Yes! Yes! Yes!

He continuously agreed in his mind. Hoping it would somehow hasten the process.

Yes! There it is!

The void in him felt full. The food was placed in the empty lunch box. The feeling was back. He somehow felt satisfied.

He wasn’t looking forward to this, but the next mysterious feeling which would emerge. The ‘money’ with which the food was bought.

There it is!

He carefully felt the sensation of this another mysterious feeling, this ‘money’ disappearing from his body.

He tried to trace back to the source of ‘money’ in his body and finally, he felt the same sensation still left in his body. It wasn’t much, certainly less compared to before now that he had spent it twice.

Ah! This might only be enough for one.

He thought, after he quantified the amount he felt was remaining.

Aiden’s brain was full of thoughts as he gripped the short sword.

Where did I feel this sensation of money?

He pulled on the sword, hard enough to dislodge it from the wall but with enough control so that he wouldn’t pull it out too abruptly, causing the innards of the ghost’s brain to rain down on him.

His brain was actively working as it looked through his memories, when he finally dislodged the short sword from the wall.

The rotten corpse fell down with a thud. Still motionless with a gaping hole in its chest.

Weren’t ghosts immortal? Maybe it takes time to heal such a wound.

He looked at the short sword in his hand. Its blade was sharp on both sides, similar to usual short swords and its handle was blood red.

Information filled his mind as he came in contact with the equipment. His thoughts about the ‘money’ being sent to the back of his mind.

/Ability - Extreme sharpness/

Condition to use - 1 liter of blood for 1 hour.

Side effects - Drains blood from the user as long as the short sword is in contact with the target.

He pondered while looking at the sword.

The vampire didn’t lie about the information about its ability. He really only intended to test me with the ghost huh?

Before he could think any further. An influx of memories took place once again, it was about the ability which he had gained, very likely from the ghost. A single line, like the last time he gained the ability, manifested in his head.

/Ability - Memory invasion, Memory extraction, Memory insertion, Memory splicing, Memory replication./

Aiden’s eyes widened as he went through the memory of these abilities which explained what they did. He instantly knew memory splicing was the most important, followed by memory invasion. The rest were just support features.

He also keenly noticed how it didn’t have memory manipulation or memory creation. Both of which included making something out of nothing.

Memory extraction would remove the memory. Assume memory as a roll of paper. Extraction removed a portion of the memory. If the person was keen enough, he would notice the disappearance of a portion of his memory.

Memory splicing would join the two ends of the paper roll, between which there was a blank space, making it a continuous roll again.

Memory insertion worked the same way. Whether it’s inserted on an already existing memory, overriding the existing memory or in a blank void where memory was extracted, if the person went through their memory, they would notice an abrupt jump in the frames.

For the smooth process of joining different frames—different ends of paper roll—memory splicing was necessary to remove the traces. It was the closest thing to memory creation, or you could say manipulation, as it filled the tiny gaps in the frames when merging them.

Of course, it wouldn’t be of any use if he spliced memories of eating and shitting together so he would have to make sure of the logical consistencies when playing with the ability. He would have to be even more sure of not letting this ability be known to the public.

No one would like someone who can play with memories to stay around them, or worse, stay alive.

Anyway, from the above points, the conclusion is that if I am playing with memories, I can only make do with what memories already exist.

Aiden had a plan in mind. Cedric. The guy was from the Bureau and he had also told him information which was supposedly kept hidden from even the majority of supers.

He didn’t know what his intentions were, but now that he had this ability, it would be better if Cedric ‘knew’ he never told this to anyone.

The best initial target for this ability would be dead people. Since he couldn’t create memories from nothing, he could instead extract plenty of memories from dead people so he could have plenty of ‘material’ to play around with living people’s memories if the need arises. The dead also wouldn’t realize the gap in their memory because, well, obviously, they were dead.

It was a pity that memories didn’t stay around for long after a person died, or he could have gone to the morgue to extract memories from everyone who has recently been murdered by the Crimson Devil.

He wrapped the short sword in a cloth he had brought with him and stuck it into the right side of the waistband of his pants and hid it by draping his t-shirt and jacket over it. He had come prepared so that no one could see the short sword.

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A thought suddenly struck him as he was approaching the rotten corpse. Without resisting, he immediately tried it.

Thinking of the dot in his mind, he continued focusing on it before a set of lines eventually manifested.

/Ability - manifest a weapon./

Conditions to use - No conditions

Side effect - Intense Headache.

/Ability - Memory invasion, Memory extraction, Memory insertion, Memory splicing, Memory replication./

Conditions to use - No conditions

Side effect - Intense Headache.

He internally nodded his head while struggling to hold in his joy amidst the despairing situation.

This is definitely a fucking cheat. I have an enormous advantage!

Oh yea, I forgot about the ‘money’. My cheat basically runs on it. Only by spending that mysterious energy do I get to copy abilities. Where did I feel it again?

Aiden racked his brain for a full minute before finally remembering it.

