Eating a second evolution crystal

In the room, Johnathan and Ivan could be seen sitting on the floor, with round crystals in their hands. Moving them closer to their mouths, the two prepared themselves for the upcoming pain.

Dropping the crystal into his mouth, Johnathan waited a second for it to go down his throat. As it slid down his throat, the crystal dissolved and flowed through his bloodstream.

Immediately after, Johnathan felt a sharp sting in his heart. Clutching his chest, Johnathan tried to take deep breaths.

*huuu*

There was a problem. He couldn't breathe. Immediately after, the pain flowed throughout his body. Arms, legs, brain, and stomach. Everything hurt. Unable to breathe and having to face unbearable pain, Johnathan cried out.

"Help!" He cried with a hoarse voice.

Suddenly, Johnathan's suffering got a bit more bearable with him gaining the ability to breathe back.

*huu*

Johnathan took a deep breath, savoring the air. Not being able to breathe was torture. He would rather sit through the pain he was going through than not breathe.

A long minute later, Johnathan rolled on his back and let out a long sigh. The pain was already over. Exhausted, Johnathan didn't try to even get up. He turned his head to the side and saw Ivan lying on his back as well. 'Looks like he didn't get it any easier.'

Danny, seeing how much pain they went through, waited for a bit to ask what power-ups they got.

Finally, after three more minutes of just laying on their backs, relaxing, the two got up and stretched. Taking a minute to examine himself, Johnathan noticed an obvious difference. Looking at his hands, he saw his skin was smoother. Flexing his arms, he noticed his strength increased. Closing his eyes and feeling his mana, he saw his mana increase by a good amount as well.

"Amazing."

The two looked at him with a look that practically said "what happened?"

With a wide smile, Johnathan started explaining the changes.

"My strength increased a lot. I feel like it's twice as strong, but I could always be wrong. Another thing that increased was my mana. I feel like I could stop time for 4 seconds. I also have an easier time moving the mana to the arms." He said, moving the mana from his core to his arms quicker than before.

"Wow. That's an improvement." Danny said.

"Yeah. Now you can use your time stop for a good amount of time. You were already OP, but now you're OOOOOOP." Ivan said, thinking about how overpowered his ability is.

"What about you? What upgrades did you get?" Johnathan asked.

"We'll nothing too drastic. My strength and mana increased. My lighting is probably stronger than my previous strongest one."

"Damn, you're OP now too. Imma need one of those round crystals. I call dibs on the next one."

Danny watched and listened to how strong they got from one of the second evolution crystals, so he couldn't help but be excited about what he'd get after eating one.

"We'll probably find one on our way to your house. Anyway, let's meditate for an hour and try to purify our cores. The lighter we get it, the stronger our mana will get." Ivan said, sitting down.

The two nodded. Though Danny was hesitant, he agreed that getting stronger would help in saving his parents.

Once they all sat down, they closed their eyes and started purifying their mana.

*vroom*

The sound of tons of cars passing by and stopping interrupted their meditating. Luckily, they managed to purify their cores a bit before getting interrupted.

Johnathan opened his phone and noticed they had meditated for an hour and a half already.

"Guys, look at this."

Hearing Danny's voice, Johnathan and Ivan stopped what they were doing and looked out the window with him. What they saw were military cars. One of them had stopped in front of Ivan's house.

"What do they want?"

Ivan couldn't help but ask for the others' opinions. Why would the military come to his house? Before he could think any longer, his doorbell was wrong.

"I don't know, but I need to hide the gun. I don't want them taking it away."

Johnathan quickly took off his holster and his shirt, before putting the holster that held his gun on and put his shirt over it, hiding his gun. 'No way in hell am I letting them take my gun.' He thought while putting the case the gun was in into his bag.

Ivan looked at his sword and sighed. He wasn't able to hide it, but then again, it was a sword. He highly doubted they would take it from him.

So when everyone was ready, they walked down the stairs and opened the door for the man who kept ringing the doorbell and knocking.

"Hello sir, what can we help you with?" Ivan asked the soldier.

The man looked at the three teens with a sad look. He couldn't imagine what they had been through. "Are you guys alright? I received orders to help civilians reach the base we're currently staying at."

The three looked at each other before Johnathan asked "We're alright. Couldn't say we're good but living. Anyway, why this late? And is it mandatory?"

"We were saving civilians last night as well, but unfortunately, the area we had to cover was further away. Coming along with us isn't mandatory, but it would be an excellent choice. Your friends or even family members could be there."

Immediately after he said that, Danny walked in front and asked "did you guys rescue anyone from **** avenue?"

The man smiled and nodded. "We searched and rescued that area last night."

Danny smiled with relief. The chances his parents were there were high. So, without a second thought, he had already agreed to follow the man to the base.

"Are you guys going to *** rd? I have some friends there and it's close by."

Johnathan didn't want to leave Ash and the other people in the bike store behind. They were nothing but kind to him and his friends. He even saw Ash like a little brother.

"Yes, another unit is searching that area."

Johnathan nodded and looked towards Ivan. Both he and Danny had their answers. Ivan was the only one who seemed unsure.

"I have nothing else here. If you guys are going to go, I'll have to follow along as well."

"Good. You made the right choice. Follow me and we'll take you to the base."

The two followed the man into the truck and sat inside.

Inside the truck, the three saw and recognized the two people across from them. It was people they hadn't seen since elementary.

Johnathan looked at them with an annoyed look. 'Fuck, I hate these guys. Why couldn't they just die.'

"Johnathan, Ivan, Danny. Is that you? Haven't seen you in a while, guys. How are you?" One boy asked.

"Ya, it's us. We're doing alright. Thanks for asking Charles." Ivan answered, rolling his eyes. None of the three liked them, but they had no other choice but to pull through and deal with it. At least for the rest of the ride.