The Ability Steal System

The Massacre

"I found him; I need help looking for the book." Felix changed into the assassin's attire and headed to the door, shouting to the closest one.

Felix used his skills to imitate the first assassin's voice; he said, "I came in and met him sleeping, and as I approached him, he stirred awake and rushed me at me, so I slit his throat."

"Good, where’s the body?" The second assassin asked, so Felix led him to the dead assassin's body.

"Good job, wait, isn't this One's tatt-- ?" The man instantly recognized the dead assassin's tattoo, but before he could say anything more, Felix stabbed him in the head.

"Ding”

[You have defeated a F rank Esper and obtained 100 XP.]

As he levelled up, a cool stream of energy flowed through his body, refreshing him and replenishing his mana.

"That was quite a close call. I need to be more careful; add the additional stat point to my agility," Felix said to the system, cleaning the blood from the dagger and adeptly concealing the bodies.

“Two down, four more to go” Felix remarked as he retrieved a decoy book from his bag and stepped outside.

"Why aren’t they back yet? You two should go check it out." The deep voice addressed the last remaining assassins with suspicion.

As they approached the room, an object suddenly shot out, striking the nearby light source and shattering it, plunging that side into darkness.

BANG!

"It's a trap, take cover" The deep voice shouted, rushing in to reveal a man cloaked in gray, but he was too late. Three daggers flew at lightning speed toward them; the two assassins in front were caught off guard and struck in the head by the daggers, which instantly killed them. However, the last assassin managed to dodge it with ease.

"Ding"

[You have defeated a F rank Esper and obtained 100 XP.]

[You have defeated a F rank Esper and obtained 100 XP.]

The assassin in the gray cloak yelled, "Show yourself coward and fight me like a man." He then produced in his hands; two daggers similar to the ones the assassin who attempted to kill Felix at his shop had used.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Felix stated as he emerged from the shadows with his dagger.

"It would seem like we underestimated you; you hid yourself quite well. To be able to kill four F rank assassins by yourself shows that you’ve had training, and I am sure you didn't get that from your books, but ultimately you’re not my match. I will be willing to end your life quickly if you give me the book." With a mocking smile, the assassin wearing a gray cloak spoke to Felix.

With a sneer, Felix addressed the gray cloaked assassin, saying, "Big words coming from a dead man, less talking and more fighting," before sprinting in his direction.

"If you really want to die so much, then be my guest." With a fierce reply, the assassin in a gray coat also surged forward.

They met and exchanged moves at a speed that was beyond the sight of the ordinary human, and because they both knew their opponent should not be taken lightly, their strikes were lethal and well-planned.

Felix knew how to attack, dodge, block, and counter all of his opponent's attacks from his prior experience; thus, even though the gray-hooded assassin had a higher rank, they were evenly matched during their initial exchange. However, Felix was aware that his opponent still possessed more actual power than him.

The assassin in the gray cloak yelled, "You are stronger than I thought; it looks like I have to use my full strength." Based on their exchange, he sensed that Felix wasn't the kind of person he had originally anticipated, as someone who owned a bookstore should not have those skills, and he began to wonder what secrets Felix was hiding. Felix's strength was clearly underestimated, but this wasn't the time for all of this; he had to pull his head from the clouds.

They traded blows once again, but this time the assassin with the gray cloak had the advantage since he was using all of his might, which made his strikes more powerful and swift; therefore, Felix saw that it was now difficult to attack, so he turned to defense. Soon, he was taking more hits, so he also exerted all of his physical strength because he knew that at any moment he would be subdued, meaning he would have to turn the tide of the fight or risk losing.

"If only this body had trained more.....System, assign two stat points to agility." Felix pushed back the pain, and he felt his speed increase significantly, making him much faster. Of course, he wasn't the only one to observe this shift.

‘What? He became faster; does this imply that he was previously holding back?’ The assassin in gray cloak noticed Felix's shift in speed and thought.

As the fight went on, both sides grew weary, but Felix had the upper hand, and the gray-hooded assassin was heavily wounded. With time, Felix's strikes became more rapid, and he was able to equalize once more.

"You made me do this" The assassin, cloaked in gray, spoke to Felix with anger and frustration.

"Ding"

[The system detected an E rank ability, "Wind Blade."]

[It costs 800 system points; would you like to steal it]

Felix heard it and immediately leapt to the side, hurling the dagger at the assassin in the gray cloak, and replying to the system "Yes". A split second after Felix's quick reaction, the assassin threw five wind blades at him. Despite reacting quickly to the system's alert, a wind blade grazed Felix, nearly severing his hand and instantly paralyzing it. Fortunately, his dagger also struck its target.

"How did you know?" The assassin in the gray coat inquired in astonishment and agony as he withdrew the dagger from his chest, causing blood to flow. Realizing that his energy had been depleted while utilizing the skill and that he still hadn't even killed his target, he was beginning to question whether Felix was a monster and how he had known he was going to use his trump card to attack.

