The two elemental blades collided with each other at point-blank range, and instead of canceling each other out, the fire started to grow and become multiple sizes bigger than the original Flame Wheel, and the heat that it gave off also increased by several times.
This heat was something the Rhino had never experienced before as even though he had tough skin that allowed him to withstand a lot of damage, he was still feeling a lot of pain and his Rhino skin was getting charred severally.
*Ding!*
[A Collaborative Skill has been discovered]
This notification popped in front of Mako's eyes while an enormous flame wrapped around Rhino's humongous body.
While they still had time before the flames go away, Mako quickly opened the interface to check out what exactly this meant. After opening the main interface there was the same blinking exclamation mark that indicate something new had appeared, and this time the mark was on the skills tab.
[Skills] ⓘ
- Basic Skills ⓘ
- Power Skills ⓘ
- Unique Skills ⓘ
- Absolute Skills ⓘ
- Collaborative Skills (NEW!) ⓘ
There was now a brand new type of skill available under the skills tab and Mako quickly opened it up to see what had he just unlocked.
Collaborative Skills ⓘ
[Collaborative Skills are skills that are performed by two or more people and can be done in many ways. Collaborative Skills are strong moves that the user can only perform on his own and not through the system as he has to sync up his skill with another person. Collaborative Skills are hard to execute repetitively since both users have to use the same amount of power and perfect timing in order to execute it.]
[New Skill Learned: Scorching Blade] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)
[Scorching Blade is a skill that is cast when a Fire and Wind ability user each casts their elemental blade with the same amount of power and timing so that the Wind essence wraps around Flames and increases its effectiveness by 500%]
[Attack: 150]
[Cost: 100 Energy]
*Ding!*
- [Hidden Quest Complete]
[Discover and utilize one Collaborative Skill]
[Reward: +2000 EXP, +5 Attribute Points]
Mako was left speechless once again as he read through the text that was being displayed in front of his eyes. He had discovered his strongest attack yet and that was completely by accident.
The attack was similar to how resonance worked as with resonance, a person had to combine two of their ability auras together to create a brand new ability that carried the characteristics of both abilities and strengthened each other perfectly.
The scorching blade was like that but at a smaller scale as it can only be done if both people had the same level of strength in their attack and flawless timing to combine in it in order to produce an attack that would otherwise only be able to produce by a person who had resonated the Wind and Fire abilities together.
As Rhino was charging toward them, they both instinctively tried to attack in order to stop him, but the result was ten times better.
Whilst burning in the flames, the pain and all his emotions were starting to overwhelm Rhino's mind. Tragic memories of his terrible childhood and mistreatment rolled in, the feeling of loss and despair filled his heart, and the fear of losing his reputation for good started to haunt him.
It was getting too much for him to withstand and finally, it got past the breaking point. While still burning in the intense flames, Rhino had a lifeless look in his eyes, his arm had no strength as they were just left hanging, and his knees felt weak but he still kept standing.
Just as Rhino thought it was all over for him, he felt something in his chest. Even while being burned, Rhino felt a cooling sensation soothe him as his body went through a fundamental change. A change that could potentially change the outcome of the match.
The fire slowly started to dissipate as Rhino was still standing. His body had completely changed color as he was charred all over, steam was erupting from his body as he was breathing very heavily.
His arm was still frozen as it wasn't like traditional ice that would melt when it came into contact with heat. The status effect would only be removed if the person had the skill to remove it or the cooldown for the effect wore off.
The air around Mako and Bill suddenly became very thick as the aura that was erupting from Rhino changed significantly.
"What is happening?!" Bill asked in confusion he didn't know why but he started to tremble a little with the fear of the aura that was being emitted from Rhino all of a sudden.
"I don't know! It feels as if..... huh! NO! NO! NO! NOT NOW!" Mako didn't realize it at first but then he had a sudden thought that he didn't want to come true.
He reluctantly used Analyze again and what he read made him quiver in fear as the chances of them coming out of this suddenly became very slim.
'Analyze'
[Profile: Enzo Ceros]
[Ability: Mutant Rhino Transformation (Level 4)] ⓘ
The intensity of the battle and his will to not lose again had overpowered him to the point that he broke through his limits and gained level 4 of his ability.
Rhino's breathing slowly calmed down as his skin returned back to its original color and it looked as if he hadn't taken any damage at all. He slowly lifted his face back up towards Bill and Mako and slowly opened his eyes.
The crowd became silent, sweat dripped down their faces, and shock plastered on their face as they witnessed Rhino's irises glow entirely red and emit such an aura that it looked as if his eyes were on fire.
Rhino had become a lot more menacing and threatening as he lifted the pointer finger of his other hand since the other one was still frozen, and he said in the most menacing and deep voice that sent shivers down Mako's spine.
"I...I...I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU AGAIN!!" Rhino screamed.
His voice hit Mako's and Bill's faces like a tight slap, and soon after Rhino started charging toward them again at speeds that they haven't witnessed before.
Bill instantly took action as he summoned his sand aura and used it to silently wrap around the feet of the charging Rhino. It looked as if Rhino had tripped as he fell down near the middle of the ring but the reality was that his feet got stuck in one position. As he fell down the same also happened to his hand as well and now all his limbs were buried into the ground.
"Mako! I don't what has happened and he is a lot stronger than before, but he has already taken some damage, and he must be low on energy. That form already exhausts his body and now he will be exhausted even faster. We just have to stall for time!" Bill shouted
Mako understood very quickly what Bill meant because when he utilized Analyze on Rhino, his energy pool was only one-fourth left.
Mako quickly got up again and started firing lightning bolts and fireballs toward Rhino. They had little to no effect on his tough hide, but every time he got hit, his energy would decrease even more and Mako could see it clearly.
He had done it several times now and he stopped for a moment to catch his breath so that he didn't tire himself out.
He turned towards Bill who had his hands out forwards as he was trying his best to keep manipulating the sand so that Rhino doesn't escape. Blood was now dripping from his nose as he continued to bind Rhino to the ground.
Rage was filling Rhino's heart as he started to fight back against the ever-moving fluid sand that bound him as he needed to redeem himself, Failure was not an option for him and now this sand was the only thing stopping him.
Rhino was getting more and more desperate as he didn't know what came over him but he let out another roar this time the ripples in the air could be seen as the roar left his mouth and reached Bill at supersonic speeds.
It was a powerful soundwave attack that completely destroyed Bill's ears in an instant. Bill held his ears in pain which were now bleeding excessively and let go of his sand control.
The ground became solid again and Rhino broke through his confines with ease as he charged toward them with intense bloodlust and rage. Claws started growing out of his hands as he moved in with the intent to kill. He was done playing around as he wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Rhino appeared before a defenseless Bill as he raised his arm to swipe with his claws. The claws came down but Bill did not get hit. As the dust settled, Bill could be knocked out of the ring, and Mako was now standing two feet beside Rhino's arm with his left arm completely covered in blood as well.
All this happened in an instant as before Mako could even realize what had happened, Bill was on the ground in pain, and Rhino had broken free and was now getting closer to Bill with his claws ready to pierce him. Mako instantly used a dash and ran towards Bill and used some of his strength to hit Bill out of the ring.
However, Mako was not fast enough and one of the claws had managed to strike his arm as it was now bleeding very much. Rhino retracted his arm as he stared at the person he hated the most at this time.
A staredown had been initiated between the two remaining fighters. They both looked into each other's eyes as they both had the determination to win and massive fear of the consequences if they were to lose. They were both exhausted, hurting all over, and both had lost one arm to fight with, yet they stared at each other as the real showdown was about to begin.