Me and My Overpowered Abilities

"You feel that earthquake?" As Adam walked toward the college entrance, a group of students burst into laughter nearby. He didn't even hear them—his earbuds were in, and his music drowned out the noise.

That was until someone stepped directly into his path, forcing him to stop. Adam pulled out one earbud, his blank gaze settling on Blessing.

"What?" he asked coldly, his tone flat and unwelcoming. Blessing sighed, her annoyance evident. 

"Do you just let people bully you like that? You need to learn to stand up for yourself. Go crazy if you have to, just crash out and scare them off. Ignoring it only makes it worse," she said, her voice firm.

Adam didn't respond. He'd tried that before, and all it ever earned him was a beating. Maybe it worked for others, but not for him.

Seeing his lack of reaction, Blessing huffed. "Fine. If you won't stand up for yourself, then I will. Just come to me when it happens, and I'll be your—"

Before she could finish, Adam walked right past her. Blessing blinked in surprise before quickly catching up.

"You know, I'm pretty strong, right?" she said, trying to keep pace with him. "My father's a co-owner of the Zenith Guild. They basically own this college."

Adam remained silent, his expression as blank as ever.

"Not even scared that my dad could kick your butt?" she teased, a smirk tugging at her lips.

He ignored her again, which only made her sigh in exasperation. Blessing's attention shifted to her group of friends standing nearby. They were throwing her odd looks, clearly confused about why she was talking to Adam.

"Well, I'll see you at lunch," she said with a playful smirk, turning to leave. "And if you try to dodge me, I'll make sure you're not alone."

Adam frowned, watching her retreating back. A part of him wanted to kick her. But he stopped himself. Her background, while unimportant to him personally, could lead to unnecessary trouble if things spiraled out of hand.

"Why were you talking to fatty over there?" one of Blessing's friends asked, their faces full of curiosity and disbelief. They couldn't understand why someone like Blessing would even bother.

"He isn't fat," Blessing replied, raising an eyebrow. "Chubby, maybe, but calling him fat seems like a stretch."

While she had done her background check on Adam, she hadn't been around long enough to understand the full extent of why everyone bullied him. She had never seen the "old" Adam to compare him to the current one.

"Doesn't he stink?" another asked, wrinkling her nose despite never having been close enough to smell Adam. They clearly imagined he reeked like a skunk or something equally unpleasant.

Blessing shook her head. "Nope. Actually, I'd say he smells… manly. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's not bad at all. You'd have to smell him yourself to understand." She gave them a pointed look. "You guys seem to know more about him than I do, though."

The group turned their attention to the shortest member of their circle. She was the one who had provided all the gossip when they first saw Blessing talking to Adam.

"What?" the short girl said defensively. "I just told you what I heard from Lucy's friends. She was dating Adam, remember? They were planning to dump dirty farm water on him, but the earthquake ruined their plans." She returned to painting her nails, her tone casual.

Another girl chimed in, looking at Blessing skeptically. "Why are you being so friendly with him? You're not falling for him or something, are you? I thought love wasn't your thing."

Blessing sighed. "Things change. It's not like that, though. Adam's closed himself off completely. He doesn't want friends, doesn't want connections. I just want to understand the depth of his trauma." She couldn't help but smirk as she added confidently, "Plus, I can fix him."

The short girl rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed.

"With your high body count? Not to be rude, but I warned you," The Short girl said, making Blessing's confident smirk falter slightly.

"He doesn't care," Blessing said, though her tone was more defensive than confident now. "Guys who care about that body count nonsense are just scared."

"No, it goes deeper than that," Amaya, an Indian girl scrolling through her phone, chimed in. "I heard a guy say that body count is a judgment of character. It's not just the number—it's where the number comes from. If it's all exes, it shows poor judgment in partners. If it's mostly hookups... well, I forgot what he said about that part. But basically, it's about the likelihood of cheating. He said the easier it is for a woman to open her legs, the easier it is for her to do it even after marriage."

