no engines of their own, it was definitely more “falling with style” than true flying, but he had magic to try and help with that in the future if he wanted to get ambitious.

’The biggest issue is actually taking off. A wingsuit and some helpful air-bending will only get me so far if I’m starting on the ground. Most of these all look like they require jumping off or out of things, and I’ve already established that there’s no way I’m making enough **** to lift myself yet…’

He leaned back in his chair, pondering the abilities he had. ’You know… maybe… my [Lesser Earth Spike] comes out with a lot of ****, basically a huge punch. Maybe if I could make a flat version, I could use it to boost my jump or something, then try to use air once I’m actually up? That’s a really convoluted strategy… but it might actually work.

’It’s a starting point at least.’

Deciding to proof of concept his launchpad idea before he committed a thousand dollars on his side quest to become Icarus, The Gamer headed back outside to where he’d been testing previously.

He crouched down, channeling his mana once more, but this time, he let it flow downward into the soil beneath. It was still far slower to gather the materials needed to use an earth spell compared to his air spells, but he could tell that he’d grown more proficient at it. He supposed that he’d had a lot of experience trying to manipulate stone and steel during his dungeon fights, if nothing else.

Exhaling, he focused on the structured rigidity of the mana within the earth. The tendency for it to hold structure until bursting would be advantageous for his purpose now, as long as he could keep it flat enough not to skewer himself. This use of [Reshape Matter] was easier to try and implement than his [Lesser Earth Spike] had been, since he didn’t need to try and make a sharp point, and he needed no real distance or range for it.

His first attempt came quickly, though it didn’t quite have the oomph he’d wanted. The armor piece he’d chosen as his test dummy did get a few feet off the ground, though considering the weight difference in himself and the lone gauntlet, he doubted it would get far for his plan yet.

It took several more iterations of the motion he was using to fashion the unfinished spell into something truly promising, leaning into the sudden snap and power that his previous earth spell already had. Eventually, he refined his new ability to the point where he could send a piece of his armor up high enough to crest above his house’s roof.

’I guess the next step is to see if it punches hard enough to send me up there, too. Probably not nearly that height, but if I can get even half that, I’ll take it as a starting point.’

The Gamer stepped forward onto the patch of grass he’d already torn up in his testing, making a mental note to figure out how to fix his parent’s yard when he had time. Then, he crouched down, bracing himself as he churned the earth below, building the pressure he needed to try his launch pad out.

Crack!

With a deep tremble that he could feel in his bones, the ground beneath him popped. He was in the air almost faster than he could keep up with. Pain shot through his ankles as they managed all the pressure of his takeoff. John twisted as he flew upward, trying to maintain any semblance of control over his trajectory. He completely failed at that, tumbling over himself twice before managing to stabilize enough to stop from vomiting.

As he crested, about ten feet above the ground, the thought occurred to him that he should have finalized his landing strategy before attempting this. He whirled, suddenly facing the rapidly approaching ground. His eyes widened as he grasped for a plan in his head.

Thinking back to his initial idea, he formed a [Lesser Air Burst] in his hand as fast as he could, firing the whirling ball of mana off towards the ground. He popped it early as his body rushed to meet it, the **** of the blast traveling up to push against him. The reverse of pressure was unpleasant, but he had guessed correctly enough not to damage himself.

The dueling forces canceled out enough for him to land with a rough thud instead of the snap of a broken arm. The Gamer groaned, his face smushed into the dirt.

I think you forgot the “with style” part of your falling, there.

John rolled over onto his back, taking a deep breath as he appreciated the solid ground beneath him again. ’Yeah, yeah. I got excited.

’OK, lots of notes for next time,’ he thought, pulling wayward pieces of grass off the side of his face and sitting up. ’Takeoff… more or less successful, let’s say. The rest of it… needs a little work.’