Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Unlucky Throne

Ethan sauntered back to the group, slipping seamlessly into the midst of his companions. Despite his brief absence, it seemed that no one had noticed he had left them for a while.

Meanwhile, Aurelia continued to explain the rules with his trademark calm demeanor, his voice carrying a playful yet sly undertone. "...Once it's your turn, I'll send you to a pocket dimension where you'll be choosing your skills." he explained, his words sparking anticipation among the gathered souls.

As the excitement in the room grew palpable, Aurelia's gaze swept over the eager faces before him. "Any skill that gets picked by someone won't be available to others." he added, his tone tinged with a hint of mischief, knowing full well the competitive nature that would soon unfold among the chosen warriors.

"Excuse me." Ethan interjected, raising his hand to request permission to ask a question.

"Yes, Ethan, is there a problem?" Aurelia responded, his smile masking a hint of annoyance at the interruption.

"Well, I want to confirm something. You have no reason to lie, right?" Ethan queried, his smile carrying a hint of innocence, though there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. 'Sly Bastard', he thought to himself with a smirk.

"Why would I?" Aurelia replied uneasily, avoiding Ethan's gaze. 'This kid, I have a bad feeling about him.' he thought to himself, his smile faltering slightly.

"Alright then, isn't it possible to learn that said skill as we progress with our lives if we meet the appropriate conditions?" Ethan asked Aurelia casually, his demeanor nonchalant.

"Umm, that's true. But the chances of that happening depend solely on the skill's rank." Aurelia replied, attempting to save face, though Ethan wasn't about to let him off the hook.

"But it's possible, right?" Ethan persisted, folding his hands and fixing Aurelia with a challenging stare.

"I didn't think there was any need for that since the majority of the skills that would probably be chosen would be high-ranked." Aurelia countered, bouncing back as though he felt threatened or sensed competition of some sort. The revelation caused a flicker of excitement to spread among the gathered souls.

"Oh really?" Ethan's response betrayed a hint of irritation, though he had been expecting Aurelia's evasive tactics. 'Tch... As expected of this sly fox. Not taking full responsibility by giving us false hope.' he mused silently, his frustration simmering beneath the surface. 'But atleast he'll stop giving us the half truth.

It would be more if a hassle if I started explaining more than what the others probably know. Although no one has actively admitted to it yet.'

Both Ethan and Aurelia had almost forgotten that they were not alone. Everyone watched with rapt attention as the two engaged in a subtle battle of wits.

"W-What else aren't you telling us though? Um - I'm pretty sure that information was worth telling us from the start too." a voice piped up, its owner clearly nervous as evidenced by the stammering.

"And you are?" Aurelia inquired, turning his attention towards the newcomer.

"D-Dmitry Sokolov, sir," the voice replied, still stammering with apprehension.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him," Jean added, her tone dripping with sarcasm as if she had been waiting for an opportunity like this to arise.

"Alright."

"Nice."

Simultaneously, everyone selected YES, and the points distributed themselves.

"Hey, Micheal... Areline or whatever your name is, why can't I distribute them myself?" a voice challenged Aurelia.

"Micheal?"Aurelia's patience reached its limit. With veins bulging on his face, he approached the person and demanded their name.

"What's it to you?" the person retorted, standing their ground defiantly.

"Don't ever mistake me for that pompous bastard." Aurelia snapped his fingers, and suddenly, lightning struck the room at random, sending everyone scrambling for shelter. The lightning also struck the place where Ethan had been resting before, causing it to crumble.

"Oh crap." Aurelia muttered, his anger quickly turning to fear. "I went too far again. I need to fix this before he gets here."

He turned to the guy and repeated, "Your name."

"A-Antoine Martin," the person stammered, visibly shaken by the sudden display of power.

A new translucent screen appeared before Ethan, bearing an ominous message.

[Error]

"Huh? Error." Ethan muttered, his confusion mounting.

[Throne has been destroyed]

[Penalty: Zero Luck Stats]

[Duration: 24 hours]

"Huh? What happened to my luck stat?" Ethan exclaimed, his confusion deepening into dismay. "I don't have anything."

Ethan started to whine, but then he turned back and realized that what he had been sitting on the whole time was a throne, and it got destroyed when Aurelia decided to flex his power.

"You have got to be kidding me." He couldn't believe his eyes. He had literally zero luck for 24 hours and he was yet to pick a skill.