19 Testing Ground (2)
[You've gained 125 exp by killing a Goblin!]
[Due to the effect of [Studying] you'll gain another 125 exp!]
Messages upon messages filled my view, as I swung my shapeshifting rapier around, its blade expanding and retracting as if it couldn't decide its shape.
Although it was hard to get used to its ever-changing weight and form again, it didn't take me very long to remember the feeling of wielding a sword.
Quite frankly, it felt great.
The rush of adrenaline spread through my body, as my white blade sang through the forest, decapitating and slicing anything it made contact with.
Like a destructive force of nature, I sprinted through the forest, killing everyone in sight like a maniac.
I hadn't realized it at first, but it seemed like my time with Irene had some long-lasting effects on me.
"Kiiiiek!"
"KYAAARK!"
SLICE—!
[You've gained 125 exp by killing a Goblin!]
[Due to the effect of [Studying] you'll gain another 125 exp!]
Swinging my sword once again to wipe the blood off its blade, I looked around as the iron smell of blood filled my nose.
"It seems like there aren't any monsters left in this area..."
The previously green forest was now painted in a deep red color, creating a stark contrast between the beauty and horror of nature.
"Ranklist."
After making sure that it was safe, I quickly called out the command to create a display for my current ranking.
The watch on my wrist began to tremble, as a green flow enveloped the crystal in the middle of it, before a line of mana spread out of the crystal, showcasing a display.
====================
1. Weiss Azelio (276 kills)
2. Noir (207 kills)
3. Atlas Nasbe (102 kills)
4. Sylvia Garce (93 kills)
5. Iris Bello (78 kills)
--> Next page
====================
On the first page, I took the lead with around 240 kills.
However, even though I had a massive head-start, my position wasn't sure, as a familiar name quickly began rushing through the ranks.
'Noir'.
The name of the protagonist and of my old friend.
I honestly couldn't differentiate whether it was the Noir I knew or the protagonist, but either way, both of them had a fair chance to catch up with me.
While I had paused my combat training for 3 whole years, they probably had no reason to stop and only got stronger with time, so I wasn't sure how I would fare against them in my current state.
Although I think that it is fair to believe that my leveling speed is far beyond that of them due to the effects of [Studying], it was quite likely that their scaling was higher than mine.
In the first place, the only stat of Weiss, which had really good scaling, is mana, but Weiss never used her mana attacks creatively in the novel.
Speaking about creatively...
Narrowing my eyes, I quickly closed the window again, before focusing on the display on the side of my view.
=================
Weapon arts creation:
Step 1: Create a foundation.
Progress: 31%
=================
After switching up from the Imperial arts and only using the fundamentals and only fighting by doing what just felt right to me, I seemingly started to create a new weapon art.
Though, the progress seemed to be pretty slow.
I wasn't sure if [Studying] actually had an effect on the creation of weapon arts, as I didn't study anything, but created something entirely new.
Still, even if it did have an effect, the progress was slow.
I wasn't even sure when or why the percentage goes up, as it seems to increase randomly.
For example, it didn't move for 50 kills, but as soon as I killed the next one without my sword, but a kick, the percentage immediately rose by 2.
My guess was that the system tried to create a weapon art, which fit my general preference for fighting, but how it did it, even though I didn't even know what I preferred myself, was a mystery to me.
Shaking my head, I released a heavy sigh.
"There is no need to worry about such a thing now..."
The system did what it did and I highly doubt that it would do something to harm me.
It didn't even have a personality, so there was literally no reason to try to trick me or do something bad to me.
Deactivating [Reading] to save mana, I leisurely walked through the forest, looking for new opponents.
During the whole battle, I found out some new things I hadn't realized before.
That is, my creativity in my skills is severely lacking.
Due to Irene, someone with a non-elemental attribute, being my trainer, I got a general sense of skill creation from her.
However, as her mana wasn't an elemental one, her skills focused on heavy slashes, that were just destructive and 'violent', which is also the reason why my copies of her skills lacked her force, but compensated it with the freezing effect of my ice.
