The word ability book hit like a rock and triggered a chain of memories.
Instantaneously, he had a grasp of contempt knowledge of ability books.
"So where can we get some?"
"There is a shop just by the road where there is ample of 'em and luckily for now the academy settles all of our needs so the pay wouldn't be a problem."
"Great. Let's head on over."
They soon got to the shop and split up to find the respective book that rightly fit into their interest.
Max went over to the Fentanyl shelves while Chris to the Zerion.
Ability books were used based on bloodline. Though no particular ability was categorized to a certain bloodline, they both chose so because of the composition of blood in each of them.
Chris is a hybrid between the Zerion and Xyrics lineage with 67% Zerion blood while Max was of all the known bloodlines with 40% Fentanyl.
Max dragged his hand over shelves glancing over so many ability books.
Most of them were almost useless as mightier books were hoarded by the pures and were inaccessible to hybrids.
He walked deeper into the shelves noting some cogent abilities he might run back to if he couldn't find any that matched his interest.
He had gone through every single book on that lane and nothing was good enough.
Just as he was about to return to the second best, a book fell right on his head.
It had a brass spine and silver corner and it was a little dog-eared.
He picked the book up and dusted the cover a bit.
_Mana Creation.
He opened the book and speedily swept through its pages.
This was what he was looking for.
A book that reflected his constitution and class. One that tapped into his very being and was enhanced by his particular use.
_Fentanyl Bloodline (The Forgotten Bloodline)
_Basically, the formation of objects with mana.
'This could work.'
He closed the book with subtle delight and went on to the front desk to get his miracle.
A Miracle was an accessory unawakened beings use to perform magic.
Though there was still a chance he could use magic cause at least he had an innate skill, waiting till then to try out something he could do right away simply just wasn't him.
"I'd like to check this book out and as well get a miracle, sir."
The man at the desk handed him two rusty old pair of gauntlets.
He tried it on to make sure it fit before leaving to meet Chris who had concluded his search long ago.
"Cool! The book really complements your hair and the gloves...still okay."
"Thanks. Yours too is alright. I see you got a ring and a cloning book. But..."
"But what?"
"That isn't a good idea."
"Why?"
"Well if you are fighting against magic, you are gonna at least need some magic on your side."
"But I do have some magic," he said slightly lifting the book aloft.
"Not that kind...Erhh! I'll show you what I mean during practice."
"I was thinking we could go to the outskirts of the city. Not too far though. There's a huge empty field there that'll be perfect."
"Excellent! Let's go."
"Not so fast buddy. There's someone that wanted to meet you."
"Hey, there boys. So what are we doing today?"
She held a strawberry ice cream in a cracker cone and two others in her other hand gesturing to them to take and eat.
"Nothing much. Max just thought it would be nice to train a bit before the big day tomorrow and we are going to the old field to do that. Wanna tag along?"
"Yeah!" Her tone sounded eager though not too notable.
They trained nonstop till it hit noon.
Surprisingly, Chris' ability didn't turn out to be as useless as he thought.
Ability books were weapons used by the mages of old long ago before the celestial war.
They were made by those mages and documents of how such feats were performed were documented inside a book.
Over the years, the process evolved to be automated and no longer required constant study and practice.
Below the front page of every ability book, these words were carved there by the very first mage scribe.
_The only limits to the books are the ones the reader puts on them.
Seemingly, it looks like Chris had tapped into the words of the book.
He seemed to grow stronger and more efficient with each clone proficiently utilized.
Max was having a hard time keeping up.
His magical arrows didn't seem to delay Chris one bit from every attack he delivered.
And when one was hit they merely vanished and complemented the strength of the rest.
Chris was fluid, in his element. He wasn't dividing but rather multiplying.
After rows of defeat, Max decided to take a break and sat by the field under the shade.
Mel soon joined minutes later.
The two sat side by side while Chris literally trained against himself.
It seemed that the cloning ability took little per unit clone he produced.
"Tired already?"
"Oh hey. No just...", he said and bowed his head.
She looked towards him and looked away and all of a sudden switched to a somber key.
"You know I never did apologize for what I did to you?"
"You don't need to. It's all in the past now."
"Yes, I do. I put you through a decade torture and didn't even try as much as to fix my err."
"I am sorry."
"No worries. There's no hate at least not anymore. The most important thing is that all is resolved, that's what matters."
"That is so comforting to hear."
"Well. What can I say? That's just the kind of guy I am."
"Hey, you guys. Are you two done chattering over there? I'm getting bored of fighting myself."
"Don't worry. I'm coming. You wouldn't know what hit you," Mel cried as she dashed over to lend Chris a bit of whoop.
Despite all his hard work his stats still haven't risen meanwhile Chris' had done that three times already.
'Is it because of this skill?'
'It is regressing all my efforts in magic use.'
The frustration coupled with immense fatigue soon caught up with him and drew him into a deep slumber.