《I Stole The System?》 System (1) "Sigh.. you can''t even solve this question? Oh for God''s sake, your exams are in three months; are you even planning on passing them or not?" "You know..." Sigh... Here he goes again... looking at the teacher standing on the podium who once again began his lecture on how we need to work harder. I couldn''t help but sigh. Seriously, does he have to repeat the same lecture every day? In a sense, he is lecturing us for our own sake, but every fucking day? Dude, that''s so annoying! "Sigh, anyway, where was I again? Oh yeah, history of sorcerers." "As you all are aware, the first life in the world originated from oceans in the form of monsters... The first creatures in the world, the monsters, inhabited and ruled the world before the birth of humans, who are one of the few creatures born with self-consciousness and are able to use sorcery." "With their powerful sorcery, the humans of ancient times were able to fend off the humanity from the ferocious monsters and lay the foundation for humanity to survive in this brutal world infested with beasts capable of wielding powerful elemental abilities and other mysterious abilities." "Like monsters, humans are also capable of wielding magical powers due to their talents, which can be either acquired or innate, which are altogether termed as sorcery... Though almost everyone can practice sorcery, according to the World Sorcerers Association, the sorcerers are collectively called to few people who are all recognized by the association after meeting their criteria." How boring... It is the same thing we learn from elementary school... I really don''t understand any point in repeating this every fucking grade. Looking out of the window where small black-colored bird-like creatures were flying, enjoying their lives, I couldn''t help but wonder, would someday I can also fly like them without any care of the world and take a break from my boring and pitiful life? My name is Ian Crown... currently a high schooler dreaming of becoming a sorcerer, but I guess it would just be a dream with my abilities. In this world, everyone has the ability to perform sorcery and became a sorceror, a profession everyone dreams of becoming, but because of a lack of talents or money, not everyone could afford to be one. In my case, it is both... I don''t belong to an influential background and have awakened an innate D-graded talent, Map, an ability that is more like spatial awareness which creates a map of everywhere I go and records it while showing live feed and all I want in an area of radius 10 meters from me... an amazing ability, isn''t it? But not being related to direct combat, it isn''t valued much like 60 percent of all innately awakened talents. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Talents are things that one is born with or can be acquired during their lifetimes, granting their possessors supernatural abilities like controlling flames, creating ice out of thin air, and whatnot... not everyone is born with innate talents like myself, as it is considered quite lucky because if not, one needed to work very hard once they have their mana heart completely matured to be able to properly learn sorcery and basics of mana manipulation only if they can''t acquire themselves some magical treasures and herbs which can grant them miraculous talents. My talent is pretty amazing for me that is but for the world, it''s not that amusing and average I guess considering the myriads of abilities there are in the world, so with my talent, it''s impossible to become a sorcerer with just hard work. There is another way to become a sorcerer, but for it, one needs to have an amazing background and millionaire family, I guess, which unfortunately I don''t... ''Haha, not to mention millionaire family, I don''t even have a fucking family, I guess...'' My father had already passed away after committing self-harm, and as for my mother? Who cares for that bitch? Fuck her! "I... won''t forgive any... of..." "Hmm?" Tilting my head in confusion, I looked towards the source of the sudden voice that broke me out of my train of thoughts. "...Kill... You." Sitting or I guess sleeping beside me on the seat near the window, a young man with an annoyingly handsome face muttering some incoherent words with a giant frown on his face covered with a lot of sweat. ''What''s this? Is he having some sort of nightmare?'' Looking at the most infamous person in the whole school, I frowned a little because of how bad his condition looks... ''Should I just wake him up?'' Looking at the boy whom I always ignore as to avoid the eyes of bullies and that annoying bunch, I thought to myself... Alan Lockwood, the favorite of all bullies of our school and a bootlicker of his so-called girlfriend who clearly slept with all of his bullies... an infamous trash of our school, one can say it''s him. Belonging to a poor household that struggles to meet ends needs with a sister hospitalized due to some accident and childhood friend of one of the hottest girls in our school, the person who always scores lowest in our class, with no kind of innate talent, heck, he hasn''t even awakened his mana heart even at the age of 18, a talentless bastard, and the biggest loser whose only good point is his infuriatingly handsome face with slight feminine features which can make one mistake him for a girl if not for his short hair and physique. "I will... take my revenge." Looking down at the boy who was mumbling in his sleep, I hesitated for a bit before finally deciding and shook his shoulders a little. "Hey... Hey, Alan." "Uh? Huuuh?!!!!" As soon as Ian called for Alan, he immediately shot up from his seat causing his chair to blast back creating a commotion causing the entire class to watch him like a freaking clown. "This is the school I used to study in 10 years ago? Don''t tell me... I AM BACK?!!!" While the class watched Alan like a freaking clown, Ian wasn''t paying attention to Alan''s words as his eyes were fixed on the holographic screen that suddenly appeared in front of him. [REGRESSION HAS BEEN COMPLETED] [DIVINE TALENT REPLICATOR SYSTEM IS BINDING 1%2%...99%...100%] [DIVINE TALENT REPLICATOR SYSTEM HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY BINDED] [ERROR!!] [ERROR!!] [ERROR!!] [THE HOST ISN''T THE REGRESSOR] [SYSTEM THEFT DETECTED] [ACTIVATING PROTOCOL 69] [SELF DESTRUCTION HAS BEEN INITIATED] [ATTEMPTING TO DELETE INVENTORY 1%..2%..100%] [INVENTORY HAS BEEN DELETED] [QUEST BOARD HAS BEEN DELETED] [SYSTEM GUIDE HAS BEEN DELETED] [NEWBIE PACKAGE HAS BEEN DELETED] [CONTROLLED RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN DELETED] [ATTEMPTING TO DELETE