I WAS The Rank–1 Hero-Chapter 113: Special Training [3]

Staring at my master's figure seated on the ice throne, I closed my eyes.

My plan was to use only my Ice Elemental skills. But after witnessing Aria's performance, I wasn't entirely sure if that would be enough. So, I decided to combine them with another skill.

After confirming with Sera, I concluded that this skill wasn't part of my Authority Holder abilities. Only 〘Paradox Invoker〙, an [Ex-Rank] skill, belonged to that category.

If I activated it, I might expose my identity as another Authority Holder—if one was nearby.

I needed to use it carefully.

After receiving Goddess Ylthea's blessing and awakening as an Authority Holder, I had gained a few entirely new skills.

And the most amazing thing about them was that, unlike common skills, these had multiple effects.

—------------------------

〘Ruler〙[S-Rank]

「 The user can enter an absolute state of calm, allowing split-second decisions to be made with perfect accuracy. 」

「 The user exerts immediate dominance over their surroundings, making the weak willed individual submit 」

「 The user gets restricted to mental interference, illusion, or fear based attack 」

—--------------------------

The training hall came to an eerie still.

I activated my fist skill.

"Ruler."

At that exact moment, an overwhelmingly terrifying aura descended upon the training hall.

I noticed a slight twitch in Envy's mouth as she tightened her grip around the ice handle of her throne.

—Crack.

A fissure formed beneath my boots, stretching out in all directions.

My mind entered a state of absolute calm.

Everything around me slowed down—or to be more precise, my mind became faster. Just by looking at an object, whether alive or not, I could determine all of its variables and degrees of freedom.

[A degree of freedom refers to the number of independent ways a system can move or change within a particular space.]

…In short, this training hall was now my domain. And here, I was the Ruler—everything within it belonged to me.

A cold chill swept through the hall as everyone froze in place.

My master, Envy, was the only exception. She, too, sensed the shift in her surroundings, but it took her less than a nanosecond to compose herself.

Seated on her throne, her dark eyes locked onto mine. But unlike the intensity she radiated before, I now felt nothing—all thanks to my skill.

The others, however, weren't faring as well. All of them were on their knees—some supporting themselves with their swords, others frozen with wide-eyed expressions, suffocating under the crushing weight of my presence.

My heartbeat quickened. Blood rushed to my brain, allowing me to calculate and think at an accelerated rate.

「 The user exerts immediate dominance over their surroundings, making the weak willed individual submit.」

This was the only effect I wanted right now.

…My master wasn't affected by the skill, meaning her will was far stronger than mine.

As expected.

A grin crept onto my face.

I had known her for three years now, and after being taught by her, I understood one thing—

She was impossible to deal with.

Getting her attention? Nearly impossible.

But…

There was only one way to impress my master—and that is, by surprising her in the most unexpected way possible.

This entire training hall had been frozen into an ice field by her—the four walls, the ceiling, the floor—all of it encased in ice. And in the middle of it all, seated atop a frozen throne, she ruled like a queen.

And that's exactly what everyone else must have been thinking.

…Crumbling that perception in front of everyone would be the best way to surprise her.

Thanks to that dumb stunt I pulled on the Demon Continent, which nearly revealed my power, I no longer needed to hide most of my skills.

Without wasting a second, I shifted my gaze to the ground.

Cracks were still forming beneath my boots.

Then, I looked up at the ceiling…

I thought to myself.

…I'll do it with a bang.

Turning my gaze to Envy, whose expression remained as cold as ever, my silver eyes locked onto hers.

Resting her chin on her palm, she narrowed her eyes.

I smiled.

At last, she understood what I was about to do.

Lifting my right foot, I gathered Ice Essence around it, compressing it to its absolute limit.

At the same time, I calculated the intermolecular binding energy of the hydrogen bonds in the ice, precisely mapping every molecular coordinate—the exact tension at which the bonds would shatter.

And then—

I struck.

—CRACK!—

A single impact.

That's all it took.

The ground fractured first, splitting apart like fragile glass. Then, in an instant, the ceiling ruptured, followed by the four towering walls.

—SHATTER!—

Like cascading shards of a broken mirror, crystalline ice rained down, glimmering in the light—a breathtaking storm of diamond dust.

—Shaaaaa!—

In a single strike, the ice domain my master had forged was reduced to dust.

I deactivated the Ruler skill.

As I did, I glanced around—the entire training hall was covered in shattered ice, its remnants scattered across every inch of the ground.

But the throne…

The throne Envy was seated on remained untouched.

I looked at her figure, still staring at me.

I chuckled.

"Heh."

After all that, and she still managed to maintain her throne…

—Sigh…

My master let out a tired sigh before rising from her throne.

She seemed unimpressed.

