Chapter 6: Almost losing control
'He has a good pair of eyes.'
This was Adam's first impression when he saw the young man, who appeared to be around 20 years old.
From his small actions, Adam could guess that this person was observing him. If that wasn't clear enough, the fluctuations in soul power he radiated were clearly detected by Adam.
'A quiet kid. Normally, they shouldn't behave like this. He definitely has some history, perhaps their parents?' The spiritual master observed everything about Adam with his eyes.
Meanwhile, Adam, although he was also observing the man before him, his gaze scanned the surroundings and looked further into the pattern engraved there. He performed a brief analysis and compared it with the knowledge he had gained from the Chaos Sea.
The two stared at each other for several minutes, each making observations and analyses in their own heads.
Silence…
"Ahem, sorry, sorry to keep you waiting." The spiritual master was the first to give in. He had basically done his analysis in his head and concluded that the child was probably an orphan who had lost both of his parents.
"Um," Adam nodded.
"Come, little friend, stand in the middle." The spiritual master regained his professional demeanor with a smile.
Adam walked over and stood still. He prepared himself and began connecting with the Chaos Sea. He was prepared that if anything went wrong, he would immediately release a small amount of aura from the Chaos Sea and corrupt him.
"No need to be so tense, little friend. I won't eat you." The spiritual master didn't notice anything amiss and prepared to begin the awakening ceremony.
"Concentrate and close your eyes. Feel your martial spirit with your mind."
The spiritual master raised his hand, and a soft white light flowed into his palm. This was the soul power that flowed throughout the world. Every soul master possessed it, and those who possessed it could cultivate.
A dazzling line lit up from the ceiling, extending downwards along the walls. The engraved pattern also lit up and began to gather soul power to assist the young man in awakening his martial spirit.
He actually quite liked this young child. A quiet and sensible person, not asking too many questions, and most importantly, he was something unique he had discovered in his life.
Looking at the blonde hair and blue eyes, even though he was a child, he looked so pure and harmless that it didn't match the image he had previously imagined.
Adam could feel a soul power flowing through his body, awakening something that seemed dormant and hidden, something that resided within him.
Particles of soul power rose within him, forming a projection outside Adam's body.
A gray-skinned dragon with golden eyes, shrouded in a thick mist. So thick that only the shadow showed a blur of what the dragon looked like.
Adam slowly opened his eyes, which had become tinged with gold and looked like shards of irregular glass. He gritted his teeth, feeling the pain raging inside him.
'What happened?'
What... Happens?
Adam held his head, which looked like it was about to explode. A sense of madness and various knowledge of ritualistic magic, a piece of mystical knowledge, seemed to rage in his head.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Adam held his head, which felt like it was about to explode.
"What… happened to me…?! Help…"
A hand tried to reach forward, seeking a grip, and grabbed the only person in front of him.
But Adam couldn't reach anything in front of him. The spiritual master had already walked away from the crazed Adam.
Blood streamed from every hole in his face. Adam fell to the floor, and a black shadow pulled the spiritual master, preventing him from escaping.
"Don't… don't come here… Monster, Monster!" The spiritual master screamed, using all his mental power to attack Adam.
A piercing mental attack stopped the shadow's movement for a moment. Adam even looked stunned for a moment, as clarity returned to his mind.
"Please… Help… me… What happened to me…" Adam whimpered, looking into the spiritual master's terrified eyes.
"!!!… It can't be… how?!"
Adam gritted his teeth as he stared at his disfigured self. Behind him was a projection of a mind dragon so blurry it was barely recognizable.
In his body, a wriggling mass of flesh writhed like a worm squirming inside him. A shadow raged around him, pulling the spiritual master in front of him.
Since when? How could I have lost control?
Adam gritted his teeth and grabbed the spiritual master's neck, forcing him to look into his eyes, which looked like shards of glass hiding something.
"Use it… Attack me with that attack again!"
The spiritual master nodded slowly. His body shook violently, and a hundred-year-old soul ring appeared right beneath his feet.
A wave of spiritual attack pierced Adam's head. Like a hammer, it struck the mental space inside his mind, using another pain to distract him from the madness caused by his nearly lost body.
Adam gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. The only solution to this problem he could think of was to force himself to Cogitation.
The Spectator pathway is one of several pathways that excels in spiritual power. So Adam believed he could do it easily enough and forced himself to calm down and regain his self-control.
Adam forced himself to calm down, discarding all the chaotic thoughts and forcing his mind to go blank. He thought of a chair that was common and could be found anywhere, a simple thing in everyday life.
His mind diverted to that chair, and Adam began to regain control of his body. Slowly but surely, his mind calmed as he changed the object in his mind to his old computer, the one he always used for work.
"Thanks, old Neil…" Adam smiled weakly as he felt his raging spirituality calm down.
The maggot-like wringing of his body had returned to its smooth, white skin, like a pure baby. There was no longer the strange feeling of collapsing at any moment, nor the tingling sensation of before.
Through the reflection of the frightened spiritual master's eyes before him, Adam could clearly see that his eyes had returned to their normal form, pure blue eyes that appeared to be cleansed of all the filth of this world.
Thankfully, the cogitation method was working.
"Kind, sir… please don't tell anyone about what happened today. You of all people should know that nothing good will come from revealing this, right?"
Adam bent down and touched the spiritual master's shoulder.
"Y, yes… I won't tell anyone about this!" The spiritual master shuddered and screamed involuntarily.
Adam smiled and observed the expression on the poor man before him.
Fear, horror, confusion, and a variety of negative emotions were all mixed in.
"Fantastic. I'm sure you'll keep your word. I trust you won't act so foolishly, right?" Adam didn't press him any further and left.
"W-what just happened? That thing, that child is not human, no, he is definitely not a transformed soul beast."
The spiritual master shuddered and returned to his chair. The horrific sight before him, his neck wrapped in the shadow surrounding Adam and the wringing flesh…
He actually found a dual martial spirit, which was quite rare in this world. He should have reported this to the pagoda spirit and offered him to join the pagoda spirit.
He should have helped him and left an impression on this genius that would make his life easier.
But for some reason, he felt that if he did that, he would never be able to live in peace. Like a monster who had given you a second chance but you threw it away.
So, he decided to shut his mouth and never think about this incident again.