It took a bit of time to get all of Chad's points assigned. Tammy's insisted on running a whole battery of tests after each point was added.

It was with good reason – Chad could feel the first twinges of that pulling sensation return, especially when messing with his forearm and upper arm. Fortunately, Annie was on hand to help relax his muscles as needed until they balanced things out.

At the end of the day, they settled on adding five points of strength to his right shoulder, three to his upper arm, and two to his hand. It left him feeling pretty stiff and inflexible by default, but not to the point where his shoulder was immobile. Tammy didn't seem concerned.

"It's fine," she reasoned. "It's not like you have anything remotely close to actual punching technique anyway. You're basically just swinging your arm around like a club. An atomic club, but a club nonetheless. It's a miracle that his punches even work as well as they do."

Chad was getting used to that. He was apparently full of miracles lately.

After assigning all of his points, Chad was basically asleep on his feet. Despite the doctor's protests, he managed to extricate Annie and Squawkers – who were also nodding off – from the situation and get to bed. Chad was out like a light as soon as he flopped in bed.

The next few days went by in a blur of activity. They continued on testing his capabilities in every way they could. With skills, without skills, throwing, punching, crushing – everything they could think of, they tried. He also practiced working together with Annie, using her skill to prevent injuries and get better mileage out of his own punches. Selectively relaxing muscles let him wind up the blows more, resulting in an even bigger impact.

The one thing they didn't particularly test was the effects of Power-Up Punch. Not after the first time, when Chad's one-second windup of the skill sent an earthquake rippling through the entire town of Gainsville. From ten miles away.

Instead, Annie suggested that he try punching the air.

"There's no way this works," Chad mumbled.

"There's very little chance that this works," Tammy corrected. "But if it does, it'll be an important tool in our arsenal."

"You ready, Squawk?"

The bird cawed up at them from a position safely on the ground. Next to him sat a bowl of popcorn. He'd been enjoying it all morning as they ran their tests. "Ready!"

With a nod, Chad pulled his fist back. He felt Annie's hand glide across his shoulder and upper arm, allowing him to pull it back further than usual.

"Hold that position," the doctor said, clicking on a stopwatch.

He did, staring up at the cloudy sky in anticipation. His fist glowed with golden light, fully at first, then brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. As he felt the power reach its apex, Tammy called out.

"Go!"

Annie released her hold. Immediately Chad felt his muscles tense again, once more capable of constricting. They coiled like springs as he brought his fist rocketing forward like a missile. The air seemed to condense around his fist, its sheer speed crushing the molecules together into an almost solid mass. But the resistance wasn't nearly enough to stop him. Chad's fist sailed forward, extending partway into the sky to complete the punch.

A sharp crack like a gunshot sounded and sent him reaching for his ears reflexively. Looking around, the others did the same.

Shoot. That was the punch?!

Looking up only seemed to confirm it. The once-uniform cloudcover now boasted a spectacular round hole in its midst, right above their heads. Sunlight beamed down from the blue sky beyond as the wind whipped about their faces.

"Er…" Annie started. "Well… guess that worked, huh?"

A piece of popcorn fell from Squawkers's beak. "Uh. Yeah."

Chad looked at his fist in wonder. Every time he thought he'd gotten used to his arm's strength, it found another way to surprise him. This thing wasn't just strong – it was terrifying.

I don't think I can ever arm wrestle anyone ever again, he realized. I won't just rip their arm off, I might turn them into paste by moving too fast.

Tammy nodded sharply at the sky. "Wonderful. Now it's time to test its accuracy. We need some projectiles to hit…"

Aside from their practice, there were plenty of other things that occupied their days. Fending off attacks and searching for enemies took up the brunt of their time though. Between the beefed-up wildlife, enemy raids, and protecting the town, they had their hands full. Chad himself had a hard time finding things that would give him a useful amount of experience. However, the same wasn't true for the others.

Gram Gram's cats acted as an independent defense force, hunting down whatever creatures happened to lurk nearby. It earned the old woman a respectable number of levels and more stats to go with it. Annie and Squawkers similarly had no problems with taking out things from a distance as a team. However, the same wasn't true of the woman's brother: Jerry.

On one hand, Jerry had taken to the idea of leveling with more enthusiasm than expected. The problem was that he still wasn't made for fighting. He got squeamish around blood or guts of any kind, and his improvements to dexterity had a mind-bogglingly negligible effect on his accuracy with a firearm. He could play music, of course, but he couldn't kill anything on his own, and getting him near combat made them all nervous.

And so they stuck him in the tank.

Major Geoffries pinched the bridge of his nose. "You had a tank."

Chad nodded. "Yup."

"This whole time."

"Yup."

"And you didn't think to bring it up? Ever?"

"Hey, we told you about the other stuff!" Squawkers pointed out. "We just didn't want anyone taking away our shiny toy."

"Exactly!" Chad chimed in. "If you were us, would you have said anything?"

"You know what? Fine." The man gave up, his expression harried. "I won't even ask where you got it. Compared to everything else, this is borderline normal."

He put together a group of his men to crew the tank – a crew that included Jerry. He was too weak to reload the guns or do any actual combat, of course, but he could play music inside the cabin. Which was great, seeing how his newest ability allowed him to buff defense and make the tank even more tanky. A quick jerry-rigged setup of speakers and microphones also allowed them to blast his debuff skills to anything around them. It made dealing with groups of enemies a cakewalk.

