"MR. MAKO GREY!" a loud voice was heard from across the room.
'Ah, s***!' Mako thought as he turned around to face his boss.
"Yess..ss, Sir Derek?" Mako said in a nervous manner while facing Sir Derek who was towering over Mako forming a shadow on Mako's entire body.
"You are almost on time, but almost is not acceptable so make sure you don't create a habit of doing this, or I won't be so lenient next time." Sir Derek threatened Mako before moving back to the counter to get back to his business.
Mako was in so much shock that he couldn't even move. He didn't usually come to work late rather he was mostly on time, and sometimes even early so it was okay that Sir Derek had just given him a warning.
However, what Mako couldn't understand was the fact that he had taken the day off yesterday, but there was no reaction from Sir Derek about that. The same man who had fired another young boy who took a two-day leave without informing him first.
Mako couldn't let this matter go as this would go against everything he ever knew about Sir Derek.
He made his way towards the counter where Sir Derek was writing something on a piece of paper, and he asked him in the most respectful way possible.
"Um, Sir Derek aren't you mad at me?" he asked.
"I am mad at you, however; coming late a few minutes is not enough to give punishments, but that doesn't mean that you are allowed to make a routine out of this." Sir Derek replied in a heavy tone.
"So you're not angry about yesterday?" Mako was ridiculed by the reply but still asked about the pressing matter.
"Why would I be mad at you for yesterday? The shop was closed yesterday. Don't you remember I told you not to come to work on Friday right before you left?" Sir Derek stated with one eyebrow up while staring at Mako.
At this point, Mako wanted to personally ask the system to display his intelligence points as Null, because; he was the world's biggest idiot.
Sir Derek had told him that the shop would be closed on Saturday morning, but he totally forgot about it after all the crazy stuff that had happened in the last two days.
"Is something wrong?" Sir Derek asked while still keeping his eyebrow up.
"No No, I think I am good, Sir Derek." Mako said sounding a bit relieved while scratching the back of his head.
"Well then, GET TO WORK!" Sir Derek shouted which made Mako snap back to reality.
He immediately bolted to lockers where he quickly changed into his baking outfit before helping all the other chefs create the pastries and other goodies for tomorrow morning.
Mako thanked his lucky stars that it all worked out for him in the end, but now that everything was in order; he had to deal with the fact in less than two months he had to become a lot stronger than he was currently if he even wanted to stand a chance against the entrance exam of the military.
It was Sunday tomorrow, so Mako did not worry about rushing to school after work so that was a bit of relief as well..
Lionel Grey's words kept repeating in Mako's head as he was working. His eyes shone with determination as quietly muttered to himself while beating egg yolks to make a rich custard filling, 'I'll make you proud great grandfather, I will make sure yours and everybody's sacrifices that had led to me obtaining your creation, don't go to waste!'
*****************
During the next ten days, Mako was working harder than ever. He was never late to work at the bakery, He excelled in his monthly tests all the while also secretly training in his free time.
He completed his daily tasks which were becoming more difficult by the day, for example; today's quest was the following:-
[Thursday]
[New Daily Quest]
Task 1: Run 3500 meters.
Task 2: Stay in the plank position for a total of one hour.
Task 3: Lift a total of 500 Kg.
[Reward: 50 EXP, 2 Attribute Points]
*****************
Mako had just finished writing his notes in his notebook and was about to head home for the day so he could complete today's daily quest and gain two more attribute points.
Mako had saved up all his attribute points ever since the day he broke his hand because he wanted to use them all at once so that he could observe what kind of change that would bring to his body.
As he left his classroom, he was suddenly surrounded by seven boys whom Mako knew very well.
These were the kids who made Mako's time in his high school a living hell. In front of all the boys was a boy with fair skin and curly ginger hair.
"Hey Trash, I need to talk to you!" Bill Johnson shouted while using his earth ability to push Mako back into the classroom. An earth pillar was quickly raised from the ground and hit Mako straight in the abdomen knocking him back into the class.
The seven boys quickly entered the classroom and Bill used his Earth ability to block the door with an earth wall to avoid any interruptions.
It was prohibited to use abilities in school except during the training duels which were once every two weeks, but since Bill had a decent background and decently rich parents, even if he were to get caught it wouldn't matter because he would just get away with a simple warning.
