Chapter 2: The Edge (1)
"Really? Just one skill?"
Lucas shrugged. "Well, yeah. The system didn’t really specify how many skills we’d awaken."
Eleanor tapped her chin. "Yeah, that is true..."
Lucas continued. "For now we gotta meet up with Mark. I’m sure with the way things are going, his plans are ruined."
Eleanor simply nodded and followed him downstairs.
As they walked, Lucas continuously glanced at his system—the section that showed his skills to be precise.
The two conflicting skills were obviously unstable as it read there so he hoped that one of them would disappear.
He blinked several times but both skills were still there, next to each other like oil and water.
’There has to be a mistake somewhere. One of these skills probably isn’t mine.’ Lucas thought to himself.
In all honesty, he had hoped that the skill that would end up being a mistake was the [Regressor] skill because he really didn’t fancy the idea of dying and coming back to life just to die again.
He had been on death’s doorstep before and he didn’t like what he experienced.
The cold, the pain, the feeling of your soul leaving your body...
It was an experience that had scarred him for life.
As they made it to the school grounds, they noticed that the other students weren’t as agitated as they had expected. Some were chatting excitedly about their new abilities.
Others were even showing them off.
’I don’t think they know just how serious this thing is..." Lucas thought to himself.
"Hey! Luke!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Lucas turned around.
"We were just coming to get you."
Mark stopped. "You guys saw it too right? Some glowing screen appeared in front of me and started telling me some kind of story."
"That wasn’t a story, it was a message" Eleanor spoke in a calm tone. "It gave us some kind of gift after that too."
"By the way, did you get to see yours?" Lucas asked.
Hearing this, Mark flinched. "My what?"
"Your ability. Which gift did you awaken?"
It finally hit him. "Oh that! I didn’t have time to check."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"The girl I went with, ran away after the screen popped up. So I tried going after her."
Mark said this in the most casual tone, like what he just said wasn’t the dumbest thing he’d uttered all year.
Eleanor face palmed. "Bruh."
"Well, what’re you waiting for? Open it already!"
"Alright, alright, gimme a minute."
He summoned his system and studied the contents.
[Skill Acquired: Bastion’s Oath — Passive/Active. Reduces incoming damage by a scaling percentage based on hits sustained.]
[Weapon Bound: Aegis Gauntlets — Manifests on player’s hands during combat. Grants enhanced striking force and block capability.]
"Oh, I got two skills. And it looks pretty helpful."
"Really? What’d you get?"
"Well, I got—"
"Guys," Lucas interjected. "For the time being, I don’t think it’s safe to reveal our abilities just yet."
Eleanor nodded. "You might be right. For the time being, let’s keep it to ourselves."
Then, she smiled. "Although I did get four abilities. Lucky, am I right?"
Mark’s eyes widened. "Four?! Damn you must be the chosen one or something..."
"What about you Luke? How many abilities did you get?"
"Oh him? Just one." Eleanor spoke before Lucas could answer.
Mark snickered. "Lucas. Are you sure you weren’t just hiding the fact that you’re the weakest between us?"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "We’re not even sure how powerful our abilities are yet and I’m already the weakest."
Mark slung an arm over his shoulder. "Don’t worry brother. I’ll be sure to protect you."
"You’re supposed to tell her that," Lucas said, pointing at Eleanor.
She scoffed. "As much as I’d love to agree, I fear that’s not the case. You’re basically the princess here."
[Ding!]
Their banter was cut short by the chime as several screens started appearing in front of the students.
[The Edgewalk begins shortly]
[Prepare yourself.]
[Time remaining: 00:00:04:59]
Everybody’s faces paled.
Something was going to happen and in four minutes, they would find out what...
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "From what we were told, we’re going to be teleported somewhere for some kind of event. I don’t know if it’s possible but if we can, let’s try to stick together."
Several students soon started panicking.
"Whats going to happen when that timer runs out? Are we going to die?" One of them asked.
"Relax. We have abilities now. It shouldn’t be so hard." Another one answered.
Lucas remained silent. This might have been the real world but he did read several webnovels whenever he had the chance and one of the things he learned was that if gods got involved, then shit was about to go down...
[Ding!]
[30 seconds remaining.]
[All players are to be gathered in a wide space.]
Complying, every student stepped farther into the field. Perhaps it was because of the fact that they had powers now that no one seemed scared.
The moment they stopped, the world rumbled as reality began to distort.
Lucas who was standing with his friends, steeled himself.
He didn’t
know what would happen but he found calmness in the fact that they were here with him.
The sky changed...
[Preparing Edgewalk...]
[Number of Survivors: 502]
[Welcome to The Edge]
Comments