As Abel saw it, the [Ghoul Heart] talent was basically a life-draining talent.
At a rate of five days of lifespan per minute, an hour of fighting would cost him 300 days.
His current lifespan of just over a thousand days would only be enough to enjoy himself for a few hours.
What could he do in a few hours?
He couldn't even make it to a brothel and back.
Never mind the legendary battles that went on for days and nights.
Even if he bought all 99 [Red Hearts] in the System Shop, they still wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of this talent.
So for now, the [Ghoul Heart] talent really wasn't very practical.
Still, it was a blue-quality talent, only a step above the lowest tier. He couldn't expect too much.
While transformed into a ghoul, his defense, speed, and strength all increased by fifty percent, and his sense of pain was reduced by fifty percent.
It seemed decent enough. If not for the life-draining side effect, Abel would have been perfectly happy with it.
After all, it was just a low-quality blue talent. What more could he ask for?
The only thing he could really look forward to was its "growth potential." Maybe after it evolved, its drawbacks would improve.
"Now I see why it's only a blue-quality talent. Most people probably wouldn't dare use it."
"But I'm different. Since the System Shop has items like [Red Hearts] that increase lifespan, that means I'll definitely be able to buy other things that increase lifespan in the future."
"So as long as I don't use it recklessly, and save it for a burst of power at a critical moment, I can live with that."
"And the [Ghoul Heart] is a talent that can grow. Its growth conditions are a bit too dangerous, but if I can ensure my own safety, maybe I can try it someday."
At that thought, Abel's expression finally eased.
He'd originally planned to remove the toxins from Lead Sickness as soon as either he or Luo got the Op-Op Fruit.
But plans changed faster than expected.
Lead Sickness had now mutated into his talent, becoming a part of him. It seemed he'd never have the chance to get rid of it.
But every blessing came with a curse, and every curse with a blessing.
Even Abel didn't know whether this change was good or bad.
Considering that he'd surely have to risk his life with this talent someday, Abel steeled himself and tried activating it right away. He wanted to see what it felt like to use the talent and prepare himself mentally. Otherwise, when it came time to fight for real, his enemy wouldn't give him a chance to learn by trial and error. One opening could cost him his life.
"Ugh."
As he activated [Ghoul Heart], Abel let out a muffled groan of pain.
His heart began to pound rapidly, and a large amount of terrifying toxins started spreading through his body with his blood.
In the blink of an eye, the skin all over Abel's body turned a sickly pale, as if the white patches he'd had before had spread everywhere.
His eyes looked bloodshot, their eerie, fiery red glinting in the faint light.
Even his short, tousled hair began to grow wildly, until it reached his waist. It all turned white.
This was the true ghoul form!
A bizarre, pale demon!
At that moment, even Luo would probably struggle to recognize Abel—or perhaps he wouldn't dare recognize him.
"Whew."
After completing the transformation, Abel let out a long breath. He hadn't expected activating the talent to be so painful.
Fortunately, once he'd fully turned into this ghastly creature, the pain was immediately cut in half. It went from unbearable to merely making him furrow his brow.
I was right to get used to it beforehand.
Abel thought this because the pain he was feeling now hadn't been mentioned in the system's description.
If he hadn't been mentally prepared beforehand, it would have caught him completely off guard.
Abel looked at his now-pale hands, then clenched his fists, feeling for the changes in his body.
He couldn't sense anything too clearly, but his strength did seem to have increased a little.
He was simply too weak right now to notice much of a difference.
To bring out the talent's true power, he first had to build a solid foundation. There was no way to reach the top in one leap.
After getting used to it a little, Abel quickly ended the ghoul transformation.
The toxins that had spread throughout his body rapidly withdrew into his heart. The white patches faded, and his long white hair immediately turned back into its original short, black hair, the excess breaking off into ash.
He'd already lost five days of lifespan in less than a minute. At that point, whether it hurt or not was beside the point.
Still, he tried releasing just a tiny bit of the toxins stored in his heart.
The next second, familiar white patches appeared here and there on his body, accompanied by a faint ache.
"So I can control it."
Suppressing his discomfort, Abel checked the [Ghoul Heart] talent. When he saw that what he'd done didn't count as activating it, he breathed a sigh of relief and maintained his current appearance.
Otherwise, there was no way he could explain such a conspicuous change to Luo. And if he couldn't explain it, a rift would form between them.
So it was better to keep things as they were for now.
At that moment, his character panel had changed to:
[Host: Gustavus Abel] [Beginner Trading Qualification] [Gender: Male] [Age: Ten] [Height: 140 cm] [Weight: 25.5 kg] [Lifespan: 4 years, 355 days] [Talent: Ghoul Heart (Blue)] [Ability: None] [Trading Points: 825] ...
Looking at his lifespan, now less than five years, Abel suddenly felt tempted to spend all his Trading Points on [Red Hearts].
But he managed to restrain himself.
After all, he'd already realized how precious Trading Points were.
Besides, what difference did it make to him right now whether his lifespan was five years or ten?
In the short term, that was a completely useless investment.
It would be better to keep the points on hand and spend them flexibly, buying things that were more useful for his current situation.
Once he'd thought it through, Abel stopped dwelling on it.
Except...
"Why has Luo been gone so long? Why hasn't he come back?"
He furrowed his brow slightly, suddenly overcome by a vague sense of dread.
So, after leaving a marker behind, he immediately set out to look for Luo.
Fortunately, he could now control the flow of the Lead Sickness Toxin. As long as he wanted to, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary, slightly bedraggled child.
(Author's note: It's a blue talent, so its power is limited. It evolves into a purple talent in Chapter 46, and it'll have more chances to evolve after that. It'll keep getting stronger.)
(Author's note: Thanks to Gongzi Xun for the 200-point tip, and thanks to FFF Tuan Wumingshi for the 100-point tip. You're both longtime readers. It's so nice to see you're still here~)
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