I Can Copy Curses

[Does the host want to absorb the mutagen?]

A notification appeared in Orion's vision as he held the core in his hand.

'Yes.'

He agreed, and a moment later, the core turned into red particles and disappeared from his hands.

[Upgrade requirements met…]

[Initiating the upgrade to Iron Rank…]

Two notifications popped up in his eyes as he agreed.

Almost instantly, his body began to twitch all over, and an intense pain overtook him.

After that, the thing Orion feared the most happened.

He looked at his hands as they began to melt slowly. First, the skin all over his hands started to peel off, followed by the muscles melting away, and then the bones. Horror and disbelief filled Orion's mind as he watched his own body disintegrate before his eyes.

The same thing happened with his other hand and then with all the parts of his body.

At that moment, Orion felt fortunate that he had the curse of Sacrificial Renewal; otherwise, thinking of the pain he would be feeling right now made him cold all over.

A few minutes later, all of his body parts melted apart from his head.

His head was on top of a bloody pool.

[Found an unknown object in the host's body.]

At that moment, a notification appeared in Orion's eyes, which made him a little shocked. He didn't know what unknown object the system was talking about.

[Identifying the records for the unknown object…]

[Unknown object confirmed: Fate Core]

[Does the host want to assimilate the Fate Core into his body?]

"Fate Core?" He thought that he had already used it during his battle with Quent. It gave him all the luck in the world to fight a god, but he didn't understand why the system was now asking him to assimilate the Fate Core.

'System, haven't I already used this?'

[Host has only used the visionary power of the Fate Core and hasn't touched the physical core itself.]

'What is visionary power?'

[A type of power that can't be seen but is present in all living things.]

Orion didn't understand even a bit of what the system said. But he felt that this Fate Core that Isis had given him was way more precious than he had thought earlier.

'What will I get if I assimilate the Fate Core?'

[No records were found of any beings assimilating with a Fate Core.]

"No records?" He felt that was very suspicious. He knew that all the humans in the three domains had access to the system, yet no humans among them had ever assimilated a Fate Core.

'System, why hadn't any human ever assimilated with a Fate Core?'

[No data found.]

Orion frowned as he heard that. It was then that he suddenly remembered something.

'Ah, I get it.'

He recalled that Isis mentioned to him that the number of Fate Cores was limited to only ninety-nine in all of existence. It couldn't be any more or less than ninety-nine.

'If it's only ninety-nine, then I could understand why no human had ever assimilated one before.'

He thought and then asked the system to assimilate the Fate Core.

'System, do it.'

[Assimilating Fate Core.]

[Initiating process…]

At that moment, Orion's body began to slowly reconstruct itself. First his torso, then his hands, and later his legs. All the parts of his body began to slowly grow back and return to normal.

A minute later, Orion's body returned to its perfect shape.

[Fate Core has been successfully assimilated with the host.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Divine Ability.]

[Congratulations to the host for upgrading to Iron Rank.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Sub-Ability of your talent.]

[All stats and data on the host have been reset.]

As the upgrade was finally completed, Orion felt strength coursing through his body. He didn't know why, but he felt as though he could do anything in this world with his newfound power. He knew it was only an illusory sensation that came with a significant increase in strength, but he couldn't help but like that feeling.

He then looked at the notifications that popped up after his upgrade and was surprised that he had obtained something called divine ability. After all this time in this world, he understood the basics of the power system in this world, and because of this, he was surprised.

There was no such thing as Divine Ability in this world. He hadn't heard anyone have it or talk about it.

But sub-ability was normal for everyone.

Everyone would gain a sub ability of their talent when they upgrade themselves to a higher rank.

As for the stats being reset along with the data, he had some idea about what it meant.

"Status."

[Name: Orion Darkwood]

[Rank: Iron]

[Divine Ability - Transformation]

[Talent: Copy Curse: 11%]

[Sub Ability: Burst Mode]

[Curse: _ ]

[Strength: _ ]

[Stamina: _ ]

[Agility: _ ]

[Perception: _ ]

[Constitution: _ ]

[Mana: Nil]

[Skills: Nil]

Orion was shocked to see that all his stats and his precious curses were gone. He had known about the stats being reset due to the notification, but the curse came out of the syllabus.

'I can still use my curses, right?'

He thought as he used the curse of Velocity Burst, causing his hand to burst into flames.

'Thank God it works, but there is something different about these flames.'

He felt that he could control these flames more diversely than he could ever do when he was in bronze rank. It was an instinctual sensation that made him feel that way.

He couldn't do much with the flames in bronze rank, but now he felt that he could make very good use of them.

'If Velocity Burst got an upgrade, then I bet all my other curses also must have gotten an upgrade as well.'

He felt excited about his curses and couldn't wait to use each of them to uncover new abilities. However, he also couldn't ignore his divine ability and sub-ability. He had to check them first before he could play with his curses.

Therefore, he put his thoughts away from curses and focused on his new abilities.

[Sub-Ability: Burst Mode]

[Description: Any curse the host puts into this category will grant the host its full potential. This means the host can use the full power of that curse, regardless of its rank. However, there are certain limitations to this ability. The host can only use this mode for ten minutes, and afterward, the host will lose the ability to use that curse forever.

Even if the host copies the same curse from the same individual again, it will not work. The host won't be able to copy the same curse from that individual ever again.]

'Interesting.'

He felt that this ability was incredibly powerful but realized he would have to use it wisely. The consequence of losing a curse forever was devastating. He definitely wouldn't want to use this mode until the very last moment—until it felt like all hope was lost.

After that, he turned his attention to the so-called divine ability.

[Divine Ability: Transformation]

[Description: _____________]

"No description?" Orion was surprised to see that the divine ability didn't have any description. He had never seen this before.

'System, why isn't there any description of my divine ability?'

[There is no data of any divine ability recorded before, so the host is the only individual to possess a divine ability. The system will assess the host's divine ability as the host uses it over time and will provide a description then.]

Orion found this very strange, but he didn't dwell on it. However, at that moment, another notification popped up in his eyes.

[The host's Divine Ability has found resonance with the host's talent.]

[Resonance is being processed.]

[Process complete.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Sub-Ability of your talent.]