Aiden’s heart beat wildly but he was more or less prepared for the fact so nothing was shown on his facial expression or even his body language.

Hearing it from aunt Hellen and then that vampire, he was already prepared to hear about it from Cedric, the official source. His words could be said to be from the Bureau itself. It was a good thing he already had the necessary mental stability to accept the fact from previous encounters.

Aiden nodded, “I know.”

Cedric didn’t pay him any heed, and continued. For the next few minutes, Aiden heard about knowledge he had already known from various sources but he didn’t urge the man.

Shortly after, Cedric got to the main agenda. “About the process of getting abilities, yes, it’s getting or you can say acquiring, but not awakening or inheriting.

“What I am about to tell you must absolutely not be conveyed to anyone else alright?”

Aiden nodded.

“There are certain spots where one has more chances to get an ability. I don’t know any of those spots, and they keep changing.

“I only chanced upon this knowledge when I intruded upon the forbidden section of the library when its security was down. It wasn’t from the books but I heard it from members of the ancient family who were talking in the forbidden section.

“Ancient families, like their name suggests, have a very long history. They have also had supers among them from a long time before the Great Smog arrived. Supers became more of a common knowledge during that time as more and more of them began popping up.

“These Ancient families send their children to some random places, and when they come back, most of the time they have an ability. Don’t you find it weird?”

Aiden had a confused expression on his face as he said, “So you’re basically saying you can get abilities in random places? And where the next ability can be found is something only these Ancient families know?”

Cedric had a weird expression on his face as he replied after a bit of thought, “Yea, more or less.” He wanted to make it sound mysterious and grand but that’s it?

Cedric continued after thinking for a few seconds. “But these places aren’t as safe as you think. When I got to know about this information for the first time, I also wanted to somehow get access to information of where the next place would be so I can secretly go and take the ability.

“So I started trailing after a few important people I had in mind. Of course, I knew of the risks, but according to me at that time, everything was worth it if I got the ability.

“I never got the information about any of those places but my motivation to get an ability sure decreased. You see, I noticed that these children of ancient families have an entourage with them whenever they go to these places, and when they come back, only a few survive. Several times, I have even seen those of Adept rank perish.

“Such kind of thing, losses like this can only be borne by the Ancient families. Where will I find Adepts willing to die for me? It’ll already be considered good if they don’t kill me when danger strikes.”

He coughed into his fist and continued softly, “Of course, this is only for people from the Ancient families. I have no idea how those people among the common populace gain an ability. Whenever I’ve asked them, they only told me that they happened to have an ability after waking up from sleep the next day.”

Aiden’s eyebrows raised as he was a bit shocked. He had no idea getting an ability could be this dangerous, but on the side note it did make a bit sense.

The common populace seems like they need to be simply lucky enough to get an ability but if you weren’t lucky, you need to go through dangers.

But when Cedric spoke the last line, a great deal of thoughts began popping into Aiden’s head.

Didn’t Lucas say something similar about getting his ability? He had the same dream for 5 days in a row of some ruins and fighting animals before he got an ability on the 6th day. This sounds awfully familiar.

He asked Cedric, “Did they tell you anything about their dreams? What did they dream of that night after which they got their abilities?”

Cedric didn't look like he suspected anything. He shook his head while replying, “Nothing out of ordinary. Just your everyday dreams.”

Aiden fell into thought again as soon as he heard that.

Was the process of Lucas getting an ability different? Or am I missing some key information?

Aiden softly put forward an idea, “Say, do you think people would get the ability of the super if the said super happens to die around them?”

Cedric took a moment to realize what he was saying and sternly warned him in a slightly raised voice. “You have an extremely dangerous idea young man. Don’t make any rash mistakes. The Academy is a powerhouse in and of itself, it isn’t without reason that they hold a say at management level of the Bureau.

“No such things happen. Do you think the Bureau would be at such peace if abilities could be gained that way? Everyone would be out to kill the supers while those with particularly powerful abilities will never come out in the open. That’s an extremely foolish notion.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Aiden had a helpless look on his face as he spread his hands. He knew Cedric had misunderstood him as wanting to kill the three supers from the Academy. “You misunderstand me. I am simply exploring ideas on how one might get abilities.”

Cedric calmed down as he heard that. He could resonate with the young man’s statement. “Don’t be foolish. Cross check your information before acting on it or you won't know how you died. There is definitely nothing like you’ve put forward.

“Trust me, it would’ve been difficult for even normal people to be on the same team as the supers if that was the case.”

Aiden nodded thoughtfully as he heard that.

So the way I got ability is definitely different. I might have a cheat or some treasure. I also don’t have conditions on my ability. So all this while, it’s at least all advantageous to me. Just one last doubt remaining.

