Chapter 6: Overpowered Skill

"System calls: Skill used <Truth> Level: 1." The familiar voice rang out beside her ear. It seemed that no one but she could hear it.

'Truth? What skill is this? Can I manipulate the truth? Can I change the truth? What is this?' Hundreds of questions swirled in her brain, with no answers for any.

'Let's try it out.'

One of her eyes glowed a dark green, and the bear stared at her, stubbed. A few seconds passed. Nothing happened.

Kanae swallowed back the disappointment she felt. Would this be a failure too? She didn't want it to be.

Her theory about the skill being able to manipulate truth was crossed out. The only option left was, able to change the truth. In most cases, this was a very highly valued skill, not meant to be given off as a reward. That was the reason why Kanae hadn't tried that out first.

The bear broke out of the trance, and growled at the couple that was trying to move. He smashed the ground and the rocky floor broke, blocking the entrance. Miao yelled out loud in fear, and held on to her lover.

Both of them scurried back.

No matter what, they were still young. The feeling of fear still existed in their minds. Fear of losing their life, fear of losing one another.

Kanae's eyes glowed again. This time, a blinding flash covered her, and the bear froze. His heart beat slowed down and his brain stopped functioning. All his mana also started flowing slowly.

He gave a throaty growl and raised his hairy arm, extending it, only to pierce through his own chest and rip out his red, beating heart. Blood spurted out of the wound and his mighty body fell down. Miao vomited all the contents of her stomach out. Ed grew pale. Clearly, they weren't used to seeing bloodshed.

A green eye glinted, before becoming normal again.

This was the rumoured power of truth.

What had happened was simple. Kanae had merely changed the truth. The bear's thoughts were to eliminate his enemy, which referred to Kanae. And what did Kanae do? She altered the truth just a little. And voila! The bear thought of himself as his enemy, and killed himself.

Kanae pouted. She had lost a cookie, and the bear didn't even give her a proper show. She was just about to sigh, when numerous windows popped up again, and a voice said, "Player White just levelled up. Current level: 1. Tip: Do not forget to collect the bear skin and store it in the inventory. Player can sell it later to earn coins, skills and keys."

Kanae furrowed her eyebrows. Inventory? Aloud, she said, "System open Inventory."

A window slid in front of her. "Player White's inventory- Empty."

"Uh..." She scratched the back of her neck, thinking what to command, and replied, "System store 'bear skin'."

"Heeding to Player White's call, item 'bear skin' has been stored."

True enough, the bear was now skinless, and it's pink muscles were on full display. Miao was shaking. Who was this girl? A monster? She felt more scared of Kanae than the bear. Defeating the bear without even moving... That was what they called a formidable opponent.

Kanae glanced at them, and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry for the mess. I didn't expect to dirty the floor with so much blood. I apologise again for dirtying your home. Well then, I'll take my leave." She waved and turned around.

Her eye glowed a strange green again, and the entrance blasted open. It seemed her skill could be used on non-living objects as well. At that moment, her legs buckled and she stumbled. Blood rose up her throat and she choked. Her eyeballs ached, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. Her energy had depleted at an insane rate, so she couldn't afford using <truth> more than once.

The cold forest awaited her.

'The Blood Arena'.

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Kanae's hands had a thin, crystal-like layer over them. When she rubbed them, small chips of ice came off, falling to the ground filled with snow, melting and becoming a part of it.

"Talk about cold." Her voice was almost muffled with strong winds blowing by, every now and then. It chilled her to the bones, and she had frostbite in her legs. They were a dull blue in colour, with dried blood in parts. She had long lost her shoes. To be honest, she hadn't even seen what appearance her current body had. She could tell that she had a small body, pale skin and white blonde hair. Eyes, she was clueless. It was not as if she could ask the two people trailing behind her.

Yes, two people. They were none other than the lovey-dovey couple Miao and Ed. As a loner, Kanae was quite annoyed seeing them both whisper sweet nothings to each other, kiss at times and show obvious signs of lust at intervals.

And why were they here?

Kanae cursed herself for entering the cave. Not only did she lose a good cookie, but also had some unwanted baggage tagging along. They had brought up the excuse of following Kanae because she had ruined their home, and now they had nowhere to go, but Kanae knew it wasn't the case.

Those two were hiding things, and their nervousness showed that clearly. Biting their lips, fiddling, eyes darting here and there. Kanae had learnt a lot of things in her previous life, and one of them was detecting liars. Being a mystery genre fanatic, she had often taken up the challenge of solving mysteries she found on the net, and hence, anonymously earned money for information. That didn't leave her alone from the scrutiny of many.

There were numerous attempts of murders, but Kanae had already gotten used to them. She would knock most of them out, with just a blow on the head. If things got serious, she would bring out her licensed gun.

A gun.

Yeah, Kanae was a badass.

She never had the intention to kill anyone, mostly.

Except that one time.