Chapter 30: Fusing with Anomalies
Chapter 30: Fusing with Anomalies
By the time the training progressed to the seventh day, Adam had already developed an elementary-level mastery of telegnosis. As a result, he was able to detect many indescribable things outside of the five senses. For example, at this moment, he had a sense that there was a figurative sword hanging over his head. He knew that this was a result of someone directing their killing intent toward him, and the source of this killing intent wasn't far away.
As expected, another hitman is already on my trail.
Adam had already predicted this, and he asked, "Teacher, today is the final day, so can you teach me some skills that will help me in battle?"
"Seeing as you've developed a rudimentary grasp of telegnosis, it's time to teach you your next lesson. This next lesson is the most difficult one for invocators, and it's something that you'll need to practice over the course of your entire life."
At this moment, the two of them were in the psychic world, and Adam followed Sadou's instructions, invocating his two anomalies.
"Your invoked entities are extensions of your persona, so fundamentally, they are you. However, these invoked entities are fragmented facets of your persona, much like the personalities of someone suffering from schizophrenia, so it won't be easy to control them. You'll still need telegnosis, and you'll need to be sufficiently sensitive in order to be able to control them like extensions of your own body or even combine them into one."
As Sadou was speaking, he was using the telegnosis training method to guide the senses of Adam's psychic body.
Following the method laid out by Sadou, Adam discovered that there were indeed a series of barely detectable thin threads connecting himself and his two anomalies. Through those threads, Adam was able to clearly grasp all of the abilities of the two anomalies for the very first time.
The life force of the two anomalies, the resilience of their skin, their speed, their power, even their special abilities... All of these were clearly presented to him as if they were his own attributes.
Prior to this, Adam didn't actually have much of an understanding of these two anomalies at all. In fact, before they revealed their abilities, such as in that instance where Mummy had wrapped him up in its bandages to protect him, he wasn't even aware that they possessed such abilities.
However, in this instant, he knew everything about them.
It was a complete and comprehensive understanding, and with the establishment of this connection came that feeling of being able to control them like extensions of his own body.
Sadou had also detected the thin threads extending from Adam's body, and for the first time during this week-long crash course, a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
"What's going on here? Where is this sudden spike in aptitude coming from?"
Just a moment ago, Adam had been nothing more than a mediocre invocator-class adapter in Sadou's eyes. He didn't possess exceptional talent or skills, and his invoked entities also appeared to be quite unremarkable.
However, after witnessing the incredible connective ability that Adam was displaying between himself and his invoked entities, Sadou's opinion of him had undergone a complete change.
"What's wrong, Teacher? Am I doing something wrong?"
"No. Instead, you're doing so well that it doesn't make logical sense!" Sadou replied as he pointed at the barely detectable threads in the air. "This type of connection is very difficult to establish, and it takes the average adapter a very long time just to manifest a single one of these threads. As I'm sure you're aware, personas can be trained, just like muscles, but the process is extremely arduous, and a very long time is required. You're clearly not exceptionally powerful or talented, yet you possess unmatched control over your anomalies. With so many connective threads between you and your anomalies, you can even jump straight to the final step, which is to fuse together with your anomalies."
"Is that really possible?"
"It is, but it can only be accomplished by advanced invocators. Give it a try now. Try and fuse with your anomaly."
"Alright."
Adam was very intrigued as he made his way toward Hellhound, which was the closest of the anomalies to him. He then rested his palms onto its foreheads, then followed the instructions that Sadou was issuing to him to establish a comprehensive connection between himself and the anomaly.
In the next instant, Hellhound pounced at Adam before diving headfirst into his body. Immediately thereafter, Adam felt an immense surge of power arising from within his body. His skin began to turn scorching hot, and flames were blasting out of his pores as his body began to expand drastically.
With a thunderous roar of fury, the process was complete, and Adam had transformed into a fiery werewolf with two heads. He was standing upright on his hind limbs, and even though his front limbs were still in the form of human arms, his fingers were now tipped with sharp claws.
As a result of his extra head, he was able to register two fields of view, and with nothing more than a standing jump, he was able to reach heights of six to seven meters.
This form is definitely more powerful than Hellhound by itself.
Adam experimented with condensing his flames onto his sharp claws, then swatted his palm through the air, and three fiery claw streaks were sent hurling through the air, instantly leaving three burning indentations onto the wall in the distance.
After experimenting for a while in this werewolf form, Adam made his way over to the other anomaly, then reversed the fusion with Hellhound before fusing as one with Mummy.
As a result, he was instilled with an even greater sense of power.
Sure enough, the anomaly of pain was even more powerful.
In the wake of this fusion, Adam had grown to close to three meters in height, and even though his entire body was still wrapped in bandages, his muscles had become far more developed, and his joints had also become more mobile. In addition to that, cyberglyphs were beginning to appear on the bandages, and the carving knife had become even more lethal. Overall, this was an upgraded and more well-rounded version of Mummy than its original form.
This was the first time that Adam had ever felt so powerful, and in his elation, he strode over to the pavilion before slashing his carving knife into the stone pillars.
Two resounding booms rang out, and the two stone pillars of the pavilion were severed by the blade, following which the entire pavilion instantly collapsed.
However, Adam was still eager for more, and he plunged the knife into the ground, releasing a burst of green light that spread outward like ripples over the surface of a pond. Upon coming into contact with the green light, all of the surrounding plants instantly wilted.
"Not bad at all," Sadou remarked with a nod of approval as he dispelled the green light that was drifting toward him with a casual swat. "I'm beginning to change my mind about you. No wonder a stingy bastard like Cowboy was willing to pay for your tuition fees. Now that you've learned some tricks from me, perhaps you'll be able to survive in the outside world. There are quite a few people who have their eyes set on you, so once you leave, you have to give them a thorough beatdown to set an example. At the end of the day, hitmen are still businessmen who don't want to lose their lives, and no one wants to risk their lives for money. If you can show them that you're not to be messed with, then you're going to spare yourself a great deal of trouble in the future."
"How many people are targeting me outside?" Adam's telegnosis was far inferior to Sadou's, so he could only sense vague ill intent directed toward himself.
"There are eight in total, but five of them are nothing more than cannon fodder, and the other three aren't very powerful either, but they've stayed together this entire time, so I presume they possess some abilities that complement one another," Sadou replied. "In a sense, you're a genius, so I'm inclined to keep you alive. Let me teach you some special skills that'll increase your chances of survival."
Thus, Adam spent the final day being put through Sadou's special training.
That night, he trained on his own for a while longer. In contrast with practicing the skills that he had learned earlier in the day, he was far more eager to see if he could fuse as one with the anomaly of fear. After all, that was his true trump card, one that was far more powerful than his other two anomalies.
Unfortunately, the anomaly of fear was a foreign entity rather than an extension of his emotions, so no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to fuse with it.
Thankfully, after developing telegnosis threads, he was able to control the scarecrow on a very basic level.
With its assistance, his chances of survival against the eight hitmen outside would be far higher.
Soon, the eighth day arrived, and dawn had only just broken when he was escorted out of the estate by the housekeeper.