"I fucking knew it!" Michael cursed out loud.
The king's eyes furrowed as he glanced at Michael's stats. He was dissatisfied but only shook his head.
He then shifted his gaze towards the skills and looked at them skeptically.
Crossing his arms, he thought with a cautious but intrigued smile, 'This...I haven't seen that before...'
After a few seconds, Michael brought his arms down and stared at the holographic message bitterly. It was just as he thought; his own luck was the bane of his existence.
Seeing the stat window, the others made fun of him.
Isn't that bad? Very slow? Lol! They whispered but Michael could hear their remarks as clear as day.
They weren't discrete about it at all. It felt like they were doing it on purpose which made his blood boil.
Nevertheless, Michael looked at the bright side; he had two skills.
He stood in place quietly and held his chin in thought.
With a curious glint in his eyes, he reached out to the holographic message and pressed (Thorough Analysis).
Upon contact, a piercing sound rang, and out came another message, overlapping the previous window.
______________________
(Thorough Analysis)
[ Allows the user to get a thorough overview of any situation ]
______________________
Seeing this, the rude comments abruptly stopped; the new knowledge silenced the ignorant.
Then, an uproar started with the students wanting a re-attempt. They rushed up the stairs but were blocked by the guards.
But Michael ignored the racket and carried on.
He recalled the features of the games he had played and assessed the window.
Not seeing an (x) button, he touched the holographic message and simply slid it to the side to see it close.
His eyes widened in amazement, nodding as he took a mental note.
Next, he looked at the text and noticed something familiar; the skills had a brighter hue like a hyperlink.
Not wasting a second, he quickly hovered his finger above (Sloth).
"How do you know about this feature, hero?" The king, intrigued, asked.
Hunching down as he looks over Michael's shoulder. On his face wore an unsettling smile. But it didn't feel fake or ominous, in fact, it was the sincerity that made it suspicious.
Deep in thought, Michael replied casually. "I thought it would do something. If not, then how would you be able to know what these skills are?" Forgetting he was talking to a king.
With his finger right on top of the skill, he paused briefly. He was hesitant on finding out whether it would turn out to be good or bad. And knowing his luck, he had already assumed the worst.
Michael started profusely sweating and his breath slowly became ragged. Nervousness had kicked in. What will happen if it sucks? He asked himself.
In his now new world, a bad skill can already consider him dead. It wouldn't matter if he was an ordinary civilian, but in this case, he was now a hero. A hero that would bring glory and peace. A hero that fights life and death battles.
'Damn it just do it. What's the worst thing that can happen? A movement debuff?' Taking a deep breath, he thought as beads of sweat dripped from his chin.
Holding back his fears, he gulped saliva and pressed the skill.
______________________
(Sloth) LVL 1 [Passive]
[ All Physical stats are reduced by 20%. 2x effort is needed to get a single attribute point; mana is harder to detect/vague. ]
______________________
"..."
Michael and King Alfred's jaws dropped, one of extreme shock and a look of dismay on the other.
But the surprise soon turned into anger that weaved into his face.
"What the fuck?!" Michael cursed.
With his teeth audibly gritting, he added in a louder volume. "It even levels up?! What kind of trash skill is this?!"
His body shook from frustration.
The others looked at him weirdly but he didn't care.
Michael placed both of his hands on his face, biting his lips. Out of all of his misfortune, this one was the most miserable.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down and bowed to the king before leaving.
He walked towards his group downcast, past the pitiful and ridiculed gazes.
Mia and the others saw his dejected appearance, but before one of them could comfort him, Michael raised his head and smiled;
"It's fine."
He quickly brushed through them and sat down with his legs crossed.
With his head down, he closed his eyes and sighed in defeat.
Seeing Michael's low spirit, they decided not to bother him for now and gave him some space.
'Just what kind of luck is this?' Michael cursed inwardly.
Forming a fist, he punched his other palm and thought with hatred. 'I swear if I get to meet lady luck I'll strangle her to death!'
'I totally jinxed myself, but what kind of crap was that anyways? Slow growth speed, very at that, then a support class? Without a job even?' Michael continued on while the other students got re-evaluated.
After a few minutes, he shook his head and calmed himself down again.
He had decided to try and find out more about the skills instead of beating himself up.
Michael recalled the lines he had read before and tried them out one by one.
'Open.' He called out mentally.
'Of course, it wouldn't work, if it did, then there would be no use for that crystal ball.'
'Use skill (Thorough Analysis)!'
'Trigger.'
'Activate skill.'
'(Thorough Analysis)?'
He tried other chants but to no use. He had even started creating his own lines and prayed but nothing worked.
Eventually, he had concluded that his skill didn't need one. It seemed unlikely, but there's nothing wrong with trying.
He started thinking of other methods to activate skills without chanting using his prior knowledge.
'Mental...Image...Imagination...'
Michael recalled multiple keywords.
Suddenly, a commotion on the altar caught his attention. Interrupting his train of thought.
Two girls were seen arguing on the steps.
"Hey! It's my turn!"
"Shutup! I'm next!"
The two shouted. Both seemed sassy by nature.
"It's...called analysis right?" Michael asked himself as he squinted at them.
'So if my idea is right, and that there aren't any chants in the process it should be...' He added inwardly with a pause.
He continued staring at the two and tried assessing the situation, taking in every small to big detail. No matter how insignificant it was.
'So by looking at-'
Michael tried to continue his statement but suddenly stopped as his eyes widen.
Although it was only for a moment, his ocean blue eyes turned maroon.
[ Name: Aalia Vasquez ]
[ Name: Haley Gonzales ]
[ Status: Argument ]
Multiple holographic messages appeared on his retina with information suddenly surfacing violently inside his mind.
The messages disappeared as fast as they came. Dispersing along with his brief red eyes.
After a few minutes, he sat down straight and opened his eyes, taking in what had just happened.
'What kind of fever dream shit was that?'
He had not only found out how to use skills, but it also proved to be very useful. Though he wasn't sure if it were for all the skills, it wouldn't hurt to try.
The skill also flooded him with information in a matter of seconds directly to his brain. Giving him hope that despite his slow growth, he may be able to get an upper hand in battles against people that have a higher level than him.
At the same time, Michael had assumed (Thorough Analysis) to be a better version of (In-depth Analysis).
He tried it out three more times on the others before feeling weary and heavy, learning the names of his peers.
[ Name: Steve Smith ]
[ Name: Leia Cassidy ]
[ Name: Leonardo Rogers ]
'This must be my limit.' Michael thought, wiping the sweat off his forehead. It looked as if he had a marathon.
Taking a glance, Zack noticed Michael huffing and immediately rushed over to him;
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.
"No no, I'm fine," Michael answered quickly to hide his breathless state.
Zack frowned and insisted, "Stop lying and tell me. There's obviously something up!"
Michael sighed and moved his finger, conveying the motion for him to come closer.
Zack crouched down and Michael whispered in his ears, "I found out how to use my skill."
Zack's eyes widen in astonishment
"That's great!" He exclaimed before covering his mouth and hunching down.
He then moved in closer and asked in a low tone, "How?"
"I can't really say for yours, but for me, I just need to think of it and it'll come up." He explained in a proud tone.
"It's only a theory, but I personally think it comes down to using your imagination, don't mind the corniness," Michael added.
"No, not at all, I've heard worse ones." Zack chuckled.
Before Michael could reply, he was cut off when the king stood up and ordered;
"Bring them to their chambers!"