Hey, Why Are My Skills so Weird!?

The entire class was surprised after seeing the result of Ley’s duel.

It was not that nobody expected her to win, but the ease with which she won was shocking.

She did not seem to struggle during the battle, even though her opponent was an entire tier stronger than her.

Well, I was not that surprised.

I know better than anyone how terrifying Ley’s skill is.

In fact, Ley’s skill is not that useful in battle, and it’s not hard to counter it once you understand how it works.

But as long as you don’t understand how it works, it’s very hard to defend against it.

And her ability is even more terrifying outside battle.

It’s so terrifying that only three people know the details of Ley’s skill.

Even the association doesn’t know. When Ley registered as an Awakened, she lied about the nature of her skill to avoid being assassinated or caught for experiments.

“Ley skill truly is unique.” Sylvia suddenly spoke up.

I was startled and looked at her in surprise.

Wait, could it be…?

“Sylvia, did you…? How…?”

“Mm? Oh, don’t worry, I won’t reveal it to anyone. I can understand why you want to keep it a secret.”

So she really discovered it…!

I felt a chill on my spine. For some reason, Sylvia’s beautiful face filled me with terror.

[Do you understand now why I don’t want you to be close to a user of fate laws?] The demon sighed in my mind. [Everybody has something that they want to hide, but it’s hard to hide it from someone that can peer into your secrets with just a glance. Well, it’s already a bit too late to get away from her. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like she has ill intentions toward you.]

I listened with a wry smile.

Actually, I’m regretting not taking seriously the demon’s warning.

It’s true that I did not try to get close to Sylvia of my own volition, but it’s also true that I did not reject her firmly.

Well, it’s hard to when she saved my life.

Plus, for some reason, I can’t bring myself to dislike her.

Man, men’s hormones sure cause a lot of trouble.

While I was lost in my thoughts, the teacher asked Ley if she was going to fight another battle.

Ley smiled politely and shook her head.

“No, teacher. I want to give others the opportunity to show their abilities.

Mrs. Dori Heller nodded and looked at the next student.

“Number eight, it’s your turn.”

A black-haired young man with a gloomy expression a slightly tanned skin nodded and walked toward the stage.

“Who are you challenging?” Mrs. Heller asked.

The young man raised his face and looked at the rest of the class. His eyes fell on Sylvia, but after a bit of hesitation, he moved his gaze to the side.

“… Number two.”

He challenged Andrew.

Andrew was startled before smiling and walking towards the stage. He grabbed a sword from the rack and stood opposite the gloomy student.

“Are you not going to use a weapon, number eight?” Mrs. Heller raised an eyebrow when she saw that he did not take a weapon.

“I don’t need it.”

“Interesting. Very well, you can start.”

Andrew and the gloomy young man nodded, but they did not start their battle immediately and instead introduce themselves first.

“My name is Andrew Mattew. Best regards.”

“… Lars Diaz.”

Andrew nodded. He then gripped his sword with both hands and aimed it at Lars.

“I’m coming!”

With a shout, he charged toward Lars.

Lars’s face was expressionless. He just extended his hand in Andrew's direction.

Then, Andrew’s face changed.

He did not hesitate to jump to a side, and an instant later, something invisible struck the place where he was just now.

Andrew looked at Lars in surprise.

“That is…”

“… Force.” One of the remaining students muttered in awe.

I was just as surprised. That was [Force], one of the most feared skills.

This skill allowed to use to release invisible attacks, create protective barriers around them, and even use it to grab objects.

A truly versatile skill that could be used both in defense and attack.

Lars did not care about the surprise of the surroundings. As soon as he noticed that Andrew avoided his attack, he clenched his fist, creating a force attack that compressed the place where Andrew was.

But Andrew reacted timely. With a shout, mana surged out of his body.

“Ha!”

Bellowing, he pushed [Physical Strengthening] to the limit, using just his body to break apart the attack. He then kicked the ground, launching himself towards Lars and arriving in front of him in an instant.

Seeing the sword descending towards him, Lars jumped back as a transparent barrier appeared in front of him.

However–

“[Lone Sword]!”

Andrew shouted, and light burst out of his sword, breaking the barrier instantly.

For the first time, Lars's expression changed. He became flustered and tried to create another barrier in a hurry, but Andrew had already arrived in front of him, pressing his sword against Lars’s neck.

“Winner, Andrew Mattew.” Mrs. Heller announced calmly, putting an end to the battle.

‘Strong…’ I could not help but think to myself.

To think that Andrew would finish the battle so easily, moreover, he only used one of his skills.

I’m not confident that I can defeat Lars as easily as he. In fact, I struggled quite a bit when fighting Leon Meyer, the number ten.

It’s clear that Andrew has grown stronger since the spider dungeon.

‘Hero, huh…’ I remembered the words of the demon again and my expression became complicated.

“Mr. Andrew, you can challenge someone if you want. Will you make a challenge or will you refrain?” Mrs. Heller asked Andrew after Lars returned to his place.

Andrew hesitated briefly before looking in Sylvia’s direction.

“I want to challenge Sylvia.”

Mrs. Heller was startled before chuckling in amusement.

“The kids of today sure have guts.” She then looked at Sylvia. “Number one, you heard him.”

Sylvia smiled sweetly and nodded.

“Okay.”

It was the first combat class, but the number one and number two of the class were already going to have their first battle.