"Mako...?" Bill said in confusion before he collapsed right in front of his front door.
Mako's heart skipped a beat.
He stood frozen for a second, staring down at the battered, burned figure slumped on his porch. The voice sounded familiar; it was faint but unmistakably Bill's.
He had just finished dinner and was about to head out to work at the bakery when out of nowhere, Bill appeared on his doorstep in such a bad condition that Mako couldn't even fathom how he was even alive.
No... None of that mattered right now...
"Bill?! Hey—hey, stay with me!" Mako dropped to his knees, panic rising in his chest as he gently turned Bill over. The sight made his stomach twist.
Bill's body was a mess, covered in ash, torn clothes, dried and fresh blood, and deep burns. His breathing was shallow, his skin cold.
"My God… what the hell happened to you?"
For a second, Mako stood there in the doorway, struggling to process what was happening. But then instinct took over. He hooked his arms under Bill's and dragged him inside, careful not to jostle any injuries, and gently laid him down on the couch.
"Come on, man… hang in there," Mako muttered, fumbling into his pouch with trembling fingers. He pulled out one of the high-tier healing pills he had purchased, but he never imagined he'd be using it like this. He gently pressed the pill past Bill's cracked lips, tilting his head up to help him swallow.
As the pill began to dissolve, Mako grabbed a damp towel and carefully started wiping the dirt, blood, and soot from Bill's skin. Every scrape and burn made him wince just looking at it.
Not only were the injuries on Bill's body so severe, but Mako could also notice that his body had degraded significantly from the last time he saw him during the duel. He had lost some weight as if he were malnourished, and his muscles had all but degraded.
[Analyze]
[Profile: Bill Johnson] (Unconscious) (Multiple Deep Lacerations) (Fractured Ribs) (Bruised Knuckles and Forearms) (Microvascular Rupture) (Extreme Muscle Fatigue) (Torn Ligaments) (Heavy Blood Loss) (Malnourished) (Dehydration)
[Ability: Earth (Level 3)] ⓘ
[Health: 2/140] ⓘ
[Energy: 1/200] ⓘ
"I don't know what you've been through," Mako said softly, voice shaking. "But you're safe now. I've got you."
He sat beside the couch, still cleaning Bill's wounds slowly and carefully. His night shift could wait.
******************
Over the past few days, Mako had thrown himself into training, pushing himself harder than ever as the military trials loomed closer. He wanted to be as ready as possible before they arrived at his high school.
It had been over two weeks since his fight with Bill. With no sign of Bill at school since then, everyone assumed he was too ashamed to show his face after losing to someone without an ability. The whispers faded into jokes, and the jokes into silence.
Once the initial shock of their lost bets wore off, the student body shifted. Now, they wanted to be close to Mako. The same people who used to ignore or mock him were suddenly eager to be his friend, to have him on their team, in their group.
Girls who once passed him without a glance were now asking him out. But Mako saw it all for what it really was...
Fake smiles that hid their shallow intentions.
He kept his distance, never lowering the walls he'd built around himself. His cold, detached demeanor remained unchanged, confusing many of his classmates. Even the ones who had bullied him now avoided eye contact, fearing he might come for revenge.
Eventually, someone snapped. A girl, nervous but determined, walked up to Mako and asked the question everyone had been thinking, "Why are you acting like this?"
Tired of their persistence, Mako finally gave them an answer, one they never expected.
"I'm not like you," he said bluntly. "Don't project your ideals onto me. When I was being mocked, beaten, and humiliated every day, none of you did a thing. You watched. Some of you laughed. Some joined in."
His voice was calm, but his words hit like stone.
"And now, suddenly, I matter to you because I won a fight? Because I proved I'm not weak? No. I don't want your approval. I don't need your friendship. I'm not here to take revenge, but I'm not here to play pretend either."
The girl shrank back, her face pale with guilt and shame.
"I stood alone when I was weak. So now that I'm strong, I'll stay that way. Alone."
His words hung heavy in the air. The crowd around him went silent.
'What an idiot!' a boy thought bitterly. 'Why throw away the chance to connect with the strong and wealthy?'
'Who does he think he is, some kind of saint?' a girl sneered internally. 'No revenge? Please.'
But no one dared say it out loud.
Mako didn't care what they thought. For once, he had spoken his truth and that was enough.
******************
Word spread quickly throughout Emerald High. Everyone was talking about what Mako had said, but as with most rumors, the message had been twisted along the way.
"Did you hear?" one student whispered during class. "Mako Grey said he's too strong to bother taking revenge. That anyone who challenges him would just end up humiliated... like Bill."
The version of the story that circulated stoked egos and bruised pride, especially among the bullies and the students who had tried to cozy up to Mako after his sudden rise. They felt insulted, exposed. The shame was too much for some of them to bear.
By the end of the day, the school was buzzing with outrage. He received dozens of duel requests, some filled with threats, others with taunts claiming his fight with Bill was a lucky fluke. Students dared him to prove himself again, calling him a coward for staying silent.
However, Mako ignored them all.
That was until yesterday, when their latest combat training session took place.
What followed after was every single student who dared to enter the fighting ring with Mako getting their butt kicked by him. There weren't even words to describe the immense horror, shock, and humiliation that every single student felt when they had to reluctantly admit the fact that the one they called trash was, in fact, better than them.
While at home, Mako tirelessly trained with his brand-new skills and abilities every day so that he could be at his peak during the military trials.
Mako had a better status sheet with improved attributes.
