"Mako?" Bill said in confusion before he collapsed right in front of his front door.
Mako was beyond confused as to what was going on. He had been enjoying his dinner and was about to leave to work the night shift at the bakery when Bill made his sudden entry.
Seeing that Bill was in a very terrible shape, Mako's inner consciousness kicked in as he couldn't bring himself to just Bill at his front door in the condition that he was in.
Mako slowly lifted Bill's body and placed him on the couch. Taking out one of the high-tier healing pills from his pouch, Mako fed the pill to Bill while also began cleaning all the dust and debris from his Body.
******************
In the last couple of days, Mako had been grinding every day to become as strong as he possibly could before the military inspectors arrived at his high school to take trials.
It had been almost two weeks since his big fight with Bill, and since that Bill was nowhere to be seen in school. Everyone chalked up to the fact that Bill lost the fight to a person who had no ability, so he didn't dare to show his face on school grounds again.
Mako's popularity in school had sky-rocketed as now everyone wanted him to be in their group, be their friend, and even some girls approached him asking him to be their boyfriend. Mako; however, saw through all of it as he didn't make a single connection with anyone as he kept his cold demeanor towards them.
Many students that used to make fun of and bully Mako regularly started having cold feet after the big fight because, in their minds, Mako would have a thirst for revenge.
Days passed and Mako acted the same he did before as there was no change in his behavior which left many students confused.
It got to a point where the students couldn't take it anymore a girl finally got the courage to walk to Mako and ask him why he was acting this way.
Knowing that these people would not get off his back until he gave a satisfactory answer, finally cracked and gave them the answer they never expected anyone would say.
"I am not like you people, so don't match my actions with your ideals. When I was bullied, taunted, and beaten daily, you guys never did anything. You were the people who called me trash! Now that I finally stood up for myself and took a stand, suddenly I am meaningful to you?"
Mako continued his speech while the girl had a look of shame on her face.
"When I was weak, I was never helped, so now that I am strong I don't wish to associate myself with you whether you are rich or strong. I will not take revenge on anyone nor will I accept any of your fake friendships. So stop annoying me and let me be in peace!"
Everyone within the vicinity who heard Mako thought that he had gone mad.
'Fool! Why doesn't he make rich and powerful friends? I would have jumped at the opportunity!' A boy ridiculed Mako in thought.
'Wouldn't take revenge for all that you have been through?! Who do you think you are? Some kind of saint!' A girl screamed in her mind.
Not taking advantage and being forgiving was a mentality very few people had in this day and age as almost every single student in Emerald High had a good background so they were never taught these important life lessons that were taught to Mako by his grandmother and all the old folk on Bird's Eye street.
Word spread fast around the school as everyone got to know what Mako had said, but there were of course some alterations done by the students who conveyed the message.
"Hey, did you hear? Mako Grey said that he is too good and strong to take revenge on anyone as they would just get humiliated just like Bill." A boy whispered into the ear of another boy while in the middle of a lecture.
By the end of the day, there was outrage among the students of Emerald High as the bullies and the students that were trying to befriend him took a huge blow to their ego that they just couldn't live down.
Mako received multiple duel requests saying that he would be a loser if he wouldn't accept their request and that his fight with Bill was just a fluke. Mako kept ignoring all of them till yesterday when they had another combat session.
What followed after was every single student who dared to enter the fighting ring with Mako getting his butt kicked by him there weren't even words to describe the immense horror, shock, and humiliation that every single student felt when they had to reluctantly admit the fact that the one they called trash was, in fact, better than them.
While at home Mako trained with his brand new skills and abilities every day so that he could be at his peak during the military trials.
Mako had a better status sheet with improved attributes.
