Chapter 130: 129 Don’t flaunt humans, flaunt skills (Ten more updates, subscribe! Request for monthly tickets!)
Given the strength that Shane now showed, it was natural for him to be suspected.
Not to mention the results of the Magic Test at the adventurer’s guild; if they didn’t match reality, it was highly likely he would be suspected of deliberately infiltrating, or even be suspected of being a spy from the Demon Clan or another country.
Therefore, Shane had long been prepared to engage in blame-shifting. Not to say that suspicion could be completely eliminated, but at least he couldn’t give others blatant opportunities to trouble him.
That was also to prevent himself from being swept up in mundane matters.
After all, as for blame-shifting, Shane was already well-practiced and used it without any psychological burden—more was naturally better, right?
But since Vivian had already said so, Shane felt that revealing some of his abilities might not be a bad thing.
However, he was very clear about what should be revealed and what should not.
Didn’t Vivian just say, “show a part of your abilities ‘appropriately'”?
“Actually, it’s only natural that you all would be puzzled.”
Shane spread his hands as he spoke.
“But didn’t the adventurer’s guild say during the Magic Test that the Magic Tester cannot detect Skills above Level 7, nor can it detect a person above Level 70, and it cannot detect Unique Skills or Special Skills either?”
Shane rolled with this angle.
“As you might think, it’s impossible for me to be only Level 10, nor possible for me to have not even a single Skill.”
He wasn’t discussing before, but now, Shane was indeed so.
“The reason the Magic Tester only detected my Level as ten is because of the effect of my Unique Skill.”
Shane provided such an explanation.
“Unique Skill?” Beren took a deep breath and asked Shane, “Are you saying you have a Unique Skill?”
“Exactly.” Shane nodded, admitting it while also saying, “The effect of my Unique Skill is to adjust my Level to some extent, or the Level of my Skills. That’s why the Magic Tester detected that I only have Level 10 and no Skills whatsoever.”
Hearing Shane’s explanation, everyone was shocked.
“Adjust your own Level and Skills?” Leon said in amazement, “Does that mean you can autonomously decide your Level and Skills?”
Wouldn’t that be too heaven-defying?
“Of course not,” Shane immediately denied, “I’ve already said it’s only to a certain extent, so there are limits and conditions.”
Shane told such a lie without batting an eye.
But now, Shane telling such a lie shouldn’t be a problem.
Shane, who had accessed the adventurer’s guild’s library, now knew many common things about this world and thus could fabricate without leaving any traces.
Now, to prevent others from harboring doubts about his Level and Skills, Shane simply invented his own Unique Skill.
“As long as certain limits and conditions are met, then with those conditions, it’s possible to adjust Levels and Skills. The reason I could defeat Beddo so easily lies right here.”
Shane explained with a deliberately ambiguous tone.
“Don’t ask me what kind of limits and conditions must be met or to what extent Levels and Skills can be adjusted. These details are the important secrets of my Unique Skill. Revealing them would benefit me in no way and might even lead to me being targeted. You all just need to know that I have a Unique Skill with such effects.”
This was the story Shane had prepared.
Otherwise, Shane wouldn’t be able to explain the problems with his strength.
Originally, Shane had considered simply telling everyone that his strength stemmed from being at a higher level than Beddo, but upon further thought, he realized that if a twenty-year-old’s level surpassed Eighty-four, it might cause an uproar.
The situation with skills was similar; a twenty-year-old normally wouldn’t be able to level up his skills to such a high degree, or else Tielle wouldn’t have been hailed as a genius.
Therefore, Shane conveniently attributed the problem to his Unique Skill.
(“I can’t blame-shift onto others, but blaming the Unique Skill should work, right?”)
Shane thought somewhat maliciously.
But this explanation was indeed the most suitable for Shane—it provided a perfect reason for everything with no need for further explanation.
“So that’s how it is…” Beren somewhat accepted this explanation, muttering, “If it’s a Unique Skill, then indeed, any sort of situation could arise.”
Laischa had once said that in this world, to judge a person’s strength, one should first look at the effects of their Unique Skill, and only then at their level and skills.
A Unique Skill can be said to be the most special power in this world, truly capable of causing all manner of things to happen because of its emergence.
That’s why every country and race pays special attention to those who possess a Unique Skill.
If Shane did in fact have a Unique Skill that allowed him to modify his level and skills to a certain extent, then it wouldn’t be so hard to accept that he, at his age, could singlehandedly vanquish Beddo.
“Although there are limitations and conditions, this also means that as long as the conditions are met, you could become so strong that even the Old Demon Clan at Level Eighty-four wouldn’t stand a chance against you, right?”
Udilis looked at Shane with mixed emotions.
Leon felt the same, his eyes revealing an envy easily perceptible by others, even tinged with a touch of jealousy.
If he had such a Unique Skill, then he wouldn’t need to rely on women for advancement.
Unfortunately, not everyone was capable of having a Unique Skill. Even spanning the Three Realms, only a very small part of the population possessed Unique Skills, and a large number of the Divine Race and Demon Clan didn’t have them.
Whether one could have a Unique Skill wasn’t about talent or pure luck. Some people were just born with it, while others could awaken it later in life through various means; the factors involved were many, with no clear patterns for anyone to discern.
Thanks to this, those with Unique Skills were also called the darlings of the era. Even if the Unique Skill was completely useless in combat, it would still be the envy of others.
Shane had now become one of them.
And this was the “part of his strength” he chose to reveal.
From now on, no one would underestimate him, yet this would not lead to excessive attention being paid to Shane.
(At least, this compromise is better than exposing the identity of the Hero, isn’t it?)
Shane was prepared to use this Unique Skill as an excuse to explain any unnatural aspects of his strength’s sudden increase or demonstration henceforth.
After all, whether using the Holy Sword or other overpowering skills, the disparity in Shane’s strength before and after was considerable; having a suitable excuse was convenient for him.
(This is also what Vivian wanted, isn’t it?)
Shane glanced at Vivian.
Vivian probably wanted to tell Shane that he could hide his identity and his trump cards, but he didn’t need to always hide his strength.
In this world, only those who possessed power could earn the respect of others.
Just time, if Shane had revealed his unquestionable power from the beginning, then Beren and the others wouldn’t have dared to openly dispute the credit, right?
Of course, too much power could also attract trouble, which was why Shane didn’t want to draw too much attention.
As the saying goes, anything in excess is a fault—being too strong is no good, but being too weak is also a sin; only by demonstrating the right amount of power is most appropriate.