power 2

Standing there for a while, Darren acclimated himself to the sensation of power coursing through his veins. He felt like an overcharged battery. Raising one hand slowly, he channeled the energy toward his palm—an instinctive action guiding him on how to release it. When his hand leveled with his shoulder, a white line shot outward, causing Darren to recoil. He hadn't deliberately released it, but the sensation was ingrained in his subconscious, convincing him he could soon master absolute control over his abilities.

Gazing at where the white line had struck, Darren focused on the direction—then froze, mouth agape in shock. Before him, a 15-meter gash scarred the stadium ground, running startlingly deep. Fortunately, it wasn't so severe that it couldn't be easily repaired. Focusing once more, Darren felt the sensation of the previous release, judged its strength, and channeled the force with much less intensity toward his hands this time around. Although the control wasn't refined, it was good enough for Darren not to lose complete control over his ability. Looking at the white energy mass pulsating in his hand, Darren calmly raised his hand while adjusting the power—and released it. Instead of appearing as a line, it came out looking like an irregular ball of energy. Upon hitting the stadium chair it was aimed at, the targeted section was completely evaporated. Staring at the aftermath, Darren grew more baffled as to why a blade hadn't emerged, but rather an irregular blob.

Still perplexed, Darren finally called the system for answers. "System, can you please tell me what I did wrong?"

[Ding!]

"Host's range of motion before release was too short for an effective space blade to be created."

Darren grew even more confused and disbelieving of the system's explanation. Sensing his confusion, the system elaborated:

[Ding!]

"The energy is basic spatial force stored within the Ability Tree. Therefore, no matter how it is released, it maintains the same destructive power. Skills can be learned without the system's intervention, but they must be developed in proportion to the amount of energy stored in the host's body. The system only informs the user of feasible applications at their current level."

[System Note:]

"Warning: If the host uses abilities stronger than they are capable of controlling, it may result in severe injury or death. The system cautions the host to exercise caution."

Looking at the warning, Darren was glad he hadn't bitten off more than he could chew. After reading the explanation, he had grasped the basics of what each ability entailed. The wheelhouse of the ability tree contained energy of a specific attribute, pertaining to how many skills a person could use. It required the right quantity and quality of the specific attribute's energy to release or perform that ability.

Learning this, Darren closed his eyes again, took in a deep breath, and released the ability while swinging his arms. This time, the release was perfect. A thin line of energy surged forward, cleaving through chairs in the stadium and splitting them into various sections before finally striking the stadium wall. As the energy fluctuations diminished, Darren's face brightened with joy—like a kid who had done something significant.

Taking time to adjust his state and access the energy within himself, Darren figured out that the few practices he had just undergone had depleted much of his energy. After taking ample time to rest, Darren closed his eyes and accessed his body internally, where he noticed the wheel with the ability tree was now rotating, absorbing energy from around him at an astonishing speed. Choosing not to interrupt the process, Darren held on until he felt fully saturated. At that point, he stood up again, returned to his previous training position, and continued testing the space-blade, adjusting its power and length until he was satisfied with the outcome.

As he was about to end his refinement of the space-blade, Darren heard a notification from the system. Checking it, he was surprised:

[Ding! Proficiency in space-related ability: 5%]

Perplexed, Darren asked the system to elaborate.

[Ding! Host proficiency in an ability shows their degree of mastery. The higher the proficiency, the stronger the control one has over that ability.]

[Ding! Note: Higher proficiency decreases the risk of injury when using the ability.]

Darren was thrilled with the surprise and the knowledge he had gained today—all from simply coming out to practice. 

Putting the info he had just learned at the back of his head, Darren began to adjust his state to start learning teleportation. Closing his eyes again to connect himself to the space energy within him—Darren, knowing how to stimulate the required skill—he activated his teleportation ability. He felt the world around him turn illusory at first. Then, as he focused his perception in any direction, obstacles became real again, which was a weird sensation: one that felt akin to being connected in all directions by a string that becomes tangible only when it encounters a person's perception.

Opening his eyes again, Darren did not immediately teleport, fearing he might do something wrong, which could result in irreversible damage or even death. Familiarizing himself with the sensation and the nature of the teleportation ability, Darren closed his eyes again, feeling the illusory world. Gently, he touched one of the strings using his perception.

Unlike how Darren was expecting to teleport to where his perception touched, he felt his perception being slung across the line—and before he could stop himself, he felt his body crushing into something. Feeling lost and disoriented, a few seconds later, Darren came back to his senses, stood up from the rubble he was in, and looked around. What he saw sent his brain into a little downtime from the confusion. After all, he had only been able to teleport at most 15 meters—yet, judging by how he'd crashed into one side of the stadium wall, he was baffled.

Not knowing what to do, he could only ask the only other being present: "System, can you please tell me what the fuck is going on?"

[Host did not adjust to where he wanted, causing residual power to be improperly allocated. This propelled the host forward post-teleport.]