Stronger Together chapter 85 (Patreon)

We took the potion outside behind the motel. We only scooped out a  single vial of the stuff from the giant pot, but Harry was insistent  that was plenty. "A pot like that will supply all of us no problem.  Potions aren't really a more is better kind of thing. As long as you get  at least three good swallows it'll last as long as the recipe will  work. This brew will probably give about an hour of stoneskin, but when  we get back we'll need to bottle the rest of it. Potions lose potency  quick once they settle, unless you're a master."

We  made our way out into the forest, avoiding the glowing areas where I  was sure Cinder and Barb were hard at work on their own defensive  spells. We reached a fairly empty clearing. I turned to my mentor "Can I  use my super strength here once I take it? I bet the combination will  be awesome. My Aura shielding means I don't get busted up when I use it  but I still have to hold back because it is possible to hurt yourself  through Aura. Being super durable though I could really let loose." I  was very careful when I used my force aspect to use it for grappling  mostly or swinging things. Self inflicted injuries could still get  through Aura and I didn't want to beak my fists.

Harry  looked around to make sure no one was nearby then chuckled "Should be  fine kid, try not to bust this place up too bad. Ebenezar has an  arrangement with the owners but there's only so much damage they can  ignore. I'm jealous of that aspect trick of yours though, it's damn  impressive. That fight with the changeling at the mansion was nuts, I'm  looking forward to seeing what your new aspect can do when you don't  need to hold back." He looked almost as excited as I felt, and I was  reminded once again that Harry was a huge magic nerd.

It  felt good to work with someone I knew was as enthusiastic about this as  I was. I hoped that after I'd been doing this a few years I would still  be as genuinely excited about magic as Harry was. We were lucky to have  a teacher who never lost that wonder, so many people took things for  granted after they were exposed to them for most of their lives. Harry  stepped back to give me space to run a little wild and grinned in  anticipation of what I would do next. I considered where I would start  but then realized I needed to actually drink the potion.

I  had to admit I was pretty wary of drinking mud and diamond dust, but if  Harry said it wouldn't hurt me I trusted him. I shot him an uncertain  glance and he gave me a reassuring smile and I popped the cap and tipped  the whole vial back. I felt the magic flood my whole system, I could  understand what he meant about not actually drinking it, I didn't even  think it went all the way down my throat. It did however got over my  tongue. I gagged and choked trying not to throw up even though I knew it  wouldn't take away the magic. I looked up at Harry with a glare.

My  teacher was cracking up. "Sorry kid, but just because it's not toxic  doesn't mean it tastes good. Watching your student drink their first  potion is a right of passage for every wizard." He burst out laughing  again doubling over at the furious look on my face. Bet that one was  rank too. Mud and rust? Hell's bells I almost winced when you were  coming up with it. Symbolically great, not so much for flavor. Did the  rock candy help at all?" I had to wonder if maybe his childlike wonder  wasn't always a great quality in a magic teacher.

I  spat a few times to try to clear the taste from my mouth. "No! If  anything it made it worse! Sweet does not mix well with rust. God that  was foul, you could have warned me." Harry smirked at me, waiting  expectantly. "Ok, I get why you didn't mention it, I can't wait to see  the girls go through this." He gave a satisfied nod. I stopped paying  attention to my mentor and his shitty sense of humor though and tried to  feel my skin a bit. The texture was rough and I could barely feel where  I was touching but when I pressed down I could tell I was much sturdier  now.

I  lashed out at a tree with a punch. I hadn't done this with super  strength before, though I'd punched one of these things with my force  Aura up. Unlike that time where it magnified the blow this one was all  natural so I threw the hardest punch I could manage hoping I wasn't  about to shatter my hand. There was a sharp crack and the bark chipped  off the tree leaving knuckle shaped gouges in the bark. I whooped  excitedly and slammed a few more blows into the wood, relishing in the  lack of bone crunching pain.

I  decided it was time try my force aspect with it. I focused and imbued  my body with the absurd strength the force magic gave me, though I made  sure not to dump too much into it. I gave the spell just enough juice to  put me at say Captain America levels of strength rather than  Spider-Man. I lashed out with a few more hard punches and the wood of  the tree cracked and splintered under my blows. I felt the power in my  limbs and the durability in my skin and I felt like I could fight a  fucking bear. This was the coolest thing I'd ever done in my life.

Harry  was grinning like a madman from off to the side "Damn kid that's a hell  of a punch, you've got plenty of time left on that brew though so try  going a little harder. See what you can do if you push." I didn't want  to crank up my aspect because I might drain myself completely but I  could think of at least one other way to hit harder. I pushed a force  spell into my Aura as well as my aspect and I saw the air blur around me  with green white swirls of distortion. Harry whooped with enthusiasm  "There you go! Let's see what you can really do!"

