9 One Original [2]

"Haaaa...."

Letting out a long breath, I looked stunned at Maya who was huddled in front of me.

She's too scared, scared of what I would say.

'This girl... in 30 days...'

Her character setup was crazy. She went through hell, only to eventually become part of Lucas' harem and accept defeat in love for the main heroine.

Honestly, Maya was my favorite female character, especially when she used her power.

When Lucas decided to take over his relationship and it wasn't with her, my desire to drop romance increased a lot.

"What's your name?"

Again, I asked her name. Surprised, she lifted her head and for the first time since she came out of the bathroom, she looked into my eyes.

"Maya, my name is Maya." She replied while seeming to think hard about what to say.

'Still hiding your last name huh...'

As the destruction of her family hasn't happened in a long time, Maya had decided to hide her last name, until she became strong enough.

"It's okay, Maya. Before we continue, I want you to tell me exactly what you want."

"Huh?"

She frowned when she heard my question.

"Think about your answer, I'm willing to help you with whatever you want."

How did Lucas help her in the novel? It was indirectly. Maya found the magic control Lucas had left on the floor. After much research, she discovered that it was his and became interested in him, consequently falling in love.

But even after finding magic control, her life hadn't changed, she was still beaten even after she stopped asking for help.

"May I ask why?" Silently, she frowned as several thoughts ran through her head. "Why do you want to help me?"

As soon as she was done, she lifted her head and looked into my eyes.

I was silent with the question. To say it was mostly for righteous reasons was a lie, I was helping her because she was strong and in the future, she would become an S class student.

But it wasn't just that.

"I like you."

After much thought, I replied. I liked her character, so it wasn't a lie.

"Y-you..." Maya hesitated a little.

She swallowed and lowered her head, losing all the courage she had before. She couldn't hide her relieved expression. Her lips curved a little and she didn't seem to believe me.

"Do you like me? Are you serious?"

"Seriously, you are very beautiful. Not only that, I can tell you that you are going to become someone very strong, so I am also enjoying your future."

Maybe I could be called dumb for revealing the reasons, but I meant it.

I have an understanding of the character in front of me, even though it's only a part, eventually, she'll figure it out, hiding it will only hurt me.

My ambition was big, I wanted to survive. The final villain of this novel has been mentioned many times and is someone feared by many kings of other species.

Survival is a luxury only the strong have. I would help her, and when she became strong, she would help me too.

She was confused. Having survived miserably for so long, made her change and doubt everything and everyone.

Even though she still had hope that someone would eventually help her, she was slowly losing her belief.

Tears started to flow from her eyes as she gripped her hand on the bed sheet pulling it up.

"This isn't a dream, is it?"

How long had she come to hate her looks? Being several times the envy of girls and coveted by boys. Maya just wasn't sexually abused because a class B student had the goal of making her fall in love with him truly.

She came to hate herself, to doubt her existence. Wondering if dying in the attack on her family was the best ending for her.

"It's not."

I lifted my hand and brushed it across her cheek, wiping her tears away, which surprised her.

"I know you're having doubts. But let me tell you, asking for help isn't wrong. You didn't do anything wrong, on the contrary, you were more human than most people in this place."

One of the darkest chapters in the novel is when Maya starts to lose faith in humanity. When she starts to question whether asking for help was such a horrible act.

It was in that chapter, where I saw a strong girl being mentally broken, that I understood that she wasn't just your typical serious character.

Her emotions then exploded at my words. Her grip on the sheet faltered as she turned her face down, looking at the small wet spot on the bed, she cried, screamed, and wailed releasing all pent-up emotions.

No one but me heard her.

Lucas didn't deserve her. She wasn't the strong girl everyone knew, she was forced to be strong when she had to fend for herself.

Even though she didn't have Dreyden's memories, she was just like him.

Someone who was at the top, and fell to the bottom. No help, no friends, no family.

She changed her personality from being kind and innocent to someone strong and serious, someone who, even in difficulty, had to stand up, live and believe.

One of the phrases that stood out the most in the novel for me was when she turned to Lucas and said: 'All the hardship I went through on the streets, doesn't compare to what I had to go through in this place.'

"I... can't believe I'm getting help."

One thing that set her apart from Dreyden, she didn't have someone who passed on a stolen ability to him.

She was always alone, and never asked for help. Not out of pride, but because she didn't think anyone would help her.

Since, even with her family struggling, no one came to help them.

But for the first time, as soon as she was confronted with the reality of the Triangle, she faced fear and asked for help, only to drown in disappointment and cruelty.

And for the first time in her life, she is getting help.

"O...thank you, I...want help. I want to get stronger... Please...help me...help me get stronger."

In silence, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

'Huh?' I thought surprised.

