System: Inherited - Chapter 159

Mike tapped his ear and spoke through the device. He was giving a report back to Guardian’s Tower on how it went, and Bradley listened intently.

“I see. So you have turned one of the enemies into a temporary ally. And you also have some information on some individuals. And you would like me to look into them?”, asked Bradley.

“Affirmative”, said Mike as he was listening intently.

“Very well. I will look into them. in the meanwhile, I will let you know if any attacks will be coming your way”, he said and finished the connection.

Mike smiled and reconnected back to the City, and spoke with his family, and gave them an update. Rachel listened in on everything and took note of some important points to report back to her Dad when he returned.

After finishing the report, he chatted with them for a few minutes and spoke with Nora. She was enthusiastic at first, but when she heard that Mike had to stay outside for the night so that they can remain safe, her face turned to a frown.

“Well, it’s not like I want to stay away from my cute little adorable sister, you know?”, he said in a teasing tone. Nora laughed as she replied.

“Well, take care of yourself out there. And remember, come back here if anything turns bad”, she said. Mike smiled wide as he knew that was not possible.

“I can’t promise you anything, Nora. But I will tell you this, I will protect this City, just like how Dad did. And for that, I will need to grow stronger, and smarter”, he said. Nora sighed as she knew it was no use trying to talk him out of something like this.

“Just don’t die out there”, she mumbled as she passed the microphone back to Rachel. Mike heard her mumbling, and he wanted to tell her that he wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.

“Rachel, I want you to let everyone know what kind of a situation we are in, and prepare them for migration. Get the Diggers ready”, he said. Rachel was stunned as she didn’t expect this kind of an answer from him.

“Are you sure?”, she asked for confirmation. Mike gave his words some thought, and he recalled all the things he had learned this evening.

“I am certain that if Dad was here, he would have made the same decision. This is just for precautions, and I am going to make sure that everything is smooth for now. If it escalates, evacuate on my signal”, he said.

Rachel acknowledged his command, and she hesitated to say something. Mike sensed the uneasiness in her silence, and he urged her to talk.

“Well, it’s normal for everyone to say, but I don’t know why I find it so hard to tell. Don’t die on me, brother”, she said in a choking voice.

Mike was now trying to hold back his urge to speak his heart out, and the more he tried, the more tears flowed from his eyes.

He clenched his fist and his eyes were filled with an unknown fire. He released his Aura around, and the grass began to flutter.

“Don’t worry Rach, I won’t die. I refuse to die when there are so many lovable people waiting for me back at home”, he said with a fierce tone.

The temperature around him dropped, and there was a slight frost on the lake that he was next to. The pebbles that were around him were floating, and he realized he was doing something without his knowledge.

The moment he looked around and noticed what was going on, he was shocked beyond words. The pebbles fell to the ground, and the frost on the lake was gone.

“Did I just awaken something within me?”, he thought as he looked around. He finished the transmission and began to meditate like he was taught by his Dad.

He was looking into himself, and the moment he did that, he saw a thin blue string within him. He followed along the line and saw it leading him towards something.

The more he was nearing the place, the colder it got. He was slowly getting covered in a blue hue, and the string that he was following was wrapping him up from his legs.

“What in the world is this? Dad didn’t tell me anything about this!”, he thought as he struggled to get out of the string that was wrapping around him. He imagined a dagger and it appeared in his hands, and he began to cut the string.

“Boy, it seems like you are compatible with my Mana. Not many people could control this Telekinetic Lunar Ice”, came a voice. Mike was stunned when he heard the voice.

“Aren’t you the Guardian Of The Lake? Why are you giving me your powers?”, he asked as he let himself be wrapped with the strings.

“Ho ho. I am giving you this power so that you will be able to defend your City. I owe your Dad something, and it’s time I did something to repay my life debt to him. And he would say, ‘It was my duty’. But I want to gift you something”, said the voice.

Mike didn’t stop as he let himself be wrapped by the Ice Strings, and they began to penetrate him. His skin and muscles were tearing apart, and they were being strewn back with the Ice threads.

“Seems like you do have the ability to Regenerate, except that it is slow. Not a worry, as the strings, will merge with your body. Now, you will feel extreme pain, please bear with it”, said the voice as it began to stitch his muscles back together.

Mike gritted his teeth and felt the string penetrate through his muscles, and some of them were wiggling through his bone marrow. His skin began to turn blue, and he was generating a freezing chill.

“This ice powers will be strong during a Full Moon, and weakest during a New Moon. You have to remember this point when you are fighting. And you can use Telekinesis separately too. This is something that was created by your Father, a Mana that is not available anywhere on this planet”, said the voice.

Mike was stunned when he heard that. He knew that everyone had the element compatibility, but he never knew that it was possible to create a new Mana type.

“But how?”, he asked. He knew that if his father knew of a method, he would have taught it to him a long time ago.

“I had two separate Mana. Telekinesis and Ice. My Mana Channels were mixed and messed up, thus I could never use Mana efficiently.”

“I always leaked the majority of Mana, and never able to store it in my body. When I met your father, he rectified the problems in my body, and in that process, created this new type of Mana.”

“This was unprecedented and unforeseen of. He had never heard of something like this happening before, thus I traveled alongside him. In one situation, he saved my life.”

“I, someone who was unable to be someone in my life am here now. It was all thanks to your father’s help. And it seems like I have found someone compatible with my Mana.”

“At long last, my search for a successor might be over”, finished the voice. Mike was learning something about his Father’s past days, and he was surprised that he had helped someone and even kept him along.

The final line stunned him, and he was confused as to what he meant by the word successor.

“Does that mean the Guardian doesn’t have any descendants?”, he asked. There was a laugh and that was all he got as an answer.

“You will meet them soon. Can’t give too much away now”, said the voice and after finishing the process, he felt the chill leave from his surroundings.

“Or maybe, you could have met someone already. My name is Ethan Hopkins, The Guardian Of The Lake”, he said. The moment he heard the name, there was someone who came to his mind.

“Ethan Hopkins… Aileen Hopkins… Don’t tell me you two are related?”, he exclaimed. The voice left him to his own speculations and went away.

“Until we meet again, young man”, Ethan said his goodbyes and left. Mike was awestruck that the person who had saved his life was the descendant of someone who his father had saved before.

He looked at himself in the lake and saw his skin covered in blue. He looked like a new person, and his skin color freaked him out.

“Hey, you never told me how to turn the skin back to normal!”, he shouted at the lake, hoping to hear Ethan’s voice. But there was no response.

He was amused about how his Father’s deeds during his days as a Guardian was helping him now.

“The world works in mysterious ways indeed”, he chuckled as he went back into the forest, ready to take a nap until sunrise.