Chapter 194: Finding A God

The glow in his palm flickered weakly at first, unstable, as the bone barrier around him shook under another wave of impacts. Cracks formed and repaired in quick cycles, the chalk men outside striking harder and faster, reacting to the shift they sensed.

Adam ignored it.

His focus turned inward.

An affinity always began in the soul before it ever reached the body. The gene was only a vessel, a reflection of something deeper. If he could trigger that origin point, then the rest would follow naturally.

Familiarity… that’s the key.

He wasn’t trying to overpower them anymore.

He was trying to deceive them.

Outside, the pressure increased again, heavy blows landing in rapid succession as the chalk men intensified their assault. The barrier creaked louder this time, the sound sharp, but Adam didn’t let it break his concentration.

Chaos stirred within him.

He guided it carefully, searching for that specific pattern, that presence he had touched before but never truly controlled. Holy Light wasn’t new to him, but he had never needed to draw it out directly like this.

“I don’t have a technique for it but it doesn’t matter.”

His voice was quiet but firm as he steadied his breathing, forcing everything else aside. As a primary affinity, it didn’t require a form. It didn’t require structure. It only needed to exist.

Once it awakened, everything else would follow.

Adam closed his eyes briefly, isolating the sensation as he tried to replicate the process he had used before. Death came from understanding its embrace. Force came from control, from balance between increase and release.

So what about this?

Holy Light…

Another attack slammed into the barrier, and this time the cracks lingered longer before sealing. The chalk men weren’t slowing down. If anything, they were accelerating, responding to his shift even without understanding it.

Adam inhaled slowly.

Then exhaled.

What makes it different from normal light?

His mind moved quickly, searching through memory, pulling from every moment he had seen it in action. Remedy’s techniques. The way they activated. The way they moved.

They were Fast, Instant and Clean.

He latched onto that.

Speed?

It made sense on the surface. His first equipped talent had been speed-based. His body understood acceleration, reaction and movement. If Holy Light was about that, then he already had the foundation.

But, something felt off.

“It was too simple.”

His eyes opened slightly, the faint glow in his palm wavering as he rejected the idea. Speed was part of it, but not the core. It didn’t explain the presence, the feeling behind the affinity.

There was something else.

Something deeper.

Adam’s gaze sharpened as he replayed it again, not focusing on how fast it moved, but how it felt when it appeared. The clarity. The weight behind it. The way it erased everything it touched.

“…Light… isn’t the point.”

The glow in his palm flickered again, this time stabilizing slightly as his focus narrowed further. He wasn’t chasing the wrong concept anymore. He was getting closer.

Closer to the truth of it.

Adam’s lips parted slightly as the realization began to form, his attention locking onto a single part of the name.

“…Holy Light.”

His voice slowed.

“…Holy.”

The word lingered.

****

“…Holy.”

The word lingered in the air, but nothing immediate followed, and the faint glow in Adam’s palm wavered again as the bone barrier shook violently. Outside, the chalk men slammed into it harder than before, their attacks growing sharper.

Adam exhaled slowly, his brows knitting together as his thoughts shifted direction again. If “holy” was the key, then it wasn’t just about power or speed. It had meaning. Something deeper than mechanics or control.

Belief…?

The idea felt strange the moment it formed.

Adam had never been a religious person. When things had gone wrong in his past, there had been no divine intervention, no higher power stepping in. Strength had always come from effort, from survival, from himself.

Even after becoming a martial artist, even after joining a team tied to a god—

He had never truly believed.

“…And now I’m supposed to pray?”

Another attack cracked against the barrier, a thin fracture spreading across the surface before sealing again. Adam glanced up briefly, then shook his head, letting out a quiet breath as he pushed the doubt aside.

If this is what it takes… then I’ll try it.

In this world, belief wasn’t just philosophy.

It had structure.

Martial artists aligned themselves with higher existences when forming or joining teams. There were four major gods recognized across factions, each representing a different path.

The God of Void.

The God of Wisdom.

The God of Soul.

The God of Stars.

Adam’s gaze steadied as he focused on the one Eden was tied to.

The God of Soul.

“If I’m going to try this…”

His voice was low, uncertain, but steady enough.

“…then it might as well be you.”

He didn’t know how to pray.

There was no technique for this. So he did the only thing he could think of, speaking plainly, awkwardly, without structure or ceremony.

“Uh… big guy.”

Another impact slammed into the barrier.

“I need help.”

The words felt strange coming out, unfamiliar in a way that made him almost cringe, but he didn’t stop. If this was about belief, then hesitation would only make it worse.

“I need access to this affinity.”

He waited but nothing happened.

The glow in his palm didn’t change. The pressure outside didn’t ease. The chalk men continued their assault without interruption, as if his attempt hadn’t mattered in the slightest.

“…Yeah. Thought so.”

Adam let out a short breath, almost a laugh, shaking his head slightly as he dropped his hand. That hadn’t worked. Not even a reaction. It felt empty, forced, and completely ineffective.

But he didn’t give up.

He tried again.

And again.

Switching words. Changing tone. Even directing his thoughts outward instead of speaking, hoping something would respond. The results stayed the same, each attempt fading into nothing without effect.

The barrier creaked louder.

The cracks came faster.

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced around, then exhaled through his nose.

“This isn’t going anywhere.”

He didn’t stop there either.

If one god didn’t respond, maybe another would.

He shifted his focus, trying the others in quick succession, testing the same idea with different targets, but each attempt ended exactly the same.

Outside, the chalk men hit harder.

Inside, nothing answered.

Adam lowered his gaze slightly, his expression flattening as frustration built beneath the surface. This wasn’t working. Not like this. There was something wrong with the approach, something he still wasn’t seeing.

Then a thought surfaced.

…Does it have to be a god?

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