Webnovel's Extra: Reincarnated With a Copy Ability-Chapter 16: Climbing the Ranking [1]

After the whole mess with Super Intelligence, my plans changed.

Before, I’d been waiting for Maya to master her ability so we could climb to S-Class together.

I was planning around her.

Relying on her.

"I’ll hold back, let Maya catch up, then we’ll move together," I’d told myself.

But after nearly frying my brain, I realized something ugly.

I’d been limiting my own growth.

My top priority should’ve always been my own strength.

Not just because I didn’t trust anyone else—but because even if I had someone trustworthy beside me, I still couldn’t afford to depend on them.

My survival in this world would be decided by my power.

Not Maya’s.

Not Lucas’s.

Not anyone else’s.

"Tsk... how could I make such a stupid mistake..."

The problem wasn’t distrust.

It was blind trust.

I’d been planning to hide my strength for as long as possible, but now I understood something simple:

Hiding forever was just another way to die.

The more I stood out, the more problems I’d attract.

But the benefits of climbing higher would eventually outweigh the risks.

I stretched my arms above my head, feeling my muscles loosen.

"Damn... lying in bed all day really is a nuisance," I muttered, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Nowhere like home."

Maybe I should’ve said that about my apartment.

Then again, I only spent a single day there.

Hardly counts.

I stood at the side of the bed, spread my arms wide—

And flopped backward.

Thump. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The sound of my body hitting the mattress was strangely satisfying.

I reached for my phone and opened the Triangle’s official site.

Yes, of course the Triangle had a website.

They even had an online portal for student IDs.

After logging in and passing security, I navigated straight to the ranking page.

The list loaded.

Lucas still held his position.

Unmoved.

Riven, Dhara, and Raisel had climbed several spots. They had even broken into the top 10.

Impressive, but expected.

"Who should I fight first..." I murmured.

One of the Triangle’s rules for the school ranking was the First Challenge mechanic.

Your first official ranked battle allowed you to challenge anyone on the board.

Even rank 1.

Even the top S-Class student.

That was one of the reasons I’d deliberately stopped Maya from fighting anyone yet.

"Going directly for top 10 would be a pain," I muttered. "Top 20 too..."

Technically, the system allowed you to challenge anyone.

But there was also an unwritten rule—an internal policy called the "lower-rank revolt."

It discouraged lower-ranked students from using their first challenge on anyone above rank 20, and most instructors enforced it unofficially.

The student who wrote the original proposal for that rule had been annoyingly logical, listing multiple examples of weaker students getting completely crushed and demoralized.

"The top 30 looks good... but who?"

Still scrolling, I got off the bed, grabbed my brass-knuckle spirit weapon, and headed out.

As I walked the halls, my eyes skimmed down the names—until I found something interesting.

"Dustin Trew. Rank 30. Six wins, six fights."

Nice.

The cafeteria was busier than the courtyard as usual.

For some reason, the students loved the invisible "zones" that formed there—tables by class, by status, by factions.

Pulling up Dustin’s profile photo, I scanned the room.

It was a bit of a guess, but since he was from Class A2, chances were high he’d be in the cafeteria during this time.

Most A-Class students preferred being around "their own level."

I eventually found a muscular boy with white hair sitting at a table with a group of others.

Bingo.

I walked toward him, letting my perception spread just enough to listen in.

"Man, you’re really in a tough spot," one friend said. "Three challenges in one day."

"That’s what you get for losing to that B-Class kid," another snorted.

"Come on, Dustin," a third added. "He’s part of Lucas’s faction. I only lost because of that. What if I broke him and Lucas came after me for revenge?"

Dustin threw a potato into his mouth, smirking at his friend’s excuse.

I stopped at the edge of their table.

"Hey, Dustin," I called.

He and his friends turned. Their gaze lingered briefly on the small ranking badge glowing on my uniform.

"I challenge you to an official ranking match," I said.

Dustin looked me up and down with a dark expression, chewed, swallowed, and said:

"I don’t want to."

I smiled.

I’d been expecting that.

"You can’t refuse," I replied, pulling out my student card. "I’m using my right of first challenge."

His eyes widened.

The table rattled as he slammed his fist down and shot to his feet.

"You—! You little punk—fine! Let’s fight!" he snarled. "I’ll kill you!"

His anger just made me more relaxed.

I knew this type of character.

Easily provoked.

Emotionally unstable.

Perfect for my purposes.

"That’s what we’ll see," I said calmly.

You shouldn’t lose your cool in a fight.

Dustin was about to learn that.

"Hey, Lucas, want to hear something interesting?"

"Make it quick," Lucas replied. "I’m in the middle of something."

"It’s about that student—Dreyden."

At the name, Lucas pulled his gaze away from his spiritual artifact and glanced at Arlo with mild curiosity.

