In Abel's view, the talent "Heart of the Others" was essentially a death sentence.
At five days of lifespan consumed per minute of activation, one hour would cost 300 days.
With a lifespan just over a thousand days, he could barely enjoy a few hours of power before dying.
What could someone possibly do with just a few hours?
Go for one last massage and disappear forever?
Forget battles that lasted days and nights — even short fights would drain his life dry.
Even if he bought all 99 [Red Hearts] in the system shop, it would barely offset the cost of using this talent.
So, for the time being, Heart of the Others was almost useless.
It was a blue-quality talent, one step above the lowest tier, so it was hard to expect much.
While transformed into a White Walker, defense, speed, and strength each increased by 50%, and pain perception was reduced by half.
That would've been acceptable — if not for the fatal side effect.
Since it was just low-tier blue, what more could he demand?
For now, the only redeeming feature was its growth potential. Maybe its flaws could be improved after it evolved.
"No wonder it's only blue-quality. Most people probably wouldn't dare use it," Abel muttered.
"But I'm different. The system shop already sells items like Red Hearts that increase lifespan, which means there will definitely be other ways to extend life in the future."
"So as long as I don't use it recklessly, and only activate it in crucial moments for bursts of power, it's acceptable."
"Besides, this talent is upgradeable. The conditions are dangerous, but if I can keep myself safe, it might be worth trying."
With that thought, Abel's mood improved slightly.
He had originally planned to remove the Amber Lead toxins once either he or Law obtained the Ope Ope no Mi.
But plans never kept up with change.
Now, the lead poisoning had become part of him — his talent — and it appeared there was no way to remove it anymore.
Blessings and curses were unpredictable.
Even Abel didn't know whether this change was good or bad.
Since he would inevitably need this talent in the future, Abel gritted his teeth and decided to activate it here and now. He needed to understand what the transformation felt like before a real fight, or else in a life-and-death moment, hesitation could get him killed.
"Hnn—"
The moment Heart of the Others activated, Abel groaned.
His heart hammered violently, and a surge of poison flooded his veins, spreading throughout his body.
In seconds, his entire skin turned a sickly pale white, just like the original white patches — now covering everything.
His pupils turned blood-red in the dim light, glowing unnaturally.
His short hair lengthened rapidly, growing past his shoulders, then to his waist, and turned stark white.
This was the true form of a White Walker.
A pale, uncanny demon.
At this moment, even Law might not have recognized him — or wouldn't have dared to.
"...haa."
When the transformation completed, Abel exhaled, stunned by how agonizing it had been.
Thankfully, once fully transformed, the pain immediately decreased by half, shifting from unbearable torment to something that only made him clench his jaw.
"Definitely the right choice to test this first."
This degree of pain hadn't been mentioned in the system description at all.
Without mental preparation, he would've been blindsided.
Abel looked at his pale hands, then clenched his fists, feeling the changes.
Though faint, he could tell his strength had increased.
At his current level, he couldn't properly feel it — he was still weak. To unleash true power, he needed a solid foundation. No one became strong overnight.
After a brief adjustment period, Abel deactivated the White Walker form.
The poison retreated back into his heart, the white patches faded, and his hair shrank back to its original black form, excess strands breaking off and turning to ash.
In less than a minute, five days of lifespan had already vanished.
He then tried releasing just a tiny trace of the toxin…
White blotches appeared sporadically, along with a faint throbbing.
"It really can be controlled."
Relieved, Abel checked the system — maintaining a partial release didn't count as activating the talent. He could safely hide this form from Law for now.
Otherwise, he would have no explanation for such drastic changes, and mistrust would be inevitable.
Better to maintain the status quo.
His character profile now read:
[Host]: Gustavus Abel
[Basic Trading Qualification]
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Height: 140 cm
Weight: 25.5 kg
Lifespan: 4 years, 355 days
Talent: Heart of the Others (Blue)
Ability: None
Trading Points: 825
Seeing his lifespan drop below five years, Abel had the urge to spend all his points on Red Hearts.
But he held back.
He understood now just how valuable Trading Points were.
And right now, did it matter whether he had 5 years or 10?
That was a meaningless investment in the short term.
Better to keep resources flexible and buy items that actually helped his current situation.
Once he figured that out, Abel let the urge fade.
Only one thought remained:
"Law has been gone way too long…"
A bad feeling crept across his mind.
After leaving a mark for Law, Abel quickly got up to look for him.
Fortunately, he could now control the release of his toxins. As long as he wanted, he could appear to be just a slightly sick, ordinary child.