Anticipation filling his heart, Kyle focused on the first of the grey orbs. As he focused on it, a word popped into his mind – RALLY. As expected, the skill was the most complex he’d encountered yet. First, he got the impression of how it would change his mana pathways, creating complex arrays that would interact directly with the space around him. Along with showing him the impact on himself if he took the skill, he received a vision of how it could be applied.
He saw himself standing alongside a group of faceless soldiers, drawing in breath as he activated RALLY. A surge of mana went out from him and into the warriors around him, all of whom proceeded to move faster and strike harder as their bodies were pushed past their normal limits. It appeared to require the caster of the skill to constantly channel mana into it, but the results were significant.
It was hard to tell with the illusory soldiers in his vision, but from what Kyle could estimate their speed and power were increased in the ballpark of thirty percent. That was beyond the level of most individual boosting skills that he’d learned about in his medical training, and being able to cast on a group was a major boon. Furthermore, Kyle had the impression that in many ways this functioned similar to HASTE, that with practice he may be able to adjust the level of the boost. He thought about the application if he was working along somebody like Garth who had their own boosting abilities – just a small squad with access to this skill would be able to handle all but the most powerful of opponents. Of course, he knew that it would come with drawbacks.
Like any boosting skill, there was a real risk of injury to those who used it. Kyle being a Healer would help mitigate that somewhat, however the backlash was still noteworthy. It also relied on him staying stationary while he channeled the skill, which would quickly become an issue if he found himself in a situation where he’d be in danger. Lastly, it would require him to have a group of people he could trust surrounding him, something he’d been lacking for a long time now. Overall very powerful, but still situational in its utility.
Keeping it in the back of his mind, he moved on to the next grey orb, which revealed itself as RESONANCE. This one was… odd. It didn’t show meaningful changes to the structure of the mana pathways inside his body, rather showed them all to become more… flexible? Kyle wasn’t sure, but he saw them moving and reacting to external mana, as well as adjusting the speed and intensity of the internal flow in Kyle’s body. The accompanying vision was much more intriguing. He saw himself alongside an injured soldier, and the facsimile of Kyle used the skill, followed by using HEAL on the man. It then highlighted the way the mana was flowing, and in the vision, Kyle was using his patient’s own mana to fuel the HEAL skill.
Before Kyle could process all the implications there, his perspective shifted to a Mage who had been using large-scale techniques one after another, finally running out of mana to continue. Similarly, Kyle touched the Mage and used RESONANCE, allowing the recipient to tap into Kyle’s own mana to continue to use skill after skill.
At face value, this skill appeared to create what amounted to mana batteries, either for Kyle or for a recipient of his choice. On its own, that had plenty of applications. Looking deeper, however, there was a lot more here. The ability to connect mana pathways between people had been long theorized, though to Kyle’s knowledge had never been proven.
This skill seemed to have some method to do just that, albeit not in a permanent or irrevocable way. Kyle was most interested in the changes to his mana pathways. They became more flexible and pliable, because they would gain the ability to change and adapt to meet the circumstances the skill required. The possibilities were exciting, but Kyle also knew that it would not be immediately useful. It would require practice and experimentation, and he wasn’t sure if he’d truly have the time and resources to dedicate to that endeavor. The utility of this skill would be entirely dependent on Kyle’s effort and creativity, and there was no guarantee that it would work in his favor.
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Considering, he turned his focus onto the final orb, which revealed the word ANTICIPATION. The mana pathways in his head would receive dozens more nodes if he selected this skill, and as before the vision took him to see what the skill would let him do. In this case, he saw himself sitting quietly when a gunshot rang out. The image of him dove to the side, avoiding the attack. He was then beside a patient, treating them in a hospital room when the door burst open. His image was already moving as the intruder entered the room, turning to face them.
The vision stopped, and cut to the mana pathways in his image’s mind, amplifying all of his senses. From what Kyle could see, this would act as a sort of “danger sense” – the skill using all the sensory data he could draw in to help him unconsciously identify incoming danger before he could be taken totally by surprise. The utility here was obvious – if he was able to react to dangerous situations more quickly and effectively, he would be even harder to put down. Strangely, that was also the issue that Kyle took with the skill. While it would undoubtedly be a benefit to him, he wasn’t sure if it was something he really needed.
Between C.H.A.D.D. and his Auric Perception, it was already a tall order to take him by surprise. His Enhanced Carapace provided an additional layer of survivability, and HASTE had proven invaluable at escaping these situations when he found himself caught. In the most dangerous situations he found himself in recently, he wasn’t sure if the advanced notice would have added much value. The bandits with the powerful rifles had set themselves up well enough that by the time they started firing he was already pinned down. When facing the Infernal in the tunnels, advanced warning wouldn’t have helped him deal with the insect any more effectively. On the other hand, Kyle knew that the challenges and dangers ahead of him were going to vary greatly, and another tool to help him survive them wasn’t something to dismiss lightly.
There was one other thing Kyle considered as he weighed the three options. As his last skill in the E Grade, each would have an impact on the way he would develop from here. D Grade was no longer out of the question for him, and from what little Kyle knew from his grandfather it didn’t only bring new skills, but opportunities to refine and develop the existing skills as well.
Selecting RALLY would cement him as a supportive member of any group he was in, but the more Kyle thought about it the less he liked the idea of the skill. He owed a lot of his survival to his mobility, and a skill that forced him to stand in one place to empower others took that off the table. Furthermore, absent powerful allies, the people he'd be empowering were standard unawakened. He wasn’t sure how well their bodies would handle the backlash from a skill like this, and putting them in danger to protect him just didn’t sit right.
That left him with the decision between RESONANCE and ANTICIPATION. While neither had the same impact at face value he would see with RALLY, he felt that the synergy between both was higher with the place he found himself in now. If he went with RESONANCE, he would be faced with a lot of unknowns. In a worst-case scenario, he wouldn’t get the application and utility he was looking for, leaving him with an incredibly limited skill until a hopeful D Grade enhancement. On the other hand, if the ideas he was considering worked, he’d have an incredibly powerful and flexible foundation he could build on.
He contrasted that with ANTICIPATION, which was the exact opposite – a known quantity with known value. If he selected this skill, his ability to survive would be unparalleled. The ability to upgrade it in D Grade would only enhance that ability further, and it had a great amount of synergy with both HASTE and REGENERATION. He would have less flexibility in his approach to problems, but he would be able to specialize in what he did best. Two skills. One choice. With a deep breath, Kyle made his decision.