Ch. 3: Skill Creation (2)

"If you would each place your hand on the impression in this pedestal, it will show us your status." She told us. I really didn't want to show anyone my skill, but everyone else did. One by one, they placed their hand on the pedestal, and their status was shown in midair for everyone in the room to look over.

My focus was on the princess's greedy expression as she watched the high quality skills everyone had. On a whim, I tried to call up some of the uniques with my [Skill Creation], but

[Confirmed. Unique Skill Invoked.] [Error. Skill Mastery too low.] [Unique Skill: Limit Break cannot be created.]

Interestingly enough, though everyone had at least one unique skill, they also had normal skills, too. [Arithmetic] and [Language Comprehension] were mainstays, but most people had at least one or two other skills. There was a wrestler with

[Basic Skill Grappling will be created for 10 MP.] [Error, Skill Creation Canceled.]

Another guy had [Martial Arts (20 MP) level 5], but I also saw [Speed Reading (10 MP) level 4], [Alcohol Resistance(10 MP) level 3], [Singing(10 MP) level 6], [Dancing (20 MP) level 7], [Running (10 MP) level 5], [Gymnastics (30 MP) level 5], [Art(10 MP) level 6], [Negotiation (30 MP) level 5], and even [Sexual Prowess level 2], which I didn't want to know the price of.

The girl with [Sexual Prowess] shrunk back when it showed up, understandably embarrassed. She was also in the group with [Alcohol Resistance].

I don't want to show my skills off. Mr. [Skill Creation], please give me a skill that can hide my status from this thing!

[Confirmed. Unique Skill Invoked.] [Basic Skill: Skill Concealment will be created for 30 MP.] [Error, Skill Creation Canceled.]

Ooh, there's a [Skill Conceal]! But it's too expensive. Maybe I can make regular [Conceal] work? I didn't have much of a choice.

[Confirmed. Unique Skill Invoked.] [Basic Skill: Conceal will be created for 10 MP.]

And there goes the rest of my usable MP. I really hope this works.

"You now."

No arguing, huh? She really wants to know my skills.

[Conceal]! [Conceal]! Screaming [Conceal] in my head while picturing [MP Regeneration], [Examine], [Information Processing], and [Skill Creation] as a group, I tried desperately to hide them as I placed my hand on the impression.

Grant Carr

Human

Level 1

Strength - 80

Dexterity - 100

Agility - 100

Endurance - 70

Intellect - 70

MP - 12 / 100

Unique Skill - Skill Creation (1 / 5)

Extra Skill - Impulse (5)

MP Regeneration (1)

Evasive Arts (5)

Examine (1)

Information Processing (1)

Conceal (1)

Language Comprehension

Arithmetic (4)

You could hear a pin drop with how silent everyone got. Not even Parker's [Light Hero] skill got this sort of reaction, and I couldn't blame anyone for it.

The average status for everyone in my class was about 75, so my dexterity, agility, and MP were pretty high, but the cake was my skills.

While everyone else was looking at [Skill Creation], I was surprised by [Impulse] and [Evasive Arts]. I'd half expected [Evasive Arts], or something similar to show up, but I hadn't expected it to be higher than maybe level four or so, and [Impulse] was probably exactly what it sounded like, a passive skill that enhanced my reflexes and the like in exchange for long term attention span.

Unfortunately, [Conceal] didn't work on my skills, and the expression on Princess Ava's face told me pretty clearly that she immediately started working up some sort of plot involving me.

Yup, They're probably gonna try to get rid of me before I can start using [Skill Creation] to its full potential. [Skill Creation] worked based on MP and mastery.

From what I knew so far, each level of mastery would theoretically allow me to create stronger skills, which would in turn cost more MP. Once I fully mastered it, I'd theoretically be able to give myself whatever skills I wanted, on the fly. It was totally broken, but at level 1, it was only incredibly useful.

On top of that, since I only had 12 MP left, I could only create a single, base level skill at the moment. Now was probably the only time that they'd be able to get rid of me so easily. Eventually, I'd become a broken existence far higher than the level of a mere demon lord, and everyone in this chamber now knew it.

...

Just like I expected, they sorted us into two groups. The ones who were to fight would stay in the castle, while the ones who refused, of which there were less than a handful, including me, were to leave at once, under an interestingly heavy guard.

