Chapter 123. Slight Evolution

“2nd Gear!” I yelled as I ran towards Ectoplasm with my baton out. ‘This will be more about fighting styles. I need to be able to use some sort of martial arts when I’m in a pinch. This will also help out Jin too. The stronger I get the stronger he gets.’ I put ‘2nd Gear’ on its lowest setting of power required to help even out the experience gap. I charged at Ectoplasm and swung my baton to his midsection, but he blocked it with his right prosthetic leg, and whipped my baton down. With my baton low to the ground, Ectoplasm set his right ‘foot’ on the ground, and tried to kick me with his left.

I dodged out of the way, and while I was moving my body back back and to the left, I let go of my baton and used my left arm to help me pivot and try to kick Ectoplasm with my right foot while dodging his attack. He saw what I was trying, and retreated a bit to create some distance. I quickly grabbed my baton back in my right hand, and kept up the pressure. This time when I got close I would try to hit him higher to avoid him blocking again. When I tried he just dodged by pivoting on his legs in a weird way to seemingly drop to half his regular height.

While I was processing this, he took the opportunity to kick me in the stomach. I reeled back at the hit, but the pain resistance helped me shake it off. I took a deep breath while I had the chance. ‘Ok, he is very powerful in close combat. This is perfect.’ I had a grin re-emerge at the challenge of fighting a strong opponent with my powers shackled again. ‘This is going to be fun.’ I snickered for a bit, before running back to the fight.

We continued like that for a while. I was never able to land a strong blow on him. Even with my enhanced speed, I was no match in a hand to hand fight with Ectoplasm. I was sore, had bruises, and was a little sad that I couldn’t land a blow. I could avoid his blows for a while, before he would pull some strange maneuver to get one in. I was proud at how long I could hold out against a pro. ‘I guess that’s something to be proud of.’ I then got an alert on my watch reminding me of my appointment at the school nurse. I got up off the ground I was laying on while contemplating how much work goes into training marital arts.

“Thank you for your guidance Ectoplasm, but I have an appointment to go to.” He nodded his head then disappeared. I walked out of the gym, and made my way to the nurse’s room for a check up. Getting inside the room I took notice of Tsuyu on a chair getting her blood taken with ‘Recovery Girl’ close by. They both noticed me. I waved at Tsuyu, then talked with ‘Recovery Girl’. “Is this a bad time?” She shook her head at my question while leading me into the room. “No, Asui was just about done with her blood being taken.” I nodded at her then looked at Tsuyu.

She nodded, and started to explain. “I’m donating my blood for Toga. She said she wanted to test how well she could use my quirk. I was scared to give her some at first, but hearing I could just have it drawn here changed my mind.” I smiled and chuckled at the way Toga could have started that conversation. I laid down on a bed on the other end of the room, and ‘Recovery Girl’ went to take some of my blood to test. I closed my eyes at the needle, and waited for her to say she was done.

I waited for a bit, and then heard ‘Recovery Girl’ telling me it was over. She gave me a kiss on the cheek to close the wound early, but she sighed soon after. She then helped disconnect Tsuyu from the needle, and sent her on her way with some candy. After she left, ‘Recovery Girl’ locked the door to stop anyone from hearing what she might say. “Kaminari, your speed of recovery has always been above average. However with these nanites as you call them in your system. As long as the wound isn’t cauterized, or a limb cut off, your body should be able to heal it after enough time. This however, does not apply to your overheating problems. Unless these nanites evolved you still have to worry about heatstroke.”

My lips pursed at how I felt like I was becoming less human. I sighed and watched as she ran some quick tests on the nanites to see if they changed at all. “There are more of them in your blood than last time. You said they would replicate to a maximum set by the watch. Has that maximum been reached yet?” She spoke while looking at the screen the microscope was plugged into. I undid my watch, and took it off. I moved it to talk about what the nanites were up to, and then the settings.

I looked at the amount allowed tab, and saw that they were effectively done. “Yes, the watch says this is the maximum amount until I decide otherwise.” She nodded while still looking at the nanites. “Well, I would say to keep them at this level. If you can’t make it lower than this, that's ok, but if you increase it too much, then your body will become overly dependent on them.” I nodded at her grave statement. This was already something I knew about, but having been reminded of it still sent me on edge. “I see that some are slightly different. It seems that they are starting to evolve. However if they do alter, I have no way of knowing how long it might take for them all to change. It all depends on your diet, and what settings you have on your watch.” I nodded again at her. She continued on. "It seems that the nanites that changed have heat syncs. It appears to be a small change, but allows them to deal with higher temperatures." She sighed as she looked away from the screen back at me.

“These nanites are very amazing technology. I’m glad you decided not to hide this from us, but remember. If strong people in power know about what you have, they will stop at nothing to take it from you.” I gulped at the seriousness of this situation. I took a deep breath and smiled while putting my watch back on. “Look who you’re talking to? I can keep a secret.” She sighed again and sent me on my way with some candy.