Chapter 68 – The Existence of Skill Users

“…..Huh?”

What in the world just happened…?

Without a doubt, Kuzuhara’s fist hadn’t hit his opponent. And yet, the blue orc’s body folded and flew backward as if his fist had struck him directly in the abdomen.

The blue orc also looked somewhat confused, but it quickly got back up and approached Kuzuhara again.

“Yeah, that’s right! Come on, come on!” (Kuzuhara)

Kuzuhara once again showed no signs of dodging. Instead, he drew back his right fist and took a stance.

“―<Air Wave>!” (Kuzuhara)

He shot out his fist in the same manner as before. His fist reached the end of its swing before hitting the blue orc, but―

“Gubwaaah?!!! ”

The blue orc was sent flying once more by a force that couldn’t be seen.

“….What in the world?” (Komon)

“It’s most likely some kind of shockwave.” (Shiki)

“Shiki?” (Komon)

It seemed that he knew what kind of miraculous phenomenon Kuzuhara was pulling off.

“A shockwave… In other words, the force of his fist is blowing him away? That massive orc? Isn’t that impossible?” (Komon)

This wasn’t a manga or anime. How could an ordinary human have this kind of power?

“For an ordinary human… yes. However, if he were a person gifted with a talent like milady, then perhaps…?” (Shiki)

“…?! N-No way, a skill…!” (Komon)

So far, I hadn’t run into anyone who had a skill like I did. However, I never thought that such people didn’t exist. In the first place, my skill was labeled as a ‘Unique Skill’. That meant that there were normal skills too, and naturally, it was possible for people to have them.

However, since I hadn’t encountered any such people, I had started to think that I was the only one in the city who had a skill.

Kuzuhara said that he would surprise me. That meant that it would be a surprise on the level of the existence of Sol and Shiki. And certainly, there was no truth that could equal the existence of Sol and Shiki other than the occurrence of some strange phenomenon like this.

“Gigyiii!”

The blue orc, which had taken a considerable amount of damage, slowly got back to its feet. But in the blink of an eye, Kuzuhara had closed the distance and slipped under its reach. The blue orc looked startled, but Kuzuhara took advantage of that gap to jump up and grab its head with both of his hands.

“This is the end―<Second Impact・Kuzuhara Wave Blast>!” (Kuzuhara)

In the next instant, the blue orc’s body blurred for a moment, and then blood gushed out of its eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

As Kuzuhara landed back on the ground, the blue orc staggered backwards one step, then another, and then fell flat on its back. It twitched and convulsed, but those fits gradually became weaker. Finally, it stopped moving and disappeared into motes of light.

That phenomenon meant that the monster had been defeated. I had seen people other than myself defeat monsters many times before. But this was the first time I had someone kill a monster with just their hands, without any weapons.

“Kuzuhara Saito….” (Komon)

I unconsciously muttered his name as I watched him triumphantly strike a guts pose after defeating the blue orc. It was the first time I had met someone who had a skill other than myself.

What is this feeling?

I was somewhat bewildered, but in the end, I felt like I could accept it. Now, I knew for a fact that there were people other than me who had special powers. No, I guess I still didn’t know. It was only Shiki’s guess as to whether his power was a skill or not.

After Kuzuhara returned in high spirits, Chake said, ‘as expected of Saito-san!’ and traded a fist bump with him.

“How was it? I’m pretty good too, aren’t I?” (Kuzuhara)

“…Yeah, that’s right. But if you had this kind of power, you didn’t have to go through the trouble of relying on me, did you?” (Komon)

“Ah, well I actually didn’t have this power from the start. So I’m still inexperienced and a bit lacking in training, you know what I mean?” (Kuzuhara)

With the way he said it, he definitely didn’t have this power when he was born. It was as if it was something that he had only recently acquired and not yet had the time to master.

