[Permanent Copy Activated]
[Select Viewer Skill to Copy]
Holder of Severance.
The na flickered onto the interface like a divine brand. Adam's pupils narrowed.
[Due to rank limitations, you may only select one ability from a randomized list of four.]
[Randomizing three additional choices…]
A loading circle pulsed on the translucent interface. Ten seconds.
Adam didn't wait.
His hand moved quickly, pulling out the weathered parchnt.
The Chance Alteration Sheet.
Without hesitation, he funneled a surge of his mana into it and etched a single line across its surface with the tip of his finger, glowing faintly with arcane intent:
"Among the choices presented by my Permanent Copy skill, the S-rank ability will appear."
As soon as the ssage was completed, the sheet began to tremble.
Small cracks ford across its surface as glowing embers raced along the edges.
Then, with a soft whoosh, the entire parchnt ignited.
Pale, ethereal flas consud it, not with violence, but with eerie serenity.
In seconds, it was reduced to floating motes of gold, which scattered into the air and vanished like stardust.
Adam exhaled slowly, his heart pounding in his chest.
He clenched his fists.
'Even if it's not the main one, just give sothing solid. With an S-rank viewer, I shouldn't be walking away empty-handed.'
He secretly comforted himself.
Xel'Shaar and company didn't disturb him, although albeit confused as to what Adam used the artifact imdiately for.
The last pulse of light faded from the interface.
Then, the options appeared.
[Ability Selection – Holder of Severance]
[Soul Thread Severance] (B-Rank)
Severs lingering soul connections. curses, tethers, bindings— temporarily or permanently depending on mana input. Can be used on yourself or others.
[Weightless Drift] (A-Rank)
Allows the user to enter an intangible state, becoming immune to both physical and magical attacks. There is no cooldown for said ability. Although the user will not be able to interact with their environnt, they can stay in said state for as long as they wish for.
[S-Authority: Disconnection] (S-Rank)
Grants minor access to the Authority of Disconnection. (Reminder: Due to the status of the current Disconnection user, you will only wield a minor version of the Authority.)
[Veilpiercer's Gaze] (B-Rank)
Passive ability. Allows the user to see hidden structures, invisible entities, and cloaked traps. Also reveals weak points of enemies if focused on for more than 3 seconds.
Adam's eyes locked imdiately on the third.
S-Authority, Disconnection.!
A chill rippled through his body, but not from fear... but from ectasy!
He could feel the system warning brush against his mind like cold wind.
'Authority… I finally obtained it...'
Even if only a fragnt, even if incomplete... it was still a piece of a power only the highest beings could wield!
And now it was within reach.
He didn't hesitate.
[You have selected: S-Authority – Disconnection.]
[Minor Version Granted.]
[System Integration in Progress…]
The mont the system began integrating the Authority, Adam's perception fractured.
The world around him split into jagged fragnts.
His own hand... gone.
It floated beside him, disconnected from his arm as though cut away by a blade of logic, not steel.
He turned, only to see the catacombs themselves unravel.
Walls separated from ceilings, floors from their foundations, like puzzle pieces torn apart mid-ga.
Kristoff stood ahead...
But his head slipped cleanly off his neck, drifting calmly in the air as if nothing had happened.
Leila's torso twisted apart from her legs.
Even Xel'Shaar, the imposing guardian of the third floor, was neatly diced into segnts, hovering in the air like anatomical models suspended by unseen threads.
And then it turned inward.
Adam gasped.
His vision blurred, and in the next mont, he felt his soul being peeled away from his body...
No pain, just a terrifying weightlessness, like falling into a void where his na, his past, his identity—everything that made him Adam... was slipping away.
And it only got worse.
He saw ti lose sequence.
Leila blinked before she opened her eyes. Kristoff was running backwards.
Footsteps echoed before boots hit the floor.
The system notifications repeated themselves, distorted and echoing in different voices:
[Granted... Granted... Authority... Minor Version... Granted...]
The longer it went, the more reality bent.
It wasn't just disconnection from space...
But from cause and effect.
From self.
From understanding.
Every "rule" that held reality together was being montarily undone before his eyes.
Then, as quickly as it began, it ended.
Everything snapped back.
The catacombs stitched themselves together in an instant.
Adam's hand reattached.
Everyone returned to their original state, unaware of what he had seen in that sliver of Authority.
But now… Adam saw them.
Strings...
Invisible, countless threads stretched across the space.
So delicate, vibrating like silk under pressure.
Others rigid, thick, binding like chains of fate.
They extended from walls, objects, people... even from himself.
They were connected to monts, mories, outcos.
He blinked as they flickered.
The strings looked half-real and half-imagined.
But they were definitely there....
From Leila's perspective, she only saw Adam standing still.
His eyes were hollow, locked onto sothing she couldn't see.
Then... he raised his hand.
His fingers casually pointed toward sothing in the distance.
The Mummified Guardian, one of the monsters lurking at the far end of the catacombs, had been watching them in silence.
No spell was cast.
And yet—
Thump.
The creature's head dropped cleanly from its body.
No blood, nor sound... and there wasn't even any resistance.
It simply… disconnected.
Leila's heart skipped a beat.
She took a slow step back, breath caught in her throat.
'…What the hell did he just do?'
She quietly thought.
The oppressive stillness that followed only deepened her unease.
Even Xel'Shaar turned its head slightly, as though silently acknowledging sothing had just changed.
As for Kristoff, he furrowed his brows in confusion.
"…Why's he raising his arms like that?"
He muttered in confusion as though Adam looked like an idiot.
He shrugged it off quickly enough and let his eyes drift to the chained figure being dragged behind them.
A smug grin tugged at his lips.
'Serves that idiot right.'
Cael, even while being dragged across the dirt and rubble, sohow managed to remain asleep, his head lolling slightly to the side.
Adam, anwhile, lowered his arm and flexed his fingers slowly, observing the nearly imperceptible threads still flickering in and out of existence around him.
So this is what an Authority feels like…
It wasn't just an ability that granted power...
It was understanding... a glimpse into the chanical guts of reality itself.
The way things were stitched together.
Not just the physical world, but concepts... identity, mory, ti.
He frowned.
Does each Authority co with its own lens like this?
Disconnection let him perceive the strings that bound everything... from cause and effect to loyalty, to perception itself.
What would other Authorities let him see?
Before he could explore that question further, a system ping echoed in his peripheral vision.
[Holder of Severance is in shock.]
[Holder of Severance] : Wait. What was that just now?
[Holder of Severance] : I felt that.
Adam's gaze slid to the corner of his vision where the chat window hovered faintly.
'He sensed it...'
Adam mused.
'Makes sense. Using soone's Authority, even a minor version, probably resonates with the original user.'
Another line blinked into view.
[Holder of Severance asks the strear to do it again.]
Then another.
[Holder of Severance says that if you don't, he will hunt you down himself.]
Adam raised an eyebrow.
Adam was about to retort when his chat suddenly exploded in anger.
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