“Say, can there exist two abilities which are exactly the same?”

If they can, then it’ll be easier for me to expose my ability on the off chance that the corpse’s ability was the same as one which I got.

The middle aged man had already walked over to the chalk outline as he thought he had already explained everything about the abilities and how to get them. When he heard Aiden’s question though, his steps halted as he crouched motionless while staring at the outline for a few seconds.

Finally, he replied after thinking a lot. “There have been cases. Yes. But, it’s extremely rare. But even if the powers looked the same, their conditions and side effects were still different. As for power, condition and side effects being the same? I haven’t read about it yet, maybe it exists, maybe it doesn’t?”

Aiden took a deep breath and reached out for a handshake as he sincerely thanked the man. He had gotten to know a lot about abilities today.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how strong you were, but where you came from. Your background. Hellen was likely stronger and had more connections than Cedric, but even she didn’t know much about abilities as compared to Cedric who was just a student at the Academy.

Cedric shook his hand and jested, “You’ve already wasted a lot of my time, now get out unless you intend to help me.”

“Haha, I am leaving, I am leaving. I have no intention to be seen alone in a room with a middle aged man.”

He quickly left the place and headed outside. With thoughts of abilities in his mind, a big stress had been lifted off his shoulder.

Now even if he ever used his ability, he would have proper excuses to deflect any questions or investigations. Now only thoughts of the special ghost occupied his mind along with the special weapon which the vampire had notified about.

He had forgotten about it earlier. Which meant he still had three works he could possibly start with.

Go to aunt Hellen and get permission to investigate the houses which were spared.

Go to a secluded place and experiment with my ability.

Get the lethal weapon.

He thought for a minute and opened the map to see where the Ketchup house was. That vampire had told him that the weapon was hidden behind the Ketchup house.

This is quite far.

Of course, it couldn’t be that far since it was in the town itself, but very few buses went to that location.

Wait, that location also happens to be secluded enough, no? If it is, I can simply experiment there after taking the weapon.

He first had to make sure that all the supers were in one place though, including aunt Hellen who had been able to react as soon as Cordelia mobilized her aether.

He took a quick walk inside the house and found Alastair, Cordelia, Scottus and Lucas to be all inside.

He made a call to aunt Hellen to ask where she was, who quickly picked it up. “Hello Aiden, I am driving to the fourth site at the moment. I’ve already taken permission about the matter you brought up yesterday. If you have anything to say, let’s talk about it after I get there.”

Before he could say anything, she had already cut the call.

Great, I can technically do all three work today itself then.

He headed for the room where Lucas was, not at all surprised to find he was helping himself with some snacks he found from who knows where.

“These are mine, I brought them from this town, I promise.”

He only shot him a laugh, “Right, as if I’d believe you. In all my years of living here, I’ve never seen any shop sell them.”

Lucas’ ears turned red but he continued eating. “Not my problem they don’t sell it to you.”

“Stop it.” Aiden chuckled. “Listen, can you tell me about the process of using your abilities?”

Lucas’s eyes lit up. “Are you thinking of confronting those jerks? Do you want me to beat them up? Don’t worry, they won’t see me coming. Literally.”

Hahaha pfh cough

He went on to laugh at his own pun, eventually choking on his food before coming to a stop. Giving Aiden a wide grin, he continued eating the biscuits.

“Stop with your wild imaginations. Well, in some corner of my mind yes, but I am thinking more about the ghost. They have abilities too.”

“Well.” The childhood friend gave it a thought and continued, “I get a mysterious feeling in my mind. If it helps you, you can imagine it as a dot. That mysterious feeling, that dot, is my ability, kind of. I think it is, but I don’t know for sure.

“Then, I focus on that dot and convey my intention to use the ability. If I’ve already fulfilled the conditions, there will be no obstruction in this step, if not, I’ll simply feel blocked. Well, anyway, after that I just need to think of how, where and when I need to use my ability.

“It’s kind of difficult, I wasn’t able to control the how, where and when that easily. There is also the case of aether. You won’t sense it if you don’t pay attention. When using the ability, I also need to focus on the dot to feel the rate of energy drain and how much is left.

“It’s difficult in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it sort of becomes instinctual. Oh and, you can also focus on the dot and convey your intention to know the remaining aether, the amount recharges automatically over time but always better to know how much you’ve got before getting into a fight.”

Aiden had a serious expression throughout as he listened to Lucas. The day was really enlightening till now, answering many of his questions. Standing up, he thanked Lucas sincerely and left the house.

On the way to his bus stop, he met aunt Hellen. He simply told her he had some work to do, and will be back by the evening. She simply nodded and drove away after Aiden turned down her offer to drop him.

So, to the Ketchup house we go.