It wasn't my tears. I had cried enough when I read about her in the novel.

But that's when I understood.

They weren't my tears, they were Dreyden's.

As if he was saying, 'I understand your pain.'

I felt my heart ache, I created his past.

Even though I didn't expect it to come true, it was my fault.

A feeling of guilt began to grow inside me.

"I will go." I walked over and hugged her, ignoring the tear stain beneath me. "I'll do more than that, I'll protect you."

I wanted to help this girl. If before it was because of her and for being my favorite character, now it was because of me.

For Dreyden, for her.

"You don't have to be alone anymore, you have me now."

Maya gave a small nod. She wiped away the tears that seemed impossible to contain.

For once, she didn't feel lonely, she wasn't alone.

I knew it because I was feeling it too.

I wasn't someone cold and calculating, I was just a reader. I thought I could take advantage of her, but looking at this situation, I understood that I couldn't.

I have to be colder, I convinced myself that only then would I survive.

But that wasn't me, it was just someone I'd raised from reading a lot of novels, someone I thought was ideal for this world.

I tightened the hug as I ran my hand through her hair.

For the first time I felt like the old me.

*****

I waited for Maya to calm down. We spent a lot of time talking, and she explained her situation to me, obviously hiding some details.

"Maya, can you let me see your status?"

Maya, who had calmed down considerably, nodded after hesitating. "Er... just... please listen to me first, okay?"

"Understood."

I knew what she was afraid of. Maya didn't know that I was from an influential family and had information that only they had.

That's why she said her skill was level 8 when it was a level 10 skill.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before saying:

"Visible Status."

She didn't dare open her eyes waiting for my reaction. Curious, I looked at her status.

=====Status=======

[Name: Maya Serenity]

[Race: Human]

[Strength: 10]

[Toughness: 13]

[Agility: 11]

[Intelligence: 20]

[Perception: 13]

[Magic Energy: 20]

=====Skills=======

[Reality Manipulation: Identity {10}]

An offshoot of the original 'Reality' skill. It is capable of assimilating the identity of anyone in any universe. The user gets the memories and skills of the assimilated identity.

No current ID.

=====Status=======

Yup. That was Maya's stolen ability.

A kind of manipulation of reality.

It's still quite memorable when she used her skill and turned into Xia Qinqiu, a demon cultivator.

As a side effect while in another identity, she gets some personality traits from the identity, which made her arrogant and ruthless.

Despite being a pretty broken skill, it had side effects and requirements.

For example, when I activate fire fist, it consumes an amount of magic energy and continues to consume it until I deactivate it.

Maya's ability is different, it costs an absurd amount to activate, but while it's activated it doesn't cost anything.

Just to activate it, it consumes magical energy, but a very problematic side effect is that the skill deactivates itself, since it doesn't have a magical energy expenditure.

Another side effect is that with each new identity the consumption of magical energy increases.

I put a wonder face on my face. I knew a lot about her skill but pretended not to.

After all, I shouldn't know any of this.

"Ah! This is very stolen!"

Hearing my reaction, Maya opened her eyes in confusion. She watched my face for a few seconds before saying:

"Aren't you mad that I lied?"

"Honestly, I would be disappointed if you hadn't."

She was silent before nodding and also staring at her status.

I smiled a little when I saw her bite her lip in embarrassment.

"Because it's a level 10 skill, the initial cost of my skill is 730 magic energy, I need urgent magic control." Seeming to finally realize something, she widened her eyes before facing me. "Wait, aren't you surprised that my skill is level 10?"

"I'll show you my status."

Like her, I also made my status visible, I watched her shocked expression as her eyes dropped to the small screen in front of me.

Just as I ignored her last name and didn't ask her reason to hide it from me, she did the same.

"But what!?"

She widened her eyes in surprise, after all, even among the original families, she didn't have any with that ability.

"An unregistered skill... you copy skills, that..."

As I expected, even though he spent little time with his family, he was much more knowledgeable than the others.

"Only you know that I copy skills, for others, my skill is fire fists."

"Understood."

Maya was afraid of something, I knew it was due to my high amount of magical energy. I got out of bed and opened a desk drawer, taking a book out of it.

I threw the book at her, and she opened it and read it carefully.

"While you are in the process of creating the energy core, I will be injecting you with magical energy, use it in creation."

She nodded without taking her eyes off the book, so I continued.

"The points test is done every month. You have to be able to use your skill before the test. We are also going to train our physical condition in the gym. It will be a very demanding routine, are you ready?"

Maya took her eyes off the book, and with absolute certainty, she smiled as she decidedly nodded in confirmation.

Seeing their trust and commitment, I smiled in response.

"Alright, so finish reading, and let's start creating your core."