"WHAT!!! THEY'RE ALREADY DONE?"
This shout from Cane echoed across the public streets. Everyone milling about turned to stare at Cane in confusion.
"Mommy, look! There's a very loud idiot over there." A passing child pointed her finger at Cane.
Oh, sh*t. Right. Cane coughed a few times in embarrassment, and then turned back to his group.
"Let's get back in private. Now."
With that, Cane sped off at insane speeds, almost like he was teleporting in the eyes of the crowd. Cassidy and the others followed suite, albeit at a slower speed.
Despite the distracting performance earlier, the crowd soon dispersed and forgot about the incident. People have jobs to go to, after all.
...
"So, what you're telling me is that the Western Combat School has already finished their Monster Gauntlet? And I missed it because I was unconscious??" Cane was incredulous. "Well, who got the highest?"
Frytz spoke up, a look of displeasure on his face. "That bastard, Nick Nick. He defeated the 9th round but lost at the 10th. Then there was one other guy, some kid called Isaac Rondart who beat the 8th round and lost at the 9th."
Cane nodded. He'd expected Nick Nick to have gotten the highest, since that guy was basically the ringleader of the Western Combat Schools. He just hadn't known who else might get a high rank.
Wait.
Cane counted on his fingers. 1 from the East, 2 from the West, 4 from the North and 1 from the South...
All 8 participants. From such a count like this, it was clear to anyone that the North had been prosperous. Of course, that had less to do with them being in the Northern Combat School. It was mostly because of Cane's influence.
"Well, did any of you manage to find out their powers?" Cane spoke up once more. But as he glanced at everyone's faces, his hopes dwindled.
"Um, well..." Gabriel started mumbling. "We didn't have enough attention to spare, since you'd begun screaming in your coma during their fights. That was... from round 6 onward."
F*ck.
Cane sighed and rubbed his brows. "Is there any better news?"
Cassidy nodded. "We're allowed to use our own weapons. This is basically part of the final test, since a person's background is also one of their strengths. Simply put, whoever has the strongest backing can get the best weapons, and thus a better advantage in the Tournament."
Cane grinned. Backing? He had none. But he did have weapons. Some of them... were probably, maybe, slightly less than legal, but who cared?
Cane didn't, and he somehow doubted that the Tournament organisers would care either. Such a rule meant that anything was fair game.
"Well then! Everyone, get prepping for the Tournament! It's happening in 1 day, since they've been waiting for Cane to wake up." Cassidy stood up and headed off. Then, she paused and turned around.
"Well, not you two, Gabriel, Susie. Because... you guys didn't even make it past round 5."
Snickers quickly followed Cassidy's statement, echoing down the hall. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Susie looked down in shame, though they smiled.
Cane also smiled. But as he headed off to... prepare, the smile faded.
It was replaced by a cold, callous look.
...
What. The. Hell.
As Cane checked his skills, eager to see what he'd gotten after the rank up, he was stunned by the sight that greeted him. Two new skills???
The first one was Stealth.
[Stealth]
Allows the user to be ignored by the perceptions of others. For anyone weaker than the user by 2 ranks, it is 100% effective. For those who are only weaker than the user by 1 rank, it is 50% effective. To be ignored, the user must have over 50% of their body concealed. For those equal or greater in strength to the user, it is only 10% effective.
Cane was shocked. Isn't this perfect for Hidden Strength??? Wait...
Cane's face suddenly went from ecstatic to displeased. The changes to his Hidden Strength skill... were not favourable.
[Hidden Strength]
Pick up to 3 targets within 225 metres of your location. Whenever each target can't see or hear you, your physique doubles for whichever target it is, giving you twice the strength, speed and durability than you normally would.
Hidden Strength had gotten another marker. But at what cost? Now, Cane also needed to be silent in order for it to activate properly? Damn!
On the bright side, Stealth came at an opportune moment.
Cane's other skills had all their stats increased by 50%, as it usually was during an Apprentice rank up.
[Divine Treasure Eyes]
Eyes which can determine the value of a selected object or living being with an IQ lower than 60, based on how brightly it glows. One may select up to 9 objects/living beings. Objects with a value of less than 10 points will not glow. Objects with a value of more than 540,000 points will not glow. If the object is further than 270 metres away, it will not glow.
