Knowledge is Power

My plan is to have a massive team filled with as many strong people as I can get, so I might as well choose the one that fits that the best. Painful Thoughts definitely piqued my curiosity, and I even thought of using Delegation to try and make me immune to the damage, but I have no guarantee that that would work since it makes me immune to damage and doesn't say anything about HP Cost. Well, better get to bed. I have a big day tomorrow after all. I get the urge to evil laugh.

I sleep semi-well. I don't fall asleep instantly, a little too excited about the possibilities of tomorrow, but I do manage to get to sleep eventually. I wake up face down in my pillow, and feel a bit of a dip at the edge of my bed. I slide my face to the side, and am immediately blinded by the light. The pressure by my feet vanishes, and as my eyes adjust to the light, I see my sister standing there looking at me.

"Good morning Luna" She usually doesn't come into my room like this. We're pretty close, but we've generally kept our boundaries. My bleary mind catches up, and as I'm more fully awake, I register that she hasn't said a word since I've woken up, not even a response to my good morning. I move my eyes to her face. Her expression is just like that of the innkeeper's daughter last night. I scramble out of the covers, immediately regretting it since I sleep in my underwear. I grab my clothes and hide my morning wood to the best of my ability, but her expression doesn't change. This is creepy, it was hot yesterday but I never wanted this affecting my own family. I close my eyes and try to wish it away. Let her return to normal I chant in my head, and then open my eyes slowly. When my eyes open all the way, I look at her expression again. To my relief, it isn't the genuine yet still somehow unnatural smile of the barmaid from yesterday. To my un-relief, its an expression of embarrassment, as in my desperation to get her back to normal I am caught in my underwear with my dick straining the fabric. I quickly slip on my pants, and by the time I'm done dressing, she's already left the room. I sigh loudly as I get up, and walk to the door of my room. In her hurry she didn't close the door, so I hear her talking to our parents about finding herself in my room without any recollection of having gotten there. I guess this means that Holy Authority works freely while I'm asleep. I might have to start locking my door. I descend quickly, and at the noise of my footsteps on the stairs, the conversation stops. I make it to the bottom, and find that my sister refuses to look at me, while both our parents are looking at me quizzically.

"What?" I ask, and suddenly all three of them change their demeanor. Both our parents return to what they were doing, and Luna has apparently just forgotten about her embarrassment, and greets me cheerily. Its hard to tell if this is another effect of Holy Authority or if its just them trying to keep things normal when something odd happened. Whatever, no use thinking about it. I want to get at Laura as soon as possible, but we'll be seeing each other at the academy, and I have no idea what route she takes so I can't intercept her. Either way, I wouldn't want to miss breakfast, so it works out. I pull out a chair and sit down as mother sets down some bread and butter alongside a plate full of fried eggs. I grab my share and tear into the food. Its the usual breakfast, a relaxed time where we make idle conversation. Mom talks about what she heard at the market, dad talks about what he's heard at work, and I tell stories about the academy, with Luna interjecting every once in a while saying how much she'd like to go there. Its a happy scene, almost enough to make me forget about my anger towards Laura, my fear about my own powers, but this happens every day, and it never lasts. I finish first, and excuse myself. The academy is on the other side of the city, and I have to walk there. One thing I am jealous of mage type Classes for being able to do is fly, because now that our entire class has it, those with that kind of Class are going to be getting there way faster than the rest of us.

As I approach the structure, I see several people in my year group excitedly talking about their new Classes. The Class reveal isn't actually on each individual's 18th birthday. The academy has everyone in the same year group have the reveal on the same day, based on the final 18th birthday in the group, which was mine. As if I needed another reason for people to dislike me. I say that, but I'm not really shunned by my class. I'm known as Laura and Crowley's victim though, so people generally don't associate with me. My family is enough, and besides, I get the feeling that I might be in a better position today. As I enter the premises, I'm given the same wide berth as I was yesterday. People in my year greet me as I walk past, something that didn't happen much in the past. With my new popularity, I start to consider the most attractive girls in my year as I walk past them. I never really thought about it, but I have so many options now, it'd be criminal not to. I don't see Laura or Crowley, a disappointment and a relief at the same time. I'm not totally over the dread they've caused me, even if I'm ready for **** now. I get to the classroom and sit down in my assigned seat. The guy in the seat next to me, Hammond, leans over and starts telling me a rumor he heard. This is a first, but I'm kind of enjoying it.

