I was once called a genius.
"The genius who will shook the world."
"The genius sent by the gods."
"Devils child."
No one could keep up with me, be it strength or knowledge.
All of this are possible because of my eyes.
These "eyes" can interpret and process anything that it perceive.
No matter how fast, how far, how complicated the subject, these eyes makes me able to understand them.
As such, I've always been able to asses and analyse my opponent before the battle even starts.
That's not all, personal connections, deep feelings, secrets, all of them are transparent in front of me.
This is why I prefer the role of a spectator, never having qualms in the current events, but rather analysing and interpreting meaning behind those actions.
As such, "Friends" are difficult to make, as it made me realise their deep intentions. They either sees me as weird or they just approach me because of my titles.
At that point, I stopped trying.
After my initial evaluation, I decided to not try.
Maybe, just maybe, if my value drops, people would approach me not because of how "genius" I am but rather, how I am as a person.
That's why I never considered this ability as a gift, but a curse.
Some time later, they announced that the academy is accepting participants from all over the world.
Of course, I entered, thinking that there might be someone better than me, someone that would make sure I could never reach their level.
With those positive thoughts, I went out.
At the entrance exams, I was positive that their quizzes might be hard, since this place is strict, but what I saw in their test questions is palpable.
They're all too easy.
I've been answering these kinds of questions since I was just a child.
At this point, I might become the top scorer, so I purposely made sure that my rank would go down a bit.
Ahh, maybe in the practical exam, there would be better people than I am. Better people that's hopeless to chase after.
But, all that meets are disappointment after disappointment.
Of course, I see some people who are ridiculously strong like Claude and Reinhardt, but they are achievable if I try hard enough.
I am also confident that I could beat them in a fight.
Their too transparent, easy to follow, and not firm at all...
Of course, they would be the rank 1 scorer, but I just thought that it's disappointing.
No, I'm not discreeting their hard work. It's actually pretty amazing that they made up there with just that level of talent. It's to the point that it makes me go wow.
But that's it.
They don't have a special place in my mind.
From all the people I've met, they're just passing people.
My final rank is 41.
Not too high nor too low.
Some days have passed and I went in to my room.
I opened the sliding door and saw my fellow classmates.
There, I scanned the surroundings, gauging each of them, until I came across someone unexpected.
In fact, he's so unexpected that my ability seems to malfunction around him.
It's the guy who's sitted in the far left window.
I could tell from a glance that his physical capabilities aren't that high, but what shook me is his demeanour.
I can't read him.
Normally, people are transparent, I could easily figure out what their hidden intentions are. But this guy, he's different.
As if there's an inexplicable wall in front of me.
"Hey you, you seem to be a good guy, want to be my friend?" I asked him before realising it.
For the first time in my life, I was the first to initiate a greeting.
He looked at me, with an emotionless face, dead in the eyes, as if staring deep within my soul.
He smiled gently and Said "sure."
I want to know more about him. I want to know his secrets, his goals, his dream, his hobbies, his enemies, his allies.
Never once in my life have I met someone like this.
Someone that my ability doesn't work on.
Fast forward to the mock battles.
The first round is the rank 1 Vs rank 3.
It wasn't that interesting, but my friend seems to be intrigued by them all the time.
I managed to deduct it simply because he stares at them way too much.
With that in mind, I decided to monologue their entire fight since a rank 43 with that kind of constitution couldn't possibly perceive this kind of battle.
Thankfully, he seems to not mind it, rather he seems interested at my commentary.
At last, it's our turn to fight.
I originally planned to adjust my strength to match his constitution, just so that we could at least have an enjoyable fight.
But that thought is completely shattered after he rushed to me.
No, I just analysed his momentum and the strength he gave to his legs and concluded that he's about to run.
Why would he do that?
It's better to asses the situation first, look for the opponent's stance, and deliver appropriate countermeasures.
Seeing that he has no intention of stopping, I followed his lead and we did a basic clash.
It's heavy.
The force he applied to his attack is so powerful I almost fumbled back.
The only reason I didn't is because I instinctively used my full power to stop it completely.
How did he manage to gather that much force with that constitution of his?
After that initial clash, we started to rush, parry, counter, at excruciating speeds.
Not as much as the rank 1 to rank 10, but this level could be considered around rank 20.
Thinking that this might become a battle of attrition, I did a defensive stance and just parried all of his attacks.
But that ended way too soon.
His sword broke.
At the unexplainable event, time slowed down and my "eyes" began to rapidly analyse what was going on.
What are the chances? Is his sword less durable than mine? No, that isn't possible, we have the same type of swords.
I looked at the destroyed bits of the sword still flying in the air and realised something.
Apart from the destroyed part of the sword, the other parts are clean, sharp, as if it never clashed to begin with.
Compared to my sword, which is now rusty but still durable, his sword is clean yet it broke.
That could only mean one thing.
He purposely adjusted where his sword would land, carefully minded how my sword would not break, and how he would break his.
This level of feat is something no normal cadet can do. And he did it with that weak body.
Claude, the rank 1, cannot do this, maybe Reinhardt can immitate, but it would not be in this level of mastery.
But why though?
Why go through such lengths to hide your strength?
There must be a reason, there has to be.
With that in mind, I made sure to act like I planned to break his sword, this way, his effort to hide his strength wouldn't go away.
Time started to move normally again.
I aimed my sword at his neck, the broken part of his sword clanging in the background.
"With this, it's my victory," I exclaimed while offering him a hand, still breathless from the "analysis" earlier.
He smiled, seemingly embarrassed, and grabbed my offered hand. Of course I know that this is an act too.
But that's about it. I don't know anything else.
Which is why it's so interesting, I know feel what those "friends" felt when I keep my own secrets.
Please, never become transparent like the others.