New Ability

Chapter 2: New Ability

* * *

“Ellia! ELLIA!!”

My voice tore through the smoke, swallowed almost instantly by the roar of fire.

The hallway was barely visible. Thick black smoke clawed at my lungs as burning embers drifted through the air like falling snow. I coughed, stumbling forward, my hand scraping against blistering walls as I forced myself to move.

“Ellia…!”

My throat burned.

How the fuck did this happen?

I had only stepped out for a moment. Just a quick run to the convenience store for snacks.

But when I came back….

Fire.

Everything was on fire.

The heat licked at my skin, and I smelled it.

Burning meat.

It was own.

But none of that mattered.

Nothing mattered except her.

“Ellia!!”

I pushed open a door.

Flames surged outward and world collapsed into white heat.

I snapped awake.

“…Fuck.”

My chest heaved as I sat up, sweat clinging to my body. The dream faded slowly, leaving behind that familiar hollow pressure in my chest.

The same nightmare.

I hadn’t had that one in a long time.

Maybe it was because I was back in the past.

I stood and walked toward the window.

A high-rise view stretched before me. The city glowed beneath the night sky with neon lights and flowing traffic.

Beautiful.

It had been a year since I returned to the past.

A full year of preparation.

Stocks. Investments. Bets. Opportunities only someone who knew the future (me) could exploit. It had been almost boring how easy it was.

Now, I had more money than I could realistically spend in a lifetime.

I stared at my reflection in the glass.

‘What do I do now…’

For an entire year, I’d done nothing but stare at numbers. I’d been so focused on building capital that I hadn’t stopped to think about what came after.

Money alone wouldn’t change anything.

I looked down at my hand.

Devour.

My ability that made me feared by all heroes.

But the ability that ultimately got me killed.

I could steal other people’s powers. On paper, it sounded absurdly overpowered. In reality, it was also my greatest flaw.

Celestiv’s words surfaced in my mind again.

She was right.

Spreading myself across countless abilities had made me versatile, but never decisive. Against someone who had refined a single power to perfection, I’d always fall short.

At least… that’s how it ended last time.

I organized what I knew.

By touching someone, I could copy their ability. But only once. After a single use, it vanishes completely.

To make an ability permanent, there was only one method.

Kill the owner.

Temporary abilities didn’t decay with time. I could store them indefinitely and activate them whenever I wanted, even years later.

That part was dangerous.

It encouraged hoarding and I would forget those abilities even existed.

Another problem was compatibility. Using two abilities at the same time was extremely difficult. Possible, but only under specific conditions.

Water creation and water manipulation? I could use those simultaneously pretty easily.

They complemented each other.

But fire and super speed? It was impossible. The energy flow clashed. My body couldn’t synchronize them.

At least… it couldn’t in my previous life.

I exhaled slowly.

Right now, my slate was clean.

I had no stolen abilities.

Just Devour.

“…Then I’ll start properly this time.”

One ability would be my foundation.

I lifted my gaze, eyes sharpening.

And I already knew exactly where to begin.

* * *

“Make sure to load them properly,” a rough voice barked. “It’ll be a pain in the ass if those hero fuckers catch the smell.”

The dockyard was drowned in fog and salt air.

Under the dim yellow lights, around twenty men in dark clothes and masks hauled heavy crates into a massive shipping container.

BX-486.

The label alone was worth more than their lives.

SteelMetal stood a short distance away, arms crossed as he watched the operation with clear satisfaction.

“If I move all of this,” he muttered, lips curling into a grin, “I’m gonna be fucking rich.”

BX-486 was very very rare and desired.

A drug capable of temporarily amplifying a person’s ability far beyond its natural limit. Strength, speed, control… Everything spikes violently for a short time.

And with it came something far more addictive.

Euphoria.

Catharsis.

A sensation so overwhelming it made users feel untouchable. Like gods.

SteelMetal stepped forward, pried open one of the crates, and reached inside. He pulled out a small glass ampoule filled with faintly glowing liquid.

He rolled it between his fingers, chuckling.

“You little bastard,” he whispered. “You’re gonna make me richer than any hero ever dreamed of.”

Tap.

The sound was soft.

Barely noticeable.

Still, SteelMetal froze.

Tap.

Someone had just touched his shoulder.

“…The fuck?”

He turned around.

Standing behind him was a small figure, far shorter than any of his men. A simple mask hid their face, smooth and expressionless, eyes dark and unreadable.

He haven’t even heard a single footstep.

The figure tilted their head slightly.

“Hello.”

The word echoed strangely in the cold night air.

“Ability vessel.”

SteelMetal’s grin vanished.

