"SAM!". I shouted for Sam as loud as I could.

She came rushing in a panic thinking something went wrong.

"What? Is everything okay?".

"No. It's not. I did as you said and it led me to a box of sewing needles".

I was crushed. How can I even use these?

"Aha! Well, I think that this confirms it, you really are a Specialist!". Sam couldn't hold her laughter.

"So what now?".

I want to crawl under a blanket and never wake up.

"There isn't much for you to do now since I don't think I'm the best person to help with Mana. Go to the Archery Practice Room on the seventh floor. Try get a Skill with your Needles. It should take a day or so to get one".

"What do you mean skill? Not ability?". I still don't know the difference between them both.

"Abilities are related to mana, whilst skills aren't. For example, your Affinity will fall under Abilities".

"Oh okay, I'm going to go then. Bye!". Neo ran off in a hurry.

As he was in the elevator, Neo was thinking of a way to use these needles.

He had multiple thoughts like using his threads in the whole and to wield them whilst holding the thread, but that sounds too complicated and quite frankly weird. Another thought being just throwing them, but that's inefficient. He may aswell just use a bow.

One which he wanted to use, was somehow make the Needles float. With this he can use another weapon and have his needles surrounding him.

'Third option. The first two are too unrealistic, but how do I even make them float? I also have to worry about my Modification! To be considered a Support I need to be able to use it on other people'.

'As I'm throwing the Needles in Archery Practice, I'll just use it then since I can only use it 5 times for 30 minutes each, which is 2 hours and 30 minutes. I guess I'll be staying here for a while'.

He walked into the Archery Practice room to be met with 5 people in there, each in their own little section. There were 20 sections in total.

Everyones eyes fell on Neo, however he found a familiar person.

Mal.

"MAL!". Neo ran up to Mal as soon as he saw him. Neo was so happy to finally meet him. It had been 3 years.

"Neo?". Mals eyes started to water.

"I've missed you so much".

"It's been hard, so so hard".

Both the boys started crying.

They both experienced 3 years of hell - alone.

Both the boys cooled down and sat down in a corner to not disturb the others, and started speaking.

They spoke for a solid hour about their experiences in the Military Academy.

"Wait, Mal how did you get here? You were always scared to fight when were younger". Neo reminised about Mals personality.

"Oh uh, my Modification is apparently good aha". Mal laughed as he didn't like the sound of him bragging.

"Wait what's your Modification?". Neo was intruiged. He hadn't spoken to anyone properly for years.

"It's called: Range Artifact. It essentially says I can use any Ranged weapon at an above average level, it even gave me three weapon proficiencys when it developed! It's Grade 6 which apparently is way above average! What about you?". When speaking about Modifications, Mal seemed to get excited.

However, Neo almost choked on his spit. Mel was strong. Too strong.

"Uhm, before I tell you, what position did you finish in Military School?".

"For the first two years I was near the bottom, however with my Modification I was able to get into the top 100! Specifically #76".

Neo instantly looked down as he heard the number 76.

"Ah well don't make fun of me. My Modification sucks, I can only Enhance myself by a small margin, and it lasts 30 minutes. But that isn't the worst part, I can only use it 5 times a day since apparently it uses Mana up, and of course we don't learn anything about Mana. The only thing I have going for me is that I'm a Specialist, and that my Modification is Growth Type, and it's currently at Grade 1. Oh, and my stats are above average". Neo looked down.

"SPECIALIST? Neo! You're so cool!". Mal's eyes glowed.

"Ah, well I'd see that you think that but my Affinity is either Poison or Web/String, and apparently they don't have capabilties of becoming a Damage Dealer so I'll be stuck as a Specialist Support. Also, it's not even guaranteed that I'll be able to use Enhancement on other people. ADDITIONALLY, apparently I specialise in Sewing Needles as a weapon. Here take a look".

"Ah, your mana looked for Sewing Needles? Still, it must mean you have a way to use them".

When Mal replied, Neo was confused, how does even know this?

"Wait Mal, how do you know all of this? I only found out today".

"All Top 100 get tested for being a Specialist even if it's unlikely just in case".

Neo wanted to speak, but he couldn't. A gap, and it was disgustingly large one.

"Well, I'd love to sit here and talk but I got to use these things". Mal spoke and took out two small pistols.

"One of my quotas is to learn 8 different Efficiencys in hopes of awakening".

"Ah okay! I'm staying here anyways so I'll go to the station next to you".

'I don't know what the hell Awakening is, but it can only mean getting stronger. Let's just pretend I know what it is so he doesn't ask me about my position in the Academy'.

Neo set up all the settings up for him. It was Easy level and having targets. He was given 1 minute before the Target would propel towards him so he can pick up his Needles.

'Okay! Let's try'.

Since it was Easy level, it was quite close, although it would still be hard for him.

Neo took out a Needle and threw it like a dart. It resembled a dart a lot, like it's size. Although it was very thin in comparison.

Neo had 20 Needles in the pack.

The first 5 he threw hit the sides of the Target, which was surprising! He thought he wasn't even going to hit any for a while.

He could only fire another 5 and they landed on the outside of the Target before the Target came forward for him to pick his Needles up.

a Firespeed of 10 needles in a minute. Neo had no clue whether that was good or not, he only took it as face value.

As he went to pick up the Needles, they were pretty wedged in. Because the needles were so thin, and also disgustingly sharp, the hole on the end could only be seen, the rest of the Needle was inside of the Target board.

'What the fuck?'

I was in complete shock, I could actually work with this. If I developed Web Affinity, I could precisely use the Web to hook them out, and I don't even need to get close.

Neo smiled to himself whilst Mal looked over.

"Neo are you okay? What's with the weird face?". Mal was concerned.

"Nothing aha! I just realised something".

"Uhm, okay then. Just try not to make that face infront of others.". Mal laughed too.

"Wait what? I was smiling what's that supposed to mean?".