Rash's laughter continued for a while before he finally calmed down. Still chuckling and brushing away the tears that had formed in his eyes, he spoke.
"Sorry. I tried to hold it back, I really did, but the way you said it made it sound like some kind of national secret. Hahaha."
I grew even more annoyed as he laughed again.
Rash caught his breath after a few moments and asked another question after calming down.
"Adonis, how long do you think the fourteen races have existed?"
I thought for a moment before answering.
"At least a thousand—"
But I stopped mid-sentence as realization hit me.
Rash clapped his hands.
"Yes, exactly. Thousands of years. So tell me—do you really think nobody has ever found out another race's abilities during all that time?"
I slowly shook my head.
"No."
"That's right. Racial abilities aren't secrets. People openly use them and even study them."
He smiled before adding with another small chuckle,
"And even if they were some kind of guarded secret, do you really think anyone would punish me for telling you? What would they even do? I'm already a slave."
His explanation made me feel stupid once again. That seemed to happen almost every time Rash explained something to me.
Embarrassed, I changed the topic.
"Okay… so what are the dragonkins' abilities?"
"Oh, right. The dragonkin."
It seemed like Rash had forgotten that we were talking about something important.
He straightened at once, tone becoming serious again.
"I don't know every detail, but their inherent ability is called Dragonheart. It's nothing particularly flashy. It simply makes it easier for them to use mana. But their racial ability is really powerful."
"It's called Dragonfication and allows them to transform."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"As you can already guess, they transform into dragons. That sounds powerful, but there are drawbacks. All dragonkin can transform into what's called the Partial Form. They grow claws, tails, scales, and wings. Their horns and teeth become longer as well. Their physical strength increases at least threefold."
He paused again.
I frowned.
"What's the drawback?"
Rash took a breath before continuing.
"Transformation consumes their mana. That means Dragonfication can only be maintained for a limited time."
I waited for a moment, thinking he would speak more before narrowing my eyes.
"That's not really a drawback. That just means that they aren't all-powerful."
Another chuckle broke out of him.
"You're right. And that's exactly why dragonkins are called a superior race."
I tilted my head.
"Superior race?"
He nodded.
"It's not an official title, but most people call them that. If you compare the Sahari racial ability to the dragonkins', it's easy to understand why."
I answered.
"Strength."
"Exactly."
Then, as if remembering something, he slapped his thigh.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot something important. The dragonkin race ability has a True Form. This is also where the difference between Highbloods and Lowbloods comes from."
I waited for him to continue.
"The Highbloods—those with the blood of the First Dragon in their veins—can transform into the True Form. The True Form of Dragonfication…is a dragon."
My eyes widened.
"In the True Form, they don't just grow wings or claws. Their entire body transforms. Their limbs turn into four legs. Two massive wings grow from their backs. Their neck becomes dozens of meters long. And their bodies grow enormously. They become a dragon."
"Well… a small one."
He smirked.
"Terrifying, right?"
I waited for him to continue, but when he said nothing more, I asked,
"And the drawback?"
He tilted his head, confused.
"I already told you."
"They use their mana for the transformation. So it can only last for a limited time."
I almost cursed, but then remembered why we had started this conversation.
"Wait… if my opponent is from the Highbloods…does that mean he can also transform like that?"
Rash thought for a moment before realizing what I meant and shook his head.
"No," he said. "He shouldn't be able to."
"He's probably still young. As long as they don't put you against an adult, you're fine."
Then he added.
"But that's also why I warned you. He can still use the Partial Form."
"Fuck."
Rash chuckled.
"Yeah. Like I said."
He patted my shoulder as if comforting me.
"You're fucked."
I thought for a moment before another thought struck me.
"Wait."
"So what's my ability?"
Rash looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"My racial abilities. What can humans do?"
Rash stared at me as he understood what I meant. For a moment, he remained silent, and I assumed he was trying to remember what my abilities were.
I waited patiently, already imagining some kind of cheat ability I could use.
Then, his lips parted.
And—
"Nothing."
He shattered my hopes.
My mouth opened wide, and it took a moment before the surprise settled and I could speak again.
"What do you mean, nothing? Every race has an ability. So what's mine?"
Rash nearly laughed again, but stopped when he saw how serious I was.
Sighing, he answered.
"As I said... you guys don't have racial abilities."
Then he lowered his voice slightly.
"And that's also why humans are called…the Lowest Race."
***
After that, I asked Rash a few more questions about the dragonkin race and their abilities. How they worked or what I should look out for.
The conversation turned into more of a study session than training.
Eventually, I left the arena to rest before my duel.
Rash stayed behind.
He said he would spend some time with the rest of the group.
He called it "Team building".
But it looked more like he was trying to build something with Ines.
After leaving the arena, I took a bath before returning to the cell. Grabbing some food, I climbed onto my bed and ate before lying down.
There were many thoughts circling through my mind after learning about racial abilities.
But the thing I thought about the most…
Was the human Race Ability.
As Rash said, humans didn't have one.
That was why we were called the Lowest Race.
But that wasn't the whole truth.
After pestering him long enough, Rash finally told me what he had heard.
Humans did have an inherent ability.
It just wasn't as obvious as the Sahari or dragonkin abilities.
But we have one.
The human inherent ability could be summarized in a single word.
Talent.
That is our racial ability.
Humans are the only race that can have any affinity.
At first, that sounded weak.
But there was more.
Other races have affinity restrictions.
For example, Sahari, who lived in the desert, could never be born with a water affinity. Or that Celestials could not possess the darkness affinity.
Each race has a different restriction.
Only humans have none.
It wasn't anything big, but still a gain for humanity.
That doesn't only apply to affinities.
A human's learning capability is also higher.
We can learn almost anything.
For example, the smithing techniques that dwarves specialize in can be learned by humans—but not by a dragonkin.
Not only can humans learn them.
They can learn them quickly.
Other races have naturally longer lifespans than humans, which gives them more time to study various skills or techniques. But humans don't have that advantage.
Our talent helps us in that aspect.
The nickname given to the human racial ability was—
Jack of all Trades.
Humans could excel in anything if they really wanted to.
The other thing Rash explained came after I asked why humans even had their own continent.
From his explanation, I understood that humans were weaker than all other races.
So why hadn't they been conquered or wiped out?
His answer was simple.
"No matter how many humans die on one side of the world…more appear somewhere else."
It wasn't magic.
Just an analogy.
Humans have the highest birth rate of all races.
We live shorter lives than all others, but in return, our reproduction ability is faster than that of any other race.
That is why we are called a dominant race.
A massive population and diversity across every path.
That was what allowed humanity to compete with the other races.