There was nothing to do at the fort other than rest, and Sirus was much too anxious just to lay there.

'This was my chance. Not only is my teammate dead from my lack of insight, but my opportunities for the future are severely limited.'

Sirus trudged through the snow to where they had stashed their materials, which included a radio to call back to the school.

"This is Group A11, requesting evac for three students, one dead."

"Understood. Transport is 30 minutes out."

Sirus hated how coldly the death was treated on the walkie-talkie, both by himself and the responder. He had looked forward to being heroic, swooping in and saving others, as heroes did on TV. But regardless of how he felt, this turmoil was soon dwarfed by feelings of disbelief and joy. Although nobody knew it at the time, this was when the course of human history was inextricably altered.

[Congratulations: You awakened the SSS ability: Ability Production!]

[See details: Yes / No]

"WAAAHHHH"

Sirus screamed, fell backward into the snow, and looked up at what had scared him. A screen had appeared in the air like a hologram, displaying an unbelievable message.

'What the hell is this? SSS-rank? That's a thing? Why is there a floating message?'

Sirus had more questions than answers and more confusion than ever. But his curiosity outweighed his cautiousness.

[Yes]

[Skill: (SSS) Ability Production

System: An ability for hosts SS-rank or above: use the system to appraise magical objects and areas and gain unique event details.

Perfect extraction: Within a 5-meter distance, extract the ether or ability of the target. Condition: Target must be willing or incapacitated

Skill Forge: Combine two equal skills to create a higher-rank skill or destroy a skill to develop two lower-rank skills.

Grade Shift: Downgrade abilities to create ether or use ether to upgrade abilities.

Producer's Insight: Sense Ether within 15 meters.

Distribution: Transfer abilities of the Host to others. The Host can track, activate and deactivate abilities given to others at will.

Note: Deeply unfair]

[Stats:

Strength: 11

Agility: 12

Stamina: 10

Constitution:10

Perception: 12

Mana: 15(+2)]

Sirus was once again floored by what he was reading, but he increasingly felt dread.

'This is the worst conceivable ability for this rank! Like, it could not be worse!'

Although incorrect, Sirus' apprehensions weren't unfounded. His ability gave him no increased fighting capacity, and any increase in strength would require stealing someone's ability, which would not go undetected. He was the perfect target, a weak being who could make the strong even more powerful.

But two things confused him more than anything else.

'More importantly than that, why don't I feel any different or stronger? Higher ranks get better physical abilities! Why the hell aren't I any bigger or something!"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

[System Notification: Physical changes will adapt alongside the acquisition of abilities. The Host has not gained new abilities, so changes will not appear.]

'What the hell? Are you reading my thoughts?'

[System Notification: The system is deeply connected to the Host.]

'That's just admitting it! At least try to hide a breach of privacy! Well, it's not like I can do anything about it. I guess the stats thing makes some amount of sense. When people gain abilities, they gain physical prowess in the area of expertise of their ability. Mages gain more mana; enhancers get more strength. None of my abilities have physical demands, so no stat would be boosted.

That is so shit!

But why did this happen anyways? I've only heard of secondary awakenings happening to powerful heroes, not lower ranks. Primaries are known to be random, but from what I understand, secondaries aren't. What makes me special?'

Sirus kept walking, too engrossed in thought to notice he had entered the fort.

"Sirus! Rewards appeared."

He finally looked up, seeing something incredible.

The Orc's body glowed a dark purple, with small purple particles floating around it.

"We got two strengthening crystals, and his axe didn't fade. Do you have a preference?"

"I'll take a crystal, and we can give the other to Ivarr's family. He earned it, and I can't take it. I assume you want the axe?"

"Yeah, you're right. On both counts."

"Well, evac is coming in half an hour."

Sirus walked up to Floki, who sat not too far from Ivarr lay, and grabbed a crystal.

[Item Appraisal: E-Rank Ether Crystal

Function: When broken, it gives the user a small permanent boost to a random physical or magical attribute. Cannot improve stats beyond 15.

Exclusive Skill Trait: Absolute Extraction: The Host can choose which attribute is boosted.]

'Oh my god, why does everything with this skill suck. Why can't it give me a better boost? Why does it matter if it's not random? They need to be diversified anyways! At least my stats suck so bad I don't have to worry about the rank restriction.'

Sirus broke the crystal despite his annoyance.

[System Notification: Perception +.5]

'I have the worst luck.'

Despite his continued annoyance, Sirus felt a light burning sensation across his skin, eyes, ears, and nose. The world felt louder, colder, and smellier.

'What a benefit. I wonder if this is how Dad felt after getting his hearing aids.'

Sirus' father had very poor hearing, and after much convincing by his wife and son, he got hearing aids. After getting annoyed at how loud everything was, he decided hearing was overrated and stopped wearing the aids.

Regardless, he still had one more thing to do. He walked over to the glowing corpse in the snow until he got the notification.

[Conditions met: Acquire Elite Orc's ability?]

[Yes / No]

'Wait, Elite Orc? Not Boss Orc? I guess whichever human decided to give them the boss title was wrong.'

[Ether Extracted: Skill]

[Skill: E-Rank: Berserker's Rage:

Enrage: For 5 minutes, gain pain immunity and 50% boost to physical attributes. After 5 minutes, all stats will be decreased by 50% for 10 minutes.

Note: Please call a doctor if rage is painful or lasts longer than 4 hours]

'Wow, that penalty sucks. No wonder it was so easy in the end. But this isn't really my fighting style, given I rely on magic more than physique. I should probably wait to experiment with grade shift or skill forge until I am alone.'

[Skill: (E) Berserker's Rage gives greater agility and strength. Apply attributes?]

[Yes / No]

Sirus wasn't sure what it meant but still clicked yes, and pain immediately filled his body. A burning sensation like when he used the Ether Crystal, but over his whole body, and much stronger. But as quickly as it came, it went, leaving Sirus standing awkwardly with weak knees.

[System Notification: Attribute Increase:

Strength increased from 11 to 15.

Agility increased from 12 to 13.]

'Is that how it works? So my stats now work like taking the best test score instead of the average. I get the strength and agility boosts from Berserker's Rage and the mana, perception, and stamina boost from String Manipulation.'

Sirus smiled as he let himself fall backward into the snow, smiling at his new fate. He could make real progress now; he no longer suffered from the luck of the draw.

Sirus's moment of riding a power high wouldn't last long as the evac helicopter soon arrived.

A large man exited the helicopter, jumping a few feet to the ground while it still hoovered. He stood taller than any of the three of us, with broad shoulders and a school coach's uniform.

"Do you two wish to continue the exam?"

"No." "No."

"Well, who wouldn't be cowardly in your position? It's only your livelihood on the line. I guess you are E-ranks, so it's only sort of shitty."

Two men ran out of the helicopter with a stretcher, carrying Ivarr with a white sheet over his body back inside. More than anything else at that moment, Sirus wanted to hit the man who came to rescue them. To be so nonchalant about death and to insult them for unalterable factors.

But he couldn't. Not because of school consequences but because he could see the man in a different light. A shimmering orange-red light surrounded him—something he could sense as higher than E-rank.

The two of them looked out of the side windows of the helicopters, seeing the miasma fumes coming off the various pits. Whoever fought those monsters was no different than either of them, except for better luck. Sirus rarely resented those with greater power than him as he always saw that as meaning they could save more people. As time passed, his hero worship stagnated, with each new awakener he encountered being no different than a spoiled child. But now, as he gazed at others, he smiled once again, happy with his strength.