Universal Power System

The green ray was so strong that it was able to push the Beetle King back even though it was charging at him at full speed. The ray continued to release from Mako's hand and the king was taking a serious amount of damage.

It kept getting pushed back and was completely unable to counter it. The top layer of the Beetle King's exoskeleton started to peel away as the ray was about to tear through a hole in its body.

Facing unbearable pain and an unknown ability, the Beetle King couldn't figure out its next move. If it allowed the ray to continue hitting him, he would for sure be dead, so it did whatever it needed to in order to survive.

As the Beetle King was dragged back by the ray, it moved past the regular Terra beetles on the way through and used its long legs to fling two in front of itself so that they would tank the ray for a little while.

The regular Terra beetles didn't stand a chance as they were quickly overwhelmed by the green ray, but during the short period of time that those beetles were able to but, the king had switched to its earth ability and dug back underground; escaping the ray altogether.

Mako finally stopped releasing the green beam from his hands and as he did smoke came off his hands and his body felt mighty fatigued. He had no idea what had just happened and what was happening to him but after that sudden feeling of fatigue, Mako now started to feel stronger than ever. The same cooling feeling was washing over his entire body as he could his power grow.

Maako quickly opened the system interface to check out what had happened to him while the Beetle King was still recovering from the initial attack.

*DING!*

[User has achieved resonance between the Fire and Lightning ability]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Energy Manipulation Ability]

[Ability: Energy Manipulation (Level 1)] ⓘ

[An advanced ability that combines the auras of Fire Element and Lightning Element to provide the user with the power to manipulate energy. Fire and Lightning both are at the core, two different types of energies. By overlapping that understanding of how to manipulate energy, the user has gained a basic understanding of how to manipulate all types of energy in general.

At this stage, the user can only manipulate the charged particles around him and manipulate them into anything the user desires.

WARNING: The energy manipulation ability is quite rare and difficult to achieve as it is the result of the two toughest pre-elementary abilities resonating. The user will face great difficulty while leveling this ability as it has an insanely steep learning curve.]

[Perception +20]

[Stamina +10]

*DING!*

[Hidden Quest Complete]

[Obtain your first new ability through resonating two pre-learned abilities]

[Reward: +50,000 EXP, Random Resonated Ability Skill]

[Choosing Random Skill]

[New Skill Learned: Energy Stream] ⓘ

[(E-Tier) Energy Stream] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)

[A basic attack derived from the energy manipulation skill tree, that allows the user to shoot a ray of concentrated energy toward the intended target. It is a move where first, the user activates the aura of the ability and makes the energy particles start to concentrate at the palm of his hands. This is done very quickly and once the user is ready, he can shoot the concentrated energy in a specific direction with great precision thus creating a beam of energy.

The attack produces a continuous stream of energy and it will increase the amount of damage that it does every second the skill is active, but the cost to run the skill will also increase.]

[Attack: Base 75]

[Initial Cost: 100 Energy per second]

[Increment in Attack: 2 per second]

[Increment in Cost: 25 energy per second]

[Requirements: 40 Fortitude]

*DING!*

[An Amazing Achievement!]

[The user has obtained a rare ability through resonance]

[Rewards: +100,000 EXP]

Mako was completely overwhelmed by the vast number of prompts but he quickly scanned through and the glimmer in his eyes said it all.

Mako had been trying so hard to resonate his abilities together but he always felt like he was stuck somewhere and that there was no way forward; however, when Mako needed it the most, his abilities had spontaneously resonated and had given him a rare ability and a skill for it as well.

The ability was not something that Mako was expecting as he never even thought that both of his abilities were indeed different forms of energy. However, he was not complaining at all as despite that there was a warning in the description, Mako wanted to get the feel for this brand new ability and try his best to evolve it further.

The resonance had also completed a hidden quest which helped Mako gat a skill for the ability as well. Mako had subconsciously used that said skill when he had first resonated to push the Terra Beetle King back.

Reading through the description of the skill, Mako understood why he was feeling fatigued after he canceled the skill. The damage of the Energy stream increased over time but the cost to maintain that stream also increased as by the time the Beetle King had maneuvered its way around the beam, the damage had really stacked up and the cost to his energy pool was nearing depletion.

Lastly, he also received an amazing achievement for resonating and it brought him one step closer to getting those juicy rewards.

After Mako had figured everything out, he quickly closed the system interface and tried to sense if the Beetle King was still lingering around. The Energy manipulation ability had increased Mako's perception quite a lot as it was now at the same level as all his other attributes.

It seemed that the Beetle King had retreated for good as Mako couldn't sense any beast or movement in the vicinity. He thanked his lucky stars internally, as he was nearly out of energy, and even if the Beetle King did show up, he wouldn't be able to fight him anymore.

After making sure that they were safe, Mako quickly rushed back toward Bill and Leon's collapsed bodies. Their bodies were charred up and they were still not moving. He pressed his chest against Leon's chest to hear for a heartbeat.

*thud* thud*

Mako couldn't believe it but he could definitely hear a faint heartbeat. He quickly checked Bill as well and sure enough, he had a faint heartbeat as well. Both of his friends were still alive but not out of danger by any means. They were still just barely breathing and didn't look like they would wake up anytime soon.

"Cadet! Move quickly! We don't have much time!" A voice resounded from Mako's back.

Mako quickly turned back with his teary eyes and was once again greeted by the same officer as before, Eric Wellerman.

This time; however, Mako composed himself quickly and addressed the situation to the patrolling officer about his two friends.

"Sir, They have been struck by a very powerful lightning attack. The attack has charred their skin but they still have a faint heartbeat and are barely breathing." Mako said.

"They won't last long!" Officer Eric replied.

Mako's own heart skipped a beat as officer Eric said those words. Tears instantly started to form in Mako's eyes once again even though he tried so hard to stop them. However, before Mako could have a full-on mental breakdown, the officer's next set of words gave him some hope.

"We can't intervene with the cadet until there is no hope left for them and they have to be removed from the test, but you can still save them." The officer stated.

Mako quickly wiped his tears as he asked in a desperate voice, "How?"

The instructor explained what Mako had to do in 30 seconds and Mako's expression turned from sad to shocked to afraid. He couldn't believe what the officer was suggesting to do but he really didn't have any choice nor the time to argue and come up with a better plan.

Reluctantly, Mako fetched his combat blade and disinfected it by blasting it with heat using his fire ability. Once it was hot and disinfected, officer eric instructed Mako to begin with the first incision.

Mako had to perform emergency surgery on his only two friends on the spot in order to save their lives.

Officer Eric had told him that the lightning attack had most likely caused a lot of damage to their nervous system and internal organs but they could easily recover with healing pills. The problem was the charring of their skin.

Their entire chests were blackened and had turned quite hard. This made it so that their lungs couldn't properly expand leading to insufficient oxygen being pumped into their system and so was the excess carbon dioxide which was mixing in with the bloodstream as well and was poisonous to the human body.

Officer Eric instructed Mako to make precise cuts on the charred body of both Bill and Leon so that their skins could expand once again and their breathing is recovered.

Mako held the hot blade next to Leon's chest as Officer Eric oversaw him. He was scared but determined to save his friends' life and would do anything to accomplish it... even if it meant performing emergency surgery without any prior experience.