A bead of sweat slid down SteelMetal’s back.

He didn’t know why.

The figure in front of him was small. Just a kid in a cheap-looking mask. And yet, there was pressure. Heavy, suffocating pressure that made his instincts scream.

Tch.

He shoved the feeling aside.

‘Get a grip. I’ve killed scarier things than this.’

“How’d you get here, little kid?” SteelMetal asked casually. “You lost or something?”

The kid shrugged.

“I guess?”

SteelMetal chuckled.

“Well, that’s unfortunate. You saw something you weren’t supposed to.” He sighed. “We’re in the middle of important business right now. You get that, right?”

No response.

SteelMetal glanced over his shoulder.

Two of his men paused mid-work, then nodded. They abandoned the crates and started walking toward the kid, hands already reaching for weapons.

SteelMetal turned away.

He pulled a cigarette from his mouth, flicked a lighter, and took a drag.

“…Jesus,” he muttered. “It never feels good killing kids.”

He exhaled.

Boom.

The sound ripped through the dock.

SteelMetal frowned and began to turn around.

“Jeez, go easy on him… he’s just a ki…”

Splat. Splat. Splat.

Something warm and wet hit his coat.

Red.

Thick.

Sticky.

“…What the hell?”

More fell from above, dotting the ground like rain.

Too heavy for rain.

Too red.

Thud.

Two bodies hit the concrete.

Headless.

Blood poured from their severed necks in uneven streams, pooling beneath them.

SteelMetal stared.

His cigarette slipped from his fingers.

“…What?”

Behind the corpses stood the kid in black.

“Nice ability,” the kid said calmly. “Good choice for a first one.”

SteelMetal couldn’t see his expression beneath the mask.

But somehow…

He knew.

The kid was smiling.

* * *

SteelMetal.

(Currently) B-Ranked villain.

Ability: Metal Manipulation.

On paper, it was painfully ordinary.

Until you realize….

I snapped my fingers.

Boom.

One of SteelMetal’s men exploded mid-step, his body tearing itself apart from the inside. Blood and flesh sprayed outward in a grotesque burst.

SteelMetal stiffened.

Blood wasn’t just liquid.

It contained iron.

And iron, no matter how small the amount, was still metal.

Control it.

Expand it.

Force it outward.

I snapped my fingers again.

Boom.

Another body detonated, limbs scattering across the dock.

I smiled beneath the mask.

I could do this.

In the future, SteelMetal would figure out that we could control blood. He would then refine his control, exploit this weakness, and eventually climb to a S-Rank villain.

But that future wasn’t happening.

Because I was here to kill him.

And take his power.

“FUCK!!” SteelMetal roared. “KILL HIM!!”

His remaining men charged forward, abilities flaring to life.

I snapped.

Half of them burst apart instantly, their bodies collapsing into red heaps before they could even scream.

For a normal ability user, this level of control would’ve been impossible.

But I wasn’t normal.

I’d stolen thousands of abilities in my past life, some so delicate that a single mistake meant death. Precision had been beaten into me through sheer repetition.

“Hahaha…!” I laughed softly. “This is incredible. I always wanted this one.”

I tilted my head.

“Shame Nightwalker killed you before I could steal it in my past life!”

Another snap.

The rest of his men collapsed.

Blood rained from above, soaking my clothes, coating the ground in filth. The dockyard smelled like iron and death.

SteelMetal staggered back, eyes wide.

“W-what… what did you do…?”

No time.

I could feel it.

The temporary power was fading.

“N-no… no, this can’t be happening!” he babbled. “Not now! Not when I was about to get rich!”

He reached into his pocket.

An ampoule.

BX-486.

He shoved it into his mouth and bit down.

Glass crunched. Blood spilled from his lips as he swallowed everything without hesitation.

“URRRGHHHH!!”

The air screamed.

Dozens of shipping containers ripped free from the ground, floating upward like toys. They twisted, compressed, and shattered and reformed into massive metal spears.

“DIEEEEE!!”

They rained down, but I had already moved.

I stepped between shadows, sliding past spears by centimeters. One grazed my shoulder, another shattered against the ground where my head had been a moment earlier.

I twisted mid-step, raised my hand, and redirected a spear into another. Metal screamed as they collided, exploding into fragments.

Compared to Celestiv…

I snapped again, using the same temporary control to shove the remaining spears off course.

…this is nothing.

But my breath was heavier now.

My body trembled slightly.

A year of exercise wasn’t enough.

The power was slipping.

I need to end this. Now.

I lunged.

SteelMetal barely had time to react before my hand closed around his chest.

“Goodbye.”