“Nathan,” Mako greeted, his curiosity evident in his tone as he approached the designated spot in the training area. Nathan was leaning against a wall, his demeanor seemingly relaxed but his gaze focused and intent.

Nathan nodded in acknowledgment. “Yeah. There’s something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you.”

Mako’s interest was piqued. Nathan had never initiated a conversation and he knew nothing about him yet, so he had no idea which direction their talk might go, especially not with such an air of urgency. “Sure, what’s on your mind?” 𝚘𝚟𝚕．ｔ

Nathan’s eyes held a mixture of suspicion and determination. “I’ve been noticing something about the way you fight. It’s not like the rest of us.”

Mako’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Nathan’s tone was direct, almost accusatory. “You fight with small pauses, moments where you seem to zone out. It’s like you’re accessing something.”

Mako’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected Nathan to pick up on the way he fought. His system was his most valuable asset, the source of his abilities and information. It had helped him in so many ways that he couldn’t explain to anyone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mako replied, playing dumb and appearing innocent even as his heart raced.

However, Nathan was buying it at all, as his gaze intensified, his voice unwavering. “Don’t lie to me, Mako. I’ve seen it. You’re hiding something, and I want to know what it is.”

Mako’s mind raced, searching for a way to defuse the situation. He couldn’t reveal the truth about his secret system. It was priceless knowledge, and the consequences would be severe.

“I don’t have anything to hide,” Mako insisted with a bit more of a stronger tone, hoping his words would be enough to dissuade Nathan’s suspicions.

Nathan’s patience seemed to wear thin. “You think I haven’t noticed the way you pause during fights? The way you access information that no one else has? How were you able to react so quickly and accordingly to the howl skill that I never used before? Whenever I use that skill for the first time, everyone is confused and doesn’t know what or why this is happening, allowing me to get an upper hand.”

“But you… you knew exactly what my skill did and were able to act accordingly. You should have been feeling weak and afraid, but somehow you knew that it only weakened you slightly, nothing more.” Nathan added as he persisted.

Mako’s defenses went up, his voice firm. “You’re mistaken, Nathan. I had no idea about your skill or what it did. I felt weak, but my will wasn’t broken as I knew I had to fight if I wanted to win, and so I continued fighting, there is nothing else to it.”

Nathan’s expression hardened. “Oh really? That wasn’t the only time that you have done stuff like this. You were staring at me after I introduced myself during the debriefing. You read me, didn’t you? You knew my skills and abilities from the start!”

Mako had to try and take control of the situation, if he showed cowardice, it would make him look more guilty. “I was simply interested in your abilities, that’s all. What type of skill or ability lets me read other people’s abilities and skills in the first place?! That is completely ridiculous!”

Nathan paused and stared into Mako’s eyes as he said those words, intimidating him further.” Alright then, I’ll Prove it then. Let’s see if you can face me without pausing.”

Mako’s heart raced. “Nathan, what are you saying?!”

He couldn’t show Nathan his secret abilities, but Nathan’s persistence was wearing him down. Their exchange escalated, tension filling the air like a charged storm.

Without warning, Nathan lunged forward, his transformation into a Blood Wolf evident as his body shifted. Instinctively, Mako conjured a burst of fire to counter the attack. Flames clashed against the crimson aura surrounding Nathan, creating a scorching barrier between them.

The training area reverberated with the clash of abilities as Mako summoned his Lightning aura, crackling electricity forming around his hands. Nathan’s advanced perception allowed him to anticipate Mako’s movements, and he dodged the lightning strikes with great agility.

The battle between them intensified, each strike and counterstrike leaving traces of their power in the air. Mako’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, torn between defending himself and keeping his secret safe.

Mako was stuck between a rock and a hard place as he knew the outcome of this wouldn’t be in his favor whatsoever.

He was smart enough to realize Nathan’s plan that if he didn’t use the system during this fight to show that he could fight normally, it would make Nathan more suspicious and let him know that Mako could use his system at will, and if he continued to fight with the system to show that this was just his fighting style, it would once again cement the idea that Mako was doing something hence the pauses that occur whenever a prompt appears in front of his eyes.

Both options seemed bad, But Mako had to make his move or else he would get pummeled by Nathan who wasn’t pulling his punches at all.

Nathan continued his assault and Mako remained on the defensive, countering his moves with his own. It didn’t matter too much since Mako had already analyzed Nathan and knew everything about him.

It was true that Analyze didn’t fully open up about certain abilities like when Nathan consumed his blood to transform further and use a new skill, but still with his current skill set and attributes, he should be able to hold Nathan off until someone showed up from all the commotion they were making.

However, Nathan was relentless. He attacked relentlessly with intense vigor, forcing Mako to remain on the defensive.

“What are you going to do now, huh?! You’re gonna tell me what you’re hiding from everyone or am I going to have beat it out of you!?” Nathan taunted as he kept up his wild attacks.

Mako was still trying to calm the situation down and talk things over, but it was of no use as Nathan wasn’t budging. “Nathan! Listen to me! I have no idea what you are talking about! This is a complete misunderstanding! Please, let’s just talk this through!”

“Never! Never again… I will never trust people like you again!” Nathan shouted in anger as he increased the intensity of his slashes.

Mako had gotten a lot better at defense and could protect himself decently against opponents unlike before when he would get trampled by everyone; however, he still wasn’t at the point that he could protect himself from all angles.

He would raise an earth wall to protect him against the blood slashes, but by that time Nathan would already be to his left. Mako couldn’t reposition cause Nathan had thrown additionally delayed blood swipes to his left and right, making him stuck in place.

With the benefit of Blood Hardening, Mako’s assaults had no effect and Advanced Perception helped him dodge any of Mako’s slow but powerful attacks.

As the minutes went by, Mako’s appearance got more withered with many small slashes and injuries all over his body. The same could also be said about Nathan as he wasn’t practically scratch-proof either.

Even with Advanced Perception and Blood hardening, Mako still landed several hits on Nathan which had resulted in him getting injured as well.

Both boys were expending huge amounts of energy as they continued to use their abilities. Another interesting thing about Nathan that Mako had found was that he had a relatively large energy pool as well, not as big as his but big enough and it was certainly far greater than the average energy pool for someone of their power level.

They were both at their limit especially since neither of them had fully recovered their energy as they had spent a lot of it in the battle earlier.

They took a pause after an insane exchange of fireballs and blood swipes as they both tried to try and catch their breaths while staring at each other.

“Why won’t you listen!? What have I done to you?” Mako asked in frustration.

Nathan stared back in anger and disgust as he remember a painful memory. “EVERYTHING!” He shouted in anger as he fully transformed into a blood wolf once again and lunged at Mako who stood still with no guard.

He couldn’t use any flashy moves such as the phantom moves on Nathan as his perception was high enough to catch him while he performed such skills.

There was no other option left. He had been ignoring a specific prompt that had been appearing constantly in his line of sight, but now it looked like he had to accept it. The best way to deal with Nathan now was to overpower him and show him that he isn’t someone to be tossed around and interrogated at will.

Rage meter 100% full

Does the user want to enter rage mode?

YES

/NO

“Yes…” Mako reluctantly answered the system.