Of course, it meant the crew had to deal with a near-constant onslaught of classical music. But at least it was good classical music. And they didn't complain a bit after Chad and Annie held them a nice barbecue of mutant cow they'd come across. They even let the pair come aboard for some joyrides.

It's still funny that driving a fucking tank around town is less disruptive than me punching some stuff. What a wild world.

***

Chad stepped into the underground greenhouse to find it had completely transformed. The formerly white and sterile space had become a jungle of greens, reds, and oranges. Thick vines, leaves the size of dinner plates, and oddly-shaped seed pods filled every inch of the space. It was impossible to even see the other side. But what really caught his eye were the flowers.

Flowers of every size, shape, and color dotted the space, each more beautiful than the last. Many of them Chad recognized as native wildflowers. But there were plenty of unfamiliar ones as well.

"Ah! Chadwick!"

The face of the blue-skinned elf popped out from behind a gnarled tree trunk. Nick wore a wide grin as he navigated through the garden toward the entrance. "Hello! What can I help you with?"

"Hey, Nick!" Chad glanced around the room. "Wow. You've been busy."

"Oh, yes." Nick reached out to brush a nearby vine away as it continued to grow. "I have been quite enjoying myself. And not only that, I have made so much progress! Come, let me show you…"

The alien led Chad through the garden. As they walked, he pointed out plant after plant, describing their properties, where they came from, how long they normally took to grow… It was far too much information to take in at once, but Nick's enthusiasm was infectious.

"Damn." Chad looked up at another tree that just barely fit inside the room. It had grown in the shape of a trellis for yet more plants. "You can just make things grow however you want?"

"Not exactly," Nick explained. "I have some limitations. It is also dependent on the plant itself. However, they do afford me a lot of freedom with their shapes. Oh, these red flowers here…"

After touring around a bit more, Nick gestured toward a particular corner of the room. At least, Chad assumed it was a corner. "And I have been growing some things specifically for you. Things that may help in your mission. Muscle stimulants, relaxants, numbing agents, healing herbs, herbs that will fill you with energy…"

Chad looked over the collection. He didn't know what half the things did, himself. But Squawkers could probably identify them to confirm if they needed to. So far though, Nick hadn't given them anything less than awesome stuff.

Chad grinned. "Thanks, Nick. Really. This is gonna help a ton."

"Of course," he bowed his head. "It is the least I can do in return for your own generosity. Are there any items you would like to take back with you at the moment?"

"I think the doc wants to test out some of those energy herbs?"

"Alright. Let me harvest some."

As the kid went about his work, Chad continued to idly glance around the dense foliage. It really was quite pretty. Nick had done a good job of turning it into a lush paradise, but also a carefully curated one. There was a certain order to everything that made the flowers stand out even more.

Maybe, once this is all done, I'll ask him to make a garden for Gram Gram.

He took a deep breath in. It smelled floral and earthy, as expected. Except… not entirely.

Chad's brow furrowed as he took another whiff. There was another scent there, underneath the rest. A strangely familiar one. Taking another look around, he scanned the plants a bit more intently to see if he could identify its source.

"Is something the matter?" Nick called over his shoulder.

"Yeah… what all did you plant in here?" Chad called back, stepping toward one of the walls. He peered behind a line of low shrubs.

"Oh, everything I could find," Nick admitted cheerfully. "I have at least one of every plant I've encountered so far. My newest Era Seed is in the back, if you'd like to see it…"

Finally, his eyes alighted on a small, bushy plant tucked away in the corner. Its long, serrated leaves splayed out in all-too-familiar fanlike patterns up and down a main stalk. Chad nearly choked.

No way. He didn't really…

Leaning a little closer, Chad took another sniff. Sure enough, he could place the smell now. He knew exactly what this was.

"Nick?"

The elf popped up his head. "Yes?"

"Are you growing weed?"

"These are not weeds!" Nick protested. "No plant is a weed. They all have useful properties and places in–"

Chad cut him off. "No, not weeds. I mean weed, the plant!"

He cocked his head, following Chad's pointing finger. "I have not heard of this weed. Is that an alternative name for that plant there?"

"Yes!" Chad said with exasperation. "Why the hell are you growing it?!"

"Well, it is a useful plant." Nick crossed his arms defensively. "It has properties as a relaxant, pain reliever, and a variety of other effects. I assumed it may be useful in the battles to come."

Chad stared at the sheer earnestness of his alien friend for a moment longer. Then, he bust out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?!"

Chad gasped out a response between gales of laughter. "I can't believe you're growing weed! Weed! Is this your teenage rebellion phase, Nick?"

"It is not a weed! I told you!"

Chad couldn't hear him. He was too busy cackling.

***

As the sun sank below the horizon, Chad stepped into the dining room of the underground bunker. The savory smell of the evening's dinner still lingered in the room, almost enough to make him start salivating again.

"There he is!" Squawkers called from the table. The bird was perched on the ornately-carved back of one of the wooden chairs. "Finally! Where've you been?"

"Sorry, the doc kept me late." He explained as he sat.

"That's alright," Major Geoffries said. "We haven't been waiting long."

Chad looked around. Geoffries sat at the head of the table, his bald head shining under the fluorescent lights. The rest of the seats were occupied by the usual suspects: Annie, Gram Gram, Nick, and a slightly fidgety Jerry. For the most part, they all wore tense expressions. He could understand why. This was an important meeting, after all.

"Alright," Major Geoffries began. "Tomorrow's the big day. Let's review the plan."