Just Do It

Sillia and Nathan both looked at her pierced barrier with stunned expressions. Nathan composed himself first since he couldn't let Sillia and his mom know that it hadn't been intentional. He had only wanted to demonstrate the power of the Mystic Art by letting Sillia feel the hit with her strongest barrier.

Sillia knew Nathan couldn't do anything like that before, so she would have accepted Nathan's claim as the truth if he could demonstrate greater power than five days ago. However, Nathan had underestimated the power of the Sky Piercer Force.

He glanced at the arm and hand he had used to flick the chicken bone with. Yep, he had underestimated the power. His arm trembled and buzzed from the Sky Piercer Force rushing through it.

Sillia slowly turned to Nathan after she picked up her jaw.

"...Can I learn that, too?"

Nathan calmed his trembling arm and met Sillia's gaze.

"No."

"Fu—I mean, why not?"

Unlike what his direct tone might suggest, Nathan refused out of consideration for Sillia. Or rather, for his parents' sake. Sillia wouldn't be able to handle the Sky Piercer Force even if she could learn it, which Nathan wasn't sure she could. Her body would break down either when using the Sky Piercer Force or when the Sky Piercer Force tried to break free.

"You'll probably die."

Sillia frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly that. It's…not quite accurate to say that it's a double-edged blade. But my Mystic Art is a son of a bitch. If you can't control it, it'll end up killing you."

Nathan shrugged like it was no big deal. Sillia and Anita both looked at Nathan with worry.

"What about you, then, Nathan?"

Anita looked at Nathan with a stern look.

He had said that he wasn't going to use any extreme training methods that caused him suffering. He had starved for five days, but it didn't seem like he had suffered, so she wasn't going to say anything. But now he revealed that he was dancing with something that could kill him just like that?

Nathan met his mother's eyes and read the worry in them. He smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. I can handle it. Sillia can't."

Anita was still skeptical. But she didn't say anything.

Nathan turned to Sillia.

"But there are other Mystic Arts if you'd still like to try."

"...Are they as dangerous?"

"No. Well, I think a rare few are even more dangerous. But they aren't worth it."

"Then, yes please."

Nathan nodded.

"Good. I'm not sure if it will work, but this one's called the Immortal Bastion. Memorize this."

Nathan proceeded to vocalize the chant he had overheard from one of the Heavenly Demon's closest confidants, much to the shock, confusion, and awe of Sillia and Anita. The sounds that came out of his mouth did not sound like something that was supposed to come from a human's mouth.

When Nathan finished, Sillia looked at him with her head ajar and a frown on her face.

"Splfugha?"

Nathan tilted his head.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Just repeat it.

Sillia stared at Nathan incredulously.

"...And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"

Sillia absentmindedly realized that she swore in front of Anita, which she had promised herself not to do. But neither she nor Anita could care about that as they just looked at Nathan like he was an alien.

"Just do it. It's not that difficult."

Sillia glared at Nathan.

"Are you pulling my leg right now?"

"No. But I guess you can't learn it. Maybe the Heavenly Demon needs to do something, after all."

Nathan shrugged and began eating the last of his chicken.

Sillia eventually sighed. It didn't look like Nathan was joking with her. He also had no reason to. She also couldn't explain the mantra or the power he had demonstrated if the whole thing was a sham.

"Fine. Let's move on for now." 

Nathan nodded.

"Why does no one seem to know that training your body helps with strengthening your skill? How do you know that? Who, or rather, what is your real identity, Nathan?"

Sillia had tried asking Anita during the five days Nathan spent training, but Anita told her to ask Nathan. This was what she had been meaning to ask all along. After she confirmed that Nathan was okay, she borrowed a computer to see how she could improve her skill even further.

Sillia didn't know much about awakening or the world of skills, heroes, and villains. She only had Nathan's guidance. But with him out of commission, she went to the internet.

However, the internet's facts didn't align with what Nathan had taught her, which she knew to be true since she had experienced it for herself.

Nathan was confused for a moment before his eyes lit up. He nodded in understanding.

"You're talking about how a skill's strength is fixed. It is as strong as it was when you first awakened to it. That bullshit, right?"

Sillia nodded.

"Two reasons. First, what do you think would have happened if you awakened your ability, told someone you could erect a barrier around your home, and they told you that's a shit ability when the barrier can't even block a bullet? It might be good for keeping mosquitos and lowlife burglars out. But a low-level skill nonetheless."

Sillia frowned for a moment.

"...I definitely wouldn't have trained my ass off like you made me do."

"That's for sure. But the image of your skill being bad would have solidified in your mind. If you compare that to how you instantly looked to improve it when you awakened, it's pretty obvious, right?"

Sillia nodded.

"My perception of my skill affects it, or something like that?"

"Something like that."

"...Okay, what's the other reason?"

"Imagine you get a decently strong skill or awaken without anyone telling you it's bad. You end up as a powerful hero or something. Would you tell others? Would you divulge the secret that earned you money, power, fame, and influence? Probably not, right?"

Sillia frowned.

"But aren't people still suffering? Wouldn't more powerful heroes be of great help to the world?"

"We would end up with more villains, too, so it wouldn't really matter. But don't worry, it will become common knowledge in the future. It's not like it's something people won't notice sooner or later."

Of course, people noticing was one thing. The common people and low-level heroes noticing that the upper echelon had kept such a secret for years and decades was another. It was one of the many incidents in the future that took a toll on the human population.