Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent-Chapter 158: Huge Gains

Adam’s eyes snapped open to a familiar ceiling.

He was back in his room in the manor and for a few seconds, he didn’t move, until he slowly sat up, as his gaze shifted to the side.

William’s corpse was still there, encased in crystalline ice from Cryogen.

Adam exhaled and dropped back onto the floor, staring at the ceiling again.

That was a close call.

On paper, that situation had been unwinnable.

Facing an ancient entity, a test that wasn’t really a test and a possession attempt disguised as a reward.

And yet...

He was still here and the reason was simple: it was his special talent Equip.

Adam had long suspected it.

Anything that entered an equip slot could not harm him.

But this affinity had been different.

Unlike his other abilities, which slotted in immediately the moment he chose to equip them, this one required a separate process.

A "test."

Which meant it hadn’t been fully equipped yet.

It had been in a pseudo-equip state.

That was the key.

Adam only realized it at the very end.

When the shadow started gloating and bragging about taking over his body.

When it believed it had already won.

That was when the panel changed.

The affinity that had shown nothing but question marks since the beginning.

Finally revealed its name.

A new notification had appeared.

[Affinity Acquired]

[Chaos: The origin of all things...]

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly at the memory.

The description had continued.

And for once, the panel had been extremely clear.

[...There is no harm in this affinity.]

That single line changed everything.

The shadow had assumed it could take over.

It didn’t realize that the moment Adam agreed to equip the affinity his special talent would protect him.

The entity wasn’t testing Adam.

It was being filtered.

And once Adam confirmed the equip, the outcome was already decided.

Adam stared at the ceiling again.

Then a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, as he pulled up his panel.

╭───────────╮

〖Name: Adam〗

〖Rank: Profound Apprentice〗

〖Cultivation Talent: G〗

〖Special Talent: Equip ❖ Connect ❖ Analyze ❖ Fuse〗

〖Affinity: Wind ❖ Death+〗

〖SLOT〗

↳ SOUL (5): Rapid Charge D ❖ Cryogen D ❖ Cultivation D ❖ Mind Control E ❖ Bone Generation D

↳ BODY (6): JUDGEMENT

↳ Gene (3): Chaos

╰───────────╯

[Star Power: 47±]

[Existence: 3858]

[Martial Spirit: Profound 3-Star]

His eyes immediately locked onto the new slot.

Gene (3): Chaos.

The new slot made sense, after all affinities were born in the soul but embedded in the genes. So it only made sense that the panel would create a separate slot for it.

Adam’s gaze shifted down.

[Star Power: 47±]

It had increased by five.

Five.

That wasn’t a minor boost it was a leap and although not comparable to the gain from Judgement it was still a substantial increase.

Adam then focused on the Gene slot.

"Chaos."

A new panel unfolded.

[Chaos: The origin of all things...]

[Current Affinities Adapted: Death ❖ Holy Light ❖ Flames ❖ Earth ❖ Wind ❖ Lightning ❖ Disable]

Adam’s eyes sharpened.

Chaos didn’t just give him one affinity.

It adapted others.

Death and Wind were already his.

But the rest he had touched through the shadow.

Holy Light. Flames. Earth. Lightning.

And 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Disable.

He focused on that one as the description expanded.

[Disable: A Supreme Affinity that reduces the output of various qualities.]

Adam blinked.

"Supreme affinity?"

He leaned back slightly.

Up until now, he thought affinities came in two types:

Regular.

And Primary, those that boosted star power by one once their aura awakened.

But he hadn’t awakened anything.

He had simply equipped Chaos.

And that alone had increased his star power by five.

Just from having it.

Adam’s thoughts raced.

If I adapt more Supreme affinities...

His lips slowly curved upward.

I’ll turn into a walking star power generator.

The idea was absurd and thrilling at the same time.

But he quickly reined himself in.

Excitement led to mistakes.

"So... how do I test this?"

Adam activated Connect in the next moment, as soul flames belonging to both Felecia and Scott ignited in his perception.

And they were both training.

Adam smirked.

Perfect.

He then stood up, as the crystalline-encased remains of William dissolved into his storage ring with a flicker of essence and Adam walked toward the door.

****

Eden Manor’s training room was top-tier.

It had reinforced flooring, shock-absorbing walls and essence-dampening arrays.

But it still looked like a war zone.

Craters littered the ground.

Cracks spidered across the tiles.

And in the middle of one particularly impressive crater...

Scott lay flat on his back.

Barely conscious.

After "some training," he had suggested a spar.

That decision had led directly to his current life crisis.

Felecia sat against the far wall, jacket tied around her waist, revealing a black sports singlet. She looked perfectly fine.

Not even winded.

"And I held back. A lot," she said lazily.

Scott responded with a weak groan.

He was currently reconsidering several life choices.

"What happened to him?"

Felecia answered automatically, eyes still on Scott.

"Just the result of sparring."

Then she turned to Adam who had just stepped into the training room and her eyes widened.

He got stronger. Again.

The change wasn’t subtle.

It pressed against the air.

It hadn’t even been two full days since she met him.

Two days.

And he had already made another leap.

Earlier, she had thought Adam and Remedy were birds of a feather when it came to growth.

Monsters growing together.

Now?

It was obvious.

One of them was sprinting ahead.

Adam looked around the ruined training room and nodded slowly.

"Oh."

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"I guess that makes things easier."

Felecia raised a brow.

"Make what easier?"

Adam rolled his shoulders once.

"To spar."

Scott, still in the crater, made a strangled noise.

Felecia stared at Adam for a long second.

Then she stood up slowly.

"Are you sure about that?"

Her lips curved into something dangerous.

Adam’s smile didn’t fade.

"Very."

****

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