"Did you hear? Apparently, Crowley got Farmer as his Class! I heard Laura beat the shit out of him and his family didn't even complain! They might even be calling off the engagement!" unlike Laura, Crowley's family is actually nobility. They're minor nobles, and don't own any land of their own, other than their home of course. They live in the capital, a giant mansion that everybody knows about, fairly close to the academy. This puts them in a different position than other nobles, as despite being minor nobles they live in the capital and are fairly important here. I don't respond to Hammond, but he seems satisfied anyways, returning back to his seat. Just then, speak of the devil, Crowley walks into the class. He's a little bit more shy than normal, but he definitely looks pissed. He scans the room until his eyes land on me. He starts coming towards me angrily, but after only a few steps, his angry expression melts and he continues more slowly. When he reaches my seat, he bows his head and apologizes.

"I'm sorry Ripley. I should never have bullied you, I was wrong. I'll do anything to atone." his apology delivered, he looks at me worriedly to hear my response. This is great, I thought yesterday was the best day of my life, but this beats it. I make a show of thinking for a moment. I have a few ideas to humiliate him like he humiliated me, but I must be patient with my ****.

"I'll think about it and tell you later." he nods, and goes to his own seat, having lost all the authority he once had. Even just this is making me euphoric. I watch the door for Laura, waiting for her to come and do the same thing. Sadly, she walks in with the teacher, and sits down normally as if nothing has changed. Speaking of the teacher, I might want to add her to my possible list of targets. Ms. Rohm is trim and fit, with long black hair and piercing blue eyes. If there was ever a woman who exuded more authority than Helen Rohm, I was yet to see her, and I've seen the queen. She wears pants and a suit, specially crafted by the finest Tailors, clothes reserved for nobility. She isn't a noble herself, but she is the principal of the academy, and therefore holds a great deal of authority. I kind of want to see how it stacks up against my own.

"Firstly, I want to congratulate you all on receiving your Classes." some people start to cheer, but she silences them immediately with no more than a glance. "However, this doesn't mean that your schooling is over. Just because you've received your Classes doesn't mean you're locked into a specific fate. Those with powerful classes are not guaranteed success, and those with weaker ones are not guaranteed to fail. While I admit that your chances are not equal, you are still the arbiters of your own fate. Now, I hope you have all saved your Skill Choice. You only have one and you must make your decisions wisely." I snicker at this, having already used 5 and still having one left over. Normally somebody would be given a **** glare for snickering while Ms. Rohm was teaching, but no such glare came.

"If you have already used your Skill Choice, you may leave the classroom. I have no need for impatient whelps." a few people get up and shuffle out meekly. "For the rest of you, I will be giving you individual guidance on your skill options." suddenly, several clones of her appear out of thin air, and each and every one of them steps up to a desk. Possibly by coincidence, the original steps up to my desk. All the clones then speak at once in a much reduced volume.

"Pull up your Skill Choice and tell me what you see." I close my eyes and focus on the choice as I've done 5 times before.

Skill Choice:

(Passive) Mental Strength: The user gains immunity to all mental damage, including all mind magic. Nullifies all special conditions. Perfect immunity.

Or

(Passive) Learned Love: All feelings of attraction or desire the user holds towards another are always reciprocated.

I don't read these options out just yet, I'm not sure I want her knowing about these. Mental Strength is a godsend. With all the skills I have that "ignore resistances and immunities" I was getting really worried that I would be ****. With Mental Strength I can go completely worry free and unmanipulated. Learned Love though, "always reciprocated" is absolutely incredible. Every woman I'm attracted to is guaranteed to be attracted to me. It sounds too good to be true, but at this point do I really need it? With Holy Authority, I might as well already have Learned Love. Ms. Rohm could probably help me make a good decision, but I'm not sure how much I want to trust her.