The sky is blue, and the arena is empty. This is a separate arena reserved for high-level fights. Sword Blue stood without any emotions on the other end of the arena...

Jean, Sword Blue, sent a letter of challenge to Merrick Wander, the Master Magician.

After sparring with the King of the Hills so many times, Sword Blue has finally reached the level where he can fight the 'strong' in a stalemate. And Merrick Wander is a 'different kind' of strong Jean desperately needs to experience.

Anomalies— this is what we call the outliers whose potential grade doesn't correspond with their strength. They appeared to this world so convincingly rare, it is hard to find a trace of them. They even preceded the mutant-kind with their superhuman abilities that are divergent from Special Abilities/Mutations.

Imagine, a young boy who trained himself with the way of the sword, transcending his human limitations by techniques and effort alone— an anomaly that can even beat monsters single-handedly, and was said to be the first Hero King...that kind of anomaly...which remained as an urban legend to this day is something Jean is devotedly trying to replicate.

His every waking day, he communed with his sword. During every meal, he never slackened his grip on the sword. Even when he sleeps, his sword remained by his side.

Jean held his sword, a katana made of blue Mythril, with religious fervor.

And finally, he is here.

"I am sorry if I had you waiting for long."

"It's fine, senior... The principal is making you work hard..."

Merrick is a senior to Jean for two and a half years. They both attended the Heromaker Academy, so they are acquainted with some degree.

"I heard you are pursuing the path of an Anomaly?"

"So are you, senior... I came to seek advice and see where I stand among outliers..."

"First, I need to hear your confidence. What made you think you stood a chance against me?"

"I fought the King of the Hills to a stalemate."

"Fair enough, but I already lost against the King of the Hills once, so is it really worth it for you to challenge a loser like me?"

"You jest Senior. I already lost a lot against him. In my first spar, I was beaten so badly, I almost gave up on living..."

"That's funny. From how I remember you... Sigh... To think that a slacker like you will become this much of a hard worker..."

"..."

"Tell me. What motivates you?"

"I have a little sister that needs protecting..."

Seeing Jean's resolve, Merrick summoned his ivory wand. It looked like a stick from a distance or a conductor's baton. But don't be fooled by its appearance, for it is a very deadly weapon, especially to Merrick's hand.

"I am also curious where you stand, so let's begin."

The ivory wand came from a bone extracted from Merrick. He fashioned the bone after a wand through the help of too-many-artificers. Merrick poured his lifeblood into this weapon. He boringly calls it Merrick's Wand, a weapon that earned fearsome notoriety to his enemies.

Merrick activated his power, a teleportation ability that has broken common sense. He summoned the undercurrents of the ocean from the tip of his wand with a thought.

Streamlined azure streaks flew towards Jean. It was highly pressurized water. Its penetrative power is immense, but Jean easily parried it.

Merrick traveled far and wide marking climate hotspots with his wand. Using his teleportation, he can briefly summon the power of nature at his behest to replicate a destructive display of physics.

His wand serves both as a remote control and an amplifier to Merrick. And Merrick is a TV that is the media of many channels. This is what allowed him to contend with higher potential graders.

But summoning nature is not where it all ends.

Jean's heart rate intensified. He can feel his lungs tightening. He cannot breathe. Confusion assailed his mind, so Merrick enlightened him.

"I stole your oxygen, your blood, and lifeline."

From the tip of his wand, blood poured like water from a faucet.

Merrick's Special Ability is teleportation. After a frightening degree of self-experimentation and training, he was able to perform this teleportation on a molecular level.

"I call this Surgical Extraction, it's a fancy name... As its name suggests, it can extract organs or even blood context-wise... It's a highly effective killing method. This special application is tiring for me. Especially against people with strong physiques. I know three other outliers other than me who can easily outmaneuver this... If you can't, just give up..."

Merrick said it in an arrogant tone. This is the power of an anomaly. Jean's potential grade is at 62% while Merrick is at 50%. Potential grades are nothing but a representation of how far is the human body from its peak. It doesn't translate to direct strength.

If it's infinite strength that you seek, then there is the mind— it possesses boundless possibilities that allowed someone like Merrick, a 50 percenter, to become the head professor of the academy.

'Concentrate... Breathe... Breathe through your skin, and move your blood like it should have been as a flow...

Muster everything you got...'

Jean can sharpen anything and everything. All he needs is a touch. But how does this sharpening even occur? It's a question Jean tirelessly contemplates every day. In his final bout with the King of the Hills, he finally found an answer— it's friction, he can remove friction.

From the tip of his left index finger, an invisible path flowed. With a simple jerk, it's as if his nail became a sharp sword.

