It also looked slightly different than he expected. It was silver just like the one he’d seen at the monster core merchant stall in Hawker’s Alley, but this core had an extra glowing sheen around it. It was a translucent slightly rainbow color like a puddle of gasoline in rainwater in an alleyway.

It was mesmerizing to look at.

Max wasn’t going to wait to get back to the apartment. No. He was going to drain this core of its mana right now.

He let mana leak out of his fingers and filled the monster core, creating a mana bridge. He then began to pull the monster’s mana out of the core and into his own body.

Right as he finished draining the core, he felt his hair shoot up. He fell onto the ground as an intense sensation—both painful and delightful—rushed through his entire body, almost as if he was having a seizure of some kind.

And then—seconds later—the feeling was gone and Max was simply lying face down in the dirt.

What the heck happened?

He clenched his fingers in the dirt and then rolled over so that he was staring at the ceiling of the cave.

But he wasn’t seeing the ceiling of the cave.

He was seeing a message in his retina.

Congratulations! You have reached a new rank!

Your trait has evolved!

What does that mean?

Max quickly brought up his profile.

Name: Max Rainhart

Rank: E

Trait (Unique): Mimic. Unleash the last move you were hit with at double the power.

You may choose to retain one ability you’re hit with, adding it to your arsenal of attacks at double the power.

Ability Slot: Shadow Blink (Rare)

Strength: 11

Agility: 11

Endurance: 10

Mana Affinity: 11

Passive Skills:

Kokoro (Warrior Spirit)

Max grinned at his profile.

He’d done it!

He’d reached E-rank!

Even more excitingly, his trait had evolved. Now, not only could he hit somebody back with their same ability at twice the power, but he could choose to keep a power he really liked for later without losing it on the likely chance that he was accidentally hit with a different ability before then.

There was a new message waiting for him in his retina as well.

Alert! Would you like to insert “shadow blade” into your extra ability slot?

What’s this?

He recalled that attack he’d nearly dodged from the shadow monster. A blade of shadow had emerged and cut his leg.

So that ability must be in the current normal mimic slot, and he now had the option to hold onto it semi-permanently if he wanted to.