"In the textbooks, this should be where my soul gives me my Core Ability. I do not know what a black Soul Color means, but I hope it's nothing bad. A healing ability would be very valuable, healers are a rarity, and I would be able to earn a lot of money. An attack active ability would also be extremely good, it would be similar to an ultimate move. Perhaps a passive defense skill would also be good, but that would be my last choice. If we are talking about not being killed, speed is better than defense, not only does it make you harder to hit, but your attack speed will also increase drastically.
Other than those types, there are also Passive Abilities, but most of the time they are very bad when compared to active ones. This is due to fights being quick-paced, an active skill is bound to have better benefits in a short time than those of a passive one. Of course, the roles are inverted if we are talking about a prolonged amount of time. Passive abilities consume little to no Core Energy depending on the situation."
His black soul walked down the small mound, leaving small traces of dark fog in the grass, it was like seeing a lifeless body walk, it was quite surreal. Zel's soul extended its right arm and pressed its palm against his solar plexus, applying very little pressure.
"If I had to choose, I would take an active attack ability and be happy with it. No, I'm being way too greedy. I should just hope it's not a passive or active body skill" All of a sudden, Zel's mind felt as if he had been hit in the head by a hammer multiple times. "Ugh!" He groaned in pain. His mind felt like it had been opened and his brain moved around. It was similar to torture, but it stopped after twenty seconds.
"I'm glad this is a process that is rarely done… As for what I got…" Zel explored his thoughts and looked for his newly acquired Core Ability, quickly knowing all of its strengths, weaknesses, and effects along with any possible method of activation. "What? This can't be, I got the worst type possible!" He shouted in anger inside his mind, stopping the ground hard. "Stupid black Soul Color, I should have told about this long ago, I knew that I shouldn't have trusted my own soul and Core… I was actually given a passive body ability… Even an attack body ability would have been better!" He kneeled and punched the grass, his anger quickly suppressed by his rational thoughts. "Trash or not, it's still a Core Ability, they are much stronger than normal spells, I should at least check it out."
Zel focused and quickly got in deep thought immersed in all kinds of information, this was one of the benefits of being in one's own Core. As long as you were in there, you'd be able to remember anything you've ever known if you put enough effort into it. Luckily for him, his new ability was just obtained so he found it in a matter of seconds and didn't only get to memorize it, but also understand it, which were two different concepts.
"This…!" His eyes opened wide in shock. He had heard many strange abilities in his seventeen years of life, but none came close to what he had just discovered.
"Monstrous Evolution… No wonder it's called like that…" He laughed as if he had gone crazy, his expectations had been completely blown away! "Ha… Haha!" He chuckled to the point where he could barely breathe.
"Monstrous Evolution allows you to absorb the Core of living beings regardless of how they died or who killed them. Every time you absorb a Core, you will absorb not only the Core itself but also everything inside of it, including its Internal Temple and its soul. The only exception is the Soul Color, which is swallowed by your black Soul Color. But beware! Doing this will also warp your soul into a mix of what you absorb! In order for your soul to stay close to that of a human, you must also consume the Core of humans! How much your soul changes for each absorption also depends on your Core Level and that of the consumed Core. To unlock more information, proceed on your path to absolute power."
This was what Zel heard when inspecting his memory. How could someone obsessed with strength not laugh at this? "And this is only a part of it! Every Core Ability has hidden features that one can discover immediately. In my case, it's already extremely strong! Mh? Wait, normal skills are stored inside the Core, while the Core Ability is always stored in the soul, which gets destroyed and turned into Soul Shards, erasing anything that belonged to it, meaning I can't steal one's Core Ability, but maybe I can steal one's Abilities! In my Core, they take the form of what they are, so perhaps I could try moving them from one Core to the other? This would allow me to become significantly stronger every time I kill something or someone, my strength could even surpass that of spoiled children!"
After a moment of hysteria, he eventually calmed down and thought. "My soul warping is a huge problem though. I'd rather avoid killing humans, especially since I can't run anywhere because of the beasts outside the village's outskirts outside the crater. Of course, this Core Ability's power can vary depending on how I use it. It's still too early to call it strong, I must find out all of its weaknesses first!"
Zel returned downstairs and ate dinner with his family before deciding to take a walk outside.
"Let's see, I think she said to meet up at Oak Tree Restaurant…" Zel activated Strong Legs and immediately started sprinting not because it was urgent but because he could do it. Was there a reason not to do it? No, so he did it.
The meetup point was only two kilometers away, so thanks to his Ability and experience from training, he reached it in only five minutes.
It was a relatively medium-sized building. It wasn't a busy place, so it was a nice spot for the few who knew about it. Zel entered the restaurant and took a look at the occupied tables before spotting his girlfriend. He walked over and sat opposite her. Looking at the table, he noticed there were already two plates, one for each, with a large meal ready to be eaten.
"I've already eaten." He said, not apologizing but only looking her in the eyes with his usual expressionless face.
"Is that so… I guess we are on the same boat." She just like him, pursued strength and placed it before anything, even her boyfriend.
This relationship wasn't built on love or useless emotions though. The only reason they were together was because they were both strong and needed someone of the same level to become stronger. If they trained against a weakling, how could they improve?
Lira, Zel's girlfriend, was about the same age but a little shorter. She had long silver hair that reached her waist and bright golden eyes that shone like a pair of little stars. She often wore a happy smile, but underneath, she had a strong and fierce side that no one except Zel knew.
"Are you still wearing the same black and red uniform from this afternoon?" She asked.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It stinks, that's what's wrong!"
"It doesn't? And even if it did stink, why would I care? It's really just a shirt and some smell."
"I might be similar to you in terms of mind, but I have my decency, you know?" She scoffed.
"You can stop with the act now, nobody is watching us. What do you want?"
Her lips twitched slightly, before her face turned neutral, her happiness from before gone as if it had never existed to begin with. "We both got a high score, how about we discuss our gains?"
"You're really bad at jokes, you know?"
"You didn't believe it even for a second?"
"Of course not. I'm not like the other fools from class who brag about their Core Ability."
"Sigh, I wonder how you blend in so well with those monkeys, you should teach me one day."
"Monkeys? Nice joke. They are inferior even to monkeys."
"Ha! You're totally right."
"As for the actual reason why you called me here… would I be correct by saying it's because you want to head to the outskirts together?"
"I would say you are as sharp as ever, but this one was pretty obvious."
"Let's go now then. There are more wolves during the night."