REWARDS 1%..2%..98%..] [ERROR!] [UNABLE TO DELETE ALL THE REWARDS] [ATTEMPTING TO DELETE REPLICATOR] [ERROR!] [UNABLE TO DELETE REPLICATOR] The messages appeared, one after another, in a flurry, impossible for even Ian to keep up with. [COMPLETE SELF-DESTRUCTION HAS FAILED!] [THE PROCESS HAS ENDED] [THERE IS ONE FINAL MESSAGE FOR SYSTEM THIEF] [FUCK YOU!] Boom!! That was all Ian could read before being blasted away by an invisible force and having his body electrocuted, causing his vision to darken and consciousness to fade away little by little, falling into a deep slumber for who knows how long. *** Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this! This is my first original novel and yeah I am newbie with just an experience of a Fanfic with 15 chapters only which isn''t on this site.. so if there is any mistake don''t be too harsh on me I would work on it I promise System (2) ...Is this even possible? Looking at the floating holographic screen in front of him, Ian wondered with a dazed expression while stretching his hands out, trying to touch the system screen which just passed through as if nonexistent. How many times did I try to touch it again? 40? 50? Looking at the screen that floated above his head, Ian even considered himself mentally unstable and imagining things. I mean, imagine one day your anime waifu just pops up in front of you and proposes to you. How would you feel? You''d be excited, I''m pretty sure, even though it won''t happen. But even if it did, you''d just wonder whether or not it''s really not a dream won''t you? Being an avid fan of fiction and a reader of web novels, Ian was very well aware of systems and their abilities, but the sudden appearance of one in reality itself was just too shocking for him. I don''t think I''ve gone senile just yet, nor does it feel like a dream. So, is this truly real? I''ve really gotten myself a system?! A wild smile formed on Ian''s face as he imagined the implications of possessing the system, but soon the smiling face was replaced with a frowning one. With just a command from his brain, the holographic screen changed, and soon the old messages which appeared before he fainted once again opened up, with Ian reading all of them carefully. [ERROR!!] [THE HOST ISN''T THE REGRESSOR] [SYSTEM THEFT DETECTED] [ACTIVATING PROTOCOL 69] [SELF-DESTRUCTION HAS BEEN INITIATED] [INVENTORY HAS BEEN DELETED] [QUEST BOARD HAS BEEN DELETED] [SYSTEM GUIDE HAS BEEN DELETED] Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. [NEWBIE PACKAGE HAS BEEN DELETED] [CONTROLLED RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN DELETED] [SYSTEM STORE HAS BEEN DELETED] [ATTEMPTING TO DELETE REWARDS 1%..2%..98%..] [UNABLE TO DELETE REPLICATOR] Even without any vocal command and just mental instructions, the screen kept changing, and the messages which Ian missed because of their sudden inflation were slowly read by him. Regression, system theft, and fuck me?.. Hahaha, what a fucking mess it is. Reading through all messages clearly, a small laugh escaped Ian''s lips as his eyes glowed with excitement and understanding. Raising his hands, moving his messy black hair from his face, Ian looked at the system screen that floated in front of him with his red eyes filled with excitement. Regression, system, protagonists... How could Ian be unfamiliar with these terms after being one of the hardcore addicts of anime and novels? First of all, let''s revise everything I gained from these messages. First of all, this system isn''t for me. It''s clear by the first few messages. I ain''t some protagonist who was chosen by the system. Instead, it''s the regressor, and if I ain''t wrong, it''s Alan Lockwood, isn''t he? Even for a child, it''s easy to pinpoint all of this, isn''t it? How it all began with Ian waking up Alan and the sudden outburst of Alan in class. Even though I wasn''t paying much attention to his words because of the system''s appearance, I''m pretty sure he said ''10 years ago?.. I am back,'' something along those lines, didn''t he? So, this system belonged to Alan, who somehow regressed to his school days with this system, which, by mistake or by the stroke of luck, bound to me when I tried to wake him up? Did it bind to me because I came in contact with Alan or because I was near him? Well, I don''t think that''s important right now anyway... so, coming back to Alan, his backstory suits perfectly for a protagonist, doesn''t it? Poor household, sick sister, beautiful childhood friend, embarrassing childhood filled with bullies, cheating girlfriend, rich second generation as enemies.. Haha, perfect protagonist''s backstory. Regressor with a system in a supernatural world... isn''t this the plot of half of the novels? What a fucking mess, what world are we living in now? A world of novels or what? ...That''s ridiculous. A chuckle escaped because of the ridiculous thought that crossed Ian''s brain. How is it even possible for this world to be a novel? But I guess the existence of the system is also... similarly ridiculous, isn''t it? Sigh~ let''s not bother with this subject anymore... Ian, who had successfully given himself some existential crises, just grabbed his forehead and massaged it gently while looking at the system screen. Let''s not ponder about it anymore and just think about other things... like what''s the origin of this system? How did Alan regress? Why did it bind to him or sigh~ why am I only thinking about these questions now? Myriads of questions swirled around Ian''s head, causing him to sigh, as all these questions are something he can''t get answers to now. Though he is curious, these are the questions he can''t get answers to as of now. Okay, let''s forget about questions and just check out the system''s features as of now. With that said, Ian, who lay on the bed provided by the school nurse in the infirmary, began his experimentations with the system after noticing how he was the only one able to see the system screen, like almost every system novel, after trying to flash the system screen before the school nurse, just to find it out. It might be pretty dumb in the opinion of many, but a momentary flash can be confused with just a hallucination, can''t it? So, why not risk it just to check it out? After all, if I''m going to use the system in the future, I need to be sure if it''s visible to others or not, wouldn''t I? The school hours were still ongoing, but due to Ian''s sudden loss of consciousness and being blasted back on his own, he got the teacher pretty worried and was allowed to stay in the infirmary for the whole day after regaining his consciousness just an hour after the incident... After that, for the