As Alex laid on the ground Henry watched on with intrigue. Alex's mana channels were expanding and contracting to what Henry assumed to the beats of his heart. In that process the mana channels expanded and stayed expanded. While the increase wasn't as much during the fight, the after affects did increase Alex's total mana. Henry guessed the necessary conditions needed for this phenomenon to activate required battle. In that case wouldn't all of the unconscious delinquents be undergoing the same increase mana? But that was not the case, instead it was only Alex. Henry guessed that Alex held a special trait, although he had no clue of the specifics. Ding, BAS made its presence known to Henry.

[Host's deduction is correct. The individual named, Alex awakened his bloodline ability. The purity however, is extremely diluted]

"Can I awaken it?" Solely based on the name Henry guessed it was related to heritage. He wondered if that lady he encountered yesterday had used a bloodline ability. If so the abilities and their applications might vastly differ among users. It was thus natural to be curious about himself as a result.

[Impossible. Host's blood purity is too diluted and the quality is too weak, the common norm for the average populace. Only a select portion of the population awaken their bloodline ability]

A wave of disappointment washed Henry's face. Henry had initially hoped that he might be special. But once Henry remembered why he was chosen by Bas, he figured it was good he didn't have a chance. Or else he would be seeing people using bloodline abilities left and right constantly in his daily life. BAS however thought differently.

[To be Beyond Average the Host must stand above the crowd. Issuing Quest… Hidden in plain sight, bloodlines were ever present in the history of Humanity. They separated the weak from the strong, and those who towered above the strong the legends! Obtain the blood of 25 different bloodline users! The Bloodline Acquisition - Quest Progress: 0/25 Bloodlines Collected]

Henry didn't know he could receive two quests. There was nothing saying he couldn't, but he just never considered it. Henry looked down at Alex with eyes reminiscent of receiving an unexpected gift. However, Henry wondered if he needed hold onto the blood until he collected it from all 25.

[Negative. One liter is sufficient, any container will do. All that is required is the total amount]

Henry quickly searched for a container, and stole 2 half liter plastic bottles from the delinquents. It wasn't like they were going to use them anyways, it was impossible to consume beverages while unconscious. Except maybe with a bloodline ability Henry thought. He crouched down and scooped up Alex's blood into the bottles with a piece of cardboard. Henry didn't want to bloody his clothes, so he worked with caution. The blood was gross and all, but he endured at the thought of getting a superpower. A couple minutes later the blood was collected. Henry lifted the bottles up to see if the blood looked special, it did not.

[Quest Progress: 1/25 Bloodlines Collected]

Henry smiled when the blood suddenly vanished. Henry was proud of himself, he did it all without dirtying himself.

—

"This Bastard Is Crazy!!!" One of the goons cried to himself silently. Given the nickname Goon #57, James was just a regular high school kid before he was forced to join the Blazing Storm delinquents. James remembered it like yesterday, it was the first day of school and he had gotten a hair cut that day looking all spruced up. But when he got to class his hair cut was the exact same as the delinquents! Then life carried him from there. It was all that hair dressers fault, James regretted listening to her about getting his hair dyed.

James laid still on the floor trying not to move. James had faked his fainting at the start of the fight. All his friends called him a coward, but he didn't see anything wrong with his tactics. Especially not after seeing them on the floor right next to him each with a broken limb.

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James witnessed all of the fight after feigning unconsciousness. The Crimson Demon was truly worthy of his title, but the leader wasn't stupid. At the time James was stunned by the leader's brilliant display of genius when he held the Crimson Demon's friend hostage. But, James couldn't help but commend the newcomer's effective sneak attack. After the Crimson Demon fell unconscious he thought things was cool down.

However something unexpected occurred. James watched in horror as the newcomer rummaged for empty water bottles to collect blood from the Crimson Demon. Talking to himself all while doing so. The newcomer's back was turned towards James and it looked as if the new guy downed the bottle. James couldn't believe his eyes, it felt as if he was hallucinating. But reality doesn't lie so his worst fears were confirmed when he saw the bottles empty. This newcomer was one deranged individual, only crazy people drank blood belonging to strangers!

Out of the corner of his eyes James noticed one of the relatively unhurt delinquents waking up. The delinquent began silently approaching the crazy newcomer from behind. James tried to warn the delinquent of the danger with his eyes, and he was noticed. But the dumb ass just smiled back and sped up his approach.

The delinquent went unnoticed and James became confused. A person's footsteps were never fully silent. So why was this crazy newcomer acting deaf when he was just rambling to himself a minute ago. James awaited in anticipation for the delinquent to land the blow. But it never came, instead the delinquent missed. The crazy guy sidestepped the sneak attack, tripping the delinquent in the process. The delinquent smashed head first into concrete, knocking him out and probably giving him a concussion. The whole thing looked as if the guy had eyes at the back of his head! James now wholeheartedly agreed with his decision to play dead.

—

Henry pitied the guy that tried attacking him. He didn't mean to cause that much harm. It was just that the guy was too obvious, it was watching a video in slow-mo. Every action, be it walking, talking, or fighting caused mana to fluctuate within the body. So given Henry's ability to detect Mana in a 360 degree field around himself, it was really like he had eyes at the back of his head.

Henry grabbed a phone from one of the delinquents and called the authorities. Many of them needed medical attention, so it was best not to delay that. While on the phone reporting the situation Henry noticed the time. It was almost lunch, and he kept the guys waiting for so long. So Henry chucked the phone into the distance and returned to the mall to eat.

The walk was short and soon Henry met up with Jared and Charles at a sushi restaurant. They asked him what happened and Henry gave them a brief run down. Of course Henry left out the part of him knocking out a delinquent in a very brutal fashion. After eating they continued exploring the mall for things to do until Henry suddenly froze amidst the crowd. The lady with the talismans was in the mall. Henry couldn't take the chance of her recognizing him. Especially not after pretending to be a follower of Belford. Henry anxiously got his friends to follow him to another part of the mall. Only when he felt the distance between them was far enough did Henry relax.

Coincidentally he had arrived at the one antic store that dealt with book restorations by accident. Henry took this chance to see if he could get the book restored. Entering the store the first thing they saw were old wares like canes, hats, and other useless doohickeys. Pottery and vases stood on top the glass counters which were holding the more valuable wares.

"What can I do for ya?" What Henry assumed to be the owner greeted them. The owner was a bald old man with many wrinkles and a white beard. His skin was weathered and he wore a black coat.

"Hello, I saw you did restorations for books on your website. I was hoping you could help me fix this one up." Henry pulled out the diary from under his shirt. Henry watched on nervously as the old owner flipped through the diary. The owner suddenly slammed the book shut with his hands.

"Yeah, I think we can do it. Lemme call my expert before ya pay cause he's the one doing all the fixin'." The owner took the diary with him to the back of the store to make the call. Henry went to chill out with his friends on the old leather couch.

"So why you so interested in this diary anyways," Jared asked.

"Just curious, who knows I might discover a treasure map-" Henry stopped mid sentence. That lady was heading towards them, Henry didn't know if she somehow found them or it was just a false alarm. All Henry knew was he wanted to leave, immediately. He went up to the counter and called for the old man, but he got no response. Minutes pass and she kept getting closer, but the old man was no where in sight. Henry hesitated, he didn't want to leave without the diary but that lady was swiftly approaching. Henry decided he couldn't leave without knowing what was hidden in that diary, he could only hope she wouldn't enter the store. Luck however, was not on his side and his indecision proved fatal. Mia entered the store and froze as she exclaimed.

"It's You!"