Sitting in her office, Yui was listening to the report from Hacker and Nikola as they told her the information that they had received about the situation in Las Vegas and the situation with the Mermaids.
"Boss. Are you sure you wish to increase Adam's power and influence?"
Nikola asked quietly. She was not worried about Adam as much as she was in the past. She knew that Adam loved and respected Yui.
Furthermore, all the hounds had their own little organizations under them. Even Nikola had a few subordinates she used to make her life easier.
But the case with Adam was different. At the rate things were going, what he was creating was not a subordinate organization but something that was completely at the same level of influence as the Wild Hunt if not more.
There were the case of the Mermaid on one side who had their feet wet in the showbiz, added to that were the hunters that were captured long ago, and now the case with the casino in Las Vegas.
Without adding all of this, Adam was already a powerhouse in his own right.
"I understand why you are worrying so much. But you should know that from the start, I never considered Adam as a subordinate. He is like a dragon and my organization cannot stop him from soaring high in the sky.
Nikola looked at Yui for a long moment before sighing. "I understand. Then, in this case, we should give him all the help necessary."
Since the boss did not want to limit him. Then her duty was to make him soar even higher so that he did not forget the debt he owed to them in the future.
———
As per his usual return scenario, when Adam woke up in the room that was designated to him in the Wild Hunt by Yui for the night, he could feel a terrible surge of hunger filling up his body.
However, this time, there was something unusual in this oh-so-usual routine of his. Grunting, simply grunted a little before realizing that while his body was slowly becoming emaciated — He didn't die.
'Ah… Shit. Here we go…'
Clearly, this time he had not stayed as long as he usually did inside the Library of Akasha and was kind of forcefully ejected from that plane. The most probable reason he left the Library in such a short time was due to the damage he received to his soul. The fact that he usually traveled to the Library in his soul form led him to be ejected from that space once his soul sustained any form of damage.
'Fuck…'
Adam groaned out loud, feeling so weak that everything seemed more and more painful with time.
Usually, his deaths after coming from the Library were quite swift and for that reason… while he did feel the pain of hunger, it only lasted for a few moments before the silence of death invaded his mind and the resurrection process of his body went underway.
But now he realized that… being hungry was perhaps one of the greatest pains that one was made to endure in the world.
He could feel his stomach contracting and growling as if begging him to fill it with something. Anything. Even if it wasn't edible, it would be alright as long as the void in his belly could be filled and satiated.
He could feel his vision grow dizzy, shapes and colors could not properly register in his eyes due to the dizziness and disorientation he could feel in his head. His mind moved erratically and even his three minds were no match for the pain that was slowly overriding all his senses.
Adam always thought that he was now used to the greatest pain one was able to feel in their lifetime and in a way, he really was.
But the pain of hunger was something entirely different. It was on a whole different level.
It was just… too debilitating.
"Fuck…"
Adam knew the easy way out of this situation. He simply had to kill himself and reset his body.
But— wasn't it a good occasion to train his resistance to hunger?
'Fuck! I am seriously a crazy bastard.'
Why did he even have to subject himself to such horrifying pain?
To get what?
Hunger resistance?
Just for that?
It wasn't like he couldn't simply kill himself and reset his body if he felt hungry or something, right? Then just why was he torturing himself by going through such a painful ordeal?
'Don't rely too much on one skill.'
Eve's words echoed inside his mind as he tried to fight and endure the growing pains.
He was sure that no one could take away his Curse. However, there might be a moment when he was just unable to kill himself.
Such as being imprisoned or moments when he was in a place like the Dreamscape where death would make him forcibly leave the plane. There, he would really need any and all resistance from Death.
'Ugh… I am trying to rationalize this shit way too much.'
He groaned and tried to stand up… only for his hand to slip because he just couldn't put enough strength in his grip.
"Ugh…"
Falling head first on the ground, he groaned once again and decided that this was indeed a very good way to train his resistance capabilities.
If he could move, fight, and think properly while under the extreme duress of hunger, surely he would become that much stronger.
'Buddha fasted for more than a month. I just have to try and remember that sensation.'
He moved Prana through his body, managing to barely keep himself from fainting because of the extreme hunger that was gnawing at his mind, body, and soul. He stood up with utmost difficulty and tried to orient himself so that he would not just fall over the next moment.
'I am thirsty.'
His throat felt parched and his lips had become dry and cracked. He was sure that if he stayed a little longer in this state, his body would simply give up and he would die even without wanting to.
'Let's lie down for a little bit.'
Going back to his bed, Adam took a look at the clock on the side of the room.
It was showing that it was currently 3 am. He had indeed stayed far less than usual inside the Library.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the feeling of his dry lips smacking against each other whenever he moved or shivered.
'Yeah, this is pure torture.'
He breathed out harshly; his breathing labored and painful. His vision was darkening little by little with time. But he kept his mind afloat forcibly.
'I should drink something.'
He focused on utilizing 'The World' and moved the shower head to open the water faucet and brought water to him floating.
*Splash*
'Ah…'
A part of the water splashed on his face, giving him the feeling that his body was coming alive as it greedily absorbed the spilled water.
But this wasn't enough. Nowhere near enough. The feeling in his throat became far worse and he didn't stop himself.
The water floated and entered his mouth as he drank and drank greedily like the starved beast he was.
Humans could stay days or even an entire month without eating. But when it came to water, things were much more complicated than that.
The body could not stay long without being hydrated. He had only survived thanks to his Prana this time around.
Immediately, after the water entered his body, Adam felt his mind clearing up from its disoriented self.
It was like he was given a second lease on life and while his body was still crying for food, it wasn't on the verge of shutting down like a few moments ago.
'Ugh….'
He groaned and stood up with difficulty and finally started to focus on his inner self.
Pushing 'The World' beyond its limits, he was able to see how much more coverage he had obtained due to the strengthening of his soul,
'Two kilometers or nearly one mile and a half I think.'
Adam's eyes opened wide at that realization.
He knew very well that the increase in the coverage of 'The World' was correlated with the strength of his soul.
In the past, he was already a little above one kilometer but now it nearly doubled.
'Did the strength of my soul double as well?'
It was hard to say. But though he couldn't give a clear estimate, it was enough to know that he had truly managed to grow far stronger than before.
Adam chuckled, the feeling of euphoria that rushed into his mind was nearly enough to make him forget the severe pangs of hunger that kept attacking him non-stop.
The bigger the radius of his Domain, the more dangerous he could be.
He was surprised to realize that even though he was fully covering those two kilometers, the overflow of information in his mind didn't feel as draining as usual.
But rather, he felt like he could manage it quite well.
'Oh…'
He realized then…
Four…. He could think about four different things at the same time currently.
It seemed like the count of his parallel minds grew as well.
'Heh. Soon, I will be truly omnipresent.'
He could already imagine himself being able to move his mind instantly in coverage of more than a thousand kilometers.
If one day, his mind could truly cover the whole earth.
'Sigh… I am hungry.'
But for now. He needed more water.
[Adam, you should take a look at your stats right now.]
(AN: An entire chapter of Adam feeling he is about to die. Heh. Only usual.)
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