Basilisk [3]

Lying on the floor, I looked up at the bright white roof with the accompanying lights.

As I was trying to catch my breath, I couldn't help but be content with my decision to spar against Sophie. Looking back at our session, I had been forced to use all I could even to land a single hit, and barely managed to get through her defenses by using my signature double step to get behind her. Even then she still reacted, creating a situation where I couldn't aim at any of her vitals, instead, I had to settle for a small stab to her stomach.

Because of my progress, I didn't feel all too uncomfortable using my skill. Of course, it still hurt like hell, but my body didn't immediately feel like it was about to break down. As we continued to spar I had tried two more times to use my double step in order to catch her off guard, but she managed to successfully react and defend both times.

Even with the pain of using my [Lightning Step] I still felt like I was on the right path. I had to overcome something to gain something. Having concluded our spar for today, with me being completely out of commission, Sophie sat down next to me with a complicated face.

"Are you sure you are just a Rank II?"

Her question caught me a bit off guard. I had been unable to do pretty much anything against her so I didn't think I would have looked all that impressive in her eyes. Then again, that might be something to be expected with our difference in ranks.

"Yea, right now my mana grade is a [Higher] rank II. Why?"

She got silent for a bit, seemingly trying to collect her thoughts. After a while, she spoke some simple yet impactful words,

"You are strong..."

"Hahaha!"

Her serious face contrasted with her frank words made me laugh out loud. I couldn't help it, it was just too unexpected for me to bear.

My silly reaction quickly made her face get red in embarrassment, not knowing why I was laughing at her,

"What?! Stop laughing! I was just complimenting you!"

Wiping some tears from my eyes, I collected myself,

"No, I'm sorry. It was just a bit unexpected."

I sat up and continued to explain, keeping my eyes on the bright white walls around us,

"Did you know? You say that I'm strong, but at the same time, I'm the weakest there is. I have never met someone weaker than me and at this point, I don't think I ever will..."

Even with that said, it didn't feel all that bad anymore. I had already accepted that my specialty would never be pure strength, instead, I would have to take another route to be strong. Though I was still sad that it was more likely that Misa would carry me over the threshold...

The already confused Sophie had gotten even more confused by my words, unable to comprehend what I was talking about,

"What do you mean? You are clearly stronger than the average Rank IIs, and that is by a long shot. In what way are you weak?"

Letting out a light chuckle, I started to explain my situation, starting with a question,

"What rank of strength do you have Sophie?"

"My strength is rank VII. Why?"

'Fuck, I knew she was strong, but rank VII? Isn't she a complete Behemoth then?'

Setting my sight on the bewildered girl I continued,

"My strength is rank I."

...

Her face changed from confusion to complete disbelief.

****

The last couple of months had been incredibly stressful for me. Having to try and organize our group as well as lead the negotiations with powerful politicians had taken quite a toll on me.

Thankfully my good friend Misa had arrived and kept me company during these rough times, although it couldn't be said to be for my sake. No, it was for the small man Miren she had come.

He had been an enigma ever since he arrived, or ever since we kidnapped him I guess. I was still quite guilt-ridden over the situation but it couldn't be helped. This was my chance to finally fulfill my dream. How horrible had it been to reincarnate into my favorite game and not be able to go on real adventures, make friends at the academy and save the world!

Although this wouldn't rewind time and let me get along with the heroes, I could at least get the chance to make my own story.

There was no way I could have known that I would get the stats of my own character that I used when I played the game.

I had always enjoyed playing like a barbarian, fully focused on strength and melee combat. Spinning around with a large axe, and brutally murdering mobs around me had been my favorite part of a lot of games. So in this world, I was also a barbarian class, strong and huge, a complete contrast to my previous body which was frail and weak.

At first, I was embarrassed by my body which grew larger than all the other kids, and seemingly never stopped. Now I was taller than 2 meters and I had gotten used to it a bit. It felt like I could live a full life in this world, using all my knowledge from the game in order to fulfill my aspirations!

But this was not the case. In reality, I got stuck with being labeled as a mana-less, unable to form a group for adventuring, and illegible to attend any academy.

To top it off, there was no hidden orb of powerful magic hidden in a random tree, nor was there a martial arts manual on the top of the mountains. This wasn't the game, something I quickly came to realize during my earlier years in this world.

This brings us back to Miren. There was something odd about him. Whenever he was around I could feel a sense of familiarity, as if we already knew each other. And today something pricked my mind.

Firstly, he had been so incredibly fast for a rank II. Just his normal speed was abnormal, making me doubt that anyone at his rank could react against his flurry of attacks. Adding on to that, he used some weird movement technique that made him almost seem to teleport around. He even managed to get a hit on me, even with a two-grade difference!

Secondly, he said something that I couldn't believe. He told me his strength was rank I, theoretically the lowest possible rank, but something that I had never seen during all my 22 years on this planet. But it was something that I knew was possible, after all, I had a rank I intellect.

Don't misunderstand, it isn't like it made me an idiot, I would consider myself to be quite smart. But it did create a situation where I couldn't use mana at all. The other mana-less people didn't have the same situation, most of them had a normal amount of intelligence but there was something about the mana flow in their bodies.

Lying on my large couch, which had cost me a fortune to make, I stared up at the ceiling.

'Is it possible that he is like me? He also came from the other earth and his strength is because of his character in the game?'

It would explain a lot. The reason why the hero James wasn't the nr 1 student, why it felt like we belonged together, as well as his insane speed.

During the months he had stayed we had gotten quite close, although I still felt like he was quite indecent after one of our previous interactions. He had actually teased me about still having my innocence!

Thinking about the conversation we had, I could feel my face heating up again, and I started to roll around on the couch.

'It isn't my fault! It's just that I had so much else to do that I never had the time to find someone! Not to mention the fact that I'm towering over 99% of all men on the planet...'

That was another negative with being this big, it was pretty much impossible to find a man that I could look at face to face, not to mention someone I could romantically look up to...

'But he managed to find someone, not caring at all about these things!'

Miren had found someone to love, my friend Misa, and they seemed like they would never let each other go, not caring at all about the difference in physiques.

Thinking about the little Miren, I could feel my heart beating a little faster. He was small and frail, but still so incredibly strong. Not just in combat but in his everyday life. He even got kidnapped but managed to keep himself calm and collected.

'I want to keep being around him even after all of this is over...'