[BL] NEET life in the Apocalypse

Chapter 94—The secrets behind abilities

by Bocchan13

New Era Calender—March 3rd 22 years after the Fall

Lan Zhou and Song Yu were in their own little bubble, completely absorbed in each other; to the point that Xiao Zi who was just a few meters away was extremely sickened by this. Song Yu heard a tsk in the background of his lovey-dovey play and blushed immediately.

Lan Zhou had a thicker skin and didn’t care much, still holding onto Song Yu’s hands tightly. Song Yu gradually still felt drowsy and was coaxed to sleep a little bit more. Lan Zhou anxiously watched as Song Yu curled up in a fetal position, and sagged into unconsciousness.

“He’s been sleeping for so long and still needs to sleep? Xiao Zi, check him again.”

Xiao Zi obediently obliged, taking hold of Song Yu’s hands. The healing ability could heal many things, but in the care of spiritual energy, it was completely lacking. The only thing he could do was help with the pain.

“He will probably need to rest for another week or so. It’s a miracle he hasn’t died from overwork yet.”

Lan Zhou bit his lip in consternation.

“Is there any way to negate it? He’s overusing his pure ability to the point of sanity. We need to help him.”

Xiao Zi could only touch his chin in thought. He had never seen a case like this so severe. There had to be a way for Song Yu to strengthen his abilities.

Wait.

“Lan Zhou…Song Yu has a space ability right? That’s his main ability? Purity is the variant?”

“Yes.”

“Has he ever…just used the space ability as just a space ability?”

“Well…I don’t know. We will have to ask him when he wakes up, why?”

“There might be a solution but it will be tricky.”

“What? Tell me?” Lan Zhou was so excited that Song Yu flinched in his sleep. He instantly silenced himself before moving the both of the away for the conversation.

“What do you mean it’s going to be tricky?”

“I mean…what if he is just over exerting his variant ability, and not his main ability. That may be causing the imbalance. You can’t pull a cart before the horse. And the more he uses his pure ability, the more it upgrades, the more the distance widens, hence the lash back.”

“So he has to use MORE of his ability to stop him from ability exhaustion? That makes no sense! And besides, variants are just an add-on to the ability!”

“Lan Zhou…show me a blue flame.”

Lan Zhou eagerly lip up his palms, the bright blue flames igniting the small chamber with light. The size was similar to a tennis ball, but could reach immediately to the Blue Sun.

“Now, show me a flame. Just a normal flame, without your variant.”

Confused, Lan Zhou lit up another ball of flames, this time orange with flecks of yellow and red. Immediately you could tell the difference. The blue flames was steady and continued its tennis ball shape, but the normal flames was a little shaky, smaller in size and not as hot.

“Although the normal flames use the same amount of spiritual energy, it still looks like this right? You’ve been exercising only one ability, completely slacking in training your MAIN ability. However, if you calculate how much difference your abilities are, it’s still in the acceptable range. You’re blue variant is A Level while your fire ability is Level 10. In Song Yu’s case, his Pure ability is A Level while his space ability is Level 4.”

Lan Zhou stared at the normal flames that he hadn’t seen in almost a decade. It was true that at first, he had a fire ability, and he had used it to the extreme in the first few years of the apocalypse. When he developed the variant, he had only ever used the variant. Even if it was the same fire ability…

“Is that why I haven’t been able to level up after so long? Cause of the main ability?”

“That might be the case. However, this is just me theorizing everything. If we are right and Song Yu hasn’t been using his main ability, we will have to find a way for his to upgrade it.”

“Upgrade what?”

Lan Zhou and Xiao Zi turned to see Song Yu. He had gotten up because he was hungry and saw the two of them hunched in a corner mumbling slightly. He had only heard a bit of the conversation when he heard his name. Curious he crouched next to the unsuspecting Xiao Zi.

“Blarh! You a ghost?! Scared me to death!”

“Hehe.”

Xiao Zi’s heartbeat went back to normal, and told him his theory. Song Yu listened in rapture, his eyes widening. Mouth agape in stunned appreciation he couldn’t help be hug him.

“Wow! You’re a genius! I would have never thought of that! Let’s try it! Let’s try!”

Song Yu immediately grabbed the blanket on the bed and put it in his space. With smiling eyes he waited a minute. But to his own surprise, the blanket came out fresh and soft like it was brand new. He stared blankly at the blanket.

“That’s weird, I didn’t do anything to it in the space.”

He tried it again with the pillow, waited a minute and took it out. The same results.

“Everything that goes into my space is automatically purified. I…never knew that.”

Lan Zhou saw his aggrieved look and hugged him from behind in comfort. Song Yu took a tea cup that was slightly chipped and placed it into his space. Using spatial awareness, he was able to see that the millisecond it entered, the purification had started.

“What should I do? It seems like a passive skill.”

“Hmm…”

Xiao Zi was not deterred. He had met many spatial ability users; his dearest friend Wang Cheng was one. And there were many ways to use it.

If he condensed the space into a solid, maybe that could work.

“Can you control the space?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, can you condense the space? Space is a figurative word; the space is actually a portal to a separate dimension not in this world and does not impact its surroundings, but if it can be condensed to the point where it fits the laws of matter like solids, liquid, and gas; then it can appear in spatial form.”

Lan Zhou and Song Yu both looked befuddled as if Xiao Zi was talking elfish. Xiao Zi gritted his teeth.

“I’m saying…think of a weapon and use your ability to conjure one. Just try!”

“OOOOOHHHHHH”

Xiao Zi really wanted to punch these idiots.