[Steal]
Creates a clone of the object or body part you wish to steal. You must be within 27 metres of your target to clone it. After cloning the object, you may - at any time or distance - swap the clone with the original, before dispelling the clone. You may Steal 9 objects/body parts simultaneously.
Of course, Cane had already discovered that he was able to Steal entire living beings, as long as their IQ or rank was low enough. All he needed to do was designate their entire body as an object/body part!
As for Cane's strength, speed and durability, they also naturally increased.
Previously, they'd been at 41.5x a normal person's strength. Basically, double the stats of a regular Apprentice Warrior. But now? Cane was 62x stronger than a regular human!
If he added another blind child to his Hidden Strength marker...
Cane calculated in his head. Holy sh*t. Isn't that 125x???
That was stronger than an Apprentice Master!
But now was time to address the elephant in the room. How on earth did Cane get two skills after his rank up???
Cane stared at the new skill as well.
[Hiding Spot]
Creates a pocket dimension for the user to hide in, with the base being 1 square metre. The height is 2 metres. When the user hides within this pocket dimension, they may control their perception of time. The user may continue to view the outside world, but the user cannot move from the place which the skill is activated.
Cane was incredibly dumbfounded.
What? Isn't this a Space-type skill? Also, why does it sound familiar to Hidden Strength... Wait, no, that's not the point! How could I have gotten this extra skill, and it's even a Space-type skill!
Cane was truly at a loss for words. However, he wasn't complaining. Cane then had a sudden thought.
Wait. Can I... bring objects with me into the Hiding Spot?
In an instant, he activated Hiding Spot and suddenly found transparent, crystalline walls appear around him. He hadn't moved at all, but to anyone looking from outside, he looked like he suddenly disappeared.
Cane stared in wonder at the walls, floor and ceiling. He then dropped his dagger on the ground, before deactivating Hiding Spot.
The entire process had only taken a few milliseconds, due to Cane's perception of time being alterable.
As Cane felt himself re-enter the real world, he noticed a link between himself and his dagger. It revealed the Hiding Spot, directly surrounding Cane. Cane took a step forward and the Hiding Spot moved with him.
He then tried using Steal on his dagger.
It was a success!
Well, it made sense. After all, the dagger hadn't actually moved away from Cane at all. It was only on a different plane, but in terms of distance, there was none to speak of.
Cane couldn't be happier. I can't believe I have an Inventory Space! Well, it's slightly different, but whatever. Basically the same thing.
He proceeded to activate Hiding Spot and dump all his things, including his Omnitool, Plasma Pistols and perception pills.
Having all his skills, stats and knowledge refreshed via huge info dumps, Cane was almost fully prepared for the Tournament!
Well, there was one thing.
...
"Breaking news! We have reports of an assault committed on a child this evening, where an unidentified man wearing a mask and cloak kidnapped a child, before gruesomely mutilating the child's eyes! He then dropped the child off at the nearest hospital and escaped!"
"Police are still searching for the suspect, but the man has been confirmed to be an awakened! Furthermore, his speed was so fast that it even matched the speeds of an Apprentice Master. To all parents within our districts, stay safe - don't let your children out of your sight!"
Zzst.
Gabriel and Susie had been flipping through random cartoons and other programs on the TV. There was ice cream, popcorn, chips and other random assortments of food.
Food, which had just been dropped on the floor in surprise.
"Hey... Susie, don't you think that their description... well, it kinda matches Cane?" Gabriel turned his head tentatively over. Susie had done the same.
"Well... I mean, the guy who did it is an Apprentice Master, and Cane's only an Apprentice Warrior. That's 2 whole ranks. Maybe it wasn't him?"
Gabriel nodded, half assured and half in self-denial.
"Yeah, you're right. There's no way that was Cane! Plus, he doesn't even have a reason to do that, even if he is very fast for his rank..."
The two trailed off.
The room was left in an awkward silence.
"Yeah... Cane doesn't have any reason to hurt a child, right? I think we're just a bit delusional."
The two comforted themselves in massive self-denial.