Chapter 89- New Skills (Part 3)
"What did you just say?" Emilia blinked a few times as if she didn't quite register his words. They were just too unbelievable to comprehend.
"I learned the skill. I think I can execute it now. Do you want me to try it out, master?"
"Huh? Wait! What do you mean 'you learned' it? That's not possible."
'I did really learn it, though.' He thought in his head.
That made Emilia even more shocked. Hearing his thoughts made it impossible for him to lie to her and that solidified it even more for her.
'How is that even possible?! Even I couldn't understand it yet he not only comprehended the skill yet also learned it?'
"Master?" Rin called for her when he saw the grimace on her face. She looked so abnormally expressive now that he questioned if she was having some mental crisis in her head.
"You…" Shaking her head, she tried to calm down and then asked him.
"Can you show me?"
"Sure."
Then, Emilia gave him some space and watched closely as Rin picked up a training wooden dagger. He wasn't intending to use Shadow Monarch's dagger for training since it's meant for actual fights.
Taking a deep breath, Rin closed his eyes as he gathered his thoughts and created a simple image of the skill getting executed in his head. Other than the effects of the skill, there was also the more important part of the skill which was the techniques that came with it.
Since the system is purely statistical it only showed what the dagger technique can do in quantified numbers. The other parts that it didn't mention were the movements, the techniques, and the improvement in the dagger skills in general.
So, not only has Rin learned a new skill for his system, but he also improved his dagger techniques greatly.
"Hah!" Then, with a low grunt, he slashed with his dagger. The movement was pretty simple but if anyone looks closely, they will be able to pinpoint the clear improvement in the dagger slash compared to Rin before.
Then, without waiting, Rin stabbed to the side before changing the grip on the dagger and slashing horizontally.
Meanwhile, as he did those movements, he was channeling his mana in a very particular way. The blue aura of his mana engulfed the dagger along with his body. He looked to be in perfect harmony with his weapon as if it was a part of his body. Then…
*Swish*
For a split second, Rin's body blurred from view and appeared a few meters away from where he was before. The change was minor and quick to vanish but it was still there and that was enough for Emilia's eyes to widen to their extreme.
'He… learned it…' She couldn't understand how to react at all.
Forget about calling him 'talented', this was basically nonsense. No human had ever been able to learn a weapon technique of any sort in less than 1 hour let alone less than a minute. And even those that were able to learn a skill in an hour, it was a very simple and weak skill that didn't require any extensive understanding or deep focus so the comparison does not even work in that case.
"Tsk! I couldn't do it correctly." Rin cursed under his breath as he tightened his grip and readied himself to try again.
"Stop," Emilia ordered him.
"Hmm?"
"You… Do you understand what you just did?"
Rin didn't answer as he kept a calm face. He wasn't stupid, he knew that what he did was very weird and unheard of. But, to keep it clear, he didn't try to hide it and the reason for that is very simple: he wanted to set up his position in the academy from now.
Rin came here for one goal and one goal only: to become the strongest. He wasn't going to try and keep it lowkey just so that trouble doesn't come knocking up on his door. And even if he wanted to try and hide it, trouble will happen either way.
So, with that in mind, he decided that showing his 'monstrous talent' was not a bad thing at all. With the help of a character as strong as Emilia backing him up, he can easily rail through obstacles and unwanted attention.
But, he needed to show his worth to Emilia first so that she fully support him in the time he will stay in this place.
"Your talent is unheard of. I have never heard of such a feat before in all of my life."
"Really?" Rin feigned ignorance and asked.
"It's not even a funny joke at this point. Rin, listen closely. No matter what happens, do not tell anyone about this. If the wrong people heard of your talent, you are going to get in trouble."
"Aren't you going to help me, master?" He asked
"I can, for now at least. But, as you get higher and higher in rank, people will start looking at you. That's why you must not tell anyone about your comprehension abilities. I can handle the rest." Emilia replied as she scratched her chin.
She never knew that she will actually stumble upon such a bright gem by complete coincidence. No, not a mere diamond, a whole diamond mine in and out of itself. For a human this talented to actually exist.
'Can he actually… No! Don't overthink it, Emilia. Let's take it one step at a time. With his talent and my training, I can only imagine how scary this young man will become in the future. He will be a menace on the current high-rankers for sure.'
Calming herself down, she returned to her apathetic expression. After that, she added.
"Can you repeat what you did just now?"
"I don't mind."
Then, Rin executed the skill again which ended up giving the same results as before. He couldn't keep the skill activated for more than a split second.
Even though he technically learned the skill, learning something and mastering it are completely different concepts. It's as if Rin had finished the theoretical part of the task, what was left now was to engrave the technique into his body so that he can do it flawlessly.
'Why am I failing? What am I doing wrong? I followed the technique to a T.' He scratched his head in frustration.
"You have failed for two main reasons." Emilia intercepted him.
"Your footwork is completely off and the other reason is your mana control."
"My mana control?"
"Yes, the skill relies on camouflage and making yourself vanish from eyesight. So, your mana should work in a very smooth and tame manner. For example, this is another technique that has the same concept."
After saying that, Emilia's body suddenly vanished out of nowhere. Rin tried to look around, searching for her but he felt nothing as if Emilia just left the place and her aura vanished along with her.
*Tap*
Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder from behind. Looking behind him, he saw his master standing a few inches away from him. A whiff of her smell reached his nose and he had to admit that she smelled so good for some odd reason even though he was sure that it wasn't some kind of perfume or shampoo.
"See? I made my whole aura blend with the environment around me."
After that, Emilia stepped in front of him and continued.
"The mana that flows in nature is very calm and serene, it's just like a windless lake, still and unmoving. To be able to disappear, we have to become one with the world mana itself."
In her hand, the blue mana materialized in the shape of a ball that floated in the air then it became a square and from a square to a triangle. Emilia kept changing the shape quickly. After that, the mana suddenly vanished.
"If you learn to fuse your mana with the world around you then you will learn how to erase your presence from this world. Do you understand?"
"I get it. But, how can I learn to do that?"
"This exercise that I showed you now is a good way to do that. Try to materialize your mana in front of you and start changing its shape. That will teach you how to master controlling your mana."
Nodding his head, Rin tried to do the same thing. The task wasn't easy since he had never tried to materialize mana in its raw form and not convert it to a skill or anything of the sort. So, the mana shapes appeared wiggly and slightly blurry.
*Bang*
Suddenly, he felt pain in his arm and the sound of a hit echoed inside the training ground.
"You clearly lost focus there! Don't think about anything unnecessary." Emilia said sternly as she tapped with a metal stick on the palm of her hand.
'Where did she even get that stick?!'
Rin felt a chill run down his spine as he predicted what was going to happen next.
"Do it again."
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