As Ethan expected, the absorption process of the looted aspect seed started the same way as the one he found back at the castle of the Gloom. He briefly looked at his empty palm, where the seed had vanished moments earlier, and frowned. Then the fireworks followed, and his vision went dark.
He woke up a while later to the smell of smoldering coals, signaling to him what was left of the small fire he had made. Sniffing the air, he grimaced and said, “God dammit. I forgot that I was wearing my only set of clothes.” He looked below and got up, not bothering to clean up the black bile, as he knew the goo would vanish a short while later. Instead, he fished out a jug of water and started downing it with gusto.
His thirst somewhat sated, he looked at himself again. “I need to get some spare clothes,” he said, finished with his drink and trying to breathe through his mouth, not to smell whatever waste his body had discarded as part of the aspect seed absorption process while he was out cold. Finally, when the pounding in his head was bearable, he crouched down to start another fire, adding some logs from his storage to the hot coals.
Ethan looked around and saw that no one had disturbed the cave while he was out and was secretly glad. Given the circumstances, he knew it was stupid of him and a risk to lose consciousness like that. But, a risk that had to be taken, he thought. If this thing grants me new abilities to help me survive in the forest - so be it. Passing out and waking up in my own shit is a small price to pay, he mentally added.
He turned around and saw that waste had started to dissolve, slowly receding in the stone below it. He waited for the process to complete for a few minutes before moving on with the rest of what he had in mind.
Then his stomach rumbled loudly. “Seriously? You demand food while watching toxic waste disappear?” he complained and got out some skewers he had managed to salvage and a kitchen knife.
“Let’s see how this feral cat tastes,” he commented absentmindedly, summoning the looted meat and beginning to prep it for grilling. It took him another twenty minutes to complete his preparations before he put the meat over the fire and started his cooking.
It took another five or so minutes for the juicy smell of roasted meat to fill the small cave, his stomach protesting loudly at the wait. Ethan’s mouth instantly watered at the smell as he observed the slowly darkening meal, and he rubbed his hands in anticipation.
“Oh my! How I have missed it!” he said excitedly as he pulled off one of the skewers that was more or less done and bit into it. He screamed at the hot piece of meat burning the insides of his mouth, almost sputtering the food across the floor before catching the piece and blowing on it furiously.
If Jorge saw me, he would kick my ass for not doing a proper barbecue, he thought, blowing at his fingers. I remember when the only problem was getting food and choosing an appropriate sauce for the meat. Or the beef itself, for that matter, Ethan thought silently, cursing his impatience and now burning tongue.
He put the now cool piece of meat in his mouth and almost cried out in joy. Lesson learned and being more patient, he continued devouring the rest of the skewer, noting that it tasted suspiciously like chicken despite coming from a cat-like monster. Finally, he finished cooking the rest, storing the done food to preserve its freshness. Once done with his meal, he pulled up his character sheet to check the results of his latest experiment with magical seeds.
Ethan Jorgeson
Bloodline: [Reborn]
Titles: [none]
Aspects:
* Soul: [Seed of Soul] (Apprentice: 0%)
* Mind: [Seed of Flux] (Apprentice: 76%)
* Might: [none] (0%)
* Agility: [none] (0%)
* Recuperation: [none] (0%)
“All right, here we go—standard stuff. I should have expected it would be the same rank and zero percent. So what abilities do I get?” he said, noting that he had another of the slots filled with a weirdly named aspect seed. Ethan smiled and pulled up the description of the ability he had gotten, examining its description.
[Inherit trait] (spell)
Rank: Apprentice (0%)
Base cost: High mana
Cooldown: 1 day
Observe and imitate the magical or physical ability of another being. Requires the ability to be used on you. Unable to copy abilities of bloodlines or too complex abilities above your rank. The number of copied abilities and their strength is limited by your rank and soul’s potential.
The current number of abilities that can be copied and used: 1
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Ethan read the description twice, pausing between the reads, and whistled after he was done. “Now that is some proper magic. It reminds me of Sylar from that old TV show about heroes. But, wait, am I a psycho now?” Ethan thought and looked at his hands, the fight in the castle coming back to him.
