Getting Ready

{12 Days later}

Mako was on his way back to the bakery from school. It was hard to imagine that Mako and Bill went over so much in a single weekend, but it was exactly what happened.

Mako went back to attending school, working his night shift at the bakery and training the rest of the day. Bill on the other hand took the responsibility of household chores, alongside his shift at the bakery and the usual training.

The reason why Bill had decided to work in the first place was the fact that he wanted to earn his worth, no matter his character, he would never be the one who would just leech off of others and it was also beneficial for him since Sir Derek's bakery was in the area that was controlled by the Dark Raven which was why he was freely moving around the streets because El-Diablo had no power in that area and couldn't send any of his men there unless he wanted to break the peace that was existing between the two parties.

What Bill and Mako didn't anticipate was the fact that the Dark Ravens would also have intel on Bill and his recent whereabouts and use that as leverage to force him to join and participate in the tournament alongside Mako.

The tournament was supposed to be held tomorrow, so this was the last day that Mako and Bill could prepare themselves for the upcoming fight which they both knew wouldn't be the same as the battle royal that Mako participated in as it was only a rookie event, with all of them capped at level 3 and only possessing one ability.

It was scary to imagine that someone like Rhino was so strong with just one ability, and Mako couldn't imagine how much stronger he would become if would learn a second ability or even worse resonated with them to bring about an even more dangerous ability.

Rhino's transformation ability was already stronger than any one of the five elements as it was considered to be a lot rarer and a tier above the five elemental abilities. Whoever was sponsoring Rhino, must have spent a fortune to have him learn such an ability.

No regular level 3 Fire ability user could have won against Rhino and even Mako was just barely able to defeat him after popping boost pills and having the boost of his Blue Horn Mammoth Blade applied to him.

**************

*Ring!*

Mako entered the bakery through the front door and as usual, Bill was working at the front counter while Sir Derek was taking his afternoon nap on his favorite black leather chair.

Mako didn't want to wake up Sir Derek because he is always in a grumpy mood when he is disturbed from his nap which was the last thing he wanted since he had already gotten a dose of shouting in the morning for being late to work.

Mako still couldn't get past the fact that Bill had quickly become Sir Derek's favorite. If someone were to ask Mako a month ago about what he would think would become Sir Derek's favorite person, Bill Johnson would be the last person he would have thought of.

Fortunately today, Sir Derek didn't wake up while Bill finished cleaning the counter and the two boys quickly took their leave. Both were filled with many emotions ranging from excitement to anxiousness as this was the last day to prepare for a fight that they might not live through.

Both of them had their own motivations and reasons for trying to constantly improve, but it was clear that keeping the bullying and foul language aside, Bill and Mako had very similar interests and ways of thinking which was why they had already behaved with each other as if they were life long friends even though they had become friends for less than a month.

*************

{7:00 PM}

Mako could be seen sitting on the same boulder with his legs crossed and eyes closed. He was still trying to figure out how to resonate his two abilities together. He had become familiar with Lightning and could flawlessly switch between it and Fire during sparing matches against Bill.

However, he still couldn't resonate his abilities and to this Bill was of no help at all as he explained that the spark required to resonate two abilities can be created under different situations and it varied from person to person.

Mako was all on his own to figure out how to spark his resonance and he wasn't going to stop trying until he would succeed. Part of him was envious of Bill, as his resonance had come so naturally to him while he was here struggling.

'Says the guy with a powerful system that gives him so many unfair advantages over others.' Mako ridiculed his own conscience for thinking this way as he resumed his meditation.

Bill continued to master his control over Wind and increase his utility with the Sand element in preparation for the tournament tomorrow. Since he had birthed the ability himself, he had no skills that came with the ability, so it was up to him to advance in levels and create his own skills.

"Hiyaahh!" Bill exclaimed as a small sand wave moved like a blade and made a 4-inch cut into the bark of a thick tree.

*****************

{11:00 PM}

Mako and Bill had finished their dinner and were now taking a deserving rest in the living room while discussing potential strategies for tomorrow. The card that played the initial video of Leon "inviting" them to the tournament, lit up again and this time a marked location on a map was displayed which was the location for the tournament.

It was at the southmost corner of the city near the seaport and docks. It was a low surveillance area that would be ideal for ability users to go all out. With the location known and as much preparation done as possible, both boys made their final checks before going to bed.

Bill had taken the rest of the items out of the chest as well. There were identical items that Mako had purchased but with the inclusion of one key thing that would benefit him greatly. Since Mako had his High-Tier blade, he decided to let Bill choose to get one thing for himself as well. Bill had not chosen a weapon as he instead opted for armor instead.

Taking the wrapping off the piece of armor, revealed a beautiful and shiny yellowish chest armor with a pattern similar to the hide of the now-extinct animal known as the cheetah.

