'Someone is following me. '
Artoria, The 'hero' tensed as she heard a small sound behind her.
'No way, No one should be able to sneak up at me without me noticing, at least at this level.'
She was confident in her abilities honed through the experience of her past.
'I was running the mana detector non-stop to catch any abnormalities.'
Which was one of the reasons why she was so confident. At least until, now.
'I should have concentrated more on my physical senses.'
She gritted her teeth at her oversight, having only caught the general direction of the sound.
"Come out. I can see you hiding."
'Where are they.'
She tried to concentrate her mana detection but before that-
"Hiding? Who is Hiding? and Why?"
A smooth voice came from one of the bushes, making her skin crawl.
*snap*
Artoria turned her staff towards the sound. Her mana sense highly concentrated in that direction.
A lean boy wearing a light dark blue robe stepped out of the bushes, casually as if he owned the forest.
*tingle*
Artoria's eyes widened as her mana sense detected an ominous aura, radiating from that boy.
*Clench*
The staff in her hand shook as her fingers tightened around the staff, How did he slip under her senses?
'Only someone exponentially stronger than the current me can hide their presence that easily.'
Which wasn't a good foreboding for Artoria,
'And right now my magic is stronger than a first-year student's magic by a large margin.'
"You! Why are you following me?"
Her voice cracked like a whip. But in response, she only got an infuriating blank stare.
*Pft*
"HAHAHAHA.. Good joke"
Saric chuckled, the sound sharp and mocking.
Seeing that the guy was not taking her words seriously, she felt annoyed. Though something at the same time his mana was somewhat 'familiar' to her.
'This mana, why can't I remember it properly?'
Artoria tried reaching the experiences she had stored for that 'mana pattern' in her previous cycle.
But she could only associate it with vague feelings of hate as if he didn't matter much to her.
Normally even this would be enough for her to treat the person 'kindly' and with due 'respect', but this situation was off-putting for her.
'I would have definitely, remembered him more if he was this strong.'
'What should I do? A quick spell to knock him unconscious? No, better to eliminate him entirely'
'I should kill him before, he can do anything.'
"What's so funny?"
Artoria hissed through gritted teeth, her grip tightening on her staff.
'I just need to make it look like he fought a monster.'
Seeing that Artoria was serious in her question, the boy looked utterly bewildered.
"Why should I, A noble, follow someone?"
He spoke out as if he had heard something very repulsive.
'Ah, maybe, I should drown him alive, and throw his body into the river.'
Artoria's stomach clenched, and her expression twisted.
'As I had thought, this guy is a-'
"And even if I did, What would you do? What can you do?"
The boy slightly twisted his neck and made an 'amused' expression.
"Kill me and make it look like a monster did it?"
"Or perhaps, drown me alive, and throw my body into the river?"
*Inhale*
Artoria held her breath as her mind began to race.
At the same time with Saric,
Ma'am, please stop imagining new ways to kill me. In most of these, I would already be dead at step one.
I knew that the hero was 'dark' but,
What the Hell, man?
I sneaked a glance at the system windows in my peripheral sight.
Without it, I would already be more cooked than chicken in a frying pan.
[False Villain System]
[Danger. You have encountered the Hero. Detecting hostile intent.]
[Villainous Aura-Basic: Active-effect]
[Mind reader charm- Basic: Active- 11 seconds remaining]
I had used the [Mind reader charm- Basic] just a few seconds after my 'mad laughter' and was thankfully able to capture something to use against her.
At least to shake her up psychologically, to make her hesitant to 'one-shot' me.
Honestly, I am just pulling bullshit out of my ass.
Because if I didn't, well, I wouldn't be breathing right now.
As she feels that I have witnessed her 'de-arming' the other student.
Well, I did. But she doesn't need to know that.
"You. What is your name?"
I asked again for a dramatic flair, and also cause I only knew the 'male version' name.
I would like to know my killer's name before I die.
[Thoughts-should I just give him a fake name? No, I should just kill him, with surprise, but what if....]
I ignored all the chilling thoughts she had running through her head and tried to find any relevant information.
"....Artoria"
The brown-haired girl replied after a second of thought.
"Ugh, A no-name?"
I made a half-disgusted face at her, turned the other way and started walking away.
Now, before any of you say that turning your back on an enemy is bad.
I totally agree, the reason why I could walk without any hesitation is.
I have stalled her enough.
I felt her gaze on my back with carefully hidden intent. While I was going I heard her mumble one more thing.
"I heard a guy scream about a bear, the forest is quite dangerous to walk alone, you know?"
Though I couldn't see it directly, I was sure that her black eyes were glinting manically on my back.
"If he couldn't even handle a bear. It is good that he realised his worthlessness earlier."
[Thoughts-...Maybe, he didn't see me, de-arm that scum, or he is ac- Tch, the procurators ar-]
And then the mind-reading charm ended perfectly as I heard, the thing I had been stalling her for finally arrive.
Three people rushed past me as they headed towards the direction where the guy was mauled by the bear.
I used that opportunity to continue my path leaving Artoria to stare at my disappearing back.
The exit to the test was just a few minutes from that and the journey was uneventful.
Some might wonder how I knew the way to exist.
I just backtracked the footsteps of the procurators who rushed towards us.
Thankfully Strategy worked as I saw a small camp in the distance.
Now what about you?
I thought as I looked at the system which was displaying something after I left Artoria's sight.
[False Villain System]
[You have survived your first exposure to the hero and have made her suspicious that you are more than just some third-rate extra villain. ]
[Your rewards are now being increased on your level of threat perceived by the hero]
[Calculating]
[Rewards- Experience gained ,False power(skill), Progression of main quest]
[Please check your status for further details]
*Ping
[Levels gained]
Oh? Finally. I can check my stats without getting depressed.
I thought as I finally opened the Status screen for the third time since I transmigrated to this world.
[Status]
[Name: Saric Sareon Ksharthel
Level: 18
Gender: Male
Title: None ]
[Mana: 145/150
Mana recovery speed (E+)
stamina (D-)
strength (D+)
intelligence (D+)
willpower (C+) ]
[Owned skills]
< False Power(A)>
[combat skills]
[Unique traits]
I almost shed tears of joy as I looked at my now-changed status. There was a reason why I didn't check on my status again and again.
The first thing I did when I knew the existence of the system was to check my stats, with enthusiasm like anyone from my world would.
The first time I checked,.. I thought I was dreaming, so I rechecked the stats.
My level was at 7, and the highest grade stat I had was willpower which was at D+, with No skills and no traits except for those four combat skills.
So I tried the four skills, whose name was self-explanatory.
It was there that I recognised a second problem. Mana: (0/50)
I fainted due to lack of mana commonly called 'mind down', by just a single cycle of using my pathetic skill set.
That was the last time I checked on my pitiful stats.
I tried to train but nothing was working, I had limited time.
So I travelled to this academy knowing full well that there would be an entrance test which might go wrong at any time.
I shook my head of morbid thoughts, though one single thought still circulated in my mind.
I survived my first encounter with the 'hero'.
That one thought relaxed my tensed body to an extent I didn't even anticipate.
Finally arriving in front of the camp, I greeted the test procurator who was standing by a glowing magic circle.
"Name?"
"Saric Saeron Ksharthel."
I answered still in a good mood.
"You have passed the entrance test. All your belongings will be arranged in your room by the time you return to your dorm."
He said as the paper he wrote my name on glowed and a small number then appeared on the back of it.
"Take this and step into the portal, you will be guided to your dorms and further instructions will be given by the person who will guide you."
Saying that he handed me, the paper he had just written on and gestured me to continue.
I don't need to be told twice all right.