Chapter 4: No Ability?

The people in the crowd who knew Alex was the one the first rumour was about were bewildered, not just because he was participating but the mere fact that he chose Royal Academy. What sort of nonsense was this?

Royal Academy could be said to be the best in the whole of Lurora Empire. As the name implied, it was the Academy that most royalties attended and even the present Empress is an alumnus of Royal Academy. It is an Academy that was founded by the Royal family many years ago.

The reason Alex chose it wasn't because it was filled with royalties coming from high-end families but because it has the best resources available and as such, it produced better and stronger students. If Alex was going to understand his highly complicated ability, he would need the information and resources of the Academy.

The representative of Royal Academy was a middle-aged lady. She had an indifferent expression on her face and was putting on white inner clothing and a purple coat on top that had the emblem of Royal Academy. She picked up the piece of paper Alex had dropped and read its contents. Her expression remained livid not changing one bit as she read until she finally spoke, her voice still and unrestrained.

"There's a big chance you do not have an ability and a very slight chance you have one that is half awoken,"

Hearing what their Instructor said, the students behind looked at Alex with a bit of disdain. When they saw how confidently he walked towards them, they thought he at least had the strength to back it up but hearing he couldn't even fully awaken his ability, they felt the urge to wipe out that smile from his face.

"Liz!" The lady called out, and a girl with short dirty blonde hair stepped out and stood beside her.

"Be his opponent for the test let's see if he has some other skills." she said.

"Yes ma'am" Liz answered. Seeing this, Alex turned around and walked towards the weapon rack.

He took a wooden sword he felt suited him the best and walked up to the platform where Liz was waiting at the other end. The platforms had an invisible protective screen by its four corners. The protective screen could block attacks from leaving the platform but would let a person pass through without any hindrance. It was a wonderful display of the use of rune arts.

The platform Alex and Liz stood on was the third platform in a row of eight. The crowd was interested in Alex's match due to the rumours. People with no ability were rare, even those living in the outskirts of cities and towns had an ability but most were half awoken. Because of this, they paid attention to his platform. They wanted to know how he would fare with no ability or perhaps a half-awoken one.

Alex took a deep breath in a bid to calm his racing heart. He took a stance that he had become used to. It was casual and bland not having any style or technique to it. He had never been taught how to use a sword by anyone. Since his childhood, aside from crafts, he loved swinging swords about.

Maybe it was due to this love for swinging swords that he indulged in crafting so he could craft swords.

Alex placed his sword across his chest, holding its hilt with his two hands.

'The first thing is to know what her ability is and then think of a way to counter it. From the way she's just standing there, I don't think she plans to attack' Alex said to himself.

'Maybe I should attack first'

He charged forward with a constant momentum toward Liz. The moment he started moving, Liz acted and flipped her palm facing it upward, and then an object began to emerge from it. It looked like a stick that had its bark peeled off and was then shaped like a blade. Its surface was smooth but it wasn't a stick, rather, it was a bone.

It grew to about nine inches long before Liz grabbed it and sent it flying at Alex. It was fast and was heading for his torso. Alex stopped running and immediately he did, the bony blade was already before him. He hurriedly placed the flat side of his sword and blocked the projectile.

It landed firmly on the sword causing it to bend backward smacking Alex's body. Alex could feel the bones in his hands rattling. Whether it was due to the sheer force the projectile carried or maybe it was her bone ability, Alex wasn't sure.

'Damn! Just one attack and I'm this worked up. Am I really that weak?'

Liz nodded, then flipped both palms forming two more projectiles and sending them at Alex.

'Shit. These projectiles are too fast for me to dodge and pack a lot of power making them hard to block'

Alex's mind spurned thinking of how to get out of the situation. He had disposed his stance. How was a stupid stance going to help in this situation?

Within seconds the bone shards were before him.

Alex used the sides of his sword to deflect the projectiles from hitting him. That way, he wouldn't face the full brunt of its power. It worked out fine until the moment Liz increased the number of bone shards making things more difficult for Alex.