Glowing Shade

Zero stopped his dissection to look at the shade that was standing on the top of the Qwulvis mother's body. Zero instantly noticed that the souls were in the shape of a human being and that its body was slowly growing brighter and brighter. "Rebirth?" Zero stood before walking towards the glowing shade, only to find that its body was visibly condensing. Without pause, Zero reached out and touched the human shoulder.

His fingers came into contact with the shoulder, instead of pushing through it as it had always been before. Before Zero could think about it, his attention was pulled to the Shade. Its head turned before looking down at Zero's hand. At least that was what Zero thought, as it didn't have any facial features. The Shade slowly raised its opposite hand before placing it onto Zero's wrist.

Zero expected the hand to try and remove his own with force, however, the feeling that washed over him was different. Instead of a strong force trying to rip his hand away, it was more like a strong command to remove his hand. 'How interesting.' Although the command to remove his had was powerful, this kind of attack was the least effective against Zero.

Due to having to control his emotions all his life, his mental fortitude was inhumanly high. They stood in that position for what Zero figured was a minute before the Shades' face lifted before facing Zero. The near blinding glow started to dissipate as souls raced up his arm and into his chest, the Shade's body slowly starting to lose patches of itself as more time passed. Zero took a large breath in as the Shade finally disappeared and the last soul entered his body.

-Notice-

The Host has absorbed <152142> souls. Host currently has <178550> souls.

Zero stared at the number of souls he had just received, his mind going blank for a brief moment. At the same moment he was staring at the number, another window suddenly appeared. The Window was completely blank, which meant it was Fykin trying to talk to him. The Window disappeared, only to not show back up.

Snapping out of his stopper from the number of souls he had just acquired, Zero turned around and started moving back to the dead Qwulvis before he finished dissecting it. He put the parts into the shop before moving towards the mall entrance. Zero rushed towards the basement door without pause before fazing through it and into his stash room.

Zero walked up to his pile of bags before filling two more of them with food and drinks and having the timepiece absorb them. Just when he turned around to leave the room, the ground beneath him started to violently shake. 'Did she already catch up to me?' Zero moved towards the door as he felt his mana channels. 'all of my channels are broken, while all of the fingers on my left hand are broken as well.'

Zero shrugged at the fact, as he couldn't simply run from this situation. He knew he had placed himself in a corner, however, he wasn't going to give his stash up willingly. 'Window, show me Mana Channel Recovery items as well as abilities. And if there is a way to strengthen Mana channels instantly, show me that as well.'

-Notice-

<Trash Grade Mana Channel Recovery Potion-93000 souls>

<Trash Grade Mana Channel Restoration Pill-130000 souls>

…

-Notice-

<Soul Detect-203400 Souls>

<Blood Manipulation-104000 souls>

...

-Notice-

<Medium Grade Body Relaxation Potion-832570 souls>

...

Zero scoffed at the third window before closing it completely. He then looked through the recovery potions, reading the lowest-priced potion.

<Trash Grade Mana Channel Recovery Potion>

Description-A Heavily diluted potion which wasn't that pure to start with. Once consumed, the Mana Channels of the consumer will gain a Mana Channel recovery boost. All Mana Channels will be brought from the state (Shattered) to the state (Heavily Damaged) and will recover 10% faster for a set amount of time.

Price-93000 souls

'So it would bring my Mana Channels just before the threshold of shattering?' Zero kept the window open, figuring he could still use a Death Beam from a 99% broken finger. The last one he looked through, was the abilities. The pricing for the abilities was high, however, they were some that were still in his price range.

As he searched, he didn't find anything that would be more useful than his current powers. As he looked, he found an ability that seemed interesting, so he mentally saved it for later. Zero was about to close the window, when he noticed a switchable tab at the top that was currently pointing to active abilities, the other option being passive ones. He clicked it over to passive abilities while checking his surroundings.

<Regeneration-1072030 souls>

<Thick Skin-354000 souls>

...

Zero scrolled through the passive abilities before finding one he liked, while also being able to afford the passive and active abilities.

-Notice-

Passive ability <Mana Channel Regeneration> has been purchased. Host has used <137530> souls. Host currently has <44250> souls.

-Notice-

<Channel Conversation Regeneration>

Description- Once learned, the ability holder's Mana channels will regenerate at a quicker rate.

-Notice-

Passive ability <Mana Channel Reinforcement> has been purchased. Host has used <43005> souls. Host currently has <1245> souls.

<Mana Channel Reinforcement>

Description- Once Learned, the ability holder is able to reinforce their Mana channels with souls. The amount of reinforcement applied to the user's channels depends on the number of souls applied.

-Notice-

Would the Host like to absorb the two abilities?

(Yes) (No)

Zero clicked yes and was about to close the windows when his brain exploded with pain. The pain on top of the shaking building caused Zero to nearly throw up, however, he held it in. The pain suddenly stopped before two Windows appeared in his vision once more. Zero pushed himself to his feet with a deep breath before reading the Windows.

-Notice-

Ability <Channel Conversation Regeneration> has been ingrained into the user's mind and body.

-Notice-

Ability <Mana Channel Reinforcement> has been ingrained into the user's mind and body.

Zero Instantly willed <Mana Channel Reinforcement> to active, finding he knew how to do it without even having to think about it. 'It was the same as Back Stab. I instantly knew everything about the ability.'