“The winner is Jane.” The teacher spoke with a smiling expression. “You really did not hold back, huh? That strike could have killed him.”
“It didn’t, though.” I smiled wryly.
In fact, the strike did not even hit him.
An instant before my attack was released, a barrier of mana appeared in front of Leon, dispersing my attack completely.
Obviously, it was done by Mrs. Heller, the teacher in charge of this class. She had created a barrier of mana in the instant she determined Leon was unable to receive my attack, blocking my attack with such ease that I was amazed.
But although the teacher blocked the attack, Leon’s face was still pale white.
He stared at me with a tense look before licking his lips with a nervous expression.
“It’s your win.”
“It was not easy.” I smiled wryly, making Leon put on a bitter expression.
“A win is a win. Sorry for underestimating you. To be honest, I thought that you had used unusual means to get fourth place.”
I was startled and cold sweat appeared on my back.
That was a nice way to say that I cheated.
Actually, I did cheat.
[It was not cheating. The dreamland is also a part of your abilities.] The demon spoke in my mind.
I smiled wryly to myself.
Sometimes, I feel that the demon is the evil part of my consciousness.
“Well done, you two. It was a nice match.” The teacher said with a smile. “By the way, Jane. That fire at the end, you did not show it at the entrance examination. A new skill?”
“… Something like that.” I shrugged and answered vaguely.
I could see gazes of surprise in the rest of the class.
After all, skills are very rare.
Most Awakened doesn’t have one, and the rest have only one.
But just now, I showed two obvious skills. One related to fire, and another related to lightning, plus, it’s pretty evident that I have another skill related to body strengthening.
That is enough to make me a rare genius.
… If they learn that these are not my only skills, they will treat me like a monster.
Well, I don’t plan to tell them.
About the ring of fire, though, it’s not a new skill.
Instead, it is a new application of [Soul Contract].
I have been experimenting with this skill a lot, and recently, I learned that I could borrow a small part of the abilities of the creatures I’m contracted to.
At the start, I thought I could only borrow mana, but one night, the demon asked if I could borrow the special abilities of Scarlet and Saphire.
With a bit of doubt, I decided to try, and to my surprise, it worked.
Well, the abilities I borrow are far weaker than the original, but even so, it’s an amazing ability.
Right now, I can only borrow a bit of Scarlet’s fire and Saphire’s water manipulation, but perhaps in the future, I’ll be able to fuse their powers with mine.
Well, there is still a long way to that.
“Okay, Leon, please move out. Jane, who do you want to challenge next?”
I was surprised.
“Huh? Me?”
“Of course. You won, so you can fight someone else. Well, if you are tired, you can refrain.”
I hesitated briefly.
To be honest, I’m a bit tired and I used a lot of mana in my battle against Leon, but Saphire and Scarlet can supply me with more mana, so that is not a problem.
But if I fight again, who am I going to fight against?
I looked through the rest of the class before my gaze stopped on Sylvia.
… Yeah, there is no way I can defeat her.
Then– I moved my gaze to my best friend. –How about Andrew?
It has been a while since the last time we sparred, and to be honest, I’m curious about how strong he is now.
According to the Demon, he is a [Hero]. The beloved child of the world, who receives all of its blessings.
Am I able to defeat him?
‘Maybe if I summon Saphire, I could?’
[Boy, number five.]
Huh?
I was startled and instinctively stared at the student the demon suddenly mentioned.
Number five, Hela Luo.
She was a girl with black hair, black eyes, and a gloomy expression. She had been looking at the ground from the start, and for some reason, her eyes seemed like the eyes of a dead person.
At first glance, she seemed like a weak and bullied girl instead of the fifth-strongest student in this batch.
‘Demon, what is wrong with her?’
[Challenge her. That girl is… special.]
‘What do you mean?’
[You will understand.]
I frowned slightly before nodding.
I’m curious now.
“Hela Luo,” I spoke up.
The teacher raised an eyebrow, and the class stared at the girl I mentioned.
Hela was startled and looked up before looking down again with the same lost expression.
