My Mastery of the Vampire System

Same Ability

The test continued with Layla stepping up next. She was the only one among them carrying a weapon on her back—a bow, though it was no ordinary bow from long ago. This one was crafted from parts of a beast, with a sleek, black design that looked almost like it was made entirely of gems. Even the string was made from a special material, giving the weapon an otherworldly appearance.

This was no regular weapon; it was a beast weapon, created from the body parts of a powerful creature. When humanity was attacked by the Dalki, technology advanced rapidly by mimicking their innovations. Eventually, humans developed the ability to travel to other planets via portals. On these planets, they encountered beasts of varying strengths, and the more formidable the beast, the more powerful the weapon made from it.

It was the first time David had ever seen a beast weapon in person. At his previous school, no one had one. It was unusual to see someone as young as Layla, who likely had never been off-world, wield such a weapon.

Layla stood in the center of the field, waiting for the test to begin. Unlike when David was tested, they waited until she was ready before starting. David noticed the difference in treatment almost immediately.

Once the test started, five targets appeared across the wasteland. Layla swiftly nocked five arrows onto her bowstring and released them all at once in a single shot. The arrows shot forward with incredible speed and power but, in an astonishing display, they split mid-air and veered off in different directions, each finding its own target.

"What a good combo," Vorden said. "She has the ability of telekinesis, but it’s quite weak on its own. So instead, she combines it with her bow to control the arrows."

In an instant, all five of the targets were hit simultaneously, and she completed the first test. David, for the first time, saw how useful beast weapons could be. Even if you had a weak ability, combining it with a powerful weapon could make it exceptionally effective.

David wasn’t completely sure what his ability was yet, but even if it just increased his stats as he leveled up, he thought about how handy something like a beast sword or a similar weapon could be.

On the strength test, Layla didn’t perform as well. She used her powers to try to move her fist even faster when punching the drum, but in the end, her score was only an 8.

David also saw Layla struggle in the last test. When the test began, Layla tried to use her ability on the spikes coming at her, but since they were holograms and not real, it had no effect. This left Layla with only her physical agility to rely on to avoid the spikes. In the end, she received the same score as David.

"It looks like you have the ability level of a level 2 user," Jane said, and the number 2 appeared on Layla’s wrist.

David could tell Layla wasn’t pleased. She sulked as she walked back to the group. David thought the test wasn’t entirely fair. Her ability level might be a level 2, but with her bow, he felt she could easily have competed with some level 3 or 4 users.

David started to realize that the academy seemed to measure only the raw power of an ability and not the overall fighting capability.

The next person to take the test was Erin. She walked forward confidently, without even glancing at the others. She stood in the center of the testing field, waiting for the test to begin.

Then, five random targets appeared across the wasteland. Erin immediately formed an ice spear and threw it at the targets with pinpoint accuracy. She repeated this at an incredible speed, nearly clearing them all as quickly as Layla had.

In the next test, Erin was even more impressive. She began gathering ice in both her palms, and after a minute or so of concentrating, she shot a massive ice column from her hands, hitting the center of the drum with precision. The drum rang out louder than it had before, and the number kept rising until it eventually reached 50.

"No wonder she’s so confident," Vorden said.

David suddenly thought it was a good thing the two of them didn’t fight; otherwise, Vorden would have been a dead man.

Finally, when the last test arrived, the instructor told Erin she wasn’t allowed to use her ability and should just focus on dodging. Erin showed no reaction and began the test immediately. She moved swiftly, evading each spike with ease, but eventually, the machine’s speed increased too much, and she ended up getting hit.

"Impressive!" Jane said. "Best result so far, power level 5."

Erin returned to her group as if she had expected this outcome all along, or perhaps she simply didn’t care about the results.

The final person to take the test in the group was Vorden.

"Time to show you what I’ve got. Wish me luck."

David had no idea who Vorden was addressing, but he quickly realized it was him after Vorden gave a wink in his direction as he headed to the center of the field.

"Could that i***t actually be strong?" David thought.

Usually, people who are strong are either arrogant about their powers or keep it subdued, but Vorden was an odd case. He wasn’t exactly arrogant but was more flashy.

When it was finally his turn and the test began, everyone’s jaws dropped at what they saw. For each test, Vorden performed exactly the same feats as Erin.

He used the same ability, ice, and performed just as well.

After watching Vorden perform so well on the test, David couldn’t help but ponder Vorden’s ability. When Vorden had tried to shake his hand earlier, the system had indicated that Vorden had attempted to use his ability on David, but nothing happened. If Vorden’s ability was indeed ice, David thought his hand should have frozen, unless David had an ability that blocked all powers, which seemed unlikely.

Moreover, Vorden had seemed surprised and even asked David about his ability, as if he knew his own ability hadn’t worked. David also remembered that Vorden had been insistent on shaking everyone’s hand, even though Erin had refused and Vorden had still touched her shoulder. At the time, it had seemed odd, but now it started to make sense.

The common factor was the touch. Erin and David, who both had the same power, were the only ones Vorden had tried to touch. This led David to conclude that Vorden’s ability must be the power to copy others' abilities.

Curiosity getting the better of him, David decided to ask.

"Hey, Vorden, is your ability... to copy other people’s abilities?"

Vorden looked at David and smiled.

"I’m surprised you figured it out so quickly. How did you know?"

"When you shook my hand, you seemed surprised when nothing happened," David replied.

"See, I told you I was strong!" Vorden said, showing the number 5 on his wrist to his new best friend, David.

David wondered what exactly Vorden’s ability was.