Roy was sitting in a chair next to a round table like a sick person.
He was surrounded by several people.
Delilah was still sitting by the window, leaning against the wall and gazing at the moon.
The horrifying thoughts that plagued her when she saw Roy in a coma vanished as soon as he woke up and was diagnosed to be in good shape.
He just needed to take the medicine that was ordered by Arlo and was soon to arrive, and he would be fine.
Suddenly, a thought struck her.
'I wouldn't be fretting over him like this if I was not serious about him. I can't believe I have seriously taken someone as my Lord. I find joy in being his maid and hidden blade. Unbelievable!'
Amelia, on the other hand, was packing up for almost everyone in the room.
"I will be done soon." She thought as she swept away the sweat on her face with a wave of her hand.
If someone were to see a fake mage like her doing such a menial task, they would feel stupefied and then curse her master for wasting the precious time that she should be spending on honing her magic skills.
"What did you want to tell me?" Roy asked Arlo.
"While seeing you fight Noah, I realized that you are different than other soul herders. My suspicions were confirmed after hearing you say that you couldn't tell it was consuming you. You're more unique than a soul herder in not just one but three ways." Arlo diagnosed Roy.
"Oh, in what ways?" Roy's brow was raised in curiosity.
"Well, let's see. I will start with the least interesting aspect of you. Seeing how you weren't aware of how starved and exhausted you were until you almost dropped dead, I believe you have permanently lost your ability to perceive hunger and exhaustion, or you lose it for some time when your ability is in effect. Think about it, how can you not feel like you're starving when your body is in urgent need of food and your brain is stopping your organs from functioning to reserve energy for the operation of your vital organs in order to keep you alive?"
Hearing his words, Roy came to a sudden realization, and his eyes lit up in a thoughtful light.
"No wonder I haven't felt the need to eat in the past few days, so this was the cause!"
"That's just one of the many aspects unique only to you."
Since it concerned his life and death, Roy listened carefully to Arlo.
"What are the others?"
"A soul herder can't activate his ability if he doesn't have the energy to activate it. However, you subconsciously use your lifespan to activate it when you run out of energy. That means that you can keep on using it till your last breath. That's where you truly differentiate from Soul Herders."
Arlo paused for a moment to summarize what he was about to say.
"You're ridiculously more terrifying than them, as there's a limit to how long they can use their ability. But you… don't have such a limit. I advise you not to depend on it, though. Use it reluctantly like it's your last trump card, or you'll run out of your lifespan in your twenties or thirties, or your body will shut down automatically like what happened after your fight with Noah." After explaining all that to Roy, his expression turned grave, and a low voice sounded out from his mouth, "And next time, there might not be an Arlo to yank you out of Death's embrace."
Roy looked at him gratefully and thoughtfully. "These minutes of your life haven't gone to waste. I will keep your words in mind. I will try to decrease my dependency on this ability. It won't be activated unless absolutely necessary."
Roy thought that his ability only had one side effect.
Inspecting it didn't even show that.
Either he was the first one to have it, or there was no information about it in the mana database
Or
Everything about it was wiped out.
There was a third possibility.
Maybe information about it couldn't be accessed with a level 2 Perception skill.
Roy didn't know which one it was, but he was certain about not recklessly using the skill.
He had fearlessly used it in multiple battles and nearly died. That was enough to tell him that he should turn his fighting tactics back to what they were—using magic spells and aura techniques to overcome adversaries.
He had become aware of the danger it posed him, and hence, he was reluctant to use it if he didn't have energy.
The system's notification rang in his mind just an instant later.
『Ding! New information about the Night's Mist Ability has been discovered in the Mana Database』
『A copy of it will be made.』
『The copy will be transferred to you in 3 seconds.』
Three seconds later, a wave of information drilled into Roy's mind.
『Ding! Congratulation. You've gained new knowledge of your soul herding ability, Night's Mist!』
『Ding! Congratulation. A new stat has been unlocked.』
『Energy Bar has been added to your character List.』
『Energy Bar: 8 units』
『It costs ten units of energy to change your human form into the mist form and vice versa.』
『For every second you remain in your mist form, energy will be decreased by a unit.』
『It costs 50 units of energy to regenerate your mist form if it's blown to bits.』
『Injuries incurred when you're semi-transparent will injure you. Those injuries can be healed.』
『When you transform into your mist form, your apprehension towards killing other people and your fear of death disappear, and you experience a mood swing. You're sharpened into a blade that is meant to cut and kill.』
『Your mentality and body change into one that is best for combat—the effect lasts for a certain while after a fight. You're advised not to approach your loved ones during that time, as you might lash out at them or hurt them without truly meaning it.』
"Its side effects aren't like what I thought. They are worse. But they are helpful to me in battle." Roy became wary of it. But he couldn't deny that it was a power that would tempt a person like him into using it again and again.
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