Roger stood in front of the snout of the spike-tailed tiger.
Two dead eyes gazed up at him, the beast's last few minutes of pain forever etched into them.
Part of Roger felt revolted at the sight, and he was suddenly glad he had not eaten in over a day.
Unsure of what to do, he called upon the System. A screen appeared in front of him, listing his ability and its description.
[Echo of Abilities]
[Ability Description: Mana is an energy that weaves through all living things. When something dies, it leaves a trace of mana in its soul. You now can harness this mana, temporarily obtaining one of the abilities the being had in life. You may only obtain abilities that are less than or equal to your rank.]
[Ability Duration: 24 Hours]
[Ability Amount: 1]
It didn't offer any instructions on how to use it, only that it worked on the dead, and it would grant him one ability it had if he met the rank requirements.
Kneeling down, he trusted a gut instinct and placed his hand on the creature's furry neck. He then thought about using the ability.
Instantly he felt a strange energy move from his chest to his hand. It felt slightly cold, but powerful and energetic at the same time. It was an inconclusive feeling that left Roger wanting to experience it more.
Once the energy reached his palm, it leaped from his body onto the tigers, seeping into the dead skin.
Within seconds, he felt the energy leap back into him, but this time it felt whole and finished. Gone was the inconclusive nature, and in its place was a tangibly cold and flowing feeling. It felt like a new liquid was sloshing through his veins and giving him a new power.
He felt like he could flow through the forest and still strike powerfully.
The feeling eventually dimmed, but never fully left, and he knew he could call upon it when he needed it.
He did exactly that.
Holding his hand out, he activated the ability and saw his palm and fingers turn a light blue color. Nothing else seemed to change, but that flowing energy felt far denser around it.
Remembering what the tiger had done, Roger stood up and looked around the area to make sure no predators were nearby.
Feeling confident his treasure would not be stolen, he crept through the forest towards the sound of the river, double-checking every path he was taking.
He would not allow himself to be caught off guard again.
He eventually made it to the river unimpeded and stepped to its edge. The flowing current raged downstream, turning around the familiar bend.
Some stones were marked with blood, and a single streak led further into the forest.
It seemed like something had managed to sneak off with the damned eel that got Roger into this situation in the first place.
Focusing on his main task, Roger activated the ability again, and this time focused it on his feet.
Without shoes, they had been exposed and began to glow a light blue color.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and stepped onto the water with one foot first, lightly pressing down until he could feel the cold water.
A few seconds went by, and he still couldn't feel the water, so he pushed down even harder. His foot instantly passed through some kind of barrier, and Roger toppled into the vicious rapids.
He went under the waves, his limbs flailing in his panic.
Roger felt his body move with the current, floating towards the same bend he was just looking at.
He had never swam before, so the feeling of water was foreign and unenjoyable. He splashed around in terror before eventually pushing himself up and breaching the surface.
He took in multiple gulps of air in that brief respite before he was pulled back under. This time, however, he was far more prepared.
He calmed his nerves and started pushing himself to the edge of the river, hoping to grab onto some kind of rock or branch.
He held his breath fiercely, unwilling to let any oxygen go in this watery grave. After a couple of powerful kicks, he found a flat stone extending out of the side of River's edge and grabbed onto it.
The strong flow and slick surface threatened to throw him off and back into the stream, but Roger refused to yield. His new muscles were pushed to their limits as he slowly pulled himself out of the river, falling flat onto the stone outcropping.
He heaved in lungfuls of air for what felt like the hundredth time since he left prison.
'I feel like this is beginning to be a very bad habit.'
He lay there for a while, enjoying the heat of the sun after the frigid cold of the current.
'I can't waste time, there's too much to do!'
He slowly stood up, looking back at the river. Turning to see where he came from, he saw the familiar bend right behind him and noticed he had not gone very far.
It would take maybe five minutes to walk back up the river if this was the bend he thought it was.
Looking at his feet, he realized they were no longer glowing, and realized that he had deactivated the ability at some point.
He would have to try it again, but this time he would look at what he was doing.
'I can be really stupid sometimes, but then again isn't every fifteen-year-old?'
Reactivating the ability, his feet began to glow blue once more.
Keeping his eyes wide open this time, he took another deep breath and stepped out onto the surface of the water. To his surprise, he felt nothing, even when his foot made contact.
It was like he was standing on air, or even less than that. Like the lack of air.
If he had to formulate a theory, it would be that the blue glow was what was touching the water, and he couldn't actually sense what the glow felt like himself.
Pushing down a little more, the barrier held, but he felt that if he tried any more it would break through. Just like it had the first time.
Trusting his instincts, he carefully pulled his other foot off of shore and stood on the raging waves with both feet planted.
To his astonishment, he didn't fall through the water's surface or flow down the river. He stood perfectly still, his arms held out to help balance himself, but he didn't need them to.
It was strange, his feet didn't move up and down, but the water did, meaning at some points he stood higher than the actual water was.
Roger wasn't quite sure how it worked, just that it did.
'I really need to stop trying to make sense of this world, nothing here makes sense! I swear it makes me miss the simplistic nature of prison…'
Even as he thought the words, he shuddered.
'On second thought, I'll take the confusion and complexity over the prison any day…'
Growing more trusting of the copied ability, he tentatively took a step forward, and the water once again held.
One foot followed the other as he began from one shore to the other, a wide smile on his face when he finally made it to the other side and stepped onto dry land.
'I did it, I used magic! Not just any magic either, but the magic of a creature I killed!'
A wide smile split his face, and he couldn't help but laugh aloud, momentarily forgetting the extreme danger of the forest around him.
It was an exhilarating feeling to know he had just done something impossible.
It made him feel special in a way he hadn't felt for years, a uniqueness and identity that was robbed for him in the prisons.
His smile slowly dimmed and his energy left him as his chin fell to his chest.
'What I wouldn't do to let the other inmates experience this with me…'
He hadn't had time to think about everyone else at the prison much, but now that things were a little more peaceful, the memories of them came back.
He wasn't really close to any of them, but they didn't deserve to be in prison for what they did. Most of them were just regular people who had been assigned to "labor duty" for unpaid taxes.
Almost all of these were surprise taxes that came out of nowhere and targeted those least likely to pay them, the years of labor worth from not paying them were worth far more to the government than the pitiful amount.
His sadness gave way to anger as he thought about it, and he remembered his oaths, especially the one to make the government regret what they had done.
In his blind rage, he somehow found himself looking back towards the other side of the river and noticed the sunlight gleaming off something.
Momentarily interested, he focused on it and realized it was the stone outcropping.
The sight made his eyes widen as he realized the entire outcropping was faintly gleaming.
That's when it struck him; the outcropping wasn't stone, it was metal.
Forged metal.