A Villain's Survival Guide

Upon contracting, six ranks became available, starting from Magician and climbing to the highest rank humanly possible, Transcendent. Each rank unlocked new abilities and a broader range of inclusion.

At the first rank, a Magician came with no comprehensive abilities. Everything gradually depended on the individual’s skills, creativity, and understanding.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

His contract with the Mystery Entity granted Leomaris the innate ability, Conceal. It made him harder to comprehend for anyone weaker than or at the same level as him and was said to hold regardless of rank, only strengthening over time. And since it was innate, gained upon becoming one with the Mystery Entity, no price was paid upon using it.

In addition to that, he was granted three more abilities.

Null: an ability that allowed him to nullify another’s ability for a brief moment, provided he understood exactly how it worked. Once nullified, the complexity of the targeted ability would double, and the wielder could only wield it again after mastering it at that doubled complexity. But as long as the wielder possessed the ability, it remained susceptible to nullification.

Solve: this allowed him to unravel physical and psychological abilities like puzzles. Once completely solved, he gained full use of them, though the technique would become twice as difficult to replicate. Should someone else learn his technique despite the difficulty, he would lose the ability, unless relearned.

And Learn, the final ability. It allowed him to uncover the mysteries and secrets of others the moment they acted suspiciously. Anyone stronger than him was beyond its reach, and if the target displayed no signs of mysterious activity or secrecy whatsoever, the ability simply wouldn’t trigger.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’Even so... I’m completely powerless against someone like Charlotte.’

The misunderstanding between Charlotte and the young woman attempting to bully her had been resolved with one thing: Leomaris dropping his sister Rosay’s name. He hated doing it. But Charlotte had been nearly at her breaking point, and there had been no other way.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He’d joined Charlotte at her table, and yet all that remained between them was a long, uncomfortable silence. Charlotte never once looked at Leomaris, not even after letting him sit. She stared into the distance, occasionally sipping her flat white. She looked broken, almost as though her world had collapsed.

Leomaris knew exactly what was going through her mind. A pact with an entity, the ability of Poems, everything she said was treated like a poem according to the rules in her grimoire. But there was a loophole. Something she hadn’t discovered yet.

The café had been her way of easing her mind from the predicament, that much was clear. But she was actually supposed to discover the loophole, "Me, Myself & I," during her run-in with the young cadet moments ago. That, however, had been Leomaris’s only window to get acquainted with her. He couldn’t afford to let that breakthrough happen.

’I need to be careful. Due to the rules of her grimoire, I can’t nullify her ability unless I uncover them first. I doubt she would casually reveal them to me. If I pressure her into saying something, she could kill me without even knowing it. I’ll have to handle this through casual conversation.’

Her entire dream had been shaped by a family that exploited her as a prodigy, using her as a vessel to carve the Greenwood name into history. Now that dream felt like it was falling apart. Leomaris was going to give her the hope she deserved, even if it meant playing the fool.

A moment or two of weighing his thoughts, trying to find a better way to open the conversation. His eyes moved across her pale rich gown, her smooth, silky lips, and finally settled on those dark, soulless eyes.

Bingo!

A soft smile soon tugged on his lips.

"Your eyes..." He instantly slipped into character. "...they look familiar. Have we met before?"

The words caught Charlotte’s attention immediately. Her eyes found Leomaris and held for about three seconds, thinking harder than she let on, though it never showed.

Without saying a word, she shrugged.

Leomaris pressed on. "Oh, you may not remember. I saw you reading in the arena stands yesterday... though your hair was dark back then."

Charlotte’s eyes filled with realisation. A soft smile pulled at her lips, as if to say, "I remember now."

She reached for her newly red hair and said simply, "Fall."

Just like that, the red hair fell away, and her natural dark short hair revealed itself. Leomaris acted surprised, believably enough.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Once met on her own terms, Charlotte could be one of the sweetest and friendliest people around, but approached at the wrong moment, she could kill without a second thought. He knew that much.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

That earlier smile and the letting go of her fake hair had told him all he needed. She acknowledged his presence, and Leomaris didn’t hesitate to take advantage of that.

"I didn’t know you could speak. Are you not fluent in the language?"

She motioned negatively.

"Huh. I take it there are things you can say and things you cannot? Is it related to your ability somehow?"

She hesitated for a moment, but after a second, she motioned positively.

Leomaris smiled. Right where he needed to be. He didn’t know the rules of her ability, but "Me, Myself & I" was something she’d used with ease in the novel. He was going to bring it up carefully, as naturally as he could manage.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He stroked his chin, acting in motion.

"I’d like to speak with you, but if your ability affects communication, then I assume even writing is included."

She nodded positively.

"Hm. This is a pickle..."

"What about nouns?"

Charlotte’s expression darkened. Gently, she rested her cup on the plate below, but the look on her face had nothing to do with the drink. It was about Leomaris’s snooping, and nothing else.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He saw it clearly enough. She was questioning his motives, and more importantly, beginning to wonder if the conversation was worth continuing.

Despite it all, Leomaris was confident. Charlotte’s strength in the novel stemmed partly from her open-mindedness. She never acted recklessly, and when it came to her own flaws, she always welcomed suggestions. She was the embodiment of maturity.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

And she hadn’t come to the café without reason, she was searching for a solution to her inability to speak freely. Without one, she’d be a burden in class, and tests and theoretical exams would only make things harder.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

After a beat, Charlotte gave Leomaris’s question a negative response.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Hm. That’s strange. Pronouns?"

The negative reaction came quickly, but Leomaris met it with silence, putting on the appearance of being lost in thought. In truth, he was giving her time to rethink.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Then, without warning, it hit like a tidal wave. Charlotte shot to her feet, hands crashing into the table, the coffee pouring and the cup shattering in the process.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris panicked from the sudden movement, the whole room reacting with him. But Charlotte’s face told another story, she was practically drooling, shivering in a way that made it nearly impossible to tell if what gripped her was terror or excitement.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris wasn’t pretending anymore. The confusion was genuine, this had caught him off guard entirely.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He believed Charlotte’s ability had no bearing on herself at all, but proving it was something else entirely. Just as Solve granted him access to physical and mental abilities, Charlotte could channel Poems to enhance her physical prowess.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Charlotte wrapped him in a sudden, tight hug, one motion, out of nowhere, whispering what sounded like "thank you" after each breath she took.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Her heart hammered against his chest, loud and aggressive. Leomaris couldn’t have been happier. Charlotte could break free, even if just briefly, and having helped her this much, he was certain her comradeship was his.

Her tears came soon after, soaking through his shirt, soft sobs filling his ears. He knew this hug had a while to go. But that gave him time to think. At this moment, his biggest priority was using it to buy Charlotte’s loyalty.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

There was still one obstacle left. Fighting Emerald Vernal Isle was what stood between him and a secured position in the top five. Her name sounded more familiar than he’d have liked, and yet he still couldn’t place it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​