next 3 hours or so, Ian just kept on tinkering with his system like a toddler who just got his new toy and noted all of its uses he could discover. There were a lot of functions in the system originally like store, quests, daily login, and what not, but almost the majority of functions were deleted, including the ones mentioned above as well as inventory and almost all of the awards that the system provided... Tsk! What a fucking waste! Ian said to himself inwardly as he was annoyed by losing out on so many good things, but his mood uplifted after checking out the remaining features that weren''t deleted. System (3) After the deletion, almost all of the functions were removed, leaving only the main function of the system and its auxiliary features, along with a few items which were supposed to be given to the host for the completion of some tasks but instead are now lying idly without any restriction to use them in the system. Talent Replication! The main function of the system which isn''t deleted... this feature is correct of the system that allows it''s host to be able to replicate and gain talents of others be it living or non-living to gain their talents. Be the target living or already dead once Ian now comes in contact with the target or the effect of their skill somehow then Ian can use his system to replicate the particular talent the target holds and implant it in the host for him to own. This is one of the most overused cheats isn''t it? If you look at the long lists of protagonist and their abilities the one thing you can definitely find in the majority of them is their ability to replicate others powers in the name of devour, necromancy and what not... But then also it''s an overpowered ability! In this world majority of the population are born with innate talents and rarely someone are able to gain acquired talents due to whatever reasons but even after that not many in the world possesses more than one talent... yeah one can posses more than one talent and as per records in the school books there were people in the past who were either born with multiple talents or hunted for powerful treasures as to acquire more talents and become more powerful... but even so isn''t their a limit to how many talents one can gain through acquired means? Hunting for rare resources and competing for them you can only imagine how fierce the competitions can truly go becauss of which gaining multiple talent is a thing not many could afford but Ian? With this system in hand he could just copy powerful talents of strong individuals or even the monsters without any need to worry about competitions and grow stronger... Isn''t this a terrifying ability? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. And now this ability is mine! Ian couldn''t help but be gleeful about the development he had gone through by gaining this system... even though majority of the system''s functions are now destroyed this ability is alone overpowered and if used correctly Ian can reach the heights he previously thought to be impossible. Though it''s just replicates supernatural talents and not physical traits it is still a heck of an ability! The talent replication only works on supernatural talents and not on physical traits which in simpler terms can be explained by the following example, have you ever heard about microbes which posses true regeneration? Yeah if you cut them they would just regrow their parts and multiply... that''s their ingrain physical traits... Ian can''t replicate those physical traits but if there is lizardmen or trolls with amazing regeneration talents which rely on magical means to work then Ian could replicate their talents and gain similar regeneration trait. This can be counted as a drawback of the system but it still remains an overpowered function I guess? Well anyways not only the function of talent replication is powerful but it''s auxiliary abilities are truly amazing! With addition to replication the system can also help Ian to know about target''s talents like an appraisal ability but only about talents and nothing else and its final ability is none other than talent merge where if Ian wants he can fuse his talents together creating a stronger or weaker talent based on the combination which is also an amazing ability. Removing his eyes from the system screen Ian looked at the school nurse who was busy on her phone watching short videos and observed the small screen that appeared on top of her head. [Pain Reduction (E)] An E rank talent? In this world there are total of 8 recognised classes of talents F, E, D, C, B, A, S and Ex grade... these grades are what humans have classified the talents into given their application, range of use and other factors. There are legends where it is mentioned that there exists higher level of talents and whatnot possessed by the heroes of the legend but that''s just what everyone thinks is just a myth... but maybe they exists? Who knows E Rank talent Pain Reduction which can reduce the pain of the target. Should I check my system out on this talent? ...Nah Though Ian is excited to use his system he don''t want to waste it on some E Rank ability... there exists countless people who possesses higher grades of talents so why waste the system on low grade talents? In just this school there exists 3 people with high grade talents of A and S grade so why bother with low grade talents not to mention he doesn''t know if there are chances to use the system or any kind of cool down or not. With my experience of the novels usually these kinds of systems have some kind of cool down and likes which can lasts for months so does my system also have those? Ian wondered as he looked at the system screen and decided to play it safe and wait till he got in contact with those people to get their talents for himself. I guess I have to wait before to actually use the system but till then what to do?.. Ah there were some items available for me to use by the system weren''t there? By a simple mental command Ian directed the system to show him the items it previously mentioned about and a new tabs opened up on the system screen. [Talent Upgrade Card (Myth)¡Á1 Valid till: 20:18:37] [Talent Upgrade Card (Legend)¡Á1 Valid till: 20:18:37] [Talent Upgrade Card (Ex)¡Á1 Valid till: 20:18:37] Talent Upgrade Cards [Talent Upgrade Card (Myth) Allows the user to upgrade a targeted talent to the level of Myth, the highest possible grade of talent. Valid Till: 20:16:58] Looking at the description of the card the system provided, Ian''s mouth hung agape. Seriously?! This is just ridiculous. Being familiar with system types of novels, Ian knows how ridiculous their plots and rewards