Mako was currently sitting in one of the corners of the benches reserved for the fighters and there were many thing things currently on his mind.
First and foremost, Mako checked out all the system notifications of the previous fight as well as the rewards for the quest he had completed.
Mako had gained 1200 experience points from only defeating the fighters as that alone was enough for Mako to level up as he was now at level 7.
[User has leveled up!]
[Reward: +5 Attribute points, Random Ability Skill]
[Current Level: Lvl 7]
[Choosing Random Skill]
[New Skill Learned: (E-Tier) Flame Pillar!] ⓘ
Before even looking at the rewards for the quest, Mako was surprised to see such a big bonus come to him by simply leveling up. Mako quickly opened the information on this particular skill.
(NEW!) [(E-Tier) Flame Pillar] ⓘ (Level 1)
[A basic attack from the Fire Elemental Skill Tree, that shoots a pillar of flames from the ground underneath the target. To activate the skill, the user must place his hands firmly on the ground for 5 seconds and then choose where within the user's line of sight he wants the pillar of flames to erupt from. The pillar of flames shot up from the ground guarantees the burn status effect and lasts for 5 seconds dealing a certain amount of damage per second.]
[Attack: 9 per second]
[Duration: 5 seconds]
[Cost: 100 Energy]
It was a high-risk high reward-type ability as it had the condition of being vulnerable for 5 seconds before he could release the attack and also the fact that if he miscalculates, then the pillar won't hit anything at all.
Mako still appreciated the skill as it was now his strongest offensive ability and one that wasn't displayed before so it would be a nice surprise for his upcoming opponents.
Even though it looked as if Mako was a decent fighter, the problem was that he had no one attribute that he focused on and because of this, almost all opponents he faces is stronger than him in one aspect with the only reason why Mako was still winning was by using his intelligence efficiently to devise plans to defeat his foe as well as just by pure chance.
Mako then quickly opened his quests tab to see what rewards had the system provided him for knocking down 4 out of the 9 fighters during the battle royal.
[Quest Complete]
[Win the Group B battle royal]
[Condition: For every opponent knocked out by the user, the rewards would be increased.]
[Opponents Knocked Out: 4/9]
[Reward: 2000 EXP, Random Attribute increase]
[Strength has been elevated to 20]
This was also a huge boost as Mako was climbing ever closer to level 10 because at that point all of the system features would be unlocked as only the 'Shop' feature was still greyed out on his status panel.
'Open System Interface'
[User: Mako Grey]
[Health: 180/200] ⓘ
[Energy: 410/500] ⓘ
[EXP: 2400/6400] ⓘ
[Level 7] ⓘ
[Strength: 20 (+10) ] ⓘ
[Agility: 15 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Perception: 12] ⓘ
[Intelligence: 12] ⓘ
[Mentality: 12] ⓘ
[Stamina: 12 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Charisma: Locked] ⓘ
[Fortitude: Locked] ⓘ
[Attribute Points: 9] ⓘ
Mako had a few attribute points that he could mess around with, but he decided that it would be better to just leave them be and only use them for emergencies.
The organizers made it so that the fighter from the two different groups didn't get to witness the other group's fights so that they would still have an element of surprise which was needed cause in this rookie match there was only level 2's and level 3's who had limited skills and moves.
Mako could only hear the shouting and cheering of the crowd as the first semi-final of the night had come to a close as the finalist had already been selected.
"Now, ladies and Gentlemen! I present to you the second match of the semifinals between the two fighters from Group B, Blaze vs Dark Assassin!" The announcer said with so much energy that even without a speaker, his voice was able to reach the entire crowd.
While walking to the opposite sides of the ring, Mako decided to Analyze the announcer and find out the secret about his voice.
[Analyze]
[Profile: Ash Senkaku]
[Ability: Sound (Level 2)] ⓘ
[A sensory ability as this ability (at the current level) allows the user to manipulate sound waves, Amplify the voice and even launch sound attacks.]
It was a sound ability that had no real use in high-level battles due to high-level fighters having resistance to sensory attacks, but it was quite common as most sports commentators, performers, and celebrities often had this ability.
Mako still had no idea as to how he was going to deal with this ninja person who he couldn't discern anything about because of him being at a higher level than him, but he was confident that he would still be able to put up a good fight since he had just gained a good amount of attribute points in strength and a brand new skill.
"Fighters ready?..... FIGHT!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs as the Dark Assassin rushed towards Mako at full speed.
