They went back to classes that morning, and by lunch James was starving and his stomach growled. luckily his school made good food and it didn't take long. Sitting down he ate his food quickly, feeling full after. As they all ate their food, James was lost in thought. Before long he decided to say something, "Do you think high school will have a competition against each other and like a new ranking system in the school?"
Will responded first, "It's possible as there is still plenty of time for them to chose their course of action."
Ben tilted his head, "A tournament of students... why would they do that?"
Will pitched in, " To show other schools how much better their students are, meaning students would get rankings, leading to a new way schools would teach, as academics will probably be less desired eventually once certain events overwhelm the general population."
"I guess so,"
James added in, "Speaking of which I believe we should go hunting after school today,"
Austin looked at him, "For what cause?"
" Fun, Fame, Levels, Loot"
" Ok, when,"
"After school ends, we go to the woods and see what happens,"
They all agreed to this and the day went by slowly. Isaiah for the last class of the day was sitting next to his crush. She had long brown hair, with blue eyes, she was a bit smaller than him. she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a purple hoodie with the zipper undone, and a white shirt. Her name was Nicole. She had good grades and was generally a quiet person except with her friends.
School ended and they all met up. Walking into the woods, they searched around for any sign of a monster. As they hadn't found anything yet, they looked around the woods longer while they talked. A conversation about there stat increase had come up at a point showing that they had all rose from about 30 points each person. This meant they now had stats nearing to Isaiah's, however still a bit lower. James stopped the group when he found a bear claw print in the ground, and ahead of them was a huge open cave in front of them. They could feel a strong presence from inside of it. After a bit of hesitation they agreed to go in.
As they entered the cave's entrance, it grew a bit colder and darker. The floor was covered in claw prints and a slightly bad smell. The farther in they went the more apparent this became.
Will looked around in awe, "This is a huge cave huh, maybe it could be big enough to make something out of it"
Ben also looking around the cave with a similar thought, "Like a base or something?"
"Yeah, "
Isaiah smiled, "It would be a good idea to have one eventually, however at the moment we don't need that."
They soon stopped as they saw a large outline in front of them. They stood there silently watching it. James went forward towards it while the rest stood there waiting. As he approached in the darkness he could see what looked like a massive Bear with copper-ish fur. The breathing of the beast was not quiet but loud enough to be noticed. it's breath clearly visible to the eye. James stood there deciding what to do...
*You can stab it, or walk away*
'I know that...but I doubt I'll be able to really hurt it, especially since I haven't learned to use my lightning yet. I've been to busy with everything else...'
*Well... you could use your brain for once maybe*
'...'
After bickering with the system for a moment he activated [mana blade] and slashed at the figure. As he did this it slashed through this flesh and blood covered his hand, The bear stood up roaring in pain and anger revealing it's height was about 8 feet tall. James leaped back sending him Sliding back to the group. no one in the group had learned major magic or elemental at the moment as he had only been able to teach then up to the [Mana Blade] level of magic as they focused their time elsewhere.
As they all activated it they all decided to let Isaiah and James take point (go in first), and follow them. As the two rushed in slashing at the massive animal, the other three went behind it sneaking up and slashing its back and legs. The bear roared in pain as it fell down due to the back of its legs being slashed and taking multiple slashes pouring blood out its body. The beast looked up staring at James before slashing its claw out to sever him in two, however James was just barely able to move out of the way in time. Isaiah who was next to him however, had his leg get caught by it, and was thrown against the side of the cold rock wall. James saw an opening as the bear went to turn to the others who were cutting into it's legs and side. He quickly rushed forward and thrust his hand to the bear's head cutting into its brain removing the last bit of life it had and killing it.
*You have slain a lvl 6 Copper bear*
After they had all gotten this message James ran over and helped his brother up from the ground who was injured with a bit of blood on his head and leg. Quickly they ran back home and took Isaiah to the hospital.
...A few hours later...
The Doctor came over to James, "He is fine, nothing fatal or permanent. However, we recommend letting him rest and for him not to leave his bed for a few days at the minimum." They carried Isaiah out of the hospital and back to James's house. Laying him down on his bed. The rest went home with only minor scratches and dirt on them. As well as their mana being empty making them feel exhausted as they used all of it, pouring into slashing at that damn bear.
James sat on the couch downstairs. 'System, how do I use my lightning skills.'
*You should be able to this naturally if you try hard enough as it's a natural skill of yours. However if you wish to mean actual mana based magic like the mana blade, then you need to learn to convert mana into an elemental form, or learning from some magic book, automatically giving you the magic, which you then only need to cast it. However, it will consume mana usually.*
'I see..' James put his hands out a bit from his chest and the palms of his hands faced inwards towards each other. After a moment of him calming his breath and concentrating, he felt the electricity building in his hands. Soon after, sparks of electricity shot between each palm connecting to the other palm...
*Innate skill learned [Electricity manipulation]*
....Soon the electricity in his hands grew stronger...
*innate skill learned [ create Lightning] [Lightning manipulation]
James opened his eyes and stared at the lightning in his hands with a mix of emotions.
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