Chapter 156: Not So Good At Scheming

Adam knew immediately that the poison wasn’t from the previous batches.

He hadn’t been injured.

Not once.

And even if trace exposure had occurred, it wouldn’t have affected him like this.

So he analyzed it calmly.

The goblins followed a poison hierarchy.

Unranked-class carried Poison G and Poison F.

Normal-class advanced to Poison E and Poison D.

Abnormal-class possessed Poison C, Poison B, and Poison A.

Hell-class introduced the second boss-tier variant with Poison S and even that hadn’t affected him.

Which meant it was the next escalation.

The Abyssal-class.

Their boss would wield Poison SS.

Adam’s eyes sharpened despite the dizziness.

That’s what’s affecting me.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Cryogen.”

Cold surged inward this time and his internal temperature dropped in controlled micro-gradients.

Damaged organs restructured, torn tissue sealed, ruptured vessels reformed and the blood he had vomited evaporated into frost.

But the poison didn’t disappear.

It lingered and attacked continuously.

So Adam continued running Cryogen, relentlessly.

He could sustain it indefinitely.

But could the goblin keep up the poison?

He would find out soon enough as he stood motionless before the rift.

Body deteriorating, healing, deteriorating again and healing again.

It was a silent standoff, as minutes passed.

Then…

The nausea abruptly stopped, the internal corrosion ceased, the pressure lifted and Adam’s vision stabilized.

In the next moment…

Green gas began forming in front of the rift.

It hadn’t been there before and it seemed to have gathered from nowhere, as it compressed and condensed.

The gas twisted and solidified, before finally taking a form.

As a goblin emerged.

But unlike the Hell-class giants, this one was normal-sized.

Its body was covered in intricate dark tattoos that pulsed faintly.

A sharpened bone pierced through its nose like a tribal chief’s ornament and its eyes were intelligent, focused and calculating.

Adam didn’t hesitate the moment he laid eyes on the goblin he attacked.

“Cryogen D.”

Crystalline ice erupted around the goblin instantly and it was sealed within a translucent prison.

The goblin reacted violently.

Green poison surged outward, corroding the inner surface of the crystal.

It tried to move and break free.

But Adam’s eyes hardened, as he tightened his control.

The crystal morphed inward.

Rewriting the goblins structure at the molecular level.

But the goblin resisted fiercely.

Its poison flared brighter.

But Adam’s control was absolute.

The crystalline casing shifted again and then collapsed inward completely.

The goblin’s form was fully transfigured within the ice.

It was finally dead.

The crystal then shattered into fragments, as Adam exhaled softly.

“That was close.”

Adam hadn’t hesitated for a reason.

The moment the Abyssal-class goblin materialized from the poison mist.

He saw it clearly.

Star Power: 41.

Higher than the Hell-class boss.

Higher than anything before it.

And unlike the others, It didn’t brute-force its presence.

It infiltrated and attacked internally first.

If Adam allowed it even a few seconds to fully stabilize.

The poison would stack.

So he didn’t hold back.

Cryogen sealed it instantly.

Then he transfigured it within the crystalline prison and instantly killed it.

Adam exhaled slowly.

He remained confident that Equip isolated negative effects from slotted abilities.

So far, every talent he equipped had produced zero backlash.

But if he was wrong and this affinity bypassed that safeguard, then he would unequip it immediately.

It would be a waste.

But dying wasn’t worth it.

Adam’s eyes remained locked on the rift.

As seconds passed.

Then the rift flickered and vanished, as the street fell silent.

Adam stared at the empty space, eyes narrowing but before he could analyze further the shadow appeared in front of him.

“Well done, You passed the first phase.”

Adam looked at it calmly.

“Isn’t there supposed to be one more wave?”

The shadow shook its expressionless head.

“No.”

“I am satisfied with what I have seen.”

Then it added.

“And we both know you would not have lasted against that next wave.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

There goes keeping my cards hidden.

He clicked his tongue internally.

I’m not as good at scheming as I thought.

He pushed the thought aside.

“So,” Adam said evenly, “what’s the second phase? You said it would test my combat intelligence.”

The shadow nodded.

It clapped its hands once and the world dissolved, as district Seven disappeared and they reappeared in a vast expanse of endless white ground stretching to the horizon. The shadow stood a short distance away.

“For the next test,” it said calmly

“You will be fighting me.”

****

Adam stared at the shadowy figure, as he activated Connect again.

But there was still nothing.

No soul flame, no fluctuation, no intent signature.

Just a dark void.

He switched to Analyze and the result was the same.

[????]

Even its star power was unreadable.

Adam exhaled slowly.

If he couldn’t determine whether this entity meant well or harm.

Then the answer would only reveal itself at the end.

This better be worth it.

He tightened his grip on Judgement.

“Will you reduce my star power?” Adam asked calmly.

The shadow tilted its head.

“That is a barbaric way of using my affinity.”

Adam didn’t respond to that statement.

Then, he felt it.

A feeling very familiar.

Subtle but unmistakable.

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The sensation brushing against his perception.

It felt extremely familiar.

Death affinity?

But that didn’t make sense.

His Death affinity was his.

The shadow’s power was something else.

Vanta.

Or whatever it truly was.

And yet, the feeling radiating from it carried the same quiet inevitability.

The same stillness before an ending.

Adam’s pulse slowed deliberately and As Adam studied the shadow something else flared from it.

A brilliant, blinding light erupted outward, causing Adam’s pupils to constrict.

Isn’t that… Holy Light?

That was Remedy’s primary affinity.

But the shadow didn’t stop there.

The light shifted and Darkness pulsed beneath it.

Wind howled faintly.

Flames flickered across its outline.

Lightning cracked along its edges.

Earth tremored under its feet.

Multiple affinities ignited simultaneously from the same being and Adam watched in stunned silence as his mind connected the pieces instantly.

“If you are able to move me from this spot…”

It paused.

“You have won.”

Adam looked at the empty expanse.

Then back at the being radiating countless affinities.

That’s the test?

Adam’s lips pressed into a thin line.

He didn’t object.

Because now, he understood what this affinity likely was.

And seeing it for what it truly represented, he wanted it completely.

****

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