Blessing hesitated, her smirk fading entirely. "I mean... that makes sense, I guess."

Despite her outward bravado, the comment clearly hit a nerve. Still, she knew one thing for certain, she'd never cheat on Adam.

"Can you guys help me get some information on Adam?" Blessing asked, her tone softening as she gave them pleading eyes.

The group exchanged annoyed looks.

"Blessing, Adam's a walking red flag," the short girl said, crossing her arms. "The guy straight-up ignored you when you tried talking to him. You could do so much better... or just go back to your usual plans."

Blessing sighed but didn't back down. "The heart wants what the heart wants," she said, shrugging.

Her friends rolled their eyes in unison, but they eventually nodded. They'd been friends since middle school, and even if they thought Blessing's crush on Adam was the dumbest thing she'd ever done, they weren't going to abandon her.

Hours passed quickly, and before long, it was lunchtime.

Blessing and her friends gathered in the cafeteria, handing over the information they'd managed to gather on Adam. They presented it in a way they hoped would convince her to give up on him. Instead, it only deepened her frown as she read about just how much of a target Adam was.

"Just look," Amaya said, nudging her.

Blessing followed her gaze, her eyes narrowing as she spotted Adam. His path was blocked by a group of teens, their smug smirks practically daring him to respond. Adam, however, stood there with his usual indifferent expression, not even flinching as one of the teens knocked his food out of his hands.

Blessing's frown deepened. She scanned the room, noticing how everyone else seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. No one stepped in to help. It felt... wrong.

In this day and age, open bullying like this should have drawn outrage, maybe even someone filming it to call the bullies out later. But when it came to Adam, it was as if everyone silently agreed it was okay.

Blessing's frustration boiled over, and she stepped forward, her palm raised toward where Adam stood. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed Adam's gaze turning on the ground as if he sensed something.

Moments later, faint runes appeared beside him, glowing softly in a circular formation. The air seemed to hum with energy, and with a sudden burst of bright light, a massive goblin materialized.

The goblin let out a guttural roar, its glowing eyes glaring down at the stunned teens. The bullies froze, stumbling backward in fear, their faces pale.

"What the...?"

Chaos erupted in the cafeteria. Students screamed and scrambled away, their panic only growing as the massive goblin snarled and loomed over the bullies.

Everyone was in a frenzy, except Adam. He didn't react to the commotion at all. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked away, his posture calm and indifferent, as if the entire situation had nothing to do with him.

Blessing's gaze followed him, slightly annoyed as she guessed Adam had sensed she was summoning that Goblin before anyone else.

"You're all so tough ganging up on him," she snapped at the bullies, her voice sharp and dripping with disdain.

Her frustration bubbled over as she glanced back at Adam. She watched Adam continue walking without even glancing back, slightly annoyed that he couldn't even stay to say thanks.

"Blessing, I'm pretty sure you know the rules about using skills on school grounds," Jenny said, making her presence known. Blessing frowned as she turned to face her.

"Oh, so bullying is okay?" Blessing shot back, crossing her arms. If Jenny knew she'd used her skill, it meant she'd been watching the entire time and had chosen to do nothing.

Jenny paused, her eyes flicking briefly toward Adam's retreating figure before she let out a sigh.

"That's not okay either. I'll see to it that they're punished. But cancel your summon."

Blessing hesitated for a moment before reluctantly dispelling the goblin. It vanished with a puff of light, leaving the bullies trembling in its absence.

"As for you," Jenny said, her tone cold as she looked back at Blessing. "My office. Now."

Blessing's frown deepened but she didn't argue.

Jenny, meanwhile, glanced toward Adam. She had been observing the situation closely, hoping the bullies would provoke him enough to reveal more about his abilities. So far, she had gathered that Adam likely possessed an illusion-type skill, as seen in his encounters with Mark and Michael. But the ability he used to kill the masked man from the previous night wasn't that.