After picking up the sword again, it felt like I was back to square zero.
Everything I've learned just didn't feel right to me and the only thing useful to me was the basic knowledge and instincts I got from that hellish training.
Though, I guessed that the Imperial arts seemed to be a pretty good foundation, so that was also more or less a plus, I guess.
Using the talents [Intuitive Reasoning], which allowed me to subconsciously process information, and [Trackdown], which made it easy for me to notice clues that let me track someone, finding new enemies was easy.
Even without [Reading], it only took a few minutes at most and the best part of it was that Talents didn't take any mana, as they all were things related to skills a normal human could do.
Even though I knew that it was kind of a waste, at some point, I just started picking talents for entertainment such as [Gordon Ramsay], which increased my cooking skills by about 200%.
Pretty good talent, but not one that would be useful in combat.
Although it was pretty useful in my day-to-day life, as I could just cook for myself and not rely on the chefs in the Azelio mansion. Admittedly, I was better than them anyway, so there really was no reason for them to prepare food for them.
"If worse comes to worse, I'll just open a restaurant and live there peacefully until the end of my life."
"That's a pretty good dream."
Distracted by my thoughts, I got taken by surprise by a voice, which seemed strangely familiar to me.
However, I just couldn't put a finger on who that voice belonged to.
It had traces of familiarity but was also unknown at the same time.
Turning my head around, I faced the owner of the voice but was surprised by the sight I saw, my eyes widening in horror.
Deep-black hair and crimson-red eyes.
It was the protagonist.
The only person I wanted to avoid appeared right in front of me.
"Noir..."
Unintentionally, I whispered my thoughts out loud, as I kept staring at him in disbelief.
For some reason, his facial structure seemed familiar to me, but I didn't know someone with black hair and red eyes.
Noir then reacted, looking at me with a look of surprise, as he widened his eyes,
"You can still recognize me, even like this?"
His expression then formed into a creepy smile as he blushed, which sent a shiver down my spine.
Who the hell was this weird guy?
And why was he acting like such a creep?
Taking a step backward, I narrowed my eyes while activating [Reading], but was surprised by the following message.
[Due to the Skill [Liar's Mind], the target's status can't be read.]
"Huh?"
"What's wrong, Weiss?"
Raising my head, I looked at Noir with widened eyes, an expression of confusion forming on my face.
"You're Noir, right? The Noir from 4 years ago?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Nodding in ecstasy, he released a squeal of delight as he rushed toward me, grabbing me by my shoulders.
"You still remember me, right?"
"I...yes, I do."
Hearing my words, his gaze softened, while he put his forehead on my shoulder, resting on it.
I could only smile stiffly, looking at him with a bewildered look.
I still wasn't sure what was going on, but the suspicion that I had ignored until now came true, and the Noir I knew was the protagonist.
Seriously, what kind of bad luck do I have?
"That's good...that's really good."
Raising his head, he faced me with a wide smile, gently brushing through my hair, as he spoke in a dangerously sweet voice.
"I'm happy. I'm really happy..."
I shuddered at his bizarre behavior, unsure why he was acting like that.
What the hell happened to him while we haven't met each other?
Assuming that he really was the protagonist, nothing important should have happened during the time we were apart.
I froze up, as a realization came into my mind.
[Liar's mind]
In the novel, the exact thoughts of the protagonist were never described, so the possibility of his behavior and words all being a lie could be a possibility.
...if that was the case, then every piece of information I knew about him could be a lie.
But that was just a theory right now,, so I shouldn't overthink that situation too much.
My thought process was interrupted by the sudden embrace of a hug as he pulled me toward him.
"If it's you, then you would accept me, right?"
"Huh?"
Gulp—
I swallowed my saliva, as I shifted my head to Noir, facing him.
Suddenly, a massive amount of pressure, which was emitted by his release of mana, pressed down on me, making my knees falter for a split second, taken by surprise.
"Weiss, your smell..."
"...what about it?"
"It doesn't belong to you...it's mixed with an other smell..."
...
Now he was seriously creeping me out.
What the hell is wrong with him?
