A few days had passed since they arrived. Currently, Sarah and Austin were tracking the migration patterns of a bird-like beast of prey.

Recently, it seemed to be flying closer to their outpost so it was integral that they understood what it was doing and if an ambush was necessary.

They had to prevent a battle from occurring at the camp at all costs otherwise it would be as good as lost.

Meanwhile, Trevor was also out ’testing something’ as he had so put it.

That left Dale and Gary to themselves — something that neither of them minded as they would’ve been training either way.

Gary groaned as he forced himself to generate another force field. It was his tenth in quick succession.

Normally it would have been a breeze but something about Dale’s ability skill disrupted his focus each time his shield was shattered.

For the first time since Dale had seen the other’s force field, he actually took his time to study it.

It wasn’t a generic bubble of energy or anything that was displayed in popular media.

The miraculous defense was made of tons of small pentagons linked together to create the life-saving skill.

’It appears very geometric and stable.’ Dale thought as he stared at it.

The force field was designed in a way that not only resisted breaking but also redistributed the force.

Just as in the case of the bear that had attacked them, upon contact, each pentagon of the force field tactically passed the force through the entire structure.

That way each piece could resist the force with less strain on his part. All in all, it was a structurally ingenious design.

Gary’s fighting style showed he understood the unique makeup of his ability skill.

The generation of the boxing gloves, the platform to jump off of, and even the restraints he had used to hold Sarah’s hands in place.

’It seems as though his ability skills are headed in a particular direction.’ He reasoned.

Even if he could deduce what that was, he wouldn’t tell Gary... not only because he had gatekept the secret of Awakening but because, as he had been told, it could damage Gary’s potential.

Not to mention that Dale wasn’t a philanthropist, nor did he plan on becoming one in the foreseeable future.

In fact, one of the core reasons he had agreed and was so eager to help Gary was to discover faster ways to break through the latter’s defenses.

He didn’t think the Awakened would become his enemy but that didn’t mean he couldn’t learn how to gain an edge over this particular variant of ability skills.

While no two abilities were the same, there were some with key similarities.

The perfect example would be the rich person he had seen on the day of his awakening — the one who had summoned purple flames and Sarah who could also generate flames of her own.

Despite their abilities being obviously different, that was a core similarity.

Knowing how to deal with Sarah’s fire would give him an edge over the rich kid if the need ever came.

Dale shoved those thoughts aside and calmly placed his hands against the cool surface of the force field.

[Energy Pulse]

A wave of energy coursed through the neon green shield and it trembled greatly but for the first time, didn’t crack.

’Huh. Impressive.’ Despite spending barely any time on the exercise, Gary already seemed to be adapting quite quickly.

Dale didn’t know if he should be worried or impressed.

His eyes scanned the force field once more. ’I can also adapt.’ and he decided to try something.

The dictionary definition of pulse, at least in physical terms, was a sudden — and quickly reverted — change in something that was otherwise constant.

But to Dale, he had been treating his ability skill as though it was named, ’Energy Wave.’

There could be a pulse of light and light traveled in a straight line. Who was to say he couldn’t get his skill to propagate that way?

So with his mind clear, he focused again.

[Energy Pulse]

This time, it was less like a wave and more like a concentrated spike that attacked a cluster of pentagons.

The shapes fractured slightly — cracks running through it like spider webs.

Dale smiled to himself and decided to try again. This time, he decided to aim for one of the vertices of a pentagon.

Each of those contact points, structurally, was the weakest point in the entire structure.

’A two-pronged approach to destroying the force field. I really am intelligent to have figured this as a final card.’

Normally, he would’ve turned the deck to his chest but what was the point in having a royal flush if you didn’t take all the chips?

Dale released his normal [Energy Pulse]. The wave of energy traveled through the hard constructs of energy, on its way to being dispelled without being able to affect them.

However, he wasn’t done. He quickly released his more concentrated pulse and the shield completely shattered.

Gary fell to his knees and a trail of blood ran down his nose.

He wiped it with the back of his sleeve.

"Wow. Very impressive." The awakened seemed genuinely shocked.