Chapter 136: New Identity

Adam tilted his head slightly.

“I don’t get the question.”

Ivy looked at him with a visible pout.

“I know you do. You’re just dodging it.”

He maintained an expressionless face.

Forcing her to sigh, as she said .

“Well… first, Rem is the most reliable person I know. That is a fact. I’m one hundred percent sure of it.”

Her pink eyes drifted slightly, as if recalling past events.

“With enough data on a situation, I can simulate likely scenarios and outcomes.”

“Seriously?” Adam asked pretending as if he didn’t already know the answer from Analyze.

She nodded.

“I’m telling you this because I want to prove a point.”

He gave a small nod for her to continue.

“With the data I’ve collected, Rem wasn’t supposed to behave the way she did earlier. Normally, she would have tried to convince us through structured reasoning.”

Ivy’s gaze sharpened.

“Instead, she was ready to let us walk away. Just for you.”

Adam remained silent.

Ivy’s eyes glowed faintly.

She had a star power of ten but it meant little if supported by external tools. So Adam didn’t let his guard down.

Her storage ring likely contained more than utility items.

Her tone shifted.

“Are you and Rem dating?”

“….”

He did not answer.

Ivy leaned forward slightly.

“That would explain her behavior. Rem usually keeps her emotions controlled. But today? She reacted differently for you.”

Her eyes widened suddenly.

“And she started acting like a sixteen-year-old who just found her first—”

Before she could finish, the world blurred for her.

One moment she was mid-sentence.

The next, she was standing in the hallway, as the door shut firmly in front of her.

Ivy blinked and shock replaced speculation.

Was that his speed…?

She hadn’t even perceived the transition.

Then realization settled.

He is avoiding the question.

She began knocking on the door.

Inside, Adam ignored it completely.

He returned to the bed and sat cross-legged.

His breathing stabilized and essence gathered once more.

Whatever Ivy was speculating he didn’t have time for it.

Adam had already tuned out the knocking and the rhythm faded after a minute, as silence returned.

For a genius, she acts like a child.

He let the thought pass without attachment and focus returned inward.

Now that he had a new appearance, mobility was restored. Operational freedom mattered more than comfort. He couldn’t remain confined to this manor indefinitely.

Growth required exposure.

First priority: his Profound Spirit.

To increase its tier, he needed Existence. And Existence required kills.

Essence absorption alone would not suffice.

There was also Fuse.

He was no longer entirely constrained by slot limitations. But compatibility mattered and to test compatibility, he needed options.

Which meant going out.

He also needed to refine his battle intelligence. Real engagements sharpened pattern recognition faster than theory. Additionally, he had to test how fusion affected conduits and armaments.

However they could be done within the manor.

Then there was the matter of legality.

A martial license.

Without it, entering regulated zones would trigger investigation. And since Adam was officially dead, his previous documentation was useless.

Remedy had assured him finances wouldn’t be an issue.

He wasn’t concerned about money.

The license was the constraint.

He would need to meet Remedy tomorrow.

Clarify the full details of John Doe and understand the constructed background.

He had no intention of consulting Ivy for that.

For obvious reasons.

Adam exhaled slowly and deepened the absorption cycle.

Essence flowed steadily into him.

This time, his mind was clear with no distractions.

****

Adam was jolted awake by a knock at the door.

His eyes opened instantly, as sunlight filtered through the windows, stretching across the floor. He realized he was still seated cross-legged on the bed.

I must have slept off.

The knock came again.

Assuming it was Ivy, he ignored it.

Then Remedy’s voice came through the door.

“Are you still asleep?”

Adam activated Connect briefly.

It was her.

He rose from the bed and walked to the door. As he opened it, Remedy was mid-motion, hand raised to knock again.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

What caught his attention was the fact she wore a simple nightgown and a bonnet covered her hair.

The image clashed slightly with the elegance one would expect from her, although he was already used to this side of her, since it gave her a grounded and almost ordinary appearance.

“Sorry,” she said. “Did I disturb your sleep?”

“It’s no issue,” Adam replied. “I needed to wake up.”

“Good.”

The conversation stopped there as her eyes scanned him carefully.

“How does the new look feel on you?”

He shrugged lightly.

“Apart from the pain I experienced during the process and the slight disorientation when I look in the mirror, I feel completely normal.”

She nodded once, as he continued.

“But I’ll need his details if I want to get my martial license after I go to the mission hall today.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

He paused.

“It won’t?”

“Yes. It won’t.”

Adam remained silent, waiting.

“Your identity was already a registered martial artist,” she explained. “He already has a license. You just need to pay the fine to reapply for a replacement.”

He processed it.

“Oh.”

That simplified logistics.

But he wasn’t satisfied.

“I still need to know about him,” Adam said. “In case I run into people he knew.”

“That won’t be a problem as well.”

Her expression shifted slightly.

“He mostly kept to himself.”

There was faint disgust in her tone.

After a brief pause, she continued.

“Also, since we’re going to the mission hall, we can do what I planned for today.”

Adam studied her.

“What’s that?”

“It’s time to officially register you into the team.”

****

Teams were not a social construct.

They were a survival mechanism.

In the early years of monster emergence, before martial artists discovered they could manifest spirits, the power imbalance was catastrophic. Monsters of the same rank normally outclassed human counterparts due to innate special talents.

A martial artist without an exceptional physique, bloodline, or rare talent was statistically inferior in single combat.

There were only two solutions.

Become exceptional.

Or gather numbers.

Thus, teams were formed.

Quantity compensated for qualitative disparity. Coordinated assaults, layered abilities, rotating engagement patterns, these reduced casualties compared to isolated duels.

The mortality rate was still high and by modern standards it was inefficient.

But it worked.

The turning point came with the discovery and structured cultivation of martial spirits. With spirit manifestation, human combat capability multiplied. Star power density increased. Techniques became scalable and teams evolved.

They were no longer desperate clusters of survival.

They became structured combat units.

Within the Martial Alliance, a martial group, commonly referred to as a team, became the intermediate unit while the Individual martial artists formed the primary layer. Teams reinforced, specialized, and projected force outward.

A lone martial artist could act.

A team could endure.

And endurance was what kept the Alliance intact.

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