21. Shadow

{Author's note}

There you go. A chapter on Sunday. Happy Reading.

I needed some ideas from you guys. I had re-read the book but nowhere does it explains how an ability book is written or what is written for someone to get that ability. If you know or have a theory please input it in the chapter's comment.

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Abraham went toward the shelf and used his Inspect skill on the book.

[Level 6 shadow book, can only be learned by those that have been Blooded].

This time rather than a monotone robotic voice the system usually played in his head. It was the annoying energetic blonde man's voice. Abraham felt his adrenaline rush inside his body. With the utmost anticipation, he touched the book.

[ Level 6 ability book Shadow element ]

[ Ability is compatible with the system ]

[ Would you like to learn? ]

Before he responded, the Ai with Vincent Eno's voice talked.

"So it looks like you want to learn more about the book, huh? well, I can tell you if you want, do you want to know?"

Abraham nodded.

"Blooded refers to those that have been blessed or cursed whichever way you want to look at it, with Vampire blood. It doesn't matter if the individual is a halfling, a vampire lord, or even a ghoul. As long as they possess some of the vampire's blood, they are able to learn these abilities."

The AI system answered in great detail. It was like Vincent Eno said. While the inspect skill was able to tell him information about items, his system would clarify things to him related to the system.

From the small conversation, Abraham came to a conclusion. The system wasn't able to tell that he had all this knowledge. The system wasn't able to access his past memories. Abraham decided to play along as he finally had someone to talk to. He decided to ask the system the same question that Quinn did in the novel.

"Is this the only ability book Vampires can learn? And can Vampires learn more than one ability?"

"Just like humans, Vampires are only able to learn one ability. Whether or not there are other ability books out there like this, who knows, there may be some stronger, they may be some weaker."

As expected, Abraham received the same answer as in the novel.

He touched the book again and when the system asked if he wanted to learn he replied.

[Yes]

The book then lifted into the air, and the pages started turning and flashing in front of him. Suddenly there was a sense of Deja vu. Just like what happened with the vampire system book, the shadow ability book was doing the same. When all of the pages of the book had been flipped, it disappeared and vanished into thin air.

He was greeted with multiple messages.

[Congratulations you have learned the level 6 Shadow ability]

[You have now unlocked the Shadow skills tab]

[You have unlocked the Mutant Cell stat]

[10 skill points have been added]

[New shadow skill dimensional storage has been activated]

[New skill Shadow control Lv.1 has been added]

Looking at his system, Abraham found a newly added tab about the shadow ability. Inside he was able to see ten skills in total. Apart from dimensional storage and shadow control, all the others were greyed out. He decided to open his status.

[Race: Vampire]

[Ability: Shadow]

[140/200 EXP]

[MC 1000/1000]

[HP 115/115]

[Strength 35]

[Agility 35]

[Stamina 40]

[Charm: 5]

The system now was showing the shadow as an ability. He also received another stat about MC.

"System, can you explain the MC stat to me?"

"Ho, ho," A cheery voice said, "The MC stat is how many Mutant cells you currently have in your body. Every time you use your ability, the MC numbers will go down but worry not, for it will auto regenerate itself over time."

Abraham knew from the novel that the MC stat could not be increased using the free point. Compared to the original story where Quinn got only a 100MC, Abraham's training in activating his cells using Qi was showing its fruit.

"What does MC depend on", Abraham decided to ask his own question to the system.

"Mutant cells have a cap in your body. This can only be increased by a certain technique specific to the Shadow ability. You would either have to find a higher-Level ability book or a teacher. But even if you try to learn a higher level ability, it depends on whether or not you have enough MC inside your body." The system said.

From the novel, Abraham knew that there were many rich families that bought level 8 ability books for their children only to be left disappointed as their bodies didn't have enough MC.

There were only two things left for Abraham to investigate. The new tutorial and the shop in the system. He decided to leave the shop for another time when appropriate. Abraham opened the new tutorial and a video started to play. As usual, Vincent Eno appeared. This time he was in a dojo.

"Congratulations on reaching level 10, now in this video no new skills will be learned, but instead we will be creating our own. By now you should have also unlocked the skill blood spray and learned the skill Hammer strike. Although Blood spray can be used on multiple targets, to do the most damage it's best if you are actually touching your opponent. What's even better is if you combine the two skills together."

Vincent then got into a fighting stance once again, he repeated all the steps of the Hammer strike as usual but right at the end when the force came out, he performed the blood spray attack. Rather than spreading out as it should, it was compact and came out together in a thick line. In the video, a loud sound could be heard. Abraham didn't have the chance yet to use the blood spray skill but it was on his next plan to raise its level.

"Whoops." The blonde man said, "Looks like I will have to make some repairs to the dojo. This move I call Hammer spray. Now be careful because this attack will not only use up your stamina but will drain your blood as well. Also, the Hammer spray takes slightly longer to prepare, so it may not be optimal in all situations. But the point is, if you activate blood spray with a punch in your fist, it will be several times stronger."

The video ended and Abraham decided to close his system. After absorbing all the unique ability and skill books, many duplicates were left on the shelf. He got up and walked toward the remaining books. He thought of a new skill.

[Dimensional storage]

[This skill will allow the user to store items in its shadow storage. As long as there is a shadow nearby, you can take out and put in items as you wish. This includes your very own Shadow underneath your feet!]

On the spot, the shadow underneath Abraham started to wiggle and swirl. It felt like the shadow was alive. Abraham grabbed a book and pushed it into the shadow. The book sank and disappeared. He then proceeded to put every book inside his shadow storage.