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 she 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.

Every waking day, she communed with her sword. During every meal, she never slackened her grip on the sword. Even when she sleeps, her sword remained by her side.

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

And finally, she is here… meeting one of the precedents, proving that Anomalies are real, and potential grade is not everything when it comes to strength.

"I am sorry if I had you waiting for long, Sword Blue." Merrick apologized for his tardiness.

"It's fine, senior... The principal is making you work hard... Please call me Jean." Jean didn’t mind Merrick being late. Because she came here for a personal reason, she referred to herself as Jean and not as Sword Blue.

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 stand 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 in Merrick's hand.

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

The ivory wand came from a bone extracted from Merrick himself, it is his bone. He fashioned the bone after a wand with 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. She can feel her lungs tightening. She cannot breathe. Confusion assailed her mind, so Merrick enlightened her.

"I stole your oxygen, your blood, and your 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 she needs is a touch. But how does this sharpening even occur? It's a question Jean tirelessly contemplates every day. In her final bout with the King of the Hills, she finally found an answer— it's friction, she can remove friction.

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

Merrick saw the uncanny undulations in the air. With a simple wave of his hand, Merrick 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 that was leaking from his wand.

As if a giant sword lightly cut into it, a neat fissure was created where Merrick was standing a while ago.

Color returned to Jean, and it was now her turn to counterattack.

Jean moved at a speed invisible to the naked eye. She accelerated forwards while she make the friction in her path disappear.

FIRST FORM: ENDLESS HORIZON!

She unsheathed her sword to a speed she never reached before. It's as if an arrow only visible to her eyes is guiding her sword's path. It’s fast, deadly, and destructive.

However, Merrick saw through Jean’s move as he conjures a rocky black wall in defense.

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.

“Where is he?” Jean thought out loud as she flex her sword waiting in anticipation of Merrick’s attacks.

…