Chapter 42: Adam Solaris

To be empty was not to become nothing, it was to discard the things that would make you feel 'full'.

Those who felt this had a particular tendency.

They tended to have more drive than others. Going far and beyond just to feel even slight satisfaction.

That was the mindset Adam had after waking up.

When his eyes opened, he saw the world in the perspective of a man who couldn't run from it.

The emptiness was forcibly tied to his body…

His eyes reacted sensitively to the bright light. He got up and looked around at the minimalistic room.

There was nothing special about his own bedroom.

Nothing that could define him like everyone else.

He had a gaming hobby, but he rejected it because he thought such a 'childish' thing didn't suit him.

It was only now did he see the hypocrisy in doing so. How he'd emptied this room of life himself.

He turned his eyes to see a bull horned figure catching up using the bookshelf near the side.

Economics, social etiquette, dancing, etc…

He could tell the eccentric was making himself aware of the things he'd need to know on Gaia.

Especially in the nation of Pandorica.

"I understand why 'he' did that to you." Without even a greeting, the expressionless face spoke.

"…You understand?" For someone who had been grovelling for forgiveness earlier, he had iron guts.

Adam's face twisted in a way he never did before.

He jumped out of bed and shot towards the one and only Holy Progenitor… pinning him to the shelf.

The hollowness in his eyes replaced by a fire…

"What do you understand, huh?! Do you know anything about me, huuuh?!!! Fuck it, you just HAVE TO act like your hot shit after what happened to me. I'm like this because you FUCKED ME UP!!!"

The expressionless face continued to look at him with serenity. Only responding with his thoughts:

"They say a person's room says a lot about their personality. Your own spoke a lot of things to me."

"…Like what?"

"Firstly, from the way you order your bookshelf, I see you like consistency. The rest of your room doesn't have any special flare, but everything is nice and folded. Do you happen to have OCD?"

"You like to sound smart, don't you?" Adam let go of the eccentric's neck: "Maybe I do have OCD."

"But that's not the interesting part about this. I'm surprised you chose a room with this angle." Holy Progenitor got up and looked out the window. He could see the sunrise perfectly from this place.

"Maybe I like the sky."

"Maybe… However, what's certain is that you're not being completely honest with yourself about this."

"Like hell I'm not honest-" *Woosh* The Landlord's words were cut short by 'Simon' pointing at him.

His speed enough to disturb the air around them.

"What is your Semblance's name?"

"…'Empty Darkness'."

"I'd got the gist of things from Mr Sebastian. It looks like they're your 'Feeling' and your 'Ideal'."

"And so what if they are?"

"The important question is this: 'Why did your Semblance try to escape from its natural habitat?'"

It was a question Adam didn't understand at first.

He only truly realised what he'd heard when he looked down to see the faint cross glowing on his chest. A supernatural power seemed to be tethering him to his Innate Semblance right now.

Without it, his 'Darkness' would have ran away.

"That's…" He tried to think up an answer.

He remembered back to that moment the floodgates opened and his feelings had returned.

What did he want at that moment?

To be heard by others?

If so, what did that have to do with his 'Darkness'? 

It should have changed with his ideals-

"Oh…" He realised the problem here. The fact he tried to 'erase' his Darkness was the problem.

But 'Simon' didn't stop there:

"More importantly: 'What did you do to cause this?'" His tone sounded a bit too combative.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"From what I'd heard, my future self wanted to teach you a way to hold onto life more dearly."

"And he did so spectacularly." Adam clapped his hands in derision. It was obvious he'd defend him.

Holy Progenitor was still the past of that drunkard.

"I wonder… would you have ever been driven to the point of changing yourself if he didn't do that?"

"That doesn't justify confining me."

"It doesn't. I'm merely stating that there was more to things that meet the eye. Someone with such an obsession to detail like you tend to hyper-fixate on things. If you want something in a certain way, you don't stop until every inch reflects your demands." 

"And that's a good thing."

"Is it? You've never noticed your 'Empty' feeling wasn't thrusted upon you. It was your own choice to throw out what you deemed unnecessary. It's always been your choice of what you wanted."

"Are you blaming me for being like that?" Adam couldn't believe he'd be called out like this.

"No. I'd never do that. You've gone through a lot to get to this point… I'm merely helping you digest your thoughts. Now that I've said my piece, I'll go off for now." 'Simon' made things perfectly clear. 

He left the room to let the Landlord sizzle in his thoughts. He checked a part of his stat window:

[Power Tier= B (Common)

Agility Tier= A (Rare)

Speed Tier= B (Common)

Defence Tier= C (Common)

Combat Prowess= C (Experienced Combatant)]

The peak of A Tier… with the lowest a C Tier.

The low defence was probably because it referred to his ability to take damage without any injury.

Something insignificant thanks to his immortality.

He just wondered why his Combat Prowess wasn't that high. Had Simon gone easy the whole time?

Or was it because of his rebellious 'Darkness'?

"Settle down." When he realised his fault, the creature within his body started to obey his will.

He could feel it whimper under its owner's wrath.

