Derivative Skill

Tang Qi was fifteen years old and already around 1.7 meters tall. Yet the girl he had caught in his arms was not any shorter than him. She looked about the same age, with a very pretty face, but all of that was ruined by the way she dressed.

Baggy pants, a loose sweater, messy hair, even more exaggerated black-rimmed glasses than Tang Qi's, and timid, shrinking eyes—she was practically one of the types bad students loved bullying most.

Tang Qi's thought was practically a crow's curse.

Because in the very next moment, several figures appeared in front of them, accompanied by shrill, unpleasant laughter.

"Sally, Sally, isn't this the unluckiest Sally? Have you finally realized how lonely you are? School just started, and you're already hooking up with some stupid boy. So? Does it feel good to be held by a boy for the first time?"

"Unlucky Sally is finally getting romantic thoughts. She's even taking the initiative now."

"We should pity this little boy. He got targeted by Sally right after school started."

The flamboyantly dressed girls speaking wore revealing outfits: jeans, cropped tops that exposed either their stomachs or half their breasts.

At their head was a blonde young girl with fair skin, a voluptuous figure, and a pretty face carefully crafted with makeup. Anyone could tell she was the kind of girl who was most popular at school.

But her expression was arrogant, and her words were extremely cutting. She stared at the girl, who had hurriedly pulled herself free from Tang Qi's arms after the other girls appeared, then smiled teasingly and deliberately asked in a gentle voice, "Sally, do you still want to join our Sisterhood?"

"Yes... yes."

The young girl had just picked up the books from the ground. When she heard the blonde showgirl's words, excitement immediately flashed across her face. But she quickly recalled some unpleasant memories. After hesitating, she still answered timidly.

"Good. Since you still want to join, we'll give you one final test. I remember you still have your first kiss, right?"

"How about this? Give your first kiss to this little freshman right now, and I'll let you join our Sisterhood. What do you think?"

"Ah..."

The moment the blonde young girl finished speaking, Sally froze in shock.

Then she said hesitantly and fearfully, "Angela, I... I... I can't..."

Seeing Sally fall into hesitation, the blonde young girl Angela's delicate face twisted with pleasure, and she laughed without restraint.

She leaned close to Sally's ear and whispered, "Dear Sally, this is your last chance. If you don't do it, not only will you never join the Sisterhood, no one at Thorn High School will be willing to be your friend either. Do you understand?"

Hearing that threat, Sally looked as though she were about to cry.

Unfortunately, seeing how pitiful she looked, the hot girls in front of her showed no sympathy at all. Instead, they burst into laughter, their faces full of joy at a successful prank.

Tang Qi had just watched a case of campus bullying up close and had even been dragged into it as a prop. He was not happy in the slightest.

He closed the history book he had been reading halfway through, shook his head, and prepared to leave by walking past the girls.

Tang Qi had no interest in this sort of thing. It was nothing more than teenage hormones and a cruel girl's prank.

Rather than waste time on it, he might as well read more books and learn more about this interesting new world.

But while he wanted to leave, someone did not want him to go.

"Stop."

Angela, the blonde young girl, called out in a somewhat shrill voice. She blocked Tang Qi's path, her ample chest rising and falling, two pale, soft mounds threatening to spill free.

Her pretty face moved close, smiling seductively. She seemed to deliberately reveal the scenery before her chest to Tang Qi, speaking in a syrupy voice, "Little freshman, you just enrolled, didn't you? As your upperclassman, I need to ask a small favor of you. Be a good prop, okay? This is a benefit for you."

"Maybe after today, you'll earn the title Boy Kissed by Unlucky Sally. That sounds pretty nice."

As soon as Angela finished speaking, the other girls laughed even more happily. The students passing by also noticed there was something entertaining to watch and gathered around, but not a single person dared step forward to stop it.

Tang Qi took a casual look and discovered that the students around them, regardless of gender, feared these girls—especially Angela, their leader. Most of the girls were simply afraid, while the boys felt intense admiration beneath that fear.

This kind of situation was common.

The students in a school were usually divided into three types.

The first type was the majority: ordinary, well-behaved students who studied diligently and lived mediocre, honest lives.

The second type consisted of the very few influential students with good family backgrounds and attractive faces. Most of the boys in this group were athletic stars, while the girls were fashionable and hot. But most of them had terrible personalities and enjoyed bullying the third type.

Like Sally beside Tang Qi, timid, plain, honest, and unfashionable.

Whether male or female, they would all be bullied.

Tang Qi had not entered St. Thorn High School to become the third type. The role he was trying hard to play was the second type.

That was why he felt so helpless about being suddenly dragged into this situation.

But as more and more students gathered around, Tang Qi could not be bothered to keep tangling with them. Completely ignoring the alluring view Angela had exposed, he continued past them, intending to leave.

But just as he was about to take another step, a tall figure suddenly pushed through the crowd.

