Ok, wrote up an omake. It explains some things about the Exalted ability system for the uninitiated and has some comedy at the end.
Growing Pains
Lelouch stared at his ceiling as he tried to get to sleep. To say the day of his Exaltation had been stressful was an understatement. Even if he felt bone tired his mind was still unable to stop thinking about everything and trying to adjust his plans. It would be a while before he could actually be asleep, so he figured he might as well be productive.
"Seyrun."
"Yeah, Boss?"
"The Exaltation allows for me to grow indefinitely, right? How exactly does that work?"
"Ah, right, let me get my notes... there they are. So, yeah, so try feeling deep in your gut and see if you can find some untapped potential."
"Untapped potential? What does that even..." as Lelouch questioned what he was being asked to find he managed to find it all the same. "Oh, there it is. I guess. Interesting. Feels like there's quite of bit of it."
"Really? Your Exaltation should have used everything you already had to round you out a bit. Then again it's been an eventful day, so I guess you may have gotten more from all that."
"Round me out? What do you mean by that?"
"Hmmm... ah, I know. Have you noticed if you're a little stronger or a little faster? Or maybe you've gotten a bit better at something?"
Lelouch thought about it for a moment, noting that the walk to Clovis's mobile command center hadn't really made him as tired as he'd normally get on such a long walk. He'd never been good at physical activities, often having to go to remedial gym classes in spite of him never really improving much. "Yes, I think so."
"Right, so Exalts aren't quite like normal mortals. They grow in leaps, going from one level to the next with no apparent inbetween. Are you following?"
"Yes, I think so. So my physical stamina was rounded up?"
"Yeah, exactly. I'd say you're probably around the level of a normal human right now in that category, Boss."
"That's quite convenient. Well then, how do I use this untapped potential I've got in me?"
"Right, well, you'll need to focus it in the direction you want to improve. Sometimes you can get the benefits pretty quickly, sometimes you have to train or perform special actions. You should be able to intuit which is which and how long it should take, but generally speaking improving your base capabilities will take some time and any abilities you don't have an intrinsic talent for will require training."
"Alright, I get it. So if I wanted to say, improve my skill with piloting Knightmares, I could do that?"
"Yes, you could do that. But that's rather specific knowledge. You could instead invest a bit more potential into your ability to drive anything that can be driven, and it would work similarly."
"Anything that can be driven? How the hell does that work?"
"Well, Boss, it's kind of complicated. I guess the best way to explain it is that every Exalt has a form of super intuition. Even if you had no training or experience with something, you'd probably do better than any mortal who was in the same boat by sheer virtue of being able to intuit the basics of the task at hand."
"That's..."
"Yeah, bullshit, I know. Anyways, all skills, knowledge, and the like can be put into twenty five different categories."
Lelouch's eyes widened. Every skill in all of existence fit into such a small number of categories? "What are those categories, then?"
"Right... they are Archery, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War, Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival, Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Occult, Athletics, Awareness, Dodge, Larceny, Stealth, Bureacracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, and Socialize. Modern firearms fall under Archery and most small vehicles fall under Ride."
"Ok, so because I have this form of super intuition..."
"The things you were already good at before your Exaltation you're now better at in general. For example, you clearly studied how to wage war before you Exalted given how well you commanded those terrorists earlier today. Now that you're an Exalt, you could easily grasp how to command a military tactics are utterly unfamiliar to you, or play a strategy game that mimics war in some fashion that you've only just learned the rules of like you had been playing for years. Pretty neat, huh Boss?"
Lelouch was dumbfounded. This was just so... broken. Not that he was complaining, of course. Settling his thoughts, he decided on a plan of action.
"Well, Seyrun, as you said earlier I don't really have much in the way of combat skills, which could easily get us killed one day. I think we should rectify that."
"I approve very much of that idea, Boss. Not dying is always a good plan."
Lelouch grabbed some of his untapped potential, and began to shape it.
--- The Next Day, After School ---
"Lelouch-sama! I found you!"
Lelouch ran even as his legs burned from exertion. Lelouch dodged behind a tree, barely avoiding the shot. Lelouch returned fire.
"Ouch!" yelped the president of the Survival Game Club. "Hit! You're good at this for a newbie, Lelouch-sama. Are you sure you wouldn't like to join? We'll just have soooo much fun together!"
Lelouch had to refrain from visibly cringing. Ever since his Exaltation had apparently enhanced his looks the female population of Ashford Academy had become even more enamored of him than before. There was talk of an official Lelouch Fan Club forming... and Milly was considering giving it a budget.
"No, I'm fine. As I said, I'm just going to be doing surprise inspections on club activities at Milly's request. Once the week is over, I'll be going back to my regular duties." The girl pouted. "Well, I might come play occasionally." If only because this was a damnably good way to train up multiple abilities at once. At least he hadn't had to train his Knightmare piloting skills - once he had woken up, he just knew that with his current skills he could have been a more active participant in the battle at Shinjuku.
Before the girl could respond, other members of the club showed up. "Found you, pretty boy! Prepare to die!"
"Crap!" Before Lelouch could run or dodge the male members all shot him. Repeatedly. "Hit! Ouch! Hit! Hit dammit!"