It was a level of speed that Mako had never seen before and before he knew it the Dark Assassin had already arrived right in front of him and was about to throw a jab at his face.
Mako's perception kicked in as he instinctively used Phantom Shift to avoid the jab. It was clear that the Assassin was amazed to see that Mako had dodged his attack, but that didn't stop him from trying again and again.
Quickly opening up the system interface, Mako dumped 8 of his attribute points into perception as this was the only attribute that Mako could use to counter this opponent.
Opening his eyes again, Mako could now observe far better than before as the Assassin didn't look as fast as he did before.
'I can still fight!' Mako encouraged himself as he threw out his punches to counter him.
After a few minutes of just running around and countering with physical punches, Mako had pretty much gotten the hang of the Assassin's speed as he was getting better and better at countering and blocking his moves.
During the entire fight, no visible abilities were being used by either opponent as the crowd could only watch the two fight each other in hand-to-hand combat at high speeds.
Getting annoyed at the fact that his speed was not giving him an edge over Mako, the Dark Assassin became more and more desperate and became sloppy in his attacks. Taking advantage of the situation, Mako ducked when the Assassin shot out a desperate gut punch and now with the body of his opponent exposed with no defenses, Mako activated the one skill he had yet to use on another person.
[Ten-palm strike has been activated]
Mako threw out consecutive ten quick open-palm attacks on the assassin's body in quick succession as a constant thud noise resounded in the arena. The Dark Assassin stumbled back a few steps and looked at Mako with horror as if he was the devil.
Blood trickled down through his face mask which indicated that he was bleeding internally. Mako himself was surprised by the fact that his ten-palm strike was this effective, but instead of just staring back at his opponent, Mako had placed his hands on the ground and activated a certain ability that was now ready.
[Flame Pillar had been activated]
Suddenly the ground underneath the assassin's feet started to split apart as a tornado of flames erupted from it consuming the entirety of his body.
The crowd of people looked away and the online footage was immediately blurred as only the torturous screams of the assassin could be heard.
After 5 seconds, the flames disappeared as the body of the assassin was completely charred all over with some parts of his clothes still on fire. The body stood still for a couple of seconds before it tumbled by a slight breeze hitting it and fell to the ground.
*DING!*
[A Difficult Level 3 Opponent Has Been Defeated]
[+1000 EXP]
"We have a winner for the second round of the Semifinals! Blaze Wins!" Ash announced as boos resounded from the crowd and filled the entirety of the online chat.
"Monster!"
"Heartless!"
"Villain!"
Many names were being said to Mako, but he just turned around and returned to his side of the bench without a sliver of emotion. On the inside, Mako was cursing himself to resort to this, but he knew that if the fight kept going he would be the one on the losing side because putting his senses into overdrive was putting a lot of strain on himself.
The commentator, as well as Ash, were praising Mako's abilities as they had never seen someone with such versatility while the crowd kept on booing not only for the fact that Mako finished the battle in a brutal way which was allowed but also because almost everyone had their bets on the Dark Assassin who was now picked by another person who everyone assumed to be his friend or something and taken away.
But before they could take him away from the ring, Mako decided to use Analyze on him again now that he had defeated him.
[Analyze]
[Profile: Leon Czolgosz] (Unconscious)
[Ability: Speed (Level 3)] ⓘ
[Health: 23/150] ⓘ
[Energy: 64/220] ⓘ
[Strength: 9] ⓘ
[Agility: 30] ⓘ
[Perception: 11] ⓘ
[Intelligence: 4] ⓘ
[Mentality: 7] ⓘ
[Stamina: 12] ⓘ
[Charisma: 2] ⓘ
[Fortitude: 5] ⓘ
The reason why the Dark Assassin or Leon was moving too fast even for Mako was that he had an enhancement ability. He had a very high level of agility plus whatever skills he had to further utilize that speed to its fullest, but there was the main drawback and that was what Mako had unconsciously exploited which was that he was neither too strong nor did he have a good defense.
Mako's ten-palm strike struck Leon in his vital spot with full force and no protection other than the light clothing he was wearing that was completely burnt at this point.
Enhancement abilities were rare and cultivating them to a decent level was very tough but the most top-ranked fighters and military personnel each held at least one enhancement ability that would boost a certain aspect of themselves into ultra mode.
Mako was torn on the inside as the actions he had to take were against his very nature but he knew he had to do it since they were all people who were associated with gangs or the mafia, so they were not necessarily good people.
'Only one more to go!'