Razeal stood silently, still recovering from the embarrassnt that had just occurred monts ago. But he quickly shoved it all into the darkest corner of his mory. No way was he going to let sothing like that define him. Not now, not ever.
"Alright, stop this bullshit and tell what these skills do?" Razeal asked, his voice low and firm, trying his best to sound unaffected.
[Yes, Host.]
Shadow Step (A-Rank)
Type: Active-Passive | Non-upgradable
Effect: When walking on or beneath any shadows, your movents including footsteps, rustling of clothes, and breathing emit zero sound.
Consus mana only when active.
Keen Hearing (S-Rank)
Type: Passive
Effect: Significantly enhances hearing, allowing the user to detect even the faintest of sounds. Also grants the ability to instantly pinpoint the direction and distance of detected sounds, depending on skill proficiency.
Razeal raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin. "The first one... Shadow Step, huh? Isn’t that a bit too much for an A rank? All it does is remove sound when I’m in shadows. That’s it? Even my Obsidian Skeleton is S-rank, and that thing’s practically unbreakable. This feels over ranked Like, a little disrespectful even."
[Incorrect, Host. This skill is not over-ranked. In fact, by system judgnt standards, Shadow Step deserves at least a A-rank due to its utility. Not making any noise including movent, clothing rustle, and breathing when within shadows makes it an extrely potent tool for stealth like its practically broken for infiltration, assassination, ambushes, or even escaping. Unless your enemy has special sensory abilities like mana detection, ntal perception, or sothing equally rare, they won’t even know you’re there.]
The system continued without pause
[And as for its classification as non upgradable this is the full extent of its effect. No amount of usage or proficiency will change or enhance it further. What you see is what you get.]
Razeal nodded slowly. "Makes sense. Active passive... so I can turn it on, and it’ll keep working until I turn it off, right? But it eats up mana?"
[Correct. Use it wisely you have disgusting amount of mana.]
He scratched his chin, already imagining dozens of applications. It wasn’t just useful it was dangerous. If he was ever inside a structure, a dim alley, or just out during the night, he’d basically beco a walking ghost. No sound. No trace.
"Alright, I like it. Sounds fun," he murmured. Then his eyes shifted toward the second new skill.
Keen Hearing.
"An S rank skill for... hearing? Sounds kinda underwhelming," he mumbled. "I an, how strong can just hearing really be? Can’t people just focus and train their ears normally?"
[Sighhh... Host, it’s not just about hearing. Keen Hearing is a complete 360-degree perception system. Human eyes, even at their best, only cover a 120–200 degree field of vision. This skill lets you hear everything.. front, back, sides, above, below all at once.]
Razeal blinked, slightly taken aback.
[Furthermore, Unlike visual or mana-based senses, sound is far harder to deceive or erase. ntal and spiritual perception can be disrupted, and even mana senses can be fooled with illusions or suppression techniques. But sound? Unless your opponent uses extrely rare skills like your very own Shadow Step you’ll hear everything.]
[In addition, Keen Hearing transfers information to your brain instantly no delay. Your reaction ti improves passively as your perception of incoming threats becos near-instantaneous.]
The system’s tone grew even more informative:
[At higher proficiency, this skill will allow you to literally form visual images through sound alone. Imagine perceiving your environnt like an echo-location radar but clearer allowing you to fight with your eyes closed.]
[Also, before you ask why the system display or format is different from your older skills this one is from an entirely different world system. Each Villain originates from a different dinsion, and though I can translate all skills into this interface, so system traits remain unchanged.]
"Alright... alright... damn," Razeal nodded again, this ti more seriously.
[As for skill growth, it has four tiers: Basic, Interdiate, Advanced, and Ultimate. You are currently at Basic. But good news this skill grows with use and talent, and your natural talent makes progress makes learning speed significantly faster.]
"Alright, alright! That actually makes a lot more sense now," Razeal nodded, finally satisfied. Everything was falling into place. He could already think of dozens of ways to use these skills, even in combo.
A soundless step and hearing everything within a wide radius?
Assassin build unlocked.
He sighed. Maybe those humiliating monts were worth it after all. Both of these were high tier and had tons of uses not just in combat, but for survival and recon too.
"Alright, system. Enough talk. Ti to test them out. Send back to the training grounds. Let’s see what I can really do now."
[Affirmative, Host. Initiating transfer. Prepare yourself.]
Razeal smirked.
"I’m going to fuck those ntises this ti," he muttered.
