CHAPTER 50: 50 - NEW SKILL

A few minutes passed... I’m now lying on the bed and getting ready to sleep.

Ruby has academy work to do, the same goes for Keara—she left with teary eyes, not wanting to part with me.

I reassured her that I’ll still be here when she comes back.

I also want to spend time with her, but I’m really tired now and I want to rest.

So when they left... I closed my eyes.

-Raven.

But then, Levina called out for me.

"What?"

I replied without opening my eyes.

-Ruby is weird.

Levina said.

"I know."

I casually replied.

-No, I mean, I can feel demonic energy from her.

When Levina declared that, my brows furrowed, but I still didn’t open my eyes.

"Is she a bad person?"

I asked her.

-That’s what makes it weird. She’s not a bad person—she’s more on the good-natured side.

Levina answered, confusion evident in her voice.

"Then it’s fine."

I casually waved my hand in the air.

Ruby is an S rank hero, so maybe she has a duty to kill demons and their energy sticks to her.

Also, she runs the [Paradise], where demons, majins, and heroes are everywhere. So it’s not that strange if some demonic energy got accidentally stuck on her.

With those reasons in my head, I didn’t put much thought into it.

I could still hear Levina talking, but I couldn’t understand her anymore because I was so sleepy, so I just ignored her and went to sleep.

And I would come to kinda regret this decision of mine about a year from now.

...

...

...

*****

Waking up the next morning, I did my regular routine.

I took a bath, ate breakfast, then I started to run through the whole academy.

Looks like Blake is exhausted from their training yesterday, as I don’t see him today.

"What a nice day."

I mumbled with a smile and kept on running.

The only bad thing is that Keara isn’t with me because the assessment test is getting near, thus her and Ruby’s workload is increasing.

"I feel sorry for them, but I can’t do anything to help."

They aren’t even allowed to tell me what they’re working on.

I already know it’s about the assessment test—maybe the other students know as well.

So I think it’s not really a secret anymore. Don’t know why the academy is still trying to hide it.

-This place is awesome.

Anyway, as I was running, Levina spoke. She’s peeking from the chest pocket of my training suit.

"Just talk to my head. Someone might hear you."

-’Fine.’

Though dissatisfied, she followed my instruction.

"Thanks. In exchange, I’m gonna run all around the academy so you can see everything here."

-’Thanks!’

It’s Levina’s first time seeing buildings and structures that humans made, so she must be excited.

I secretly smiled as she acted like a child. Then, just like I promised, I ran through every corner of the academy.

It took me about 2 hours.

..

..

After doing that, I headed straight to the training grounds.

The place is packed with countless students and some professors.

I also saw the main characters, but because all of them are immersed in training, they didn’t notice me.

I didn’t bother to greet them, so I just went into a room in the shooting range.

I selected 10 moving targets at difficulty level 7 for my training.

I didn’t waste time and quickly circulated mana through my whole body.

Crackle—crackle—

Electricity particles started appearing all over my body.

Then, I activated Calm Thinker and Insight.

After doing so, my head and body started to ache.

But in exchange, the world seemed to drastically slow down for me, and my thoughts flowed smoothly.

[Session Begin.]

Bang! Bang! Bang!–

As soon as the session began, I immediately pulled the trigger 10 times in just seconds.

10 bullets flew, and each of them hit one moving target.

[Session Finished.]

[Time it took: 3.38 seconds]

A satisfying result greeted my effort!

-You’re getting better at manipulating electricity! Good job!

Levina complimented me—she’s still in my chest pocket. I used Cleanse on myself earlier, so I don’t smell sweaty.

Moving on... A smile appeared on my face, and even though the gun I’m holding doesn’t have bullets anymore—

I still unconsciously pulled the trigger by impulse.

But then it made me frown. I looked at the trigger of the academy’s gun I was using...

"Looks like it can’t handle rapid fire."

Then I grumbled.

The trigger was crushed, and I assumed it’s already broken.

[It’s not that it can’t handle rapid fire—you just literally pulled it 10 times in a short amount of time.]

The system appeared and said that.

"Isn’t that what rapid fire is all about?"

I sarcastically mumbled.

[I know you know what I mean.]

"Sure, sure."

I shrugged and got out of the training room.

I immediately took a new handgun provided by the academy.

It’s free and I’m the only one who uses guns, so they have a lot of extra ones for me!

Even the bullets!

But I got bored going back to the shooting range.

So I headed to Ruby’s office instead.

"I should request a spar."

I muttered excitedly, like a child who got a new toy. I’ll use my new skill against her.

...

...

...

*****

"I didn’t know you’d request a spar right after you came back."

Ruby said as if she found my request interesting.

"Well, I learned some new tricks, and I want to test them out."

I replied with a cunning smile.

We’re in the same room we sparred in last time. Looks like the wall I got slammed into already got fixed—I don’t see the cracks anymore.

"So you learned new tricks, huh... That’s interesting."

After saying that, a smile crept up on Ruby’s face.

Then a normal medieval sword appeared in her right hand. It’s the same quality as the swords the academy provides to freshmen.

"Just so you know..."

I muttered.

Swoosh~

Then a katana appeared in my right hand!

"It’s gonna be different this time."

"...!"

Ruby’s eyes widened when she saw me holding a sword. Then her smile deepened, turning curious.

"Interesting..."

Ruby mumbled.

