Ability Enhancement

Alexia looked at Alex's sleeping and once she was sure he'd be alright did she turn her head away. "Three days," she muttered to herself. "We have three days before that horde shows up, and I'm still not sure if we'll survive.

Quinn, sitting on the couch with his shadows swirling faintly around him, raised an eyebrow. "You keep saying 'we'. You sure you're not putting too much faith in us."

Alexia shot him a sharp look. "Where did all that mindset you had a few days ago disappear to? Besides you both are considered as allies, and I let you both know that I could upgrade your abilities, and I don't plan on breaking that trust, I'll keep my word."

Damien, who stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the peaceful setting of the sanctuary's forest, turned toward her. "If you're serious about that, then let's get to it. The stronger we are, the better chance we have of getting through this."

Alexia nodded, pulling up the system menu. Th screen flickered with options as she accessed the upgrade panel. She frowned as she skimmed through the details. "The system says you both already have latent abilities. I can enhance them, luckily, I don't need to point to enhance it."

Quinn leaned forward; his interest piqued. "What abilities are we talking about?"

"For you, Quinn," Alexia said, scrolling through his profile, "You've got Shadow manipulation and Telekinesis, thought you already knew that, also since they're both active it I can boost it and unlock It's full potential."

Quinn smirked, his confidence returning. "Shadow powers and telekinesis huh? I'm officially the coolest person in the room."

Alexia rolled her eyes before turning to Damien's profile. "And you, Damien-----you've got telepathic manipulation and energy domination. Your telepathy also works on emotions unfortunately it can't be used on me. Energy domination, though... that's powerful. You can manipulate energy fields, even disrupt enemies' attacks if you learn how to control it."

Damien's expression darkened slightly. "We've already established the fact that I can't read you. It's.... unsettling." 

"Good," Alexia replied flatly. "I like my privacy." She cleared her throat and refocused. "Okay, let's do this. I'll enhance your active abilities, then unlock the dormant ones."

She selected Quinn's shadow manipulation, clicking on the enhance button. The system responded immediately.

[Upgrading Ability: Shadow Manipulation... Upgrade Complete. Shadow tendrils now extend farther, and Host Quinn gains the ability to create shadow constructs (Limited to weapons only).]

Quinn's eyes widened as his shadows surged around him, sharper and more defined than before. He raised a hand, and a small dagger formed from pure darkness appeared in his grasp.

"Not bad," he said grinning.

Alexia then clicked on enhance besides Quinn's Telekinesis. 

[Upgrading Ability: Telekinesis.....Upgrade complete. Mental energy increased.]

Quinn experimentally raised a hand, and the nearby chair floated a few inches off the ground. His expression filled with ease, unlike before when he could hardly move a stone. He laughed. "This is going to be fun."

Next, Alexia focused on Damien. She enhanced his telepathic manipulation first.

[Upgrading Ability: Telepathic Manipulation.... Upgrade Complete. Host Damien can now influence multiple targets simultaneously.]

Damien's jaw tightened as he felt the shift. He closed his eyes briefly, his brows furrowing as though testing the limits of his mind.

[Unlocking Dormant Ability: Energy Domination... Unlock Complete. Host Damien can now sense and manipulate energy field within a limited radius.]

Damien flexed his fingers, a faint glow surrounding his hand. "This.... will take some getting used to," he admitted.

Alexia leaned back, exhausted from the chaos that had happened earlier. The system chimed softly.

[Host has reached the maximum limit of enhancement for both allies. Next enhancement will take place after a few days. Note: Enhancing abilities takes consideration of the owner's body, if abilities are not unlocked to the max then ally is 'weak'.]

"I can't enhance you guys abilities till after some time again." Alexia announced, wiping sweat from her brows. "Also if you feel your ability is still weak, then that's cause you're not strong either, that's all I can do for now."

Damien nodded. "It's more then enough. Thank you."

While Quinn just smirked, tossing the shadow dagger from one hand to another. "So, what's the plan now, fearless leader?"

Alexia crossed her arms, staring at the glowing map projected in front of her. It showed the horde's estimated path toward their location. "We can't face them head-on," She said. "Not with the numbers they have. But if we're smart, we can use the terrain to our advantage."

Alexia made the map visible to Damien and Quinn.

She highlighted a nearby choke point---a narrow alley surrounded by tall buildings. "If we can lure them here, we can funnel them into a bottleneck. It'll slow them down and give us a chance to pick them off."

Damien studied the map, his expression thoughtful. "It's a good plan, but we'll need supplies. Weapons, traps, anything we can use to hold them off."

Quinn tilted his head. "And how exactly are we supposed to get all that? It's not like there's a market for that open."

Alexia grinned faintly. "Leave that to me. The system's store can provide that and I have a few in my space."

Quinn and Damien exchanged glances but said nothing, then they nodded.

Alexia looked at both of them and their not so subtle look they exchanged but ignored it. "Anyways for now, let's rest and prepare. Once Alex wakes up, we'll move out and set the trap. We only have three---no two days and some hours left. Let's not waste them."

Quinn leaned back against the wall, a faint smirk on his lips. "Well, this is shaping up to be one hell of a fight. Try not to die before it starts, Kane."

Alexia ignored him, her focus already on the map. The battle ahead would test all of them, but for the first time in days, she felt a spark of hope. Together, she felt they stood a chance.

Meanwhile, Damien snatched the map from Alexia who was in her feels, dragged her to the room next door, pushed her in and closed the door, "Sleep Alexia, we have a big fight ahead of us."