Chapter 44: Taboo

In the back garden of the mansion, away from the world's view, Adam and 'Simon' stood side by side.

They were looking at a particular news articles…

"This is what you wanted to show me…?" Even the eccentric found this change in subject too abrupt?

Did he really want to put aside that Geis he made?

'Since I can still sense the contract in effect, he is likely buying time.' There was no time limit here.

The only reason the Landlord didn't immediately break the promise was due to a certain message:

[You have obtained the 'Holy Descendant' Intrinsic Skill. You have gained the purest of Holy Attribute.]

But he was still hesitant to get things over with and call someone younger than him 'Father' outright.

Plus, there was no rush in doing so anyway.

Adam could put things off as long as he wanted.

Moreover, the person featured in the article wasn't exactly irrelevant to them or what they talked of.

{Parent Enters Church In Pink}

Was written in bold letters. Journalists were really swarming around Hyuk after what he had done.

Perhaps it was thanks to his 'Amorous Attraction' Skill that he got attention wherever he went…

"I don't see a problem with this." Wearing pink to a church wasn't exactly a sin or anything, was it?

'Simon' didn't understand why this was important.

"I'm seriously telling you: He's going to cause a problem. What if he tells everyone he's gay?"

"Is he?" Holy Progenitor raised a brow.

"Not from what he confirmed. But since this is a medieval nation, he likely hates their practices."

"Sounds like a critic. I'm not familiar with him, so I'm unsure what you're expecting me to say."

"That's.,. Err…" How was Adam supposed to explain this? No words would describe what he guessed.

"Take it from the beginning."

"What's your opinion of Hyuk?"

"A pervert." When he heard the Martial King used a honey trap on his future self, this idea cemented.

What kind of idiot recruits people like a pimp?

"You're right… but you seriously underestimate how set in his ways he is. He's a 'serious pervert'."

"…I'm hoping that's a joke."

"I'm being serious here! That bastard doesn't even know what it means to live in a world of reason."

"That's sounds like guesswork."

"He said he'd became a Martial King through Dual Cultivation. This isn't simply a random guess."

"You're forgetting one other person." Adam pointed at the young girl in the image. She was likely Lucia.

The only reason the two of them had a bit of a hard time recognising her was due her altered features.

That little princess was definitely wearing a mask!

And her hair had turned auburn now too…

"This is probably as far as he'd go. Making an incident and garnering attention… benefits no one."

"Don't speak as if you know him…!"

"Anyway, isn't it time you gave me a demonstration on what you can do?" He stopped this nonsense.

To him, whatever Hyuk was doing was unimportant.

"…Alright." Since there was no other option, Adam reluctantly put away the miniature Psynet Terminal.

Rather than letting 'Simon' react, he immediately shot off his feet and landed a powerful kick on him.

Whether it was speed or strength, this blow was perfect. The technical skill used was also great.

Even without conscious thought, torque was added to the spring motion of sidekick with much ease.

Still, 'Simon' didn't seem disturbed…

"Nice kick." He spoke after reaching his arm forward to disperse the impact before it even hit.

The style that was showcased by the immortal in this demonstration could only be considered…

…'compact'.

He focused on wasting zero motions and making the best of his strengths. A really good tactic.

Moreover, he showed a sensitivity to attacks.

Perhaps it was thanks to his strengthened survival instincts, but evasion seemed to be his specialty.

While sparring, 'Simon' spoke out his thoughts:

"You have a good rhythm."

"I wasn't only getting beaten up for years."

"Don't be so petty. I never said you never improved your strength. However…" He stopped his attacks:

"You're not fully taking advantage of your gifts. I can feel you're hiding something. Show it to me."

"…" As expected, Holy Progenitor noticed it easily.

Adam split into two individuals, Solaris and Lumina respectively. They then continued their exchange.

"So you can clone yourself?" The answer was more nuanced than that, but Adam didn't explain further:

"Pretty much."

"Alright, then show me everything!" The three individuals fought two on one, but it was still even.

'Simon' dominated their spat with his skills alone.

Maybe this was the difference in intelligence, or was it just talent? But Adam still had more cards.

Solaris and Lumina started to fuse together before splitting up randomly. Showing their true power.

This wasn't two people fighting as one, this was one immortal fighting an foe as two individuals.

Their synchronisation was perfect.

Especially when Lumina's 'Auto Protective Guard Reflex' made her bite at Holy Protector at times.

Her 'Animal Metamorphosis' allowed her to turn parts of her body into Beast Appendages and the like. This was true even if she was acting from within Solaris, letting her reach out from within.

Solaris would sometimes grow arms and wolf heads at times whenever his opponent attacked.

Which was Lumina auto reacting from inside him.

*Chomp!*

Finally, blood spilt when Adam managed to hurt the eccentric. Their physical abilities too far apart.

Solaris and Lumina only losing in the Agility stat.

