My Skill Creation System

Nathan woke up the next day feeling better than he did the previous night. The wound on his shoulder no longer hurt. However, a little bit of pain remained there after experiencing a deep sleep with a fever overnight. There were bandages wrapped around his chest.

His back ached fiercely at certain spots where the wounds had been inflicted earlier in the evening. It seemed like they had torn some important muscles since those spots would give him intense pain whenever he tried to move in a specific way.

He tried to figure out where he was. "A hospital room?"

A short while later, he heard footsteps approaching. He heard a faint voice.

"Hey!" Nathan called out loud. "Who is it?"

The door opened.

Nathan turned around and saw Marco walking towards him and smiled at him awkwardly. "You're finally awake." He said while offering Nathan something small wrapped in paper. "This is for you."

Nathan took that object carefully after sitting up in bed with difficulty. He looked at what was inside: it was a letter from Edna. It contained many lines filled with letters, symbols, and words written by Edna herself.

"What does this mean...? Does this have something to do with Edna? Where is she?" he muttered under his breath, staring down at the piece of paper in his hands.

Marco replied simply, "Edna wrote this." His expression became somewhat cold after saying those words. He paused before saying any more as if trying to hold himself together before continuing. "But don't worry, she's fine."

Nathan continued reading silently while listening closely.

***

Hi, young master Nathan.

(✿◠‿◠) I didn't expect this to happen this early.

But if I don't hurry now, the problem will get bigger, and they might never recover afterward.

Please take care of yourself until I'm back. You are still my favorite person after all these years. (^▽^)☆

I'm just leaving for a while.

I won't leave you forever.

I will definitely come back to you.

You have to work hard to become a strong and respected Hunter. I will always cheer you from afar.

ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ

I can tell that's exactly what you want! So keep pushing forward!

I know we haven't talked much lately, but that doesn't matter anymore because I feel so proud of your achievements.

I'll be waiting for you in Yunatea.

Take care, don't forget to eat regularly, and enjoy your academic life as much as possible. Be safe, and let me see you again someday soon.

I'm sorry if this goodbye was too sudden.

Thank you again for everything.

Edna.

***

Nathan let out a deep sigh after finishing the letter. "Edna..." he whispered.

He turned to Marco, who sat on the chair near his bed. "Is she okay? Did she make it to Yunatea safely?" he asked, raising his voice a little.

Marco nodded his head slowly. "Before I fully explain what happened. Yes, she's fine, at least for now. She managed to go to Yunatea safely."

Nathan sighed deeply as he remembered the fight last night before falling unconscious.

He thought about her new form—he had seen her in that form before, but he still couldn't believe that she would be able to change like that without any restrictions or weaknesses, as if the transformation was natural to her. She killed Roger almost instantly.

"Did someone help Edna escape and get away from the military? What about the others? Is everyone alright after seeing what transpired?" He could only imagine how terrified some of them must have been last night after watching Edna kill Roger like that. She didn't even show any signs of mercy or compassion towards her victim before turning him into nothing more than dust in an instant.

"All of us are fine. And...." Marco took a deep breath. He felt uneasy while talking about this with Nathan. "From the military, almost half of them died. They couldn't even resist her ferocity in the slightest. They were overwhelmed by the sight and sound of her new form, which looked so real. The rest of the army was scattered everywhere. A few of them got away unharmed, but the rest..." he ended his words by shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up such a heavy topic. I'll try to be more careful in future." Marco continued.

Nathan kept staring at the piece of paper until he finally folded it up and placed it back inside its envelope carefully. "Then what actions will be taken by the military?"

"Well," Marco said reluctantly, "they will mostly cover up this case to protect their reputation," Marco answered quickly after taking another deep breath.

"But they will definitely provide more oversight of everyone involved. Their reputation has already suffered from that terrible tragedy." He paused for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Edna is also a top priority right now because she's considered a national threat. We don't know when she'll come back here again either. But I'm sure they will hunt her in Yunatea."

"I see... I think I've heard enough about that now." Nathan turned around and sat on the edge of his bed once again. "And how could she escape and go to Yunatea?"

"She flew through the sky using magic powers that allowed her to fly at extremely high speeds with perfect balance," Marco explained while keeping his gaze downwards to avoid looking into Nathan's face too much. "Ah yes, actually Leon helped her to go to Yunatea. I got the letter from his men."

"Leon? What do you mean? What exactly happened last night?" He raised his head and stared directly at Marco, who took another deep breath before he continued talking.

"So, the story is quite long. I'll shorten it and only tell you what really matters since we're running out of time." He replied after clearing his throat.

"A few weeks ago, Leon came to see me and asked me to make a scenario for you to attack Bastien's place. He promised me that Linda would be safe."

"Woah, that's quite a plot twist for me..." Nathan sighed deeply in disappointment. "You were part of all this!"

Marco shook his head in response. "Not entirely! Sure, what I did looked exactly the way he wanted. However, I did it with full consciousness. Until before you escaped from Bastien's place and met us at the Caravan."

Nathan was surprised by this new information. "Really? What happened that night?"

"Yes. I didn't expect things would be how they turned out last night..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Leon came to me and said he would make sure one of us died. However, the conclusion I can come to was, he deliberately put you in a desperate situation, so that you would do something as he wanted. I'm not sure what, but my instincts told me it relates to the god's apostles. It must have been some kind of divine thing for him."

Nathan froze completely upon hearing these words; his body became stiff from head to toe. "So he was involved in all this from the beginning?"

"I don't know if anything will happen because of that... but at least you should stay prepared. Just keep an eye out on your surroundings."

Nathan kept staring at Marco, who continued talking with confidence. "Then why did Leon save Edna instead? Didn't this make her condition even worse?"

Marco shook his head, and he told about the bet he had made with Leon.

"I know he was involved in what happened recently. However, my guess is, he was just riding on what's going on, and looking for a chance to have some fun. But now..." He looked down for a moment before he turned back towards Nathan while whispering: "At least, we can take his word for it. Edna will be safe for a while, at least." He finished his statement without saying a word after that.

Nathan felt very uneasy after hearing the words 'safe' and 'for a while'. The last part didn't sit well with him at all.

Nathan tried to gather his thoughts again when another thought popped up in his mind. "What should we do? We should help Edna. She will suffer alone. She'll be hunted by the military, and she'll be looked down upon by everyone else."

"I have a proposal, Nathan," he began. "I have a license to visit Yunatea. Let me go there and look for her. I'll let you know as soon as I make sure she's okay. In the meantime, let's try to believe in the promise given by Leon."

"What are you planning?" Nathan asked while raising his voice once more.

"Don't worry, I already thought about it. I have also prepared for a possible escape plan." His eyes never left the floor as if nothing had been said until he finally spoke again. "Just remember one thing: you should continue training at your academy like normal."

Nathan gave an indifferent answer by nodding slowly, trying hard not to show any reaction to his face or voice. "Okay then, be careful Marco. Please give me an update for anything you have found there."

Nathan took a deep breath and exhaled deeply afterward, thinking about what Marco had told him. It seemed so strange that Edna was still a top priority in the military now that the events were over... and Leon's role in this whole story was no longer clear yet.

"I want to discuss a slightly sensitive topic." Marco was silent for a moment. "Don't worry, I have made sure this place is not monitored by CCTV."

Nathan raised his head. "What is it?"

"It is about the god's apostles." Marco answered.