can get, and a few are just too OP that they break the balance. So, he knows you can expect things like these from the system, but isn''t it too ridiculous? Among the books Ian has read or the news he has ever browsed, very little has been mentioned about talent upgrades, not to mention any items that can upgrade talents. But now, in front of him, are these mystical cards which can grant him talents at the very apex of the world, talents even unknown to humanity. Myth, legend grade? If I''m not wrong, these are levels of talent beyond Ex-grade, and according to the system, Myth grade is the highest level of talent, isn''t it? Damn! This revelation was amusing for Ian, who got a chance to learn something that can be considered one of the biggest mysteries for all mankind, something no humans in the world know about... Or perhaps people know about the existence of this talent but aren''t willing to share it with the public? I don''t think that''s the point to ponder about now. Shaking his head, Ian looked at the system tab in front of him with deep thought. These cards can possibly upgrade my talent to Myth level. Ian''s innate talent is Map, as mentioned before. It is the talent Ian is born with and has inherited from his father, a D-rank talent, and also Ian''s only talent. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Should I upgrade it? Innate talents are something a person is born with and can be passed down through their bloodlines, so it means if Ian ever has any children far in the future, then it''s possible for them to inherit it, unlike acquired abilities, which can''t be inherited like this. Upgrading his Map talent would improve the quality of Ian''s lineage and make his descendants talented, but that''s something of the far future to worry about, isn''t it? First, let''s count the pros and cons of upgrading Map. First, it can increase the quality of his lineage and make him and his future descendants possibly talented. That''s one of the pros. The second one is the map being an amazing talent with only the drawback of its short range of operation and not being related directly to combat, so by upgrading Map talent, Ian can increase his range and use it for greater purposes with better uses. ...and that''s all pros, I guess, and in cons, there is... ...I would lose an upgrade card. Honestly, these upgrade cards are mind-blowing to Ian, and if used on the correct talents, he can get damn powerful. So, should he just waste these cards on a D-rank talent which has no direct combat benefit to him or any cheat-like powers? It would be a waste, in a sense, wouldn''t it? Yeah, I shouldn''t just waste these cards on any random talents and wait for some really nice talents to upgrade them, but... I don''t think I have the luxury for it right now. Since the moment the system began its deletion, the rewards which were kept in the reward space, a one-way storage from where things of the system can only be taken out, were deleted, and the ones that weren''t were granted to Ian. These cards are those rewards which were preprogrammed by their creator or whatever it was to be valid till twenty-four hours after being granted to the host. In short, I have twenty-four hours to choose and decide for the talent I wish to upgrade. And in case Ian is incapable of using these cards within twenty-four hours after getting them, the cards will expire, and he would lose out on the opportunity to get his hands on upgrading his talents. ...Fuck! Ian immediately shot up from his bed, panicking a little, understanding his situation. "..Eh, student, are you alright?" Looking at Ian who suddenly got up from his bed, the school nurse put down her phone and approached him with concern. "Ah, yes, ma''am... uh, it''s just, can I get some water?" Looking at the nurse who approached him, Ian composed himself a bit and just asked for water while trying to calm his mind down. Don''t panic! Don''t panic, there is a whole day before they expire. Taking the glass of water from the hands of the nurse who was looking at him with a weird gaze, Ian gulped down the entire glass of water while calming his mind down. Trrrrinnnng!! As he finished gulping down the entire glass, the school bell rang, indicating the end of today''s school. "It''s time already? Anyways, student... Ian? Yeah, you should probably go back to your classroom and pack your things up... it''s about time for the infirmary to close, and yeah, report to Sir John once before leaving; he was pretty worried about you." Hearing the school bell ringing, the nurse addressed Ian with a small smile on her lips before asking him to leave, which Ian complied with. Getting up from bed, he was about to leave when a sudden commotion caught his attention. A group of security guards, under the guidance of teachers, was carrying three boys around his age, wearing tattered school uniforms in a hurry, demanding first aid from the school nurse. The three boys they were carrying looked to be in very bad condition with tattered clothes, deep cuts on their bodies, and almost disfigured faces covered with bruises and blood. [Metal Skin (D)] [Earth Moulding (B)] [Master Of Scarlet Flames (S)] The screen floated on top of the three boys, instantly giving away their identities to Ian, who was having a hard time recognizing them. "Aren''t they...?" Search for Talent (1) Huff... huff... Running deeper into the desolate forest, a young man with a malnourished body and sickly look, covered in blood and bruises, painted heavily... The boy''s clothes, which looked burnt and charred, covered up the scars of burns and bruises he got from others. "This darned body!" Panting heavily, the boy cursed as he rested to catch his breath... Slumping down on the grass-covered forest under the shade of a humongous tree, the boy looked towards the clear sky where the sun reigned at the top, surrounded by small celestial rings that added an otherworldly charm to the plain sky. "...I can''t believe I really am back." Yeah, Alan was really baffled by the events that conspired today, where he met his end by the hands of the very people he trusted, who betrayed him and joined forces with those damned bastards, betraying humanity. Alan Lockwood, one of the last survivors of humanity, fought against those invaders who attacked Earth and wiped out all of humanity for their own selfish gain. During his last battle against Reavers, a species proficient in supernatural arts and a race of powerful warriors who go around invading new worlds, plundering their resources, and destroying their inhabitants or turning them into their slaves in the name of subordinating them. In his timeline, humans faced a lot