They stopped to watch how he'd criticise them after seeing their power firsthand, but didn't expect the worldly energy around him to stick to the wound and heal the injury in an instant.

"I stick by what I said earlier, you're both smart and untalented. Or to be precise: You're unresolved."

This made both the Progenitor's opponent's frown.

"You're still saying that?" Adam spoke from the mouth of his two counterparts simultaneously.

Lumina and Solaris seemed unconvinced…

"You don't know how to walk, but you were taught how to run. My future self must've sucked as a teacher." Adam as the duo didn't really disagree with him. He liked how they shifted the blame here.

"Right. It was all you're future self's fault!" Solaris spoke somewhat proudly, which caused Lumina to facepalm. Adam only then realised he'd just admitted to being weak. Which Solaris really hated.

The male counterpart facepalmed himself as well.

Probably a little too late to matter…

'Simon' didn't understand what was going on inside the duo. Especially when the Landlord literally started arguing with himself for being stupid. He just wanted to make things clear:

"You have zero clue how to use your immortality. It is commendable to have such good instincts, but you both act differently. You yourself let yourself get a little injured, but that girl keeps on dodging.

She's a weak link.

On top of that, why aren't you using your Vital Energies? You have endless amounts of them." A cold criticism hit Lumina deep. They both knew he was making sense, but the words still hurt a lot.

There was just one thing Adam was curious about:

"Vital Energies?"

"It's like Life Force."

"But I thought even immortals only had a limited amount of that. Its power being a candle and all."

"My future self must have been crazy… Your Vital Energies aren't the same thing as your Life Force."

"What's different?"

"Everything. Life Force is your existence, while vital energy is the pillars that uphold your existence."

"I don't get it."

"…Alright. Close your eyes and imagine something for me." Both of the figures immediately did so.

"Imagine three circles making a line downwards and two rectangular boxes closing in on each side."

"Like a plus or a T?"

"A plus." When he said that, Adam organised the shapes into a '+' pattern. What did this mean?

"Now… What do you think came first? The flesh or the soul? Which one are people born with first?"

"Sounds like the chicken and egg problem."

"And how would you answer?"

"That it's a useless question. Totally redundant."

"Exactly."

"…What?" Adam fused back into his Solaris form and made an awkward look. Was he playing again?

You are reading story The Otome Game’s Extra at novel35.com

"Whether it was the soul of flesh, what came first doesn't matter. What's important is that they exist."

"How does that relate to the shapes…?"

"Fill out the bottom circle with 'Flesh' and the top circle with 'Flesh'." 'Simon' continued in response.

He felt like he was back at school for some reason.

"Now what?"

"The left box is 'Mind', and the right box is 'Heart'."

"Done."

"Now… What do you think the centre circle is?"

"And how am I supposed to figure that out?" Adam felt like Holy Progenitor just presented him a riddle.

"I already gave you hints. Just stop and think for a moment." 'Simon' seemed to believe in his intellect.

Rather than complaining further, the Landlord did whatever was possible to fit the last puzzle piece.

The only hint was that redundant question earlier.

But he just said the answer was irrelevant, so…

Adam tried to piece together what the graph could mean from everything he'd heard up until now.

A possible guess was 'Magic', because he'd always instinctively felt such a thing fitted in the centre.

It wasn't mental energy nor emotional energy.

Neither spiritual energy nor internal strength.

Then did completing the graph meant fully turning it into a '+' sign? What other option was there?

…No. That answer was too simple.

He tried to decode the significance of the shapes.

Why were 'Mind' and 'Heart' in rectangles? It felt like they made a line with the circle between them.

It was then he felt struck by insight.

His mind fell into a state of enlightenment as Lumina applied this graph to his Solaris body.

It felt like an out of body experience…

Rather than trying to determine what came first in the graph, Lumina looked at what could be seen.

The 'Flesh' was the most easiest to perceive.

His entire body was made up of cellular matter.

Now… what was the next most easily perceivable part of Solaris? The 'soul'…? No… That was wrong.

The 'Mind' could be considered the brain. Although the biological signals and functions of it was hard to perceive, at the very least, you could say the mind had a corporeal representative of its position.

Adam drew an imaginary line between the brain and the flesh. He felt his body being worked up.

As if he'd treaded upon taboo knowledge territory.

Still, Adam continued his theorisation.

He drew a line from the 'Mind' to the 'Heart', he ignoring the circle between as if it didn't exist.

Then drew a line from the 'Heart' rectangle to the most intangible part of the body known to man.

The last component of the graph… the 'Soul'.

He could feel his understanding of a certain concept had improved. He now more a mistake.

Rather than a small circle in the middle of the graph, Solaris encircled the entire graph itself.

Then spoke his results: "Life."

"You really ARE smart." Others would have never found the answer, but Adam was certain of this.

