Levelling Up

A week had passed since the Baseball incident. Kafince City was usually one of the more peaceful and protected places in the country so it was rare for something bad to happen, especially something the Gyro struggled to handle.

But a few days after that and everything returned back to normal.

Ryan, Neo and Jane had grouped up together at Jason's house like usual but this time, it wasn't to watch or discuss anime.

"Did you find out any more about the Manga Watch, Ryan?" Jason asked seated on the couch directly opposite to Ryan.

"Well a little." Ryan then tapped on the Manga Watch and a holo screen appeared in front of them.

He opened a tab which read...

[Host Info]

[Host: Ryan Carsonn]

[Energy: 100/100]

[Level: 1]

[Dexterity: 5]

[Skills: 1]

"Whoa!" They all exclaimed.

"What does 'Dexterity' and 'Skills' mean?" They asked simultaneously.

"According to the Manga Watch..." Ryan then tapped on 'Dexterity' and information was shown to them.

[Dexterity: Dexterity refers to the Host's adaptive skills. Their ability to adapt to consecutive transformation which increases the skill of the transformation.]

They all took a minute to process what was shown on the Holo screen until Neo finally responded.

"It just means what it says. Your adaptability. Now what does Skills mean?"

After asking that question, Ryan brought up yet again more info on Skills.

[Skills: These refer to abilities the Host possesses outside of a transformation.]

[Host currently has one skill]

[Revive.]

Ryan didn't need to bring up more information on the skill known as Revive because they already knew what it meant. It was how Ryan was able to bring them back to life.

[Skills can be obtained by levelling up or completing specific tasks.]

The Manga Watch said in a monotone voice on its own without Ryan having to say or do anything.

"Well I didn't really learn anything new."

"Me neither."

Neo and Jason said.

Jane who had been sitting on the couch was growing a bit bored, not having any powers herself.

"Why don't you guys fight already. You'll take turns against each other." Jane proposed and the three of them looked excited.

"Okay." The three of them agreed.

"But how are we supposed to decide who gets to go first." Ryan asked.

"We'll just do Rock Paper Scissors for it." Jason said and the three of them walked closer to each other.

"Rock.." Ryan said.

"Paper.." Jason continued.

"Scissors.." Neo said.

"Shoot!"

They looked at each other's hands. Ryan had chosen paper while Neo and Jason had chosen rock.

"So the two of us will go first." Jason said to Neo.

"Fine by me." He replied.

Neo then looked like he was ready to fight.

"Not here. Let's do it out back." Jason said, already walking towards the back door of his house.

After about two minutes, they arrived at the back. Unlike the front, it was impossible for anyone on the outside to see what was going on at the back. It had some kind of wall around it and there was a whole lot of space.

The ground was mostly lawn grass with some sprinklers here and there.

Neo and Jason stood in the middle of the field, getting ready to duel. Ryan and Jane stood a few metres away from them. But before anything could commence, they heard a ping sound. They had to both assume it came from their Holo-Screens so they brought it out.

[ New Mission: Defeat the opponent in front of you in a friendly spar.]

[Reward: Level Up]

"Huh?!" They both said, shocked by the contents of the information.

"So that's a way we can level up. Jane, you're a genius!" They both said more excited as they charged in towards each other.

[Ability Activated]

[-5 Energy]

[Ability Activated]

[-5 Energy]

The both of them activated their powers and not much changed about them on the outside but their strength, speed and agility had greatly increased.

Neo threw a kick towards Jason, aiming at his chest but the latter blocked it with his arms.

[Surge Palms Activated]

[-10 Energy]

Jason's hands began to glow and pulse with lightning and then after blocking, he threw a fist towards Neo and punched him in the face, knocking him back a few inches.

"Aah." Slight blood was dripping from Neo's mouth.

[Injury Detected]

[-10 Energy]

[Injury Healed]

'It takes that much energy to heal a slight wound like this.' Neo thought as he planned his next move.

This time, Jason after getting some distance, ran towards Neo with the Surge Palms still active, attempting to shock him.

"It's.. too predictable."

When Jason was in striking distance, Neo ducked at the right moment and then used his left leg to whip Jason's off the floor and quickly got up. And used his right leg to kick him in the air and then he raised up his right arm.