of losses and were eventually wiped out from the face of the Earth, and the surviving ones betrayed humanity like Alan''s companions and joined the Reavers. "....In this life, I won''t let the Reavers succeed in their plans... all those traitors who betrayed humanity, all those bastards that made my life a living hell, I would make sure to repay them back a thousandfold." After regressing back to his teenage self, Alan was shocked at first by the events that succeeded it and finally encountered a few of the bastards who made his life a living hell, his high school bullies. Victor Fyr, a rich second-generation who belongs to a multimillionaire family and possesses a powerful S Rank innate talent. During his teenage years, he didn''t know why, but Victor developed a strange enmity with him and made his high school days miserable... later, after graduating, they parted ways, but Victor kept on making his lackeys bully Alan while Victor himself enrolled in the military with his talent and gained a lot of fame. But later, when the existence of Reavers was revealed, he was one of the first humans to turn their back on humanity. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "..Haha, how funny isn''t it?" Villains prosper while the virtuous toil in obscurity, a bitter reality of ours isn''t it? Hahaha... but in this life, I would definitely destroy everything these motherfuckers hold dear to them and kill all these snakes before they can raise their fangs against humanity! As Alan strengthened his resolve, the infamous sperm eyes of protagonists formed in his eyes as they flashed with murderous intent. For now, he had just beaten Victor to the point of unconsciousness and given him a little trauma. After all, he can''t just openly kill anyone without any prior preparation in a public place like school, can he? But yeah, he can beat a person with a terrifying background like Victor like a dog as if he would never wake up and try to fuck with him and his family for real with the resources he has. ...by the way, what was that sound before my regression, and did that person really blast back like it in my previous life too? *** Was it related to Alan too? Sitting in a cab after leaving the school, Ian wondered as he recalled the appearance of the so-called school prince, Victor Fyr. Victor is pretty famous in the school for his wealthy background and handsome face... he is, you can say, the face of the school in a sense because of his charming personality and excellent academic records. Believe it or not, he has a whole fandom full of lovesick girls for him in the school because of his reputation and face... yeah, he is pretty famous, you can guess it, but he also has a nasty personality. Even if people don''t talk about it, or rather they ignore it, everyone knows that Victor loves to bully others... though not Ian since he always stays in the background and is just above average in a sense, which makes him completely invisible in his eyes, but most of the underachievers of Ian''s school and people in the range of those are all targets of his bullying. Well, anyways, even with his nasty personality and all, it doesn''t change the fact that he is the second strongest or probably the strongest person in the whole school because of his S Rank talent, Master Of Crimson Flames, which is even registered as one of the strongest talents in the world by the World Sorcerors Association, making Victor a teenage celebrity. To make that condition of Victor, there isn''t anyone in our school capable of doing that in my opinion... But I highly doubt that it''s Alan who is responsible for this. Victor is fucking strong, there is no doubt in it, and it is also clear that no student in Ian''s school can make that state of Victor, but what about our mysterious protagonist, Mr. Regressor? Ian isn''t clear about Alan''s abilities, so he doubts whether his intuition is right or not, but if we follow the contents of some cliche novel like he is after gaining the system, it''s always the protagonist who regresses and fingers their bully''s ass the first day they regress and make things complicated for them. Even with their incompetent bodies which even protagonists called trash they could beat up their high school bullies with just their own fucking skills disregarding the vast difference in their physical stats. If we follow the novel''s logic, the main culprit of this incident might be Alan, but who knows I can be wrong too and just overthinking things, anyway I have nothing to do with it, so I shouldn''t poke my nose in this incident. Victor and all aren''t a good bunch to associate with, and now in an incident like this which involves them, Ian thinks it''s better to not get involved and just carry on with his normal day to day life. Putting this topic aside, I really wanted to copy his talent! The talent in question is none other than Victor''s talent Master Of Crimson Flames... an elemental talent with high destructive capabilities that too related to fire... it''s almost the most ideal kind of combat-based talent one could ask for. Ian was really tempted to carry out the replication of Victor''s talent but held himself back... I mean many people would think it''s pretty idiotic to not to copy it then and there but first let''s listen to Ian''s reasoning first. "Sir, we have arrived." The cab driver''s voice broke Ian out of the world of his own as they reached their destination, the biggest market of the entire city, the place where he placed his hopes at the current moment. Search For Talent (2) [Nocturnal Eyes (F)] [Skin Hardening (F)] Sigh, I know that talents are rare to occur, even for monsters, but why am I having such a hard time finding that talent, even though it is said to be common in books? Be it humans or beasts who roam in the wild, the majority of them don''t possess talents. Though humans can still learn supernatural skills and sorcery even without talents with their intellect, unlike most monsters who don''t have such capabilities and just have to rely on their insane physical characteristics, which alone make them capable of killing most non-Sorcerers. It''s been two hours since Ian arrived at the market and is tirelessly searching for the talent that is supposed to be ''common'' amongst monsters... but to his misfortune, he is unable to find that talent among any shop related to beasts. In this world, unlike a normal world, humans have evolved alongside beasts, making their relations with low-ranked beasts similar to that of animals. Low-ranked beasts are very well involved with the human economy, as the majority of products, especially related to food, are monster derivatives. Beast