'Open System Interface'
[User: Mako Grey]
[Health: 200/200] ⓘ
[Energy: 500/500] ⓘ
[EXP: 2200/3200] ⓘ
[Level 6] ⓘ
[Strength: 15 (+10) ] ⓘ
[Agility: 15 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Perception: 12] ⓘ
[Intelligence: 12] ⓘ
[Mentality: 12] ⓘ
[Stamina: 12 (+5) ] ⓘ
[Charisma: Locked] ⓘ
[Fortitude: Locked] ⓘ
[Attribute Points: 0] ⓘ
Mako took Gary's advice and tried to make his attributes as even as possible, but there had been a few changes regarding how the attribute points affected his energy bar.
In the beginning, Mako spent a single attribute point to increase his energy pool by fifty, but now, if he wanted to increase his energy pool, it would require two attribute points. It seemed as if the more energy capacity he wanted to obtain, the more points he had to spend.
Energy was a major factor in combat as the person with the higher energy pool would win against a person with a lower energy pool nine times out of ten, as they could fight and cast abilities for longer periods.
Mako realized that going forward, he had to maintain a high level of energy as more powerful abilities required more energy to cast.
Mako's skills had also improved a lot due to his consistent training, and now he had a small variety of skills to choose from.
'Open Skills Tab'
[Skills] ⓘ
[Basic Skills] ⓘ
- [(E-Tier) Ten-Palm Strike] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)
[Power Skills] ⓘ
- [(E-Tier) Elemental Control] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
- [(F-Tier) Fireball] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(E-Tier) Flame wheel] ⓘ (LEVEL 1)
[Unique Skills] ⓘ
- [(D-Tier) Analyze] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Punch] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Shift] ⓘ (LEVEL 3)
- [(F-Tier) Phantom Kick] ⓘ (LEVEL 2)
[Absolute Skills] ⓘ (NONE)
Most of Mako's skills had been leveled up once or twice as he continuously cast them while practicing. The leveled-up abilities had slightly better attack stats, but the energy cost was also slightly higher, which was another reason to keep increasing the Energy bar.
Due to completing the system's daily tasks as well as practicing his skills, Mako had increased strength quite abnormally which cemented the fact in Mako's mind that he was growing so fast only because of the system's help as he was already capable of fighting on par with level 3 ability users, while only a month had passed since he obtained the system.
*************
Bill slowly opened his eyes, blinking blankly at the white ceiling above him. The beeping of machines and the faint antiseptic smell in the air made him quickly realize that he was at a hospital.
Bandages were wrapped around his arms, legs, chest, and even part of his face. His body still ached, but the pain was dull, likely numbed by some medication.
For a few seconds, Bill lay there in silence, trying to collect himself. Images and sounds from the last memories he could recall before blacking out started flooding into his head.
The intense fight against the guards, Albert's sacrifice, the explosion, the harsh forest he ran through, and then… Mako.
His gaze drifted slowly across the room, finally landing on the bench by the wall. There, sitting with a thermos cup in hand and his eyes half-closed in tired thought, was Mako.
At first, Bill didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or hallucinating. But eventually, his voice cracked out, barely audible.
"…Mako?"
Mako opened his eyes and turned to look at him, surprised but composed. He stood up and walked over with a calm but relieved expression.
"You're awake," he said simply, setting the thermos down on a nearby table.
"What… what happened?" Bill croaked out.
Mako pulled the chair beside the bed and sat down. "You collapsed on my doorstep. You were barely breathing and had so many injuries. I dragged you inside and gave you a high-tier healing pill to stabilize you long enough for me to call an ambulance. You have been unconscious here for about a day, and the doctor said that you will make a full recovery within a week and a half."
Bill stared at him, stunned. "You… called an ambulance? Paid for this? Why?"
"I wasn't just going to leave you there like that," Mako said, a wry look crossing his face.
"Knowing you, I knew you were in some real danger, and judging by the state you were in, I figured whoever did that to you would be looking to finish the job. You couldn't stay hidden at my house in your condition."
Suddenly, Bill's heart began to race, not from the pain, but from fear. "If there's a record, El Diablo… they'll find me."
"Easy there... You don't have to worry, I have already thought about that," Mako said firmly.
"I admitted you here as my cousin and used a fake name. The hospital staff thinks you're just another patient who was a victim of gang brutality. Don't worry, the records of this place are a joke. They still have my grandmother listed as 'male' in their records even though she was here for months."
"You're safe for now. I took care of the paperwork myself and kept things low. They don't fact-check the details of most cases here as they are heavily understaffed, so even if someone did come looking, they wouldn't be able to find anything matching your description."
Bill looked at him, overwhelmed. After everything he had done to Mako, every harsh word, every time he bullied or beat him... Mako still saved him. Not just saved him, but planned, paid, and protected him.
"I… I don't get it," Bill said, voice cracking. "Why are you doing this? After everything I did to you..."
"Because you needed help," Mako said without hesitation. "And because I'm not the kind of person to let someone die on my doorstep, no matter how he might be."
Emotion welled up in Bill's chest. He turned away slightly, trying to fight back the tears. "Mako… I owe you a hell of a lot more than just an apology."
Mako gave a small, tired smile. "You being alive is enough for now."
Later that night, the doctor made his scheduled rounds and, upon seeing that Bill was conscious and stable, he promptly signed off on his discharge. He claimed Bill only needed some bed rest to complete his recovery, but Mako had a sneaking suspicion that the doctor was just eager to free up the room for another patient.
**************************
Author's Note: Hey guys! Universal Power System is one of my favorite projects, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. This is my very first work, so expect some amateur writing and a few slips. However, I always try to learn and correct myself so I can create a more coherent narrative. I hope you guys enjoy it. Don't forget to check out my other works!
Come say hi to me on Discord: https://discord.gg/TvjkrdnbE2