Three at a Time

"Ray..."

My life was a joke.

"Ray…wake up."

I was running around everywhere. Achieving little to nothing.

"Ray… please… wake up."

The only moment I felt I was in control, was when I was not.

"Ray, Ray…"

…

I opened my eyes.

An angel was looking at me. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"...Enna?"

"Ray!"

Enna hugged me.

I was lying on her lap.

Where was I?

'That girl dropped you here', Lianne spoke in my mind.

Agh. My head hurt again.

'Rest Ray. She hit you with a strong attack.'

'What happened…?'

"Ray, what happened? Why are you in this state?" Enna asked me.

'She was another contender. You just engaged in a player match with her.'

What…

"Ray, why is your shirt torn? What happened to you?"

I hugged Enna back. I couldn't act weak infront of her. She needed me to be strong and reliable.

"Don't worry. I am alright."

I got up and held her hand as she followed me.

"Ray…please tell me what happened…"

Beep Beep

She didn't touch her phone. It kept ringing.

I guess I had made her worry a lot.

I took out the phone Taeyang had given me and handed it to her.

"Can I please have your number?" I smiled at her.

------------------------------------

[Stacy's POV]

Walking through the dark underground passage, Stacy came to the location where the meeting was to take place.

"You're late", a tall dark man told her.

"Am I? Sorry I was a bit busy with some personal work", Stacy replied.

Mocking noises filled the background.

"What? Do you think this is a joke!", the man pounded the table in front of him.

The table caught fire and turned to ash.

"That's no excuse! You know how the situation is right now! William Brewer grows bolder every second and with the sudden stoppage of drug money coming from the Ishiyama zone…"

"Enough."

Silence. There was pin-drop silence after just a single word.

The man sitting in the centre of the meeting turned his chair around.

"Welcome Stacy."

HE said to her.

----------------------------------------

[Ray's POV]

I was back in my room again. Convincing Enna was difficult, but I told her that I passed out due to exhaustion. Since I had no visible marks on my skin, she couldn't refute my words.

'So what did she do?'

'Most likely one of her skills. It builds up with time and can be used to deliver a forced shut down of the body ranging from a few days to a permanent death.' Lianne explained.

'So she spared me… and also carried me here…'

I was mad. At myself.

I had let myself be taken by the moment.

I slipped and made a mistake.

A mistake that could have cost me my life.

'Lianne, show me what your upgrade did.'

[Assistant system: Sys D 3.0

Codename: Lianne

Attached to user: Ray

Current lvl:2

Perks:

All skills base level set to 2]

What? So even with a level 2 stopwatch, I had difficulty keeping up with her?

Just how strong was she?

No. I am the one who is weak.

I need to find ways to build up my offensive stats.

'Lianne. I need to get stronger.'

'I was waiting for you to say that Ray. Take a look at your status screen.'

[Soulframe username: Ray

Health: 100/100

Emotional Health: 45/100

Mental sanity: 60/100

Social interaction desire: 20/100

Mana: 100/100

Total Mana: -

Mana density: -

Active skills:

Assistant's advice

Assistant's stopwatch

???

Passive skills:

Autoheal

Lady Killer

Unique skill: Focal Pain Boost

Current RP: 0

Currently active sponsors: 1

Information compiled by System:Lianne]

'My mana stat isn't showing?'

'Yes, the divine energy you acquired from Astracus has overridden the mana in your body. It would be a great boost to your attack power if you started utilising it in your battles.

With my upgrade, I can now channelize it to artificially awaken your mana system.'

Just 1 upgrade is letting her do that?

'Ok, do it now.'

'Ray, you should re.."

"Do it now."

'Understood.'

Pain enveloped me in a second.

The feeling of a drill rampaging through me in all directions filled me.

I sat down on the bed to endure.

The air around me turned golden and pierced into me.

This hell continued through the night.

After the misery ended around dusk, I finally went to sleep.

...

About 3 hours later I woke up and inspected myself.

'What offensive skill do I have now?'

It was the first question I asked Lianne.

[Active skill: Mana Manipulation]

'I'll guide the mana inside your body and control your mana output while you...'

'What does the skill do, Lianne?'

[Rapidly increase mana consumption to reinforce the body.

Reinforced body can amplify mana attacks and shields.

Cost: 1 sanity point/min

Current level: Max]

I looked at my skill. It meant that I could protect myself while I destroyed others.

At this point, that is all that mattered to me.

'Ray, your EH is below 50. Do not use this skill for too long because..."

"Lianne, let's go. We have an interview."

I put on my dress and head out for the academy.

...

Reaching there not a minute before, but just in time. I walked through the colossal main gate.

The name 'Ishiyama High and College: Institute of Excellence' was written on a huge digital display.

The academy was over 100 acres in size. It had an integrated highschool to college program. The highschool section was separate from the college campus. Strict security patrolled the area. I saw multiple cameras all around the corners of the place. Buildings of different sizes and purposes were present at regular intervals. The main purpose of this academy was to provide high quality education. The reason why it was so famous was because multiple alumni from this institute went on to achieve great status as elementalists. It basically meant that they were strong mana users.

The power balance in this world was funny. There were strong people but none strong enough to survive a machine gun to their face. That is why guns still dominated in the military and having elemental powers was a perk to stand out.

From where I came, no matter how much you trained your body, you could have a 5 year old slit your throat with a knife while you are getting a haircut.

That was still the same here in this world. The only difference was, the enhanced mana technology just made it more difficult for the 5 year old to reach your throat.

I came in front of the place where I was supposed to appear for my interview.

The words 'Academic Building' were written on top.

"You must be Saint Ray Astraeus", a man called my name.

I looked at him through the corner of my eyes, not turning my head.

"And you are?"

"John Elton. It's a pleasure to meet you."

My screen opened up.

[ -Integrated Trial of Destiny-

Third Task:

John Elton is the focal point of the next man-made disaster in Reji City.

Keep him alive for 7 days.

Reward:

Ascension and right to enter the Rift Dimension.

One person of choice can be recruited to the party.

Failure: Chances to clear Trial of Destiny halved. Next Task difficulty tripled.

Subtask: Keep the following people alive for 7 days:

Ichika Mukai

Baek Taeyang

Subtask can be cleared without clearing the main task. Clearing subtask will clear the main task without incurring the penalty, however rewards of the main task will not be available.]