Chapter 4: Ability Level

When abilities were first introduced to the human race, people quickly learnt that some were far more powerful than others.

The abilities themselves were also different from person to person. They were dependent on how many mutant cells could be activated within the body.

With this came the introduction of the power level system. There were a total of 8 different power levels.

These levels indicated how many mutant cells were in the body but not how strong the ability was. They could then be further divided into subcategories. 1.1 1.2 ... all the way to 1.9.

Although these levels were just a system designed by the military to put everyone in a specified category.

There were two ways for people to obtain abilities. When the war started with the Dalki race, people started to share their powers with the outside world. They wrote down how they accomplished this power and put the information down in things called ability books.

After the first war had ended, the books were no longer distributed for free and started to go on sale to the public. The military decided to keep some of the more powerful abilities to themselves.

Generally, ability books from level 1 to 5 were sold to the public. In contrast, giant corporations and the military kept the higher-level ones to themselves.

The second way to obtain an ability was if you were an Original. Originals were the first people who had initially discovered the powers for themselves and decided to pass it down within their family.

Not writing it down and teaching it from person to person.

Not all ability users chose to share their abilities to the outside world and decided to keep it within their bloodline. Originals usually had the strongest of abilities that couldn't be measure using the power system.

Because of these two reasons, Quinn had always been a level 1.

He had no family members to support him. Leaving him no chance to buy an ability book and his family had no abilities themselves, so he wasn't an Original.

When Quinn had obtained the book, his first guess was that it was some time of an ability book. Now, after all these years, it seemed like he had obtained an ability. But he had never heard of an ability book like this before, and he didn't have a clue what power level it had mutated his cells to.

Usually, on the front, there would be a technique that helped you master your ability up to a certain power level. But with the book was now gone.

Quinn lifted up his hand to look at the watch, which indicated his current power level was one. When he looked around, he noticed that everyone else's watches currently showed the same number.

Griff was standing in front of all the students and called names in groups of five.

These students would then be transported somewhere to take the test. Quinn was hopeful at first thinking that he might have been able to change his ability level for once. Still, his mind was quickly changed after receiving a notification.

[You are being hit by direct sunlight]

[All stats will be halved]

He didn't even know how good 10 strength, 10 agility, and 10 stamina points were. There was nothing he could compare it to.

But if his eyesight was anything to go by, then it would mean it was at least the top condition of a normal human being. Right now though, Quinn felt incredibly weak and sluggish.

His body felt extremely hot, and he was sweating buckets. Quinn thought it was a good thing he drank a load of water beforehand. Otherwise, he would have been extremely dehydrated.

"Hey, are you okay?", a stranger standing next to Quinn said.

The stranger had slick blonde hair and hazel green eyes with a chiselled face and sharp jawline. He also stood 6 foot 2 inches tall while Quinn was 5, 11. This type of person Quinn would usually avoid at his last shool as everyone would always pay attention to them, and boy did Quinn hate attention.

"If you want, I can call someone for help," the stranger said.

"It's okay, I'm just a little bit nervous about the testing," Quinn said as he tried to ignore his tired body and stand up straight.

The stranger looked Quinn up and down. Quinn was quite skinny for his age. He didn't have a lot of muscle on him, and right now, he looked incredibly weak. He thought Quinn looked like the type of boy who would have gotten bullied at school, being in a new place and not knowing anyone power levels, of course, he would be nervous.

If he was to get a level one rating again, the same thing would most likely happen here.

"Well, don't be. I'm quite strong you know. If anyone messes with you, you can come and ask me for Help," the stranger said, smiling.

Quinn didn't usually get on with the active, positive type of person, but found it hard to dislike the boy.

When Quinn thought back about his time at school, he realized he actually didn't get on with anyone.

"The names Vorden," Vorden said as he placed his hand out.

Quinn looked at Vorden's hand. It was actually the first time in his life someone had treated him this way, but he thought that would quickly change. People always did once they found out his ability level. But for once, he just wanted to forget about all that.

"My name's Quinn," Quinn said as he shook Vorden's hand.

<Use of an ability has been detected>

<The ability has been rejected>

Once the system messages appeared, Quinn looked at them strangely. He then noticed that Vordan still hadn't let go of his hand. Then the system repeated the message once again.

<Use of ability had been detected>

<The ability had been rejected>

Quinn then immediately let go of Vorden's hand. The system was clearly telling him that Vordan was trying to use his ability on him. Vorden himself even had a puzzled look on his face as he stood there still.

"You," Vorden said. "What is your ability?"

"I...." Quinn paused, thinking for while whether he should answer or not. In the end, he wanted to see Vorden's real reaction. "I don't have an ability."

Vorden no longer had a puzzled look on his face, as if the answer had satisfied his curiosity, but before he could say anything, Griff made an announcement.

"Will the students Quinn Talen, Vorden Blade, Peter Chuck, Layla Munrow, and Erin Heley please come to the front to take your test."