Chapter 33 - Fraudulent Revelation

Shit...what do I do? Use Load? No, that wouldn't eliminate his suspicion, there was no point in doing so. Maybe I should play dumb and just deny it? No, he'd still be suspicious unless I gave him a believable explanation. I don't think I have a choice but to reveal it...hopefully, they'll both agree to keep it a secret if I reveal it. Hm, but I don't need to reveal exactly what my Anomaly X-Abilities are...

"Huh? No way, if he was an Anomaly, he'd have totally told me already! Right, Zax?" Remarked Kilella with a laugh.

Jeez, way to guilt-trip a guy, sis...

"Well, uh...," I trailed off, averting my gaze as I had no idea what to say.

"I knew it...!...but I'm still having trouble believing it. So, then, you're...you're really an Anomaly?" Inquired Kumar with wide eyes.

Well, no point denying it at this stage. This is going to be a pain to get through.

"...yeah, I am."

"What!? Why didn't you tell me!? How long have you been an Anomaly!? Wait, are you just kidding? No, your expression is-...wow, you're being serious. You've been hiding it from me this whole time, but wh-!?" Kilella immediately blurted out so fast that it almost sounded like she was rapping, or maybe I was hearing it like that because she had grabbed my shoulders and was shaking me kinda violently.

"S-slow down! I guess I'll explain everything...," I sighed reluctantly, "That day, after I went through the Awakening Procedure, I had a really bad headache that kept getting worse and worse...remember I headed to the bathroom after that sack of shit berated me for not turning out to be a Prodigy?"

"Yeah...come to think of it, you did look like you were in some pain, I thought you were just hurt and shocked..."

I then explained that my Anomaly X-Ability awakened after that, and how I decided to keep it a secret and pretend to be a regular Paragon instead of revealing that I'm an Anomaly. My sister was still pretty ticked off that I hadn't told her either, even though I tried to explain that I was just trying to make sure that it was impossible for anyone else to find out, and that at times, she wasn't very good at keeping her mouth shut. When she really gets into a conversation, she has a tendency to blurt stuff out without really thinking, so yeah.

"Well, that about covers it, I think," I concluded with a sigh.

"Wait, you didn't tell us what your X-Ability does, have you been using it this whole time?" Inquired Kumar with intrigue and curiosity in his eyes.

I could tell them what I could actually do, but...putting myself in their shoes, I wouldn't be too thrilled if I learnt that someone could both go back in time and stop it as well. So, instead...

"Let me show you...," I replied, standing up and mumbling inaudibly, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Two: Pause>."

There, time is frozen. Next, I'll go behind him. Okay, hope they believe this is all I can do...

"<Activate Anomaly, Tier Two: Play>."

"Okay-...huh, what the-...? He vanished. Ahhh!" Kumar began in confusion, before jumping in surprise as I tapped his shoulder from behind.

"Didn't vanish, just teleported is all...I can teleport anywhere within a hundred meter radius. I think there's more I could do, but those powers seem to be locked and I don't know how to unlock them," I fraudulently explained, "So, yeah, that's how I actually saved my teammates. And you were right, I'm not so empathetic that I'd save people out of the goodness of my heart, I just saved them cuz I figured I'd get a better score on the exam if I did."

That last part was true, if nothing else. Looks like they bought it, neither showed any signs of skepticism. Good, they may know that I'm an Anomaly now, but their idea of what I was capable of was a lot simpler than what it was in reality.

"Wow, you're really determined to keep your X-Ability a secret, aren't you? I mean, teleporting would be really, really useful in a fight, but you've obviously never used it before, because it'd be impossible to use without being noticed," Said Kumar with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well, the whole point is to prove that I don't need to be a Prodigy to become an X-Warrior...and I'll be able to get that point across a lot more resoundingly if I pretended to be a normal Paragon instead of revealing that I'm an Anomaly. And besides, since I never use it in a fight, it's almost like I really am just a regular Paragon, well, except for the fifty percent increase in my physical abilities, I guess. Additionally, I'd like to fully master this power before revealing it, right now I can only teleport within a hundred meters at the same elevation as my initial position...in other words, I can't teleport upwards or downwards."

Might as well give my 'ability' a weakness, right?

"Why would you ever need to teleport downwards though?" Inquired Kilella with a confused expression.

"What if I'm trapped on the rooftop of a tall, burning building? Unless there's another building of the same or similar height within a hundred meters, I'll be screwed."

"Ohh, yeah, that makes sense...sorry, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around this whole thing...I can't believe you lied to me for six years, Zax!" She exclaimed dramatically.

"I never lied, I just kept quiet is all."

"W-well, yeah, but...same difference!"

Sometimes, I can't believe she's older than me.

"Hey, so this should go without saying, but, uh...keep this to yourselves, 'kay?" I said to the both of them.

