"My ability is honestly a lot less impressive, all it really does is sort information". Jacob stated. He had decided to tell the truth, well, not the whole truth.
His reasoning was simple, he didn't have information.
He had no choice but to trust that the benefit of revealing his ability and having more knowledgeable people help him was worth the risk.
From the outset The Order probably understood that most people would make a decision similar to Jacob, hence they never really forced students to reveal their abilities.
After all, everyone who was in this class was clueless about how best to use and train their power, and the UDRD could provide them with what they wanted.
But that didn't mean Jacob planned on spilling everything about his unique circumstances.
"My trial was also fairly standard. I actually think Erwin and I might be from the same realm because I was in a weird dungeon solving puzzles as well." He lied, hoping that the similarity to the truth would be enough to not have anyone question his story.
If he was asked in more detail, he planned on recounting a similar series of events as his actual trial, forgoing the intelligent creatures and the startling difference in length that made it unique.
"The same realm as me you say? Well, that'd be a relief. Having someone to help with the quests would be great." Responded Erwin.
"What does it mean that your ability is to sort information? Pretty much anyone can do that, no ability required" Fred asked curiously.
"Well, yes but my version is automatic and totally objective" Explained Jacob to the boy.
"Objective?" Fred asked, not quite understanding the meaning of the word in the given context.
"I mean, it doesn't take opinions into account, so if we all saw a painting of a forest and you thought it was great, Erwin thought it was decent and I thought it was shit it would still sort it as being nothing but a painting of a forest. At most, it'd mention the opinions you both had but wouldn't state them as fact." Jacob attempted to elaborate to the now snickering boy.
"What?" He asked the boy who was now holding his hand in front of his mouth while he strained to suppress his giggling.
"You said shit!" Fred shouted in hysterics, laughing as he finally removed his hand.
"I'm Australian, saying shit was me being polite" Retorted Jaocb, completely serious.
"Regardless, I'd like to hear more about your ability, how do you use it? how much mana does it use? That kind of stuff." Erwin asked, brushing over the young teen.
"It's a little tough to describe, it's kind of like I can make it recognise information that I capture with my senses. Like I can instantly count the number of leaves that I can see on a tree, and that won't use much mana. the more mana-intensive stuff comes from when I use it to figure out how many leaves there are on a tree including the branches I can't see. Because it has to figure out how big the tree is, how many leaves per branch and how many branches there are." Jacob attempted to explain his ability as best he could.
"Hmmm, an interesting ability indeed mister Bochord" An authoritative voice called out from behind him.
The unexpected noise came from right behind him, prompting his body to immediately dive forward due to his recent crash course in survival he had gotten from the haunted mansion.
A short, stunned silence followed as he lay there on the ground a few awkward moments later he slowly stood up.
He patted himself down before slowly turning to face the professor, then, as if nothing had happened he asked.
"What about it strikes you as interesting professor?"
"…Yes, your ability sounds similar to some auxiliary skills employed by my clan, the Dempster clan if you have forgotten. We use it as something of a magical calculator but yours sounds more fundamental than our version." The professor mused.
"As for Mister Miller, your ability sounds vaguely similar to that of the Azan clan's spirits. Although those spirits tend to be permanently available after they are bound. Yours appear to be more… fickle." The professor further guessed.
"For today simply demonstrate your abilities and try and brainstorm ways that they may be of use, this first class is about familiarisation more than anything" he concluded.
There was a reason for his singling out the two boys, for one they were the only clanless dreamers in the class. Meaning they had no set path to follow or example to use when developing their skills, what he had effectively suggested was to attempt to take inspiration from paths that were similar to their own.
It was a surefire way to find inspiration, but Jacob was more prone to trying to develop his ability himself before attempting to use another suggestion. He wanted to try and understand his ability without any bias that other sources may unintentionally introduce.
The rest of the lesson passed quickly with Fred showing off with his swapping ability and Erwin demonstrating his ability to summon the eyeball creature, a sight to behold for Jacob.
It was about 8 cm in size and was blood red except for the pupil which was a solid midnight black. It reminded Jacob somewhat of the haunted mansion, although it felt far less threatening than anything he had come across in that hellhole.
Time passed in a relaxed yet stimulating atmosphere as the class neared its end. Jacob had successfully ingratiated himself with Erwin, another connection and potential information source.
That was until a boy came flying directly at Erwin's back, sending both of them tumbling to the ground in a mess of limbs.
Jacob's first reaction was simple 'What the hell just happened'.
Surprisingly, he was greeted with a holographic replay of Shin being thrown by the blond teacher's pet.
The golden girl had thrown him, which was odd. Due to her acting like such a goodie two shoes Jacob had assumed she would try to behave, at least in class.
He couldn't see anything further back than the start of the throw. Probably because he didn't have enough information to accurately recreate the scene.
But the annoying girl had clearly thrown Shin at Erwin, now Jacob just needed to know why.
If it was an accident then there would be nothing more to it, but if there was a reason such as a dislike towards clanless dreamers or towards Erwin himself then he may have a problem.
After all, Erwin was his only real companion in the class so if the girl had a grudge against him then it was sure to become problematic for Jacob who would inevitably become closer to him.
"How's that you sneaky little creep!" Said the golden girl, proud of her throw.
A murderous look came over Shin's face as he untangled himself from Erwin in a hurry, yet not a word was spoken as he positioned himself in an odd stance low to the ground.
The next thing Jacob knew Shin was hurtling forward, covering a distance of nearly 6 meters in less than 2 seconds.
He was less than a meter away from the girl throwing a punch right at her smug face, a punch which she easily blocked with one hand.
Only to follow it up with a solid punch to Shin's now exposed stomach.
A punch that Shin twisted at breakneck speed to avoid, opting to attempt a kick instead despite his odd positioning.
And so, the fight went on, each unable to land a solid hit on the other but both showing impressive skill.
But Jacob noted something else, the way they fought wasn't just about getting hits in whenever they could and blocking the other, they each had a method that they opted for.
Shin tended to move for speed and aim for lethal areas like the head and neck, dodging or deflecting hits at the last moment almost like he was relying on instinct rather than actually anticipating them.
The girl on the other hand was methodical and solid, often placing her body into the position to best deal with Shin's attacks before he had properly made them before retaliating with singular blows to less lethal areas like the chest and stomach.
But he still couldn't figure out what exactly it was that made it look so easy for them. If he was in this fight, he'd be down in two hits, maybe three if he was lucky.
So, he decided to test something.
'Analyse their fight' Jacob thought to himself and his ability.
[Analysis in progress. Shin Jin: 9%. Victoria: 4%]
[Complete analysis of any one individual fighting style will unlock Combat System]