It made him even more convinced that his speculation on what happened was correct.

He grabbed the cross on his chest, then ripped it off despite how intangible the Mana was to him.

When the cross vanished, so did the tethering effect that bound the Darkness to his Gift Slot.

It seemingly 'bled' out of his body…

The shadows beneath him congealed into an entity that was both corporeal and ethereal at one time.

He watched as a mannequin-like, featureless doll formed with the exact same body type as his own.

It's posture looked like it was sucking up to him.

Saying: {It wasn't my fault!}

"I know it wasn't. You're just abiding your instincts to eat, grow, survive…" He patted the doll's arm.

The creepy eyes and mouth looked ominous to see, but there wasn't any problems about this.

Appearance mattered less than intent.

His memories were vague, but he remembered the moment this creature broke from his clutches.

Gaining intelligence for itself.

If he really wanted to, Adam could erase the shadow doll from his body and discard it entirely.

However, there was something he was curious about. He looked around too see something gone.

That suitcase of Black Cigars was nowhere to be seen. The Mystic Tools he'd planned on keeping…

"Did you have your fill?"

"…" The shadow didn't dare to give an answer.

The doll didn't even have the guts to bark in his overwhelming presence. One made by hardship.

It wanted to run away…

"Don't even think about it." The hand touching his shoulder clutched, a Skill was used deliberately.

['World Unity' has tethered your Semblance. You may choose to re-absorb it back into your body.]

He wasn't going to let it escape that easily.

"You were born from my blood, nurtured by Hyuk and Sebastian's energies, and tried to strengthen yourself with the Black Cigars. Now… it's time you return some things." He drained out the 'Darkness'.

['World Unity' has activated.]

['Dark Mana' and 'Dark Qi' has been absorbed into your body… Your body adapts to the new power…]

['Yang Energy' is specifically absorbed into you…]

['Vital Energy' is specifically absorbed into you…]

[With the cultivation is darkness and Supreme Yang Sword Qi, a new power has been formed.]

[You have attained the 'Dawn Sapient Divine Physique. Your stats have reached a new limit.

Adam could distinctly feel his body becoming more durable. The energies mixing to recreate his body.

He could feel energy pathways opening up all along his body. Blockages in the way were purified out.

A flame of vital energies that had been building up in the shadow doll burnt away even at his clothes.

His new body felt more distantly durable…

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[Power Tier= A (Common)

Agility Tier= A+ (Rare)

Speed Tier= A (Common)

Defence Tier= B (Common)

Combat Prowess= C+ (Adept Combatant)]

He seemed to have reached his limits in terms of the initial three stats. It wouldn't go any higher.

The same went for his Combat Prowess.

Regardless, Adam didn't care what his 'stats' about him. They couldn't be too trusted in his opinion.

After all, these stats were more of Gaia's opinion on his strength. Thus, didn't directly correlate with it.

When the crimson vital flames stopped burning his body, he felt like his senses had become sharper.

Enough to feel the 'Dawn Qi' that been born his Dark Energy devouring the Yang Qi he'd absorbed.

His breathing naturally shifted to make use of this.

He decided to give the power a new name:

'Supreme Abyssal Yang Qi'…

His joints cracked while feeling the darkness return to his heart. Pairing itself with his emptiness again.

However, he didn't overwhelm the former with the latter. Instead, allowing it to become one aspect.

It truly gave way for his 'Semblance Evolution'.

The shadow doll started to transform. Shaped by his desires… It started to take the form of a person.

The Yin Energy he'd made his own created a pathway between them that shared their minds.

Adam could feel his vision split into two parts.

The naturally grown intelligence of the 'Darkness' was coloured in the hue of his own memories.

They became the same person, but split in ego.

The shadow doll also became 'Adam Graham'.

One critical difference between them being the newly formed 'intelligence' saw itself as a woman.

Her black hair and eyes matched that of her newly transformed master. Almost like they were siblings.

Which wouldn't be a stretch…

Adam took a pair of clothes out of his closet and handed them to her. Seeing that she had modesty.

She became the Yin to his Yang, but not in the sense of being lovers. His consciousness had split.

He felt like he was independently controlling two bodies, with the female one having an autopilot.

And the male one being more manually driven.

The split consciousness tested the limits of this.

They both stood side by side and looked at each other, then mirrored each other's movements.

Their hands perfectly aligned when they reached out towards one another. With no speed difference.

"Should I call me 'us' now?"

"Don't. It sounds too stupid." The critic part of his subconscious spoke back through 'her' voice.

Was this the same as having a voice in your head?

"You're me?" He asked an obvious question, and the female body answered as if on automatically:

"Pretty much."

"Then why am I talking to myself?"

"You used to do that all the time in the Portable Space. Is it different now that it's externalised?"

"Yeah..." He looked down on the girl that wasn't really a stunning beauty, nor an average face.

She seemed somewhere along the middle ground.

Regardless, there was a feeling of familiarity he felt from her. Almost like she was part of his own body.

Like a limb that was externalised into a person.

"So what do you plan on calling me?" He could call her 'Adam' too, but that would confusion him later.

