Awakening and Soul Snatching, I See You're All Skills

Gan Ming reached out, closed his fingers, and grasped the heart.

The texture was slick and warm, and it was still throbbing inside his palm.

Then the entire world changed.

All the white was swallowed by red in an instant.

A translucent panel popped up out of thin air before him.

[Assimilation... 0%]

The percentage climbed slowly.

1%... 3%... 7%...

Behind him, the auditing officer stepped back silently.

His right hand hung at his side, a dagger coagulating in his palm as its blade reflected the white light of the Awakening Chamber.

His eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze locking onto Gan Ming as his fingers hooked around the hilt, ready to strike at any moment.

When the assimilation progress reached 30%, Gan Ming noticed that the red surrounding him began to darken.

40%,

black patches appeared at the edge of his vision.

55%,

the black surged in from all directions at extreme speed.

70%,

he could no longer see anything, plunging completely into darkness as even the panel in front of him vanished along with it.

He did not know how much time had passed.

Ahead, in the far distance, a red dot lit up.

Then that red dot suddenly exploded.

Red light swept over him, enveloping his entire body.

Gan Ming snapped his eyes open, finding his vision returning to normal.

White tiles, the smell of disinfectant, and that lingering stench.

The stone platform was still in front of him, the plate was still there, but the heart was gone.

Stains of already-blackened blood still lingered on his palm.

The panel popped up once more.

It was not the assimilation progress panel from just now, but a brand-new information interface.

[Name: Gan Ming]
[Tier: First Tier]
[Level: 1]
[Specialization: None]
[Unallocated Attribute Points: 0]

Gan Ming stared at those few lines of text, his pupils constricting sharply.

[Innate Talent: Soul Snatch (Level 1)]
[Description: After participating in killing a target, one can attempt to seize their skills, talents, and other abilities. Each cast has a 10-second cooldown. The higher the talent level, the higher the success rate of seizure. The current level allows a maximum of 3 simultaneously active abilities. New abilities must replace currently active slots to be equipped; putting down old abilities will not delete them, permanently storing them in the standby pool. When repeatedly seizing the same ability, it can be directly converted into talent proficiency. Leveling up the talent increases the activation limit, and the power of all seized abilities will synchronize with the Soul Snatch level.]

Gan Ming finished reading the description, his heart leaping.

This talent was extremely strong.

Level 1 already had a limit of three, and leveling it up could expand it further?

"Congratulations."

The auditing officer's voice came from behind him.

At this moment, the dagger in his hand had already vanished.

"Mr. Gan Ming, welcome to the ranks of the Awakened. From this moment on, you are no longer an unregistered person. The Awakened Affairs Management Center will establish a formal file for you."

He walked to the door and opened it.

"Go back and sit down. There are a few more procedures to go through next."

Gan Ming followed behind the auditing officer, walking out of the Awakening Chamber, and looked up at the auditing officer ahead.

The moment his gaze focused, he froze slightly.

He saw a translucent panel suspended out of thin air beside the auditing officer.

The format was completely different from his own attribute panel, with the information arranged more concisely, containing only a few lines of key information.

[Soul Snatch Target: Awakened]
[Tier: Second Tier]
[Level: ??]
[Innate Talent (1): Judgment]
[Specialized Skills (10): Shadow Step, Shadow Assault, Backstab, Critical Strike, Vital Lock, Dagger Mastery, Poisoned Blade, Stealth, Instant Kill, Execution]
[Skills: Short Blade Throwing · Aura Concealment · Weakness Perception · Night Vision · Pain Suppression · ... (Total 37)]

Was this the information panel that came with the Soul Snatch talent?

He followed the auditing officer without a change in expression, carefully reading the information on the soul-stealing panel.

Second tier.

Two question marks for the level, unreadable, indicating the gap was not on the same magnitude.

The innate talent was called "Judgment," with no expanded description.

Yet just this name matched with his job duties, requiring no further analysis.

Ten specialized skills.

Gan Ming looked through them one by one.

Shadow Step and Stealth were responsible for approaching and lurking.

Backstab, Shadow Assault, and Critical Strike were the core burst.

Vital Lock and Dagger Mastery increased hit accuracy.

Poisoned Blade supplemented continuous damage over time.

Instant Kill and Execution were two finishing moves.

Ten specialized skills, thirty-seven ordinary skills,

all revolving entirely around a single matter: "how to kill people more efficiently."

Gan Ming recalled that just now in the Awakening Chamber, when the assimilation progress climbed to 70%, his vision had gone completely dark.

Yet this person had been standing right behind him.

Holding a dagger in his hand.

The moment any sign of bodily alienation appeared, this person would not have given him a second second to react.

Returning to the interrogation room.

Gan Ming sat down before the desk once again.

The auditing officer retrieved a brand-new file folder from the drawer and opened it to the first page.

Right now, his demeanor was noticeably much more relaxed than before.

"Please sit. Now we are registering the Awakened's information. First, honestly report your initial basic attributes."

When Gan Ming sat back down in the chair, his attention involuntarily drifted toward the gray, dull round stone on the desktop.

Earlier, he had been too nervous to look closely.

Now, after awakening, he found a line of small text floating above the stone that only the Awakened could see.

[Interrogation Stone (Common)]
[Type: Auxiliary Prop]
[Effect: Detects whether the contact's words are true. If true, it rings once; if false, it rings three times; if ambiguous, it rings twice.]
[Creator: Xu Wenbin (Production-class Awakened)]
[Remarks: This prop is ineffective against the Awakened]

Gan Ming pulled back his gaze, brought up his own panel, and reported his attribute values one by one.

Strength: 12

Agility: 13

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 11

Spirit: 11

The auditing officer listened while filling it out, and when writing down the final few items, he looked up at Gan Ming.

"Strength 12, Agility 13? In the Lower District, you managed to get this set of numbers?"

"Could it be you fight people every day?"

"Moving cargo, and running errands," Gan Ming replied.

"Not bad at all. Some applicants from the Central District don't even have base values as good as yours."

There was a hint of approval in the auditing officer's tone.

"Then the next item: your innate talent."