eggs, beast meat, and the like are very popular among the people of this world, with the majority of households consuming them on a daily basis. Not only for food, but for creating weapons, clothing, and all, the parts of dead beasts are used for their creation because of their durability and characteristics, which are stronger than most metals, and also because of their magical properties like mana conduction and elemental powers. The market Ian is currently in is the biggest market in the entire Echovale city that deals with all things related to beasts and their remains, but because it''s a safe civilian city quite far from any kind of wilderness or sea, surrounded by just a forest where only weak beasts are found, there is a scarcity of higher-ranked beasts and materials for Ian to discover some good talents. Fuck, there isn''t a single talent related to it in the entire market! Should I have just copied Victor''s talent there? Sigh, anyways, this is the last pet beast shop in the market; let''s check it out. If I don''t find that in here, I would just go and find Victor or her... Victor being seriously injured, Ian doesn''t think he would still be in school, so he has to find the other person whom he knows to possess top-tier talent, comparable or greater than even Victor. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Yeah, not copying Victor''s talent might have been a bad idea, but what thought crossed Ian''s mind at that time made him compelled to momentarily give up on Victor''s talent. Many would scoff at what such idea can be that might be worth more than an S Rank ability with high destructive capabilities. Just take a guess... it''s quite an obvious ability which almost all protagonists possess, the cheat which may not be their main power but it''s the power they all sought with great interest. A power which is what saves the lives of protagonists at every turn and has the second biggest role in any protagonist''s survival because obviously, the first is their heaven-defying plot armor. Ian just thought, if he can just get the highest level of talent at the start, which might be his only possibility, then why not be that talent instead of some S Rank ability, whose user is someone he personally knows and can copy the talent anytime he wants? With the feature of his system to observe talents which seems to also work with Ian''s talent Map he was able to check the talents of people present in the market along with living beasts and the remains of beasts too at a fast paced where he doesn''t need to stop and check for everything. "Welcome to our store, Sir. What would you like to purchase?" Entering a high-end pet beast store which sells tame and harmless beasts as pets, Ian was greeted by a male employee who looked just a bit older than Ian, wearing a store uniform with a kind smile on his face. "Ah, hello... Uhm, well, I ain''t here for purchasing anything." This is a pet store; I can''t even take care of myself properly, how can I take care of pets here, not to mention... Night Cuddlepuff ¡ì9,999 Looking at the beautiful black-colored feline beasts with an extremely cute appearance and fluffy fur, Ian''s eyes widened in shock as he looked at its price. Ten thousand thalums? Is this an illegitimate child of a dragon or what? 10,000 thalums is a highly ridiculous price for a cat. For Ian, who lived frugally for 9 years after his father died, he also doesn''t think he had spent that much amount even on himself. "...You aren''t here to buy anything?" The male employee''s face dropped a little bit, his smile didn''t falter much, and kindly asked Ian what he was here for, unlike some brain-dead novels where the employee just goes on straight insulting the main characters the moment they step foot in their store. It also wasn''t the first time for the man to encounter some customers who enter the shop just to take a look or for kids who want to pet some cute beasts, so he was accustomed to people like this. "..Yeah, actually... I have gotten a school project to write a report on some beast with a particular talent, so after searching the whole market, I couldn''t find one, so I just wondered if this store has one." Ian said the first excuse that came into his mind, taking advantage of the fact that he is still wearing his school uniform. "Um, if you just had to write a report... then did you search it up on the net?" "Oh yes, I did, but I also have to find out about some local beasts too, so I am searching for it like this." Yeah obviously he searched about that talent in net but it only mentioned about famous beasts which are impossible to find in the region he is living in and have vague answers only. "Oh, is that so? Well, we have a lot of beasts here, some with talents too! Tell me the talent you are looking for; we might have some with those talents in line." Hearing the reason of Ian, the employee readily agreed to help him and offered his assistance as Ian finally revealed the talent he was looking for. One of the most sought-after abilities amongst the ones unrelated to combat... "Regeneration." Search For Talent (3) Hisssss~ "Here, this little guy might be the one you are looking for," Declan, the store employee who greeted Ian, said as he brought out a small transparent cage containing a small green-colored snake with three heads, looking at Ian with its big reptilian eyes. Talents are rare in the world, even in beasts, but amongst the common talents that the majority of beasts possess, regeneration-type talents might be one of the talents that can make it onto the list of top charts. It might not necessarily be regeneration strictly, but something along those lines or a minor or boosted variant of it; they are one of the supernatural talents that can be said to be most common in the monster kingdom. "This is a three-headed verdant serpent, one of the non-poisonous species of snake-type beasts that are rather common in the outskirts of Echovale city," Declan explained. "It''s rather popular amongst people who love to keep snake-type beasts as pets because of its beautiful looks and quiet nature." Putting the cage down, Declan began to explain more about snakes, to which Ian paid him no mind, as his eyes were fixated on the system screen. [Serpentile Renewal (E)] "The biggest characteristic of three-headed verdant snakes is their talent, which all of them possess, Serpentile Renewal," Declan continued. "It is categorized as an E-rank talent, which allows these little guys to possess minor regenerative capabilities. It isn''t exactly regeneration, but this is the only beast in our store that possesses a skill similar to regeneration." Scratching the back of his head, Declan laughed awkwardly as Ian looked at the elegant creature behind the transparent walls of the cage with predator-like eyes full of greed, causing even the green snake to back away with fear. "Can I touch it?" Ian asked Declan in a slow voice, his eyes fixated on the snake, looking at it like a delicacy. "Touch it? Oh yes, you can, just be careful," Declan said, tilting his head as he began to open the cage from the top a little. Normally, snake-like beasts are avoided as they are thought to be dangerous because of their poison, but non-poisonous ones like this one aren''t considered much of a threat, as they are well-tamed enough to not harm humans. