The balance shifted instantly.
For the first ti, the lich began reassessing the situation, not as predator and prey, but as sothing far more uncertain. Its instincts warned it not to provoke what it didn’t fully understand.
Then Adam moved.
Without hesitation, he raised the egg slightly, his expression calm despite the tension in the air. The action alone caused the lich’s focus to tighten, every ounce of its attention locked onto that single motion.
And then, Adam pierced his finger into the egg.
The mont it happened, the lich froze completely.
Shock hit first. Pure, unfiltered disbelief. The human had just acted directly on sothing even it had been cautious about approaching.
But what ca next was worse.
The pressure changed.
It spiked.
The air grew heavier, denser, as sothing unseen surged outward from Adam’s position. The shift was imdiate and undeniable, forcing even the lich to react as its gaze sharpened further.
The boy’s presence... had intensified.
The lich stared, unable to look away as the change settled in. Its thoughts stalled for a brief second, unable to process what it was witnessing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this.
"How... is this possible?"
The words slipped out before it could stop them.
The lich’s question still hung in the air, but Adam wasn’t listening anymore. While the lich had been struggling to process the sudden pressure shift, his mind had already moved ahead, locking onto sothing far more important, the egg in his hands.
He had been thinking nonstop, searching for a way to equip the bloodline inside it. Normally, Equip required the target to be dead. That was how Connect latched onto a soul and extracted what it needed.
But this... was different.
Bloodlines didn’t reside in the soul. They were embedded deeper, woven into genes, tied to a being’s makeup like affinities and physiques. That ant Connect alone wouldn’t work. It couldn’t reach what wasn’t there to grab.
Still, Adam wasn’t out of options.
When he had equipped Chaos, he had relied on Cryogen, breaking things down to a molecular level, stripping them apart until only what he needed remained. Now, he planned to do the sa thing again.
Only this ti, the target wasn’t a corpse.
It was an egg.
Adam stared at it, hesitation flickering briefly across his face. If he pushed too far, he might damage it. Worse, he could corrupt whatever was growing inside, turning it into sothing incomplete... or unstable.
If that happened, the future result wouldn’t be worth it.
But then, a sudden warmth spread across his palms.
Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly as he instinctively activated Connect. This ti, sothing appeared. A small, flickering soul fla revealed itself within the egg, weak yet undeniably present.
And it was reaching back.
There was no hostility or resistance. Only a quiet, steady feeling flowing through the link, trust. And beneath that, sothing deeper. Sothing harder to define, but clear in aning.
Don’t worry... I can take it.
Adam exhaled slowly, tension leaving his shoulders. He gave a small nod, as if answering the silent voice, before moving without further hesitation.
His finger pierced into the egg.
The interior felt warm, almost alive. Soft yet firm, sothing inside shifted and clenched faintly around his finger, as if reacting to his presence. Adam didn’t pull back. Instead, his focus sharpened instantly.
Cryogen activated.
This ti, he controlled it carefully, far more precise than before. No reckless breakdown or overwhelming force. Just a controlled separation, targeting only what he needed without disturbing the rest.
Then, a notification appeared.
[Do you want to equip the bloodlines War, Conquest, and Famine?]
Adam didn’t hesitate. The mont the notification appeared, he accepted it. There was no pause, no second-guessing. His decision was instant, driven by instinct and the trust he had just felt from the egg.
Sothing inside him shifted.
It wasn’t painful like before. When he had equipped Chaos, it had torn through him, forcing his body to adapt under pressure. This ti was different. The change flowed smoothly, spreading through him like sothing returning ho.
It felt... right.
The bloodlines didn’t clash with him. They aligned. War, Conquest, and Famine settled into his existence as if they had always belonged there. His body didn’t resist. Instead, it accepted them completely, almost eagerly.
A strange sense of attunent followed.
It wasn’t just power. It was understanding. His instincts sharpened, his perception subtly shifting as if new layers had been added to how he viewed the world. Everything felt clearer, more defined, more controllable.
Deep within Adam’s soul, sothing stirred.
The shadowy being that resided there paused mid-motion, its attention snapping upward. It had been idly playing with the phantom echoes of Adam’s talents, but now its focus had completely shifted.
"...Why does this feel so familiar?"
Its voice was low, filled with confusion. It tried to observe the change more closely, but quickly realized sothing was off. Bloodlines didn’t reside in the soul like talents or originate from the soul like affinities.
It couldn’t properly reach them.
The entity watched for a mont longer before letting out a quiet scoff.
"Tch... whatever. It’s not harmful to the boy." With that, it lost interest and returned to its previous distraction.
Outside, Adam’s eyes slowly opened.
Power surged through him in waves. It wasn’t explosive, but it was constant, building and stabilizing at the sa ti. Each second, he could feel himself becoming stronger, more complete than before.
His gaze dropped to the egg.
At that mont, a clear thought ford in his mind. This... was the greatest treasure he had ever obtained. Not Chaos. Not any skill. This single egg had just pushed him forward by an unimaginable margin.
Then he looked up.
His eyes locked onto the lich.
The mont their gazes t, the undead creature froze. A chill ran through its body, sothing unnatural even for sothing that shouldn’t feel fear. The pressure coming from Adam had changed again.
It was heavier. Sharper.
Adam tilted his head slightly, studying it with calm interest. Then he spoke, his voice steady but carrying an edge that hadn’t been there before.
"What will happen... if the egg feeds on you?"
The lich’s hollow eyes flickered violently.
It took an instinctive step back.
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