Universal Power System

[Energy Sensing has been activated]

However, as soon as he activated the skill, his vision became blurry and hazy, resembling the old-school TV screens when they had no signal. A sharp headache accompanied the distorted vision, forcing Mako to quickly deactivate the skill in confusion.

"What was that!?" He groaned in confusion.

Before he could make sense of the strange behavior of his skill, he heard rustling coming from the forest, the same direction from which the shadow had emerged. This time, Mako relied on the sonar sensing ability of his Analyze skill. He detected two figures approaching from the forest, and his determination surged.

Enraged and full of resolve, Mako lunged into the forest, ready to confront the culprits behind the shadowy nightmares. However, as he burst into the clearing, he was left utterly dumbfounded.

"Nathan...? Leon...?" Mako said in disbelief as the figures approaching turned out to be none other than his teammates, Nathan and Leon, who had come to give their scheduled report.

"MAKO?!" Nathan and Leon said in unison as they were just as shocked to find Mako lunging towards them in a terrible state.

Nathan had sensed that something was approaching them fast which was why they were on high alert as well so that they would be prepared for whatever came for them, but they didn't expect this.

Mako's face was etched with fatigue, and his clothes were singed and torn. Blood from the wound on his back as well as other small cuts and scratches he received during the fight had soaked through his clothing.

His complexion was pale and his arms were trembling after barely surviving an intense encounter as he was almost out of energy. He felt the pain from his injuries, but the rush of adrenaline and the determination to survive had kept him going.

Nathan and Leon quickly ran forward to make sure Mako's condition was stable before they did anything else.

Mako's adrenaline-fueled battle stance relaxed as he realized the identity of the approaching figures. He relaxed his breathing and allowed his aching muscles to finally rest.

As Nathan and Leon approached him, the fatigue finally caught up to Mako and he collapsed backward but was caught by Nathan before his head could hit the ground.

Leon used his Speed ability to quickly clear out the perimeter to make sure that nothing else was around them before returning to Nathan who gently laid Mako down on the ground and began assessing his injuries.

Thanks to the healing pill that Mako had consumed, the bleeding from all the cuts and scratches on his body had stopped but it wasn't enough to heal him completely.

"What do you think happened to him?" Leon inquired as he took a closer look at Mako's battered body.

"I don't know... Seems to me like he fought a wild beast or something," Nathan replied as he checked Mako's pulse to make sure he was still alive before feeding him another healing pill so that his injuries would begin to heal.

"How can beasts be roaming around freely? It's not possible." Leon said as he found it hard to believe that Mako had encountered a wild beast.

***************

There were no natural beasts found on Earth and all of the beasts that were currently on Earth such as for research purposes or training like in the recruitment test were imported from other worlds, and were heavily monitored so that no beast would ever leave the confines of its designated area.

Plus, from the injuries on Mako's body, it had to have been at least an advanced-tier beast to cause such a great amount of damage to his body which would be completely absurd.

There are protocols in place in case of a beast escaping a facility or a confined area with different levels depending on the level of the beast. An advanced-tier beast on the loose would be anywhere between category 2.1 to 2.5 emergency depending on its strength which would be at the minimum a low-level D-tier mission in of itself.

There were no reports of a category 2 protocol breach in the area so Leon wasn't so sure that this was the doing of a beast.

"Did he encounter the shadow or maybe a person is responsible for it?" Leon speculated as that was the most logical explanation even though there weren't any reports of the Shadow attacking people.

"I don't know..." Nathan said annoyingly as he also had no clue as to what had caused such a thing. "Our best bet is to get the answers from Mako himself. He needs medical attention, the healing pill will only heal battle injuries, he still needs to be checked to make sure he doesn't get an infection or something worse."

Nathan picked Mako's body in his arms and quickly started sprinting towards the nearest exit out of the forest where there were no patrolling guards with Leon following right beside him.

"Call the others, and tell them to meet us near the entrance of the campgrounds, We can't be seen or else our cover will be blown, we have to remain hidden," Nathan instructed Leon as they ran.

***************

On the other side of the village, Erin was calmly enjoying herself on a bench next to the fountain as the night was silent with nothing happening out of the ordinary so far.

She had bought some delicious cotton candy and was sharing it with some of the kids who were playing close to her when she suddenly received a ping on her communication device.

The kids who were playing were ecstatic to get some cotton candy as their moms were really strict with them having too much sugar before bed.

As one of the kids turned back to thank Erin for buying them some," Thank you, Big sis, you...".

However, before she could finish, she was left dumbfounded to see that Erin was nowhere to be seen.

Similarly, on another corner of the village, Iris and Bill were enjoying a romantic dinner in each other company at one of the outside tables of the restaurant.

They had thoroughly searched the perimeter and found nothing out of the ordinary with no shadowy mist to speak of.

They had both ordered a full three-course French meal consisting of some velvety and premium French Onion soup, melt of the bone, and delicious Boeuf Bourguignon and had finished it off with a creamy and crunchy Crème Br?lée.

Bill was sharing his experiences with trying to cook and how he was probably one of the worst cooks on the face of the planet with Iris politely giggling to Bill's over-exaggerated tales when suddenly both of them received a ping on their communication device.

The waiter came out to check on Bill and Iris and to make sure that didn't need anything else but was shocked to see that no one was there anymore.

The waiter went into panic mode as he couldn't believe rich people like them would dine and dash. He quickly approached their table to find half-eaten Crème br?lées and a piece of paper underneath one of the plates.

The waiter was confused but pulled out the paper to find a note and some cash inside.

The note said, "Thanks for the amazing food, keep the change! ;)"

The waiter was relieved to find that the two love birds had actually paid for their meal and had even tipped him heavily but was still confused as to what had happened that they had to leave in such a hurry.

*****************

[15 minutes Later]

Iris' hands were glowing green as she was using her healing ability to completely heal all of Mako's injuries and to make sure that he was in perfect health.

Erin and Bill watched with shocked faces as they couldn't believe such a thing could happen to Mako, after all, he wasn't a weak boy like before, and yet it looked like he had been played around with and thrown away by a much stronger opponent.

Nathan and Leon were busy telling the others the whole story. They were busy patrolling the entire perimeter to see if they could find anything suspicious, but they had no luck and arrived at the campgrounds on the decided time to give Mako their report but instead, they found Mako in this state.

It took Iris several more minutes, but she was able to fully heal all of Mako's injuries.

Mako's eyes fluttered open, and he took a deep, rejuvenating breath. He looked around, slightly disoriented, but quickly realized that he was surrounded by his concerned friends.

Iris smiled with relief. "Welcome back, Mako. You had us worried there for a moment."

Mako blinked a few times, then nodded in gratitude. "Thanks, Iris. I appreciate your help."

Bill and Leon helped Mako up to his feet. Even though he was healed, he still had very little energy and was greatly fatigued. Bill handed him a new set of clothes to change into that as his current ones were completely torn and barely hanging onto his body.

After he had covered himself and was fully aware of his surroundings again, Erin spoke up, her voice filled with concern. "Mako, what happened out there? How did you end up in that state?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Mako took a deep breath and began recounting the terrifying encounter with the shadowy mist and the nightmarish creatures. Slowly he began to narrate the events that took place with his friends listening intently, their expressions growing grimmer as they realized the gravity of the situation.