The ability to predict and act

The boy stood in front of Leo clearly amazed at what he just witnessed. Leo stared back at him and knew that his gate did in fact activate just like he thought, and he could tell by the boy's facial expression that this was an unusual phenomenon.

The boy began pacing around Leo, trying to figure out what this whole thing meant. He paused, looked at Leo.

"I'm not sure how this is possible, but it seems like your gate might actually be a good one."

Leo was not yet sure how he could do what he did, even with his gate's help, but the idea that his gate might not be as weak as they thought excited him.

"Are you saying that I might actually be powerful?

The boy busted out in a peal of uncontrolled laughter. He then went on to add that although Leo might not be as weak as they thought he was; he definitely wasn't strong.

"Your strength and speed are almost the same as that of a normal human. Your physical abilities are certainly a joke when compared to that of any other person around, but it seems you have a unique skill."

Leo stopped the kid there and demanded to know how he knows so much about him even though they just met. The kid scratched his head, looked around, then came closer to Leo and began whispering.

"Don't tell anyone about this, especially not the Chief, but I followed you guys when you went out to take your test, and I saw the whole thing."

He stepped back while smiling at Leo.

"You followed us? Isn't that too dangerous? A kid like you, wondering about in the jungle alone. What if a Laoshe saw and attacked you?"

"Relax, I was always close to you guys and this my friend here can spot a fly, even if it was a quarter-mile away."

Leo looked at Racky and the bird assumed a proud posture. Leo squinted his eyes.

'Does this creature understand us?'

He turned back to the boy and asked him what he thought about his match with the Laoshe.

"Well to be honest, I was amazed by your movements and how you were able to avoid the Laoshe even at point-blank range. But after I saw your pathetic punch, I got the feeling that all you had been doing up until that moment was just you being lucky, although I still had hope that you were still going to turn out powerful."

"But what about now? What do you think about my gate?"

"I think that your gate was the reason you could avoid the Laoshe for as long as you did. If only you were stronger, you could have knocked it out or even killed it with your punch. Come to think of it, you weren't caught until you tripped right?"

Leo nodded.

"Which means that you might have been able to keep dodging until the assessment was complete."

Leo thought about it for a while and agreed that it could be true. The boy became euphoric. The ability to predict danger and how to counter it was nothing new to the people in this world, but that was only possible when their gates were active, and no one was capable of leaving their gates active forever. But Leo's gate was different.

"Hold on, the Gate point said that the size of your gate was small. Maybe that's the reason why its opening up on its own even if you aren't in real danger."

Leo became puzzled. He had no idea what the boy meant by this. The boy noticed and went on to explain further.

"Everyone's power is determined by the amount of energy that can pass through the gate and that is determined by the size of their gate."

"I know that already, what does that have to do with my Gate's activation?"

"Everything! It has everything to do with your Gate. The bigger the Gate, the harder it is to activate and control and vice versa. But yours is so small, you don't even need to be in real danger for it to activate."

All the boy did was explain to Leo the reason behind his Gate's abnormal activation, but what he wanted to know was whether he had the potential to become strong. The boy hesitated before telling Leo that he was not sure.

"If all you can do is avoid attacks, then you won't last long. You need to be able to fight back!"

"But if I had a weapon, then maybe I could strike the weak points when I get the chance."

The boy began touching his beardless chin.

"That might actually work, but it all depends on how good your ability is. I have an idea."

The boy and the bird began gathering a lot of rocks of the same size and piling them up. Leo watched them as they kept running around like the kids they were.

"Ok. We are ready."

"Ready for what?" Leo asked while staring at the huge pile of rocks.

"Oh! One more thing."

He ran over to Leo while pulling out a cloth from his pocket and covered Leo's eyes with it.

"Ok! Now we are ready."

At this point, Leo was already aware of the plan and was ready to go along with it, if it meant that he would be able to figure out how strong this ability of his was.

The boy returned back to his position and gave Racky a nod. The bird instantly split his tail in 5 and assumed an attack position with each of the 5 tails picking up a rock. The boy smiled while picking up two rocks. They simultaneously began tossing the rocks at Leo with unbelievable speed.

The glow appeared and shined through the cloth on Leo's eyes and he began dodging every single one of the rocks and deflecting anyone that he couldn't dodge with his hands and legs while also trying to avoid injuring himself in the process. The boy and the bird began synchronizing their attacks with the bird releasing a barrage of rocks at Leo while the boy aimed his attacks at where Leo was going to appear as a result of his evasion. But still, Leo was able to avoid the attacks and the boy being the kid that he was, began getting flustered causing him to apply the same force he used to kill the Laoshe to throw the stones at Leo not minding the dangers if one actually made contact. Leo, although now clearly having a hard time, still managed to barely evade the attacks and the boy began noticing certain randomness in the pattern of his movements. He got angry and picked a larger rock and aimed it for Leo's head that was sure to kill him if he wasn't able to dodge it. The boy immediately knew he had made a mistake the moment he threw it and watched as it went straight for Leo's head.

"Leo!"

This shout halted Leo's movements.

"No!"

The moment the rock was about to hit him, he shattered it with his hands. Racky and the boy stood still watching the dust from the shattered rock clear up around Leo who was still ready to evade more attacks.

"How was he able to block that attack?"