The Dawn of the New World

"Extract!"

The white light emanating from Hao Xuan's palm grew in intensity until it covered the spider completely.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes instinctively as a stream of information poured into his mind, changing even his soul in some ways.

The light that had engulfed both the spider and Hao Xuan by now suddenly pulsed after more than two minutes, creating a soundless shockwave that sent Hao Xuan flying away.

He crashed into a pillar in one of the corners of his Mind Palace.

*Hurk*

Hao Xuan almost keeled over right then and there as a feeling of powerlessness overtook him like a hurricane. His knees buckled and he hit the ground hard.

*BAM*

His body in the outside world had blood running down from its eyes, nose, and ears.

Feeling Hao Xuan's grip loosening around his mane, Grey quickly slowed down and came to a stop near a flowing stream on the outskirts of a forest.

Hao Xuan opened his eyes and returned to the outside world. His hands and legs felt so weak that he couldn't even hold onto Grey's back, finally falling over.

*GASP*

He opened his mouth as wide as it possibly would to draw in a mouthful of air.

"What...the...hell..." Hao Xuan mumbled with some effort as his chest bobbed up and down in rapid succession to provide his body with the oxygen he so desperately needed right now.

His brain felt like it had been microwaved and was about to leak out through his ears and nose. The headaches intensity increased by several folds, turning into searing pain.

It felt like someone was poking his brain with a red hot stick.

Grey's two heads bent down and gently tapped on Hao Xuan's chest, making him sit up.

"Sorry about that, I didn't expect such a reaction..." he couldn't help but complain before breaking into a weak smile, "...but at least it worked...hahaha!"

He could feel this new ability inside him.

"Plunderer!" Hao Xuan shouted out loud, scaring the rodent-like creatures nearby.

"Hahahaha!" even with the pain currently running throughout his body and soul, he couldn't help but enjoy this small victory thoroughly.

Still smiling, he closed his eyes once again before taking out a potion and emptying it into his mouth.

Extracting this one measly ability had almost torn his mind and body apart. It seemed in his current condition, it would not be possible to extract any other abilities even if he was given the opportunity right now.

As the healing potion worked its wonders, Hao Xuan felt the changes inside him.

There was no "status window" that conveniently showed what was new inside him so Hao Xuan had to understand the stream of information on his own and make sense of it.

After spending a little over half an hour sifting through it, he started grinning. This was what he had understood from it.

Plunderer: By coming into physical contact with someone he could "steal" their luck if he wanted. This 'stealing' wasn't as obvious as he expected. It was just a vague feeling of fullness inside him.

He could not control how much luck he stole nor set aside a specific amount to use at a later stage.

If he wanted to use the stored luck which manifested as satiety, he would just have to think about it before making a certain decision or taking a certain action. At which point 'an appropriate' amount of luck would be used on its own to increase the chances of the situation turning in his favor.

Basically, he had very little control over the entire process. All he could do was aim and hope for the best.

But perhaps even more important than the ability itself was the knowledge that came with it. Even in his current state Hao Xuan quickly realized this.

"Luck...can't measure it or control it, but its always there. It can influence the outcome of real-world events to some degree but it is a little too unreliable to be used all the time or solely. Plus, there is no guarantee that it will work. Only increasing the odds turning n your favor," Hao Xuan concluded.

Now that he had gone over the spoils, Hao Xuan looked up and inspected his surroundings.

He was sitting on a bed of grass beside a stream of blue water that was barely two meters wide.

On the side he was on was a forest, but the other side of the stream was completely barren. Not a single blade of grass grew there which looked even more strange when compared to the lush greenery opposite to it.

*Neigh*

Seeing Hao Xuan come to his senses, Grey neighed and stomped on the ground.

"Hmm? Is this the place?" Hao Xuan looked at him with a frown before checking his coordinates.