"It's got to do with her attribute."

"Attribute?"

"You know about her soul attribute, right?"

"Yeah."

Attributes were defined as what kind of magic a person has an affinity for. For example, someone could have the solid attribute. This meant that a person could easily manipulate the ground around them and create metals.

Attributes were classified into two sections, common and rare. The common attributes were heat, frost, solid, liquid, and gas. Most mages had one of these attributes.

The rare attributes were much less commonly found in people. Such examples were electricity, light, dark, gravity, and more.

Though it didn't necessarily mean that people with such attributes were better than those that didn't have them. It just depended on their skill in using such attributes.

The soul attribute was one such attribute.

"The soul attribute allows her to directly attack her opponent's soul and also process a better understanding of mana."

The soul attribute was a unique attribute and even among the rare attributes, it was considerably rarer. Unlike the other attributes, souls were just a concept we couldn't touch or feel, something not physically present in reality.

The reason the user could understand mana better was that the soul was intrinsically tied to mana. Mana was created by the soul.

"That's a good description of the soul attribute. Though that's not why they are wanted and feared."

"I thought they were wanted because they were one of rarest among the rare attribute."

"That's not it. People with the soul attribute have an ability that they can use once in their lifetime. It is called {Soul Absorption}. It allows the user to take in another person's soul within themselves and absorb it."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"To sum up, it allows the person to acquire another person's abilities."

"WHAT! Isn't that too powerful?"

"Yes, it is quite a ridiculous ability. That's why S rank criminals are always captured. Their abilities can be inherited by someone else."

"So a person with this attribute can just become an S rank, just like that?"

"It's not that overpowered. The abilities are drip-fed to the user over time. They cannot acquire the abilities right away. If they did, it would kill them. That being said, with this ability, they have a higher chance of becoming an S rank than others. Though if they don't become stronger than the user they acquire it from, they won't receive all their abilities."

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"So what does this have to with Amina? Did she absorb the soul of an S rank?"

"That thing was definitely an S rank."

"Thing?"

"It wasn't a human. We encountered it on a ruins exploration."

***

Umbra Moria then explained what occurred.

A couple of weeks ago, a ruin was discovered on Moria's land. Ruins were remnants of the past and were sometimes dangerous.

As an SS rank, Umbra signed up for the task of exploring the ruins. However, Amina caught wind of this and begged him to allow her to come.

Umbra, after hours of arguing, caved in and allowed her to come. He was also confident as an SS rank to protect Amina from any danger.

The ruins were normal until they reached the end. It looked like a statue of a woman. One of the archeologists accidentally tipped the statue over and it broke, releasing a powerful entity.

Umbra, recognizing the danger it processed, fought it but was unable to kill it. As a last resort, he weakened it enough so that Amina could use {Soul Absorption} to seal it within her.

This was the reason Amina was fainting recently. It was a side effect of having taken in such a powerful being.

This would last for another month or two before the soul settled in. Though it would be years if not decades to acquire any of its abilities.

***

"Thank god, it was weakened."

"Hmm?"

"If it was at full strength, I definitely would have died. It wasn't even thinking properly when I fought it yet I still struggled with it. I couldn't even kill it."

"What kind of entity was it?"

"I don't know. It seemed like a physical form of a soul or something like that. But I didn't think that was possible."

"So it's like a spirit."

"Yeah. To manifest your soul like that would take an immense amount of strength and you would die immediately afterwards. I can't even do it."

"Wait, if it was soul, how could you damage it."

"Just because I don't have the soul attribute, doesn't mean I can't attack a soul. The soul attribute allows for precise control over the different components of the soul."

"What does that mean?"

"Let's say a soul is a machine. S ranks all have a hammer which can damage or destroy the machine. However, mages with the soul attribute have the tools to modify the machine. It's not a perfect analogy, but you understand it."

"Yeah, I do. Anyhow, talking about attributes, what does the dark attribute even do? You have it, but I never really understood it. Isn't darkness just the absence of light?"

"It's not the darkness that you are thinking about. Darkness is the empty space that exists between the molecules or just dark matter. My attribute allows me to bring the dark matter into reality and use it."

"What are the properties of dark matter?"

I learned about dark matter in physics in my past life, but scientists on Earth never understood what it is. They just knew it existed.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean I don't know. Aren't you a master a using it?"

"Just because I'm a master of manipulating and using it, doesn't mean I understand its existence. I just alter the properties of the darkness to suit me."

I got my hopes up for nothing.

"Grandpa... did I faint again?"

Amina's eyes fluttered open. She got up from her bed.

"Wakey wakey princess. Did you have a good nap?"

I taunted her. It was payback from the antics she did previously.

"Sh-Shut up."

She blushed and looked away. I loved the faces she made when I teased her.

"I'll you two idiots to have fun."

Umbra chuckled and left the room.

"Ok, now that the old man is gone, I'll beat your ass in chess."

Amina regained composure and we took out the chessboard. I still hadn't managed to win against her yet and I was accustomed to losing.

Anyone would be demoralized when faced with such a bad losing streak, but my pride wouldn't allow me to give up.

I will win a game against her.