A chain was creaking… The heavenly restriction that should never be breached was being broken.

['Mother Nature' believes it is better to stop here.]

"And why is that?" 'Simon' blandly looked up to the sky. He didn't need permission to teach these stuff.

['Mother Nature' believes the rules should be followed. Lest there be serious consequences.]

Clouds started to form as if a lighting tribulation was about to take place. A scary aura descended.

It was such a big turn that the entire kingdom got scared stiff. Children looked to the sky in wonder.

"Is God angry with us?" An innocent child asked a nun, but she quickly stopped him from talking.

The sky was too scary to even comment about…

['Mother Nature' pleads you to stop talking.]

"That right? What can YOU do about it?" Although his face was still, his voice was like raging waves.

['Mother Nature' begs the benefactor of her child to not go through with breaking the great taboo.]

Adam looked at the message before him. His eyes having not a hit of emotion towards the woman.

His memories of her were the haziest among the ones he'd recovered after being 'rebooted' again.

Did he have a close relationship with her…?

Regardless, the impression he had on her was good enough to at least listen to her request.

"…I'm good. You don't have to say." He told Holy Progenitor to stop. It was best to keep status quo.

"What are you talking about? You're already on the verge of realisation. This insight won't come again."

"I'm fine…"

"Like hell you are. Parents aren't supposed to shield their children to the point of coddling."

"Does she look like my mother to you?"

"Maybe not, but I can feel a bias towards you unlike no other. What… are you?" 'Simon' moved in close.

His eyes staring deep into the abyss of his pupils.

"…You're reading in too deep."

"Am I???" He tilted his head.

"It really WAS a coincidence- Wait, that's besides the point. I'm not listening to this dangerous stuff."

"Even though it's necessary for you to grow?"

"What's this fixation on growth? Your future self was like that as well. Are you going to betray me?"

"I wouldn't…"

"Killing me a whole bunch is a betrayal to me."

"But you learnt from it. You went from being an amateur in battle to someone decently strong."

"So I'm strong enough, right?" Adam hammered down on that point. What else did he need?

He wasn't like the rest of these bastards.

All of them had their own reasons for becoming stronger, but for him personally? Power was a tool.

Maybe having more of it was good, but it wasn't like he'd risk anything to become stronger.

That would defeat the point of why he wanted strength in the first place. He didn't want this.

When the real Simon went and trapped him in another dimension out of a whim, he realised how unreasonable destiny could be. But wasn't that why he kept strong people around him all the time?

So long as they were here, he should be fine.

"You don't understand anything." Holy Progenitor disagreed with this sentiment wholeheartedly.

He gazed towards the storm in the sky, then spoke:

"It's a parents responsibility to raise their children to live independently. They need to stand strong."

"…I'm already independent enough." He raised a brow. Did he think Solaris and Lumina were kids?

"Maybe for Earth's standards, but if I left you alone to travel the world… Would you be able to survive?"

"Motherfucker, cut the bullshit already! I'm as safe as I can be. I'm protected by guards everywhere."

"You mean those people who you've never personally met before and can't enter on their own accord? Those 'Royal Guards' who are so inflexible that are hey even now are waiting for your call?"

Adam felt a chill run down his spine when this was brought up. He quickly reached for his pocket.

However, the plans were already set in motion.

"Bind." 'Simon' chanted, and silver chains materialised to paralyse the Landlord's body.

He couldn't believe this…!

"Simon! Don't do this to me! I won't ever forgive you! Fuck! Am I a damn joke to you?! Is that why you're ALWAYS doing shit like this to me?!" There was enough reason for him to feel this way.

It wasn't as if he was in despair. After all, he had no idea what listening to the taboo actually entailed.

However, that didn't change anything…!

The annoyance in his heart wouldn't go away.

The he irritation that made his skin crawl. The sheer anger from having his own will ignored.

Who was this bastard to force things on him?!

*Crackle* *Crackle*…. *Crash!*

A waist thick pillar of lightning struck right next to Holy Progenitor, but that didn't even faze him.

 "Stop bluffing. You can't make me go through your punishment twice. Didn't I already survive? Plus, if I never tell him, he'd never be able to make use of his Lifeblood properly. Now… listen to me closely."

'Simon' got close to Adam's ear and started whispering the terrifying secrets of life directly.

*Boom*…! *Boom*…!

It was at that moment the chains broke, and Adam was enlightened of the nature of his immortality.

[You have gained the taboo 'Life Comprehension' Intrinsic Skill has been acquired through learning.]

[Your connection with Gaia has been severed. The installed system of fate shall now be shut down.]

[…Take care of yourself.]

You can find story with these keywords: The Otome Game’s Extra, Read The Otome Game’s Extra, The Otome Game’s Extra novel, The Otome Game’s Extra book, The Otome Game’s Extra story, The Otome Game’s Extra full, The Otome Game’s Extra Latest Chapter