It was a tall White Boy with flowing blond hair, handsome features, and clothes resembling a fencing uniform.

He seemed to have just finished some kind of sport and walked straight toward Angela. When he saw Tang Qi rudely refuse her—

The boy immediately reached out with a thick hand and grabbed Tang Qi's shoulder. In a voice that sounded gentle but was actually extremely domineering, he said, "Little freshman, I suggest you listen to Angela's arrangements. A boring day rarely gets such a good show. As an upperclassman, I also want to see how Unlucky Sally offers up her first kiss."

He had only just enrolled and was already caught up in trouble, even being treated as a bullying prop for public amusement. Tang Qi still looked calm on the surface, but anger had already risen in his heart.

With his path blocked, Tang Qi immediately raised his head and met the White Boy's eyes—this so-called upperclassman—with an intensely serious gaze. Then he said word by word, "Please move aside."

As Tang Qi spoke seriously, his mind suddenly buzzed, and a scorching breath flowed into his eyes.

In the next moment, the White Boy looked down and saw a pair of pupils faintly glowing with golden light. The threat at his lips was immediately swallowed back down.

He felt as if sunlight was crashing into his mind, and his entire body fell into a daze.

"You..."

He wanted to do something, but his body would not obey him at that moment. He could only watch helplessly as Tang Qi casually pushed him away and headed toward the teaching buildings.

The appearance of this scene immediately stirred a small commotion among the spectators.

Clearly, the outcome of this "duel" had exceeded their expectations.

The White Boy was the Ancient Sword Team Captain at St. Thorn High School. He came from an outstanding family and was handsome as well, making him a complete campus celebrity. Not to mention immature little freshmen—even some teachers had to show him respect.

What had just happened should not have happened.

It was easy to imagine that, in the eyes of the watching students, this Ancient Sword Captain suddenly no longer seemed cool or tough.

Especially after Sally recovered her senses and, while those girls were still stunned, clutched her books, lowered her head, and darted out of the crowd like a gust of wind to chase after Tang Qi. Angela and her hot friends lost face along with him.

"Hmph."

After coldly glaring at the White Boy, Angela snorted and turned away in displeasure with several of her close friends.

The crowd of spectators also dispersed in an instant.

"No, Angela, I..."

The White Boy looked like he wanted to cry. He wanted to explain something, but in the end, he could not say a word.

He could practically foresee that, in less than half an hour, news would spread throughout St. Thorn High School that he, the hottest Ancient Sword Team Captain in Eleventh Grade, had been frightened by a kid who had just enrolled.

There was nothing he could do about it. He did not even dare chase after Tang Qi to confront him. He suspected that what he had seen just now had been an illusion, but he clearly lacked the courage to confirm it again.

He could only stare at Tang Qi's departing back with confusion and resentment.

The "New Student Tang Qi" who had seemed so mysterious to the spectators had already entered a teaching building with the flow of students.

Instead of heading toward the classroom for his chosen course like most of the students, he checked his bearings and turned into the Men's Restroom at the corner of the stairs.

Tang Qi's expression was calm, but anyone looking only at his eyes would have seen a hint of turbulence hidden beneath that calm.

He had hurried here to find a mirror and confirm something.

Since class was about to begin, there were not many people in the restroom.

Tang Qi walked straight to the Grooming Mirror in the corner. Pretending to fix his hair, he leaned close to the mirror and lowered his eyelids slightly.

Then he recalled his emotions from just now. The familiar sensation immediately returned, and a warm current surged from his mind into his eye sockets.

Buzz.

He saw it. Tang Qi saw his own eyes at that moment.

Beneath his black pupils, two points of golden light faintly glimmered, and a sharp, scorching aura rushed toward him.

Tang Qi could imagine that if an ordinary person met the gaze of such eyes, they would probably be frightened immediately.

"Has it... mutated?"

"Because of what? Could it be...?"

As if he had thought of something, Tang Qi closed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them again. This time, however, he focused his mind inward. With a faint tremor, that familiar interface appeared once more.

Name: Tang Qi.

Status: Normal.

Race: Human.

Skills: Golden Furnace Meditation Method, Unnamed Derivative Skill.

"Just as expected."

Tang Qi's gaze immediately focused on the additional line of small text.

When his thoughts moved toward it, an Information Fragment immediately appeared below.

Information Fragment: You have obtained a derivative skill, unnamed. Activation area: eyes. Effects: Intimidation, Calm Spirit. Can be upgraded.

Tang Qi fell silent for a moment as he looked at the Information Fragment.

Recalling how the White Boy had been frightened stiff with just one glance from him, inspiration seemed to strike him. He unconsciously thought, Since it's a skill derived from the Golden Furnace Meditation Method, I might as well call it Furnace Eyes.

With that thought from Tang Qi, the Unnamed Derivative Skill on the interface immediately flickered. After a faint flash of light, it changed into the words Furnace Eyes.