Taylor tiredly slumped onto the workbench, dismissing the arm shield. 'Strange', she mused. 'How creating it and dismissing it is so much easier now after that first hurdle. Is there some sort of thing where I have to figure it out first before I can easily and freely (well, not quite. It still takes a bit of 'energy' from within.) use it?'. She let out a breath. 'At least I can add 'Hardlight Projection' power to my list...'
She looked at her open journal, the page listing what she had learned from about an hour of testing the shield. Despite acting as if it was somehow attached to her left arm, impacts from a hammer (that was awkward, trying to get a good swing at it from around the shield) and running full tilt at a wall (it made such an odd sound, like simultaneously rapping on a glass window and banging on a metal plate), she didn't feel any of the force onto her arm. Did the shield absorb it? She could also 'detach' it from her arm (why didn't she do that earlier?) by willing it and 'hold' it in her hand as if there was an invisible handle behind it (she can feel something.) or hold it as if it's a large metal plate (luckily it felt weightless). Trying to force her arm closer to the shield while it was 'attached' felt like she's pushing against a strong repelling magnet. There's a minimum distance the shield can be away from her? 'Dismissing' it involving 'flipping' a mental switch, and calling it back out required a bit more concentration to remember how it felt the first time, though much, much quicker. Like it just snap into place and required less effort than her first try. Did her power 'bookmark' it or something?
It's not much. Still, it's the 'proper' power that she had deliberately try for. One that she idly had a sudden inkling that she could do it during a daydream, wondering about having something more useful to defend herself with. All the rest were 'instinctive' and felt like they're always there and ready.
'Can I make a suit of armour from this?' she wondered.
She stood up and walk to the middle of the cleared basement floor. Closing her eyes, she focused on both the shield power and the mental image of 'stretching' and molding it around her body into a shape of a Hero style suit of armour. 'Come on' she quietly chanted to herself, as she felt the shield warped and distort, feeding more 'energy' into it.
'Ping!'
She relaxed upon 'feeling' the remolded shield snapping into place, opening her eyes to see through the teal, slightly translucent face plate. 'It work!' she thought giddily. 'Let's see how- huh?'
She couldn't move her head. Or to be specific, she couldn't move the helmet part encasing her head. 'What the-?'
With a bit grunting and straining to no effect, it dawned on her. 'I didn't make a suit of armour. I accidentally trapped myself in a immovable wrap-around shield shell' she grumpily thought as she slammed her back into the shell in frustration.
The whole thing started to tilt back.
'Wha-? Whoa!'
Panicking at the sudden movement, she moved her body forward within the shell. The thing thankfully stopped and swing back upright. Than it tilted forward. And forward. And forward some more...
'No. Oh no. Nonononononono-'
"KoPring!!!" The stiffly standing 'suit' fell face first onto the floor. Luckily, Taylor wasn't rattled inside it. '....Note to self: research how plate armor can move' she thought before dismissing the 'suit' and she flopped onto the floor.
*************************
Taylor sighed as she plopped herself onto her bed. 'Well, looks like a trip to the library is in the near future.' she thought to herself. 'Still, is it something good enough to impress Dad?' It's only a shield....'
As her gaze idly went about her room, her eyes fell onto an old Alexandria poster hanging on her wall.
'I wonder if I can fly.'
**************************
"Grunt."
"Huff"
'Mental note: despite lifting a bowling ball and some heavy barbell weights with no issue, I can't use my telekinesis to lift myself.'
**************************
'Mental note: While I can make a hardlight disc to stand on, making it fly instead of me is a no.'
**************************
"RRRriippppp!!"
'....mental note: using telekinesis on my normal clothes to make me fly is a big no no.'
**************************
Taylor sighed as she laid in her bed, her cape journal propped upright as she updates her notes.
'-despite having enough force to make a (very shallow) crater in a concrete wall, using my punch-blast ('Kinetic Force Projection Bolt' spell, a part of her insisted) on myself felt mostly like being hit with a heavy punch from myself. I wonder if it's something to prevent accidentally injuring myself too badly, or I have an 'increased toughness' part of the 'Brute package'. Does my zapguns ('Intrinsic Mana Projection Bolt' spell! No, despite the better sounding names, I am not calling them spells!) have a similar thing? Aiming is something I have to work on. Good news, I don't have make punch motions or finger guns to trigger them, just point and shoot. Can I even fire my punch-blasts in a continuous stream instead of just pulses? In retrospect, the lack of recoil I felt should have clued me in-'
A creak of the stairs had her quickly scrambling to hide her cape journal and swap in a thick novel. Her dad is home already?!
"Hey, Kiddo," Danny greeted as he pushed open her bedroom door. "How are y-" he trailed off, his eyes staring.
Fighting and failing to suppress a rising blush, she sheepishly followed his gaze to her feet. Or more specifically, the cold pack resting on a large purpling bruise on her right foot.
"I, uh..." she stammered. "I accidentally dropped a toolbox on it..."
Danny stared at it a bit more before chuckling and shaking his head in amusement. "Oh, kiddo. I know you wanted to clear out and use the basement to explore new hobbies, but you got to be more careful."
Taylor blushed a bit more and mumbled some apologies, as Danny walked away and headed down stairs. "With a bruise like that, don't think you can make to class for a few days. I'll call the school that you're not coming. Maybe order in some pizza...." his mutterings trailed away.
With a blush still on her face, Taylor flopped her head onto her pillow and let out an embarrassed groan. 'Later' she mentally vowed. 'I'll tell him later when I have something that won't cause him to laugh at me like a hyena....'