In this world, strength is all that matters, and without Skill, one cannot achieve true strength. Almost every person in this world is born with a special ability unique to them, their Skill. Sometimes, an individual can be born with two or even three Skills, but those are rare exceptions to the rule. 

I was born with Zero Skill, and my life has been a living hell because of it. At the age of five, I was enrolled in the prestigious Academy of Heroes, who trains the elite of the elite warriors in the kingdom, despite my lack of ability. It was a struggle to even keep up with the basic training of the others, and to be honest, I never really wanted to in the first place. 

My dream is to live a quiet life in the city, marry a nice girl, and settle down without incident, but I wasn't even allowed this basic luxury. 

Around my tenth year, a group of bullies had surrounded me in the training yard, their blunt but still metal practice swords brandished my direction. It’s a vague memory, but I was crying, I remember that much at least. 

“Yi zen, you bastard!” one of the kids yelled at me, waving his sword in my face. “You think crying will save you? You loser without any Skills, how dare you think you can be a hero like me.”

“I-I don’t think tha-”

“Shut up, zero loser, idiot!” the other kid, a year older than I was, I think, berated me endlessly. “A Nobody like you doesn’t deserve to be in this school, why don’t you go run home and cry instead!”

Being picked on for my lack of ability was common, and I often remembered moments like this in the moments before I woke up. Because in this world, having no power meant you were less than dirt to those who did have power.

“Flame Blade!” the kid shouted, his sword erupting with wild dancing flames. He had used his Skill, something that meant he was serious about attacking me. 

There was nothing I could do, I didn't have the Skill or the natural talent with the blade to fight back, I was completely helpless, and he knew it. 

“Lightning Flash!” 

A voice I knew very well cut through the crowd, and a blur passed by my line of sight. In an instant, the flaming sword in front of me was reduced to scrap metal on the ground, the bully now holding nothing but a broken hilt. 

He screamed and ran off terrified, and I don’t blame him, because standing between us was the top rated Hero in the country, maybe even the world. The only sword master granted the peerless title of Unbreakable Sword God. 

“Bullying my helpless son… unforgivable!” the woman, dressed in full plate aside from her head, glared at the other bullies, who looked like they were about ready to piss themselves in fear, and quickly scared them off. 

The strongest swordswoman in the world, the unbeatable platinum knight, the unbreakable sword god… my mother.

Everyone in this world who matters has a Skill, but my mother… She has an infinite amount of Skills. Born with her own personal Skill “Record”, she became an unstoppable monster at an early age. Record allows her to memorize the Skills of others through combat, and once she reached 100% understanding of it, she can recreate the Skill as if it were her own. The more you fight against her, the quicker she learns your ability and takes it for herself. 

In other words, it was impossible to have an advantage against her.

“Are you alright Yi Zen? Did they hurt you? Oh… I bet you were so scared!” she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight, almost suffocating embrace. Her vice like grip prevented me from escaping her hold. 

I could hear other kids around us giggling, as it was quite a humorous sight to them I’m sure. 

“Jeez mom… L-Let go already, I’m fine.” my face was beet red as I struggled to get away from her smothering hug.  

“Why do you have to be so embarassing!”

With a loud thud, I fell out of my bed and hit the floor, jolting me out of my dream. I let out a slight groan and pulled myself to my feet. On the wall, leaning against a set of drawers, my father’s dragon steel bastard sword rested in it’s worn out but still usable scabbard. A glint of the morning’s bright light shined through the window and hit the pristine metal guard of the beautifully crafted blade. It was a relic from an era long gone, a family heirloom passed down for god knows how long, and now it was mine. 

I never knew my father, he had disappeared shortly after I was born, and my mother retired from active service as a knight then. She would go on to train new heroes, and even become a teacher at the same academy I was enrolled in, if only part time.

I got dressed, tucking the blade’s scabbard into my belt, then headed down the stairs to the first floor. There I was greeted with an unkempt, groggy mess of wild brunette hair. In her public appearances she was always perfect looking, I wonder how many people knew about how much of a slob she was at home when only I was looking.  

She lay half asleep on a lounging chair, still in her pajamas. She was wearing a white silk robe made of loose thin cloth that could barely conceal her curves. I avert my eyes as a slight blush paints itself across my face.  

“Jeez mom, why not just walk around naked, what if somebody saw you like this?” 

