Matilda

The green grass swayed in the gentle breeze. I laid under a tree in the shade, my blonde shaggy hair and brown clothes somewhat clean. I've been in this world for about eight years now. It's been smooth sailing. I have a loving mother who helps around the village we live in and a father who volunteered to become one of the guards that protects the village.

So why am I wasting away under a tree on a bright summer day? Why not? I've been born in a low-class family, and education is not available for me. Well, that's not entirely true. The local priest teaches us History and about the gods and goddesses that watch over us.

I am playing hooky. I rather stay under a tree and relax than go to school twice. I have a pretty good show in front of me anyway.

My older sister, Matilda, is doing her daily sword practice.

She was about six years older than me and was a very late bloomer. She was practicing the kingdom sword style. I don't know much about martial arts, but I could tell it was lacking from a glance. Each swing pushed the swordsman forward like they were cutting through a deep jungle. The thought of "the best offence is the best defence" sprung to mind.

"What happens when some attacks you," I asked her.

"They would be dead before they even drew their blade," she said smugly.

"But what if?"

"There is no what if? This sword style is hand-made by the first emperor of Chadel. It is vastly superior to the south's turtling swordplay. "

"What was the Emperor's name again," I asked, grinning. I might have been playing hooky, but that doesn't mean I didn't study.

"I—uh—it doesn't matter. What matters is that I need peace and quiet when practicing!"

"Yeah yeah," I said, leaning back.

I picked up my left hand, and three blue see-through keys appeared. One said control, and the other two said C and V. It was the gift Genesis gave me. [Copywriter]. It works like a dream. I see an ability, and I type Control C. It copies the skill permanently and places it in my skill tab. The only downside is that certain skills, like magic, have requirements. Either a skill has a prerequisite, or I have to have certain numbers in my stats. Each skill is ranked from F to S, and the higher the skill, the more requirements are necessary.

A blue window appeared before me. It read "Emperor Callum Darcey's Lightning Swordsmanship. Part 1. Would you like to paste this skill?

"Part one," I thought. From the way my sister talked about it, I could've sworn that it was completed. My eyes rested on Emperor Callum Darcey. The local priest had mentioned his name more than a dozen times. How Emperor Callum carved the valley that Chadel sits in, protected by the surrounding mountains, he cut with his bare hands. A bunch of foolish myths that had not proof or truth behind them. In my eyes, Emperor Callum was like any other growing country. They killed the inhabitants and took over. A murderer dressed up to be a hero.

I grabbed a wooden sword that my sister had lying around. She would often break more than one or two when practicing. After she would go to the carpenters' shop and ask for two more. This would lead old Earl to roll his eyes and tell her to pick two out of the barrel in the corner. The first time she did this, Earl was furious, but he stocked up on wooden swords after months of Matilda's visits.

"What do you think you'll be doing with that," Matilda asked me as I approached her.

"Just wanting to prove a point," I said. "Maybe something nice might happen to me." I shot her a grin.

"It's sinful to lust after your, sister, you know."

"I'm not lusting. I appreciate beauty when I see it."

Matilda wore her blonde hair short, and from a distance, you could mistake her for a young boy. She didn't have a full stack in the front, but she made up for it with a tone sculpted body.

"You're doing it again, aren't you?"

She was the first one to pick up on my ability. I had copied an ability from the priest called [Overseer]. It allowed me to take a peek at other people's status. I could see what skills they had or even what stars they focused on, including level. I had come home and asked her who Drykena was. She asked me how I knew the name and told her honestly that it was the priest's occupation. Which led to more questions and me forking over my secret to her. That I had the ability to copy other people's skills.

Matilda made promises to forget any skills I copied. She told me, "If anyone catches you stealing someone elses skill, you could find yourself on the other side of the executioner's axe for heresy. Only Drykena, the Goddess of the Land, may bestow people with abilities."

I didn't like the word stealing because I wasn't stealing, just copying—the other person still had their skills. Either way, I promised, and we never really talked about it. I didn't want to end up dead just as I was starting out in the world. I didn't want to ruin this free second chance. A second chance to get what I wanted. Whatever I liked.

I readied myself in Callum Swordsmanship. My legs bent, and the sword angled just to my right.

My sister did the same.

Our eyes locked. We didn't move, both of us waiting for each other to make the first attack. I glanced over to my right, and my sister did the same.

"Amateur," I thought and dashed towards her. She barely reacted in time.

"That's cheating," she said, parrying my blows.

"I thought this was all about attacking?"

We clashed sword to sword, locked in a stalemate.

"All I know is how to attack," she said, pushing me back and starting her barrage. It was to be expected she was older, taller, and stronger than me.

When I copy a skill, I don't just copy the basic form. I copy everything that the subject knows, and it's my choice to listen to the knowledge that I have copied or ignore it. Skills are activated almost by instinct, and very little training is needed. Once you are blessed with a skill, all knowledge is bestowed upon you. Different degrees of that skill can be unlocked the more you use them. Callum's Swordsmanship was F rank, and the highest I've seen it was D rank. That was from the Captain of the Guard in the village. It was from him that I heard that no one in the capital had surpassed D rank, and for about a hundred years, it has been that way. The highest a skill could get was S rank.

Matilda knew this, but she wanted to push herself to reach that rank, which I thought was a pain in the ass. Why try to achieve what so many have failed? She wasn't a genius or unique. A hard worker, yes, but that's it.

The other teenage boys in the village avoided her like the plague. She had beaten a couple them to a bloody pulp for almost raping the baker's daughter.

I sidestepped her moves with ease. The swordsmanship is very fast and can kill most people if not prepared. The aggressive nature of it gave most opponents less room to breathe and react. If two people using Callum's technique clash, they literally stand still swinging their swords at each other. Their moves deflecting each other, the battle would turn less to a duel and more into a battle of attrition.

It was decreed by Emperor Callum the Seventh that no other swordsmanship, besides Emperor Callum's swordsmanship, would be allowed. I thought that was ridiculous.

"Stop dodging coward," Matilda yelled. I simply ignored her and took a step forward right after she swung at me. She missed, but I was in her blind spot. I jabbed the sword into her side, and she sprawled down the ground. Sputtering and grabbing at her sides. "You got me. I'm dying blah," she said.

"Really," I said, leaning on the sword. I had broken a sweat dodging her.

"You're no fun. How do you always blindside me like that."

"You ever heard of tunnel vision."

"There you go with your weird words. What is it?"

"It's when you focus on something, and you forget everything else but what's in front of you," I said, sitting down.

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be?"

"No, you idiot."

"Watch who you are calling an idiot, brat."

"You need to see all around you so you don't get blindsided. Dragons are not going to clash swords with you, you know."

She sat and leaned back on her hands. "I know. Why am I taking advice from an eight-year-old?"

"Because I'm smart."

"Fiona is smart. You're just annoying."

I flopped down in her lap. "Yeah, but I'm your problem, no one else's."

Surprisingly I never had a sister in my old life, and I'm not going to lie to you and say I wasn't attracted to her. I was, but that soon left me, and she was someone I could always talk to about anything. *Was*, someone I could talk to about everything.