Mako was curious about such a piece of armor so he utilized Analyze on it right away.

'Analyze'

[Medium Tier Scorpion Leopard Breastplate] ⓘ

[A durable chest armor forged from the crystal and flesh of the Scorpion Leopard found in (Unknown). A decent quality armor forged by (Unknown)]

[Fortitude +15]

[Stamina +5]

[Defense: 30]

It was only a medium-tier chest piece as a big piece of armor was more expensive than a small dagger as more resources were required to forge the armor piece. It was only that Bill had chosen a lower tier of armor that the price range was around the same cost as Mako's blade.

It also didn't have a passive skill like his blade, as it was just a standard chest armor that would provide decent protection.

On the topic of strength, Mako decided to use Analyze on Bill and on himself to see just how far they have reached.

'Analyze'

[Profile: Bill Johnson]

[Ability: Earth (Level 3), Wind (Level 3), Sand (Level 1)] ⓘ

[Health: 160/160] ⓘ

[Energy: 350/350] ⓘ

[Strength: 25] ⓘ

[Agility: 15] ⓘ

[Perception: 7] ⓘ

[Intelligence: 7] ⓘ

[Mentality: 20] ⓘ

[Stamina: 15] ⓘ

[Charisma: 9] ⓘ

[Fortitude: 20] ⓘ

Bill had been working on his stamina a lot and it was now showing results as stamina was the attribute that directly affected Energy capacity and consumption. Bill's perception had also increased a bit ever since having a bit more mastery over the element of Wind.

It is also essential to remember that Analyze does not compute the boosts provided by abilities, pills, or gear as it can only display the base stats of a person.

'Let's see your skills as well.' Mako thought as he directed his Analyze to a different tab of the information panel that was now unlocked to view ever since Analyze leveled up again.

'Open Skills Tab'

[Skills] ⓘ

[(F-Tier) Three-punch Combo] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

[(F-Tier) High Kick] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

[(F-Tier) Falcon Fist] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

[(E-Tier) Earth Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

[(E-Tier) Stone Spikes] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

[(E-Tier) Earth Club] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

[(E-Tier) Wind Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

[(F-Tier) Wind Wall] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

[(E-Tier) Vacuum Cutter] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

[(E-Tier) Sand Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

Bill had a pretty good setup now and his basic and Earth elemental skills had greatly improved in level as well. Bill was catching up in the number of skills that he possessed, and it was making Mako wonder who was the one with the broken system.

He then looked at his own interface and he got his answer.

'Open System Interface'

[User: Mako Grey]

[Health: 250/250] ⓘ

[Energy: 1150/1150] ⓘ

[EXP: 18200/25600] ⓘ

[Level 9] ⓘ

[Strength: 22 (+30) ] ⓘ

[Agility: 17 (+25) ] ⓘ

[Perception: 22 (+15)] ⓘ

[Intelligence: 25] ⓘ

[Mentality: 25] ⓘ

[Stamina: 14 (+5) ] ⓘ

[Charisma: Locked] ⓘ

[Fortitude: 30] ⓘ

[Attribute Points: 0] ⓘ

Mako had spent all his accumulated attribute points from leveling up and doing daily tasks to increase his fortitude, which was definitely lacking before. The remaining few were used to increase his overall Health and Energy pool.

'Open Skills Tab'

[Skills] ⓘ

[Basic Skills] ⓘ

- [(E-Tier) Ten-Palm Strike] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

- [(E-Tier) Dash] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

- [(E-Tier) Motion Sense] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

- [(E-Tier) High Jump] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

[Power Skills] ⓘ

- [(E-Tier) Fire Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

- [(F-Tier) Fireball] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

- [(E-Tier) Flame wheel] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

- [(E-Tier) Flame Pillar] ⓘ (Level 1)

- [(E-Tier) Lightning Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

- [(F-Tier) Lightning Strike] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

- [(E-Tier) Electrical Discharge] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

[Unique Skills] ⓘ

- [(D-Tier) Analyze] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

- [(F-Tier) Phantom Punch] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)

- [(F-Tier) Phantom Shift] ⓘ (LEVEL 4)

- [(F-Tier) Phantom Kick] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)

[Absolute Skills] ⓘ (NONE)

Mako now had 15 skills in total and during his training, he managed to level up one of his skills up to level 4. Phantom Shift which was arguably Mako's most used and favorite skill was no level 4. With every level-up, the energy requirement of the skill is slightly increased and the boost or damage provided by the skill is also slightly increased and which also makes it harder for opponents to counter with low attributes.

'Yeah, I guess I am still in the lead, but I am going to have to work even harder if I want to maintain the lead.' Mako said to himself while smiling at how much he and Bill have grown in the span of a month, so much so that experts would call them geniuses.