Blessing broke the silence. "What about the food they knocked out of his hands?" she asked, pointing to the scattered remnants on the ground.

Jenny froze for a moment, caught off guard by the question. Then her eyes landed on the bully responsible.

"You'll be paying for Adam's meals for the rest of the month," Jenny said coolly, her voice cutting through the tension.

The young man's jaw dropped, and he opened his mouth to protest. But before he could get a word out, Jenny's hand shot forward, grabbing his face. Electricity crackled around her fingers, and the cafeteria filled with the sharp scent of ozone as the young man let out a pained scream before collapsing unconscious.

The entire cafeteria went silent, students staring in shock and horror.

"The world has changed," Jenny said, her voice carrying an edge. "In the past, you were all protected by the law. But those laws are changing. Human rights? That's a concept many have already thrown out the window."

She grabbed the unconscious bully by his hair and began dragging him toward her office. A single glare toward the rest of the group was all it took for them to fall in line, following her obediently, too terrified to do otherwise.

Blessing frowned as she watched Jenny leave. She hadn't expected Jenny to be so ruthless, but after a moment of thought, she felt like she understood—at least a little.

With a sigh, Blessing turned to the cafeteria line, ordered some food, and returned to drag Adam to an empty seat. Ignoring the stares from others, she set the tray down in front of him and placed the food he had bought earlier in front of him as well.

"Do you have professional communication skills, or do you just not care enough to soften your words because you don't want to be spoken to?" she asked, sitting across from him.

Adam opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, she cut him off.

"I know, I know—you want to be left alone," she said with an exaggerated sigh, causing Adam to glare at her. She could almost feel the harsh response he had been about to deliver.

"But I want to pull you out of that shield you've built around yourself. I'm guessing this all started thanks to Lucy, right? After that, you stopped wanting connections as a way to protect yourself. That means just six months ago, you were still trying to live a normal life," she said, her voice calm but probing.

Adam stared at her blankly, offering no reaction.

"Come on, at least say something," she huffed. "You know, I trained to be a therapist once. I picked up a few skills for reading people. Normally, it's a great party trick when I break someone down like this. You're no fun at all."

She leaned back with a pout. "I mean, I bet you wouldn't even care if I pointed out that you're probably above level 10 and strong enough to have caught Jenny's attention. Boring."

Adam ignored her, pulling out his phone.

"Let's be practical," she said, her tone shifting. "You want to be left alone, right? Isn't it smarter to rely on me? Neither of us cares about what others think, so we're already on the same page. I can protect you from anyone who might bother you... at a price."

"I'm not sleeping with you," he said coldly.

Blessing rolled her eyes. "I wasn't talking about that."

She leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her palm. "I was going to say we spend this small amount of lunchtime every day together. We'll talk, well, I'll talk, and you can just nod. Small talk. I want to hear about your days, and maybe I can help ease some of your problems. I'll admit, that I want to use this time to get closer to you, but I'm willing to do it at a pace you're comfortable with. I can wait," she said with a warm smile.

Adam studied her for a long moment.

In a way, he needed her protection, not from the bullying, but from the law. Sooner or later, he was going to kill someone. It wasn't a matter of if, but when. He was passive for a reason: his strength was too much. There was a reason he stuck to using genjutsu, it was the only thing that was under his full control.

Blessing had the background and status to shield him from unnecessary attention. Without her, any misstep on his part might lead to a conflict with the government—and that was a war he didn't want to fight. Once the world caught even a hint of his true strength... well, they would fear him.

At first, that might sound like a good thing. Fear could keep people away, but Adam knew better. People in power didn't like the idea of losing their grip, and whenever higher rank dungeons appeared and the world grew stronger, those in control would move to eliminate him thinking they were strong enough.

For Adam, it would be far more troublesome to deal with that kind of scrutiny compared to college life.