"What do you mean I am a level 4?!" Rhino asked in absolute shock.
"Exactly! He has been stuck with a level 3 ability for almost 6 years now. How come he suddenly became a level 4?" Paul asked
Mako was in a serious situation now. He expected Rhino to have worked it out on his own as to why he suddenly became too much stronger during their fight, but it would seem that he was as clueless as ever.
Mako couldn't reveal his Analyze skill to anyone because it was a system-based skill and couldn't be obtained otherwise. If he revealed this information to anyone, then the secret of his system would be out soon enough and he couldn't have that at all.
"I mean, didn't you feel your aura stronger after our fight?" Mako asked Rhino trying to find a way out of this.
"No. I haven't activated my ability ever since I lost to you and lost my honor, I couldn't bring myself to do it." Rhino replied in a somber tone.
"Well you see, while we were fighting you suddenly gained a burst of power and got a whole lot stronger, and your aura became stronger too," Mako said.
"I know about that, it was my last resort skill that I had developed. I call it 'Last Stand' and what it basically does is that it suppresses my aura for some time, making me weaker and more vulnerable, but then I can release all that stored energy at once, temporarily increasing my battle power past my normal limits." Rhino explained.
'Ah, shit!' Mako cursed internally as he had to come up with some way to get out of this situation.
He couldn't think of anything at the moment and everyone just kept staring at Mako, waiting for an answer. He couldn't spend too much time thinking and luckily he didn't have to because suddenly he thought of something that could work.
All he had to do was to make Rhino activate his aura. If he did that then everyone could realize that he was indeed a level 4.
"Enzo, why don't you try activating your aura? It will prove whether I was right or wrong." Mako suggested.
It was a very logical suggestion, and everyone could be seen nodding in agreement, everyone except Enzo himself.
"I am not worthy to release my aura in my leader's presence," Rhino replied.
As Rhino said this, Leon quickly looked at his father prompting him to allow Enzo to release his aura.
"You are allowed to release your aura, please demonstrate to us a level 4 ability aura as Mr. Grey has claimed you possess," Paul said permitting Enzo.
Enzo did a small bow with his head to show respect and proceeded to just activate his ability and release his aura. His muscles bulged a bit as he began releasing his aura, but there was no visible transformation to be seen.
Suddenly the air around Bill and Leon became suffocating as even two of the servers that just served the main course to Leon and Enzo collapsed from the overwhelming pressure.
Paul's eyes widened as he witnessed Rhino releasing a level 4 aura for the first time after his awakening. Enzo himself couldn't believe what he was feeling as the power that was coursing through his veins was unlike anything he had felt before.
Leon started coughing and Bill followed soon after as they were both affected by the aura that freely imposed its superiority upon them without any restraint. Enzo quickly sealed his aura again and the air became normal once again.
All eyes were back on Mako once again.
"How did you know?" everyone said at the same time.
They still wanted to know how none of them were able to catch such a major change but somehow Mako knew about it.
Mako paused for a couple of seconds before letting out a very dramatic sigh.
"I honestly, didn't want to reveal this to you all so soon but...." Mako said as he activated his Lightning aura.
A few sparks erupted from his body but other than that it was quite tame, but what was not tame was Mako's aura. The air became suffocating again and this time the two servers on Mako's side collapsed from the pressure. The aura was of the same intensity as Enzo's and the one most shocked to see this was Bill.
"DUDE! When did you get the level 4 lightning ability? Did you find one in the armory at the warehouse?" Bill asked.
"What? No!" Mako replied as he quickly sealed back up his aura again.
"The reason why I said that Enzo was a level 4 is that I went through the same thing he did. When we fought during the tournament, I didn't know how he got a power boost but there was a certain feeling in my heart. A feeling of fear, A feeling of being oppressed. It was unlike anything I had felt before." Mako began to narrate his reason.
"But, during my fight against all those guards, I was feeling like I was backed into a corner, my emotions were running and I was looking for any means for me to get out of there alive. When nothing came to mind, I searched for the answer deep within me and it was then that I felt the electricity in my hands become stronger."
"The guards suddenly started to back up and I got a feeling inside me as if they were no longer a threat to me; as if I was superior to them. It was at this point that I realized that my aura became a lot stronger and the only logical explanation I could think of was that I reached a new level of my ability."
"I linked my experience with Enzo and found that we both had one thing in common, and that was that at a critical moment, our desperation and will was strong enough to elevate our abilities to the next level. I don't remember much after that. I just remember waking up in your office." Mako finished his narration.
"Hmmm..." Paul said as he stroked his chin.
"Forced ability upgrade is quite rare and for you both to have done it is quite impressive. It is even more difficult to do if you already have a high-level ability but still, it takes a lot for even level 3s to upgrade their ability to the next level. I have to say I am quite impressed, Mr. Grey." Paul praised Mako as he explained what was the cause of Rhino's evolution.
'He actually fell for it?!' Mako shouted in his thoughts.
What Mako had just narrated was completely a fluke!
He just told them what he thought was the most probable reason for Rhino's evolution and mixed in a lie about obtaining his level 4 ability through similar means even though it was the system that granted him a level 4 Lightning ability.
If Mako didn't have the Analyze skill, he would have never guessed in a thousand years that Rhino got the boost in energy because of his ability evolving. He would have probably assumed that Rhino was cheating somehow which wouldn't be too far from the realm of possibility since it was indeed a gang tournament.
"Sooo, does this mean Enzo can still be with me?" Leon asked Paul in the most polite manner Mako had ever seen him do.
Paul paused for a bit trying to think about it because it was a big decision that could put his son's life at risk. Paul's eyes looked over to Mako, and he could see him giving him a small nod.
'Let Enzo be with him, it will only strengthen our bond with him and help us get closer to him.' Mako said in his thoughts.
Even though Mako said this in his thoughts, Paul somehow got the memo and looked back toward his son.
"Fine," Paul said as he proceeded to finish another glass of wine.
The mood of the room was uplifted quite a bit and the rest of the dinner went by smoothly and ended with a great delicious Crème Brûlée. Leon was still not comfortable talking to Mako or Bill, but he had dropped his hostility and that was a win in Mako's book.
The dinner ended soon after and Mako and Bill returned back to their rooms to get a good night's sleep; after all, it was a very big day tomorrow.
**************
[Somewhere in an unknown location]
A figure sat alone on a luxurious sofa in the middle of a dark room with the only source of light being the moonlight that was coming in from the windows. The figure rubbed his fingers around the seam of his fedora again and again as if he was waiting for something.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
Soon a knock was heard on the door and a tin and slender man entered the room. He proceeded to bow in front of the figure and then proceeded to speak.
"Sir, we have successfully recovered the video footage of the warehouses and it would seem that this was a very well-thought-out and well-planned attack. Four transport vans were ambushed and the assailants disguised themselves as the guards and sneak into the facility. They then proceeded to knock out communications and sabotage the armory before freeing the prisoners and making a run for it."
"The facial recognition software hadn't found a match against any rival gangs or the police, but we did find something that you may find interesting." The man finished his report.
"Spit. it. out!!" The figure said in a very deep and threatening tone.
"We were able to recognize one person from the team that attack Warehouse B, and he was one of us not too long ago." The man said.
"WHAT! WHO?!" the figure said as he was losing patience.
"Bill Johnson." The man replied.
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