The next morning, Alister was already up before sunrise, his excitement not allowing him to get enough sleep. He had quickly realized a few things:
1. He could actually steal abilities, not just items.
2. The ability duration was a lot shorter than when he stole physical items.
3. He concluded that the duration of the skill depended on its rank, or more specifically, the rank of the wielder he stole it from.
Kai was a B-ranked champion currently and Reid could only use his ability for approximately 15 seconds.
Which meant that A and S ranked abilities would have shorter duration.
4. And finally, the abilities he stole didn't come with divine energy, an energy granted when a champion broke the shard of power.
This energy powers allows the champions to activate their skills, which meant that even if his [theft] skill had longer duration, the amount of times he could use the stolen skills depended on his divine energy reserve.
Unfortunately, he couldn't steal divine energy— yet, but lucky for him, even as an F-rank, he had more than enough divine energy.
After all that test the previous day, he had one more test to do before he could claim to know everything the skill had to offer at this rank.
Turning toward his small table, he grabbed a steel dagger and spun it in his palm. Then, activating [Theft], he willed the ability to target something else—
His agility.
[Theft Successful: You have stolen Agility.]
Immediately, his body felt sluggish. His movements dulled. He tried to spin the dagger again, but his reflexes lagged behind, making the motion awkward and clumsy.
"So, I can steal my own stats too."
If he could take away his own agility, could he also give it back?
With a deep breath, he focused on the stolen agility and attempted to return it—
Nothing happened.
He frowned. So it didn't work like that. The skill didn't store stats—it only stole them temporarily. Meaning he couldn't redistribute them at will.
He set the dagger down and stretched his arms, feeling the weight of his dulled reflexes.
It was like moving through molasses, and he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Note to self: don't steal your own stats unless you want to trip over your own feet. Got it."
But beneath the sarcasm, his mind was already working through the possibilities. If he could steal his own stats, then logically, he could do the same to others.
And if he could do that… well, the tactical advantages were endless. He imagined himself in a fight, casually sapping an opponent's strength or speed mid-battle. The thought alone was enough to make him grin.
"Alright, Alister," he said to himself, tapping his temple. "Let's break this down like the genius you are."
He stood up, pacing the small room as he continued to think aloud. "First, I need to test the limits. Can I steal multiple stats at once? Or is it one at a time? And what about the duration?"
"If I steal agility from an S-rank, will it last even less than 15 seconds? Or will it last longer before he gains the ability back?" He continued.
And the final question was, what if he used the ability to steal shards of power and used it?
Would he lose the ability when the time limit was up?
He couldn't test that out right now, since the the champions, paladins and knights were on alert right now, he had to lay low.
"Well, there is one other way I could try it out" Alister muttered "The black market".
The black market was a place one could find anything. From legal to illegal items, from runes to artifacts and the most biggest and rarest item, shards of power can sometimes be found there, especially at auctions.
Alister had been to the Black Market a few times before—usually to offload stolen goods or gather information. But this time, he wasn't looking to sell. He was looking to test his theory.
If he could use [theft] a shard of power, even for a moment, he had to know what would happen. Would he actually gain the ability?
There was only one way to find out.
And as fate or luck would have it, Ace just so happened to be invited to an auction in the black market today and Alister was also going to be there.
______
Night arrived as quickly as the morning did and Alister had quickly switched to his Ace persona, his black mask covering his face and he was covered with a cloak.
He wasn't stupid enough to let people see Ace leaving Alister's home and even if they didn't outright suspect him, his connection with Ace would be questioned.
He activated a rune in his cloak, courtesy of the 'generous' Hephaestus blacksmiths, which turned him invisible and he passed through a secret door in his house.
The secret door led to an underground tunnel which was barely lit by rune powered laterns.
The path was narrow, damp, and smelled faintly of metal and earth, but it was safe. More importantly, it ensured that no one could trace Ace's movements back to Alister.
Emerging from the hidden exit, he surfacing in an alley,adjusting his cloak and checked his surroundings.
The alley was empty—just as expected. With silent steps, he moved through the dimly lit streets, heading toward the entrance of the Black Market.
His invisible rune on the cloak and mask still remained active and the knights he passed by didn't even notice his presence.
The results would have been different if a strong champion had been on patrol since their senses were boosted with every level.
But knights on the other hand were only trained in the way of the sword with no other abilities to aid them. They were the lowest in the hierarchy with champions being at the very top.
Alister arrived at the same market again, but this time, instead of walking towards one of the stalls, he walked towards a bookstore.