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it As Declan opened the cage, the little snake that was being stared at weirdly by Ian began to move around the cage and shake his head like a rattle. "Hey, what''s gotten into you today, little guy?" Picking up the snake that readily slithered into his hand, Declan said to it as he could feel the snake''s abnormal behavior as it was shaking. "Ok, I am touching him now..." As Ian declared, he slowly approached Declan while making a grabbing motion and excited eyes, which in the eyes of the snake, appeared like that of a molester. The snake tried to crawl away from the range of Ian, but unfortunately for him, Declan was gripping strongly on his dry reptilian body, making him unable to move. [Serpentile Renewal (E) (Copyable)] [Do you wish to copy the talent?] Yes Still holding the tail of the beast in his hand, Ian confirmed inwardly. [Serpentile Renewal (E) has been successfully copied!] [Do you wish to merge?] As soon as the new popup appeared in front of Ian, reporting to him the success, Ian let go of the tail of the serpent and gave out the brightest smile before bidding farewell to Declan and the beast whose three heads hung loosely, looking like his innocence was stripped off him. "What a weird kid..." Declan muttered to himself as he watched Ian leaving the store in a hurry while putting back the three-headed creature into his cage. *** Just a little over 30 minutes, it took for Ian to reach his house where he couldn''t wait to merge with the new talent. His heart beat with excitement as he reached the rundown apartment that he has rented to live in. Shutting the door, he threw all of his belongings while he laid on his bed, where he ordered to start the process to the system. Hmm? I don''t feel anything... Lying on his bed, Ian felt nothing even after ordering the system for talent fusion. "Was I worried for nothing?" If you are talking about the system every time the protagonist gains a new ability via it, the host receives an unimaginable amount of pain, as mentioned in the writing, so Ian thought he might also feel that pain, but in the end, it seems that all was just bullshit. Yeah, after all, it was all just fiction... even if the existence of the system and regressor might be true, it doesn''t mean that everything in the novels should be true too Ian thought to himself. He tried to summon his system, but to his surprise, the screen that hovered over his head all day didn''t appear before him. What''s going on? System? System?! Ian, in surprise, immediately called again for his system, which surprisingly didn''t respond. Before trying to get up, only to find himself unable to move. What the fuck is going on! Ian freaked out as he noticed the condition of his body. He could feel everything around him; his senses were working properly, but his body... his fucking body wasn''t listening to any of his commands. He wasn''t able to lift himself up... no, not to mention lifting his body parts; he wasn''t able to even move his pupils even a little. The situation made Ian scared shitless... just imagine not being able to command your body but able to feel everything going around you. Thump!... Thump!.. Thump!. Thump! Thump! Ian''s heartbeat quickened, and a crawling sensation soon appeared on his chest... he could feel something crawling on top of him... something small like an insect? It felt like an ant crawling on top of his chest, which was soon followed by multiple similar sensations. As if hundreds of thousands of ants were just thrown over his body, it felt extremely creepy to Ian. His chest, legs, groin, mouth, face, even his eyes felt like they were covered with ants and cockroaches, but thankfully, nothing like that came into his vision. As Ian was confused by the events conspiring, a strange sensation of stinging started to appear on his body, starting from his legs, groin, to his chest and finally to his face... Everypart of his body felt the pain which was even more intense in sensitive areas like his crotch.. just imagine someones balls being stung by a group of insects while they are still awake or inside you asshole how would it feels? The event felt like insects were eating his body out, first his skin followed by his insides. The process lasted for 30 minutes that felt like eternity to Ian, who was fully conscious the entire time, feeling the torture thoroughly, unable to lose his consciousness or even scream out of pain until the very end. *** Serpentile Renewal [Replication Cooldown: 6 days, 23 hours, 19 minutes remaining] Bastard! Looking at the system screen which shows the cooldown time of the system until when Ian couldn''t use the system''s ability to copy talents, he cursed. Not for the cooldown since he had hypothesized it before, because of which he tried to play safe by securing a healing-type talent before, instead of some combat-oriented one. He is cursing the system for the experience he had gone through before during the talent merge... the creepy feeling and the feeling of helplessness that originated with it... "I don''t want to experience it ever again!" Just remembering about the event is enough for Ian to shiver with fear because of how scary and painful it was. But I can''t also just cower with fear, can I? He may be a bit cowardly, but he isn''t an idiot who wouldn''t use this amazing system to get stronger and live the life of luxury he always aspired to live. Still wearing his high school uniform, which was reeking out a bad odor due to his own sweat, Ian slumped down and sat on the ground while holding a kitchen knife. Grabbing the end of the sharp blade, Ian tightly shut his eyes while taking deep breaths. Mustering all the courage he has, he pulled out the knife with great force while still holding the sharp edge, causing a cut on his left palm. "Ugh..." Tightly shutting his lips, he didn''t let out any scream as he let go of the bloody knife he was holding while tightly clenching his left hand. Tears formed in his eyes, threatening