I  roared and threw the hardest punch I had in me with my Aura magnifying  my super strength blow as it landed. There was a tremendous boom and the  damaged trunk of the tree I'd been hitting fucking exploded, sending  chips of wood and tree shrapnel bursting out to pepper my stone skin.  The entire tree toppled over in the middle, which given the same thing  happened when I used my force Aura before I really should have expected  but I'd been too jazzed about throwing a superhero punch to think it  through.

Harry  came over to stand next to me as I let my Aura and aspect fade. I  wasn't too winded since I'd held back a ton on my aspect and hadn't  loaded up my force Aura too much. Added to the fact I only had them  active for a minute or two I was still good on Aura. The big wizard  whistled as he looked over the wreckage. " Damn, that one punch was  about as much power as all my force rings fully charged at once. That's a  hell of an ace in the hole if you need it. Not to mention your  Juggernaut combo thing. Super speed and force aura mixed with stone skin  would be pretty nice."

I  heard a slow clap from behind us and spun to find Kara sitting in a  tree. "That was impressive. Not enough to ruffle my feathers maybe but  still pretty intense." She hopped down lightly and wandered over to the  tree running her fingers over the bark. "I could see a bit of the work  you've put in learning to fight in that punch, but with the wide  variance in strength maybe sparring isn't the perfect format for you. I  know a few Kryptonian katas I could teach you that might speed up the  process since you can do them on your own. They were designed with  normal strength in mind  but your top level of power is close enough to  human they should work fine."

I  blinked at her. Katas were actually perfect. We'd all been so busy with  magic training I'd gotten almost no combat exercise in. Having some  forms to practice would be pretty perfect for the downtime when I was  too tapped to use magic. I smiled at her "That sounds like fun actually.  I could use a legit martial art to practice, I don't know if I'm suited  for Yang's brawling style even if she is a surprisingly great teacher.  Maybe we can work on that later tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime do  you want to help me test my stoneskin?"

She  grinned at me wryly "You want me to hit you? Because I don't think your  potion is quite that good. I can break stone with my bare hands easily.  But I do have a really fun idea. You can use your force Aura safely  without worrying about over drafting your magic right? The stoneskin  makes you pretty tough too, so why don't you turn the Aura on and I can  throw you at stuff?" She seemed excited by the possibility and I had to  admit I was too. This would be pretty close to flying, and it sounded  like a blast.

Harry  looked intrigued "Well...no flying and you can throw him too hard. He's  actually tougher than regular stone but not by that much, aim him at  trees." We both looked at him "I know I said try not to do too much  damage but this sounds really cool, besides Kara can use her heat vision  on a boulder or something and we can pretend it was a meteor. But only  once ok? I doubt the potion will hold up to repeated abuse. The question  is do you keep the Aura up or pull it around you in mid air?" He was  already scanning the trees for a good spot to throw me.

I  cracked my neck and stepped forward to stretch "I'll pull it up mid  air. And since I don't have to worry about continued pull taking me too  low I can put a whole shit load of power into my Aura. I'll be done  after this for today though no way I can manage this more than once." I  could use my Aura without overdrawing my soulfire but I could also  control how much power I put into it. The safety mechanism didn't lick  in until it got too low, so I could put in less if I wanted. This time I  got ready to put every ounce of power my Aura would take up tot he safe  threshold.

I  nodded to a grinning Kara, who picked me up by the back of my waistband  and collar, holding me parallel to the ground by my clothes. My jacket  and shirt and thick pants held up well to the grip and I hung there,  breathing deep as I prepared for liftoff. I took one more deep breath  and then nodded. Kara's voice sounded excited as she said "I'd curl your  arms and legs into a ball. Maximizes your impact force and minimizes  the strain. Whatever you decide though, here you go!" She hurled me  forward with a distinctly massive amount of force, though I knew far  from her most.

I  poured every ounce of soulfire into my Aura it would take, leaving me  low but because of the safety cap not empty, I also curled into a ball  as Kara suggested as I hurtled toward a nearby copse of trees, I felt  the wind tear at my clothes even though I couldn't feel it well on my  stone skin. I rocketed forward until I felt a sudden crash as I  decelerated quickly. The potion soaked up most of that damage and i  barely felt the impact, the explosion after that was massive. My Aura  had massively amplified the force of my impact. I stood up in the crater  I'd made and grinned back at my stunned teacher and smirking roommate.  "Ok I want to do that again!"