After I gave Felix his breakfast, I sighed, and sat down.

“Is something wrong?” he said after seeing my expression. “If there’s something you need to talk about, just say it. You don’t have to be nervous.” He seemed almost expectant.

“I need to talk. Not just with you, but everyone,” I said, after a moment.

Felix nodded. “If you really need advice or want to talk about something, we’re here for you,” he said.

he asked, before I could even steel my nerves.

said Anise, although she sounded a bit tired.

asked Sallia. She also sounded rather tired.

I said. I then proceeded to explain my new skill, what had happened once I used it, and that I had accidentally looked almost directly at everyone’s impression of me.

Felix paused for a few moments after I finished talking. he said. he said. he said.

said Anise.

I sent.

said Anise.

I sent, thinking about Anise’s very warm-hearted impression of me. I thought about it for a moment, thinking about the other images of me.

I said, thinking about the impression of the soldiers.

Then, I thought of Felix’s impression of me next.

I said, frowning. It was harder to interpret what abilities I might get out of Felix’s impression of me, since he didn’t seem to be as focused on specific abilities of mine as Sallia and Anise were. He had a strong impression of my drive to improve, but I wasn’t sure what it would do for me in practice. Maybe it would give me more willpower stats instead of a new ability?

As for Sallia’s impression of me, I was pretty sure that if I tapped into it I would get a boost to extinguish, or some sort of boost to my ability to protect my friends. Sallia’s impression of me felt like it could feed into either one, since Sallia felt that I was very protective of my friends, and also felt that I was very dangerous once provoked.

I said.

asked Felix.

I said.

said Sallia.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

said Anise.

I said.

I said, frowning.

said Felix.

said Sallia.

I said.

said Felix.

I said.

said Felix.

I said, frowning.

Sallia said over the connection.

I said.

Before anyone else could say anything to talk me out of it, I took the skill from {Endless Hunger of the Ocean} and decisively deleted it.

I was a little reluctant to see an easy source of attribute points or new abilities disappear so quickly. But I hated unintentionally reading the minds of my friends, especially if they were uncomfortable with it. It wasn’t even that their thoughts were bad - it was just that it was a violation of their privacy, and it felt wrong to me. I had been open to the idea that perhaps my thoughts about people reading other’s thoughts were just my own personal belief - after all, the first life I’d had before joining the Market would inevitably influence my views on life and morality, even if I could barely remember it.

But the reactions of my friends had indicated that it wasn’t just a byproduct of my original culture. While Anise didn’t mind, Sallia and Felix were clearly uncomfortable with me seeing their thoughts.

And that was enough for me. If I did something that made my friends uncomfortable, the best thing to do was admit it, apologize, and fix the problem before it happened again. It might make me a little less powerful, but power wasn’t everything.

After destroying the skill, I felt a weight that I hadn’t even realized I had felt start to lift from my shoulders. I hadn’t realized just how much the skill had bothered me until I made up my mind to remove it. Once I destroyed the skill, it felt easier to breathe again, and some of the guilt I hadn’t realized I felt started to lift from my chest. I felt better than before.

I said.

I saw Felix breathe a small sigh of relief, and some of the discomfort from his face vanished. However, he also looked a little bit regretful. He looked at me for a moment, and then opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something. He paused, and stared at me for a few more moments. Then, he stepped closer and gave me a hug.

“Thank you,” he said. “You’ve done a lot for us, and the skill could have made you stronger, and it might have made more sense to leave it around. But… I’m glad my thoughts are my own, even if I do consider you one of my best friends and I care a lot about you,” he said.

said Sallia.

I simply smiled and nodded.

I said.

said Anise.

I looked at Felix’s relieved expression, and thought about how much less awkward Sallia had sounded once I had said that I had deleted the skill.

And then, I smiled.

It might not have been the ‘optimal’ decision to delete the skill, but after seeing my friend’s reactions, I knew that I had made the right decision.