Chapter 42: Austin’s Awakened Skill
It didn’t take long before Dale managed to leave the clinic. Soon after he had had the riveting conversation with the upper brass of the military, Doctor Edmond had come to discharge him.
As it turned out, the ache that disturbed him was merely a result of the repetitive strain he had put himself in.
As he walked to his room, his mind constantly flashed to the battle. Trevor had managed to gain Ascended power by manipulating his Awakened ability skill.
’Even though he didn’t have a breakthrough, I feel like it’s at least similar to how he Awakened.’ Another clear clue was none other than Austin.
He had had his breakthrough in front of everyone. Even though Dale didn’t have the specifics of what his roommate had done, it wasn’t hard to come up with a few theories.
The most prevalent one was that he managed to manipulate his force, effectively changing something fundamental about it.
’There seems to be a recurring pattern.’ In both cases, one thing was the same and he suspected it applied to everyone.
Awakening was no different from finding a different use of one’s ability.
The limits on what people could achieve with their abilities often depended on the limits that they themselves unknowingly imposed by a lack of a weighted understanding of their abilities.
A textbook definition would be what Dale himself had done upon reading his ability skill description.
He had assumed that it was technology-based, but it affected all systems... including biological.
All that was needed was a change of perspective.
But it couldn’t be that easy to Awaken or Ascend, else a lot more people would be at those levels.
Even he himself should have broken through if all that was required was mere understanding.
He could try but that didn’t come without its risks.
Take someone with a heat ability for example. Their Dormant skill allowed them to generate heat from their body. Naturally, they’ll try to awaken by turning that heat into flames.
In such a case, their attempted awakening could end up failing, killing them because for all they knew, their Awakened ability skill allowed them to absorb heat, effectively freezing things.
As such, assumptions and misunderstandings were just as dangerous as blades or beasts. No, they were even more dangerous.
At least you recognized a beast but you wouldn’t know when you held a blade to your own neck.
Dale shivered at the thought. ’I might be desperate but it’s not worth risking my life unnecessarily.’
And it truly wasn’t. Granted there were pros to Awakening as soon as possible — namely giving the renegade recruit a nasty surprise when the time came.
But just as all things, it also came with potentially more dire cons.
What if he died or worse, succeeded and was drafted into the war because he was seen as a useful asset?
The renegade recruit was annoying for this reason. It put eyes on him.
Surely, if he survived it — he hoped he did — and came up victorious, he would certainly enter General Todd’s good books.
For a war-hardened veteran, he wasn’t exactly sure that was a good thing.
Dale broke out of his thoughts as he entered his room.
Austin was there as usual, except this time, the large teenager was staring at a floating spoon.
The redhead turned to him and the spoon dropped, clattering on the ground.
"Dale!" He rushed forward and pulled him into a deep hug.
The latter groaned as Austin squeezed his bones. It hurt but he could endure for a few seconds.
Eventually, his roommate let him go. "How are you feeling?! When did you wake up? How are you recovering? Does anywhere hurt?" He was immediately bombarded with questions.
Dale rubbed his temples but couldn’t shake the small smile off his face, "I’m good. A few hours ago, actually. Recovering well enough, save for my aching bones. Yes, my joints." He carefully answered his questions.
Before Austin could ask more questions, he interrupted with some of his own. He asked how they, particularly himself, had survived and what had divided the centipede.
"You wouldn’t believe it but after you went down, before any of us could even think of moving, the beast suddenly split in two." He started his explanation.
"Naturally, it tried to regenerate but every time it split in two again and again. Soon, we realized that it was space that was being split in two." He added and Dale’s eyes widened slightly.
There was only one person who possessed spatial abilities that could be used in such a way... Lord Byron.
Austin still wasn’t done. "While he was facing the blasted beast, Sarah carried you and dragged you into the pool. She knew it would take a while to kill the beast, so she hoped the pool would be of aid."
Judging by the fact that he was still alive showed that it wasn’t in vain... he had indeed survived because of her quick thinking.
"While you healed, Trevor let go of the ’Ascended’ adjective he had placed on himself and passed out immediately. We quickly placed him in the pool beside you and prayed for the best." He paused and his eyes watered a little.
Dale watched as Austin actively fought back tears. He wasn’t sure how to feel or react... but what he felt wasn’t nice.
"We were worried about you, Dale. You didn’t see yourself but it looked like you had rapidly aged and were on the verge of death." He seemed truly distraught.
Dale couldn’t remember the last time someone had actually cared about his well-being.
"Well, thank you. For everything. Don’t worry, I won’t be putting my life in danger for at least a month." He joked and the other laughed.
Austin hugged Dale again and this time he actually returned the hug.
When they separated, the redhead didn’t hesitate to explain the details behind his new ability skill.
It was exactly what one would expect. He could finally maintain the force he produced.
[Conserved Momentum(Active): Maintain the generated force]
Since he had Awakened on a battlefield, he had quickly gained mastery over the skill, even using it to fly.
Heck, the spoon that had been floating was a result of his masterful application. All he had to do was just produce an upwards force equal to the weight of the spoon.
With this skill, Dale could easily see Austin using throwing knives to a dangerous level.
Now that he was safe though, he would see to it that both of them became nearly untouchable.