The corpse also began moving at the same time below his feet.

Aiden instantly saw the movement from the corner of his eyes. Jumping away, he stared intently at the ghost.

Now that I think about it. This ghost definitely had the ability before I decided to pierce its heart. Could it be that the conditions weren’t satisfied?

Aiden was immensely grateful to himself that he decided to quickly take action earlier. If with that ability the ghost had fulfilled its condition then he didn’t know what would have happened.

He looked carefully and found that the wound on the heart area where he had pierced the spear earlier had already closed up. The glaring hole wasn’t closed but that the blood had stopped dripping, likely already healed.

He could see small movement near the hole his spear had opened up.

Is it healing? That’s rather fast. Is that why they are assumed as immortal?

Aiden realized the disaster a peak human physique which was aggressive to every living being would bring in the town even if it didn’t have abilities was great enough for him to not leave it unattended here.

He accessed the dot in his mind, going through the process before a baseball bat appeared in his hand.

The headache hit his head once again, pain ripping through his brain as all his thoughts were tuned. He only remembered his original intention.

And that was to swing.

He swung the baseball bat hard. Hard enough to cave the flesh on the ghost. The latter shrieked loudly but the second hit was directly on its neck, crippling any further attempts of shrieking or howling.

When it lay motionless once again after a few more rounds of beating, Aiden procured random things from the garbage lying around to tie the ghost.

Will it be enough to hold down a peak physique?

After some second thoughts, Aiden found more usable things from the various bags and cans full of trash lying around and tied the ghost more firmly.

He thought for a second, looking at the almost-burrito he made of the ghost.

Ew, such a weird thought.

He decided on informing aunt Hellen. He would simply tell her that he found this corpse here with a stick through its chest. What happened later would not be up to him to consider.

Stick stick stick. Gotta find a stick.

It took him about ten minutes to finally find a stick in the heaps of garbage. Its circumference was bigger than the hole he made in its chest but that wasn’t an issue.

Splat.

Disgusting sounds were emitted as he forced the stick into the hole which had almost been closed. The wound of the short sword in its head was already closed, so he didn’t need to worry about it.

Although he used his ability only twice, it gave him far more experience and data compared to that one time he idiotically conjured a baseball bat at aunt Hellen’s house in a hurry.

Taking one last look at the ghost, he inevitably thought of his ability.

Can I use memory invasion to invade the memory of ghosts? What if I get some important information?

Aiden already had a clue that the monsters in the Great Smog which were told to the common people might just be these ghosts. And the six heroes who ended the age of despair caused by the Great Smog were Master supers with abilities powerful enough to put them above the rest of the Masters.

If he got some information directly from the ghosts, there could be some startling discovery. Just as the idea took root in his mind, inadvertently-randomly-by luck-or by coincidence, he thought about the promise he made to Mimi.

Why did I think of that now?

He carefully reviewed the little girl and remembered her luck. Suddenly, his pupils widened as he had a better insight into her ‘luck’.

Could it be it’s more along the lines of avoiding danger and seeking fortune? Is that why she called me in the morning, convincing me to not leave the house? Is this some ability of hers?

I did indeed come across a random rogue ghost with ability intact. I would’ve lost my life had I not been quick. Is this the danger she ‘predicted’?

Wait, something is wrong.

Aiden’s mind worked with full strength as he evaluated the battle with utmost prudence.

Ahh!

He realized after a period of extensive thinking.

As long as I took the correct steps after making a decision, there was no fatal danger yet.

His decision to follow the weird sound was followed by the correct steps of slowly moving forward and accurately finding the small gap in the wall, which led to the ghost.

His decision to confront the ghost was followed by the correct steps of moving quickly and striking first and hard.

There wasn’t any real danger throughout all his time here. But as soon as he thought of invading the memory of ghosts, the promise he made to Mimi bloomed in his mind.

Which means no matter what steps I take, I am going to be in danger. The inherent decision of invading the memory of the ghost is incorrect, one which will lead me to danger.

His expression hardened as he thought of that. What would he have done if not for Mimi?

He had been lulled into a false sense of security by his cheat, and by extension the abilities it copied for him.

He had to reconsider his way of approaching things. After admonishing himself a few more times, he turned around and left after making sure the ghost was completely bound.

While going back, he thought of what he would tell aunt Hellen. Why was here in the first place?

Aunt Hellen and Valeria don’t know that it was a vampire whom I met. I only told them about a strange man. Unless talks about vampires crop up first from others, I am sure as hell not going to bring it up myself, what if they are supposed to be a secret?

I should just tell them that the strange man told me to come here to get a clue. But, could a dead ghost be a clue?

Aiden’s steps faltered as his eyes narrowed.

Was it really just a test to see if I am worthy for him to depend on me for the rescue of his master? Could it actually be some sort of clue? Or both?

Aiden’s steps didn’t stop as he shook his head to remove all these useless thoughts from his head and thought about ‘money’.