The male body fell into deep thought about this, and the female counterpart sat down next to him.

[You have created a 'Shadow Aeon'.]

[Your breath and body have synchronised. The external body shall help a lot in your cultivation.]

[Be warned: Damage to the Aeon can permanently destroy it. All damage to it is now unrecoverable.]

[Would you like to pass on some Skills?"

Adam realised his female counterpart had no Skills at the moment, but it was still an extra life of his.

The Abyssal Qi shared between them allowed her to alter the clothes he gave to fit her own tastes.

It turned into a thin black dress of a high-class nature. One you'd see worn by a famous celebrity.

Was this showing off his own vanity?

Adam decided to make an extra precaution.

"Promise me you'll protect me before anything. I am your top priority." His other Skill activated.

When she nodded in acceptance, his 'Gies Promise' seeped into her marrow as a restriction.

But it also strengthened her.

It was said that the Irish mythological hero, Cu Chulainn, also was empowered by several Gies.

Perhaps this was why a restriction didn't necessarily mean to weaken oneself further.

In return for protecting him, the female counterpart gained a Skill that would help fulfil that promise.

It was called 'Auto Protective Guard Reflex'.

After finally being satisfied, Adam allowed the extra life of his to return into his body as a new entity.

His Yang Energy returned to being Yinyang Energy.

But unlike Hyuk's body, his own was able to hold a perfect balance between the two distinct powers.

He then rethought about his internal values.

'The only thing I wanted before was to live a long and lazy life. I have yet to change this desire… but I understand now. Staying the same would only bring me grief.' He thought back to Linda's words.

The villainess he raised seemed to have had a much better understanding of him than he thought.

Maybe that's why he didn't feel bad about this…

The second intelligence seamlessly merged into his own. Vanishing when they both became one.

It'd probably only manifest again after splitting.

He knew saying anything now would just be talking to no one in particular, but he wanted to remember.

Making a certain scene more vivid in his mind.

"When split, the male me will be called Solaris, and the female me Lumina. Our completed form shall be named Eclipsus." He thought while clenching his fist. The potential of his Aeon had yet to be used.

That's why Gaia had no way of recording his power.

The only thing she did was change one part of his stat sheet to something he didn't expect to see.

[Power Tier= A (Common)

Agility Tier= S (Rare)

Speed Tier= A (Common)

Defence Tier= B (Common)

Combat Prowess= B- (Superior Combatant)]

His Agility had broke past the limit of what he could achieve on his own, and realised he got a new Skill.

His 'Eclipsus' Form was the perfect embodiment of his new self, and he was happy to be able to become a new 'him'. The 'Empty' feeling that once defined him now felt a lot different than before.

Right now, he was only in 'Soraris' Form and hid the Lumina counterpart within him. He wasn't sure what would happen if he shifted to his Eclipsus Form right away, so he chose to familiarised with it.

The Solaris Form he was in right now was the most in-sync with who he was before the partial fusion.

He could sense the emptiness that once defined him no longer burdened his mind and heart.

His consciousness was free to be what it wanted.

Because rather than running away from this feeling of nothingness, he embraced the hole in his heart.

The black spot he'd filled with darkness…

When he left the room, he found that 'Simon' distinctly felt the change that happened within him.

"…What happened to your Semblance?" It wasn't that he felt Adam's power change, but that it was lost. After all, how could Holy Progenitor know that Adam had gave his Semblance TO a Semblance?

Lumina might have fused into him, but the Gift Slot that made her an independent separated from him.

Thus, this was the new status he had:

[Name: Adam Graham

Job: Office Administrator

Titles: Otherworlder, True Landlord, An Agent Of Gaia, Former Administrator

Personal Skills: Cooking (Common), Cleaning (Common), Land Management (Common), Lie Detection (Common), Social Barrier (Rare), Sinister Taunt (Rare), Mental Resistance (Rare), Mana Sense (Common), Geis Promise (Myth), Inspection (Myth), Astralisation (Legendary), World Unity (Legendary)

Growth Characteristic: Studious Opportunist/ Polite Introvert/ Calm Capitalist/ Game Completionist

Unique Skill: Dawn Sapient Divine Physique (Exclusive), Twin Consciousness (Exclusive), Father Nature (Exclusive)

Intrinsic Skill: Administrative Experience (Common), Management Experience (Common), Modern Education (Common), Potential Expansion (Special), Territory Liscense (Special), Deity Rank Bloodwood Immortality (Legendary)

Imaginary Attribute: Gaia

Magic Affinity: Yin, Blood, Wood, Space

Gift Slot (Yang): Untrained]

Adam's eyes were no longer hollow. He smiled for the first time in a while and waved at the eccentric:

"Nothing much. Wanna play some games together?" He offered the man who was technically still employed as his 'Battle Instructor'. There was no reason for them to act like they were strangers.

At least, that's how Adam saw it.

"Sure thing. Let's go." 'Simon' made a u-turn and crossed arms with the Landlord to skip downstairs.

Both clearly not minding about any past grudges.

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