"You’re younger than I thought," Masayori murmured as he observed the new changes in Adam’s body.
After erging from the vat of poison, Adam had entered a private chamber, and a few other mbers of the Tsuitsui Clan had accompanied him. They all wanted to know the true effects of the dicinal bath. But even more than that, they were simply curious.
Adam wore loose black robes as he sat on the window ledge. A black strip of cloth was tied around his eyes. The warm rays of the morning sun gently cascade over his figure, making his raven-hair shine like silk.
With a gentle smile on his face, Adam caressed his hands and neck. Despite the mad voices echoing inside his mind, he was genuinely happy over his new transformation. Only he knew how insecure he’d felt when he had to hide his injuries from others.
"Brother, how old are you?" Goro couldn’t help but ask in a daze.
Given Adam’s battle prowess, it seed like he had decades worth of training under his belt. Yet after the transformation, he looked to be a handso youth in his early twenties.
"Auhh!" Adam gestured with his hands.
Goro’s eyes widened in astonishnt. "Thirty-eight?! What?!"
Not just him, even the Patriarch and the Supre Ancestor were taken aback.
Thirty-eight and already such a powerful warrior at the Mana Vortex Rank? That was incredible!
"More importantly," Masayori suppressed his shock and walked to Adam. He pressed two fingers on his throat and gently infused threads of mana.
"Your vocal chords have healed... so why can’t you speak?"
The others were also quite curious about his answer.
Adam’s grin widened even more, reaching his ears.
Of course, I won’t speak, he ridiculed inwardly.
Otherwise, that would give away my identity as an outsider.
Adamwrote down on a piece of parchnt the following words:
Psychological trauma.
Masayori frowned. "Trauma? Related to how you received those burns all over your skin? But how does that affect your speech?"
Adam wrote down again, instructing the elderly man to take a glimpse of his mind through his spiritual energy.
Masayori thought nothing of it. He gently placed his hand on Adam’s head, then closed his eyes.
A mont later...
He quickly pulled back his hand. His face turned pale, and his back was drenched in sweat.
"Father, what’s the matter?" Dokuto was alard seeing such a reaction from Masayori.
The elderly man seed not to hear anything. There was a flicker of terror in his aged eyes. In that brief mont that he had glimpsed at Adam’s spirit sea, he saw a desolate world with gaping cracks across the dull sky.
But that wasn’t what terrified him.
It was the constant mad ravings that echoed inside Adam’s spirit sea! Masayori had only heard it for a split second—perhaps, even less—yet he had already paled in fright.
"...Boy," he managed to speak after a long ti. "How are you still alive?"
"Auhh!" Adam displayed a charismatic smile.
"Father, what happened?" Dokuto couldn’t help but ask, a grave look on his face.
Masayori thought for a long ti. At last, he said in a low voice:
"I’m not sure. I haven’t seen anything like this before. His spirit sea is desolate and broken. He must have suffered a grievous injury to his soul for sothing like that to happen. And then there were these strange voices... It’s like the boy’s cursed!"
Adam laughed heartily.
You’re damn right I’m cursed!
Cursed by a God!
Masayori exhaled deeply. "It’s a miracle how he’s even able to function like that. If it were anyone else, they might have already succumbed to madness and beco brain-dead."
Goro and Dokuto gazed at Adam like he was a madman.
Well... he was a madman.
"Is that why you don’t use spells?" Goro asked thoughtfully. "You can’t access your spiritual energy, is that it?"
"Auhh!" Adam nodded with a smile.
"...Just what have you gone through?" Goro couldn’t help but ask.
How could a man endure so much pain and suffering, yet still display such a radiant smile?
Dokuto switched the subject. "Now that Ao has been healed, Goro, show him to his private quarters."
He then turned to Adam and said, "You’ve been through a lot during the healing process. Take plenty of rest. Starting tomorrow, you can begin your training, or whatever else it is you’d like to do."
"Auhh!" Adam cupped his fists.
With that said, Dokuto and Masayori left the room.
Once they made enough distance, Dokuto asked in a low voice, "Father, is Ao going to be a problem to those around him?"
He paused for a mont, then said in a solemn voice. "I knew he was a little... off in the head, but based on your description, he seems to be completely mad."
Masayori had a complicated look in his eyes. "I don’t understand," he began.
"The sheer damage to his spirit sea should have already turned him into a vegetable, yet he seems to be sowhat fine. He’s smart enough to communicate at a basic level, but more than that... he’s able to utilize battle tactics even with his ntal state. Or else, you can’t explain him fighting toe-to-toe with Goro."
"So he has high ntal resilience, is that it?" Dokuto’s eyes narrowed.
"That is an understatent." Masayori scoffed.
In the end, he simply sighed and started smoking from his pipe. "Just let him be. He’s our clan’s benefactor."
Dokuto nodded. He then asked, "Those strange voices in his head. Just who... or rather, what could have cursed him?"
"I don’t know." Masayori shook his head. "But whoever they are, or whatever it is... I have never experienced sothing like it before. Like I said, it’s a miracle that he’s still functioning like that."
"So it should be safe for him to be with us then?"
Masayori nodded. "I believe so."
"I see." Dokuto stroked his chin. "If he were to fight alongside our clan in the Fourth Great War..."
"Don’t force it upon him," Masayori advised.
"As I ntioned, he is our clan’s benefactor. Even after all we’ve done to heal his body, we’re still the ones who owe him. What he’s gifted us... I doubt we’ll ever be able to repay him."
"I agree." Dokuto nodded. "It does make wonder about his background, though. Access to such profound runic formation, cursed by such a powerful entity..."
"Let things play out naturally," said the Supre Ancestor.
"Flow with the currents, and the path will reveal itself."
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