Rather than bothering to even respond, Felix tore off a section of his cloak and wrapped it around his wound to halt the bleeding temporarily. He then approached the grey cloaked assassin who quivered in dread, realizing that this "ordinary" bookshop owner had eliminated them all by himself.

"Who ordered you to eliminate me? Why are you people so interested in me?” Felix picked up his dagger from the ground and asked the assassin in the gray cloak.

"And what do you think? I would happily tell you the truth. Reinforcements are on their way, so even if you kill me, you'll still die, but you may be able to escape if you let me live." With a pained tone, the assassin in gray cloak attempted to threaten Felix but, weakened by his condition, collapsed to the ground. He could feel his energy dwindling and his vision becoming fuzzy.

Felix grinned and added, "Big words for a dead man," before wiping the blood off the dagger. The gray-cloaked assassin heard this and recalled the first time he had heard those words from Felix. At the time, he had assumed Felix was bluffing, but now he realized how dangerous he was.

Felix crouched down next to him and said, "You will tell me, because if you don't, I will torture you to death." Then he unleashed his full killing intent on him.

"The boss sent us under the orders of a very special client" The assassin in gray cloak responded after sensing Felix's killing intent. This was the intent of a man who had killed thousands of people; he

had sensed it from a very small number of people, and none of them were regular people. It was only at this point that he noticed Felix was even more dangerous than he initially thought; Felix had been taken by surprise but had still managed to defeat them all.

"Who is this special client? And what is this book's history?" Felix questioned the assassin in the gray cloak.

"The client was anonymous, and the book was auctioned at the Golden Dragon auction house; it was said to have been obtained at the ancient ruins continent; all major powers of the city gathered there to try and get the book; however, a complete stranger secured it for 100 S rank beast cores, shocking everyone. After the auction ended, several forces tried to intimidate him into surrendering it, but he...he.." The assassin in the gray robes spoke for a moment before pausing to spit up mouthfuls of blood. His face had gone pale, and he sensed his time was running out.

"You better stop stalling, or the reinforcements will meet your dead body." Felix said raising the dagger to the assassin’s throat, but he already guessed his response.

"He killed them all with a single skill, so he was immediately deduced to be one of the most powerful Espers in the continent," He replied with fear from both Felix and the stranger.

"What skill did he use?" Felix inquired with curiosity.

"They couldn't identify it, but it contained the element of lightning. The client sent a tail after the man, and when he appeared at your shop with the book, the client came to us to help him gain the book, and since you were so weak, one of the best F rank Espers was sent after you to retrieve the book. When it was found out that you somehow killed him, a bounty was put on your head, and your good friend helped us find you." The assassin in the gray coat grinned before spitting out more bloody mouthfuls.

Before deciding what to do next, Felix thanked the assassin in the gray coat for the information.

"So will you spare.." As the assassin in the gray cloak began to speak, a wind blade slashed down, severing his head from his neck. The assassin died looking shocked, unable to comprehend how his own skill could have killed him.

"Ding"

[You have defeated a F+ rank Esper and obtained 200 XP.]

[You have reached level 3; all of your stats have grown by one. You now have 400 system points.]

Felix discovered a second card and a ring within the assassin's body. This wasn't just any ring though; it was a storage ring, a luxury that didn't come cheap—a modest storage ring cost 1000 E Rank cores.

"A storage ring, really convenient," Felix grinned and said, placing everything he owned inside the already-filled ring. Though he didn't have time to look through it, runemasters used the cores of highly leveled beasts to create storage rings, and the runes for them could only be found on the continent of ancient ruins.

"Felix, don't kill me; I can explain." Dave, who had heard and seen all that had transpired, began pleading with Felix as soon as he emerged from the hallway covered in blood. Without even looking at him, a dagger flew, striking Dave in the heart, instantly killing him.

Felix sternly declared to Dave's lifeless body, "Those who ever think of betraying me shall die," as he removed the dagger, collected the bounty, and put it in his storage ring. He would never spare those who betrayed him, and since he was not friends with Dave, killing him didn't even remotely trouble him—he had more important things to consider.

"They're coming; I have to leave," Felix said as he exited the store after putting several expensive-looking items in his storage ring.

A few minutes after his departure, the bloody scene was met by four people wearing gray cloaks and one person wearing a purple cloak

who entered the shop.

"What happened here? All of them are dead," One of the gray-cloaked figures remarked, glancing at the strewn bodies across the store.

The purple cloaked figure stated, "They were killed by stab wounds to their vital parts, but this one's death is strange; his head was cut off cleanly by either a weapon or skill. This was done by an expert; the target has gained by the help of someone powerful; retreat for now." After examining the bodies, they all vanished as if they had never been there, leaving the bloody scene as it was.