Universal Power System

*Ding!*

Mako already knew what the notification was about. The more time he has spent with the system, the more he has come to understand that the system is not some regular old computer, but rather it is super advanced AI with intelligence so high that Mako was convinced at a time that the system was a person trapped inside of him.

[New Quest Received]

[Solve the mystery about the incident that took place on Planet Kepler and find out the truth about Mary Hilton]

[Reward: ???]

[Penalty: ???]

Mako was impressed with the level of information the system was able to gather just from the conversation alone. Mako hadn't even focused on this when he read the letter but on the very top right corner where the logo of World Military was, it was written:

[ World Military North Kepler Base ]

It was almost scary that the system was able to catch such a minute detail when Mako wasn't even paying attention to it. Mako could only count this as a blessing but inwardly he was quite weirded out about the system's accuracy.

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

Mako returned back to the counter to see Bill with the wildest shocked look on his face.

"Bro! How are you still alive?!" Bill exclaimed as he started grabbing Mako's arms trying to see whether he is real or not.

The customers in the bakery were not fond of Bill's choice of words as everyone turned to look at them with that one eyebrow raised weirded-out look.

"Sorry, sorry, he's just very excited about something." Mako apologized as he dragged Bill back to the staffroom.

"Bro, I know I have only been working here for a month but I know what hell looks and feels like. That office is in the deepest depth of hell! How did you manage to escape without so much so as even an upset face? What happened?" Bill asked Mako.

Mako opened the locker in the staffroom and pulled out the jacket that Bill wore this morning. He threw the jacket in his face and said," I'll explain everything along the way. Come on your shift is over and make haste, I have to visit that place first."

Bill understood what Mako meant as he had told him about this during their ride to school this morning. The boys quickly headed out the backdoor and were on their way back home.

"Wait!" Mako said as he stopped Bill from taking another step by placing his hand on his chest.

"Wanna race?" Mako said with a devious smile.

"Oh? What are we twelve?!" Bill mocked Mako before also releasing his own mischievous grin.

"You're on!" Bill said as he quickly took a starting position.

[Dash has been activated]

Without giving any warning, Mako blasted off toward their destination leaving Bill in the dust.

"Oh, he did not just do that!" Bill shouted as he began sprinting at his top speed as well.

**********

The boys could be seen panting beside a fence of what looked like a park. They were standing right next to the hole that led to the cemetery and catching their breath before going inside.

"Ha ha! I won!" Mako said as he made a gesture of triumph with his hand.

"Nah, Dude! You and I both know that you cheated!" Bill said as he was clearly salty about the headstart that Mako got.

'Heh, I cheated in more ways than one." Mako said in his thoughts as he agreed with Bill. He did in fact cheat, not just by gaining a headstart but by also using a skill to boost speed.

The two boys got into a small friendly argument over what qualifies as cheating and that when Bill said "you're on!" it meant that the race had begun. Passersby who were taking a stroll through the park could only shoot out weird looks to the boys who didn't even acknowledge their existence.

After some back and forth, Mako agreed to a rematch the following day. With that beef settled, for now, Mako and Bill made their way toward the oak tree where Amy Grey's gravestone was.

While walking toward the graveyard, Bill asked Mako again about what happened with Sir Derek and he just gave a summarised story of what had happened in the office. He decided to not include Mary in the conversation because he didn't want to put an additional burden on Bill when he had his own family problems to fix.

The tension in the air calmed down and nature dominated the entire scene. It felt as if the blowing wind was going through their body as both boys started feeling refreshed. They had forgotten about their little quarrel completely as Bill stood still a few feet away from the grave while Mako approached it.

He cleaned it as usual and replaced the flowers with brand-new ones. He started to silently say something which Bill believed to be some kind of prayer. He just watched silently as Mako spoke to his grandmother.

'Gran-Gran I did it! I became strong and I am trying my best to help loads of people. I am even going to take part in the military test, and this time it won't take too long since there is only going to be one test. I will come to visit you again as soon as I can. Please watch over me in my battles to come and guide me to make the right choices.'

'I really am going try and bring honor to our family name, I will find out the entire truth about what happened with great-grandfather Lionel, and I will try to make you proud by fulfilling your wish.'

'I am leaving, for now, Gran-Gran, you won't have to wait long! I will come to visit you again as soon as I can.' Mako finished his small conversation and wiped away his tears.

The two boys casually walked back to the house as both of them didn't want to exert any more energy and were starving. They made it back home and Mako decided that he was going to order them some food.

"Dude, you gotta be careful. We don't have that much money left. After buying those chests full of items and explosives from Paul, we are running seriously low on cash right now." Bill warned Mako as they couldn't afford the luxurious lifestyle forever, and that it was better to manage their money.

"Don't you worry about that, I was just about to talk to you about that. I have a plan." Mako said as he took a seat on the couch adjacent to Bill.

While the food they ordered was being delivered to them, Mako went through the entire plan that he had thought of in preparation for the military test.

First of all, starting tomorrow, Mako was going to make Bill do the exact same tasks that he was going to do for the daily tasks so that they could both improve at a reasonable pace. Mako disguised this routine as a training regiment he found online some time ago that was made for ability users and that it promised results in two weeks, exactly how much they had.

Secondly, Mako and Bill were going to have daily skirmishes with each other to improve their fighting skill which Mako was still not excellent at and to also increase the level of some of their skills so that they are as strong as can be the test.

Lastly, there were a total of 4 different fights that were going to take place doing the 2 weeks, and Paul had arranged for them to participate in them with the condition that he would receive 25% of both of their earnings.

The schedule was indeed tough and there was hardly any time for rest or breaks, but they had to push through these two weeks to make sure they will be ready for the test.

[Knock Knock]

There was a knock on the door and Bill answered. It was the delivery boy with their takeout order.

"Okay, I have 5 Large Italian Pizzas, 3 orders of large Lobster Mac n Cheese, 4 orders of Carne asada fries, 10 boxes of Fried rice, 6 Milkshakes, and a Pumpkin pie. Your total is 274 Credits." The delivery boy said as he announced the entire order that Mako had ordered without consulting Bill.

Bill could only stare at the boy's face and the large pile of food that he was surprisingly holding steady in his hands which didn't look anywhere close to supporting that kind of weight.

Bill's staring was making the entire interaction awkward and Mako had to quickly jump in before things escalated too much and Bill blow out a fuse or something.

"I gotcha, You can pay next time," Mako said without a hint of shame in his tone or gesture. He proceeded to pay for the bill using his own money card and carried the huge bag of food inside and placed it on the kitchen counter.

"Are you insane!!" Bill shouted as soon as he realized what had just transpired in front of his eyes.

"Dude, chill. This is not for just tonight. I know you can eat a lot but even you can't eat this much." Mako said as he was still in the mood of teasing Bill.

Bill couldn't take it anymore he started throwing his hands toward Mako. Of course, he wasn't using any strength behind it as he knew Mako was just messing around and wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

***********

Mako took out a slice of some really good pizza while Bill was stuffing his face full of lobster Mac n Cheese. The boys were having dinner while simultaneously trying to come up with a better roast for one another.

Mako had purposefully ordered extra food so that they would be set for at least a week and won't have to worry about it anymore.

Starting tomorrow, training begins!