He had spared the fat guy, as he was out cold, but could not do the same with the mage that attacked him in the tunnel. Or maybe he panicked, as the man had no qualms about smashing Ethan’s face in with a rock. His smile faded as he remembered slicing into the man and cutting his head off, blood covering his face and body.
Ethan shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. It was either him or me. It always is this way in war. Mr.Yashida always said that I am too soft on my opponents ever since what happened in school all those years ago, Ethan remembered and calmed down, moving his attention back to the description of the ability.
Instead of being unhappy with the cooldown and the limitations posed by the description, he was pretty content with the ability's versatility. He was sure this was one coveted skill if he could find a monster with extraordinary power or another human to test it with.
“Again, with the soul potential,” he remarked, still not understanding what that part meant. “Well, whatever. Once I get to a town, I will spend some time to find someone to explain these concepts.” Ethan dismissed the window and looked back to the forest outside, noting that the night had come.
His thoughts moved away from the magic and its wonders, and he got serious, contemplating what to do next. It was clear that whoever attacked the cloaked figures was not messing around and had come with a purpose and numbers. Moreover, the impression he got from the people who came out of the forest was that they looked like adventurers similar to the ones he had read about in fantasy books. Then why did those two attack me? he questioned.
Ethan quickly concluded that the people attacking most likely had a plan and the strength to overwhelm the sect, which led Ethan to believe that they would be looking for him next, unwilling to let anyone go. After all, he wore the same hood as the sect, and they confirmed their intentions by attacking him on sight.
I hope to meet that shit again and repay him for all the cuts he parted with, Ethan thought, clenching his fist, noting that the bruises had more or less healed. Then he paused and exhaled, remembering Mr.Yashida mentoring him not to obsess over things.
What to do, then? he contemplated trying to understand his options. Compared to the day he had appeared in this cursed forest, his outlook was now a whole deal better. He had food, water, weapons, and goddamn magic on his side. He also had clothes and boots, the latter being the most important.
The problem was his surroundings and the possibility that the medieval superheroes would be unwilling to let his little old self go. Yea, what are the chances of that? But wait, how the hell will they find me anyway? he thought. It is not like I left some trail or something else. I fell into the water, and it carried me away. I could be anywhere by now, he considered, scratching his chin.
Ethan grinned, throwing more wood into the fire to keep the flame going. All right, then what? I still cannot stay here, and I cannot go back, on the off chance the sect fucks survived somehow. No way I would blend in with them with just a cloak, he evaluated. Find some human settlement, maybe? But where? he thought.
He summoned his map and checked his position, noting that he had not walked much from where he got out of the river. Next, he studied where the castle stood and where he was, seeing that he had traveled a reasonable distance south. So it looks like Veer is just around the corner, he finally concluded.
He looked at the map one last time, a plan forming in his head. Ethan dismissed the window and decided to proceed with caution. His best bet was finding Veer and taking a look, hoping that the city was lax on security. From what he could gather, the people here would be highly suspicious of a stranger dressed in rags coming into their town in such good-looking boots.
Unfortunately, he needed more information on this world to do something about his situation. They could mistake me for the sect if I am not careful. I will need to store the cloak once I get there, he understood, nodding to himself and eating another skewer.
Once done with the dinner, Ethan pulled out his mattress and bed from his storage, taking up a good chunk of the space in the cave. He chuckled, How mad is it to sleep in a wooden bed in the middle of nowhere?
He stored his boots and cloak, which were dry by now and jumped into the bed, the frame creaking dangerously under his bulk. He winced and said, patting the bed, “Sorry, I will be more careful.”
As he was about to sleep, he remembered the quest reward and pulled it out, sitting up in the bed.
[Stone of Gloom] (aspect stone, epic)
A stone with the power to awaken an aspect ability.
You do not meet the requirements to use this item!
Ethan paused, frowning, “What is up with these quests and items? Giving me a reward that I cannot use?” He waved the window away, storing the stone, and plopped on his side, closing his eyes grumpily. At least I got some good boots! he thought before drifting off.