Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

A large lizard-like beast with red and yellow scales. Both yellow and red scales were shining, fire and thunder streaking across them, burning each other, but for some reason, it wasn't even putting a charred mark on the scales.

It had slitted black eyes, menacingly looking at its adversary.

The beast was 4 meters long and 2 meters high from the ground, its tail slithering around. It was called Emberclaw.

Emberclaw was the leader of zones filled with Pyrovoltuses—a level 35 zone.

This particular Emberclaw was a bit special, as it was a classed beast with a title, not something you would often walk into.

Just finding a classed beast was a hard task, and even if you did see it, you would not be left alive to tell the tale.

This is the beast Alex had come across right now when he didn't really want any complicated enemies to face. He was not at his best, and neither could he just run away from here.

He had cleared all of the tasks for the quest the certain god gave him; even this level 30+ zone clearing was almost done when he found out that the boss monster of this zone was actually a classed beast.

He was delighted but tense at the same time. He wanted one of the beast's abilities, but at the same time, he knew how hard it would be with the copy condition, but there was nothing he could do.

He stared back at the beast before he brought out the item that was responsible for all of this—his leg getting chopped off and his receiving a quest like this.

He didn't think he would be using it so soon, but he had no other choice left; with his ranged ability disabled, he could only use the next thing that he thought was good for this situation.

He looked at the short sword—the blade with an appearance of flowing waves, shimmering with a dark blue hue and streaks of white, like crashing waves.

The hilt of the short sword is adorned with pearls and coral, and the crossguard is shaped like two intertwined sea serpents.

*Swish!*

Alex drew the blade out of the scabbard, only to hear the sound of waves crashing along with it.

*Grip*

He gripped his dagger hard, staring at it for a second before his eyes turned sharp, and he jumped away from where he was standing.

*BOOM*

It was another thunderclap strike, but fortunately, Alex had his beastly instincts activated, making him aware of the incoming attack and giving him a chance to move away from the spot.

The beast, however, didn't stop; it rushed right at Alex at a speed so fast that if Alex hadn't used the sword to defend his body...

*Baam*

Then instead of being bashed away a few meters, he would've had his ribs broken.

*Slide*

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Alex steadied his footing, making a long drag mark, and soon his expression turned serious.

The beast's stats were almost the same as his, yet, as he looked at his hand trembling while holding the sword, he knew that the beast had used lightning dash, an ability that elevates its speed.

His palm was hurting a bit, trembling in pain, but he knew that the beast was just getting started. It had used no more than two abilities, and it had a whole arsenal of them left out to try, so he had to get serious as well.

This short sword could help him fight off this beast. It was just too strong.

Even the beast could tell that—it could feel the danger of the short sword—that's why it was attacking Alex without a stop. It didn't want to give Alex a chance to attack.

[[Tidebreaker (Epic): It is a legendary blade said to be forged from the remnants of an ancient sea titan.

– Hydro Slash - Sends a wave of high-pressure water toward enemies, dealing water-based damage and knocking back smaller enemies. The wave travels in a straight line and pushes back anything it hits.

– Pressure Crush - Targets a single enemy and surrounds them with intense water pressure from the deep ocean. The target takes damage over time as they are squeezed by the crushing force. If the target is already drenched, the damage is doubled.

– Tidal Dash - Grants a burst of extreme speed, allowing the wielder to dash forward and pass through enemies. Enemies struck during the dash are drenched and briefly disoriented, slowing their response time.

– Sea Serpent's Wrath - Summons a colossal water serpent that sweeps across the battlefield, dealing massive AoE water damage to all enemies in its path. The serpent's presence floods the area, creating pools of water that drench and slow all enemies within. After the serpent disappears, the water persists for a short duration, leaving the battlefield altered.

]]

Alex, who knew perfectly well how bad this ability was for the beast due to its electric and fire affinity, didn't waste any more time.

'Killing intent.'

He activated killing intent to full of its capabilities, causing the beast, which was rushing at Alex with a frenzied expression, to jerk, its speed getting lowered.

Lightning Dash gave the beast a boost in speed for a while, and with this killing intent, Alex had nullified that boost, but...

"ROARRR!!"

The beast roared as it continued forward, lunging at Alex with its jaw open, revealing its set of razor-sharp teeth, with some human flesh stuck within them, staying true to its title.

It was a beast with a title—Maneater.

One didn't have to think deeply to know what this title meant. Alex could tell how this beast gained the title in the first place. The rusty smell of blood—human blood—was heavy in the air, tattered clothes were thrown here and there, and trees in this area were colored red.

[[Maneater (Uncommon): An upgradable title only available for the classed beasts who have killed and eaten more than 1000 humans alive.

– Human-Flesh Hunger - When fighting a human, the user gets hungrier than ever, giving the user a slight frenzied boost in the stats.

]]

Eating more than 1000 humans alive—this is what the beast had done to gain that title. And from what one could see, this title was upgradable, meaning: the more humans it ate, the higher the rank of the title would go.

That was the reason why, even with Alex's killing intent, which was now stronger than before due to his power increasing, pressing down on the beast, it didn't feel much change other than its movement slowing down.

Alex, who saw the beast's wide-open jaw, ready to gobble him up right in front of him, didn't seem scared; instead, it felt like he had expected that.

'Pressure Crush.'

'Tidal Dash.'

One after another, Alex used two of the Tidebreaker's abilities, the first one...

*Boom*

Pressed the Emberclaw to the ground, colossal pressure pouring down on it as it struggled to stand up, but Alex knew that it wouldn't be for long, so he hurriedly moved, his speed elevated due to the tidal dash being activated.

"GRAAAAAA!"

The moment the beast roared, opening its jaws that were shut tight due to the sudden pressure, Alex's arms moved, and...

*Pierce*