048 FUSION SKILLS
Dan's stomach twisted. He had prayed this question wouldn't co, but now it was ti of reckoning.
"Captain Green… I have a confession," he said, forcing his voice to tremble just enough.
Green's brows furrowed. "What is it? What did you do wrong?"
Dan quickly pointed toward the armory. "I… borrowed an energy blade before the mission. You didn't issue one, and I thought it was too dangerous to go unard. So, I snuck one .. erm two out."
"What?" Green's face darkened. "You stole from the armory?"
Before Dan could stamr, Lieutenant Kalr jumped in. "Co on, Captain—he's right. You should have issued him a blade in the first place. You can't bla the boy for making sure he wasn't going on the mission defenseless."
Dan bobbed his head rapidly in agreent.
Green's jaw tightened.
He knew Kalr wasn't wrong—it was his oversight. Still, theft was no small offense especially in the army. "Where is the blade now?"
Dan raised his arms. Twin tallic bands glead on his wrists. With a flick, short crimson blades of energy snapped out.
"You really took that from the armory before the mission?" Green asked in disbelief.
Dan lowered his head, feigning guilt. "Yes, sir."
It was a lie—but a perfect one.
Dan had stolen the blades … but it was only after returning to Fort Myrone, as he anticipates exactly this line of questioning.
The cover story gave his Fist Form bone blades an alibi.
Captain Green exhaled slowly. His guilt over his oversight tugged at him. "Alright. I'll let this one pass."
Suddenly Liutenant Kalr has a question. "Wait a minute, I know those energy blades can pierce the hound's skin, but their range couldn't sever the head of a Shadow hound?"
Captain Green looked at Dan for answers again.
"Damnit, it's co to this finally", Dan thought.
Dan rely smiled before replying, "Well, initially the energy blade couldn't kill the Shadow hounds but, in my desperation, I've mastered the advance form of Assassinate. My ta Strength managed to project and extend the range of my energy blade."
"You what? I've not seen anybody mastering the second form of Assassinate…it's all just theory," Kalr asked in shock.
The ta Strength skill Assasinate wasn't just a form of martial art, it could when mastered to a certain level, beco like a ta power, and project a powerful ta weapon.
…But thus far nobody has achieved this level of mastery except Dan.
Dan quickly took out the wrist blades again and pointed to the sky. An energy blade erged but more than that… the energy was extended for a fair bit …. Extending the energy blade with enough range to sever the head of a Shadow of Annubis.
"You are a wonder… so few people have mastered the advance form of Assassinate and you learned it in… how many days?" Captain Green asked in shock.
"Well, they don't call a genius for nothing", Dan replied.
Dan thought hard about his response when the question about the beheading of the Shadow hounds ca about but couldn't find a reasonable excuse.
Then when he was trying out the energy wrist blade, by instinct he activated his Assassinate's projection. To his surprise, his Assassinate skill could extend the projection of an energy blade.
That beca his perfect explanation.
"Captain… should I return the blade?" Dan asked.
Green surprised him with a smile. "No. Keep it. You'll probably need it for the next mission."
Before Dan could retreat, Kalr cut back in. "Wait. Are we serious about this? The kid killing shadow hounds?... and manifesting an advance form of Assassinate?"
Green simply gestured toward the simulator pod Dan had exited. The results still glowed on the screen: 100 wins, 0 losses.
Kalr blinked. "What the hell? Even seasoned professionals can't clear the database without a single loss. How did you?"
Dan gave his most boyish grin. "Is that a good record? Guess I'll just have to do better next ti." He saluted and slipped out before more questions could pin him down.
"Whew… that was too damn close."
"That's the best record we've got so far," Kalr said, pausing for a mont as if weighing his next words.
Then he turned to Dan. "Tell , would you be interested in testing our new experintal ta-Strength fusion protocol? You are the only one I know of who could project the second form of Assasinate… you are the perfect candidate."
Dan raised a brow. "ta-strength fusion? What's that supposed to an?"
Kalr grinned, pleased by his curiosity.
"Well, ever since the ergence of ta abilities, research has split into two main paths. One focuses on developing ta aptitude — refining energy control, perception, and psionic skills. The other revolves around strengthening the physical body — raw strength, endurance, and combat efficiency. But recently, our team has been experinting with a way to combine both traits into a single, hybrid frawork. We call it Fusion Skills."
Dan's interest sharpened.
Attributes were never his limitation. With his mining app, he could raise both Strength and ta with ease. The result could be double his effectiveness.
"I'm in," he said decisively.
"Excellent." Kalr gestured toward the door. "Then let's head to the ta Transfusion Chamber. What about you, Captain Green?"
Green gave a curt nod. "I'll leave you two to it. I've got other duties to handle." He turned and exited, his boots echoing down the corridor.
As the door sealed behind them, Kalr brought up a holographic projector.
The room dimd, and a rotating image of a human body flickered into view — glowing veins of blue and crimson intertwining like living circuitry.
"Now," Kalr began, tapping the screen, "let show you exactly how Fusion Skills work…"
Dan watched the holographic slides with growing interest. The concept was simple yet ingenious — the Fusion ta allowed a ta effect to trigger simultaneously with a physical strike.
For instance, a punch that relied on Strength as its core power could, upon impact, unleash an additional burst of ta energy.
The combination would amplify both force and elental effect exponentially.
"I get the theory," Dan said, leaning forward slightly. "But what kind of fusion skills have you actually developed so far?"
Lieutenant Kalr smiled, clearly proud of his team's work.
"We've built a few prototypes," he began, swiping through several holographic skill schematics.
"First, Explosive Kick — after a Strength-based kick lands, it triggers a secondary explosion on impact. Then there's Electrocuting Throw — when you grab and toss an enemy, electrical currents arc from your hands, stunning and burning the target simultaneously."
He continued through a list of other examples — fla strikes, gravity pulls, sonic impacts — until the display dimd again.
When he was done, Kalr turned to Dan. "So, which fusion skill would you like to start with?"
Dan crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Before that… I want to know how strong are these fusion skills once mastered?"
Kalr nodded, expecting the question. "Considerably stronger than your current combat techniques. But keep in mind, these are experintal. We don't have upgrade programs yet. Their ranks can't be raised artificially — only through practice and real combat experience."
Dan's brow arched. "So… they start at Rank G effectiveness without possibility of upgrade?"
"Yes, only natural upgrades is possible," Kalr admitted, sheepishly. "Like I said, these are all experintal at this stage."
Dan understood what that ant.
Most heroes upgraded both their ta rank and their skill programs in tandem, otherwise even if they improved their rank, their abilities would lag behind.
Without skill program upgrades, the fusion ability is nerfed.
Then a grin spread across Dan's face. "That's not a problem for . Ranking up skills is easy — as long as I have the right conditions….with my mining app."
Kalr tilted his head. "Oh?"
"I'll think of a way," Dan said simply. "So, tell — can I customize my own fusion skill?"
The lieutenant hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Technically, yes. We can reprogram the ta chip to fit a custom design. Since this is experintal anyway, you'd be our best test case. But whether it works or not… depends entirely on you."
"Perfect," Dan said. "Then design one for — a combo sequence. Flash Dash as the opening ta-activation, followed by a power kick using Strength, and finishing with a Kinetic Crush ta release on impact."
Kalr blinked. "That's… quite complex. You're combining two ta phases with a Strength core in between."
Dan smirked. "It'll work."
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