“Hela, it’s your turn.”
“… Sorry, teacher. I’m not feeling well.”
The teacher furrowed her brows, and in the next instant, her mana surged out.
“It’s an order.” She said, filling the entire training room with powerful pressure.
Hela trembled slightly, but her expression did not change. She seemed to hesitate briefly before nodding.
Then, she walked in front of me and stood there without moving.
… What is wrong with her?
The teacher frowned with a visibly displeased expression before shaking her head.
“You can start.” She spoke up.
I did not move, waiting for her to attack, but Hela did not move either.
She just looked at the ground, as though she was not interested in anything else.
I wrinkled my brows. What is wrong with her?
Should I attack anyway? But she doesn't look like she will fight back.
After hesitating briefly, I sighed.
It’s pointless to fight if she won’t fight back. I should just give up.
[No, attack her.] The demon ordered suddenly.
Huh?
[And imbue your attack with all your killing intent. I want to see something.]
I hesitated briefly, but in the end, I decided to follow the demon’s instructions.
Imbuing my spear with all my mana, I pointed it to the girl.
In the next instant, I activated Killing Aura.
My killing intent surged toward the girl as I kicked the ground and charged at her. I did not hold back despite the fact that the girl seemed defenseless.
But in the instant that my killing intent hit her, something changed.
The girl’s face turned pale, and at the same time, something surged out of her.
Danger!!!
My instincts screamed crazily, and my body stiffened. Even my mind seemed to turn sluggish.
‘W-Wh… What is this!?’
I instinctively covered my body with mana. I knew that I could not allow that to affect me.
“NO!!!” Hela suddenly cried out. She hurriedly hugged herself and kneeled on the ground.
Instantly, that disappeared.
At the same time, the teacher appeared between Hela and me.
“You… What did you do just now?” The teacher asked with an extremely serious expression.
Hela did not reply. She just continued kneeling on the ground with her head lowered while muttering something to herself.
“Sorry... Sorry...”
And drop after drop of tears fell down her eyes.
“The winner is Jane.” The teacher spoke with a smiling expression. “You really did not hold back, huh? That strike could have killed him.”
“It didn’t, though.” I smiled wryly.
In fact, the strike did not even hit him.
An instant before my attack was released, a barrier of mana appeared in front of Leon, dispersing my attack completely.
Obviously, it was done by Mrs. Heller, the teacher in charge of this class. She had created a barrier of mana in the instant she determined Leon was unable to receive my attack, blocking my attack with such ease that I was amazed.
But although the teacher blocked the attack, Leon’s face was still pale white.
He stared at me with a tense look before licking his lips with a nervous expression.
“It’s your win.”
“It was not easy.” I smiled wryly, making Leon put on a bitter expression.
“A win is a win. Sorry for underestimating you. To be honest, I thought that you had used unusual means to get fourth place.”
I was startled and cold sweat appeared on my back.
That was a nice way to say that I cheated.
Actually, I did cheat.
[It was not cheating. The dreamland is also a part of your abilities.] The demon spoke in my mind.
I smiled wryly to myself.
Sometimes, I feel that the demon is the evil part of my consciousness.
“Well done, you two. It was a nice match.” The teacher said with a smile. “By the way, Jane. That fire at the end, you did not show it at the entrance examination. A new skill?”
“… Something like that.” I shrugged and answered vaguely.
I could see gazes of surprise in the rest of the class.
After all, skills are very rare.
Most Awakened doesn’t have one, and the rest have only one.
But just now, I showed two obvious skills. One related to fire, and another related to lightning, plus, it’s pretty evident that I have another skill related to body strengthening.
That is enough to make me a rare genius.
… If they learn that these are not my only skills, they will treat me like a monster.
Well, I don’t plan to tell them.
About the ring of fire, though, it’s not a new skill.
Instead, it is a new application of [Soul Contract].
I have been experimenting with this skill a lot, and recently, I learned that I could borrow a small part of the abilities of the creatures I’m contracted to.
