“No Skills or Zero Skill… what difference does that make!” Jin lunged forward, reactivating his Full Drive Skill as he charged towards me.

But his movements were slower than before, almost as if he hadn’t used his Skill at all. With his normal strength and speed, I slipped past his swing, drew my blade, and in one clean slice, cut through his greatsword.

The inferior metal gave way to the pristine Crimson Dragon Emperor like it was paper, and his sword was easily sliced in half. He leaped away from me, a shocked look on his face. I chose now to open my eyes again, revealing a purplish black glow around my left iris.

“Bastard, hiding the fact that you had a Skill!”

“I never hid anything, I always told the truth when I was asked.” I pointed my blade towards Jin Chun, the sun glittering off of the immaculate blade. “The name of my Skill… is Zero!”

“Ze… ro…” Jin tried to process what I was saying, but it was too much for him at the moment. I had shattered his view of me completely, and now he wasn’t sure what to do with the information.

“I don’t want to be a fighter, I have no interest in being a hero.” I began to explain, as I had already gone this far, so I might as well explain. “But this world had other plans, I was born to two legendary swordsmen, I couldn’t just sit around and be a potter or a baker, no, I had to be taught to fight. But it all seemed like so much work, wouldn’t it be a lot easier if everyone thought I was just a loser who couldn’t do anything on his own?“

“What the hell? Are you mocking me? How dare you make light of heroes!” Jin was still furious, but I continued talking.

“If everyone believed I was weak, maybe I could slip away in the future one day, find a nice village where nobody knew me, and live peacefully.” I sighed, running my hand down my face. “Well, I doubt that can happen anymore.”

I flicked my sword effortlessly through the air, doing some mock swings with my mother’s graceful combat style, before sheathing it once more.

“And I wasn’t lying when I said Zero is a useless Skill that gives me no advantages. In the face of Zero, all other Skills are reduced to zero themselves, leaving only one’s raw strength behind. Against someone like you, who relies on Skills to be strong, it evens us down to the same level, or perhaps I’m a little above your basic combat prowess… but know this, not once have I ever landed a single blow against my mother, Skills or otherwise!”

To the average person, Zero probably seemed like an unstoppable God Skill, preventing others from using their own, but in reality, it just made fights fair. While I was skilled enough with the blade, anyone above my level would still hold a clear advantage. Xinyi’s insane level of basic sword training without a Skill put her close to my mother’s level without Skills, so I doubt I could fight her either.

But Jin was born with three Skills, and he never learned how to fight without using them. Someone like him, I could beat. I held back in fights to look weaker, something Xinyi could tell immediately, just like I could tell she wasn’t trying her hardest either. But Jin never thought about it, he fought through brute force, and never stopped to think about my intentionally lazy actions.

“Well anyways, your duel has been interfered with and your sword broken, there is no loss or gain of honor for either party, so let’s forget about it, alright?” I walked over to Xinyi, who was unsteady on her feet from several minor wounds, and pulled her against me, wrapping her arm over my shoulders so she could use me as a crutch.

“You think this is over, Yi Zen?! That I’ll just let you get away with this mockery of everything I stand for?!” Jin tried to rush at us, but the teacher stopped him, as the duel was no longer valid. Still full of rage, he was dragged away from us, and I took Xinyi the opposite direction.

“Thank you, looks like ya saved me again, Zen.” Xinyi’s voice was weak, if she hadn’t been so close to me, I doubt I would have heard it. Her face and body were so close to me, and with every step together I felt something soft brush up against my arm. I looked away from her, my face redder than her hair.

As we tried to leave the training grounds, I was stopped by my one and only true friend, Lei. He had a strange look on his face, and I can imagine why. For years our friendship was based on the fact that we were both useless, Lei thinking, like everyone else, that I had no Skill. Our trust was broken, and I wasn’t sure if our relationship could be repaired.

“H-Hey, Yi Zen…” he meekly greeted me. “Is… is she badly hurt?”

“Nah, I think she’s just exhausted herself. She doesn’t seem to understand the limits of her own stamina.” I replied, walking past him. The dazed, half asleep girl mumbled something at that time, so at least she was still somewhat conscious.

“Yi Zen!” before I had a chance to talk to Lei about what just happened, my mother’s voice cut in. “I’m back from my meeting with the Emperor, did anything happen while I was gone?”

She looked at me, locked together with Xinyi, and even though it was an innocent action, she still huffed at us annoyed.

“Jeez, what are you two getting up to while I’m busy, you naughty boy!” she pouted, her hands on her hips.

I wasn’t sure what was worse, dealing with my mom right now, or having to deal with the fallout from my actions tomorrow. Either way, I could feel my peaceful days slipping through my fingers in real time.

“It’s... it’s not like that, god!” I blushed and looked away, which didn’t help my case.

I’m already so tired...