[Are you prepared, Host?]
"Of course. Go on."
Within seconds, he found himself standing once again under the giant leaf canopy of the oversized bio. The soft green glow of sunlight filtered through the thick, towering stalks, casting elongated shadows across the uneven ground.
Ten green figures materialized before him in a ripple of light, each one identical to the mantises he’d fought and lost to before.
This ti, though, everything was different.
Razeal’s ears twitched slightly as his [Keen Hearing (S)] skill activated. The world around him shifted not visually, but perceptually. He could hear everything.
Not just louder but sharper, clearer. The way wind whispered through the giant grass, the rustle of distant it, even the subtle drag of his own clothes as they shifted with his breathing every detail flooded into his awareness.
Weirdly enough, it didn’t overwhelm him. It should have. Any normal person would’ve been paralyzed by the sudden flood of hyper sensitive input.
But he didn’t feel overwheld.
In fact, it felt natural.
He closed his eyes.
Everything went black visually. But perception? It exploded.
He could still sense everything as vividly as before no vision needed. He could feel the shapes, the forms, the movent of air against surfaces. The sunlight filtering down through gaps in the canopy beca threads of clarity in the dark. The way the wind curved around a tree or struck a surface... he could see it without seeing.
Razeal literally could feel the layout of the entire battlefield. Ten mantises in front of him. Their claws slightly raised, twitching. He could hear the microscopic shifts in their foot placents. The air as it bent around their bodies. Even the vibrations of their muscles tightening as they prepared to launch forward.
It was like he could see without seeing. The world drawn in lines of pressure and sound, forming a perfect ntal image.
"Damn... I never expected this skill to be this powerful," he murmured in awe, still with his eyes closed. "And this is only the basic tier?"
[It is the basic level of an S Rank skill, Host. Naturally, even at this proficiency it creates significant difference.]
Significant was an understatent. Razeal could now perceive movent from all directions front, back, above, below, to his flanks with precise awareness.
It was a massive difference. He felt as though he had jumped several levels forward without even lifting a weapon.
But it wasn’t just perception. The skill had a filter.
Razeal realized it was helping him by removing unnecessary noise the wind’s roar, the ambient background hum so that only relevant information reached his brain. It prioritized the important. No delay. No confusion. Only clarity.
"It’s like my brain’s wired differently now," he muttered, awed. "It’s not just sound. It’s vision. Touch. Direction. All from vibrations."
[Correct, Host. The skill converts sound into spatial awareness. You will instinctively know the exact shape and position of anything within range.]
"It’s definitely worth S-rank," he muttered. "Maybe even higher..."
And then it began.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
And suddenly
Razeal crouched low without warning, narrowly dodging a deadly slash aid straight for his head from the left. Instinct took over as he twisted his body right, slid left, ducked upward, then leapt back all guided solely by the hypersensitive soundscape flowing into his ears.
Each movent was sharp, clean, and reactive. His eyes remained closed, fully focused on his heightened sense of perception, relying entirely on the vibrations in the air to track the ten ntises attacking him.
If anyone had been watching from afar, they would’ve been stunned srized, Watching Razeal weave through ten different attackers like a dancer in a storm of blades. The way he moved, almost as if he could predict each attack before it ca, felt like sorcery. Every slash, every charge, every razor sharp limb that struck at him he evaded them all with uncanny precision.
Almost all.
Click!
"Ouch!" Razeal hissed, as a strike landed on his left arm, the blade grazing past before he could fully react. His body stumbled backward one step and then it ca.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
A barrage of nine more strikes followed instantly, surrounding him from all directions. He raised his dagger in a defensive arc, blocking so of the slashes mid air. Others collided against his arms and sides. His obsidian skeleton absorbed the worst of the damage, but the blades still tore into his muscles and opened shallow veins.
Still, Razeal wasted no ti.
He imdiately stepped back out of range, eyes still shut, breath steady, keeping his perception fully active.
"My agility and reaction speed are too low... even when I can feel their movents like they’re happening in slow motion," Razeal thought, frustrated. "I can literally sense their body positions and predict where the slashes will co from... but if they all strike together, and I don’t have space to dodge.."
That was it. That was why he’d been hit. There simply wasn’t enough room to maneuver through all ten simultaneously.
But even with that disadvantage, having this skill changed everything. For a few seconds, Razeal genuinely felt like he was in ultra instinct like that long haired dude from that old ani.