"You can start whenever you want, take the first attack too."

Then she added.

I nodded my head without saying anything.

FWOOSH—

And as usual, I grew a pair of black wings on my back.

After that, I channeled mana throughout my whole body.

Crackle—crackle—

FWOOOO—

Soon, black-colored electricity and wind covered me and my katana.

I also activated Calm Thinker and Insight to the max!

I’m using everything I can to its maximum efficiency from the very start!

Then... Everything around me seemed to stop moving.

F W O O S H~

My whole body was screaming in pain—but not that I gave a shit—as I pressed my feet on the ground.

TAP!

"[Strike everything in your path...]"

I looked at Ruby, and for the first time—I saw her frowning.

I smiled, and without further ado...

BOOM!

S W I S H—!

I kicked the ground and flapped my wings once—my body shot toward Ruby at terrifying speed!

I quickly arrived in front of her, and when I did—I slashed vertically down!

"[Lightning Bolt!]"

TIIIIIIING—!!!

BZZZT—BZZZT—

A loud clashing sound rang out along with buzzing electricity as my katana and Ruby’s sword made contact.

Ruby blocked my attack—but I made her take a step back.

SWOOSH—

From the clash of our weapons, a strong air shockwave was produced.

Ruby’s arms and hands were covered with mana.

She’s a water-attribute user, but my electricity barely worked on her.

Well, I already expected that.

Fwip-

A gun immediately appeared in my left hand and I aimed it at Ruby.

I was about to pull the trigger—but then...

Swish~

A transparent window appeared in front of me!

=====

[With the help of your abilities and strong luck, you successfully acquired a new skill!]

[NEW SKILL]

Thought Acceleration Lvl.1

=====

I was shocked, and in that moment of distraction—

"Huh?"

Ruby grabbed my arm and threw me away.

BAM!

"ARGH!"

I got slammed into the wall again.

"That attack wasn’t bad."

Ruby said, looking at me with a satisfied smile.

"But why did you let your guard down? Usually, you wouldn’t stop attacking or drop your guard."

She followed, wearing a questioning expression.

I stood up with a frown and brushed my clothes.

"Something came up."

"What is it?"

I smiled and shook my head.

"It’s a secret."

Before Ruby could say anything else, I rushed to the door of the room.

"I remembered that I need to do something. Thanks for making time for me, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience. See you in class."

Click—

Then I left. The last thing I saw was Ruby frowning—she looked unsatisfied with something.

*****

As soon as I got back to my dorm, I immediately opened my mouth.

"System, show me the new skill!"

My tone was like that of an excited kid—but I didn’t care. I was really that excited.

’I just created a skill!’

So it’s normal for me to feel this way!

[You’re like a child... Well, anyway, this is the skill you acquired.]

After the system said that, a transparent window was projected in front of me.

=====

Thought Acceleration Lvl.1

-Accelerate your thinking process to the point that time seems to slow down for you.

=====

"What the..."

The description of the skill was so good, I couldn’t even put into words how shocked I was.

I was stupefied...

-What’s wrong, Raven?

Levina’s voice snapped me out of my daze.

Glancing at her—

"Something good just happened."

I said.

-What is it?

Levina asked, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I activated Thought Acceleration!

My head hurt a little, but I ignored it and looked around.

Just like the description said—

The world seemed to slow down.

I looked at Levina.

-Hey... are... y..ou... lis..te..ning... to... me?

She was talking really slowly to me.

Then I tried to walk, but just like her, my movements were also slow—actually, I was slower than a snail!

’Guess just because I can think faster doesn’t mean I can move faster.’

In short, my thinking had drastically accelerated to the point that everything seemed to move in slow motion.

But my body couldn’t keep up, so I was moving slowly too.

’Well, I already anticipated this.’

I just tried it to confirm what I suspected. And I already had a solution in mind.

And the solution was simple—something I’ve done many times.

I manipulated the electricity in my cells. My thinking became even faster, and at the same time, my movements became faster.

I merged my body with my electric attribute.

’Electricity is strong...’

I mumbled in my mind.

’Electricity... is fast.’

And as I thought of that, my movements became a lot faster. Now it felt like I was moving as slow as Levina.

Before, I couldn’t even tell if I was moving at all...

I knew that in the normal flow of time, I was moving very fast.

I tried moving to get familiar with the feeling.

My hands, arms, feet, and legs.

A satisfied smile appeared on my face.

Then after playing a bit more... I deactivated the skill.

"!!!"

But then, a coursing pain radiated throughout my whole body—especially in my head!

"GAAAAHHH—!!!"

I let out a pained scream. My body stiffened and started to fall.

"What happened?!"

Levina, now in her human form, caught me and slowly laid me on the bed.

’This has to be the side effect of the skill!’

I thought, cursing my stupidity.

Because of my excitement, I didn’t think this might happen.

Looks like my body can’t handle the skill properly, causing this kind of pain!

The pain still flowed through my body—I bit my lower lip to keep quiet.

I didn’t want anyone to see me in this state.

I was glad I tested the this in my dorm.

"Raven, are you okay?"

Levina asked loudly in a worried tone.

I looked at her and weakly shook my head.

"Of... course... I’m... not... stupid."

She frowned, but I didn’t care and continued speaking.

"Don’t... worry... I... just... need to... rest..."

I muttered, and as soon as my words faded—I lost consciousness.