Chapter 5: Meta Ability (1)
Mansion of Thomas Allen
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Training Ground in the Basement
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In the once-white training ground, which has now been stained with blood, a man was strapped to the chair with flesh wounds all over his body. Blood was dripping from the cuts on his body, staining his clothes. His face was disfigured to such a level that even his flesh and blood may not recognize him. In front of him was Alfred, the butler of the Allen household, carrying a scalpel in his left hand. Beside them was a desk organized with all types of instruments used for torture.
"It would have been much easier if you had answered my questions, right? Alas! It seems like I have used all my luck for today. You just had to be an obedient dog! I mean, why do you even care about them? What have they done for you?"
"..."
"Thought so... how about you make a deal with me. If you tell me who assigned you to the task, I will give you twice the money they promised."
"Do I get life insurance?"
"Of course, neither I nor Master Allen will kill you."
"... How do I know you are not lying?"
"You don't."
"Tch," the man was unsure about what to do. He had two choices either to thrust the butler or die worthlessly. He didn't want to die yet. However, his superiors will kill him if he spills the truth. He was just an E Rank, who had awakened his meta ability recently, a late bloomer, born with an A Rank aptitude. If he dies here, all the fame and glory he was supposed to get will disappear, all his dreams gone, and no one will remember his name.
Argh
A scream filled the room as Alfred stabbed the scalpel in the shapeshifter's right hand when he saw him zoning out.
"I don't have the patience my young master does, so give me a quick answer if you don't want me to cut off your fingers and feed them to you."
"The Smith family... The head of the Smith family, to be exact."
"If it's him, then I suppose he doesn't know about Master Thomas's secret identity. Then... are you from the Assasins Syndicate?"
"Yes, I was assigned to this task with one of the rankers among the magicians in our organization."
"Sigh... It's a pity. It seems like the Assasin Syndicate will cease to exist soon enough."
"Don't be so sure old man. We have five S Rankers on our side. Thomas Allen will die tonight."
"Looks like you don't know..."
"?"
"Even when Master Thomas was an S Ranker, he could take down ten S Rankers without a problem. But now that he has surpassed it... Only God knows what he can do."
The shapeshifter couldn't believe what he was hearing. A shiver ran down his spine as he started to sweat bullets. His face was filled with horror and despair, with all his hopes gone to dust.
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Outside the Mansion of Thomas Allen
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Ray Allen's workshop
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I was sitting on my chair, wondering about the abilities that shall be useful to me, while Wally extracted the Cyrus Stone with lasers. Wally was currently possessing a little robot to work more efficiently. He looked cuter than I expected. There is a limit to the number of meta-abilities that can be handled with my current physique. I could copy my uncle's meta-ability, but that won't be enough for me to survive in Paragon.
"What about the shapeshifter's ability?" asked Ryuk.
"He has A Rank aptitude," I replied.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers."
I wanted to complain, but he was right.
"If I don't get an ability similar to that by the time I join Paragon, I will consider it."
Plus, I am not a beggar. Although I wanted to say it out loud, I couldn't.
"Master Allen, the Cyrus Stone is extracted," said Wally.
I turned my chair to take a look at the Cyrus Stone. It was silver-coloured stone, the size of a pebble. Wally put the stone on my right hand with his tiny robotic arms.
"It is smaller than I expected," Ryuk commented.
"How big did you expect it to be?"
"The size of an adult's fist."
"Well, the one that the magician used was bigger because he didn't know how to extract it. This one may be small, but it is purer than the previous one."
"How are you going to use it?"
"Status."
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[Status]
[Name: Ray Allen]
[Race: Human]
[Stats]
[Strength: G]
[Agility: G]
[Dexterity: G]
[Stamina: G]
[Intelligence: SSR]
[Charm: A+]
[Mana: S+]
[Energy: S+]
Awakened Ability: [None]
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A black screen appeared before my eyes, showing me my Status. This was a common feature that I added to the story. It allows people to see their Status through a screen only accessible to them.
"Why are you opening your status window?"
"Watch."
I put the Cyrus Stone in front of the screen and watched as it got absorbed by it.
"What the hell... what did you do?"
"This is the right way to use the Cyrus Stone."
"But you didn't add it in your novel."
"I did, in the fifth volume of the novel that I was about to release, but never got the chance to... sigh. I wasn't sure if it would work, but hopefully, it did. Status Reload."
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[Status]
[Name: Ray Allen]
[Race: Human]
[Stats]
[Strength: G-]
[Agility: G-]
[Dexterity: G-]
[Stamina: G-]
[Intelligence: SSR]
[Charm: A]
[Mana: S]
[Energy: S+]
Awakened Ability: [Copy]
[Copy]: [Slot 1] [Slot 2]
[Copy: Description]
Copy is an ability that lets the user copy a meta ability of someone else. However, the number of meta abilities you can copy is depended on the number of slots you have. Once you copy a meta ability, you can't remove it. You will also experience the same awakening as the meta-human that you copied the meta ability.
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"This is like a double-edged sword. If you are too greedy, you could get hurt."
"I know my limits."
"I am glad you do."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shadow_King00980
Shadow_King00980 The link to the discord server is in the synopsis. Join it to make changes in the story line and add my novel in your library if you like it. Thanks! (I will also post the character designs there.)
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