[Abyssal Bolts Activated]

[-10 Energy]

A black ball of energy with distinct purple bolts around it appeared in Neo's palm and then he blasted it out, hitting Jason in the chest and sending him flying a few metres away.

[Injury Sustained]

[-20 Energy]

[Surge Palms Deactivated]

"What?" Jason was shocked at both what his holo screen said and what had just occured.

'You guys forgot something.' Neo thought as he ran towards Jason with incredible speed. With his ability activated, his strength and speed increased three fold from what it was before.

Jason seeing him coming, raised out his hands and activated the other skill that they had.

[Thunder Barrier Activated]

[-10 Energy]

Lines of white electricity began to form around him like a ball and Neo still seeing this continued to run forward.

Neo raised his left hand this time.

'Unlike you guys, I don't have any talent in technology.."

An Abyssal Bolt appeared in his hand again and he released it, aiming towards the Thunder Barrier that had finished forming until it hit it.

A large bang sound and a few crackling sound was heard and Jason's barrier had broken at the front partially like glass.

"What the.." Jason was shocked and quickly activated the Thunder Barrier again. He could only bring it up twice.

At this time, Neo was already close to the barrier and he knew he would get hit if he were to touch it. As he almost came in contact with it, he kicked his legs up and turned his body backwards, he had performed a back flip and one that created a larger amount of distance than a regular one an athlete would performe.

"But I'm good at physical activities whereas you guys never bothered."

Neo yet again brought out his right arm and released the Abyssal Bolt and hit the Thunder Barrier, causing it to break again. He could only use the Abyssal Bolt three times and that was his last one.

"How is Neo so good at this?" Jane asked Ryan who was sitting next to her with Juke, the Mech Animal on his lap.

They were both on the sidelines, sitting on floating red benches Jason had created himself. They knew this fact for two reasons; one was because he loved to build mechs and other technological junk and also because the benches had the name 'Jay' engraved on them in gold.

Juke even had it on his lower belly.

"Isn't it obvious? It's exactly like Neo said. He might not be the brightest but he's a prodigy in physical activities. That's why he has a chance for a scholarship in the first place." Ryan answered matter-of-factly and smiled, 'Look at all that potential. If we ever run into the Curse again, they'll be in for a shock.'

As Jason got up from the ground after he had fallen due to his Thunder Barrier collapsing, Neo was already sprinting towards him with the enhanced speed his Form gave him.

Neo at striking distance then threw out a punch towards his face and Jason was prepared to block it but suddenly, he had been hit in the gut causing him to fall down in pain.

[Injury Sustained]

[-45 Energy]

[Injury Healed]

[Energy: 0/0]

[Host's energy has been depleted]

[Rest is needed to restore it]

Immediately, Jason fell unconscious and was sleeping on the field.

"Yes!! I won." Neo celebrated his victory but it didn't end there.

[Congratulations! Mission completed]

[Rewards will be given]

As Neo's holo screen appeared, Ryan and Jane quickly ran to the field to see what it said.

[Level Up achieved]

[You are now at Level 2]

[Reward +2]

"Wow! So it was telling the truth." The three of them were amazed including Juke who was now sitting on top of Neo's head and analyzing the information for Jason later.

Neo then excited to see what he got clicked on Rewards.

[Basic Skills unlocked]

[Shadow Hop]

[Shadow Skin]

The four of them were confused by what Basic Skills were so Neo thought of the question and just like that, it was answered.

[Basic Skills are skills that require no Energy to activate and use.]

"Wow! I guess it just means what it says. Maybe we're overthinking it too much." Jane said to Ryan.

[Shadow Hop: This is a basic skill that gives the host more jumping ability, allowing them to jump as high as 15 feet in the air. It can be used infinitely]

[Shadow Skin: This allows the Host to gain a protective shadow like skin for protection against weaker attacks. It can be used up to five times.]

[Cool down: 5 minutes]

The four of them were beyond impressed. They had moved back into the mansion with Jason lying on his bed sleeping like a baby.

Ryan got up from the couch and slammed his right fist into his left palm which shocked them a bit.

"Alright! Take a thirty minute rest. We're gonna spar." Ryan declared.