Ability Stealer

Andrew then turned to Qein. "It'll be a while until we can send you back to Aeller," he said, his voice deliberately calm. 

Qein stiffened, his sharp features pulling into a frown. "A while? Why? Are we waiting for those monsters to clear out?" 

Andrew shook his head. "No, it's not about that. The failure to destroy those eggs seems to have… disappointed the system." His gaze shifted momentarily to Mella before returning to Qein. "It won't let you go back until we've become stronger. Tier 3 humans."

Mella's eyes widened in alarm. "Tier 3?" she echoed. "That'll take months!"

Qein's frustration erupted like a geyser. "What does that have to do with me?" he demanded, taking a step closer to Andrew. His voice rose. "Tell this 'system' I need to go back to my world. I can't just stand here while my home is slowly being overrun with monsters."

Andrew's tone hardened, though he remained calm. "I can't interact with it like that, Qein."

"Then make it interact with you!" Qein shouted, closing the distance between them. His hand shot out, gripping the front of Andrew's chest plate. "This is my world you're playing with!"

"How do I 'make it interact with me, huh?"

"I don't know anything about your magic shit. Just do it!"

"I can't!"

"You haven't even tried!"

Andrew's eyes narrowed as he pushed Qein back, his own frustration starting to show. "I said I can't do anything about it!"

The two men stared each other down, the tension palpable. Finally, Qein's voice dropped, but it was no less venomous. "So, the fate of my people is just based on how this damn system feels?"

Andrew hesitated before replying. "The system wants to help your world. It wouldn't—"

"If it wanted to help," Qein interrupted, his voice bitter, "it would send me back."

A sharp intake of breath drew their attention to Mella, who was sitting nearby but now stood, her stance firm. "If you went back now, you'd probably just get killed," she said bluntly.

Qein's glare turned to her. "Excuse me?"

She met his gaze unflinchingly. "The best bet for your world isn't you. It's us—Andrew and me."

His mouth opened to retort, but her words hit him like a slap. "What?" he finally managed.

Mella pressed on, her tone unwavering. "If you're smart, you'll wait. So when Andrew and I evolve, you won't feel so… outshone."

Qein's expression darkened, a storm of anger and shock warring within him. "I've killed monsters," he said sharply. "Why are you acting like I've been useless? Like I'm just a victim?!"

Mella arched an eyebrow, unimpressed by his outburst. "How well did 'just trapping' work for you? You got caught by Bar-jui and left in that hole for months."

Qein flinched, the memory stinging. 

"Going back now won't help your people," Mella said. "Not without the system backing you."

Qein clenched his fist but said nothing.

She turned away, pulling out a rift detector, the conversation clearly over in her mind. Andrew watched her fiddling with the device, her brow furrowing as she turned in place, scanning the surroundings.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his tone softer now that the argument had passed.

"Trying to locate the permanent rift near Nerthudan," she muttered. She adjusted the detector, then scratched at her hair in frustration. "It's not working right."

Glancing up at the towering trees around them, Mella asked, "Can you get ontop of a tall tree to get a better look?"

"Believe it or not," Andrew said, "my leg is in incredible pain right now." The adrenaline that had dulled the throbbing during their earlier confrontation was rapidly wearing off, leaving him wincing with each step.

"I believe you. I'm exhausted too," Mella muttered, rubbing her temples.

To both their surprise, Qein moved silently toward a nearby tree and began climbing, his movements swift and practiced. He reached the higher branches with ease, his agility catching their attention.

Andrew muttered, "You're good... Really damn good."

"I'm skilled at almost everything," Qein called down, his voice tinged with pride. "When you don't have a system, you have to be. Had a lot of people to look after."

Andrew picked up on the subtle shift in his tone. "Had?" he asked carefully. "Are they all dead, or do you not know?"

Qein froze for a moment before answering, his voice quieter. "All dead. A rain of lightning hit our camp."

Andrew and Mella exchanged a glance, their earlier animosity toward Qein softening. "I'm sorry," Andrew said. Mella nodded in agreement.

"You don't need to be," Qein replied sharply. "I was the reason for it."

Andrew frowned but chose not to press the issue. Whatever the details, it was a wound still fresh for Qein. 

From his perch high in the tree, Qein surveyed the landscape, his eyes narrowing. "There's a lot of yellow… roads," he called down, a note of confusion in his voice. "Buildings… smoke. And more smoke."

Andrew frowned, craning his neck. "What do you mean, roads? And smoke?"

Mella's brow furrowed. "Roads? Not dirt tracks?"

"And buildings?" Andrew added. "Veilrend barely has any settlements. Three or four villages at most, and Nerthudan is the only city."

Qein's voice was incredulous. "How big is this area? That's a ridiculously small number of villages."

"Six thousand square miles," Mella answered flatly.

"What the hell?" he muttered, glancing over at Andrew. "Is this Veilrend place just filled with monsters or something?"

 "No. It just happens that it got the highest number of rift occurrences in all of the Mechivar Assembly. So almost no one wants to live or build anything there."

"What's a rift? If you told me before, I forgot."

"I know monsters can be hatched, sure. But... doesn't it make sense that some of them come from something else? Like, I don't know... a storm of lightning?"

Andrew had only heard of that happening, but he knew it was a thing that happened if rifts were left to their own devices for too long.

Qein's silver eyes narrowed, his voice skeptical. "No. That sounds ridiculous. Monsters don't just materialize out of lightning."

Andrew shrugged, his tone resigned. "Monsters hatching from eggs sounded weirder to me."