Chapter 95: Undue Caution

[00 Months: 06 Days: 08 Hours]

'Careful, Mikey, careful.'

My heart thudded in my chest as I took a slow, steady breath, focusing my gaze on the man before me.

I expected any Survivor from Earth that I met to be stronger than the Natives here, especially if he led the bandits, but the power this man exuded seemed almost unreal.

It felt overwhelming.

I had to size him up. But I needed to be smart about it.

Conserving energy was key. I had to be ready for anything, especially a fight.

'That meant I have to use my <All Seeing Eyes> Skill.'

But it came with a price. The drain on my energy was significant.

So, I decided to just use the first form of the Skill - it would only give me the target's name and Level, but it was better than nothing.

My eyes flickered and then it was like I was seeing through a different lens. The world dimmed, everything but the target fading into insignificance.

His image flickered in my vision, and then there it was. His full name and Level.

[Brief Info]

Name: Andrew Alden. Level: 7

'E-eh?'

Level 7? My brow furrowed.

That didn't make sense.

The pressure he was exerting, the cocky swagger, the confident grin... that didn't align with a Level 7.

But my Skill had never been wrong before.

My gaze remained steady on Andrew, but my mind was racing.

Was he bluffing? Was there something else at play here? It was almost too easy.

The sensation of unease gnawed at my insides, but I kept my expression impassive.

I needed answers, but for now, I would play along. I would keep my guard up and wait for the right moment to strike.

'It's possible he has an item that obscures the effects of my <All Seeing Eyes>, or maybe a counter-skill…'

It was also possible that he had a Skill that could cause an apprehension of fear towards the target. Since it was possible that the situation flowed either way, I couldn't be too careful or careless.

'He's walking up to me now. I suppose he's going to try an attack.'

Using <Visualize>, I would be able to see his attacks, so there was no real harm in observing for now.

'In the worst case, I have <Dream>...'

The moment I thought that, my eyes widened, and I felt a sharp sting in my heart.

It felt frustrating. Painfully frustrating.

"Oi, what are you looking at? You dare stare at me with such eyes?" Andrew's words brought me back to reality as he growled at me.

It seemed I was glaring at him unconsciously, and the response to that was a clenched fist he was forming.

Without wasting much time, or any at all, he lunged forward with a speed that was unnerving.

~WHOOOSH!~

The air around his fist compressed, crackling with barely contained power. It was… it was…

'Weak…'

Was this really the strength of a Level 7?

I didn't have time to ponder, my instincts kicked in, and I twisted my body, my feet defying gravity as I barely evaded the powerful punch.

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The shockwave of his missed attack sent debris flying, echoing like a thunderclap.

As I landed, a flurry of thoughts raced through my mind. His punch, it wasn't as earth-shattering as I expected.

'What's going on here?'

There were two possibilities - either Andrew was pretending to be a Level 7 until I revealed my true strength, or he was actually a Level 7.

My Skill, <All Seeing Eyes>, should have been foolproof, but if he had a way to obscure it... then it was currently unreliable.

It was a conundrum.

'I probably shouldn't waste Energy to try to pry more information from him. The possibility of him faking exists…'

I glanced at Andrew, who was watching me intently, an arrogant smirk playing on his lips.

This was a dangerous game, one that I couldn't afford to lose.

If he was truly a Level 7, I risked giving away my strength unnecessarily. But if he was stronger...

'That would be much worse.'

My heart hammered in my chest as I measured Andrew with a gaze as cold as ice.

"You done staring?" Andrew's mocking voice cut through my thoughts.

I was left with a choice.

Play it safe and trust my Skills, or risk it all on an intuition? It felt like I was standing on the edge of a precipice, the wrong step could mean my downfall.

I squared my shoulders, my mind made up. "I was just wondering when you'd start taking this seriously."

I let a confident smirk play on my lips. Now it was time to see who was bluffing.

The stakes were high, but I wasn't about to back down.

'Show me your real strength!'

The air was thick with tension as Andrew's expression hardened, and he lunged at me again.

~VWUUM!~

The power behind his attack seemed to intensify, but it was still too slow.

The flurry of punches and kicks, the glint of sheer determination in his eyes... they were nothing compared to the strength I had faced before.

Each attack was a sluggish dance, choreographed and predictable. I spun around him, dancing just out of reach of his wild punches.

He was getting desperate, breathing heavily, sweat running down his face.

Was this a ruse? Was he trying to lull me into a false sense of security?

No, that didn't add up. He was struggling, burning up his energy like a lit fuse.

Then the doubt crept in again.

Could this really be all he had? This Level 7 who commanded the respect of bandits, was he really this weak?

I saw him draw a deep breath, preparing for another attack. But I was done playing the evasion game.

It was my turn to strike back.

I sprang forward, my right palm thrust out. My move was as swift as the wind and as silent as a whisper. Andrew's eyes widened in shock, he was too slow to react.

~WHUUUM!~

My palm strike connected with his chest, and the impact echoed like a thunderclap.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment, then Andrew coughed up a spray of blood, and he was flung backwards like a ragdoll.

"Guark!"

He crashed into the wooden fence behind him, splintering it to pieces.

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The bandits watched in stunned silence, their jaws dropping at the intense sight that just unraveled before all of us.

'Oh?' A smirk tugged at my lips.

Just like that… Andrew was so easily flung away?

'No one who is a Level higher than me would be so weak…'

As it turned out, I was most likely being a fool in our exchange all this time. I had doubted <All Seeing Eyes> for no reason at all.

"Haha… damn." I chuckled a little as I watched the debris before me, seeing as the mighty Andrew groaned among the fallen wood.

If this was all he had, then this was going to be easier than I thought.

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[A/N]

I find interactions like this hilarious. I would have said "Chad Andrew not for the win," but that's getting old already.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!