Chương 17: New Ability

Roger let Lila go back to sleep without any further interruptions, acknowledging the exhaustion she must feel after being awakened.

'Not to mention the nightmares she must have been experiencing… Maybe that's why she was so emotional tonight.'

Thinking back on the conversation they had around the fire the prior evening, Roger wondered if she had been thinking about her brother.

'She did seem to be hiding things about him, but what could it be? Was he a mage too? Did something happen to him?'

He considered if it had something to do with Mind Wraiths, as she also seemed to be hiding something related to them.

'Or she was just upset by what they showed her. Any beast that can mess with someone's mind must be pretty frightening if you can't escape easily.'

Roger shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Raising his right hand, he thought about the System, and a screen appeared in his hand.

[Username: Roger]

[Rank: Alpha]

[Species: Human]

[Element: Dark Mimickry]

[Element Tier: Omega]

[Abilities: Echo of Abilities]*

Focusing on the line that said [Rank: Alpha], a new screen appeared.

[Progress to Beta: 73%]

'So I am almost there. I wonder what happens when I rank up? How many ranks are there anyway? So far I have heard of a handful. Which ones were they? Alpha, Beta, Theta, Iota, Omicron, and Omega?'

A few things suddenly hit him as he thought those words.

'Wait, didn't Lila say Omega was the strongest rank? So does that mean my element is one of the strongest?'

A giddy smile crossed his lips.

'This changes everything! If I have a really strong element, I have to unlock its potential! This could be huge for me!'

Taking deep breaths to calm himself down, Roger tried to see things logically.

'Just because my ability is the best tier doesn't mean I am already very strong. If I had to guess, it would be more connected to potential than to immediate strength. As with all things in life, I'm going to have to earn it!'

Despite his attempts to control his emotions, Roger was still extremely happy with his recent revelation. He had spent his life at the bottom of the pyramid, and now he has an opportunity to reach the top.

If everything worked out, he could even be stronger than the government that tried to keep him caged for so long.

'I better not get ahead of myself. Even if I did reach Omega, there's no reason for me to think I'd be the only one. With the influence the government has, they probably have dozens of Omega-rank mages listening to them.'

Turning back to his status, he remembered something he saw on his first day here.

With a thought, another screen appeared, replacing the first one.

[Current Objective: Survive.]

It had not changed, even after beating the Spike-Tailed Tiger and the Mind Wraiths, leaving Roger to believe he was still in constant danger.

'I wonder if it has to do with the zone being Omicron? Is that why the System is telling me the objective is only to survive? Will that change when we escape this zone?'

Despite the danger the zone held, Roger found himself reluctant to try and leave it so soon.

Life here seemed to be simple, just fight and survive. He didn't have to worry about quotas or violent inmates.

He could focus on his own strength and growth without worrying about anything else.

The moment he left the zone, however, that would all change. He would suddenly need to start running from the government, and there was no telling how possible that was.

'They can deploy their Colossi here, not to mention the magi they have working for them. If those things are hunting me down, I have no hope of escaping. Lila seems to think this zone is dangerous, so hopefully, the government will avoid it.'

There was no denying his time was still limited, however, so Roger would need to grow his strength as soon as possible.

'Luckily, I know just where to begin!'

Rubbing his hands together greedily, he walked to one of the Mind Wraith corpses and knelt down beside it.

Blood and viscera covered the body, causing Roger to cringe in disgust.

'I need to learn how to kill things more cleanly…'

Activating his ability, [Echo of Abilities], he felt the cool flow of mana in his veins. It caused a shiver to run down his spine and a smile to appear on his face.

Trying not to think about how gross the action was, Roger reached down and planted his hand firmly on the furry body. He immediately felt the warm blood stick to his palm, followed by the feeling of magic leaping from the corpse into his hand.

Unlike the cool texture of the tiger's magic, the Mind Wraiths felt more like an ethereal strangeness that he couldn't quite put words to.

The only description that seemed to fit it was that it felt like an endless tide of muted emotions, barely held beneath the surface.

A weight settled into his mind at first, but quickly vanished, replaced by a power Roger knew he could access.

'Is that it? What exactly does this power do?'

He stood up in the clearing and looked around, hoping to notice a change that would prove he was using the power, but nothing presented itself.

Remembering how the Mind Wraith had used it before, Roger looked up and down his body for long slimy tentacles.

With a sigh of relief, he realized none had appeared.

Turning inward, he decided to call upon the System once more, watching as the familiar screen appeared.

[Username: Roger]

[Rank: Alpha]

[Species: Human]

[Element: Dark Mimickry]

[Element Tier: Omega]

[Abilities: Echo of Abilities]*

Seeing no changes there, he mentally selected [Abilities: Echo of Abilities]* and watched as the description appeared.

[Echo of Abilities]

[Ability Description: Mana is an energy that weaves through all living things. When something dies, it leaves a trace of mana in its soul. You now can harness this mana, temporarily obtaining one of the abilities the being had in life. You may only obtain abilities that are less than or equal to your rank.]

[Ability Duration: 24 Hours]

[Ability Amount: 1]

[Current Abilities: Dreamscape]

'So the abilities are listed here!'

With excitement, he focused on the last line and watched as an entirely new screen appeared.

[Dreamscape]

[Ability Description: Through physical contact you may harness the power of the mind and enter someone's dreams, editing them to your liking and causing the recipient to be trapped until they escape or are released. The duration of the ability is dependent on the user's mana, and once it has run out the Dreamscape will collapse.]

[Ability Duration: Varies]

Rogers' eyes widened as he read the ability.

'This is incredible! I can basically subject my enemies to anything I want, so long as I catch them sleeping! I could become a mental terror and cause widespread panic!'

He read the description again to confirm he had understood it properly, and this time came away far less excited.

'On second thought, it only works if I can touch someone, and only so long as my mana lasts. It's not very useful for multiple targets, not to mention can't really be used on anything around here.'

He chuckled a little as he imagined sneaking up on another Spike-Tailed Tiger and forcing it to experience endless dreams as a human prisoner.

Roger spent a little trying to come up with possible applications of the ability but kept drawing a blank.

'Is it really that situational? We almost died for nothing?'

Something moved in the corner of Rogers' vision, drawing his attention.

He saw Lila slightly shaking in her bed as she slept.

'She must be having nightmares after what the Mind Wraiths did. Or maybe it's about the zones tier. Maybe both.'

For some reason, it slightly angered Roger to see her suffering like that. It felt wrong to be unable to do anything to help her.

A thought hit Roger, causing him to pause in his efforts.

'I could try and use the ability to give her good dreams… Would she even want me to? Would that be too personal for me to try and tamper with?'

She shook again and his thoughts felt weak at the sight of her struggles.

A newfound determination grew in him as he realized what he could do with the ability, and he began to make his way over to Lila's side.

Stopping just beside her sleeping form, he took a deep breath to steel his resolve. Leaning down, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath.

'I wonder if all girls feel so soft.'

His thoughts wandered slightly as he stalled for time, unsure of what the ability would do exactly.

Realizing he was only tempting fate by staying like that, he banished his thoughts and activated the ability, causing his vision to instantly fade to black.