Bad Beat - Chapter 58 - Book (Patreon)

Gabriel spent almost half an hour carefully unwrapping the books and piling them up around the living room in distinct piles based on their topics, while being careful not to damage any of the boxes they had arrived in.

The boxes were carefully stacked in the corner, minimizing the amount of space they took up. He would put every box there, and at the end, when he was finished with their contents, he would try to fuse them to see what happened.

The books themselves ranged from yoga manuals, breathing techniques, and new-age exercise routines to technical books about the movement of the body and biomechanical manuals about the body itself. Next to them were martial arts books ranging from “my-first-kick” guides to full-on descriptions of complicated movements and techniques.

There were even books about dances, compendiums about different archery and fencing stances. Descriptions of sword styles, and he even saw a few that were about the history of shields and their uses.

When Gabriel tried to fuse together books the last time, it was clear that the Deck of Infinity wouldn’t be creating new knowledge. It would only collate and efficiently condense the knowledge fed into the fusions. So he wanted to see what happened when he fed it enough books to round out the knowledge, then fused that to something he could absorb.

‘I wonder what would happen…’ he mused as he continued to unpack the books.

It was the dream of every student, no matter their nationality or type of school, to be able to just download the books containing the required knowledge into their heads. And now, it was possible that this would become a reality for him…

Letting out a sigh, Gabriel raised the first card and absorbed the book in his hand, then the next one, until it turned into a blur. He watched the TV while his hand automatically reached out, picked up a book, then used a card to absorb it before fusing it into the other card held in his hand.

It was quite meditative…

Then, as he was in the flow and reached for the next book, his hand grabbed at nothing.

Blinking confusedly, he looked around, coming out of the fugue state, only to see that all the books had vanished.

“Oh… I’m finished…” he mumbled.

Shaking himself a little, he took the card in his hand and turned it over. It had an orange border, and the face of the card showcased a beautiful, leather-bound book with a golden figurine in mid-motion on the cover. Gabriel would describe the figurine as a mix between a ballerina and a fencer.

Under it, the name of the card: 1 x Book of Movement.

Summoning the book to his hand, it landed in his hands, feeling heavy and smelling exactly like any new book would. Then he took a sniff, and the smell was replaced with the smell of ancient books that had been read for decades or even centuries.

It reminded him of the time he visited an old library where they had a section where visitors could get close to old books.

Gently opening the book, he began to read. It was a massively simplified and clarified set of instructions about how to move most efficiently and elegantly, while also showcasing how to stand stably so as to resist an opponent’s attempts to move him. There were very easily understood instructions about exercises for every part of the body, including some he didn’t even think needed exercises. The book also contained pre- and post-workout instructions and movement techniques for different fighting styles.

And it even had full-color pictures!

All in all, Gabriel had a feeling that if he wanted to sell it, it would go for a hefty chunk of money.

With Sparky’s help, he managed to verify that it contained nothing new. Just the same information, repackaged in a much more digestible format.

Finished reviewing the copy, Gabriel had Sparky save a list of the books included in it, in case he wanted to replicate the fusion. Then he flipped through his cards until he found the one containing his bag, which he took out and, after some rooting around, took out one of the remaining Pills of Everlasting Life and, with a well-practiced movement, absorbed it into a card, then fused it with the book.

The card went dark for a moment before the screen changed. Both the pill and the book had orange borders; the new card had a metallic bronze color, and on the face of the card was an ethereal pill surrounded by illusory bodies doing all manner of movements. There was an illusory body, looking like it was almost moving, holding up a sword; another body with ambiguous gender and race, running; an archer letting loose an arrow; someone hiding behind a shield; another one punching out; and so much more. It was almost like every time he blinked, the picture changed, and he could spot a new figure.

The name was a bit confusing: 1 x Pill of Illusionary Displacement Technique.

Gabriel scanned the card, trying to figure out more information, but in the end, he came up with nothing.

“Sparky, the usual,” he called out. “If I don’t wake up, and you’re finished with drawing on my face, call Mia. Or the ambulance…”

[Roger. Roger.]

[Pen prepared.]

One of the drones was already holding up a pen, looking ready to pounce. Shaking his head, Gabriel leaned back on the couch and popped the pill into his mouth after taking it out of the card.

It lasted barely a chew, as the pill basically dissolved the moment it came into contact with his saliva.

The pill tasted as if he had swallowed a bubble, but instead of soap, it was a potent mix of herbs that coated his tongue.

Gabriel had a moment to smack his tongue with a grimace on his face before his body locked up, and he wasn’t seeing his apartment anymore.

Instead, he watched an incredibly fast montage of his own body moving through martial arts exercises, fencing with a faceless opponent, letting loose a barrage of arrows against hay bales, resisting the charge of burly men with his shield, and so much more.

At the beginning, he was able to distinguish the different types of actions, sports, or martial arts, but by the tenth second of the experience, he lost track of time and the ability to think coherently. His brain was overflowing with knowledge he couldn’t name, place, or even process.

Then, just as fast as it happened, it stopped, and Gabriel found himself on the couch, blinking the lights out of his eyes, with a small drone scrambling up onto his torso, holding a pen triumphantly. However, the moment he started moving again by taking a great breath, the drone stopped and drooped down with a small whine.

[Awwww…]

[Almost.]

[Tsk.]

Gabriel shook himself, read what Sparky wrote on the projected screen, and let out a rueful chuckle. “Maybe next time, Sparky…”

As the small drone crawled off his body, he focused inward and tried to sense what had changed. For a long moment, he feared it had no effect, then knowledge, fragmented and foggy, rushed back, sending him reeling for a second before he got hold of himself.