I knew it…

I still had a long way to go.

Step by step, she walked toward me.

I took a step back.

W-why is she coming closer?!

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

Seriously, this is too damn scary.

Did I do something wrong?!

…I don't think destroying her ice domain in mere seconds was the issue.

Then why was she…?

Halting her steps just a few meters away, she stared at me intensely before speaking in a hoarse voice.

"Are you dumb?"

"Huh?"

Her question caught me off guard.

What does she—

Before I could process the situation, Sera spoke up.

'Look at your classmates.'

At her words, I turned my head toward the ice platforms where they had been standing.

To my dumb luck… it wasn't there.

The ice platform was gone!

And that wasn't even the real problem.

The students who had been standing on it were also gone.

Where are—

I heard someone groan.

"Guuu…!"

Lowering my eyes to the ground, I finally found them.

"Guh!"

The sight made me regret my actions.

All of them were sprawled on the ground, eyes shut. Some barely managed to open them, while others had completely lost consciousness.

Looking at them, I thought.

"When did this happen?"

Sera answered.

'The moment you activated your Ruler skill.'

Is she serious? I knew my skill would affect those with weak wills… but to this extent?

Sera, why didn't you stop me?

As soon as I asked, she lashed out at me.

'What do you mean by that?! I called out to you several times, but you didn't answer. You were the one ignoring me the whole time!'

Wait…

Now that I think about it, I never heard her voice stopping me.

I swear, Sera, I never heard you say anything.

Sera paused for a second before speaking up.

'If that's the case, then your Ruler skill must restrict mental communication between us.'

"Ah..."

Realization struck me instantly.

It all made sense now.

The third effect of 〈Ruler〉:

「 The user is immune to mental interference, illusions, and fear-based attacks. 」

That's seriously cool.

Even Sera—an Authority Holder—was restricted to this extent…

"Oi…!"

Envy's voice snapped me back.

"Are you ignoring me?"

I flinched.

"M-Master…"

Taking a deep breath, I carefully chose my words.

"I… I didn't do it on purpose—"

Before I could finish, her glare sharpened.

"Don't you dare lie."

"...?!"

A feeling of déjà vu.

I instinctively took a step back.

"I-I'm sorry…"

In the end, I admitted defeat.

Lowering my head, I listened to Envy's full-on lecture.

…Ah, the nostalgia.

'You are shameless. Who made you Rank-1? I want to meet that stupid human.'

Sera, as if taking advantage of the situation, joined in.

But unlike my master, whom I had no choice but to listen to, I didn't have to do the same for Sera.

So, I used the most basic tactic against her—

Ignoring the stupid ghost.

'You're the stupid one here!'

I ignored her.

After my scolding session, Master finally asked,

"What was that skill you used first?"

Her expression remained unreadable.

Thinking for a moment and checking my surroundings, I answered seriously.

"It was my new skill."

"...Your what now?"

"My new skill—"

"Yeah, I heard."

Crossing her arms, she scanned me from head to toe before sighing.

"Let's talk some other time."

She understood.

After all, a skill was something a human received at birth—it couldn't be erased or upgraded.

So, getting a new skill out of nowhere was unheard of.

She already knew about my 〈Immortality〉 skill, so she must have connected the dots and realized it wasn't safe to talk about it here.

"Alright, Master," I answered, nodding.

As we talked, doctors and paramedics rushed in, loading the unconscious students onto stretchers.

I saw Anna and Aria among them.

I gulped.

They're going to kill me tomorrow.

I prayed for my survival.

Once everything settled, I turned to leave, but only for my master to stop me.

"Where do you think you're going?"

My throat dried up. I swallowed hard and slowly turned to face her.

"Y-yes?"

She tossed me a broom and a wiper.

Pointing at the devastated training hall, she ordered,

"Clean up your mess."

And just like that, she walked off, leaving me alone with a destroyed hall and a broomstick.

'Hey… I'm here too.' Sera sounded way too amused.

"Tsk!"

***

Standing in front of my dorm room, I finally opened the door.

I was exhausted. It took me two whole hours to clean up all that ice.

Entering my room, I kicked off my shoes and threw myself onto my fluffy bed.

"Life is unfair," I muttered into my pillow.

It was 9 P.M.

I was starving, but I had no energy to go to the cafeteria.

Just as I was about to sleep—

—Knock. Knock.

A tapping sound came from my balcony door.

I instantly shot up.

Before I could reach for my sword, a familiar voice called out.

"Zane, it's me."

"..."

My heartbeat skyrocketed.

I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Stepping off my bed without hesitation, I rushed to the balcony and pulled the door open.

The first thing I saw was her hair swaying in the wind as she brushed it behind her ear.

"Ruby?"