The moment the fear loosened its grip on my chest, thought returned with a clarity so sharp it was almost cold.
Skill combinations.
That was the foundation of every legend in this kingdom.
The King's blade had not become absolute because it was strong on its own. It became absolute because another Skill fed it, amplified it, turned every strike into something beyond human.
If that was true…
Then perhaps my two Skills were not separate powers.
Perhaps they were a single mechanism waiting to be understood.
The idea was absurd.
Blasphemous, even.
And yet it would not leave me.
With a mixture of dread and a rising, dangerous expectation, I turned my gaze toward Gaskarth and invoked Appraisal once more.
His information appeared exactly as before.
Name: Gaskarth
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Needlework
Dagger・Extreme
Swift Feet (Small)
Nothing had changed.
Good.
That meant I had a stable target.
Slowly, carefully, I activated [Cut].
Not toward his body.
Toward the line of text that existed only within my perception.
Dagger・Extreme.
The response came at once, the same quiet confirmation I had felt when I used Paste.
My pulse thundered.
I appraised him again.
Name: Gaskarth
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Needlework
Swift Feet (Small)
The Dagger Skill was gone.
Gone.
I had not wounded him. I had not moved. No one in the carriage had noticed a thing.
And yet I had severed a power that had been granted by God.
My breath caught.
Then, with hands that trembled despite my effort to steady them, I turned the second half of the experiment upon myself.
Paste.
The target was my own Skill column.
The result surfaced in my mind.
Name: Myne
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Occupation: Apprentice Hunter
[Skill]
Appraisal・Complete
Cut & Paste
Dagger・Extreme
For several seconds I forgot how to breathe.
I had done it.
I had taken a Skill.
Not learned it.
Not been granted it.
Taken it.
The shock was greater than when I discovered Gaskarth's identity. Greater than the moment of bestowal in the temple. Greater than anything I had ever felt.
Was this allowed?
Was there any human in this world who possessed such a power?
The trembling in my body slowly faded, replaced by something far more dangerous than fear.
Understanding.
When I returned home, everything would have to be reconsidered.
My life.
My future.
The way I existed in this world.
But first—
I looked at Gaskarth again.
If I left him with even one Skill, he would still be a threat.
One by one, I cut them away.
Needlework.
Swift Feet.
And pasted them into myself.
Name: Gaskarth
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
None
That should be enough.
Even if he reached Lucas, he would be nothing more than a man with ill intent and no power to act on it.
Probably.
My role should have ended there.
Yet I decided to watch him until we reached the gates. If anything happened, I would speak to the guards. With his Skills gone, there would be no danger in doing so.
For now, the tension drained from my body.
Not completely.
But enough that the constant ache in my shoulders eased.
The carriage continued its long journey.
Five hours passed.
Then the world erupted.
Armed figures burst from the roadside, weapons drawn, surrounding the carriage in a practiced formation.
At the same instant, Gaskarth moved.
"Hyahha— you lot obediently—Uga—!"
His triumph collapsed into a strangled cry as he leapt to his feet and immediately pitched forward, his shoes still firmly attached to the floor.
The adventurers inside reacted with the speed of trained fighters. He was pinned, bound, and gagged before he could even understand what had happened.
Outside, the escorts were already forming a defensive line.
"We'll lend our strength. Coachman, there'll be compensation for this, right?"
"Of course!"
While steel was drawn and orders shouted, I invoked Appraisal again, turning it toward the approaching bandits.
Eight in total.
Three stood out immediately.
Name: Rafre
Race: Hume
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Twin Blade
Sight Enhancement・Moderate
Name: Ein
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Etiquette
Leg Strength Enhancement・Small
Name: Syoubu
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Magic・Wind
The wind mage was the most dangerous.
At range, he could slaughter us before the adventurers even closed the distance.
I did not hesitate.
Cut.
The magic vanished from his status.
Paste.
It became mine.
Then the others.
One by one, their abilities disappeared, flowing into me like invisible threads.
The first to notice was Syoubu.
He raised his hand, mouth forming the shape of a spell.
Nothing happened.
Again.
Nothing.
Panic twisted his face.
Rafre staggered next, blinking furiously as her enhanced vision failed her. She clawed at her own eyes as if darkness had fallen only for her.
By the time the two sides clashed, the outcome had already been decided.
The robbers fought like ordinary men and women against seasoned adventurers.
Their formation collapsed.
Their plan—Gaskarth causing chaos within while magic struck from outside—had been shattered before it began.
Ten minutes after the first shout, it was over.
Nine robbers including Gaskarth.
Two dead.
Seven bound.
And not a single passenger lost.
The carriage stood in the middle of the road, surrounded by the aftermath of a battle that should have been a massacre.
No one knew that the balance of that fight had been rewritten by a boy who had only received his Skills that morning.
As the adventurers checked the prisoners and the coachman wiped the sweat from his brow, I sat in my place, hands resting quietly in my lap.
Inside me, however, the world had changed beyond recognition.
Because I now understood, with absolute certainty—
My Skill was not for hunting.
It was not for crafting.
It was not even for survival.
It was a power that could steal the blessings of God themselves.
And that realization was far more terrifying than any robber on this road.