[Not even a trillionth of a percent close, Host,] the system muttered flatly.
"Yeah, yeah..." Razeal replied. "But I’m pretty sure these ten bugs won’t kill this ti."
"What are their Agility stats again?"
[Each of them is literally one level above yours (E-).]
"No wonder..." Razeal grumbled as he continued dodging.
This ti, he didn’t just avoid the incoming strike from the right he baited it.
He tilted his dagger upward slightly, adjusting the angle. One of the ntis lunged forward at high speed and its razor arm struck directly against the unarmored edge of its own limb.
Flickk!
Green, viscous liquid sprayed into the air as the ntis’s blade like arm sheared off completely, severed by its own force.
Razeal smirked.
"Doesn’t seem so hard anymore," he muttered confidently.
The injured ntis shrieked with a high pitched, insectoid screech, retreating instinctively. The remaining nine hissed louder, their slashes growing wilder and faster, clearly furious.
Razeal just kept moving dodging like it was second nature now. His steps flowed like a dance, perfectly in tune with the rhythm of combat.
***
Six minutes later...
Razeal stood tall, staring down at the twitching remains of the final ntis. With a sharp slash, he severed its small head clean from its shoulders.
[Congratulations for killing 10 Ranked F ntis, Host.]
[Killing Intent (F): 1.10 / 100]
He wiped the green blood from his blade.
"System, show my Lesser Healing progression," he asked calmly.
[E-Rank – Lesser Healing (26 / 1000)]
26 tis? Razeal blinked. That shouldn’t have been the case. He quickly ran through the battle in his head.
Ten direct hits from the first ambush that much he could understand. But after that? He had clearly started countering, dodging, and even slicing back effectively. So why had he still taken damage twenty-six tis?
He exhaled sharply. "It must’ve been those early injuries... they slowed my movent. Made the dodges a second too late, the counters half a beat off."
Still, if this had been the real world, without infinite stamina and healing, he might’ve collapsed from fatigue alone. Even so it was an imnse improvent.
After all, it had taken him ten minutes just to beat one of these monsters last ti.
Now?
He had just wiped out all ten by himself in under six minutes.
Back then, he hadn’t even killed a single one before dying. The only reason he survived long enough was his indestructible Obsidian Skeleton.
But now?
It wasn’t the skeleton that saved him it was him.
[Congratulations for clearing Second Wave.]
[Third wave is coming. Host, prepare.]
Suddenly, golden light wrapped around Razeal’s body his wounds vanished, replaced with fresh skin. Even his bloodied clothes were gone, replaced by new ones, crisp and clean.
He blinked, still adjusting, when the system’s voice echoed again.
Then he saw it.
His face paled slightly.
From the very spot where the first ntises had spawned, a hundred green lights suddenly flared into existence.
Ten by ten.
An army of a hundred ntises stood before him, lined up like a deadly battalion.
"Umm..." he muttered, sweat forming on his brow.
[Wave Three: 100x F-Rank ntis Initiated.]
"System, how much ti do I have before the academy morning starts again?" Razeal asked, his gaze still fixed on the army of ntises before him.
> [There are still 6 hours left before it begins, Host. Do not worry.. I will notify you when the ti cos.]
"Alright. Good," Razeal nodded.
He exhaled slowly, stretching his arms. "I think by morning, I can definitely upgrade Lesser Healing... and maybe Killing Intent for sure." He paused, his lips twitching into a smirk. "Right? It can’t be that I can’t even manage to kill a thousand of these things with infinite revives, right?"
And maybe... just maybe... if his Keen Hearing progressed quickly, he could push it to interdiate? That one felt a little less likely, but who knows his talent is afterall said to be greatest of all.
"Anything can happen," he muttered to himself, eyes narrowing with renewed fire.
He had to get stronger. No, he must.
Because tomorrow... was his first day at the academy. The beginning of what he already knew would be hell. And whether it was tomorrow or the day after, he had so people to deal with so lessons to teach.
Not that he could even touch those people right now.
But soon.
If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the day after that.
One step at a ti.
The thing he was most excited about?
The Killing Intent skill.
The system had told him every ti it ranked up, it would unlock a new effect.
That was enough to keep him going, even through death after death.
"Let’s see..." he muttered with a dangerous grin.
He cracked his neck, stretched his arms once again, and steadied his breathing.
"System," he said, stepping forward, ready to dive into the massacre.
"Let’s start this up."
---
Hope you all are enjoying the story so far!
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