"If you're that determined to keep it hidden, I'm certainly not going to ruin it for you, my lips are sealed, baby bro!"

"...don't call me that."

"I won't tell anyone either, it's not like you're doing anything wrong, after all. Hiding your X-Ability isn't a crime as far as I know, in fact, many X-Warriors try to keep their X-Abilities a secret for strategic reasons, that includes me to an extent, though plenty enjoy showing off what they're capable of...case in point," Remarked Kumar, nodding at Kilella.

"Wh-who, me? I don't show off-!"

"Actually, I watched your matches when you participated in one of those inter-high tournaments, remember...you were pretty flashy, unnecessarily so, you toyed with a lot of your opponents before actually defeating them, and-," I recalled with a raised eyebrow.

"F-fine, I admit it, I like playing around when I use my X-Abilities, is that so wrong? It's not like I torture my opponents or anything, I just like frustrating them before defeating them, that's all!"

Ooh, she's flustered, and opportunities to tease her are very rare...and by the glint in Kumar's eyes, he was thinking the same thing. And so, we teased her as much as we could, until we ran out of material and our jokes began getting stale...but it was fun while it lasted.

"Now, this is a night to remember. Oh, crap, it's late, I need to get going already!" Kumar suddenly exclaimed, as he glanced at his watch.

"Yeah, me too, I didn't realize it got so late already. Also, you guys suck, hmph!" She huffed dramatically, before turning to me, "Well, I'll see you later, Zax, I'll let you know when I'm next coming over!"

"Sure...oh, actually, I almost forgot, I wanted to ask a favor from one of you two," I suddenly recalled, having a request to make.

"Yeah? What is it?" Asked Kilella curiously, as Kumar also stopped and looked at me inquiringly.

This was awkward, I've never really asked anyone for a favor like this before, but it was really important...

"Well, it's like this. When I was facing those Two-Headed Serpents, I realized that without my X-Ability, I had absolutely no way of dealing any serious damage to them, even my strongest attacks with my current weapons only left skin wounds at best," I explained with a sigh.

"Hm, actually there are a number of X-Warriors that cannot handle K-Ranked Mutants with their X-Abilities by themselves, that is the main reason why X-Warriors are not allowed to take solo Missions, even Aces have to be in at least a team of two," Pointed out Kumar objectively.

"Well, yeah, but I want to have the means to be able to take down a K-Ranked Mutant by myself, so I want to get some new weapons. But when it comes to the mass-produced options, I've already got the best or close to the best options that suit my fighting style...and that's why I want to get in touch with a custom X-Weapon designer, but it's not like I have any connections...except for you two. I don't suppose you know anyone who fits the bill?" I asked hopefully.

"Sorry, I don't know anyone, it's mostly J-Ranked and Q-Ranked X-Warriors that use X-Weapons, and not many of them go to custom X-Weapon designers, most just use the mass-produced options," Replied Kumar with a shrug.

Let me explain, when it came to X-Weapons, there were several different types that were mass-produced that you could purchase at a store, but there were also a few individuals that made original custom weapons privately, some did it as a hobby while others sold their creations or took customized requests from X-Warriors.

However, private creators weren't allowed to publicly advertise themselves, since the X-Weapons industry wasn't all that profitable to begin with. So for the ones that don't have regular buyers, they had to usually sell or auction their creations online anonymously. Since that was the case, finding a reliable creator through the internet would require a lot of trial and error.

"What about you, big sis, know anyone?"

She had a hesitant look on her face, before replying...

"Well...there is this old classmate of mine, she made me a couple of X-Weapons when I was starting out as an X-Warrior, but since I only got them since I thought it'd be cool to have some weapons, and while they were pretty cool and effective, I didn't actually need them, so I didn't use them for long, they're just collecting dust in my room now. I haven't been in contact with her for a while, but if you really want to, I guess I could introduce-."

"For real? That's awesome, thanks a lot, Ella!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, putting on an excited, innocent expression to try and convince her.

"...that just made it impossible for me to say no. Fine, I'll let you know when I can hook you up," She replied with a hint of reluctance.

Alright, it worked! Her apprehension was a bit concerning though...

"Uh...is something wrong?" I inquired curiously.

"No, not exactly...it's just that, this old classmate of mine is kinda...eccentric, to put it lightly," She sighed.

Oh, is that all?

"So long as she can get the job done, I don't really mind what she's like," I shrugged in reply.

"If you say so...well, I'll see you later, Zax."

"See ya at the Academy," Added Kumar, before the two of them headed out.

"Yeah, later," I responded, before shutting my door as they left.

Well, that happened. I had ended up revealing that I'm an Anomaly. And I wasn't happy about it. Even if my revelation had been a fraudulent one, I would have preferred to keep the fact that I'm an Anomaly a secret for as long as possible, certainly longer than this...oh, well, there's no point in fussing over what's already done. I'll just have to make sure no one else finds out...

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