Each of the people guarding us looked like impressively powerful knights, and I had absolutely zero confidence in my ability to take, or even run away from them without using [Skill Creation], which wasn't very helpful at present since... [Confirmed. Unique Skill Invoked.] [Basic Skill: Martial Arts will Be Created for 20 MP.] [Error, Skill Creation Failed, Not Enough MP.]

Yup, I hadn't even regenerated up to twenty MP yet. Since I had been at twelve MP when they read my stats, it seems like it regenerated at about 1 MP every minute or so, maybe less. It would take over an hour to refill my MP to full.

What can I do in the meantime? If I could keep myself alive until my MP regenerated, I was confident that I could create a combination of skills that could make the most of my evasion skills.

Ohh, right. [Examine]. I used it on the wall as we passed by, ignoring the idiotic idle chatter of my classmates, who were still in awe of my skills. I was trying to focus on the flow of information to train my [Information Processing].

wallwallWallWAllWallWAllWAllWALlWallWALlWALLWALLWALLWALLWaLlWall.Wall.Wall. Wall. Wall. Wall. Wall. Wall.

The more I focused on the word Wall, the more I anticipated it, the clearer it became. But…

wodndorwthronmtlhigsandinolts.

BEEEEP!

Accidentally [Examined] the door, giving me a deluge of useless, incomprehensible information. The tapestry behind it actually caused me to clutch my ears as the painful screech resounded in my brain. Was that because I knew nothing about it before I tried to [Examine] it? But the door was pretty simple in design.

Maybe I needed to be focused on the information to slow it down? I wonder…

Sonebrckwllmdewitmgicspllrathwl.

Yup, I could block out parts of the [Examination] to process things that I already understood. Did that mean?

[Examine].

MPfifteenoutofonehundred.

Finally, I could check my status. Focusing on more than a word or two wasn't as comprehensible as I wanted it to be, but I could still understand the individual words with a bit of effort.

"The first thing I'm gonna do when we get out of here is use [Hypnosis] on one of the maids. They'll have maids, right?" This was one of my classmates. He really had a scummy personality, and he was currently talking with the [Sexual Prowess] girl, who had also decided not to fight. She clearly thought that taking advantage of a poor maid was a great idea, so long as she got a piece of the action, too.

"We are going to leave through a secret entrance. A lot of people would love kill to kidnap or kill a summoned hero, so we can't use the main gate." The knights were taking us deeper into the castle. They were going to kill us. I needed to make my move before we got much further.

What can I do? What can save me from this? I had inspiration

[Confirmed. Unique Skill Invoked.] [Basic Skill: Focus will be created for 10 MP.]

Instantly, my world changed. I could tell the most minute shifts in our escort's demeanor, read their body language better, and listening to my classmates' stupid conversation made me a little less annoyed. For me, it was a huge change.

"How long until we get out of this place? I'm boored!" I whined.

Nobody around me much cared for my fake attitude, but it did serve to make my classmates' conversation slightly more vulgar, making the soldiers around them more angry by the minute.

Meanwhile, I pretended to drag my feet a bit, slowly drifting to the left side of the hallway, away from the others. Since the soldiers instructions were probably something along the lines of "pretend that you're taking them to a safehouse, then stab them in the back," they couldn't just straight up restrict my movement, so I managed to put a little space between the ones behind me while doing so, but that wasn't my only successful intention.

"With my [Hypnosis], I can probably take over the world, you know. Imagine having that spoiled rotten princess waiting on us hand in foot." There!

The guards were all clearly shocked at the idiot's declaration, and honestly, who wouldn't be? He was basically declaring to be some sort of virus, out to control their ruling class. Anyone would have been angry at that, but it was the perfect distraction I needed.

I slipped through the space between the guards behind us as quickly and naturally as I could with [Evasive Arts], which was more than enough to fool these men, then dashed down the hall and turned the corner before they had any idea what had just happened.

[Conceal]! [Conceal]! [Concea]l! I tried desperately to use the skill to conceal my path, my footsteps, even if just a little, but it was just a low level skill, nothing more. Expecting miracles out of it was foolish.

I did my best to stay away from any straight and narrow hallways, evading whatever people I saw as I passed by, but I had no clue where I was going. Eventually, I ended up in a corridor with an open side, looking out onto some sort of garden. Since nobody was nearby, I immediately took the chance and jumped over the railing, into a corner of the garden that happened to be hidden by a bush.