to spill out because of the pain he was experiencing, but he didn''t let them slip past his eyes as he looked around the floor, which was covered with blood drops. As he shut his hands tightly, he could feel the familiar feeling of mana surging in his body, converted by his mana heart, flowing slowly towards his hands. The blood that was spilling out began to quickly stop as the clots began to form, stopping any more blood from spilling, filling his wound. "HahahaHaHAHAHA..." A feeble laugh followed by a crazy laugh erupted from Ian''s mouth as he looked at his palm that he just cut himself, slowly healing at a pace visible to the naked eye with an abnormally high rate for a normal human, while the sweat began to form on his forehead and the feeling of fatigue began to set in as he used his mana. [Name: Ian Crown] [Rank: ... ] The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. [Talents: Map(D), SerpentineRenewal (E)] [Cooldown: 6 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes remaining"] [Talent Upgrade Cards (Myth)] [Talent ...] *** "{WARNING ??: INFO DUMP!}" "That was crazy." Looking at his left palm that now had a bandage wrapper around it, Ian muttered to himself as he recalled how he just cut his own hand. Did I go insane from that torture or what? Ian didn''t know why he did that to himself, but he just wanted to check out his new talent immediately, but... He could have just pricked his finger a little to check it out, but why the hell did he cut himself like a madman? The thought of lightly pricking his skin did enter his brain, but he doesn''t know why he just went ahead and cut his hand like that... Did I catch some main character syndrome after getting the system? Trying to do something foolish like that? Ian laughed as he thought, but at the end he just concluded it''s his crazy side acting up... "But this system is really amazing, isn''t it?" In just a few minutes, it was able to implant a new talent in Ian. Isn''t this just insane? Though the system has a cooldown of a whole week, which is really short in Ian''s opinion because of how truly broken this ability of copying talent can get, but since it''s favoring him, why would he complain about low cooldown time? "If I ain''t wrong, there are 52 weeks in a year, aren''t there? Then doesn''t that mean that I can gain 52 talents within a year if I use the system to its fullest?" But the process is really painful! But as the saying goes: no pain, no gain! I shouldn''t bitch about it I guess Ian winced as he recalled the pain but just accepted it as a necessary process before proceeding to check out his status once again where the system mentioned his name, rank, talents, and the items the system provided him with. There are various ranks in the world of sorcerers, but because he hadn''t stepped his foot in the world of sorcerers yet, Ian isn''t ranked amongst them and is still a normal human with no rank at all. The system can show Ian his basic status, which includes his name and rank, along with his talents like any system, but can only show talents of others and not their information. Moving next, Ian checked at his talents where the new addition of Serpentine Renewal was mentioned. A talent which provides the possessor with accelerated healing, a minor regenerative ability in exchange for vast amounts of mana. This talent is quite good by its effect but also demands a lot of mana. As mentioned before, everyone in this world, be them possessing talents or not, is capable of becoming sorcerers; it''s because of this mana. Mana is a kind of energy which fuels all supernatural capabilities in the world and is present everywhere in the world. Everything, be it living or not, possesses mana in them and living beings are ones who are evolved to be able to manipulate mana for their own gain through a special organ they are born with, Mana Heart. All living beings possess mana heart, including monsters and humans. In monsters, these are called mana cores, while for humans, it is called mana heart that is present inside the very heart of humans. It''s an organ that develops in the embryo itself but matures when humans reach puberty... The greater one''s talent and affinity to mana, the faster it develops in humans and matures. The geniuses have their mana hearts matured by the age of 12 or 13, while average humans have their mana heart mature at the age of 16. Ian had his mana heart mature at the age of 15, making him more in a category of above average but still not a genius. The function of mana heart is simple: to convert the energy available for conscious use in human''s body to mana that can fuel talents and other supernatural abilities, making humans capable of becoming sorcerers and performing astonishing feats impossible to comprehend by just normal logic. This is the only function of mana heart and once it matures it makes humans capable of sensing mana and manipulating it as they wish, while having those with dormant talents capable of using them. "The source of mana in human''s body is related to the energy stored in the human body and their stamina..." For this reason, most of the sorcerers are either health conscious, working out to improve their stamina, or fat, who store a lot of energy in the form of fat in their body which breaks down in the body because of various processes and then is converted into mana by the mana heart. For the past 3 years since Ian has awakened, he has been constantly training his body, increasing his stamina to increase the output his body can support by working out or using Map a lot, like a lot of youths who all aspire to be sorcerers. Serpentine Renewal is a very demanding talent for mana unlike Map, but I guess that''s because of the talent being so low ranked. The low-ranking talents have poor mana efficiency and require a lot of mana compared to higher-ranking variants of them that can do the same job with a lot lesser amounts. As Ian pondered, he looked at the final things the system displays to him about, the talent upgrade cards he had gotten from the system... "Since I''ve gone through so much for this idea of mine... let''s just follow it to the end." [Do you wish to use ''Talent Upgrade Card (Myth)''] Yes! Ian said yes without hesitation as he used the talent upgrade card followed by which the card appeared in reality shining with a bright divine light illuminating his dark apartment before it burst into pieces entering Ian''s body, which shone brightly as the divine warmth spread throughout his body. It is so comForTabl~ That was the last thought Ian had in his mind before his consciousness faded away for the much-needed sleep that just royally screwed him over.