His body began to spasm, as if tremors were rushing through it, and he could practically feel all of his muscles tense, one by one. Which was a supremely disconcerting feeling…

But in the end, he could say what he had always wanted to say. “I know kung fu!”

Well, not really…

Gabriel stood up with a grin, and he could already feel his body moving a bit strangely. Not wrong, but different from what he was used to. It was as if every movement was more economical and purposeful. Every step was taken with confidence and absolute balance.

He didn’t suddenly know ten thousand forms of martial arts. Instead, he had a feeling that his body was once again optimized, this time for movement, while the knowledge he had absorbed was buried deep inside, waiting for him to tap into it.

Just to test it, he went through a few long-forgotten katas he had learned as a child when he was forced to attend karate lessons, and he could feel the movements smooth out in real time as his body and mind aligned and began correcting his movements before he even realized he was moving wrong.

“Haaa…”

It was not a big upgrade, but it would definitely be a help, especially with his penchant for getting in the middle of fights between supers.

For the next half an hour, he went through a few basic exercises while Sparky recorded him. Watching back the videos, it was really weird to see himself improving visibly during the exercises. His first punch was basic, with almost no finesse, and somehow he could tell that he was keeping his fist slightly wrong.

The last one? A picture-perfect punch, executed according to the big book. But as the power kept drip-feeding him knowledge, it also showed that while those movements were theoretically perfect, there was an enormous difference between theory and practice.

Out in the field, it was an entire different story…

“What do you think?” he asked Sparky.

The drones swirled around him with interest before Sparky began to comment.

[The ability of parental unit to commit crime has risen.]

[This unit is very proud.]

“You know what? Forget I even asked…” Gabriel shook his head before reaching for his cards and beginning to look through them to see which one to use next while ignoring the pouting AI. “Let’s see what’s next?” He reached a certain card, read the name, and grinned. “Could be useful…”

He brandished the card, and another palette appeared in the middle of the room. Every box was stark white, with a lot of medical warnings and signs on them. Stepping closer, idly noticing that even his steps were quieter, he pulled out his multi-tool, flicked the blade open, and with one smooth motion, improved by his new upgrade, opened the box. Inside, packed into transparent bags, were small first-aid kits, packed as tightly next to each other as possible.

Whistling slightly, he motioned Sparky to resume the movie they had downloaded from the net, some romantic comedy where two people decide to fake having superpowers and how they get entangled with the superhero world, only to realize by the end that they loved each other, and (Gasp!) they had powers all along. Then he began methodically unpacking the boxes, still taking care not to damage the cardboard.

To his surprise, even the unpacking went faster, as his new power seemed to be ready to optimize even the movement of unpacking and putting things into different piles. Weird feeling, but he couldn’t really complain.

Soon, he was sitting in the middle of a collection of very cheap and dubious medical products. Budget first-aid kits in one pile, with medical sprays that claimed to help heal wounds and regrow skin. Sparky even included several bottles of pills that claimed to be able to crumble into water, which would turn it into a local anesthetic. A few hundred heating and cooling gel packs and hydration packs rounded out this haul.

And Gabriel sat in the middle, rubbing his chin, trying to decide how to approach this.

Should he pull out items from the first-aid kit and fuse them one-by-one and then combine the end products into an ultimate first-aid kit, or just use the first-aid kits as they were? The sprays were kinda a given; with his spiritual water and maybe some sun power, he would create potent healing devices. The heating and cooling gels would go into his armor, granting it heat regulation, or even maybe resistance to cold and heat (especially if boosted by Cold and Heat cards).

Frowning slightly, he picked up one of the first-aid packets, frowning even deeper at how lightweight it was, then absorbed it with a card. Naturally, the card had a white border, and the face only showed the first-aid kit, just as it looked in real life. The name was, however, much more telling: 1 x Shabby Low-Quality First Aid Kit.

“At least it’s not fake…” Gabriel muttered to himself, then looked back at the pile of other kits. “Alright. Decision made. I’m not unpacking all that stuff.”

Two of those turned into a Low-Quality kit, which then went, as usual, to Medium, High, Effective, which slowly turned into Improved, then Enhanced, Augmented, and then finally Superior by the time he had used up 256, almost a quarter of the pile.

The card read 1 x Superior First-Aid Kit and had a nice, solid blue border. On the face of the card, the kit was surrounded by a very faint light halo, and there was a faded red cross behind it in the background.

Opening the Superior product, Gabriel saw that while the size remained the same, the medicine, tools, and equipment inside were much nicer and better packaged, easier to access, and just altogether looked much higher quality. Comparing the two was like taking a car from the impound lot and bringing it to a luxury car dealership and putting it next to any of the displayed cars.

Happy with the results, Gabriel put that one away and reached for the next batch. For now, he would make four Superior kits and see how he could use them before trying to fuse them together.

Meanwhile, the movie they were watching ended, and Sparky switched to the next one, where it turns out the duo of not-so-fake supers each have their own exes, who are actually supers, and now they have to deal with that.

“This has no business being so good…” Gabriel said as he sat on the ground, leaned against the couch, and watched the movie while his hands never stopped moving, fusing first-aid kit after first-aid kit.

A/N: A bit of using his original power. No kung fu download, but at least he won't trip over his feet. After this, however, MC is going to focus purely on external things. Happy reading!