The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 212: Testing It Out

"Alright, so. The activation condition is getting the blood mixed?" Lane asked, while they were both cleaned and bandaged up, sitting on the bean bag sofas in Ava’s room.

"And you need to remain in physical contact," Ava added. "You could no longer feel anything once we let go, remember?"

"Right." Lane nodded his head. But then, he paused, pressing his lips together.

So they had discovered his activation condition. But, now what? His ability was still as much of a mystery as it had been. The only way to figure out more would be to actually use it, and that was...

"Impossible." Lane let out a sigh, slouching lower on the bean bag. "What, am I supposed to walk around and possess people, hoping that I, I mean, they, won’t have to die so that I can return?"

He might not have been the most kind and selfless person, but even he could tell that it was a terrible thing to do. Besides, even putting all the moral issues aside, he wasn’t particularly fond of this ability of his either. Possessing someone else felt disgusting, that was one, and two, Lane liked his own body. His life might have sucked, yes, but that didn’t mean he literally wanted to become someone else!

So, what would he possibly use it for?

"Well, that is a problem indeed..." Ava tapped her fingers on her lap, thinking. It didn’t take long, though, before her expression brightened again, as an idea hit her.

Not the most... pleasant idea, though. Still, it was up to Lane to decide whether he wanted to do it or not, so she threw him a furtive glance, as she spoke carefully, "Say, when you go on dungeon raids, there are often casualties, right?"

"Well, yeah." Lane shrugged his shoulders. "The monsters are vicious, and most of the Espers don’t know much about fighting. They only have their abilities and some short combat training, but they’re not mentally prepared, so they make a lot of mistakes... Why?" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"And part of your ability is to steal or copy the abilities of the people you possessed, right?"

"Well, yeah, but... Ah?" Lane’s eyes widened, as he understood what Ava meant. "Are you suggesting that I..."

"If you’re fine with that, then why not? If you only possess the people who are already about to die anyway, then there’s no harm done, right?"

"...Huh."

He didn’t think about that, but Ava was right. It would be like stealing from the dead, who have no way to pass their inheritance - their ability - to anyone else anyway. So Lane wouldn’t have to feel bad about it, right? He would just take the abilities from about-to-be-deceased, and put them to good use, growing stronger... Then, once he was satisfied with the power he gathered, he could just reveal himself, explaining his re-awakening with... With something, they (or, well, Ava to be precise) would surely be able to come up with a good excuse, there was no point worrying about it in advance. And then, he would be able to start a new life as an actually useful Esper!

"Well, of course, it could very well be that you can hold onto only one plundered ability at a time," Ava added, extinguishing Lane’s excitement a bit. "But it’s at least worth a try, no?"

Lane pressed his lips, opening his palm and summoning the flame. It was an alright ability, but... He wouldn’t mind parting with it, all things considered. It was too much like his father’s, both being types of fire manipulation, so it was rather unpleasant to use by default.

So, it was at least worth a shot, trying to steal a few more abilities, no? If it turned out that he could only have one at a time, he would worry about what to do then. Just a few days ago, he still seemed to be ability-less, so accepting the possible limitations came fairly easily for him. No matter what, it was still progress.

"Alright. I’ll try it out next time I have the chance," he finally said. "I’ll keep you updated on how it goes!"

***

And so he did try it out. About three weeks later, on another raid. He was fighting some pig-like monsters with single long, pointed horns protruding from their foreheads, which he had named pigcorns in his head, when he noticed a woman lying on the side, groaning with pain. Judging by the gaping hole in her stomach, her chances of survival were oscillating around zero.

And her power? C-rank lightning. Not bad at all.

So, Lane tried his best to create an opening for himself, and when he succeeded, he quickly grabbed the dying woman, and hid among the rocks not far away. He was already injured, so their blood mixed without him doing anything, and he activated his ability.

The next thing he felt was an overwhelming pain. He barely spent a few minutes in her body, before he blacked out again. And this time, he instantly woke up in his body - it was in good condition, after all. He immediately waved his palm...

And the nearby bushes were set on fire.

Then, he extended his arm...

And electric current flickered around his hand.

Lane gasped, as a wave of elation swept through him. So he could accumulate abilities, as it turned out! Perhaps there was some sort of limit, it was too early to tell, but at least he wasn’t limited to just one!

With this, he started to collect abilities whenever he had a chance, paying no mind to whether they were worth much to him or not. He soon found out that he could actually return to his body before the death of the one he possessed - although they all still died in the end. Whether his ability caused them any harm, Lane didn’t know, since they were already on the brink of death anyway - as well as that he could strengthen the already possessed abilities by combining them with different ones. Such was the case with his first stolen ability, which had almost doubled in strength after he had absorbed another fire-type ability.

And it wasn’t all. Aside from the abilities, his speed, strength, agility, endurance, and even his senses had all improved. It wasn’t just the abilities he was stealing, but rather all of the awakened power!

With this, Lane’s power grew by leaps and bounds, and soon enough, the dungeon raids, during which he was once under a constant threat of death, became like a breeze to him. Although, of course, he still returned covered up in injuries - he had to keep up the pretense of being powerless!