"What about him?"

Seeing he finally had Lucas’s attention, Arlo grinned.

"When the school ranking opened, he didn’t fight anyone at first," Arlo said. "Then out of nowhere, he used his first challenge and beat Dustin Trew ."

Lucas frowned, trying to remember the name.

He didn’t.

Dustin had never crossed his path. Lucas had focused on opponents in the top 20—

Dustin had only been ranked 32nd.

Arlo, seeing Lucas’s disinterest creeping back, continued anyway.

"And now he’s on his third fight in a row," Arlo said. "He’s already challenging a rank 20."

Lucas stared at him.

"What else do you want?" he asked flatly.

"Ahem. Nothing," Arlo said, shrugging. "I just thought you’d have a more... dramatic reaction."

"It’s just a fight," Lucas replied. "It would be stranger if he kept ignoring the ranking."

Seeing he was being dismissed again, Arlo rolled his eyes and stood from the chair next to him.

Normally, he wouldn’t be allowed in the personal training wing reserved for the top 10—but since his "boss" was one of them, he had some privileges.

"I thought you’d be curious about his skill," Arlo added. "After all, your fights are pretty popular thanks to yours."

"Anyway, he’s in his third battle already. I think you should go watch," he finished, stretching as he walked toward the exit.

Lucas didn’t respond.

It wasn’t that he was purposely ignoring Arlo.

He was stuck.

His strength had hit a bottleneck, and his "master" insisted he figure out how to break through on his own.

If Dreyden struggled with magical theory, Lucas’s problem was his mana.

Especially with a master who was too lazy to properly teach him how to use it.

"I think you should go see the fight," the husky voice echoed inside his head.

"You don’t ’think’ anything," Lucas muttered under his breath. "Be quiet."

He was tired of the demon’s half-commands and half-teachings.

But today, something was off.

The voice went silent.

Completely silent.

That was unusual.

Being a king-level demon, Lucas’s master was usually brimming with curiosity. About the world, humans, skills—everything. The future, the changes, the evolution since his own time.

"If you go watch, I’ll train you," the voice finally said.

Lucas froze.

"...Are you serious?" he whispered.

"Yes."

Happiness surged inside him—but so did unease.

His master never went back on his decisions.

So why now?

Why Dreyden?

Lucas stopped at the doorway of his exclusive training room, fingers tightening on the handle.

"Why," he asked quietly, "do you want to see him fight so badly?"

It had only been a few months since he’d discovered the demon hidden in his necklace and formed a contract with him.

In that time, no matter how hard Lucas tried, he’d never been fully "approved" by his master.

People adored Lucas. They praised him. They looked at him like some kind of destined genius.

But that only made him more insecure about the demon’s attitude.

This was the first time the demon had expressed interest not in an artifact, or a concept, or a battle.

But in a person.

’Maybe that’s why he glows white,’ Lucas thought, remembering what his Luck ability showed whenever he looked at Dreyden.

Not red.

Not yellow.

Not gold.

White.

Unknown.

’Is there a chance he’ll... steal my master from me?’

Lucas didn’t know how strong Dreyden really was.

But every time their paths crossed, he felt something dangerous.

The way Dreyden looked at him—as if watching a story unfold. As if he was seeing something... interesting.

’Fine,’ Lucas thought. ’I’ll see it myself.’

I’ll see what’s so special about you.

Dreyden vs. Julien.

I walked up the stairs into the arena, feeling the weight of dozens—maybe hundreds—of eyes.

I’d been nervous during my first ranked match.

By the second, the crowd had nearly doubled.

Now?

Even more people had gathered.

Apparently, news traveled fast when you burned through three ranked fights in one day.

I decided to stick with Action and Reaction, the skill that lets me copy my opponent’s attacks after seeing them once.

If necessary, I could still conceal the Celestial Library behind it.

"You’re pretty arrogant," my opponent said. "Just because you stomped those weaklings, you think you can handle me?"

Typical A-Class ego.

Or maybe the classic lines of a third-rate villain.

’Nah... he wasn’t even mentioned in the novel,’ I thought. ’He’s not a minor villain. Just a generic A-Class with a big mouth.’

Julien had a level 6 skill.

I’d watched several of his earlier matches with Eyes of Truth to understand how it worked.

His ability allowed him to create clones of himself.

Each clone had less magic energy than the original, and with every extra copy, the total energy got thinner.

I suspected his physical stats likely dropped in proportion as well.

I stared at him in silence for a moment, then shifted into a relaxed guard.

’I’m not sure if Action and Reaction will be the best fit here,’ I thought, lips curling into a grin. ’But at least I can test it.’

"After all," I said aloud, "you’re very weak."

His jaw clenched.

The referee, sensing the tension, quickly raised his hand between us.

"Ready—"

His arm dropped.

"Start!"