59 - Ranking Battle (4)
Kaeran His might be arrogant as hell, but he's no idiot. Just flashing a blue fireball doesn't guarantee he'll copy it. So, I needed to cloud his judgment. Flesh-cutting bone-severing. Like the saying "sacrifice the flesh to claim the bone," I'd let him land a hit in exchange for targeting his head for sure.
Make him so dizzy he'd mistake my blue flame magic for Wind Archery. And the plan worked like a charm.
-Thwack!!!!
Kaeran, smacked squarely on the side of his head by my training crossbow bolt, tumbled to the ground.
-Waaaaaah!!!!
The cheers erupted wildly. Not just for Kaeran's excitement, though. But I had to stay calm amid it all. I backed off to keep distance until he got up, watching his every move.
Kaeran staggered to his feet, then started twisting his body like a zombie. Not full-on acting—he'd gone beyond peak hype. Taunting me like, Come on, hit me with your super move.
And my gut screamed: Don't give him time to think.
'Eat this.'
-Fwoosh!
I deployed Parasitic Fireball on my crossbow, blue flames clinging to the firing mechanism. Looked convincing enough. Blue fire's rare, after all. All that was left was for him to buy it as Wind Archery.
* * *
'In a do-or-die moment, anything I see once becomes mine.'
That single line forged the Kaeran of today.
It started young, back when he roamed the streets as a beggar. Desperate to survive, to fill his gut, that's when the mysterious power awakened in him.
And so Kaeran... stole the strength of the toughest beggar around.
-Haha... what the hell is this?
After that, it was simple—but brutal. Steal, plunder, claim. Building it up piece by piece, until one day he was adopted into one of the empire's four great houses.
Blood-unrelated brothers, a little sister deemed smarter in magic, stuffy old-timers claiming ties to his adoptive father—they were all just tools to him.
A familiar sensation for Kaeran. He had to get stronger. How could he weaken when all he did was take?
But lately... there was nothing left to steal. No more survival itch, no thrill of crisis.
Until now. Against some no-name B-rank nobody who rolled in from god-knows-where.
He wanted to take it. It was worth stealing. A longing he hadn't felt in ages.
Even as his head throbbed like it might split, Kaeran's instincts sharpened with eyes squeezed shut.
-Shiiiing!!!!
Again, flawlessly claiming the guy's skill as his own.
When he opened his eyes, enlightenment hit.
"What? Too easy?"
Snagging the ability was simpler than eating cake in bed. That's when—
-Thud!
"Ugh... fuck, what?"
His whole body felt numb, more than before. Kaeran's hypersensitive nature picked up on it. He chalked it up to bad condition.
"Can't wait to see... what this power does."
Selena's prized blue Wind Archery. Saved him the trouble of stealing it from that bitch.
It was his now, effortlessly.
'Hmm, what to do...'
As he pondered how to humiliate Lev Denek, a flash of genius struck.
2nd-circle magic had element-based arrows for all four affinities. Meaning, no need to steal the crossbow itself.
Like a swordmaster channeling aura and magic into their blade—infuse Fire Arrow with elven-exclusive Wind Archery.
A truth-defying act only Kaeran could pull. Show the crowd the gulf between classes.
"Lev Denek, you're useful after all."
Kaeran grinned maniacally at Lev's flustered face. The laugh of a predestined winner.
He nocked an arrow, chanting Fire Arrow.
-Rooooar!!
The crowd roared again, expectant. Magic was his forte—the bow shape formed easily.
-Fwoosh!
Next, instinct layered on Lev's stolen technique.
-Fwoosh...!
A small blue flame flickered to life on the back of his hand.
"What...?"
No matter how he looked, it was 1st-circle Fireball.
Again—
-Fwoosh!
"...?!"
Just a blue Fireball sparkling mockingly.
"You're... kidding...?"
His dizzy head cooled to ice.
"!!"
-Hot hot...!
Late to snap out of it, Lev clumsily doused the crossbow flames with crude ice magic.
Watching that sparked cognitive dissonance.
"This fucking...!"
Kaeran's blood boiled over again.
"You little shit...!"
* * *
'Kaeran His' has copied your Parasitic Fireball (Proficient) magic!
It was almost anticlimactic how easily Kaeran bit the bait.
'Bye-bye, self-insert.'
No take-backs on the "bug" now. I'd nudged the system to patch it when I first got Parasitic.
'Wish the author could see this mess.'
I'd been promised gamer traits. Games have terms of service. Changing that? Breach.
Story could shift, but not my game mechanics.
Checkmate.
I watched him fumble the blue fireball, then—
[Parasitic Fireball (Proficient)]
Permanently remove? (*Deleted skills cannot be restored)
'Obviously, yes.'
I nuked Parasitic Fireball from my skill list on the spot. That's a gamer's privilege, punk.
Activated Magic Eye to check his status.
-Ding!
"Well, well?"
Magic Eye revealed surprises in Kaeran's status. Parasitic already infecting his specialties. Unique traits locked, but probably rippling through everything.
My Fireball took days to progress—no skill drop, no spawn. Parasites multiply to accelerate decline.
But Kaeran? His cheats like Absolute Growth, Resilience, Intimidation—stat mutators—and berserker Massacre that amps on hype—accelerated it on Parasitic Fireball.
Unintended, but his self-insert powers were self-sabotage.
'You're toast.'
All I had left was ringside seats to his downfall.
-Kaeran!!!
-What the hell!!!
Jeers rained down—Kaeran fumbling a fireball mid-fight.
"You little shit...!!!"
Enraged late, he charged with dual swords.
-Thud thud.
Still fast, but mindless.
-Whoosh.
Dodging blind swings? Cakewalk.
"What bullshit is this?!"
"Huh?"
His swords flailed.
"Think I'll lose to trash like you...?"
I danced around like a mirage.
As he chanted magic—
I said, "Yeah. You won't beat me."
"What...?"
He froze, like he misheard.
I turned to Bella. "I forfeit."
. . .
"Winner, Kaeran His..."
After that? Pathetic. No smug grin—just him raging at me till Bella intervened.
"Match over. Want disqualification?"
Why forfeit? Bigger picture ahead.
Up in VIP seats: Regulus. His guild Crow Pay—where main villains gather.
Fanfic says they scout high-score Kaeran for vacation. Author probably exiling him guiltily since Edwin's arc screamed "overt."
Anyway, Kaeran returns stronger via Crow Pay. Which turns villain guild late-game. Time to preempt.
Butterfly effect.
'Kaeran, troll for me.'
Dump a massive shitbomb—him—into Crow Pay.