Almost every kid in Emerald High had a good background and abilities that their parents bought for them so it was always kids like Mako who suffered at the hands of people like Bill who had gone mad with power.
Another boy who had the lightning ability started throwing mini lightning bolts from his fingertips toward Mako in order to torture him.
The other five kids also used their various abilities to keep hitting Mako while exercising restraint to make sure he didn't die on them. One used a water whip while another threw mini wind blades at him all the while Bill held Mako's hands behind his back so he could not escape or fight back in any way, not that he could anyway.
After about ten minutes of constantly torturing Mako, they stopped at the command of Bill who also let go of Mako allowing him to fall face-first into the ground. He was bleeding all over and had multiple burn marks, cuts, and bruises on his body.
Bill pulled a chair from behind one of the desks and placed it right in front of Mako who was barely hanging on to life.
"You know... I still can't believe you actually had the ba**s to speak up to me in such a manner in our last duel. It seems that I have become a bit soft such that worms like you have forgotten their place!" Bill said as he kicked Mako's face to flip him on his back, before sitting down on his chair.
Mako groaned in pain as he gasped for air all the while system continued displaying warning signs in front of his eyes.
[-15 HP]
[User Health nearing critical levels]
[Find emergency aid immediately]
[Emergency healing has been initiated]
The school had training matches between students every two weeks with regular training classes being given every week.
"But you see this is a big problem!" Bill said as he kicked Mako again.
Mako groaned in pain, but Bill didn't let him as he knelt down and grabbed Mako by his hair pulling him closer to his face.
"NO ONE talks back to me and gets to move on with their merry life and somehow you seem to be completely these past couple of days even after what you did to me!" Bill shouted as he smashed his face back into the ground.
"ARRRHHH!" Mako yelled with all his might but to no avail, it looked like Bill also had a heart made of stone.
[Health: 22/120]
"Please... I am... sorry..." Mako managed to muster up the strength to apologize in hopes that Bill to stop.
However, Bill quickly cut him off, "SHUT IT! I AM SPEAKING RIGHT NOW!"
He grabbed Mako's face by the hair again and lifted it off the ground to look him in the eyes as he proceeded to say what he came to say in the first place.
"So for your punishment, I have decided to make it easy for you by giving you a choice," Bill said without a speck of emotion as if nothing was wrong.
"Huh?" Mako asked in a barely conscious manner.
A blunt earth spike came out of the ground and hit Mako right in the face.
"I wasn't done talking you little worm!" Bill shouted as he continued.
"I have decided to give you a choice, either I hear the news of a boy who committed suicide before midnight or you face me again in the training duels tomorrow, and don't worry I have already paid the instructor who will oversee our match. He will not stop the match until you're dead! Either way, tomorrow is going to be the last day of your pathetic life. Decide carefully on how you want it to end."
Bill announced an ultimatum to Mako, before proceeding to stand up and give one last kick in Mako's gut area.
Mako vomited blood from the last kick as he was sent flying back towards the wall.
"You and you, clean up this area, and you feed him a healing pill so he is in the right mindset to decide!" Bill ordered two of his goons who proceeded to do exactly that.
Meanwhile, Bill took down the earth wall from the entrance and left the room with the rest of the boys following him close behind.
"Tick tock... tick tock..." Bill taunted Mako before leaving the room.
***************
It was evening by the time Mako became conscious again. He slowly got up and checked his body to see that almost all of his outer injuries were already healed and that he was barely in any pain.
[Medium tier healing pill consumed]
[84% completion in recovery]
Mako remembered everything that had occurred before Bill left and also about the choice that Bill gave him.
Bill and his goons had done this many times before as well so it wasn't Mako's first rodeo, but it was never to this extent.
Mako was at a loss as to what to do next, but he could consider either option.
*DING!*
[New Quest Received]
[Defeat Bill Johnson in the training duel tomorrow]
[Rewards: Instant level-up, one random skill]
[Penalty: Death]
"Well I guess the system already made the decision for me, I guess," Mako said while gulping.
Facing Bill in a one-on-one all-out fight so soon was not something Mako had considered and although he wanted to have his revenge against him so badly, he knew it was still quite some ways before he got to his level, but now he didn't have a choice.
He carefully made his way out of the school, hoping to avoid getting spotted in the school at such a time, and headed home to strategize about how he was going to tackle Bill tomorrow.
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