SSS Transmigration: I Can Extract And Evolve Overpowered Shadows

Tamara shook her head slowly. "It’s nothing, Hina~" she said, dragging the last syllable of his name with a sultry purr.

Hinata narrowed his eyes but said nothing more. He too was battling what he actually felt for her, so it was best not to raise any matter that would further stir it.

He turned back to where the wolf’s corpse lay, walked towards it, then crouched beside the body.

Since the system had said he needed to learn lightning to reach level three, wasn’t it best to simply acquire it from the wolf?

A minute passed, then two, but no matter how much he touched the corpse, no system notification appeared.

Hinata scratched the back of his head. "Am I doing it wrong?"

He raised his hands to try once more, only to hear Tamara ask with genuine curiosity, "Are you trying to extract the ability?"

Hinata tried turning back, only for the white-haired woman to redirect his gaze forward. "Hey, Tamara, what are you doing?"

Tamara said nothing; instead she lowered herself to crouch behind him, and rather than keeping her distance, leaned forward and let her soft chest press fully against his back.

Hinata’s body tensed, heat building within him before he quickly pushed it away. "What are you doing, Tamara?" he said, his voice carrying a cool edge.

Tamara scoffed. "Stop acting like you aren’t feeling anything." She leaned in close to his ear. "Just tell me how you really feel, Hina~"

Hinata sighed. "Quit the crap and just say what you want to say. I already know you aren’t that type of woman."

Tamara rolled her eyes before rising to her feet. "I knew you wouldn’t fall for that," she muttered with a click of her tongue.

After a beat, she took a long drag and answered. "Well, from what you’ve told me, it seems the ability can only work on the essence of things, so why don’t you try using the core?"

Hinata blinked. "The core?"

"Yes, the core," Tamara confirmed with a faint nod. "Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of a core before?"

Hinata quickly looked away from her prying gaze, sweat beading at his forehead.

He had known that all awakened possessed cores, but how was he meant to know that monsters had them too.

Tamara shook her head with quiet disappointment. "Well, now you know. Cores are very valuable and are used in making potions, weapons, powering electricity, and many other things. So the next time you kill a monster, do take it."

Hinata nodded like a student being lectured by his teacher. "So the essence of every being is always in their core?"

Tamara’s brow furrowed slightly before she shook her head. "I’m not quite sure about this, but I did hear that there are some monsters whose essence lies in shadows, spirits, and other such places. Even certain awakened techniques can shift the location of a thing’s essence."

Hinata couldn’t help but frown deeply. ’Looks like even copying abilities won’t be that easy.’ His brows furrowed further as a sudden thought surfaced.

"Wait — if most people’s cores hold their essence, doesn’t that mean absorbing a living person’s blood or mana could count as essence too?"

Tamara gave his theory some thought before answering. "I’ve never researched it, so I’m not certain. However, from what I do know, that should be the case as long as the right conditions are met."

One corner of Hinata’s lips curved upward as his eyes glinted. ’Doesn’t this mean I can extract the abilities of those stronger than me as long as I have their blood?’

Hinata’s fingers trembled with excitement. If his theory was actually possible, how strong could he become?

If an ability equivalent to the A-rank tiering of the system could grant him an SSS-rank ability on par with his Unholy One rank from before, then what rank would he receive from something even higher?

Tamara, watching him from where she stood, couldn’t help but smile. She had begun to notice that just seeing Hinata happy somehow made her happy too.

"I’ll make sure no one steals you from me," she murmured under her breath, low enough that Hinata couldn’t hear.

After a moment she tapped a finger against the carved wood surface of her pipe, its face etched with strange runic symbols. "Hina, isn’t it time we started moving again?"

Hinata, who had been lost in thought, quickly pulled himself back and tore through the wolf’s body until he found its core.

The moment his finger grazed its surface, a system notification appeared before him.

Ding!

[You are currently holding a core and precious part of something with a shadow.]

[Projecting extracted main trait.]

[F-Rank: Lightning Body.]

[Description: As a far descendant of the sky you can wield the power of it. You can coat your body with low-ranked lightning, increasing your speed and power while causing electric shocks to your enemies. Continuous attacks can result in the enemy being stunned for 5s.]

[Would you like to Temporarily or Permanently extract and evolve this trait?]

"Permanently."

Ding!

[You have saved F-Rank: Lightning Body.]

[Your trait has evolved into SS-Rank trait: Heavenly Sky God Physique.]

[Description: You are a chosen child of the sky. As long as the firmament endures, you may wield higher grades of lightning. Your power grows alongside your understanding of the sky, eventually allowing you to influence all weather phenomena. After every 10 successful lightning-infused attacks, your target will be stunned for 3 seconds. This effect can be further upgraded.]

Hinata’s face brightened at the massive upgrade. Without wasting time, he circulated aether through himself, however crudely.

Instantly he felt something crackle within him, and electric-blue light hovered around his core, each particle crackling as it made contact with his aether core’s surface, making his inner world resemble a chaotic tribulation.

Hinata snapped his eyes open as he felt his body levitate slightly from the ground.

He looked towards Tamara and immediately noticed he stood even taller above her than before, though not by much.

He tried lifting himself higher, but five inches above the ground was the most he could manage.

Glancing around, he noticed electric-blue particles drifting through the air, circling him, some even floating into his eyes.

The moment the particles entered his eyes, the world took on a faint blue hue, and everything seemed to slow — or rather, he found himself able to perceive up to five seconds ahead of normal.

Hinata lowered himself back to the ground and smirked at Tamara. "How is it?"

Tamara chuckled. "Well, lightning looks good on you. As do those blue eyes."

"Blue eyes?"

Before he could press further, the system rang in his mind.

Ding!

[You have completed the mission.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have levelled up to Level 3.]

[A new mission is being generated.]