'Open System Interface'
[User: Mako Grey]
[Health: 200/200] ⓘ
[Energy: 500/500] ⓘ
[EXP: 2200/3200] ⓘ
[Level 6] ⓘ
[Strength: 15 (+10) ] ⓘ
[Agility: 15 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Perception: 12] ⓘ
[Intelligence: 12] ⓘ
[Mentality: 12] ⓘ
[Stamina: 12 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Charisma: Locked] ⓘ
[Fortitude: Locked] ⓘ
[Attribute Points: 0] ⓘ
Mako took Gary's advice and tried to make his attributes as even as possible, but there had been a few changes as to how the attribute points affected his energy bar.
In the beginning, Mako spent a single attribute point to increase his energy pool by fifty as now if he wanted to increase his energy pool it would require two attribute points. It seemed as if the more energy capacity he wanted to obtain the more points he had to spend.
Energy is a major factor in combat as the person with the higher energy pool will win against a person with a lower energy pool as he could fight, and cast abilities for longer periods.
Mako realized that going forward he had to maintain a high level of energy as more powerful abilities required more energy to cast.
Mako's skills had improved a lot, as well as there, was a small variety of skills to choose from now.
'Open Skills Tab'
[Skills] ⓘ
[Basic Skills] ⓘ
- [(E-Tier) Ten-Palm Strike] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)
[Power Skills] ⓘ
- [(E-Tier) Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
- [(F-Tier) Fireball] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(E-Tier) Flame wheel] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)
[Unique Skills] ⓘ
- [(D-Tier) Analyze] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Punch] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Shift] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Kick] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
[Absolute Skills] ⓘ (NONE)
Most of Mako's skills had been leveled up once or twice as he continuously cast them while practicing. The leveled-up abilities had slightly better attack stats, but the energy cost was also slightly higher which is another reason to keep increasing the Energy bar.
Due to completing the system's daily tasks as well as practicing his skills, Mako had increased a few attributes naturally which cemented the fact in Mako's mind that he was growing very fast due to the system's help as he was already capable of defeating level 3 ability users with ease, while only a month had passed since he obtained the system.
*************
Bill slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar setting as he was not lying on the top bunk of his bed in the common room rather he was lying on someone's couch in their living room.
Bill had a massive headache as he could barely remember the events of what had happened and how he got here, but he was slowly but surely getting his memories back.
Getting up from the couch, Bill noticed rays of the morning sunshine bursting through the window of the room. Looking at himself, he noticed that he was cleaned and bandaged up as they were no more visible injuries on his body anymore nor could he smell the stench of his own body that he barely got used to while being imprisoned in the warehouse.
Looking at his hand, there was still one injury that hadn't faded from his body as the burn mark of the key he forged was still there.
While still staring at the burn mark on his hand, the door to the living room slowly opened, and out came Mako with a tray of food in his hands.
Seeing Mako, Bill remembered everything that had happened and how he ended up in Mako's living room.
Mako showed no expression as he placed the tray of breakfast foods on the dining table between the two couches and proceeded to sit on the opposing couch.
Bill just stared awkwardly at Mako as he picked up his cup of green tea and started to stir some honey with a teaspoon.
"I figured that you must have been hungry, considering the state in which you arrived here so, please enjoy your breakfast," Mako said politely to break the awkward atmosphere between them while also sipping on his hot green tea.
Bill just stared at Mako's calm yet cold demeanor as he couldn't understand the motive as to why would someone like Mako would help him out, heal his injuries, and even cook him breakfast after all that he did to him.
"Why are you doing all this, Mako?" Bill couldn't help but ask as curiosity was eating him up from the inside.
Taking another sip of his green tea, Mako placed the cup down as he smiled at Bill.
"I didn't know it was illegal to help out another human being who was in grave danger and desperate need of help," Mako responded.
Bill saw that the words coming out of Mako's mouth were genuine and he meant every word that he said, but still, Bill could understand the reality of what was happening to him.
Bill was someone who had never shown mercy to anyone, but still, in his time of need, he was receiving mercy from the last person he thought he would ever get.
Mako looked up from his teacup to see balls of water escape from Bill's eyes as he couldn't contain his emotions any longer.
Consumed by the regret of all his past actions, Bill exclaimed to Mako, "Mako! I owe you a lot more than just an apology!"