“….What in the world is your power?” (Komon)

“Huh? I don’t really know either. But I do know that apparently it’s a ‘skill’, just like those skills in games.” (Kuzuhara)

…! There’s the verbal confirmation. If he mentioned that term himself, then there was no doubt about it.

“My bad. I didn’t tell you until now because I wanted to surprise you.” (Kuzuhara)

“Your power was important to consider in our strategy. I would have liked to know in advance.” (Komon)

“It was my bad. What… are you angry at me?” (Kuzuhara)

“Angry? Why would I be?” (Komon)

What would I be angry for? I could understand, but… I did feel a bit unhappy. It wasn’t that I had a misunderstanding of being the chosen one or anything like that. It was just that it would be a pain since I now needed to be even more cautious when dealing with other humans in the future.

“That skill… Is that what you called it? Are you the only one who has a skill?” (Komon)

“At the very least, I’m the only person in the Inochi-shirazu who does. But…” (Kuzuhara)

“I have a feeling that Ryudou probably has one, too…” (Kuzuhara)

Yeah, as I expected. I wish my hunch had been wrong.

“What makes you say that?” (Komon)

“He knows I have this power. He saw me use it before. But he still challenged me to this match. I guess that’s some kind of evidence that he has a power that can rival mine.” (Kuzuhara)

Ryudou had been his former best friend after all. It seemed that he understood his thoughts. But if that was really the case, it would be seriously troublesome. The situation could change in any number of ways depending on his skill.

I informed Sol of this information via telepathy and told her to be even more careful.

“By the way, what kind of power is this skill of yours?” (Komon)

Now that we had gotten to this point, it would be good to get as much information as possible about his skill.

“The skill is called <Impact>. Well, as the name implies, it seems to be an ability that has to do with impact in certain ways, but…” (Kuzuhara)

“But?” (Komon)

“It’s quite difficult to control. I’ve been training every day, but unfortunately, I only got this power not long ago.” (Kuzuhara)

“Not long ago?” (Komon)

“Yeah, you’d know what I meant if I said that it happened the day the world transformed, right?” (Kuzuhara)

Sure enough, it was on the same day for me. It seemed that all skill holders had awakened on that day. But if that were the case, why weren’t there more exaggerated rumors spreading around?

If there were people with strange powers, it should have spread around the internet like wildfire. Such special people would easily catch the attention of other people.

Even the rumors of Komon were spreading quickly. And I was making use of those rumors to do business after all. But if there were no other rumors, that these people were either unaware that they had the skill or they were hiding it.

“….When you got the skill, did you notice it immediately?” (Komon)

“Huh? Yeah, if I recall correctly, it was when I first ran into a monster and defeated it? I said something like, ‘It’s just like a game. Then I wonder if that means there’s magic and skills too.’ And at that moment, some words appeared before my eyes.”

He said that the words were, ‘Skill: Impact has awakened.’ It was the exact same as my experience. I also saw such words appear in front of my eyes when I uttered the word ‘skill’.

“Actually, when I heard that you had monsters working under you, I thought that you might also have a skill too.” (Kuzuhara)

“Unfortunately, that’s not true. In the end, Sol and Shiki are following me of their own volition.” (Komon)

I could tell him that I had a skill, but then he might ask me to demonstrate how I actually tamed them. That would be a bit of a hassle, so I decided to just say that it was my first time hearing about skills.

“But in the future, maybe I will be able to acquire a skill like you.” (Komon)

“Yeah. At that time, you could teach her some things as her senpai, Saito-san.” (Chake)

“Huh? N-No, I told you that I’m still inexperienced, Chake!” (Kuzuhara)

“Heheh, so then you don’t like teaching women because it makes you nervous?” (Chake)

“Hey Chake, who the hell do you think you’re teasing?!” (Kuzuhara)

“Ooowwwww! I’m sorry, Saito-saaaan!” (Chake)

These two were getting along as well as ever. Chake seemed to be laughing even though he was caught in a headlock.

“―Master!” (Sol)

At that moment, I unexpectedly received contact from Sol.