At the start, I thought I could only borrow mana, but one night, the demon asked if I could borrow the special abilities of Scarlet and Saphire.
With a bit of doubt, I decided to try, and to my surprise, it worked.
Well, the abilities I borrow are far weaker than the original, but even so, it’s an amazing ability.
Right now, I can only borrow a bit of Scarlet’s fire and Saphire’s water manipulation, but perhaps in the future, I’ll be able to fuse their powers with mine.
Well, there is still a long way to that.
“Okay, Leon, please move out. Jane, who do you want to challenge next?”
I was surprised.
“Huh? Me?”
“Of course. You won, so you can fight someone else. Well, if you are tired, you can refrain.”
I hesitated briefly.
To be honest, I’m a bit tired and I used a lot of mana in my battle against Leon, but Saphire and Scarlet can supply me with more mana, so that is not a problem.
But if I fight again, who am I going to fight against?
I looked through the rest of the class before my gaze stopped on Sylvia.
… Yeah, there is no way I can defeat her.
Then– I moved my gaze to my best friend. –How about Andrew?
It has been a while since the last time we sparred, and to be honest, I’m curious about how strong he is now.
According to the Demon, he is a [Hero]. The beloved child of the world, who receives all of its blessings.
Am I able to defeat him?
‘Maybe if I summon Saphire, I could?’
[Boy, number five.]
Huh?
I was startled and instinctively stared at the student the demon suddenly mentioned.
Number five, Hela Luo.
She was a girl with black hair, black eyes, and a gloomy expression. She had been looking at the ground from the start, and for some reason, her eyes seemed like the eyes of a dead person.
At first glance, she seemed like a weak and bullied girl instead of the fifth-strongest student in this batch.
‘Demon, what is wrong with her?’
[Challenge her. That girl is… special.]
‘What do you mean?’
[You will understand.]
I frowned slightly before nodding.
I’m curious now.
“Hela Luo,” I spoke up.
The teacher raised an eyebrow, and the class stared at the girl I mentioned.
Hela was startled and looked up before looking down again with the same lost expression.
“Hela, it’s your turn.”
“… Sorry, teacher. I’m not feeling well.”
The teacher furrowed her brows, and in the next instant, her mana surged out.
“It’s an order.” She said, filling the entire training room with powerful pressure.
Hela trembled slightly, but her expression did not change. She seemed to hesitate briefly before nodding.
Then, she walked in front of me and stood there without moving.
… What is wrong with her?
The teacher frowned with a visibly displeased expression before shaking her head.
“You can start.” She spoke up.
I did not move, waiting for her to attack, but Hela did not move either.
She just looked at the ground, as though she was not interested in anything else.
I wrinkled my brows. What is wrong with her?
Should I attack anyway? But she doesn't look like she will fight back.
After hesitating briefly, I sighed.
It’s pointless to fight if she won’t fight back. I should just give up.
[No, attack her.] The demon ordered suddenly.
Huh?
[And imbue your attack with all your killing intent. I want to see something.]
I hesitated briefly, but in the end, I decided to follow the demon’s instructions.
Imbuing my spear with all my mana, I pointed it to the girl.
In the next instant, I activated Killing Aura.
My killing intent surged toward the girl as I kicked the ground and charged at her. I did not hold back despite the fact that the girl seemed defenseless.
But in the instant that my killing intent hit her, something changed.
The girl’s face turned pale, and at the same time, something surged out of her.
Danger!!!
My instincts screamed crazily, and my body stiffened. Even my mind seemed to turn sluggish.
‘W-Wh… What is this!?’
I instinctively covered my body with mana. I knew that I could not allow that to affect me.
“NO!!!” Hela suddenly cried out. She hurriedly hugged herself and kneeled on the ground.
Instantly, that disappeared.
At the same time, the teacher appeared between Hela and me.
“You… What did you do just now?” The teacher asked with an extremely serious expression.
Hela did not reply. She just continued kneeling on the ground with her head lowered while muttering something to herself.
“Sorry... Sorry...”
And drop after drop of tears fell down her eyes.