Merrick saw the uncanny undulations in the air, and with a simple wave of his hand, he disappeared and teleported a meter from where he stood. He can even feel the wind passing through him. Because of the disturbance in his concentration, he lost control of the faucet of blood he was performing.

Color returned to Jean, and it's now his turn to counterattack.

Jean moved at a speed invisible to the naked eye. He accelerated forwards while he make the friction in his path disappear.

FIRST FORM: ENDLESS HORIZON!

He unsheathed his sword to a speed he never reached before. It's as if an arrow only visible to his eyes is guiding his sword's path.

OBSIDIAN WINTER!

Merrick summoned the slowly forming sediments of lava meeting the ocean. He molecularly removed the excess heat from the lava turning the obsidian rock hard. The horizontal slash easily penetrated the obsidian, but Merrick is no longer on the other side.

"Careful where you stand..."

Jean looked where the voice came from. It was up and above, Merrick is falling in the sky with calm.

TOWERING TORNADO!

Merrick channeled the heat from the lava just below Jean while simultaneously summoning the artic winds above. Merrick is trying to summon a tornado. Nay, he is trying to recreate it. Warm humid air rises, while the cool air falls... then a tornado.

'Shit.'

Yeah, shit indeed.

A towering tornado engulfed Jean. It was a deadly cage of wind. Jean cannot activate his Special Ability. Doing so is suicidal. He doesn't want the tornado to become sharper and stronger, right?

Jean's sword isn't an ordinary Katana. It's made of legendary synthetic steel called Mythril. Using Jean's Special Ability, he was able to turn the Mythril into something more.

After 'refining' the Mythril in its purest state through Jean's 'sharpening' ability, it turned blue, thus blue Mythril. The King of the Hills then personally reforged this sword to the Katana it is now.

Though Jean didn't use any of his organic flesh to forge this sword, he can feel the sword as if it's an extension of his own body. He activated his Special Ability in the sword.

FINAL FORM: SWORD INFINITY

Yes, it was the final form. It must be his final form. He can feel it, the power to cut the world. His sword vibrated with an intense echo crying a beautiful melody. Its glow is that of a star so bright and captivating. Its mere presence shattered the tornado.

But it feels too heavy in Jean's hands. He is barely standing and breathing at the sight of this power. Is this power beyond me?

'How can I wield this power?'

Merrick frowned at the sight. He was planning to disarm Jean by teleporting his sword away, but the sword's heavy presence is saying otherwise.

His Special Ability is limited by two things— concentration and weight. The only reason he can summon the ocean, winds, and lava is through the cumulative effort of pouring them manually just like a hose to a faucet. This allowed Merrick to disregard their weight, though the technical skills involved are quite menacing. This is why he easily tires in battle.

"I guess, this leaves me no choice. You are strong, but I pride myself on being undefeated."

Merrick is arrogant, ambitious, and an insatiable battle junkie. He is painfully competitive. No, he is a sore loser.

SURGICAL EXTRACTION—

Jean's sword suddenly died as he slumps to his knees. He felt his entirety being assailed by suffocation. He felt his limbs slowly dying.

"My Surgical Extraction demands a lot of concentration, so I cannot move when I am using it. If my opponent also moves at impressive speeds, I cannot also use it... But with you standing there like an idiot... Sigh..."

A look of shock, trepidation, and realization dawned on Jean. He saw Merrick holding a still-beating heart.

Then he fainted.

"... but I must admit, your strength impressed me..."

With Merrick's final words, he left using teleportation with Jean's body and heart in tow.

...

(Merrick went to find a doctor for his purposes)

MERRICK: Academy doctor, I have a patient for you...

CELINE: Okay— eh? WH— WHAAAT!?

MERRICK: Can you do something about this?

CELINE: Is that a heart?

MERRICK: It is warm but it will get colder soon, I think... The anatomy of Special Ability wielders is intriguing...

CELINE: Let me get that! And the body too! Faster! He'll die at this rate!

MERRICK: That is why I went to you.

CELINE: (*blushing) What are you doing extracting people's hearts anyway? ('I need you' is that what he is saying? *Celine's delusion)

MERRICK: Are you angry? I am sorry...

CELINE: (*blushing more) N-no... You can extract their heart all you want... (Just take mine already! heeeee~)

MERRICK: Is it done?

CELINE: Yeah. Thanks to my Special Ability that is... My powers allow me to stitch organs after all, but if it were none other than me, he would have died...

MERRICK: Thank you. I mean it...

CELINE: Okey. Ha-h-how about this, you t-t-t-treat me to a meal... Ummm...

MERRICK: Sure, that's all I can offer after this trouble I caused. What do you say about dinner, I know a good place.

CELINE: Ssssssssssss-sure!

MERRICK: (Leaves the infirmary...)

CELINE: (waiting...)

MERRICK: (no longer here)

CELINE: WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YAY!