“Oh hush, the only one here is you.” she replied with a yawn, sitting up straight in the chair. “We’ve shared both baths and beds countless times, what’s the point of getting flustered now, don’t you remember being fed with these?”

She crossed her arms under her already sizable bust, pushing them up into even grander heights. Her robe threatened to sleep off of them completely at any moment, the once loose cloth now looking exceptionally tight on her ample bosom.

“Don’t say things like that, it’s embarrassing!” I hurry towards the front door, just wanting to get away from her right now. 

“Ah wait, you haven’t had breakfast yet sweetie, aren’t you hungry?!” she called out to me, standing up and nearly tripping over her own clothes. 

“I’m good, I have to go to the lecture hall right now… bye!” I slam the door behind me and run off. 

The town was already bustling with action even so early in the morning, I guess that’s what you get from the capital, huh? I wove my way past the crowd of merchants and civilians and finally arrive at the front gate of the Hall of Heroes, the only academy specialized in making elite warriors who could compete with even the gods of war, at least in this country. 

At the gates were a small crowd waiting for them to be unlocked, including the only man I could really call a friend.  

“Yi Zen… yo! You’re here early.” called out the most plain main you could think of, short brown hair, an average build and face, my friend Lei. 

Lei was the son of one of the five hero generals of the country, of which my mother was also a part of, so he felt some comradery with me, as he didn’t possess the same level of strength his father had. 

Lei’s Skill was called “Analyzer”, and it allowed him to learn the intricacies of the Skills of others and understand how they worked. What it didn’t do however was to give him any combat prowess at all, so even if he knew how to counter a move, his body’s basic stats were too low to ever do it. You could say he had a worse, incomplete version of my mother’s Record Skill. 

In this way, we were both in a similar situation, so we became friends early on, as we were in the same class since we began training.

“I would have taken my time, but Mom’s being… Mom.” I replied to him sighing heavily. “I’d rather be in class than deal with that.”

“Man, why can’t I have a mother like yours…” he replied, closing his eyes in fantasy. 

“That’s gross you know? You really don’t want that.”

“You don’t know what I want, speak for yourself!” 

“Forget it, they’re unlocking the gates, let’s go.” I stop him before he can get going into a place I'd rather never think about, and head for the lecture hall without looking back at my friend, I just assume he followed me. 

After the morning lecture, we had practical training, and then free sparring until the next period. I found a quiet corner of the yard and sat myself against a small tree for some shade, hoping to get some extra sleep during the training type least compatible with me. 

As long as I sparred a few times a year with Lei, the two of use could scrape by with a passable grade. But if I were to fight anyone else, my obvious lack of practice with even the basics would become readily apparent to anyone watching. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to avoid it today, as an upperclassmen called me out on avoiding fighting.

“Ugh, what is it now, Jin Chun?” I complained, standing up from my seat against the tree. “Can’t find any first years to bully so you’re gonna take it out on me?”

“That’s right, scum.” Jin Chun replied, slicking back his platinum blonde hair with one hand. “The fact that trash like you managed to make it this far… how many strings has mommy had to pull for you?” 

“Come on, just leave me alone… what would you even prove by beating me? You’re the strongest fighter in the academy, nobody else has more than one Skill, let alone three.”

Jin Chun was special, both his parents, while not the top fighters, were strong and well respected heroes with powerful Skills. And somehow, by some divine miracle, he had inherited both of his parents Skills, along with being born with his own. 

I couldn’t see him as any more than a cheater, a man blessed from birth to be stronger than his peers, and thus have a better, easier life. It infuriated me that he was so much better than me, and how smug it made him.

“That’s exactly what I stand to gain, zero. Your useless, non existent skill is an insult to the real heroes in this school. If I crush you completely, I’m sure you’ll go crying back to your mommy and never show your face here.”

Funny how history seems to repeat itself, I was just dreaming of a similar fight from my childhood. Only that time, he had one mediocre Skill, and someone with more training could beat him with their basic Chi alone. But Jin was different, I doubt many professional swordsmen could compete evenly with him at this point, what chance did I have.

“Come on, you’ve been challenged… you know what’ll happen if you don’t accept, don’t you?” 

I rubbed the back of my head and placed my left hand on the hilt of my father’s powerful blade, which was wasted on me, and walked out of the shadows of the tree to stand before Jin Chun.

“What a pain…”

Rakushi

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