Hearing this, Quinn turned to him.
"Decades?" He asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "When did she discover her Ability?"
Tsukuru put his index finger under his lower lip, and thought.
"Hmm...She discovered her ability when she was ten, and the Dalki War didn't kick off junior year of high school, when she was fifteen." He replied. "Then she died when she was thirty-eight. So, all together, she had her Ability for twenty-eight years when she died."
Vorden bit his lip.
"Quinn doesn't havedecades to train, though." He replied.
Hearing this, Tsukuru sighed.
"Yeah." He agreed. "But seeing as how Quinn can learn this Ability, and couldn't learn Earth Ability, it leads me to believe that this is a Vampire-exclusive Ability. I doubt we're gonna be able to find any 'Shadow Ability Skill Books'."
Quinn took in everything the two boys were saying.
Vorden then went further on to explain that each book contained a technique that could be used to "mutate" a specific type of cell in the body, turning them into Mutant Cells. The higher the Level of the Ability Book, the more information would be revealed. However, certain Abilities didn't have lower Levels, and required someone to be able to activate a large amount of Mutant Cells just to use them.
There was another thing that Vorden had mentioned, but it was something he decided to not go too deep into detail on. It was the Soul Weapon. As they were connected to one's Ability, they used Mutant Cells, as well. Thus, a person's capacity for activating Mutant Cells directly affected how strong one's Soul Weapon was.
The two each brought up a different example.
Vorden brought up Mono. Although Mono's Ability wasn't strong, his Soul Weapon was. His Item-Type Soul Weapon Whip could predict the target's move, rendering evasion impossible.
Meanwhile, Tsukuru brought up the Enhancement-Type Soul Weapon of his sister. He explained how it allowed her to transform her bodyinto the Earth Element. Doing so made her essentially invulnerable to attack, as well as giving her an indefinite source of Earth for her Ability.
As he was explaining, Vorden gave him a weird look.
"That's not how Soul Weapons work." He replied.
Tsukuru glanced back at him.
"Yeah, the Soul Weapons of the Hikiko Family have always been weird like that." He replied, looking away. "My mother could do the exact same thing." Tsukuru held up his arm, and looked at it. "From what my sister told me, we carry a special genetic mutation that causes us to have…irregular Soul Weapons."
Vorden quirked an eyebrow in an amused smile.
"Does that mean you're gonna unlock the Ability to become a living hologram?" He asked.
Tsukuru let out a nervous laugh, and scratched his cheek.
"Heh, most likely." He replied, looking away.
Vorden then went on to explain that, due to the Ability Book's high Level, it would take Quinn months to learn the Ability. But they could at least get a head-start here. Although, due to knowing about Quinn's System, Tsukuru theorized that it would take significantly less time. After all, he had learned his Ability overnight. And, unknown to Tsukuru, Quinn was thinking the exact same thing.
Quinn reached out, and touched the cover of the book. As he did, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to learn the Level 6 Shadow Element Ability?]
Quinn narrowed his eyes.
'There's no going back now.' He thought. 'Yes.'
Almost instantly, the book lifted into the air. As it did, pages began to flip in front of him at a rapid pace. Quinn was suddenly getting a feeling of deja vu.
Vorden's eyes widened, and he took a step back. He had never seen anything like this happen before.
However, Quinn was not the only one getting deja vu. Tsukuru was as well.
'That looks…exactly like what happened when I learned my Hard-Light Projection Skill in the Battle Arena.' He thought.
Finally, once the book had reached its last page, it disintegrated into dust.
Vorden and Tsukuru exchanged looks. Then they immediately rushed over to Quinn's side. Quinn was currently holding his hand up to his head, as if he had a headache.
'I know that feeling.' Tsukuru thought with a bitter smile. He still remembered the splitting headache he had received when this very thing had happened to him last week.
"Quinn, what happened?!" Vorden asked. "You alright, man?!"
Slowly, the headache subsided, and Quinn nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied.
In Quinn's vision, a new System message popped up in front of him.
[Congratulations, you have learned the Level 6 Shadow Ability.
Shadow Skills Tab has been unlocked.
MC Stat unlocked.
MC: 100/100
You have received 10 Skill Points.
New Skills have been unlocked.
New Skill Shadow Space has been acquired.
New Skill Shadow Control - Lv. 1 has been acquired.]
Just like before, the Ability book had completely vanished. However, this time, it had unlocked a new "tab" in the System, sole dedicated to his "Shadow Ability" Skills.
"Quinn, what's wrong?!" Vorden asked in concern. "Did something happen?! Where's the book?!"
In response, Quinn tapped his head a couple of times with his finger.
Seeing this, Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What?" He asked. "It's in your head? What do you mean 'it's in your head'?"
Quinn didn't elaborate. He merely nodded.
"Hmm…" Vorden heard Tsukuru mutter from his spot next to him. When he turned to look at him, he saw that Tsukuru was deep in thought.
"Maybe this is why nobody's ever heard of the Ability before." He thought out loud. "If the Ability Books disintegrate once they're learned it would explain it."
This was a complete lie on Tsukuru's part. But it was easier than explaining how Quinn also had a System. However, luckily for him, Vorden seemed to be buying it.
'A condition where it would disintegrate once the Ability was learned?' Vorden thought. 'That would explain why many weren't found, and there were none being sold on the marketplace.'
Vorden didn't ask Quinn too many questions. He didn't really understand what Quinn meant when he said that the book was 'inside his head'. This was, of course, Quinn's way of getting around telling Vorden that he had a System.
Nonetheless, Vorden gave Quinn a few moments to sit down and rest.
As Quinn did, he brought up his Status Window.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Vampire
Level 10
XP 0/100
Title —
Ability Shadow Element
Ability Level 6
______________________
HP 55/55
MC 100/100
______________________
Strength 15
Stamina 15
Agility 16
Charm 5
[Stat Points: 2] ]
Seeing the new Stat he had just unlocked, Quinn decided to ask the System about it.
'Hey, System.' He thought. 'Could you explain the MC Stat to me?'
After a moment, he heard the man's annoying voice again.
"Ho, ho." The man said in a cheery voice. "The MC Stat is how many Mutant Cells you can currently activate in your body. Each time you use your Ability, the MC Stat will go down. But, worry not, it will regenerate itself over time."
Hearing this, Quinn narrowed his eyes. He remembered back to how after he and Sergeant Leo had returned from him being "interrogated" after Brandon's death, Tsukuru had been meditating on the floor of the Beast Weapons Hall. Waiting for his Mutant Cells to regenerate.
'Maybe I should ask Tsukuru for a couple of those 'MC Potions' of his.' Quinn thought.
Quinn then looked at his two available Stat Points, the ones he had obtained from his previous two Level Ups. He had been too concerned with his rapidly draining HP to use the Stat Point on anything. And he was too distracted by all of this new stuff after his evolution and "System Upgrade" to use them then, either.
But when he tried to use them on his "MC" Stat, nothing happened. It seemed that just like with his HP he couldn't use his Stat Points on it. The real question was whether or not the Stat would increase naturally as he Leveled Up.
"I can answer that for you." The man replied. "The answer is no. Like your friends said, the number of Mutant Cells in your body is predetermined at birth. That Stat can only be increased by a certain Skill belonging to the Shadow Ability. You would either need to find a higher-Level Ability Book, or find a teacher."